Progress Illinois

Be sure to read the Chicago Sun-Times' lead editorial this morning on Illinois' budget deficit, in which the paper comes out in favor of a "substantial" income tax increase and echoes themes you've read on our site for months:

Even with massive budget cuts, substantial government restructuring and pension reform, there is no way to balance the state budget -- and maintain quality schools, social supports and other vital services -- without a major influx of new revenue. lllinois' 3 percent income tax rate, you'll recall, is among the lowest in the country. The overall tax burden for Illinois residents, as a percentage of personal income, also is among the lowest in the country.

The editors also lament how Gov. Pat Quinn "backed himself into a corner" when he promised to veto any tax increase larger than 1 percent. By dropping his emphasis on fundamental tax reform and offering "a measly compromise" this past March, Quinn left himself with few weapons to tackle what's turned out to be a massive crisis.

Last week, officials at the state's Department of Healthcare and Family Services unveiled new details about a plan to enroll approximately 38,000 elderly and disabled Medicaid beneficiaries from Northeastern Illinois in a private managed care organization (MCO). While around 150,000 residents take advantage of the state's voluntary HMO-style system, this is the first time in which the state has made enrollment for any of its patients mandatory.

This pilot program should give policymakers a good sense of how effective this strategy is at providing adequate care and controlling costs. But Republicans -- who are so hell bent on privatizing the effective state-run managed care system that they've inflated its cost-cutting potential to sell the idea -- shouldn't jump the gun. "We would hate to see the state gamble on capitated care for all, or even most, Medicaid patients," the Sun-Times editorial board writes, "at the expense of programs that already work."

In her column this weekend, the Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet lays much of the blame for the Scott Lee Cohen debacle at the feet of House Speaker and Illinois Democratic Party Chairman Michael Madigan, writing that he is doing "an awful job" in the latter post.  "Unlike every other state party chairman in the nation," she adds, "Madigan refuses to run a viable statewide political organization."  To learn more about how Madigan refuses to devote party resources to anything but his own narrow interests, read our previous posts on the matter.