Metro East Sun

Hal Patton would like to see lawmakers in Springfield put themselves in the shoes of the common man a little more often.

“As a state we need to make sure that every penny that is taken from taxpayers is spent wisely, as if it was their own,” Patton told the Metro East Sun. “The state of Illinois has been taking more and more of citizens' hard earned money.”

Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) finds that more than a fair share of it hasn’t always gone to good use, in particular the more than $100 million in wasteful spending that counts as part of the state’s newly passed, record-setting state spending plan.  

Rachelle Aud Crowe

Riddled with such itemizations as $13.1 million for an arts council chaired by the wife of Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan to pork projects that include $10 million to rehabilitate Chicago’s privately owned Uptown Theatre, the institute pegs overall waste in state government at the aforementioned levels and perhaps even rising.

All of it comes at a time when state taxpayers are saddled with the second highest property tax rates in the country, a driving factor in the increasing number of residents making the decision to put Illinois in their rear-view mirror.

Overall, state taxpayers now pay one of the highest combined tax burdens in the country, including a 2.29 percent median property tax rate, also the second highest among all states.

Currently, Illinois has experienced four straight years of population decline and a recent Center for State Policy and Leadership at the University of Illinois Springfield and NPR Illinois survey found more than half of residents across the state express a desire for leaving, with taxes being their primary gripe.

“Municipalities in Illinois have been raising property taxes over and over again in many cases because of inadequate state funding of education and unfunded mandates,” said Patton, running against Democrat Rachelle Aud Crowe on the Downstate Unity Party ticket in the 56th District. “Citizens are being taxed out of their homes and it's time that stops.”

IPI reports at the heart of Illinois’ wasteful ways are structural problems that include lifetime health care guarantees for state workers and an unsustainable pension benefits system.

Over nearly the last two decades, spending on government workers' pensions (663 percent increase) and employee health insurance (215 percent) has far outpaced all other spending, according to the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget.

“The core government programs should always be the priority,” Patton added. “If we can provide a good education, transportation, and healthcare for those in need we will have a prosperous state and can look at more optional programs. Until we’re in that position though we need to look at ways the state can save money and get out of debt.”

All the waste doesn’t end with pensions and healthcare. Data shows state and local governments account for an additional $97 million in frivolous spending, a figure that excludes school districts, which make up one of the largest single items in the state budget.

“Balancing the budget and making a full pension payment should be the number one priority of lawmakers right now,” Patton added. “This state has gone too long without a balanced budget and it stunts our growth. The taxpayers have elected them to do their job and its time we have legislators that are serious about balancing the budget.”

The 56th Senate District includes Jersey, Madison and St. Clair counties.