RAUNER TO STATE WORKERS: MADIGAN TRYING TO FORCE ‘ CRISIS SHOWDOWN’
Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday told state workers in a video that he’ll veto a Democratic- sponsored bill to keep pay flowing during the budget impasse, while accusing Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan of trying to create a “crisis showdown” in order to force a tax hike.
It’s the latest in a battle Rauner is embroiled in with Madigan, his daughter Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 — who likened Rauner’s message to bullying.
Lisa Madigan last month filed court papers seeking to stop state workers’ pay by the end of February unless Rauner and the Illinois General Assembly approve a spending plan. A hearing is scheduled next week.
House Democrats, led by Speaker Madigan, are trying to pass a bill that would ensure state workers get paid until the end of the state’s fiscal year in June. But House Republicans want a measure that would make state worker pay a “continuing appropriation” — guaranteeing workers get paid without a budget.
In the video sent by email to state workers, Rauner accused Speaker Madigan of trying to force a “crisis showdown.”
“Speaker Madigan will try to sell his June 30th government shutdown proposal as a solution in case his daughter wins in court,” Rauner said. “But don’t be fooled. It’s not a solution — it’s a crisis showdown set for June 30th when the speaker will use the leverage of a forced shutdown to finally get the massive tax hike he recommended in December 2015.”
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown called the video “incomprehensible,” adding that the Democratic bill is an effort to ensure state workers get paid “should the attorney general prevail in her action.”
The tax hike rumblings have been the source of bickering. Rauner and Republicans point to Madigan saying in 2015 that the state income tax rate should be raised back to at least 5 percent to help balance the state’s finances. Rauner has said he’ll only support a tax hike if it comes alongside reforms.
In the Illinois House on Thursday, the Democraticsponsored bill wasn’t called for a vote, at the request of some Democrats, and because Rauner had acknowledged he’d veto the measure.
But one of the bill’s spon- sors, state Rep. Sue Scherer, D- Decatur, placed the blame squarely on Rauner.
“The problem is that the governor is saying that he wants to support state workers. So we put this bill out there, and then he won’t support the bill and his members are not supporting the bill,” Scherer said. “I just cannot for the life of me figure out how you can talk out of both sides of your mouth. In one breath you say, ‘ I support state workers. I want to put state workers back to work.’ And then we give them a bill that provides that opportunity and he shuts it down.”
Meanwhile, AFSCME Council 31 spokesman Anders Lindall dubbed the video Rauner’s “latest attempt to mislead state workers.” The union began a strike authorization vote in late January to allow members to counter contract demands from the governor.
Members are voting on whether to authorize the union’s collective bargaining committee to call a strike in the future amid a declared impasse with the Rauner administration.
Lindall said the union is working with Scherer on the state worker pay bill and said it’s moving forward.
“That’s how compromise and the legislative process work. In contrast, the governor’s threat to veto a bill not sponsored by his partisan political allies follows a familiar pattern: Rauner makes a demand, refuses to compromise, and bullies those who disagree,” Lindall said. “If he wants to make progress, the governor should negotiate, not dictate, both in developing a fully funded budget and reaching a fair contract for state employees.”