Reitz: Paying past due bills should have priority over new spending

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Furthering his efforts to reform the state's budgeting process, state Rep. Dan Reitz (D-Steeleville) is co-sponsoring a measure that would require any state revenue that comes in above budgeted levels to be used to pay off the mountain of unpaid bills owed to human services providers, municipalities and schools.

"The state has a lot of work to do in order to restore fiscal responsibility," Reitz said. "Many businesses and human service organizations are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy because of the extremely late payments they receive from the state. If we happen to collect more revenue than we plan for in the budget, we should use those funds to pay off past due bills and not use them to expand state spending that is unrelated to public safety."

Under House Resolution 158, if the actual amount of state revenue for the 2012 fiscal year exceeds the amount projected, then that excess shall first be used to reduce the backlog of unpaid state obligations. The measure was approved by the Illinois House of Representatives on Thursday.

This resolution works in conjunction House Resolution 110, which codifies the estimate of revenues available for state spending determined by the Legislature's new budgeting reform process. The measure sets the final revenue estimate at just over $33 billion to spend over the next fiscal year. The number proposed in the measure is about $760 million less than the Governor's budget office estimates and about $1.7 billion less than the projection of the state's Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.

"The state has gotten into the habit of spending money that it does not have and making promises that it cannot keep, and it is time for that to change," Reitz said. "My constituents want to see a major change in the way Springfield creates a state budget, and this new way of setting spending caps and ensuring we pay down the state's debt is something we have needed for decades. Just like the families and businesses I represent, I am committed to living within our means and not spending money that isn't there."

Reitz represents all or parts of St. Clair, Monroe, Randolph and Perry counties. For more information on House Resolution 158, contact his constituent service office at (618) 443-5757.