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Illinois Issues
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Editor's Notebook: Illinois Issues offers a few talking points for the coming months

Peggy Boyer Long
WUIS/Illinois Issues

Now that the primary campaigns are behind them, state officials, and potential state officials, might turn their attention to the more complex matter of governance.They’ll face plenty of challenges this spring, certainly, some more pressing than others. 

They’ll need to agree, most particularly, on ways to stretch a declining number of public dollars over an increasing number of public needs. That’ll be tough enough.

Still — and we’re optimists at Illinois Issues — this could be the right time for some forward thinking. So this month, we’ve compiled a short reader on policy questions that could have long-term consequences for the state, and some talking points for the coming months.

  • Economic development. A California-based consulting firm reported to the state Department of Commerce and Community Affairs that Illinois has 10 “high potential niche industries that offer major growth potential,” including financial services, telecommunications and biotechnology. But that same report notes that Illinois hasn’t benefited as much as other states in the growth of the so-called “gazelle” industries, especially biotechnology. By not moving ahead fast enough in cutting-edge technologies, Illinois could be falling behind. Aaron Chambers assesses, beginning on page 14, some reasons that might be, and some ways in which government could foster an entrepreneurial culture. The possible payoffs: jobs and revenue.
  • Rail transportation. Chicago has always been a hub for freight and passenger rail service. Today, Union Station is the fourth-busiest Amtrak passenger station in the nation. Of the 19 long-distance routes operated by the company, 11 terminate in that city. But as Congress prepares to debate reauthorization of the publicly subsidized passenger rail com-pany, Amtrak is fighting for survival. Charlie Schlenker writes in his article on fast trains, which begins on page 18, that the political controversies surrounding Amtrak “could further decelerate the pace of high speed rail planning.” The results of this federal debate could be bad news for Illinois. Daniel C. Vock reports, beginning on page 21, that state subsidies can help. Indeed, Illinois shells out $10.3 million a year to subsidize some passenger rail routes. But he also suggests Amtrak might want to pick up a few tips on politics, financing and operations from the Chicago region’s Metra, Illinois’ other major passenger rail service.
  • Social welfare. Illinois has made measurable improvements in the lives of this state’s children. More of them from low-income families have medical coverage, thanks to state and federal programs. State support for childcare has gone up, too. And Gov. George Ryan wants to extend spending on kids’ medical coverage to their families in the coming budget year. He also would increase state payment levels to families under the federally restructured welfare program and fund development of a preschool program for all 3- and 4-year-olds. But Maura Webber argues, beginning on page 24, that some proposed state budget cuts will hit low-income families hard. “The irony is that a slowing econ-omy has put pressure on governments to pull back funding on social service programs just as working-poor families face a soft job market that makes assistance more important than ever,” she writes. “And this threatens to erode the advances in public policy that have given children from Illinois’ low-income families a better chance to succeed.”
  • Education finance. We offer some new perspectives on this old issue. Kristy Eckert writes (page 28) that amid a general shortage, minority teachers, who are more mobile, are most in demand. Kevin McDermott writes (page 29) that the state hopes to bring “more teachers into the system by making it harder to become one.” John Patterson writes (page 30) that property tax caps have forced some suburban schools to use fancy accounting methods.
  • Global warming. Predicting the weather is dicey without calculating the impact of greenhouse gases; figuring out what to do about it is even trickier. But James Krohe Jr. suggests in his essay, beginning on page 32, that Illinois government might want to wait out this developing problem for awhile. 

Illinois Issues, April 2002

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