Legislature to return to Statehouse, but just what will they do with themselves?

It’s becoming that time of year again when politically observant people get themselves all worked up over the concept of per diem.

As in the living expenses that the state pays its state legislators to cover the cost of them getting a hotel room or renting an apartment so they have some place to live while they are in Springfield doing “the peoples’ business.”

GOV. BRUCE RAUNER wants to put up the appearance of state officials working eagerly to try to reach a budget agreement for state government.

Meaning he said Thursday he’s calling them into a special session of the Legislature. To begin June 21, it would continue every day until the legislators approve a budget plan that can be sent to Rauner for his consideration -- or June 30, the end of the fiscal year (whichever comes first).

News reports about the move go out of their way to include a mention of the per diem payment – which these days totals $111 per day, plus a $0.39 per mile rate for gas mileage reimbursement.

It comes to roughly $40,000 per day, and the tone usually comes across as if THIS is the expense that is going to bust Illinois financially.

NOW BEFORE I go further, I have to confess – I have written the same stories; some two decades ago back when I was a Statehouse reporter-type person. It's not a new theme and it’s easy to calculate. The numbers are small so a reporter-doing-math can’t screw it up, and it gives an overtone of outrage!

Money being wasted as the legislators sit around doing nothing while the governor and legislative leaders continue to quarrel – as most of them have settled into stances by which they need to have the financial stalemate linger on indefinitely.

This really is a situation that will not be resolved until after the November 2018 election cycle where there might be a shift in the political dynamic of Illinois with its Democratic-run Legislature and Republican-run executive branch at loggerheads.

And if there ISN’T a shift, the stalemate has the potential to linger on for years to come. Pretty scary stuff, when you think about it! Although I suspect it will take an action such as the Mega Millions and Powerball lottery games saying they will no longer let Illinois participate in those prizes to catch the attention of the public.

THE REALITY IS that $40,000 is petty change. And the reason the legislators being present doesn’t really mean a lot is because this is a problem caused by the leadership being unable, or unwilling, to budge.

So Rauner can go ahead and call the General Assembly back to duty in Springfield and have them sit around. Unless he is willing to budge on his budgetary stance, nothing will change and it really will be $40,000 or so a day flushed down the toilet bowl of government.

So what is it state officials could contemplate if, and when, they return to Springfield?

There is that budget the Illinois Senate approved, but that the Illinois House of Representatives won’t even consider because they know in their hearts and minds that Rauner will play partisan politics in rejecting.

EARLIER THIS WEEK, Republicans from the Senate AND House offered up their own “seven point plan” that they say is a budget proposal they would be ready to approve and Rauner would sign into law IF ONLY those Democrats would get with the program.

Which has me wondering if a special session is meant to put pressure on Dem legislators to go along so as to put an end to the nearly two years this state has gone without a balanced budget in place. In the end, it’s really about pols trying to make sure the other guy gets the blame for the two years of inactivity we’ve had in Illinois.

This is a big deal because state law doesn’t really allow state government to operate without a budget. It’s only because of the federal courts that some agencies and programs continue to operate, and are spending up a disproportionate share of the funds while others are withering away.

We need to have that written budget dictating how money is spent. Would you really trust your government to have access to taxpayer monies without it? They’d be like the kid who blew their allowance money on candy, then complains they’re broke. Just like some of us will obsess about the per diem while the rest of Illinois burns.

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Does Rauner think only rich need apply?

I suppose it is the money that particularly bothers me about Bruce Rauner being our governor.

RAUNER: Money buys legislative results?

The man is engaged in a battle with the General Assembly over putting together a budget for the fiscal year that almost is over, and it is good to hear him this week talk about the need to tie those talks into discussions over a budget for the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1.

IT WOULD BE pretty stupid to approve a budget for the current fiscal year, only to have the same financial problem recur come summer.

But what got to me was Rauner’s talk about how he wasn’t sure that the discussions could be complete by the time the General Assembly adjourns at the end of May for a summer break.

Not to worry says Rauner. He’s prepared to dig into his own wallet to come up with the cash to keep the Legislature in session (per diem living expenses for the full Legislature totals just under $20,000 per day) until talks could be complete. Because he absolutely does not want taxpayers to have to take on the overtime expenses of keeping the General Assembly in place at the Statehouse in Springfield until action could be taken.

Which won’t be until the governor and legislative leaders come to some agreement that the full Legislature can vote for. Our General Assembly truly has been one of the most useless government bodies while this political stalemate has been ongoing.

I WANT OUR government officials to get their acts together and figure out how to put together the budgets for 2015-16 and 2016-17 and not figure out schemes to try to buy themselves even more time.

Besides, it makes me wonder if our governor seriously believes that if he’s paying the tab for a special session, he has the right to demand it’s outcome.

Maybe he thinks he gets a “money back guarantee” if the General Assembly comes up with the “wrong” solution. He can return it and force them to come up with the measure he wants.

Which in Rauner’s case is a whole series of measures whose purpose is meant to undermine the authority of organized labor within state government.

ADMITTEDLY, THE MAN campaigned on that very premise back when he ran for governor in 2014. Nobody should be surprised that this is the way the man feels. He may even have a significant segment of Illinois’ populace willing to give him such a government.

But they wouldn’t be a majority, as evidenced by the fact that the Democratic majorities in the Illinois House and state Senate aren’t exactly facing backlashes for their opposition to Rauner during the past 10 months.

If our governor truly believes he can “buy” the results he wants on government, that truly is despicable. It’s not quite bribery – but it comes across as someone who thinks his wealth entitles him to order people about.

Which may well be what is most irritating about the concept of the Republican presidential campaign of Donald Trump – who acts as though he can bark orders at people and be entitled to meek compliance.

WHICH IS SOMETHING our legislators definitely haven’t given to Rauner.

But we do need a budget in place. It means the labor talks really do need to wait for a future year – particularly if Rauner is capable of such wealth that he could alter the Legislature’s composition to be more favorable to his desires.

Because if Democrats wind up losing influence and Rauner gains, it becomes their own fault. If they really have public support, they’ll keep their influence.

Rauner trying to “buy” a special session would be more frustrating to him than just trying to get more Republicans in the General Assembly.

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