Tom Cross Knows A Balanced Budget Is Key To Illinois Turnaround

Tom Cross, who is running in the race for the Illinois State Treasurer against our favorite punching bag latex salesman Mike Frerichs knows the first place he'd start to get Illinois back on the right track: an honest, balanced budget.

"I think that it is critical that we turn this state around," Cross said. "We have to start with balancing the budget. The Constitution mandates that we have a balanced budget and, because we haven't had a balanced budget, we have $4 (billion) to $5 (billion) to $6 billion dollars of unpaid bills and last year, we spent $300 million in late fees and penalties to anyone who provides services to the state. 

"I think balancing the budget is a lynch pin to the recovery of the state," he said. "I believe the treasurer has a duty to enforce that provision of the Constitution. They only have so much money to spend and if they do spend more, I have a duty to go to court to enforce the Constitution."

If you agree with Tom Cross and want to join his fight, go sign the letter to the Governor and legislators that demands we have an honest, balanced budget every year!

How To Solve Illinois' Credit Problems? It Starts With Balancing The Budget

More bad news for Illinois taxpayers as Standard & Poor's downgraded Illinois credit outlook to 'negative' and pointed to an unbalanced budget as the reason.

That means that the state's credit rating could be downgraded within the next two years unless its finances improve, S&P said. A lower credit rating translates into higher borrowing costs.

How do we solve this? It starts with balancing the state's budget. Sounds easy, right?
Illinois Treasurer's Candidate Tom Cross has been pushing to force the State of Illinois to balanced the budget every year.

“The unbalanced budget approved by the Quinn/Frerichs team is the primary reason behind Standard & Poor’s downgrading Illinois’ credit outlook to negative. Standard & Poor’s identified the state budget as ‘not structurally balanced and will contribute to growing deficits and payables that will likely pressure the state’s liquidity.’ 

The Quinn/Frerichs budget was completely irresponsible, including $500,000 in legislative pay raises, $10 million in funding for a private Chicago theater and other outrageously wasteful and unnecessary spending. I opposed this unbalanced budget as I believed it violated the state constitution and if I am fortunate enough to be elected as Treasurer, my first act will be to challenge the legality of this budget.”

You can join the legion of Illinois voters by standing with politicians like Tom Cross who are demanding an #honestbalancedbudget by visiting http://www.honestbalancedbudget.com/ and signing the letter.

Tom Cross - Candidate For Treasurer - Calls for Honest, Balanced Budget from Governor Pat Quinn

In a piece titled "One Bold Solution", Illinois Candidate for State Treasurer Tom Cross has called on Governor Pat Quinn to deliver during his budget address today.  Tom Cross has been vocal in calling for what he calls an "honest balanced budget".  He has a letter up asking for citizens to join his campaign to demand the Governor and Legislature deliver a balanced budget.  You can go sign the letter at honestbalancedbudget.com.

From the One Bold Solution piece on Tom Cross' site:

Three years ago, Democrats – namely Governor Pat Quinn– promised us that when they raised our taxes they would use that money to pay our backlog of bills. Three years later, the 67 percent tax increase has chased thousands of jobs out of Illinois, but our unpaid bills still remain at over $7 billion.

What’s the real impact of a billion dollar deficit and the unpaid bills? Social service agencies don’t receive funding and they reduce their workload, jobs are lost, and taxpayers pay late payments which totaled $318 million last year alone.
The impact of this mismanagement isn’t just about numbers, it’s affecting people and Illinois’ future. We were told that the tax increase would allow for greater investments in education and safety net programs for those who most need our help. Yet now we face a budget that seeks deep cuts to those very same programs.

...We must put a stop this cycle of weak leadership and poor decisions that penalize citizens. 

As Governor Quinn unveils his budget address, it is my sincere hope that the numbers are real, the budget assumptions are sound and spending decisions are responsible and reflect the priorities of taxpayers. And most importantly, that he proposes a balanced budget.
But if this budget is built on gimmicks, false assumptions and bad math, then it should be immediately rejected. We simply cannot afford any more bad decisions. 

Illinois is craving results that positively and meaningfully impact people’s lives. That begins right now with having an honestly balanced budget.