The state of the State

Too many bills?
WHAT A LEGISLATURE does is usually more significant than how quickly it does it, but not always. The 79th General Assembly's spring session drew more commendation for almost finishing on time than for any of the laws it passed. Commentators seemed particularly pleased that the legislators managed to adjourn by July 2, only two days after the traditional June 30 target date. Part of the reason for the general praise of the Assembly's timely conclusion was the sluggish opening of the session. It required 93 ballots and almost two weeks for the House to elect a speaker.

After these lengthy preliminaries the legislators turned furiously to their work, introducing 4,600 bills�an average of 20 per member�before the session was over. Legislative leaders expressed concern over this situation after the Assembly adjourned. Kenneth Watson of the Springfield State Journal- Register interviewed legislative leaders (House Speaker Wlliam A. Redmond, Senate President Cecil A. Partee, House Minority Leader James R. Washburn, and Senate Minority Leader William C. Harris) and discovered sentiment in favor of limiting bill introductions to so many per member. But such a move would require the support of the rank and file, whose usual method of gaining individual publicity is by introducing a bill. The alternative is a committee system which would limit the number of bills sent to the floor. But Illinois committees usually are operated so democratically that the members vote out each other's bills. This could be overcome by vesting more power in committee chairmen and basing chairmanships largely on seniority (as Congress does), but the legislators may feel this is too great a price to pay. After all, legislatures and legislators are finally judged by the bills they pass and the bills they kill. If they want to overload themselves with many more bills than they can vote on, that is their decision.

Budget outcome
While lawmaking is the most obvious activity of the legislature, the budgeting responsibility which the legislature shares with the governor is the most important to the greatest number of people. This year the governor submitted a budget on March 5 calling for appropriations totaling $10.75 billion; appropriations passed by the legislature at the end of the spring session totaled about $10.5 billion. About half of this represented appropriations to be paid with general revenue funds. On June 11 the governor called for across-the-board, six per cent cuts in these funds by the legislature. Instead of cutting, the legislature gave the governor authority to impound up to eight per cent of these appropriations. But as the new fiscal year began, the governor gave every indication of preparing to use his reduction veto power to make six per cent cuts in general fund appropriations. (The October Illinois Issues will have further detail on appropriations.)

While the governor's accelerated building program did not pass as a package, important elements of it won legislative approval: bond funds for antipollution facilities through the Environmental Protection Agency, for industrial control facilities through the Industrial Pollution Control Financing Authority, and for institutional building for the departments of corrections, mental health, and family services through the Capital Development Board. These probably would have been passed in any event; but the expedited aspect of the governor's proposal, intended to create employment, was defeated.

No new taxes
Gov. Dan Walker, in a statement issued on July 1, stressed the fact that there had been no new taxes or tax increases: "To those experts who predicted three years ago that we could not get along without a tax increase, the record is there: three years of no tax increases, three years of living within our means. We must do the same next year."

State Comptroller George W. Lindberg also issued a statement as the fiscal year ended June 30. He said the state government spent $138 million more than it took in for its day-to-day operations in the fiscal year. "We are about to exhaust the fiscal bonus created by passage of the income tax," he said. He blamed "deficit spending" rather than the recession for this. He said the state's income rose 10.8 per cent and spending increased 13.8 per cent.

But at least one prominent figure in the state�an educator, not a politician�mentioned the possibility of a tax increase. At a June 18 meeting of the university's board of trustees, President John W. Corbally of the University of Illinois said that a tax increase of $28.00 a person would yield an amount equal to what the governor said should be cut from general fund appropriations. "No one seems to be willing to speak out in behalf of the small amount of new per capita support necessary to maintain the position of Illinois as an enlightened state providing high-quality services to a high-quality citizenry," he said.

Unemployment rate rises
The Illinois unemployment rate for June rose to 8.5 per cent, seasonally adjusted, according to Christopher W. Nugent, Illinois employment security administrator. He said this represented 437,000 Jobless (43,000 more than in May). The upswing, he said, was affected by unexpected delays in the recall of experienced workers and by students seeking jobs. Unemployment rates were highest in the following standard metropolitan statistical areas: Rockford, 11.0 per cent; Decatur, 10.6; Illinois section of St. Louis area, 10.4; and Chicago, 8.7. �

278 / Illinois Issues / September 1975