Governor Pat Quinn's State of the State speech was met with disappointment and frustration from area leaders.
Southern Illinois lawmakers were, for the most part, not enamored with what Governor Pat Quinn had to say in his 2013 State of the State speech.
Quinn counted facility closures, which hit the region hard, in his list of accomplishments. But Representatives and Senators say that’s the wrong way to look at what’s happened.
Rep. John Cavaletto (R-Salem) represents a district which saw the closure of the Murray Developmental Center and an agricultural lab in Centralia. He says the speech was a slap in the face.
“You know, he stood up there and bragged about closing the facilities and saving money. Well, there’s $100 million saved by closing 58 facilities. How many tax dollars would that have been of the people who were working and paying taxes?”
Rep. Brandon Phelps’ (D-Harrisburg) district includes the city of Tamms, where the state’s only Supermax prison was closed. He says the Governor doesn’t understand southern Illinois.
“That’s not my Illinois. He’s proud of the 54 closings that he’s done, so to speak. You know, all he did was put a lot of people on the unemployment line in my district. And we’re not going to forget that.”
Rep. Mike Bost’s (R-Murphysboro) district lost the Illinois Youth Center in Murphysboro. He says the closures are yet another black eye on the state.
“In the last week and a half, we’ve had one guard half beat to death, we had three others attacked yesterday, and we’ve had one inmate who was killed by another inmate who was from Tamms. The wheels are coming off of this.”
The closure issue certainly put a bad taste in the mouths of southern Illinois lawmakers. Another issue they stand together on is guns – whether it’s concealed carry legislation or Quinn’s call for an assault weapons ban.
Rep. John Bradley (D-Marion) says any talk of concealed carry legislation is a distraction.
“The concealed carry fight is over,” Bradley said. He points to a Federal Appeals Court panel decision which struck down the state’s concealed carry ban as unconstitutional. That ruling gives the state 180 days to come up with legislation.
Rep. Phelps, who has carried concealed carry legislation in the past and is working on moving the bill this session, says the governor needs to compromise on the issue.
“If we don’t pass something reasonable, constitutional carry is going to set in and anyone with a valid FOID Card is going to be able to carry anything they want, wherever they want. So if I was him I would try to get more specific, and let’s get this thing done because the clock is ticking.”
When it comes to economic issues, the group says jobs are their first priority. The region’s lawmakers point to unemployment rates higher than the statewide average in this region, and say more needs to be done to help get residents back on their feet and into good-paying jobs.
Governor Quinn is proposing a minimum wage hike, saying people who work full-time should not live below the poverty line. His plan would raise the wage to $10 an hour over the next four years. Rep. Mike Bost says while people need better opportunities, this is not the way to do it. He says businesses will leave the state as a result.
“They will close their doors and just take the jobs away. We should have a minimum wage that is equal to the states around us. That makes sense.”
Rep. John Bradley chairs the influential House Revenue and Finance Committee. He says the governor needs to be more focused on working with lawmakers on fixing the state’s budget:
“The House Revenue and Finance Committee began the process of establishing a budget yesterday, establishing the revenue estimates, and thereby the spending caps. There was really no acknowledgement of that, there was no indication that he was going to try to participate in our efforts. I think that’s a mistake on his part.”
Sen. David Luechtefeld (R-Okawville) calls the budget picture ‘scary’. He says when coupled with the pension crisis, there’s a lot at stake.
“How do you run a state, and then pay back bills. Right now we’re not doing that, and that, too, is very scary. As I’ve told you many times, it’s worse than people know.”
GOP Rep. David Reis agrees.
“You know, we have $9 billion in unpaid bills, we have the largest pension liability in the United States, we just got downgraded so we have the worst credit rating in the United states. We got second- or third-worst business climate in the United States, so how is that turning the corner?”
The State of the State is the first of two addresses from Governor Pat Quinn this year. He’ll present his budget proposal in a month. Lawmakers from all over Illinois say that’s the speech they’re really hoping to hear answers in - as the state’s pension crisis and budget shortfall hang heavily on this spring session.
