Local lawmakers react to Quinn's address
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| Gov. Pat Quinn (right) delivers his State of the State address Wednesday to a joint session of the General Assembly in the House Chambers at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, looks on. (AP photo) |
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SPRINGFIELD – Local state lawmakers said they agreed with Gov. Pat Quinn’s assessment that Illinois needs to focus on creating jobs and expanding the economy.
But they said Quinn’s State of the State address Wednesday lacked specific ideas to accomplish that agenda. Some felt Quinn’s speech showed Illinois is still heading in the wrong direction.
State Rep. Robert Pritchard, R-Hinckley, said the Legislature made a good start with bills last year that reformed education, Medicaid and pensions for state workers.
“Those have all been steps in the right direction, but they were baby steps,” he said. “Obviously we’ve got to do more in everyone of those areas.”
State Rep. Joe Sosnowski, R-Rockford, said he appreciated Quinn’s mention of the Chrysler Plant in Belvidere, which Quinn is scheduled to visit today. Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne confirmed Wednesday that Chrysler will add a third shift at its plant in Belvidere, which will make the Dodge Dart.
But Sosnowski added if lawmakers and Quinn want to show they are serious about keeping jobs in the state, they have to address taxation, workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance regulations.
“If we’re not doing anything in those three areas to lower costs … they’re going to go to other states,” he said.
Quinn’s proposal to put more money into education programs and home foreclosure prevention turned off state Sen. Christine Johnson, R-Shabbona.
“He asked the General Assembly to try and find money to fund his spending, and I don’t think there is any will in the General Assembly to try and find that money,” she said. “There isn’t any money to be found, quite frankly.”
Quinn also proposed eliminating the natural gas utility tax and establishing tax credits for some families and also businesses that hire veterans.
Republicans have been vocal critics of the income tax increase passed last year, something Quinn did not mention in his 34-minute speech. Local lawmakers said the state cannot afford to enact the tax breaks Quinn proposed with a budget deficit in the billions.
“I felt like I was in an alternate reality,” Sosnowski said. “I just don’t know how he sees these numbers working out.”
Pritchard said without specifics on how the state would pay for those tax breaks, the proposal was just “a lot of words” and spoke to a larger issue all three lawmakers said Quinn missed in his speech – the budget.
“The first place we need to start, the governor didn’t talk about,” Pritchard said. “We can’t pay for our current bills and projects. How could we add more?”
A Civic Federation report released earlier this week exacerbated that concern, Sosnowski said. The report said Illinois’ backlog of unpaid bills might nearly quadruple during the next five years unless officials take action.
