Governor Rauner Speaks

Our Governor Rauner has an opinion piece in the newspaper today (State Journal-Register).

Although I tend not to like the guy's demeanor and attitude at times, he is spot-on with what he has written below.

Keep those pesky, off-task legislators in session all summer if you have to!  The situation is dire, and they don't seem to realize it.

Would losing a chunk of their summer wake-up their inactive, inattentive little butts?  Try it.

Out for now.......

Matt

I'm the new guy in Springfield. I'm proud of that.

Although being new means I'm not as familiar with how things historically have been done in state government, it keeps me idealistic and hopeful. I'm not jaded or cynical about what we can accomplish to make Illinois great again. 

But I've grown concerned by what I've seen in the legislature during the past few weeks. We're approaching the end of the regular legislative session with no apparent long-term solution to the state's budget, pension and economic mess.

It's time to focus on what's really going on and what we must change now. Illinois needs a turnaround. The public understands that, but it appears many state elected officials do not.

We have the worst pension crisis and the second-highest property taxes in America. After enacting the largest tax hike in Illinois history, we still have more than $6 billion in unpaid bills. We've lost more than 300,000 manufacturing jobs in the past 15 years.

Merely raising taxes will kick the can, not solve the problem. We need to shake up the old ways of running state government. We must end the special-interest deals that drive up costs inside government and wreck current and future budgets. We must reform anti-growth policies that make Illinois unable to compete with other states for good-paying jobs.

We must deliver true pension reform that protects what's been earned, but in the future provides state workers with benefits that are more in line with the taxpayers who pay for them. We should not allow voting districts to be drawn just to protect incumbents.

And we must make term limits a reality, helping to ensure elected office is about public service, not personal gain. 

We've been in discussions about our agenda with members of the legislature for months. We don't expect agreement on everything. We understand the need for compromise. I spent my entire career in the private sector negotiating deals that were filled with give and take by both sides.

Unfortunately, it seems that's not how some want Illinois government to work. It's amazing how entrenched the old guard and its powerful special-interest allies are. I had a strong sense of this before I became governor, but it turns out to be worse than I imagined.

For decades, the insiders who control state government have run Illinois into the ground by creating a system that benefits themselves rather than the general public. Today, they don't want any significant structural reforms. They want another giant tax hike to feed the beast they created. 

Our agenda takes power and money from the special interests and gives it back to the people. That presents a serious threat to the protectors of the failed status quo, who are doing everything they can to block it.

We've seen what happens to our economy, our taxpayers and our school children without reforms. Budget deadline or no budget deadline, I will not ask the people of Illinois to put more of their money into a broken system.

If legislators are willing to reform how we do business, they will find me an eager partner. If they are not, then they should expect a very long extra session because I will keep fighting for major reforms that will grow jobs and help properly fund services by shrinking waste inside government. 

I might be new around here, but I understand what I was sent to do. It was not to accept the dismal failure that our state government has become. It was to make Illinois the proudest state, the most compassionate state and the most competitive state in the greatest nation on earth.

(Bruce Rauner)