Analysis: Quinn buries budget crisis in speech
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| Gov. Pat Quinn greets Illinois Comptroller and Democratic candidate for governor Dan Hynes after Quinn delivered the State of the State address. (AP photo) |
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CHICAGO – Illinois is in the middle of a massive budget crisis, but you wouldn't know it from the first 45 minutes of Gov. Pat Quinn's State of the State address.
Quinn delayed talking about the no-easy-answers topic of the budget until near the end of his speech, after such vital topics as the fact that he was once named "Mr. Soybean" by a state association.
And when he did discuss the budget, his comments could hardly be considered a rousing call to action. He said Illinois needs more revenue and less spending but provided no examples, no new proposals.
Wednesday's speech shows the tightrope Quinn must walk to address the state's many problems at the same time he is running for office.
If he dwells on the problems and the unpleasant solutions, political opponents can use it against him. If he glosses over the situation, then he misses a high-profile opportunity to prod the public and the Legislature into action — and his political opponents will use it against him.
As expected, they immediately mocked Quinn's speech, arguing that it demonstrated the Democrat isn't the leader Illinois needs now.
"I was disappointed that I came here to listen to a State of the State speech but instead of got a Pat Quinn state-of-mind speech," said Comptroller Dan Hynes, Quinn's challenger in the Democratic primary.
Quinn delivered his speech from handwritten notes instead of a formal text. He gave a low-key presentation that could be taken for a lack of passion or for a calm, adult approach.
He also warned legislators that they need to face the depth of the state's budget problems. The next deficit is likely to top $11 billion.
"We have to understand that in a democracy, in tough times, it takes fortitude to look at what the facts are, not to kid ourselves," Quinn said.
What he didn't do, at least not in detail, is say how to deal with those unpleasant facts.
Quinn has said that if he wins the nomination on Feb. 2, that will be a message that many voters see the need to raise taxes. Still, his speech didn't specifically call for a tax increase. Instead, Quinn talked about unspecified changes to make the tax system fairer.
Asked later if he still supports raising taxes, Quinn still didn't give a direct answer. "We've got to get a plan, and I think we'll end up with something that will work for the public," he said.
Quinn took a swipe at Hynes, without mentioning him by name, for blocking a short-term loan that the governor said the state needed to pay some of its many overdue bills.
Quinn did offer specifics — lots of them — about his successes over the past year.
A major public works program was approved and should put people to work, he said. Important new ethics laws were passed. Highway fatalities are down. More women have access to mammograms. Struggling families are getting help when they're on the verge of foreclosure or having utilities cut off. Selling a prison to the federal government should bring new jobs to the state.
The governor repeatedly praised lawmakers for their role in those successes. That may be an early effort to avoid the kinds of confrontations that sometimes marked last year's legislative session.
In a nod to the unemployment rate and voter worries, Quinn promised to focus on job creation — particularly through construction programs.
"I want to be the building governor," he said.
Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, one of the seven Republicans running for the GOP nomination for governor, argued that Quinn failed to show voters how he'll guide Illinois out of its swamp of red ink and unpaid bills.
"He's living in Never Never Land and he doesn't understand," Brady said.
