 The Winnetka Republican made nods to reconciliation and bipartisanship but
painted a bleak picture of Illinois’ present.
Rauner, whose election marked the end of a decade of one-party control of the
statehouse, described a state being abandoned by businesses because of high
taxes and over-regulation.
“Today, Illinois is not able to compete with neighboring states,” Rauner said.
“Last year, we lost more people than any other state in America. And over the
last 10 years, we were right near the bottom of all 50 states for
out-migration.”
People are leaving to find jobs and companies are leaving and taking jobs with
them, the governor said, and people and companies are finding more appealing
opportunities in all directions.
One reason, he said, was a lack of confidence in the state’s financial
condition.
And that poor condition he blamed on “bad decisions, bad practices and bad
management by state government.”
The budget crisis, he said, “is not a partisan creation; it is a truly
bipartisan one.”
Rauner said the heart of his answer lies in creating “a booming economy that is
pro-growth, pro- business and pro-job creation, or we won’t be able to solve any
of our other problems.”
While some may be tempted to look for an easier road and leave the problems for
another day, “we cannot do that. To continue business as we’ve been doing it
would be morally corrupt.”
With Illinois facing billions in both long- and short-term debt, the governor
briefly touched on how difficult and unpopular the road ahead might seem.
Illinois, he said, must fix years of busted budgets and broken government,
nurture job growth and offer world-class educational opportunities “from cradle
to career.”
“To achieve that will require sacrifice — sacrifice by all of us: politicians
and interest groups, business and labor, those who pay for government and those
who depend on government services and who need us and who we need to support, “
Rauner said.
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 “Each person here today and all those throughout the state will
be called on to share in the sacrifice so that one day we can again
share in Illinois’ prosperity.”
The governor said his administration’s decisions will be “based on
the next generation, not on the next election.”
If the new governor didn’t strike a conciliatory tone in his
inaugural address, Democratic legislators and leaders seemed to take
it in stride.
“I’m sure the governor believes everything he said, but he hasn’t
been really following some of the progress we’ve made in the state
in the last six years that I’ve been Senate president,” said state
Sen. John Cullerton, D-Chicago.
If there was any bait in the governor’s “morally corrupt” comment,
the state Senate president wasn’t taking it.
“We’re looking forward to working with him,” Cullerton said.
“The election is over, though, and he’s going to have learn about
state government. He hasn’t had an opportunity to serve in state
government, so he’s going to have to learn the budget.
“There are only about 38 more days (until) he’s got to give the
budget for the next fiscal year and we’re eagerly looking forward to
how he wants to balance it and what his priorities are.”
Said state Sen. Daniel Biss, D-Evanston, “We have to move the state
forward and I know that and he knows that and the rubber will meet
the road not in the rhetoric of a speech but in the actual work.”
Among the early moves Rauner announced Monday were an immediate
order to state agencies under his command to freeze non-essential
spending and a review of all contracts signed since November.
[This
article courtesy of
Watchdog.]
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