By Adam Studzinski
BLOOMINGTON – Reaction to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s budget address Wednesday afternoon was mixed.
State Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) told WJBC’s Terry James the governor gave a “good speech” and added Rauner has backed away from some of his reform proposals since last year.
“We can negotiate what those one, or two, or three points may be with the Democrats and the speaker, and the governor can debate that and work through that,” he said.
Brady added what Rauner highlighted in his budget address, such as education funding, are important to Illinois.
“The framework for K-12 education funding at a, really, unprecedented level,” said Brady. “A full general state aid for early childhood.”
Gail Hamilton, a homecare worker who lives in Springfield but grew up in Bloomington, had a different response to the speech. She said Rauner calling for another $200 million in cuts for home health care assistance is “completely ludicrous.”
“So many people depend on this service that stay in their home,” said Hamilton. “It allows them to also be part of the community and put into the economy where they live.”
Hamilton said it doesn’t make sense for Rauner to continue proposing cuts without offering compromise.
“We save the state so much money by people being able to stay in their home,” said Hamilton. “Let’s see him cut the nursing home that he owns.”
State Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) told WJBC’s Dan Swaney Governor Rauner was faced with a difficult task of talking about a budget for next year, when Illinois doesn’t even have a budget for this year.
“The ultimate thing that happened today is the governor, he really put forward a blueprint on how the state can move forward,” Barickman said.
Barickman called the atmosphere in Springfield “toxic” and said Senate President John Cullerton’s pension plan, which Rauner now supports, is a prime example.
“The Senate President goes into his caucus, and what he heard in the caucus was telling,” said Barickman. “Which was, even for those who voted for that pension reform previously, they said, ‘Well, I’m unwilling to vote for that again this year and the reason why I’m unwilling is because Bruce Rauner’s for it.'”
Read more on the governor’s budget address here.
Adam Studzinski can be reached at [email protected].
