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Burris and Consentino: the state's two new money men

THE ROAD to the top was not easy for Roland W. Burris and Jerome A. Cosentino, the two Democrats who now occupy the state's major financial offices. Tested by vigorous campaigns, tempered by earlier political defeats, and grounded in practical affairs, the two can savor the success that comes from hard work and persistence. And as state comptroller and state treasurer, both are becoming strong voices in the executive branch headed by Republican Gov. James R. Thompson. Their performances in those positions will, of course, do much to determine the political futures of these two ambitious and energetic men.

The route for Burris started in Centralia, where he was born 41 years ago. Burris graduated from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1959 with a degree in political science, and he did postgraduate work as an exchange student in international law at the University of Hamburg in Germany. While there, he accompanied the American consul on a lecture tour on American government and on race relations in the United States. He is also a 1963 graduate of Howard University Law School in Washington, D.C., and was the senior class president there.

After passing the Illinois bar examination, Burris joined the Continental Bank in Chicago. He was soon responsible for loans to minorities and was promoted to second vice president. During this time he was named one of the 10 outstanding young men of Chicago by the Jaycees, and he began his efforts to win political office.

His first attempt, in 1968, was not successful. He challenged the regular Democratic party in Chicago, and in a campaign for state representative he finished dead last in a field of five candidates. But he was gaining recognition, and in late 1972, the new governor, Dan Walker, appointed him director of the Department of General Services (now Administrative Services), the housekeeping agency for state government. When Walker sought reelection in 1976, Burris became a candidate for the Democratic nomination for comptroller as Walker's running mate. But Michael J. Bakalis had the endorsement of the Democratic State Central Committee, and he easily defeated Burris in the primary.

Burris then left state government and joined Operation PUSH, the Rev. Jesse Jackson's activist organization. Within a year, however, he was back on the campaign trail, running again for comptroller. This time he won the endorsement of the regulars. He was challenged in the Democratic primary by state Rep. Richard Luft of Pekin, but Burris defeated him. Then he defeated Republican John W. Castle by a winning margin of 153,934 in the general election. By doing so, Burris became the first black ever elected to a major state office in Illinois.

In his inaugural speech in January, Burris expressed his pride at assuming office in the state that Abraham Lincoln called home. Burris had visited the Lincoln Tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery that morning and said: "It was quiet, and I was alone with Mr. Lincoln. And I wondered: Can he see me? Does he know who I am? Does he know what's taking place in his Illinois? In his beloved Springfield? And as I stood there in that quiet place of eternal rest, amidst the snow and the monuments to the past, I know what his answer was: 'Yes, I can see you. I know who you are. And I am pleased at what is taking place in Illinois today. In my beloved Springfield.'"

And in that speech, Burris also pledged to provide Illinoisans with "the most open, the most honest, the most

10 / May 1979 / Illinois Issues

dedicated, the most efficient, the most economical administration the office of State Comptroller has ever known." After 10 years of struggles and detours, Burris had won the chance to make good a pledge to the people of the entire state.

Like Burris, Cosentino experienced some rebuffs from Democratic regulars before he won his campaign for state treasurer. But Cosentino's background helps explain his eventual success, revealing as it does his ambition, initiative and energy. He was born in Chicago in 1931, the 11th of 12 children. As he explained during his campaign, he started working as a shoe shine boy at age nine. By 12, he was working full time, and held a variety of jobs over the next decade, including stints as a truck driver and a lumberjack in Canada.

In 1959, Cosentino decided to make it on his own, and after discussing matters with his wife, Charlotte, he invested $700 in a truck. "I did everything myself," he says. "I was the driver, the salesman, the mechanic. Charlotte was the dispatcher. She handled things with the telephone in one hand and the baby in the other."

That modest start for the Fast Motor Service Company has burgeoned into a business which Cosentino says now generates revenues of $12 million a year. He also designed containers, and the company now ranks among the top five container carriers in the nation, operating in 48 states.

Despite his success in business, Cosentino found politics even more appealing, and while Burris was challenging the regulars in Chicago, Cosentino was battling them in the suburbs. He ran for Congress in 1972 and lost. Two years later, a group of 25 township committeemen in suburban Cook County told the 50 ward committeemen of Chicago that a suburban resident should be endorsed as a candidate for trustee of the Metropolitan Sanitary District. Cosentino of Palos Heights was nominated and elected.

But he kept looking for more interesting political challenges, and when a vacancy occurred in the state treasurer's office in 1976, he made a strong bid for the appointment. He didn't get it. When the office came up for election, however, Cosentino worked hard to win the endorsement of the regular Democratic organization. He stressed his Italian-American heritage when speaking at the slatemaking sessions. "It's time for an Italian, a qualified Italian, to be on the ticket," he said. "One issue is ancestry because no Italian has ever been slated for state office by either party. I do not ask you to support me because I am Italian. On the other hand, I ask that you do not deny me a spot on the ticket because of it." At first it appeared the party leaders favored another candidate, but the Democratic State Central Committee voted to endorse Cosentino. He resisted a challenge from Nina T. Shepherd in the Democratic primary, then defeated Republican James M. Skelton by an impressive margin in the general election. His plurality of 164,639 votes was a much larger victory margin than those enjoyed by his predecessors, Adlai E. Stevenson III and Alan J. Dixon, when they were elected state treasurer.

Since winning office by their divergent and difficult routes, Burris and Cosentino have worked to gain credibility as reponsible administrators of the state's finances. Burris has been more aggressive as a critic of Thompson's politics, while Cosentino has worked toward modest changes while stating that the governor is generally "on the right track."

When Thompson presented his budget in March, Burris argued that it was not "balanced," as the governor claimed. Burris' contention was striking, of course, since a balanced budget has been one of the publicized trademarks of the Thompson administration.

"The budget document claims the fy 80 budget will be the third consecutive balanced budget when in fact the past three fiscal years have had negative budgetary balances," Burris said. "For more than 25 years the determination of whether or not a budget is balanced was based upon the budgetary balance concept which states that the available balance on June 30 of a fiscal year must be sufficient to meet the total lapse period spending charged to appropriations of that fiscal year in order for the budget to be balanced."

Burris also argues that this was not the case in fiscal 1976, when the June 30 available balance was $126 million and lapse period spending amounted to $188 million, giving a negative balance of $62 million. The same occurred in fiscal 1977, Burris says, with a June 30 balance of $52 million, lapse period spending of $215 million -- for a negative budgetary balance of $163 million -- and in fiscal 1978 with a June 30 balance of $86 million and lapse period spending of $242 million -- for a negative budgetary balance of $156 million.

"The Bureau of the Budget abandoned the budgetary balance concept during fiscal 1977 apparently because they did not want to show a negative budgetary balance and would be able to claim that the budget was balanced when, in fact, it was not by all previous standards," Burris says. "Therefore," he argues, "the claim of balanced budgets in the last several years is rhetoric, rather than reality."

While challenging Thompson's claim of balance, however, Burris says the state's financial condition is better than projected in the governor's budget. He

11 / May 1979 / Illinois Issues

says the available balance in the general funds as of March 6 (the day the budget was presented) was $318 million. By comparison, the available balance the previous year on the same day was $94 million.

"Throughout seven months of fiscal 1979," Burris states in his regular monthly financial report, "the available balances in the general funds continue to reflect an improving financial position when compared to the much weaker financial position of the previous three fiscal years.

"The $259 million available balance in the general funds on Jan. 31, 1979, was the highest month end balance thus far in the fiscal year and represented the seventh consecutive month that the month end balance was above the $200 million level. The last time the month end balance in the general funds was $200 million or better was at the end of August 1975 when it reached $250 million.

"The ending of January 1979 balance was $164 million higher than the balance at the end of January 1978, $144 million better than the comparable balance two years ago and an almost unbelievable $235 million higher than the balance of $24 million on Jan. 31, 1976.

"Additional evidence of the improving fiscal and financial position of the general funds was the fact the ending January 1979 balance was also $173 million better than the balance at the beginning of this fiscal year."

Since the comptroller thinks the financial picture is better than portrayed by the governor, he sees no need for the proposal to raise the motor fuel tax and motor vehicle registration fees. Burris says the road program proposed by Thompson could be funded by stopping diversions from the Road Fund, and the agency costs could be absorbed by the available balance in the general fund.

He compares spending the available balance on road repairs to a family who would spend savings to finance a child's education. "What's right for savings for your family, $5,000 or $10,000? If your child wants to travel to Europe and it costs $1,000, you aren't going to deny the trip. You'll spend $1,000 and keep at least $4,000 as the balance. The state should treat its finances the same way. It's just not fair to taxpayers to keep a high available balance."

It's nothing new, of course, for a comptroller to disagree with a governor. When Dan Walker, a Democrat, was governor, Comptroller George W. Lindberg, a Republican, was often at odds with him; and Comptroller Michael J. Bakalis challenged Thompson's budget figures before becoming his gubernatorial opponent.

In contrast to Burris, Cosentino is less critical of the governor's budget. But he apparently does not agree with Thompson's proposed tax and expenditure limits.

"The governor's on the right track," the treasurer said. "But we don't need a constitutional amendment to limit spending. Those guys in the legislature aren't deaf. It seems silly to change the Constitution to tell them to hold down spending. They should do it on their own initiative. A wife knows how much she can spend at the grocery store; legislators know how much they can spend, too. But they want the best for their area -- you can't blame them for that."

After two months in office, Cosentino describes his work as "low key, but interesting. We just try to make a profit everyday [from investments] like we do in private business. When campaigning I did not realize the magnitude of the office. The treasurer has so much money at his command that he can effect quite a bit.

"In 1980, the estimated revenue from interest income is $90 million. We also act as the collector [sharing responsibility with the attorney general] on the inheritance tax program involving another $120 million. We do this with a minimal amount of employees, about 100. It is a very, very efficient operation."

Burris also wants an efficient operation. As soon as he took office this January, Burris appointed a commission to review the operations and the policies of the office. He wants a more efficient office and is seeking legislation to improve it. He says, however, that the legislation is technical in nature and does not reflect any massive policy change in the office. For example, one bill would permit the comptroller to transfer funds from one account to another electronically without writing warrants. A 1973 study placed the cost of writing a warrant at $10; Burris figures this simple change could save at least $200,000 in taxpayers' money.

Cosentino can use investments of the state treasury to help communities, and he has. During his campaign, he pledged to continue the community service program initiated by his predecessors, a program which his opponent criticized. As the result of Cosentino's campaign statements, he has been asked to support a "rural urban development" program sponsored by the state Department of Local Government Affairs. In response, he has created the "Treasurer's Specific Opportunity Program," encouraging financial institutions to participate in the housing market. The pilot project (operating initially in the counties of Bureau, Putnam, Marshall and Stark) is designed to help homeowners rehabilitate their homes with 3 percent loans. The federal government pays the balance of the interest rate.

12 / May 1979 / Illinois Issues

Consentino is also looking for ways to involve the office more directly in other aspects of the housing industry. "If we could help provide low interest rates for the mortgages, we could stimulate the whole industry. If we could free up some money for loans, it would come back [to the state] in the form of sales tax and extra income tax."

The treasurer also attempted to help communities hit by the blizzard of 1979. He offered $50 million in deposits to banks located in the 35 counties hit by the storm. The money was loaned at slightly lower interest rates, giving institutions more flexibility is helping solve the problems created by the snow. "I eliminated the larger banks on LaSalle Street from the program because they had enough state deposits. I offered it to the rural and suburban banks. If you give it to a big bank, you're not sure if they'll take it to China or invest it in a Las Vegas casino. In a smaller bank you're almost assured it will go into the local community."

Cosentino's success as a self-made businessman has also made him sensitive to the need for incentives for small businesses like his own Fast Service Motor Company. He is proud of his achievements and doesn't want to see other, similar efforts threatened by government action. He claims to have no authority in the dispute between large and small banks over branch banking in the state, saying that it's up to the legislature to decide that issue. But, he added, "I started a small business. I don't want to see a small company jeopardized; I would be opposed to that. I would like to think that anybody who had the brains and guts could go start a bank if they wanted to."

Given their historic victories in the last election, both Burris and Cosentino are likely to undertake more political campaigns in the future, either for their present offices or for higher, more visible ones. Both are ambitious, both are talented, and both right now enjoy the backing of the regular Democratic party in the state. Along with the very popular Alan J. Dixon as secretary of state, they comprise a potent Democratic voice in the executive branch of Gov. Thompson.

AI Manning is a political columnist for The State Journal-Register, Springfield.