Dear Friend:

I would like to wish each and every one of you a Happy Independence Day!  Please be safe and enjoy the weekend. Remember those serving who are protecting our freedoms and say a prayer for their safe return.

Those who had the courage to put their signature to a single sheet of parchment understood the import of what it might cost them personally. Signing America’s Declaration of Independence from British rule was considered an act of treason. Only a few brave men had the courage to align themselves with the campaign to break from the mother country. To those we again give thanks as we celebrate the birth of the greatest nation on Earth.

The Governor moves on the Budget

Given our current budget situation there is no question cuts need to be made.   However, the budget Governor Quinn signed into law and the cuts he announced yesterday are the result of a plan put together entirely by one party and even Speaker Madigan acknowledges it’s not balanced. Republicans were not consulted or asked to participate in putting this budget together by either the Governor or the Speaker of the House. We had reform proposals to control state spending, restore accountability, create jobs, and ideas for areas to cut that we attempted to have considered time and time again only to be blocked by Speaker Madigan and the Democrats.

House Democrats instead passed a budget built on borrowing that increases state spending by $4 billion.  They chose to abdicate their responsibility and simply gave the governor a big pot of money and extraordinary power to allocate or cut funding as he chooses.   What you need to know about Quinn’s plan is that it relies on money from that pension borrowing the Illinois Senate shows no interest in even considering and also $700 million in federal Medicaid funding that has not yet been approved by the U.S. Congress.

Yesterday Governor Quinn said he was cutting $1.4 billion from the budget, but only made reductions totaling $155 million.  Big questions remain about specifically what is being cut, and how he intends to pay the $6 billion in unpaid bills for FY 10 and those that will continue to come in for FY 11.  And of course, you need to ask will any of this actually happen.  Last year on July 31st he held a press conference announcing $1 billion in cuts – but failed to follow through.  Instead he simply chose not to pay the state’s bills.  By refusing to cut government bureaucracy, he has devastated private employers who do business with the state and those caring for our most vulnerable citizens.  The state now owes $6 billion in unpaid bills and it appears he is going to continue down that road making matters worse for providers who can’t survive without being paid what they are owed.

Earlier this year Governor Quinn said he would cut $1 billion from education unless lawmakers approved his income tax increase – today it appears he found a way to restore to those funds without a tax increase.  Yet he still used the opportunity yesterday to push his agenda of higher income taxes and excessive borrowing. Over the past eight years our general obligation debt has nearly tripled to $20 billion. We are already drowning in debt and can’t afford more.  In fact, instead of making promised cuts last year, Governor Quinn actually cut a deal with state employee unions to make sure they receive pay raises ranging from 1 percent to more than 7 percent while people in the private and other areas of the public sector are getting laid-off or taking pay cuts to help their employer stay afloat.

The mentally ill are being turned toward the street, services for the developmentally disabled are being cut, the elderly are trying to stay in their homes and out of nursing homes, and low-income college students struggle pay for a higher education because of a lack of funds.  How in the world can Governor Quinn rationalize $336.2 million in pay raises?
With one in ten Illinoisans out-of-work and our credit rating tied for worst in the nation - we owe the people we represent our best effort at solving our problems, but for the second straight year the Democrats have chosen to tell the Governor ‘you deal with it’ we are going home.

Please continue to give me your feedback on these issues or any others by e-mailingat This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by calling my district office (630) 876-0703. You can also find more information about legislative issues or get added to the Email E-newsletter list by visiting www.randyramey.org.

Warmest regards,

State Representative
55th District