Senator Rose was joined by his fellow Republicans to ask the Governor and his’ Democratic legislative majorities, one question. That question – “where’s the budget?”
Click here to watch the press conference.
SPRINGFIELD, IL – Illinois taxpayers have seen it before – Gov. Quinn and his legislative majorities wait until after an election to reveal a secret plan to raise taxes and increase spending.
Highlighting the day the Governor was legally required to unveil his budget plan – until his legislative allies changed the law – Republican Senators on Wednesday called on the Governor to come out from hiding and share his plans with the public. The Senate Republican Caucus also reiterated its call for bipartisan support for policies that put Illinois on the road to recovery.
Now, Republican Senators noted, Gov. Quinn and his legislative leaders are keeping their new plans secret – and working to sidestep their responsibilities.
Rose and others pointed out the following:
Illinois has the 3rd highest unemployment in the nation.
Illinois has the worst credit rating in the United States.
Illinois is spending more than taxpayers can afford – year after year.
Illinois has record high taxes – with more on the horizon.
Despite the Democrat’s promise to make their 67%, $26 billion tax increase temporary the Senate President now says Illinois has a $3 billion budget hole, but he is refusing to offer solutions and all but admits they intend to make the tax increase permanent.
And on top of that income tax threat, a proposed progressive income tax will mean even higher taxes for most Illinois residents.
Senator Rose, the top Republican on the Senate’s Appropriations II committee, noted that despite the Democrats’ 67 percent, $26 billion income tax increase that the Senate President said “would solve our budget challenges” and pay all the bills – Illinois has a backlog of $6.3 billion in unpaid bills.
“They failed on every promise they made after the last tax increase – they said they would use the money to pay off old bills; that they would revive the state’s credit rating; that the increase would generate new jobs; that they would cut spending,” Rose said. “I started to think they had partnered with The Onion again,” he said. “You can’t have this many failures, unless it’s a farce.”
Roll back the 2011 income tax increase as promised and required by law;
Take the progressive income tax – a job-killing tax hike – off the table;
Enact a “primary causation” standard in workers’ compensation to build on 2011 reforms and bring Illinois’ employer costs closer to those of neighboring states;
Work with Republicans to develop long-range, sustainable economic development programs;
Restore Fiscal Discipline and address waste, fraud and excessive state government spending
Bring state spending in line with revenues;
Prohibit the creation of new programs and expansion of existing programs;
Target and eliminate wasteful “pet” programs/expenditures, including the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative, Grow Your Own Teachers and other failed programs.
Seize the opportunity for savings
Show sincerity in seeking bipartisan solutions by taking the critical first step of following the bipartisan Education Funding Advisory Committee recommendation to address the inequities in the state school aid formula by eliminating the Chicago Block Grant – which allows an “end run” on the formula at the expense of downstate and suburban schools;
Fully engage Maximus to build on its success in uncovering and eliminating fraudulent recipients of taxpayer-paid medical services;
Restore SMART Act roll backs that eliminate the savings from the Medicaid Reform Act;
Urge the Attorney General to seek an expedited opinion from the Illinois Supreme Court on comprehensive pension reform.