Why does Kyle McCarter want to rob local governments?

I see two problems with Senator Kyle McCarter’s so-called “budget plan” that he touted in a recent letter.

First, he tries to solve state problems by raiding local government resources and dumping the state’s responsibilities on local taxpayers.

That’s not fair. The state should solve the state’s problems.

For instance, under McCarter’s plan, the state would keep and spend the income tax money that now goes to local governments. McCarter’s plan takes $133,000 from Alton. Edwardsville would be out $108,000 under the McCarter plan, and Collinsville would be shorted $103,000.

Those are just a few examples of cuts that would likely lead to higher property taxes or devastating cuts to services and public safety.

Maybe Senator McCarter thinks mayors and communities in his area have too much money and aren’t capable of managing funds. But I’m not going to stand by and let McCarter raid the metro-east to solve Springfield’s problems.

At the same time, McCarter would stick local school districts, community colleges and public universities with the state’s pension costs, saddling them with billions of dollars in debts. That’s called a “cost shift” and it’s the idea Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan came up with a few years ago. I didn’t realize McCarter had joined the ranks of Madigan minions.

As bad as that is, there is a bigger problem with Senator McCarter’s plan: Where is it?

At one time, I proudly served this region as state’s attorney. I heard all kinds of claims and allegations and we had to sort out the truth by finding actual evidence.

And for the life of me, I can’t find that Senator McCarter actually filed a budget plan that does any of the things he claims. All I find are press releases and news conference videos.

Well, it’s going to take more than hot air to keep Illinois afloat.

If Senator McCarter has a real plan, I’d suggest he really file it so we can weigh the merits and work toward a balanced budget.

This story was originally published April 22, 2017 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Why does Kyle McCarter want to rob local governments?."