The everything-for-everybody approach to government is bankrupting Illinois.

A couple of years ago, in one of his rare appearances before the news media, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan threw cold water on a suggestion that in light of shaky state finances legislators would take a tight-fisted approach.

Madigan explained a political reality that continues to haunt the public at all levels of government: most legislators – whether Democrats or Republicans – come to Springfield not to cut government spending, but to increase government spending.

Whether it's to bring home pork projects for the home folks or pay off special interests who made campaign donations or to pursue ideas in which they really believe, most legislators press an agenda that will drive government spending ever higher.

Illinois taxpayers now are reaping the bitter fruit of our legislators' decision to keep passing more and more programs that drive up the costs of government while ignoring the state's inability to pay for them. Last week, Gov. Quinn made his annual budget address, pointing out that the state is $10 billion-plus in debt, promising crippling budget cuts in crucial programs, relying on more borrowing, and asking, yet again, for the Legislature to raise the state's income tax.

This state's financial catastrophe, at least in part, results from politicians' proclivity to pass program after program whether Illinois had the money or not. They were oblivious.

Guess what, they're still oblivious.

State Sen. Mike Frerichs is pressing legislation that would require county clerks in Illinois to make special provisions on college campuses in their jurisdictions for early voting and grace-period registration. Although the Illinois Association of County Clerks is opposed to the legislation for a variety of reasons, including costs, a Senate committee approved the bill on a party-line vote.

Frerichs' bill won't cost the state any money. In another unfunded state mandate, the costs would be forced on the counties, which aren't in much better shape than the state.

Frerichs defends the bill on the grounds that it will encourage greater voting participation among young people.

Frerichs said the legislation would "reduce the barriers that exist in our democracy." He acknowledged the financial stress it would cause but said "I don't think that's a sufficient reason to not do something that would improve voter turnout among young people."

Leaving aside the issues of whether barriers to voting by young people really exist and, if they do, whether it justifies special treatment for one segment of the population, what about the cost?

Money matters. Just ask Interim University of Illinois President Stanley Ikenberry, who's contemplating massive budget cuts because the state can't fund its promised appropriations to the UI.

Without money, little can get done, whether it's in the personal or the public sphere.

The first thing a person who wants to buy a new car asks himself is how much it will cost and whether it's affordable. The first thing a public body contemplating a new courthouse or hiring new employees asks is how much it will cost and where the revenue to pay for it will come from.

Shoddy financial management lays the groundwork for the kind of disaster Illinois faces right now. Yet our legislators appear unaware of that simple reality of life.

The Illinois Legislature shouldn't pass legislation that will cost anybody anything until the state digs itself out of its current financial hole. It shouldn't mandate new spending on county or municipal governments until their revenue situations have stabilized.

To govern is to choose. To simply declare that any worthy idea must be passed into law and paid for with tax dollars is the height of folly.

The legislative disconnect is as stunning as Madigan's point about legislators' intentions is undeniable.