March 10--Under the direction of Democratic leaders who control the schedule, the Illinois House adjourned last week until April 4.
Confused about why the House would head home for a month in the midst of a state budget crisis? Well, then, you simply don't appreciate the fact that your state representative must be exhausted. Lawmakers have gathered in Springfield for a handful of days -- fewer than a dozen since January -- and they need four weeks of spring break to rejuvenate. Keg stand, anyone? Beach volleyball? Probably not, but lawmakers won't exactly be governing while earning their $70,000-and-up salaries.
A few questions: Are social services providers taking a month off? Caregivers who tend to the sick and elderly? How about the social workers who provide counseling and health referrals for the state's most vulnerable citizens? What about college students whose futures are played as pawns in an elaborate chess game between warring political parties?
Are they taking an entire month off?
What about the human services providers who bring meals to senior citizens and check on the blind and disabled? What about the community care centers that serve the homeless? What about the small business owners who rely on state funding and haven't been paid in months? Are they all taking the month off?
Of course not. They're doing their jobs, despite the growing uncertainty about whether or when they'll get paid. They're counting on lawmakers to do their jobs.
Sure, last week's adjournment had been on the calendar for months. So what? Doesn't the state's fiscal emergency demand a change of plans? The stack of unpaid bills is towering at $7.3 billion. Illinois' credit rating is the worst the nation. The Democrat-led House and Senate and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner still haven't passed and signed a budget for the fiscal year that started July 1, let alone turned their attention to next year's budget.
The Democrats in Washington, D.C., routinely bash conservative Republicans' efforts to shut down government. Here, the Democrats just schedule it in.
