McHenry County Local News

Eye On Illinois: By state’s low standards, this budget cycle nearly uneventful

While coaching third-grade baseball Wednesday, two of my runners – twin brothers – ended up near second base at the same time. As we encouraged the lead runner to advance to third, the throw inexplicably went to first and both kids were safe.

The outcome: Good. The process: Terrible.

We’re still nearly removed from the 793-day gap without a complete state budget, which covered two-plus fiscal years. In that same span, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series under a manager, Joe Maddon, who famously advocated for process over outcome (“If you focus on the outcome, there can be fear. If you focus on the process, you can be fearless.”)

Government isn’t baseball. There aren’t 162 budgets to enact. Both parties have some shared goals with many distinct priorities. There are no trophies, just campaigns and elections. Watching Statehouse Democrats lurch toward the session finish line this week raises the question: in Springfield, is outcome the only worthwhile metric?

Scott T. Holland

Simply passing any budget is better than the mid-2010s debacles. This is the fourth budget cycle since Eye On Illinois began, and the process here is miles ahead of 2020, when lawmakers crammed nearly an entire session worth of work into just a few days, including votes covering billions in appropriations well past sundown on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.

“If you focus on the outcome, there can be fear. If you focus on the process, you can be fearless.”

—  Former Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon

Although Democrats originally planned to finish in the third week of May, they instead rolled into the fourth, finally announcing the framework of a deal with Gov. JB Pritzker Wednesday afternoon. Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, told Capitol News Illinois he hoped his chamber would send budget legislation to the House Wednesday night so it could take a final vote Friday – owing to the constitutional requirement bills be read three times on three separate days – but the Senate didn’t take that step until Thursday.

That set the stage for another late night Saturday, but still well before (in Springfield terms) the end of May, the actual deadline.

“I don’t think people want to come back Tuesday,” state Rep. Jaime Andrade, D-Chicago, told CNI late Wednesday. “I think they’ll find a way, that things have always worked out, and I think that Saturday should be – that’s my feel. I think mostly people are happy. I think people are very happy that [the budget process has] actually slowed down a little bit.”

Democrats seem generally satisfied with the outcome. Republicans consistently lambast both results and process. But Andrade is right: in Illinois, this session actually seems calm by comparison.

After a walk to load the bases, my son grounded into a force at third, ending the inning. We went on to lose 22-5, on par with the rest of our season.

Wait ‘til next year.

Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Media. Follow him on Twitter @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.

Scott Holland

Scott T. Holland

Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Media Illinois. Follow him on Twitter at @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.