Hurley Calls for New Approach to Budget, Economic Reform

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Fran Hurley, D-Chicago, issued the following statement following Gov. Bruce Rauner’s State of the State Address on Wednesday:

“As the state has now gone through 19 months without a full budget, hundreds of thousands of people across the state have had their lives fundamentally changed. Students without MAP grants had to drop out of college, rape survivors never received the proper counseling they deserved and many families that couldn’t afford to live in Illinois anymore moved out of state. These are the people who came to mind as the governor delivered his third State of the State address this afternoon, because, truth be told, the state of our state, is dismal.

“Our state is far beyond crisis-mode, and I agree with the governor that we cannot drag this on any longer without coming to the compromise our districts deserve. I’m calling on our legislative leaders to immediately reconvene the budget working groups, so that rank-and-file members can go line-through-line of the budget to come to a true bipartisan solution. Middle-class families cannot afford another year of partisan bickering instead of real solutions.

“I agree with the governor that to restore Illinois as an economic hub, we must make Illinois a hospitable place to do business. I support initiatives such as the EDGE tax credits, programs that incentivize businesses to invest in Illinois and create new jobs. We can revive our economy without doing so on the back of the middle-class, but rather encouraging businesses to invest in Illinois, and holding them accountable when they ship our jobs and tax dollars overseas.

“To position Illinois on a path for growth, partisan differences must be set aside and we must work together to resolve the biggest issues facing our state. I look forward to working with the governor and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to bring this budget crisis to a swift and fruitful conclusion as soon as possible.”