As a consequence of all this spending, Illinois is facing a $13 billion dollar budget deficit this year and has already accumulated more than $100 billion in unpaid bills, unfunded liabilities, and debt.  Now, some in Springfield want you to bail them out with a 33% income tax increase on Illinois families and businesses.  Simply raising taxes, however, completely misses the point:  wasteful government spending -- not revenue -- is the problem.

• Require a Real Balanced Budget.  You wouldn't know it based on Springfield's history of deficit spending and borrowing, but the Illinois Constitution actually requires a balanced budget each year.  As state representative, I will honor the balanced budget provision of the Illinois Constitution.

• Pay-As-You-Go ("PAYGO").  Illinois families have to live within their means, and so too should state government.  I will support Pay-As-You-Go ("PAYGO") legislation that would require the General Assembly to offset any new spending programs with commensurate spending reductions to existing programs that are outdated, duplicative, or ineffective.  

• Innovative Budgeting Tools.  Springfield needs to do a better job of cutting waste and inefficiency from the state budget before asking taxpayers for additional revenue.  Other states, such as Texas and Kansas, have identified billions of dollars in savings in their state budgets by utilizing innovative budget tools such as zero-based budgeting and forensic audits.  The common thread in these approaches is the creation of a comprehensive list of programs and services that state government pays for on a daily basis.  According to a report issued by the Illinois Auditor General in 2007, Illinois does not have such a list.  By creating such a list, we could more readily identify waste, duplication, and inefficiency in the state budget and, consequently, help ensure that we can fully fund essential services like education.

• Crack Down on Medicaid Fraud.  Experts estimate that Medicaid fraud and overbilling consume more than 10% of all Medicaid spending.  With Medicaid spending totaling over $13 billion in Illinois, we may be losing more than $1 billion annually to fraud and overbilling.  As state representative, I will support increasing the state's budget for Medicaid fraud prevention and enforcement.  Historically, for every $1 we spend on Medicaid fraud prevention and enforcement, we recoup $13.  Thus, we can reasonably expect that increases in enforcement and prevention spending would be more than offset through savings.

• 72-Hour Budget Window.  As state representative, I will support the creation of a 72-hour budget “window” to allow the public, media, and lawmakers to review and scrutinize the state budget before a vote is taken.

• 3/5 Supermajority for Tax Increases.  For too many politicians in Springfield, tax increases are a tempting policy "shortcut" for closing gaps in the state budget.  The problem with tax increases is that they strain family budgets and inhibit job creation and economic growth -- all unacceptable outcomes given our state's economic crisis.  In order to protect Illinois families and businesses from unnecessary tax increases -- and to encourage the General Assembly to make more disciplined spending decisions -- I will support a constitutional amendment that would require a 3/5 supermajority vote to pass any legislation that would raise taxes or fees on Illinois families or businesses.

• Reduce the Size of the State Bureaucracy.  We can regain control over our state budget by responsibly reducing the size of the state bureaucracy slowly, over a period of years, by simply not rehiring for certain positions as existing state employees quit or retire.  By reducing the size of the state bureaucracy slowly, we can maintain the current level of service while creating a leaner and more efficient government operation.

• Competitive Bidding.  Illinois should establish an independent, bipartisan commission to identify an inventory of services that could be outsourced to the private sector.  The inventory would be available online and open to public bidding.  Contracts would be awarded if private contractors can provide the services at lower cost and with adequate assurances of timeliness and quality.