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Charles N. Wheeler
Edgar's midterm menu

By CHARLES N. WHEELER III

Jim Edgar celebrated the second anniversary of his inauguration as governor at a California fitness institute last month, learning about diet, exercise and other healthy lifestyle practices. Though Edgar was there as part of his ongoing recovery from a blocked heart artery, the Pritikin Longevity Center was not an inappropriate setting for the governor to mark the halfway point in his first term, much of which has been spent trying to slim down state government to improve its financial health.

It's a task that has been a lot more painful and difficult than learning to live without bacon cheeseburgers and broasted chicken. The goal seemed clear enough when the new Republican governor set it out in his inaugural address: meet priority needs without asking more from taxpayers.

"State government faces tough fiscal times," Edgar said, "but we can survive them if we have the discipline to set priorities, make budget cuts where cuts can and should be made, and look for new ways to approach old problems. We should not raise taxes at the state level, and we must provide relief from skyrocketing property taxes at the local level." At the halfway mark of his first term, however, the governor's agenda is yet to be realized. The scorecard might read:

Edgar has kept his word to block any increase in the state income or sales taxes, although at a price some educators and human service advocates contend has been unbearable.

His anti-tax pledge was bent, if not downright broken, by his calls for higher liquor and tobacco taxes and by a Medicaid assessment on hospitals and nursing homes to subsidize health care for the poor.

His opposition to the proposed school funding amendment raises doubts about his commitment to education.

His failure to propose glamorous new initiatives fosters criticism that his administration lacks vision and merely lurches along from problem to problem.

His squeaky-clean image notwithstanding, embarrassing incidents of pinstripe patronage, dubious purchases and questionable contracts persist.

His cherished property tax caps are in place only in the collar counties of DuPage, Lake, McHenry, Kane and Will.

His unwavering opposition to the proposed $2 billion Chicago casino complex is viewed by some as compelling evidence of an anti-Chicago bias.

While Edgar's midterm grade is more than passable, his performance hardly has been spectacular enough to squelch talk about a one-term governor, particularly among hungry Democrats. Anyone tempted to discount Edgar's reelection chances, though, would be wise to recall that a lot can happen in 21 months, especially in Illinois politics .

Indeed, two key factors in Edgar's political fortunes already have changed in his favor: the national economy and the Illinois General Assembly.

Throughout the first half of his term, Edgar's major thorn has been the lingering recession. Sapping needed tax dollars and imposing additional spending demands, the national economic disaster has kept Illinois finances in a hand-to-mouth existence since Edgar took office. When the recession knocked the bottom out of state revenues midway through fiscal year 1992, Edgar's first budget, the governor and the legislature were forced to enact emergency budget cuts and fund transfers to keep the state afloat. Even with those economies, the state posted a record budgetary deficit of more than $900 million in fiscal year 1992.

In contrast to the grim days of a year ago, now most economic indicators are pointing toward a weak but steady recovery. Equally significant, state revenues were on track midway through the current fiscal year, even though the final estimates adopted by the legislature last July were higher than initial projections by the governor's Bureau of the Budget.

State coffers aren't overflowing, and major budgetary headaches lurk, includ-

6/February 1993/Illinois Issues


ing Medicaid funding, child care services, the income tax surcharge and prison crowding. Still, with a recovering economy, Edgar will have more leeway to funnel dollars into early childhood education, preventive health care services, job training and other programs that match his campaign rhetoric.

In addition, since taking office Edgar has dealt with a Democratic-controlled legislature under tough, partisan leaders. House Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-22, Chicago) will be reprising his role as the governor's foremost nemesis for the next two years, but after Republicans won Senate control last November, Edgar will be able to count on support from a GOP majority under Senate President James "Pate" Philip (R-23, Wood Dale) for the rest of his term. That should strengthen the governor's hand in session-ending bargaining on issues like property tax caps and spending priorities, while assuring that few undesirable measures reach his desk.

Two other points merit consideration. Much of the criticism leveled at Edgar seems to be rooted in frustration that the governor continues to rule out an income tax increase, whether for schools, for Medicaid, for child care or mental health, or for any reason. In the next gubernatorial campaign, though, how much political mileage will there be in attacking Edgar for refusing to raise taxes, particularly when the Republican governor promised not to four years earlier?

Finally, much has been made of the supposed feud between Edgar and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, with city types complaining that the GOP governor is not attentive enough to the desires of the Democratic mayor. Edgar terms the anti-Chicago label "ridiculous," citing such items as his support for McCormick Place expansion and for the Medicaid assessment program, which taxes suburban hospitals to keep inner-city ones open. Still, the label is hardly a liability for a GOP candidate outside the city's limits, where more than three-quarters of the state's residents live.

Midway through his first term, there's no reason to assume that Jim Edgar can't win another.

Charles N. Wheeler III is a correspondent in the Springfield bureau of the Chicago Sun-Times.

February 1993/Illinois Issues/7


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