Gov. Bruce Rauner attempted to inject a dose of optimism into his budget speech last week, heaping praise on the "tremendous leadership" in the Senate, which is laboring over a much-hyped attempt to strike a "grand bargain" to end the historic state government impasse.
What the governor left unsaid, however, was that the Senate bid has struggled to gain traction, even in its current form that relies heavily on major tax hikes and less on difficult budget cuts and tough-to-pass pro-business changes.
Absent from the mix are many of the key provisions Rauner has sought for more than two years: a scaling back of collective bargaining rights, a comprehensive overhaul of workers’ compensation more beneficial to businesses, term limits or redistricting reform.
Adding more of the governor’s wish list to the equation almost certainly will result in the Senate talks stalling out, leaving the state lurching along with debt piling up and its future direction unresolved.
Still, Rauner’s repositioning stands to serve him well politically in the near term as the chess game at the Capitol continues this spring.
Grabbing onto the Senate effort after more than a month of silence on its merits provided a focus for his budget address. Governors have to give two big speeches each year, and the stalemate means Rauner hasn’t had much in the way of new developments to highlight when he steps to the microphone.
In addition, the Senate embrace afforded the governor an opportunity to present himself as a politician who’s trying to lead. That’s been one early theme for Rauner’s 2018 re-election campaign, with the other that long-serving Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan is to blame for the state’s ills.
Rauner talks tax hikes, need for compromise, drawing Democratic laughter Monique Garcia, Kim Geiger and Haley BeMiller
Illinois’ broke and broken down state government was on full display Wednesday as Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner for the first time laid out his terms for potential tax hikes to dig the state out of a historic morass even as Democrats openly mocked his leadership.
Before the governor had entered…
Illinois’ broke and broken down state government was on full display Wednesday as Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner for the first time laid out his terms for potential tax hikes to dig the state out of a historic morass even as Democrats openly mocked his leadership.
Before the governor had entered…
(Monique Garcia, Kim Geiger and Haley BeMiller)
Talking up the Senate plan also allowed Rauner to shift the focus away from his own budget proposal, which is anywhere from $4.5 billion to $7.2 billion short, depending on whether he can persuade lawmakers to go along with $2.7 billion in politically difficult cost cuts.
Perhaps most importantly, if the Senate talks fall apart in the coming months, Rauner can nimbly pivot yet again and blame Democrats who control the legislature for not reaching a compromise with him.
In the spirit of the well-funded, Washington-style, nonstop campaigning that has quickly become the norm in Illinois, Rauner’s campaign posted a video after the speech touting that "Bruce Rauner’s plan to balance the budget reforms Illinois, builds a new economy, freezes property taxes, caps spending, pays down the debt and term limits politicians’ power."
Democrats, however, called out Rauner as a political poser. Democratic Sen. Don Harmon of Oak Park, who’s on the chamber’s leadership team, said the governor’s decision to weigh in on the Senate discussions on a compromise was "just an attempt to disrupt it."
Emanuel mocks Rauner with pledge of $1,000 to charity for evidence of budget plan John Byrne and Monique Garcia
Mayor Rahm Emanuel mocked Gov. Bruce Rauner in a lengthy rant Thursday, saying he would donate $1,000 to charity if a reporter could provide evidence the governor has presented a full state budget plan while in office.
“I’ve asked the Police Department to get the hound dogs out to go find it. I’m…
Mayor Rahm Emanuel mocked Gov. Bruce Rauner in a lengthy rant Thursday, saying he would donate $1,000 to charity if a reporter could provide evidence the governor has presented a full state budget plan while in office.
“I’ve asked the Police Department to get the hound dogs out to go find it. I’m…
(John Byrne and Monique Garcia)
"As I heard him, he was basically saying to us: ‘Unless this bargain benefits big business at the expense of residents of Illinois, I’m not going to sign it,’" Harmon said.
"I saw him trying to appear to be publicly intervening in what is already a successful negotiation in order to take some credit for it. I don’t think that’s going to hold water in the end," he said. "He’s clearly not been involved thus far, and the more he tries to get involved, the worse it is for the eventual compromise."
The governor’s Wednesday budget speech was an about-face. He previously made a point to note he was staying out of the negotiations led by Democratic Senate President John Cullerton and Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno, saying he didn’t want to interfere and that he preferred a compromise that came from the legislature.
"While the Senate package is still evolving, it wouldn’t be that hard to reach a good deal for taxpayers," Rauner told lawmakers.
"This is now a question of political will. I know I’m willing — I hope you are too," he said.
Rauner clarified that he could support an income tax increase, as well as a broadening of the state’s sales tax to include some services, to finally achieve a budget. He ruled out attempting to reinstate the state sales tax on food and medicine as well as imposing income taxes on retirement income, the latter not considered in the Senate package.
Getting a Republican governor who ran as the guy who would "shake up Springfield" to agree to significant tax hikes on the eve of a re-election year would come at too steep a price for Democrats, however. And while the Senate plan has some of what the governor wants, it doesn’t include key elements of what he’s called his "turnaround agenda."
Included is a Cullerton-Rauner proposal aimed at reducing pension costs for state workers. Though the plan carries a potential savings of $1 billion a year, it also would face a certain court challenge from public workers over its constitutionality.
The package also contains a temporary freeze on property taxes that would require local units of government to go to voter referendum to raise property tax rates. Rauner said in his speech that he wants such a tax freeze to be permanent, but the two sides seem relatively close on the issue.
But the Senate blueprint does not carry provisions Rauner has long sought that would weaken collective bargaining rights in union negotiations with schools or municipalities or eliminate the requirement that prevailing union wage rates be paid on public works construction projects.
And the package does not include a proposed constitutional amendment to put term limits on state politicians, a plan the governor has backed and is part of the messaging of the Rauner-subsidized Illinois GOP’s frequent attacks on Madigan, the nation’s longest-serving speaker.
The Senate attempt to address that included a narrowly tailored rule change that put limits on the terms of leaders in that chamber. Such a move could be revoked later, however, and would not apply to the House, where Madigan is in charge. Radogno has introduced a constitutional amendment to put in place permanent term limits, but it is not tied to the overall budget package.
Also, the Senate discussions don’t feature another Rauner-backed proposed constitutional change aimed at taking much of the politics out of the every-decade process of redrawing the state’s legislative districts.
The package also contains changes to Illinois’ workers’ compensation laws in an effort to lower costs to business. But in his speech. Rauner made clear the changes currently being considered do not go far enough for him. He suggested a system that is similar to Massachusetts, where payouts for work-related loss of limbs, for example, was vastly lower than Illinois.
Some business groups, traditionally aligned with Republicans, have been among the leading opponents of the Senate package, contending their interests are not getting enough in return for supporting the plan.
Rauner has sought to encourage more pro-business changes in the Senate’s efforts, repeatedly calling on lawmakers to look to help prioritize the concerns of "job creators."
"Nothing, I repeat, nothing, is more important than creating more jobs, more good paying careers, in the state of Illinois," Rauner said at one point, prompting murmurs from Democrats who view social safety-net protections a higher priority.
"First and foremost, the final result must be a good deal for taxpayers and job creators: a grand bargain that truly balances the budget once and for all, and really moves the needle when it comes to job creation," he said.
Republican Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, a member of Radogno’s leadership team, said he thought Rauner’s decision to weigh in on the Senate efforts "gave us good additions to what we’ve been working on in a bipartisan way in the Senate" and would "foster, hopefully, a solution that brings us forward."
Democratic Rep. Lou Lang of Skokie, a top Madigan deputy, countered that Rauner latched onto the Senate effort because he has been "flailing around trying to come up with some magic formula."
"But the only magic formula for a governor is to roll up his sleeves and get a big pot of coffee and get legislative leaders in his office with a big pad of paper and sit there until they finish the job that he was elected to do," Lang said.
"The reason he is so enamored with the Senate discussions is that he has not personally involved himself in the budget discussion. A governor must do that," he said.
Looking ahead, Radogno, the GOP Senate leader, has said the chamber should vote on a compromise package of bills by Feb. 28 after two earlier proposed deadlines for floor votes went by the wayside due to lack of support, primarily from Republicans, who are a minority in the chamber.
Even if the plan is redrawn and somehow escapes the Senate, there are questions about the fate of a "grand bargain" package in the House under Madigan. The speaker hasn’t said much publicly about the Senate plan, adopting the strategy that he doesn’t need to address a proposal that’s so far failed to gain momentum.
If a Senate vote doesn’t occur by month’s end, Radogno said senators should "go home" and leave the budget impasse on Madigan’s doorstep.
"Madigan is under tremendous pressure," Radogno said. "He’s got members in his caucus whose constituencies are suffering too because we don’t have a budget. So I think he’s going to be under a lot of pressure to move something forward that can get signed into law and, again, put our state back where it needs to be."
Garcia and Geiger reported from Springfield.
rap30@aol.com
mcgarcia@chicagotribune.com
kgeiger@chicagotribune.com
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
