Governor Delivers State of the State Address; Local Legislator Reaction

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker delivered his first State of the State Address Wednesday.

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In the address, Pritzker took time to look back on his first year in office and highlight some of his achievements. Pritzker took pride in helping to lower insulin costs for some, investments in early childhood education, the legalization of adult use cannabis, and the Rebuild Illinois capital plan.

Pritzker also laid out his agenda for this year that he says can move forward with bi-partisan support.

Pritzker also said he'll place emphasis on renewable energy policy and ethics reform for lawmakers.

Local legislators weighed in on the Governor's address. Here's what the two area state representatives had to share:

State Rep. Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City) says the failed policies of the past are not the solutions Illinois needs for the future despite the Governor’s glowing account of his first year in office which he outlined in his State of the State address.

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“The Governor is acting like it is an act of political courage to take more money from taxpayers and waste it on unsustainable and out of control government spending,” Wilhour said. “The political class may deem a budget with a $3 billion hole a ‘balanced budget,’ but the views of political insiders are not the stark realities of the Governor’s fiscally irresponsible budget. Catering to insiders and career politicians is the opposite of real political courage. That is not leadership. That is pandering. That is an unwillingness to make tough decisions. That is the status quo and the type of decisions that have created Illinois’ financial mess in the first place.”

The real Pritzker record is a legacy of lost jobs and 50,000 fleeing the state last year. Wilhour said the country as a whole is experiencing an historic economic boom. If the economic realities in Illinois were as rosy a picture as the Governor paints – why are so many people leaving? The reason people are leaving is the 20 taxes and fees the Governor raised last year. It is the lack of meaningful spending reforms and business reforms in Springfield.  

Since 2007, the Land of Lincoln has lost nearly 120,000 jobs (-1.9%) but the unemployment rate has fallen because 243,000 (-3.6%) have left the workforce.

“Our jobs numbers are a reflection of a shrinking workforce – not dynamic growth in new jobs,” Wilhour said. “As long as we continue to raise taxes, spend money we do not have and fail to address the growing pension deficit, we will continue to lose people and our economy will continue to shrink. Illinois should be a leader economically in the Midwest. Instead, our state continues to lag behind. It is embarrassing and it needs to change. Governor Pritzker demonstrated today how out of touch he is with the working families. These are the people who have to pay for his agenda. Yes, he acknowledged that taxes are too high, but he took no responsibility for the role has played in raising them.”

Wilhour said one reason jobs are shrinking is the Administration’s assault on energy production in Illinois. The Governor is pushing an Illinois version of the New Green Deal which will put working people out of work.

“One of the few advantages of owning a business in Illinois is that we have abundant and inexpensive supplies of energy which has helped us keep a solid manufacturing base,” Wilhour said. “If the Governor has his way, these advantages will disappear, and we lose a lot of good paying jobs in Illinois. The Governor’s far-left policies will hurt small business owners and cost real people their livelihood. I will continue to oppose the Governor’s radical environmental agenda.”

Wilhour said the Governor again has failed to address the most pressing issue facing the state – pensions. Illinois taxpayers are on the hook for nearly $250 in unfunded pension liabilities. Pension funding already makes up 25% of the Illinois budget and is climbing at a rapid pace. 

“If the Governor was serious about pension reform, he would support my plan that protects working-class pensions while respecting taxpayers and making the system sustainable for future generations.”

Finally, Wilhour said he hopes the Governor is serious about fighting corruption in Springfield.

“The number of legislators being charged with federal crimes is astounding and it appears there is more to come,” Wilhour said. “Self-dealing and influence peddling are a serious problem and it is not going to be solved by a task force, tough talk or a few token pieces of legislation. It is only going to be solved with real, meaningful reform to go at the heart of the problem. The time for talk on anti-corruption measures is past.  It’s time for action.”

State Representative Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) reacted to Governor JB Pritzker’s comments in his ‘State-of-the-State’ address to joint session of General Assembly:

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“It seems that not a week goes by that we don’t learn of new allegations of corruption within Springfield,” said Rep. Bailey. “The Governor’s seemingly well intentioned attempt to placate Republicans simply does not go far enough. We need to focus on real, total reform to root out the corruption in Springfield.”

Governor Pritzker did not mention today the subject of redistricting reform or fair maps. Previously, he indicated his willingness to support redistricting reform, and his refusal to sign a gerrymandered map.

SJRCA 4/HJRCA 15 is a fair map proposal that has received bipartisan support, but so far neither the governor nor Speaker Madigan have said whether or not they support that proposal.

“Until we see cooperation from Speaker Madigan, any effort to prevent this undemocratic process of legislators selecting their voters and not the other way around will gain no traction,” Bailey continued. “This proposed legislation is a start. I urge Governor Pritzker to take a stand against Speaker Madigan and follow through on his promise of redistricting reform.”

Governor Pritzker touted the bipartisanship of the past year as reason for hope, but there continues to be serious issues plaguing our state. 

“Corruption, FBI investigations, high taxes on property and gas, are all driving people from Illinois. We need to do whatever we can to curb this loss. I look forward to the coming session and working with both Republicans and Democrats to help the people of Illinois,” concluded Rep. Bailey.