Here’s Everything You Need Today For Rauner’s State of the State Address

The wealthy venture capitalist used last year’s annual speech to lay out an ambitious agenda that included business-friendly changes to workers’ compensation, a freeze on local property taxes, curbs on public-sector collective-bargaining, and legislative term limits.

“An equitable school funding system is the turnaround IL needs”, Cullerton said.

Rauner said IL must also work harder to compete with other states for jobs.

What has changed since past year is a budget stalemate that is entering its eighth month because of a stalemate between Rauner and the Democratic-dominated General Assembly.

The Chicago Democrat says he’s “open on all the pension questions” and is “anxious to see the governor’s language”.

But there is no indication Democratic leaders will respond to him positively.

Rauner and Democrats who control the Legislature can’t agree on a state budget that should have taken effect July 1. Democrats say Rauner’s reforms would weaken public and private sector unions, a key source of campaign funds for Democrats statewide. Democrats have refused, saying those changes will hurt working families and drive down wages while helping Illinois’ highest earners get richer. That shortfall amounts to about $4 billion, or 12 percent of state spending; a series of tax cuts that took effect a year ago have cut revenues by about $3.6 billion, 20 percent, through June 30, Moody’s estimates.

Rauner called for both sides of the aisle to come to the table with “mutual respect” to pass a balanced budget.

But Rauner’s GOP ally, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, dismissed the speaker’s criticism. “They sent that ridiculous budget to the governor and I applaud the governor for vetoing it”.

Without a budget, some social service agencies have had to close and thousands of college students aren’t receiving state grants to help pay for tuition. Last week, the same day the Governor’s office its hire of a chief of staff for Diana Rauner at $100,000 a year, Lutheran Social Services announced it would have to eliminate 750 jobs and cut services provided to almost 5,000 people.

Victor McWilliams came all the way from Chicago to give the state government a piece of his mind.

Rauner also called for holding schools more accountable through testing and offering low-income students more “quality school choice options”.

In his first address past year, the newly-inaugurated governor said correcting IL government’s fiscal troubles and driving down its persistently high, post-recession unemployment would require “shared sacrifice”.

“We have the ability to lead the nation in growth and opportunity”.

IL has the worst-funded pension system of any USA state and is roughly $111 billion in debt. “No, we are not billionaires, but we are human beings, and we have feelings and we have children that need shoes and we have elderly that need medicine and we have people that work long hours who need to know somehow they’re going to make it”, Fairchild said in an emotional response to Gov. Rauner’s address.