SPRINGFIELD – A number of fiscal red flags are giving Illinois Senators plenty to think about before they return to the Capitol to begin the spring legislative session in earnest on Feb. 6, according to State Senator Dan Rutherford (R-Pontiac).

During his inaugural comments Jan. 8, Gov. Rod Blagojevich said he has balanced the state budget. The Governor’s claims stand in stark contrast to warnings by several other financial experts about the state’s fiscal stability. Rutherford says lawmakers must carefully consider such information and weigh its impact on budget negotiations.

Just last month, the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a group of business leaders, warned of Illinois’ impending “financial implosion” resulting from $106 billion in liabilities that the state has no money to pay.

In September, Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes warned that the state’s current fiscal position  – insufficient revenue to meet current spending demands – leaves it very vulnerable to any economic bumps in the road.

In inaugural comments this month, the Comptroller voiced further concerns: “For too long, government spent money without the slightest concern for the future. And the consequences – those could be put off until the next year, the next administration, or the next decade. . . . those consequences are here. Not as red numbers on a balance sheet – but as roads that crumble, kids who don't go to good schools, and parents who put off seeing a doctor because they don't have health care. On such unsteady foundations, no strong future can be built.”

Other groups that dispute the Governor’s balanced-budget claims include the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, the State Chamber of Commerce, the Civic Federation, the University of Illinois Institute for Government and Public Affairs, and the Institute for Truth in Accounting.

Blagojevich also begins a second term with a poor record of creating jobs. Federal Department of Labor statistics for the January 2003 to November 2006 period show that Illinois ranks 43^rd in the nation in job growth.

During the first four years of the Blagojevich Administration, job growth in Illinois was just 1.8% – less than half of Iowa, the region’s best-performing state which saw a 5.1% growth in jobs during the same time period. Illinois’ job growth rate is also far below the national average of 4.8%.

Other border states also outperformed Illinois. Wisconsin saw a 3.4% increase in jobs, Kentucky grew jobs at the rate of 3.3%, Indiana at 2.9% and Missouri at 2.4%.

Since 2003, Illinois has seen an increase of 103,100 jobs. If the state had kept pace with the national average, the total job growth would have been more than double – 280,684 – or more than 177,500 additional jobs.