Schillerstrom wants 'timeouts' on spending votes

ELGIN -- DuPage County Board chairman and Illinois GOP gubernatorial primary candidate Bob Schillerstrom was in Elgin Thursday afternoon, touting his plan for the state to take a 72-hour "timeout" prior to voting on any spending or tax legislation.

It's a move Schillerstrom said might help prevent situations like the one in which Illinois currently finds itself with its $31 billion capital bill. The plan, approved this summer, allows highly taxed video poker in bars and other establishments to raise some of the needed revenue, but the measure doesn't have a plan in place to do so. Since towns and counties can opt out, and with several opting to do just that, the measure appears to be losing steam and will leave the state short-funded.

Legislators got that bill "at 11 at night and were voting on it at 10 the next morning," he said.

Schillerstrom's law would require spending, budget and tax legislation to be posted online a full three days in advance of a vote in the General Assembly, thus allowing for public and media scrutiny.

Schillerstrom's platform also calls from zero-based budgeting, in which state agencies "must account for every single dollar"; a cap on spending using a formula based on population growth and inflation; and independent budget certification, separate from the comptroller's office, in which the governor would return any budget he or she determines is not balanced back to the General Assembly.

Schillerstrom is facing a crowded primary field in the Feb. 2 Republican

The ballot is expected to include Adam Andrzejewski, Bill Brady, Kirk Dillard, Matt Murphy and Dan Proft along with Schillerstrom. Among Democrats, Gov. Pat Quinn is being challenged by Comptroller Dan Hynes and Ed Scanlan.

"The more, the merrier," Schillerstrom said Thursday.

Schillerstrom said what sets him apart from his fellow Republicans is his experience overseeing DuPage County's government and that he is "a fresh face not from Springfield."