Bruce Rauner barnstormed his way to the governor’s office by promising to "shake up Springfield." Now it seems he has a new mantra: Don’t rock the boat.
A bipartisan cartel of Illinois’ longest-serving and most tone-deaf politicians are plotting what they call a budget "grand bargain." Unsurprisingly, the lynchpin of the proposal is a mega income tax increase. The plan contains few fixes to our broken state government.
Translation: We pay more for the same old, same old.
Once upon a time, this was the kind of thing Gov. Rauner would rail against. Career politicians cutting deals that perpetuate, rather than eradicate, Illinois’ deep-rooted problems.
Instead, Rauner has set up camp on the sidelines.
In a recent interview with the State Journal-Register, the Springfield newspaper, Rauner said: "I don’t want to push or interfere. … I’m cheering them on and will help if they ask, and if they don’t that’s great."
Rauner has made similar comments in other editorial board meetings across the state, including one with the Chicago Tribune.
So let me get this straight: The majority of Illinois voters selected a political outsider as their governor. Someone who ran on the platform of term limits because typical politicians "can’t and won’t" make the tough decisions needed to fix our state.
And now, this same guy is turning over the state budget to … those same career politicians?
Who are you, and what have you done with Bruce Rauner?
Has the candidate of change become the governor of capitulation?
Hey, I get it. Governing is more difficult than campaigning. And yes, Illinois Democrats control the House and Senate. Turning around Illinois was never going to be easy.
But Rauner knew this before he ran for governor. He told us that, in spite of these challenges, he was the guy who would get the job done. When he hit roadblocks, we expected him to speak truth to power.
Yet somewhere in Springfield must be a political adviser whispering in Rauner’s ear, telling him to soften up. Stay out of it. Enough with the shaking things up. Follow the mold of your Republican predecessors: Former Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, former U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk and former Gov. Jim Edgar.
Except let’s look at where those pols got us. Republicans are the political minority, and our state is on the verge of a total economic collapse.
This week, Rauner will deliver his third budget address. This is the speech that will define the terms of his re-election.
He should use this speech as an opportunity to return to his roots.
Then revert to Rauner circa 2014. Dig the Carhartt jacket out of the closet. Gas up that old van, the "rolling trash can." Hit the road, and lead the crusade he started in 2014.
Remember when Rauner promised on the campaign trail to lower the state income tax rate to 3 percent by the end of his first term?
He’s been in office two years and has yet to propose a plan to do so. And he apparently has nothing to say about a "grand argain" that would increase the state income tax rate to 4.99 percent, 7 percent — or higher.
Rauner should release a plan to do what he promised on the campaign trail, then take his message to the people. If career politicians and special interests stand in the way, expose them. Name names. And tell us, the voters, how we can step in and help fight.
Remember, Rauner’s campaign message didn’t just appeal to Republicans who had sat out the last few election cycles. He won the popular vote in 20 House districts and 10 Senate districts that simultaneously voted for a Democratic state legislator.
It means that people of all political stripes were fed up with Illinois as we know it. Rauner’s message that both the Democratic and Republican parties were corrupt really resonated.
The leader Illinois needs today is the same guy who said he would take a sledgehammer to the system.
Two years ago, I wrote in this space that Rauner needed to prove he really is the man from the campaign trail. And that if he is, the same people who voted for him in November 2014 will have his back when it comes time for him to make tough decisions.
If Rauner disappoints, though, then the best opportunity for reform in decades will be squandered.
An inspiring man once said that Illinois is ready for greatness again. That the people are ready to reclaim state government, and create a new generation of opportunity. He said it would not be easy, and that we need to be bold, tough and fundamentally change government because Springfield is broken.
A lot of us believed that guy. And we elected him as governor of Illinois.
Rauner should use his budget address to lay out a bold, if difficult, plan to once and for all solve Illinois’ problems. If he does, we’ll know that the inspiring Bruce Rauner is back.
If instead we get expressions of confidence in career politicians to craft a "solution" on the backs of Illinois taxpayers …well, in that case, we’ll know who really got shook up in Springfield.
Diana Sroka Rickert is a writer with the Illinois Policy Institute. The opinions in this essay are her own.
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