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RAUNER’S
REFORM DEMANDS: FROM 44 TO 0
Illinois Policy Institute/Ted
Dabrowski
Gov. Bruce Rauner has compromised over and
over to strike a deal, to the point of abandoning every reform he once
demanded. But no matter how much Rauner gave, House Speaker Mike Madigan
never budged.
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 Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner won the
2014 gubernatorial election on a 44-point Turnaround Agenda meant to “shake up
Springfield.”
Rauner understood Illinoisans’ need for change. They were suffering under the
worst job recovery in the nation. Homeowners were being squeezed by the nation’s
highest property taxes. And pension costs were consuming a quarter of the state
budget, crowding out everything from college grants for low-income students to
services for the disabled.
Illinoisans voted for Rauner and his agenda to change how government does
business, to revive the state economy and to provide relief to taxpayers.
Three years later, things have changed dramatically. Illinoisans still want
reform, but repeated budget stalemates, a media narrative that the governor is
unwilling to compromise and pressure from special-interest groups has whittled
down Rauner’s ambitious reform agenda. It’s gone from 44 priorities to zero.
 Term limits on politicians: Gone.
Collective bargaining reforms: Gone.
Returning income tax rates to 3 percent: Gone.
And the remaining “reforms” in the compromise plan taking shape in Springfield
have been watered down so much they’ll either do nothing to fix state spending
or they’ll make things even worse.
The two-pronged pension reform plan fails everyone in Illinois, from state
workers and taxpayers to those dependent on social services. Part of the plan
will likely be found unconstitutional and waste years of everyone’s time. And
the rest perpetuates pension benefits going forward; it’s these unaffordable
retirement benefits that got Illinois into this financial mess in the first
place.
The proposed workers’ comp reforms are also marginal and do little to fix the
seventh-most expensive system in the nation. These changes would make little
difference to struggling businesses.
And the property tax freeze on the table isn’t a freeze at all. It’s filled with
so many loopholes it’s essentially worthless. Pension and debt costs are
exempted from the freeze. The city of Chicago and its schools are entirely
exempted. School districts in financial difficulty are exempted as well. With so
many exemptions, taxpayers will still see their bills grow.
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There’s nothing left in the compromise plan but a massive, $5 billion a year tax
hike.
What Illinoisans want
The long list of concessions Rauner has made run contrary to what Illinoisans
want and why he was elected in the first place.
Two-thirds of Illinois voters don’t want an income tax hike as part of the state
budget, according to a survey conducted by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates and
commissioned by the Illinois Policy Institute.
Eighty percent of survey respondents said they want lawmakers to focus on
structural reforms before increasing taxes.
It’s absurd for Illinoisans to have pay more than $5 billion in new taxes just
to get their property taxes frozen at highest-in-the-nation levels. Yet that’s
the core of Springfield’s “compromise.”
Back to reforms
Rauner has compromised over and over in an attempt to strike a deal, to the
point of abandoning every reform he once sought. But no matter how much Rauner
gave, House Speaker Mike Madigan never budged.
But there is a silver lining. It should now be clear to everyone, including
Rauner, that Madigan was never going to agree to a deal that included any actual
reforms. The last two years have validated that Rauner should not have attempted
to compromise in the first place.
Springfield really does need to be shaken up.
At this point, Rauner has only one real option left. He has to return to
demanding what Illinoisans actually want: structural changes to how Illinois
does business.
That means returning to the original Turnaround Agenda. More importantly, it
means championing a budget that balances without tax hikes.
The people of Illinois should be listened to – not the politicians, nor the
media nor the special interest groups.
Rauner should return to his original message and champion the wants and needs of
ordinary Illinoisans.
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