In its restrained way, the Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois reveals the empty heart of Governor Blagojevich’s attempt to govern humanely while kowtowing to Republican antitax mania. He has proposed leasing the lottery to increase funding for state employee pension plans, but as TFI points out in a position paper that doesn’t seem to be on line —
“The lottery lease proposal does not include a stated plan to replace the annual contribution of $650 million to the General Funds for education that the lottery currently generates. A replacement mechanism for these funds should be a requirement of a comprehensive fiscal plan.”
Doug Finke in the Springfield State Journal-Register: “John Filan, Blagojevich’s chief operating officer, said the state can find ways of making up the $630 million to schools.”