Gov. Pat Quinn renewed his call to raise taxes today, saying that the state needs more income if it's going to overcome a crippling budget deficit.
"I do believe we need more revenue," Quinn told the Illinois General Assembly. "We're still short," despite securing federal stimulus money, cutting costs and using what he called "strategic" borrowing to fill funding gaps in the state's budget.
While Quinn did not lay out specifics of a tax proposal, he emphasized that any new taxes should not affect the poor, and that state legislators may even be able to cut taxes for about five million people, "maybe more."
Yet in a speech that lasted about an hour and 15 minutes, his discussion of the state budget did not begin until about 45 minutes into the State of the State address.
He was only somewhat more forthcoming about another critical issue — ethics reform in the state — praising campaign-finance legislation that some critics view as a loophole for incumbent Democrats.
If anything, the speech was notable for its unexpected length and the extent of its emotion.
Quinn began the talk by expressing condolences for the people of Haiti, ravaged by an earthquake yesterday, and he ended it on another sentimental note, choking up at the lectern as he memorialized his late father's advice.
"We got terrible challenges, the toughest we've probably ever had in our lifetimes," Quinn said. "He taught me always to work hard, to treat other people with dignity."
In that vein, much of Quinn's talk struck at the importance of maintaining state services for the disabled, poor and recently unemployed — despite pressure to cut some programs to stop the state's financial bleeding.
Quinn was also careful to acknowledge various prominent individuals and industries in the state — with special attention to those who have played pivotal roles in his campaign for governor.
Quinn thanked several officials, most notably supporter and Secretary of State Jesse White, in developing key legislation. White, who endorsed Quinn last year, backed a law that makes texting while driving in Illinois illegal.
The governor also focused on jobs, urging legislators to prioritize "green-collar" initiatives that focus on clean and alternative energies.
In one of the pithier moments of his address, he said Illinois must replace a "culture of violence with a culture of work." Youths, he said, should put down their guns and pick up "a caulking gun, and learn how to weatherize buildings."
Touting his nickname as the "Soy Boy," Quinn thanked soybean farmers for providing inexpensive ways to make buildings more energy efficient. He explained, in more detail than some front-and-center issues, how using a coat of soy-based paint can block heat from entering through the roofs of buildings.
Quinn critics on the right and left panned his performance.
Dale Righter, the deputy Republican leader in the Illinois Senate, said Quinn's speech was heartfelt, and that ultimately, the governor is "more endearing" than impeached predecessor Rod Blagojevich.
But Righter said Quinn is squandering his chance to prove he is credible as he tries to bring ethical and financial reform to the state. The governor's speech, Righter said, touched on important issues only in "broad strokes."
"The governor's been given a marvelous opportunity," Righter said on WBEZ radio. But "not really much has changed."
Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady said the governor can't simply "wish away" the state's problems, including tens of millions in unfunded pension liabilities.
"We are a state on the verge of financial collapse," Brady said in a statement. "A laundry list of government-created jobs, government programs and a bail-out from the federal government is not a serious approach to economic and fiscal recovery."
Yet while Brady said the speech showed the Democratic Party's "disconnect from reality," perhaps the harshest criticism came from Quinn's fellow Democrat in the gubernatorial race, Comptroller Dan Hynes.
"Instead of offering concrete plans to get us out of this crisis, he fundamentally dropped the ball today in this rambling and unfocused performance," Hynes said in a campaign statement. "This was yet another lost opportunity for Pat Quinn to lead."
Windy Citizen 