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 giving you a thousand dollars to the charity of your choice. Find me the governor’s budget," Emanuel said after a reporter asked him to comment on Rauner’s spending plan. "Produce it, line by line, like every chief executive has to do.
"I’ll stand here, with bathroom breaks, until you produce it," Emanuel said during a five-minute dissection of what he said were Rauner’s shortcomings as a chief executive. "No. Because you’re asking me to comment on something that doesn’t exist."
A day after Rauner had to stop for two minutes when a teleprompter glitch interrupted his annual budget speech, the mayor also offered an alternate theory on the pause.
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)
"The teleprompter didn’t have a problem. It got to the budget section, and it wasn’t there," Emanuel said after talking to new recruits at the Chicago police academy. "There is no budget. Line by line, he hasn’t produced one in three years. Three budget presentations. It does not exist."
Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly countered that "the mayor should spend a little less time attacking the governor and a little more time attacking the rampant crime problem in his city."
A day earlier, Rauner used his budget address to call for training more state police, saying he wanted to send additional troopers to help patrol expressways. Democrats have argued that a spike in city crime can be linked to the lack of a state budget, which has resulted in cuts to crime prevention programs.
While Thursday’s takedown was Emanuel’s most baroque recent commentary on the governor’s state government stewardship, it followed his theme this week of hammering his onetime vacation friend in the run-up to and aftermath of Rauner’s budget speech.
Just before Rauner spoke Wednesday, Emanuel appeared at a Northwest Side child care center to blast him for not getting a state budget passed while such facilities suffer, saying, "It’s not like the third’s going to be the charm here, OK?"
On Tuesday, the mayor’s school board sued Rauner, accusing him and the Illinois State Board of Education of violating the Illinois Civil Rights Act for maintaining what the school system termed "separate and unequal" systems for funding school districts and pension obligations.
Rahm Emanuel Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel discussed Gov. Bruce Rauner’s budge and President Donald Trump’s news conference, among other topics, at the Chicago Police training academy on Feb. 16, 2017.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel discussed Gov. Bruce Rauner’s budge and President Donald Trump’s news conference, among other topics, at the Chicago Police training academy on Feb. 16, 2017.
(Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
The mayor also told a group of business leaders Tuesday that Rauner’s failure to deliver a balanced budget was "the biggest adverse effect" on the city’s economy.
Meanwhile, at the Capitol, Senate Democrats spent hours dismantling Rauner’s budget proposal, hammering administration officials about the exact size of the plan’s multibillion-dollar deficit.
By the end of the contentious hearing, Rauner budget director Scott Harry acknowledged the spending plan is $7.2 billion out of whack without various savings and revenues built into the proposal that rely on changes in law which are far from fruition. The Chicago Tribune reported that figure Wednesday evening.
Key to Rauner’s plan is the expectation that the Senate can pass a controversial package to raise taxes, a proposal Rauner has said he could embrace if lawmakers first make some major tweaks. Without that, Rauner wants legislators to give him the power to make unilateral cuts, an idea he pushed last year that went nowhere.
"He makes a lot of assumptions, the governor," said Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Tinley Park.
Emanuel keeps up Rauner attacks, this time on budget impasse John Byrne
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday continued his drumbeat against Gov. Bruce Rauner in the run-up to his state budget address, castigating the Republican for what he said was failing to offer a balanced budget.
The mayor appeared at a Northwest Side child care center an hour before Rauner delivered…
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday continued his drumbeat against Gov. Bruce Rauner in the run-up to his state budget address, castigating the Republican for what he said was failing to offer a balanced budget.
The mayor appeared at a Northwest Side child care center an hour before Rauner delivered…
(John Byrne)
Republicans also questioned Rauner’s math, with Sen. Kyle McCarter of Lebanon saying "the unbalanced nature of this budget is obvious to all of us.
"I think it’s obvious to the citizens as well," McCarter said. "I don’t think they have to be in this hearing or have seen these documents to figure out that we’ve got a problem."
Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate have been pushing a sweeping deal to end the impasse that’s left Illinois without a complete budget since July 2015. But those efforts have stalled amid concerns from Republican lawmakers who didn’t want to vote without first knowing where Rauner stood on the proposal.
Monique Garcia reported from Springfield.
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