Rauner was sworn in as
Governor of Illinois on January 12, 2015.
[49] In his first executive order, he halted state hiring as well as discretionary spending, and called for state agencies to sell surplus property.
[50]
Governor Rauner's Proposed Budget Cuts to Higher Education
On February 9, 2015, Rauner signed an executive order blocking so called
"fair share" union fees from state employee paychecks.
[51][52] The same day, Rauner hired a legal team headed by former
U.S. Attorney Dan Webb and his law firm
Winston & Strawn to file a
declaratory judgment action in the
U.S. Supreme Court to affirm his action.
[51][52] In February 2015 Rauner proposed $4.1 billion in budget cuts affecting
higher education,
Medicaid, state employee
pensions,
public transit, and local government support. In April, Rauner also suspended funding for programs addressing domestic violence, homeless youth,
autism, and immigrant integration. Critics called these moves "morally reprehensible" and harmful to the state economy.
[53][54][55][56]
In May 2015, Governor Rauner announced the shelving of the Illiana Tollway project, a controversial proposed tollway between I-55 in Illinois and I-65 in Indiana, citing the "lack of sufficient capital resources" and the budget impasse, but did not completely remove it from the state's list of proposed infrastructure projects.
Rauner vetoed the Illinois state budget on June 25, 2015 which would have created a deficit of nearly $4 billion but covered what Illinois Democratic lawmakers called "vital services".
[57] He stated that he would not sign a budget until the
Democratic state legislature passed his "Turnaround Agenda" to reduce
trade union power and freeze property taxes.
[58][59] With no state budget, social service agencies have cut back on services,
[60] state universities have laid off staff,
[61] public transit service has ceased in
Monroe and
Randolph Counties,
[62] and Child Care Assistance eligibility has been cut by 90%.
[63] Illinois's unpaid bill backlog could reach as high as $25 billion by FY19 if things continue as they have been.
[64] On June 30, 2016, just before the beginning of the next fiscal year, Rauner signed a temporary bipartisan stopgap budget that would allow public schools to continue operating for an additional year and for necessary state services to continue for 6 months.
[65][66] However, the stopgap budget covers only 65% of social services agencies' normally allocated funds and provides $900,000 less for colleges and universities than FY15, while attempting to cover eighteen months' worth of expenses, all while continuing the uncertainty that Illinois nonprofits faced during FY16.
[67]
Sucks this guy is trying to fix what these clowns in the legislature have screwed up. Tough choices must be made and he is making them.
