North Cook News

In light of a recent bombshell report showing up to $100 million in annual state government waste, state House candidate Katy Dolan Baumer said the figure confirmed a long-held belief.

“As I have contended all along, Illinois has a spending problem, not a revenue problem,” she told North Cook News in an interview. “Frankly, I never understood how a body could pass a faulty budget (one that doesn’t really balance), then keep adding programs and squeezing the money out of the budget to pay for them.”

The Illinois Policy Institute’s report shows a mixture of pet projects and what it calls “wasteful spending” that fails to fulfill a “legitimate purpose of government.”

Fred Crespo | https://fredcrespo.com/

Some examples include $24 million to promote bike riding, $75,000 toward promoting golf for youth, and just over $13 million toward an arts council panned for “misusing taxpayer funds.”

Baumer said taxpayers should demand accountability by their legislators when it comes to the budget.

“Let’s examine what we are spending the money on and see where it can be trimmed,” she said. “More importantly, we have to determine if we are serving the greatest number of residents, without duplication by the other governmental units, agencies and charitable organizations.”

But she advised lawmakers to scrutinize spending plans versus statewide benefits.

“Is a ball field covered with special grass a benefit to the community, or only to a few who use that field?” she said. “My opponent (Rep. Fred Crespo) seemed to think that providing grass was more important than providing a balanced budget, better schools or lower taxes!”

Baumer and Crespo will compete on Nov. 6 for the District 44 House seat, representing part of the Chicago metro area, Elgin, and Hanover and Schaumburg townships.