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Local Lawmakers React To Governor's Budget Address

Governor Pat Quinn gave his annual Budget Address Wednesday, and several area legislators are weighing in on it.

Bloomington State Senator Bill Brady called out the Governor for a lack of solutions in the speech, but did give Quinn credit for recognizing there are problems within the state.

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Forsyth Representative Bill Mitchell was optimistic about areas of the Governor's address.  He hopes there's a bi-partisan effort to work with Quinn on addressing the state's skyrocketing public aid costs.

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Champaign Representative Jason Barickman credited Quinn with acknowledging the state's issues, but questioned the Governor's lack of leadership by not offering any plans on dealing with the issues.

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Bloomington Representative Dan Brady feels there's a lot of work to be done to reign in state spending, and questions the Governor's willingness to scale back spending to realistic levels.

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The over-riding theme from area lawmakers is the Governor's Budget Address was too short on specifics, and too unrealistic in adequately addressing the state's ongoing fiscal crisis.  Most local lawmakers feel the Governor has again shifted responsibility for bringing the state back to financial solvency to the General Assembly.  The state legislature will continue working towards a budget through the ongoing spring legislative session.

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