Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn is
floating an idea for what he calls a “debt bond.” Think of it
as the mother of all bill consolidation loans — a $15 billion loan
to pay off all of the state’s debts in one fell swoop.
Of course, the state would still owe its creditors $15 billion,
plus interest. But it would be a different group of creditors. The
“tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands” of people and
organizations to whom the state currently owes money — the estimate
is that of outgoing state Comptroller Dan Hynes — finally would get
their cash.
The state might even save some interest costs by issuing debt
bonds. Right now it’s paying 1 percent to 2 percent in interest for
every month its bills are more than 60 days late, and right now the
bills are six months overdue. Illinois is stiffing everyone from
the University of Illinois, to which it owes $400 million, to
social service organizations to doctors, hospitals and pharmacies
that are owed Medicaid payments.
Just a couple of problems: Only about half of the state’s debts
are past-due obligations. The rest are structural deficits built
into the budget. Simply put, despite the balanced-budget
requirement in the state constitution, the state spends far more
money than it takes in, borrowing to cover billions in gaps.
Without a new revenue stream to guarantee the debt bonds, they
might be a tad hard to sell.
Illinois’ debt crisis got the full treatment
from
CBS’s “60 Minutes” two weeks ago. Mr. Hynes told correspondent
Steve Kroft, “Pretty much anybody who has any interaction with
state government, we owe money to.”
“The state’s a deadbeat,” Mr. Kroft remarked.
“Yeah,” Mr. Hynes replied. “I mean, the state of Illinois is
known as a deadbeat state. This is a reputation that has taken us
years to earn and we’ve reached, you know, the heights of, I think,
becoming the worst in the country.”
Mr. Quinn, ever the optimist, has proposed increasing the
state’s income tax to 4 percent from 3 percent — the governor calls
the increase a “surcharge for education.” He also proposed
increasing cigarette taxes by a dollar a pack.
Last month the state Senate approved a massive
increase in legalized gambling, including five new casinos, one
of them a huge land-based operation in Chicago. Racetracks would be
allowed to add slot machines. The overall number of “gaming
positions” — slot machines plus chairs at table games — would more
than triple.
If the state’s $1
billion a year in gambling revenue also tripled — unlikely,
given market saturation — that would give the state another $2
billion to play with.
The gambling bill — as well as Mr. Quinn’s various revenue
schemes — could come before the House as early as today. The
2009-2010 legislative session runs until the new session begins
Jan. 12, two days after Mr. Quinn will be inaugurated in a
privately funded ceremony he promises will be
“frugal, but it won’t be chintzy.”
The Senate
passed a 2 percent income tax increase in 2009, but the House
has preferred to continue kicking the can down the road. We’d say
the can has been kicked about as far it can go, except House
Speaker Michael Madigan never ceases to amaze.
That means something as goofy as Mr. Quinn’s debt bond plan may
have a chance to pass, if only because it puts off the crisis for
another year.
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