Mike Lawrence, former press secretary and senior policy adviser to former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar, will present a lecture about “Illinois in Crisis: How our leaders have failed us and how we have failed ourselves” at 7 tonight in Buzzard Hall.

Lawrence is the third speaker in the Edgar Lecture Series that started in 2007 with former Gov. Jim Edgar and his wife, Brenda, serving as the first two speakers. The lectures address the current status of the state and issues involving state government.

Jill Nilsen, vice president for external relations, said Lawrence is well respected in Illinois political circles.

“He understands the workings of Illinois politics and can reflect on the current status of our state based upon years of experience,” she said.

Lawrence said he will talk about the failure of state officials who have not made the right spending and revenue decisions.

“They need to tell the truth about our budget situation,” he said.

Lawrence said the citizens of Illinois have failed when it comes to educating themselves about the current state of Illinois.

“The people of the state need to do more than they have done to educate themselves on the budget situation,” he said. “They need to realize that we are all going to have to sacrifice in order to get our state finances in a good fiscal footing.”

Information on state finances is available for citizens from sources such as the commission in Springfield that makes estimates about the amount of money the state is taking in and out and the state comptroller, who works with a great deal of information for state finances.

Lawrence said we are at a point where we have to work well and hard at spending cuts and tax increases.

“We are probably going to have to do a combination of spending cuts and tax increases,” he said.

Lawrence said a lot of public officials have not leveled with the people of Illinois about these hard decisions.

“They think we can get out of this very difficult budget situation almost painless, without cuts and tax increases,” he said. “That is not true.”

Lawrence said he feels public officials put re-election ahead of responsibility, which causes them to withhold information from the citizens and make tough decisions.

“They are afraid if they give bad news to people they won’t get re-elected,” he said.

Lawrence said Edgar was a public official who leveled with the people of Illinois.

“He made very hard decisions,” he said. “People were not happy with those decisions, but they came to realize that those decisions helped us in a solid fiscal situation.”

Lawrence said he feels greatly honored to return to Eastern and give some remarks.

“It’s a pleasure to come back,” he said.

Lawrence said he thinks students need to hear about the kind of qualities that should be sought out in our leaders and to understand the current budget situation.

“The state has been borrowing billions of dollars and those students are going to end up repaying the borrowing that the state has been doing,” he said. “They have a major stake in this.”

Jessica Leggin can be reached at 581-7942 or at [email protected].