A press release from State Senator Dan Duffy:

Duffy Reacts to Governor’s Budget Address

Dan Duffy

SPRINGFIELD- On Wednesday, March 6, Illinois legislators including State Senator Dan Duffy (R-Lake Barrington) listened to the Governor lay out his proposed 2014 budget in his annual Budget Address.

“Illinois is facing the worst fiscal crisis in our history and the Governor’s response is to craft a budget that increases spending by $1.2 billion.” said Duffy.

“Instead of cutting costs and living within our means, just like all families and small businesses are doing, the Governor has decided to expand government by adding 2,800 state employees to the payroll.”

Duffy points to pension reform as the most important issue facing the state of Illinois today.

“Our growing pension debt is the number one threat to Illinois’ fiscal security,” said Duffy.

“During his speech Governor Quinn repeatedly intimated that we must address pension reform, but offered no solutions.

“For months Governor Quinn has been echoing this sentiment but has failed to provide leadership on the issue, leaving the burden of reforming the system entirely on the General Assembly.

“We need a Governor who will roll up his sleeves and join us in making Illinois a more fiscally secure place.”

One proposal in the Governor’s speech raised eyebrows among the legislators in the House chamber.

“Governor Quinn mentioned closing ‘loopholes for mobsters’ in the gambling industry.

“I appreciate that the Governor wants to close these loopholes, but my question is if they exist, and the Governor knows about them, why haven’t they been closed already?”

“Our state needs a real leader to step forward and offer solutions.

“Instead the Governor has chosen to grow government, he has failed to participate in the pension reform process, and has recently handed out a sweetheart deal to AFSCME increasing their wages by $160 million,”said Duffy.

“It’s time that Governor Quinn pulled his head out of the sand and faced our fiscal reality.

“We are broke.

“This budget will not solve any of our fiscal problems.”