No matter what, it's a safe bet that whatever the governors in Indiana and Illinois do as both states prepare to battle with their budgets in the upcoming days is going to make just about everyone unhappy.
I am telling you this just so you will be prepared.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn will be meeting with lawmakers Thursday in Chicago and also will be listening to suggestions from the Taxpayer Action Board as to how to make state government more efficient while not slashing social, education and health benefits, particularly to the state's poorest people.
If Quinn is able to get some kind of reasonable compromise done to chip away at the state's $11.6 billion deficit, maybe people will start to forget that Rod Blagojevich was ever the governor (at least until his trial next year).
In Indiana, Gov. Mitch Daniels -- who has been given the sobriquet "The Blade" by the conservative National Review magazine for his willingness to wade into red ink and turn it black -- is facing a lot of opposition by majority Democrats in his Legislature as he proposes reducing spending by 2.5 percent.
In order to placate his powerful opposition somewhat, he has done what he has heretofore been reluctant to do, which is to tap into the state's $1.3 billion surplus he has so carefully built during his two administrations, the so-called Rainy Day Fund.
He has agreed to allow legislators to tap into $3 million of the fund, leaving $1 billion intact. I'm not sure some of the legislators, educators and union leaders are going to be completely sold on this amount, because they are saying if ever it was raining on the Indiana economy, the time is now.
Schools at least can breathe a bit easier (yes, I know schools do not breathe) because the public education budget they feared would be flatline now will see a 2 percent increase while student financial aid will rise 3 percent, which will make more than a few parents I know happy.
State prisons and state police will likewise remain untouched, but something has to give, and Daniels is proposing an 8 percent cut in the parks budget, a 10 percent decrease in homeland security and a 4 percent drop in higher education funding, which is going to make more than a few parents I know unhappy.
See? Something to aggravate everyone!
Back in Illinois, Democrats have agreed to look into reforming some of the sacred cows of government health care and pension costs, where they may have to take a page from General Motors and just come up with some tough love in order to keep the government solvent.
A temporary income tax increase, proposed in the Illinois House on Sunday as a stopgap measure, failed by a 74-42 vote (two legislators voted "present") and it looks more and more like the state will have to live within its means more and tax its constituents less.
Whether this trend of bipartisan cooperation continues remains to be seen, as it is always a lot easier when everyone from the governor on down wants to get out for the summer and get out of Dodge.
Or Indianapolis or Springfield, for that matter.
The opinions are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at markk@nwitimes.com or (219) 933-4170.
