“Over half a decade ago, I called for an immediate five percent across the board cut to the state budget, but no one listened. Not only did no one listen, they increased spending, created new programs, and spent wildly out of control. It was unsustainable and the day of reckoning is here.
Governor Rauner hit the hard facts head on and didn’t sugar coat this in today’s speech. For example, Governor Quinn last year promised higher education over a billion dollars in funding. To date, very little of that has been paid because the money didn’t exist in the first place.
Governor Rauner was truthful about our reality. Importantly, though, he also discussed necessary reforms to government to cut the waste, fraud and abuse – reforms that if implemented, will allow us to restore some of the more draconian leftovers of the Quinn/Blagojevich years.”
– State Senator Chapin Rose