The Road to Recovery for the State of Illinois - Research Paper Example

? Number] The Road to Recovery for the of Illinois Illinois is the fifth most populous and 25thmost extensive state of the United States of America. It is a small state but it possesses great importance in America. President Obama fought his election while living in Chicago that is one of the busiest cities of Illinois. The state often called microcosm for the entire country has been facing time of serious crisis since the financial recession that destroyed its economy in 2007. There are many other states that have not recovered fully or partially from the recession aftermaths and Illinois is also among them. It has been facing crisis since last few years. The governor and authorities are striving to take the state out of the critical situation but things is not that much easy. Illinois? is facing many crises at present. In fact there is a cluster of crisis including jobs, energy, pension issue, education etc. The Governor of the state Pat Quinn is currently fighting with all these issues and he has also proposed some changes for the improvement of the situation. He has introduced some plans for the betterment of economic landscape, human rights, employment conditions and extra funding for education etc. Financial situation of the state is not stable at all and it has created many problems for every single person living in the state. Governor has proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2013 and that budget actually has a depth of solving these issues by having around $58 billion. He thinks that this budget will put Illinois on the road to recovery and it will be recovered soon by such turmoil. Structural reforms are proposed for pension system of the state and Medicaid program (Quinn 22). The journey of the state towards recovery highly depends upon the leadership. The leadership having the capability of taking difficult decisions with confidence and with optimistic approach can overcome the issues being faced by the state. Unfortunately people of Illinois have been waiting for long for such decisions but now the right time is there and the leadership is taking critical decisions that are important for the fiscal recovery of the state. The budget proposed by Governor has everything that is needed to cater the magnitude of crisis faced by the state. Quinn proposed budget gained appreciation and importance in people eyes because he has demonstrated that he doesn’t believe in borrowing money because it ultimately puts pressure on the state. Borrowing will lead to reserved surplus and problem will be transfer to next years. Medicaid Program is the important step taken towards the recovery of the state. The program aims to support the under-privileged class through so that they can get access to healthcare facilities and medication. The current funding is not fully curtailed but it is not appropriate. If borrowing happens then Medicaid budget will be underfunded up to $2.6 billion. Proposed budget will overcome the funding gap by bringing changes for instance; repayment rate would decrease for healthcare provider and tax on cigarette would be much higher. Crises are severe and it is believed that proposed changes are appropriate enough to take the state to the next level easily with plan and strategy (Bunch and Beverley 57). Without a cost cutting plan, Assembly would not approve this budget because if funding of the state for Medicaid program get ignored then it will put burden of $5billion and the next fiscal year will be full of crisis. Quinn has proposed to handle the cost of pension system that will consume 20% fund in next fiscal year. Programs that are not funded and are acting as a liability on state will not be a burden anymore and he has also asked employees and tax payers to contribute for taking the state out of this situation. Quinn is optimistic in solving these problems but civic federation still has concerns regarding this approach because according to them pain taken from previous years is not that much easy. In 2010, Quinn proposed more than 15billion dollars to reduce the debt because it was the best choice for him. The unpaid bills were growing and pressure was increasing on tax givers. He also asked to initiate debt bond; though this idea is weird to some extent but according to governor it will ease the pressure by paying back. General Assembly has estimated that around $34billion are required and this amount is comparatively less than Quinn. So, this is a fight that whom proposal carries more weight. Quinn has also proposed fund budget which later will be discussed here but crux of that budget says that around 25billion will be spent on public. Again assembly has proposed much less budget for public services (Christopher 107) President of civic federation is seriously concerned about the issues of Illinois and he says that Governor and Assembly must take responsibility now and deal it with full concentration. Trends which pension and Medicaid are currently showing will only lead to disaster and nothing else. Spending has to be slowed down because the unpaid bills are up to $9.5 billion. If pension cost is thought to be increased in future then it will stuck the load. Due to inappropriate funding, investment in Illinois went down and unfunded liabilities are putting more burden. It is also believed that deficit would be increasing up to $8 billion and will put a burden on state budget. Quinn is socially very active now for the second turn. In 2009, he launched a website that has a detailed budget of 2010 and also proposed budget for coming fiscal year. It is visible to everyone on the website as he has now believed in making things transparent because people are now more concerned about the policy making and decisions. Evaluation and monitoring is the most difficult thing and government is trying hard to cater it well. So, loopholes never make their vision blur. Expenditures of the cities and schools are also visible in that website and the employee’s salaries are also mentioned. Talking about the stimulus, Illinois has got $6.3billion in federal funding. Quinn is acting more sensibly and responsibly now. He has signed a bill for accountability where he can be held accountable for every misinterpretation or any false statement. Funding is very important to get the Illinois back on the ground. Governor proposed plan has insisted public employee to work more for less money. Pension benefits will not be same as they used to be because the proposed funding plan will cut the cost and at the time of retirement people will have to give away the state health benefit or person will have the choice to go for that thing which is suitable to both parties. State has to be treated just like a family this is what Quinn’s believe, he has strived hard and worked for the betterment of society. Under this proposal there are few clauses which are to be agreed by employees. For example, employees have to give more percentage to the pension funds plan and every year increase in living cost will not be entertained. This will ease the state by not relying on borrowing. Rather the state will take money from its own people that ultimately will be spent on people. Proposed plan also talks about the eligibility of full retirement but people who are already enjoying the retirement life will not be affected by new reforms which Governor is bringing to the state. Quinn is taking the steps necessary for the growth of the state. Most of the steps are expected to generate results very slowly but taking such steps is important for the state and his actions are also being acknowledged as a bold step. Quinn is a hope for the citizens of Illinois or he is the only one left who is much more responsible. Somebody asked Quinn that why you are taking such steps? His answer was wise and appreciable that ‘I was born to do this’. Quinn has not contributed in creating these problems in fact he is the light in the darkness. Employees union are disturbed by his proposed funding plan and they are considering it totally unconstitutional and lame act by cutting benefits. Other politicians are supporting unions that at one side there is a fire and on the other side there is a lake and Quinn is insisting them to jump into these choices which is not fair at all for the employees. Senators are considering this plan as a breach of constitution, they believe that pension fund is a promise between employees and government and no third party can breach this promise. God knows about their plans for the state; whether they are selfish or concerned, leave this matter to Almighty. Michael Madigan has considered this unconstitutional and is worried that if majority passes this bill in assembly then things will be totally different in near future and employees will be exploited. Quinn believes that his actions will save up to 90 billion and till 2042, Illinois will be able to fund each and everything itself. Every year new contributions will be piled up and calculated according to new funding plan and time is not so far when savings will be coming in huge amounts. Action speaks louder than words and this is the name of the game for Quinn, time is critical, decisions are important, people are against and reformation of state is ready to be introduced. This is a perfect situation for a man who has a vision to get his country, state, and place back to prosperity. He is also planning to shift the onus of funding teachers and employees of the institutions pension to state level universities and district level schools. He is thinking fast and hopefully these dreams will come true (Bell 67). Some of the Republican leaders are in favour of Quinn plan for the recovery of Illinois apart from the cost control issue. As stated above it is a bold step by Quinn and he will definitely get votes for it. Shifting onus of funding teachers from university to district level institutes will increase the property tax in near future up to billion dollars. Quinn has taken this concern serious and asked his management to counter this issue by coming up with a better recommendations. Funding state by cutting cost is a good approach but increasing the retirement age may result in a harmful expedition. Teacher retirement system is very critical because normally state employees do not pay after retirement for their health but TRS employees do. TRS is putting their focus in analyzing the plan of Quinn that how he will generate savings? Spokesperson of TRS has also appealed to pension funding law to look in to this matter. He thinks choice is based on the individual. Plan is more towards atomization because funding will be generated efficiently without getting extra attention and payments will be on time. According to Quinn if someone goes for the other choice than the current ongoing option would be getting subsidized rate on health care and that is the best answer for their concerns. On the other hand, people are frustrated because some wanted to retire at 62, some wanted to retire at 60 but now their plans are messed up and they have to work till 67 but nothing can be said as everyone is being hurt under these crisis and someone has to take bold decisions to take their countrymen out of this turmoil and put the state back on recovery. Moving on to the stimulus data for the plan of recovery, American recovery and reinvestment will provide opportunities to the state of Illinois and they will be getting economic stimulus in next couple of years. Pat Quinn has launched a website which is totally devoted to recovery plan of Illinois. Where each and every plan of Quinn is stated clearly, his plan is to invest in education, safety of people, energy, job creation, and infrastructure etc. Economic crisis has taken people to the down level. Downsizing and benefit snatching resulted in this crisis. Proposed plan talks about education that stimulus package will provide funding of 3 to 4 billion dollars to schools of Illinois and a billion dollar for ongoing operations and programs for example: special education, more than $55billion will be allocated to education. Investment is energy will be around $47billion. Research and development will consume a required chunk because renewable energy, alternative programs, efficient machinery and modernization of practices are required, then only Illinois will retain back its position which was in 2007 or back then (Bell 75). Stimulus data shows that Quinn is very keen in investing in people and he is very energetic in creating jobs. In his speeches he has promised that he will create more than 1.5million jobs in next 3 years and which is quite appropriate. Recovery plan also talks about cleaning of weapons from the state as it has increased the crime rate in Illinois and it is a hurdle on the road to recovery. Around $65billion will be spent on health care and Medicaid percentage have been increased up to 62% because people have serious concerns regarding Medicaid and Quinn is doing his job successfully with full commitment. Proposed Recovery plan estimates that more than $4billion will be spent on state security, apart from that crime prevention, domestic violence and other programs will also be introduced to make the state a better place as it was before. Resources of Illinois are fishing, hunting, coastal management, coal, mining, petroleum and agriculture. Natural resources are in abundance and there are also endangered species in Illinois. Land is fertile and full of colours; the only thing required is leadership. Pat Quinn is now considered to be an unpopular leader because it is the campaign of Quinn to be re-elected and previous promises were not up to the par. It is said often when the new election campaign starts, leaders promise that they will bring change next time because for the previous session they were trying to clean the garbage which was spread by the previous government. But now people are fed up as they are the ultimate stakeholders who suffer. Education, pension plan, job all are the issues which are faced by a common man. Taxes are when imposed on people their standard of life goes down. Economists believe that Illinois will lose billion dollars in federal revenue if consensus didn’t happen early between Obama and congress (Emily 98). There is a situation of chaos among people because time is ready to bring up another recession on ground and that will be devastating for the people of Illinois. Everyone has an eye on democrat Obama that what will be his next step? Obama has a close association with Chicago, Illinois and that has also grasped attraction of expert’s that what will be the next step? On the other hand Republicans are doing best to give away the idea to tax increase. Illinois is full of problems currently pension deficit, Medicaid are the issues which also require money. Experts also say that Illinois would be losing around $750million dollars in security. Reduce spending is the best choice and this is also in Pat Quinn proposed campaign. The Road to recovery of Illinois is a long journey but it is not a smooth thing. Time is required and claims by officials rarely come true because for the sake of taking votes and to please people they promise thousand of things to people but when the time of delivery come, they run away and all promises go in vain. Pat Quinn is doing re-campaign for the upcoming elections but now people have lost trust on him and he is considered to be the unpopular and worst Governor of all time since he has not delivered what he said in last election. Budget of Illinois is the most important thing for the progress because Illinois major issue is financial crises. Economic growth has also taken a slow approach from November 2012 and obviously it is not good for the Illinois and its people. To conclude this paper of road to recovery few recommendations are required. Governor should put his focus on saving plan which he has proposed earlier or if any other governor comes, steps are same with little amendment because ultimately it is for the benefit of the state and their own people. So, little amendment might be required for the action plan otherwise proposed budget, action on pension scheme, Medicaid reform, security, education, retirement plan all are the things which are necessary for the state to help Illinois back in form and stable condition (Baughman 23). The road to recovery is a tough thing for Illinois as from the last 4 years state is going through many odds and leaders are not doing justice to the state. But recently Obama has won the election and he is there for the next years and Chicago is a home city for him. Governor is there and under supervision collectively they can bring the Illinois out of this condition. In the end it is hoped that in next 4 years Illinois will show such progress which will be commendable by every single eye who has ever wished for the better and prosperous Illinois for Illinoisans. Work Cited Baughman, Christopher, and Adrian M. Velazquez. Alternatives to Illinois’ Budget Deficit: An Analysis of Proposed Solutions by Gubernatorial Candidates, Elected Officials, and Public Policy Organizations. 2011. Print. Bell, Finley F. "The Illinois Budget." The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (1915): 73-84. Print. . Bunch, Beverly S. "Budget deficits in the states: Illinois." Public Budgeting & Finance 30.1 (2010): 105-129. Print Leonard, Charles, Ryan P. Burge, and Emily Carroll. "The Movement of Opinion toward Spending Cuts, Revenue Increases, and Political Reform in Illinois: Results and Analysis of the Fourth Annual Simon Poll." (2012). Print. Quinn, Pat. Pat Quinn Governor, 2010, Print. Read More