Sayonara, Adios, Auf Wiedersehen

So yesterday was my last day as a reporter at the Capitol. It wasn't exactly what I'd call an enjoyable day. Only Illinois lawmakers could accomplish so little in six months. Yes, they got rid of Blagojevich and they deserve credit for that. But they fell far short when it came to the government reforms they promised at the start of the year. They got a $30 billion capital plan passed, as well as a $9 billion mini-capital plan, but because of their dispute over the budget, not a single project has actually started yet. Hell, they wouldn't even send the big capital plan to the governor for more than a month, despite all their talk about how important it was to create jobs for the state. Sure, the governor said he wouldn't sign it until he got a budget he would support, but he's flip-flopped on so many other issues, I bet he'd have signed it by now. Say what you want about Quinn, I think he genuinely cares about the state. He'll sign it.

But everyone, including the governor, has failed completely on the budget. For all their talk of bipartisan cooperation after they kicked Blagojevich out, no one would budge an inch to get a real budget for the state. Now the governor is preparing to veto the so-called "half budget" that lawmakers have sent him. The legislature might try to override that veto, but there's a good chance they won't be able to. The House will need at least one Republican to help, even if every Democrat votes to override. And just as Republicans had no political incentive to vote for a tax hike, there's no reason they should vote to override a veto of a budget they did not support. Which means a government shutdown could be coming in the next couple weeks unless lawmakers agree to a temporary budget to allow talks to resume. Even that might take more work than it should. Quinn wants a temporary budget that would allow spending levels that assume a tax hike has gone through. Republicans want a temporary budget that cuts spending to 2008 levels. Who knows if either side will budge.