The recent rejection by the Illinois Senate of an attempt to merge the treasurer’s and comptroller’s office flies in the face of logic–and contemporary business practices.
State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka has favored this merger since her days in the Illinois Senate and has referred to the current duplicative situation in the following words: “Having separate offices is like dealing with a bank where you can cash a check but can’t deposit your money. It makes no sense.”
Consolidation of the two offices has been subject to bipartisan discussion ever since the 1970 Illinois Constitutional Convention created a separate comptroller’s office. Since a consolidation would require a constitutional amendment, each chamber of the General Assembly would have to pass the initiative by a three-fifths majority. (It fell four votes short of the 36 required in the Senate.) Then the issue would be decided by voters in a general election.
An overwhelming majority of businesses have unified fiscal operations, and if the federal government functions with one appointed treasurer, why can’t the State of Illinois? My reading of the legislation assures me that the checks and balances in any consolidated operation would be exactly as they are today, whether you look at disbursements or investment of state funds.
Estimates of total cost savings of such a consolidation range anywhere between $4 million and $12 million. Even if the savings were only $4 million, these are tax dollars that can be directed elsewhere (public education, infrastructure), and in return taxpayers would get better-managed, more efficient government.
Business and civic organizations throughout the country are creating economies of scale through coalitions and collaborative efforts. So are individual businesses and entrepreneurs. Isn’t it about time the state government followed the example of the real world?
