Budget reform: tools not crutches

Editor: I am gratified that Illinois' budget director, Dr. Robert Mandeville, responded (see February Illinois Issues, p. 22) to my budget reform proposals (in January Illinois Issues, p. 36). I am sorry that he missed my point.

The inspiration for governmental discipline is public opinion. My legislative proposals would focus attention on the budget's bottom line and mobilize public opinion in pursuit of fiscal responsibility. These proposals are tools, not crutches, as Dr. Mandeville suggests.

I am pleased that he agrees with the restrictions that I would impose on supplemental appropriations bills. Since nearly all such bills originate with the administration, his approval gives me hope that the administration will show more self discipline when it comes to asking for additional money during the fiscal year.

In a bit of accounting comedy, Dr. Mandeville uses a "cash flow definition" of the annual budget surplus and concludes that we have never run a deficit. Anyone can see from his description that this method results in the "surplus" being equal to the cash on hand at the end of the fiscal year. This "surplus" is plainly meaningless since cash on hand is always a positive number. By his definition, deficits are arithmetically impossible and the federal deficit doesn't exist.

However, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles clearly show that the state has had a deficit for seven of the last eight years, a fact he cannot and does not deny.

Finally, Dr. Mandeville quotes the constitutional command: "Appropriations for a fiscal year shall not exceed funds estimated by the General Assembly to be available during that year." He adds, "In my 18 years in Illinois state government, I do not recall a single year where this constitutional provision has been met."

Really? Dr. Mandeville does not explain how this admission squares with his assertion that we have not been running deficits. Anyway, he should know that appropriations are not legal until the governor signs them and he has been the governor's budget director for 12 of those years. It seems that everybody needs more discipline.

Dr. Mandeville defends the status quo by pointing to Illinois' good bond ratings. However, his is a backward looking observation. If we want to maintain our current bond ratings into the future, we must first get our fiscal house in order.

      Woods Bowman
      State Representative
      4th District (Evanston)

April 1988 | Illinois Issues | 11