W. Davis Calls on Governor to Pass Balanced Budget; Supports New Economic Agenda

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – On Wednesday, Governor Bruce Rauner addressed the General Assembly in his annual State of the State address. State Rep. Will Davis, D-Hazel Crest, was present and issued the following statement after the address:

“In the past 19 months, our state has endured many hardships associated with not passing a fully funded budget. Not only has our lack of a budget hurt our families and our underprivileged neighbors, but it has completely devastated all the progress that we made toward paying down our unpaid bills. These bill have increased from a backlog of $4.5 billion to almost $11 billion in debt that is literally growing every day.

“Unfortunately, what we heard here today was a promise from our governor that we will see more of the same from him and his caucus. Sadly, until Rauner is willing to put families first, the most vulnerable people in Illinois will continue to suffer and our backlog will continue to grow to record numbers. Our governor continues to think that starving out people with disabilities, the elderly, and school-aged children will somehow encourage legislators to meet demands that will further boost the profits of his corporate buddies.

“Although there is a clear need to take steps to improve our business climate and create jobs and opportunities in our state, we cannot look at cutting wages and taking protections from middle class workers as the only ways to create a better business climate. We have to move toward policies that lift up the middle class and businesses together by increasing the minimum wage, providing tax credits to businesses that create jobs here in Illinois instead of shipping them overseas or out of state, and investing in the education of children in our state. Funding education is not only an investment into individuals, but it is also an investment into the future of our workforce and business atmosphere.

“We have to work together to come to a solution for our state’s fiscal issues; one side simply won’t be able to do it by itself. We need to come to a bipartisan budgetary compromise that includes reforms that help businesses while not harming the middle class and our most vulnerable community members.”

Davis represents the 30th Legislative District, which contains south suburban communities.  For any questions or concerns about state-related issues, please contact Rep. Davis’ full time district office located at 1912 W 174th St in Hazel Crest at 708-799-7300.