The announcement of employee furloughs at the University of Illinois is a direct consequence of the state's financial mismanagement.

Bowing to the inevitable demands of what he called the state's "grim and worsening" financial picture, interim UI President Stanley Ikenberry has announced employee furloughs and a hiring freeze aimed at cutting more than $80 million from the university's operating budget.

Faculty and academic professionals will be required to take four furlough days between Feb. 16 and May 16 while senior administrators will take 10 furlough days between February and June pay dates. Reaction to the news ranges from disgust to anger to resignation. But there should be no surprise.

Fiscal watchdogs have warned for years that the governor and Legislature were spending as if there were no tomorrow. They approved programs that the state couldn't afford. Even worse, they took on obligations knowing there was no money to meet them. They jointly built this disastrous situation brick by brick.

Ikenberry's furlough announcement, required because the state is more than $400 million in arrears on UI appropriations, is the result. Without furloughs, the UI would face the possibility of running out of cash. Meanwhile, the state already has run out of cash and has more than $5 billion in unpaid bills. On top of that, the state must repay by June an additional $2.25 billion in short-term loans it pursued just to stay afloat.

Some might wish to blame former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the indicted chief executive who set the record for fiscal recklessness. He deserves his share of the blame for obligating the state to social programs (Family Care, to name just one) that the Legislature didn't approve and for which no funds were appropriated. But most of our legislators happily joined Blagojevich in his mad spending spree, routinely slighting or ignoring existing obligations (like skipping mandated state pension funds payment) and creating new programs (All Kids). They slavishly sought special funds for pet projects on the theory that everyone else was doing it, approved all kinds of pension sweeteners for special friends and pretty much acted as if the party would go on forever.

When warned that it wouldn't, legislators grimly acknowledged that a reckoning was near but steadfastly refused to make decisions (cuts, tax increases or both) reflecting fiscal reality.

Unfortunately, Blagojevich's departure hasn't changed much. Last year, Quinn borrowed the $2.25 billion that must be repaid by June, and he just recently sought more short-term borrowing that was blocked by the state comptroller and treasurer.

Here's the problem. Our elected officials, collectively, can't face the reality that the state can't be all things to all people. Unfortunately, the state's financial resources are not and never will be unlimited.

At the same time, they can't bring themselves to set spending priorities. So they promise resources to everyone, the result being that they can't provide adequate resources for anyone. The result is furloughs at the UI and fiscal chaos across the state.

The ongoing recession would have hurt Illinois no matter what its financial status. It's hurting every state. But the recession has magnified Illinois' reckless financial practices and hastened a financial crackup. So brace yourself. Now that the state's financial party is over, the bad news is just beginning.