Responsible Budget Coalition statement on Gov. Rauner’s State of the State

Governor Fails to Make Families and Communities Priority During Address

Springfield – The following is a statement from Dan Lesser, director of economic justice for the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, on behalf of the Responsible Budget Coalition:

Hundreds of veterans, seniors, people with disabilities, immigrants, faith leaders, students, children, and working families traveled to the Capitol today from communities across Illinois to urge the Governor to make them his number one priority. The Governor ignored their calls and ignored the countless stories they’ve told about the harm being felt in their communities due to his failure to put a budget first that chooses revenue. 

The Governor treated the enactment of a fully funded budget that invests in families and communities as an afterthought, failing to mention the issue until the final two minutes of his speech.  This is despite hundreds of families chanting outside the chamber doors, calling for the enactment of a responsible budget immediately.

Yesterday, families from all corners of the state told how the “State of our State” is weak.  If the Governor continues to use families and communities as leverage for his non-budget agenda, and chooses cuts to services that families rely on instead of choosing revenue, our state will grow ever weaker.

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Chicago Coalition for the Homeless is a partner in the Responsible Budget Coalition (RBC), a large and diverse coalition of more than 275 organizations concerned about state budget and tax issues. It includes organizations that serve children, families, veterans, seniors and people with disabilities; education groups concerned about early learning, K-12 and higher education; labor unions; faith-based and civic organizations; immigrant and refugee families; and many others.

The RBC is a non-partisan, trusted source of information on state budget and tax policy and a leader in the fight to pass a budget that chooses revenue over cuts to vital services.

The individual organizations that belong to the RBC represent a diverse range of interests but are united by these three common principles:

• Adequate revenue to support state priorities and make smart investments
• No more cuts to vital programs and services
• Fairness in raising revenue