Metro East Sun

As an accountant, state Rep. Amy Elik (R-Fosterburg) knows about money, and when she sees the way the state of Illinois handles its finances, she doesn’t like it.

Responsible fiscal leadership, “something that state of Illinois has been lacking for many years,” she said in a recent news conference.

It’s a big component of the Reimagine Illinois initiative launched by Republican House members.

“Imagine a state of Illinois where leaders take their fiscal responsibility seriously, watching every penny instead of raising taxes, increasing spending and piling up debt, year after year,” she said. “Imagine if Illinois actually adopted responsible fiscal leadership that requires all budgets to be balanced.”

Years of unbalanced budgets and wasteful spending have left Illinois with “the worst budget in the nation,” she said.

Responsible fiscal leadership requires budgets to be balanced, she said. 

“Imagine is Illinois mandated transparency in budgeting,” she said. “We could put a stop to reckless spending by providing the public with at least a three-day notice before the legislature approves the state budget.”

Currently, budgets are adopted in just a few hours, Elik said. 

“All spending bills should have a process in place to allow the public more time to review and provide input,” she said. “The current process is broken.”

The state’s pension funding also needs to be reformed, Elik said.

“Imagine an Illinois that saves our pension system by actually paying down the pension debt created by decades of underfunding,” the legislator said. “The pension crisis continues to grow, crowding out essential services including state finances.”

Adopting responsible fiscal leadership would allow Illinois to climb out of debt, and “stop asking the taxpayers to do more with less,” Elik said.

State Rep. Charlie Meier (R-Okawville) called on the state to reduce regulations and red tape on businesses. 

“Illinois has a lot of assets in terms of creating jobs across the state,” he said. “We need to eliminate countless regulations and red tape and allow job creators a chance to grow and freedom to be flexible.”