Illinois families are used to hearing the same explanation whenever something goes wrong in state government: we just need more money.

Yet Illinois already has one of the highest overall tax burdens in the country, and state spending continues to grow year after year. This year’s budget again expands spending and government programs.

So if government keeps getting bigger, why do basic services keep getting worse?

The answer is simple: Illinois doesn’t just have a spending problem. It has a management problem.

Across multiple state agencies, a troubling pattern continues to emerge; delayed services, poor oversight, and failures that affect real people across our state.

At the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), healthcare professionals are waiting months for licenses that should be processed quickly and efficiently. In a state already facing shortages of medical providers, these delays prevent qualified professionals from working and push many to neighboring states where the process is faster.

Other agencies have faced serious breakdowns as well.

At the Department of Children and Family Services, the agency continues to struggle to protect vulnerable children while families have reported abuse, babies being removed from parents based on questionable information and death.

At the Department of Corrections, operational issues continue to create unsafe conditions for both staff and inmates.

And more than 900 lawsuits have been filed alleging abuse within Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice facilities, a troubling failure of oversight in a system responsible for protecting young people.

These examples involve different agencies, but they point to the same underlying issue: state government that isn’t being effectively managed.

From unemployment fraud to licensing delays to child welfare failures, Illinois residents are seeing government fall short on some of its most basic responsibilities.

When government stops functioning properly, people lose trust in the institutions meant to serve them. And when that trust disappears, people begin looking elsewhere for opportunity and stability. In Illinois, that too often means families and workers leaving the state altogether.

This is especially frustrating because Illinois government is not shrinking, it’s expanding. Each year brings new programs, new initiatives, and higher spending.

But good government isn’t measured by how many programs are announced. It’s measured by whether government can deliver results.

And that starts with a Governor who will take accountability and focus on fixing what’s broken.

Tony McCombie, R, Savanna, is the Illinois state representative for the 89th District.