Fixing Illinois: politics and policy in the prairie state

201 Pages·2014·6.918 MB·English

by  Johnson, J. Thomas;Nowlan, James Dunlap

Politics and Policy in the Prairie State
James D. Nowlan and J. Thomas Johnson
Fixing illinois

Fixing illinois
Politics and Policy in the Prairie State
James D. nowlan anD J. Thomas Johnson
UniversiTy oF illinois Press
Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield
© 2014 by the Board of Trustees
of the University of Illinois
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
P 5 4 3 2 1
∞ This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014934783
ISBN 978-0-252-07996-2 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-252-09635-8 (e-book)
Contents
List of Illustrations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Acknowledgments .........................................ix
Preface ...................................................xi
Introduction. The Future of Illinois ...........................1
ChaPTer 1. The Changing Faces of Illinois ..................... 7
ChaPTer 2. Fixing Past Budgeting Sins ........................21
ChaPTer 3. Upgrading Education ........................... 39
ChaPTer 4. Improving Human Services and Health Care ........61
ChaPTer 5. Economic Development for Stability .............. 78
ChaPTer 6. Transportation: Maintaining Our
Greatest Strength ............................... 99
ChaPTer 7. Reengineering Our Governments .................117
ChaPTer 8. Corruption in Illinois: An Enduring Tradition ......135
Notes .................................................. 149
Bibliographical Notes .....................................171
Index ...................................................175

illustrations
Tables
1. Illustration of family income ratios, 1970 and 2012 ...........17
2. Public support in Illinois for budget cutting, 2011 ............27
3. Base-broadening revenue increase options ..................37
FigUres
1. Total nonfarm employment growth rate,
January 1990–March 2013 .................................16
2. FY2012 state government revenues, excluding borrowing ......22
3. FY2012 state spending ....................................23
4. State of Illinois net assets, 2002–2011 .......................25
5. Illinois consolidated funds budget gap projections
to FY2025 ..............................................26
6. Miles of bad state roads, FY1998–FY2018 .................. 101
7. Motor fuel tax revenues, FY2002–FY2012 ..................107
8. State funding for transit capital, 1999–2011 .................109
9. “ What’s the Matter with Illinois?”
by J. N. “Ding” Darling ..................................137

acknowledgments
we begin by acknowledging major financial support from the Illinois Fis-
cal Policy Council, the 501(c)(3) education and research affiliate of the
Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois, without which this project would not have
been possible.
David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at South-
ern Illinois University, and Ronald Michaelson, visiting professor of politi-
cal science at the University of Illinois, Springfield, read an early draft of
the manuscript and made numerous important criticisms and suggestions
that have improved the final product significantly. Zachary Stamp and Gary
Koch, both longtime observers of Illinois government and politics, also read
the complete manuscript in draft form and contributed materially to the
final product.
We could not have written the chapter on infrastructure without the
knowledge and guidance of Linda Wheeler, retired director of policy and
planning at the Illinois Department of Transportation, although the recom-
mendations in the chapter, as throughout the book, are the authors’ alone.
Jim Nowlan thanks Len (Rob) Small, president of the Small Newspaper
Group, for permission to draw excerpts from Nowlan’s weekly columns in
that chain of newspapers for inclusion in the book. In addition, Janet Kamerer
and the staff at the Toulon Public Library did a terrific job of procuring books
through interlibrary loan for Jim Nowlan’s use.