could be a while

http://m.sj-r.com/article/20151002/NEWS/151009904

Rauner: Illinois budget standoff ‘could go on for a while’

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (File/AP)
By Sara Burnett, The Associated Press
Posted Oct 2, 2015 at 3:14 PM
Updated Oct 2, 2015 at 7:14 PM



EFFINGHAM — Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner says the standoff over a state budget "could go on for a while" but his administration is prepared to continue managing state finances without one.

The Republican spoke Friday following a manufacturing expo in Effingham.

He says he remains committed to getting Democrats to approve some of his pro-business agenda. He repeated that if Democrats don't want to work with him, they can balance the budget — by passing a tax increase — without his support.

Illinois is in its fourth month without a state budget.

Democrats say they oppose Rauner's agenda because it hurts vulnerable residents and the middle class.

Some lawmakers have suggested he call legislators to Springfield for a special session. But Rauner says he won't do that because it costs too much.

 

I got a phone call this morning from a friend was was asked to leave the facility (WSRC) last week, they were told that shooting and camping has been shut down"Until Farther Notice" by the person who requested they leave ... They usually stay until they head south for the winter and were not pleased by having to pack up and vacate the property ... They said there were several camping spots open all around where they were camping for the entire time they were there ... They were asked if they were going to renew their lease option and they told them that they would think about it and file the paper work well in advance of the dead line ... They said this morning they do not think there will be a shoot there next year from what they could tell and a lot of people were very short when they asked about it while they were staying there ... I can see how the place can lose money, these people have been there for several months on and off all summer and never got questioned once they told them they had a 10 year lease and they can be there because of that lease ... The motor home they have runs on a 50 AMP service plus sewer and water for the time they have been there and they were never told they had to pay additional camping fees after the grand, that don't even make sense ... Got to wonder how many people just stayed and enjoyed life for next to nothing while the bills went to the facility ..? Does anyone know if this is possible or did they just get over looked and took advantage of never being questioned about being there ..? I was asked to not mention their name and will not because I told them I wouldn't but I do not think that is right to stay and not pay ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

Like a boil on a donkey's butt. It will be there next year and the year after. Next year we may be arguing about the same thing. We will do it until there is no one left.

 

http://www.pantagraph.com/news/opin...cle_c96659d4-c108-5145-ad35-870280853272.html

Editorial: Museum closing illustrates Illinois' budget mess


While some folks are bemoaning the closing of the Illinois State Museum, in at least a couple of ways the museum illustrates the state’s budget problem.

There is a lot to like at the museum and its attraction is understandable.

But there are two points to be made about the museum and the state budget.

First, this budget stalemate would likely be resolved by now if more state facilities closed when the folks in the state capital don’t do their job. So far only the museum, the boondoggle known as the World Shooting and Recreation Complex in Sparta and a prison work camp in Hardin County have closed. The state employees in those facilities have remained at work because of a court dispute.

Although there have been other, more serious, complications from the lack of a state budget, it’s hard to argue the stalemate has created problems for too many Illinois residents.

That’s because most state business continues without a budget. The secretary of state’s licensing offices are still open, the parks are open, residents can still apply for hunting and fishing permits, etc.

Although it would be difficult, imagine how legislators and Gov. Bruce Rauner would respond if the state shut down without a budget. Imagine the closing of offices, employees being told not to come to work and the multitude of licensing agencies shutting down. It would take days, maybe only hours, before residents made it clear that a budget compromise was necessary.

Since state spending has gone on virtually unchanged, it’s easy for both sides to refuse to compromise.

The other point we would make about the museum is that it should be more self-supporting. The museum doesn’t charge admission and basically relies on state funding for its operation.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

There are museums all over the country that are financed by private donations, admission fees, and, at times, government grants and subsidies. The Illinois State Museum may never be able to divorce itself totally from state funding, but charging admission would be a constructive first step.

And, unlike the Illinois State Fair and DuQuoin State Fair, many state fairs aren’t subsidized by state government at all. For example, the Texas State Fair is its own nonprofit and operates with little or no government funding.

Illinois' state government is vast in large part because residents and taxpayers have allowed it to become that way. One way out of this financial mess is for the state to actually do less. Museums and state fairs are a good place to start.
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http://www.rebootillinois.com/2015/...uld-apply-to-bruce-rauner-mike-madigan/46478/


A paragraph from the above article:

"As things stand now, it’s conceivable that we’ll ring in New Year’s Day 2016 with unpaid bills on the order of $8.5 billion, according to Comptroller Leslie Geissler Munger’s estimate. That will leave six months in the budget year to pay off the debt unless Rauner wants to follow his predecessors’ examples and push those bills into next year or borrow to pay them down."

 

"the boondoggle known as the World Shooting and Recreation Complex in Sparta" ... that is funny.

boon·dog·gle

North Americaninformal
noun
noun: boondoggle; plural noun: boondoggles

1.
work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of having value.
"writing off the cold fusion phenomenon as a boondoggle best buried in literature"
a public project of questionable merit that typically involves political patronage and graft.
"they each drew $600,000 in the final months of the great boondoggle"

verb
verb: boondoggle; 3rd person present: boondoggles; past tense: boondoggled; past participle: boondoggled; gerund or present participle: boondoggling

1.
waste money or time on unnecessary or questionable projects.

Now let some no-name aspiring attorney/politician, wanting to make a name for themselves, file suit against the ATA using the "but for" test. The place was built "for" the ATA using false data. And, "but for" the ATA the place would not be there. The ATA could not financially stand the endless legal pursuit of some aspiring politician.

They should 'bow-out' before it gets worse in the media. "Year-round" vendors need to get off the gift-horse, it just broke all four legs.

 

I sure hope the ATA didn't have to pony up the money beforehand to buy the camp site lease rights on that place for the next ??? years.

They would really be taking this on the chin as far as future rentals go if the place doesn't open again.