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In Their Own Words: House Republicans End Rauner’s Impasse

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Bruce Rauner’s legacy will be this – Republican lawmakers, seeing no benefit in continuing Rauner’s two-year budget crisis, broke with the Governor and cut a bipartisan budget deal with Democrats. Rauner’s refusal to compromise drove away members of his own party.
Below are quotes from the 10 House Republicans who voted for the budget revenue and to override Rauner’s veto. Their words show they were concerned their party, led by Rauner, had no plan. They confirmed that everyone knew more revenue was needed and that passing a budget was the fiscally responsible action to take. And they warned what would happen if they did not act.
Through their words, we see Rauner’s refusal to compromise and his failed leadership.

Quotes from the ‘10’

There was no other plan…
GOP Floor Leader Steven Andersson: “For those of you who say there’s a better option, do you have the votes? No. You do not have the votes!”
The budget needed revenue…
Sara Wojcicki Jimenez, R-Leland Grove: “Today’s budget responsibly reduces spending by more than $3 billion…there has been no legitimate proposal introduced this spring by the Governor, Republicans or Democrats that didn’t include a need for more revenue to balance the budget.”
Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth: “There will have to be new revenue and spending cuts. You’d have to lie to people to say anything else.”
Mike Fortner, R-West Chicago: “Increasing the income tax has never been my preferred option…[but] my balance point was reached. This was a real balanced budget, there were real reductions in spending levels, and sufficient reforms to move forward.”
…and letting the impasse linger would lead to higher taxes later
Norine Hammond, R-Macomb: “If we do not pass the budget package, that backlog would total $24 billion and the tax increase included in the budget package would have to be even larger, depending on the timing — 5.5 percent to 8 percent if the state ever wanted to see a balanced budget, or a day in which bills are paid on time, for that matter.”
The budget was balanced and a compromise…
Mike Unes, R-East Peoria: “Until the House passed a balanced budget last week, we were spending $39B annually.  The current budget will immediately cut that spending by $3B, initiating the slow, difficult and essential process of digging our way out of this hole that has been decades in the making.”
Norine Hammond, R-Macomb: “Certainly Republicans didn’t get everything they wanted in that budget and Democrats didn’t either.”
Allowing more debt to pile on was wrong…
Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth: “We shouldn’t put things on our credit card and say it’s OK. It’s not OK. Illinois is in the worst shape it’s ever been in.”
Sara Wojcicki Jimenez, R-Leland Grove: “For me, one of the fundamental principles for Republicans is to have a balanced budget and to pay our bills.”
Chad Hays, R-Catlin: “I told somebody yesterday, I’ve been to a lot of Republican events over the years, but I’ve never been to one where the crowd, in terms of philosophy, said, you know how we handle paying our bills? We stiff the vendor. That’s not very Republican.”
The lack of action would have ruined Illinois’ finances…
David Harris, R-Arlington Heights: “You are an astute, capable businessman. You understand what the numbers are here. You understand the implications of junk-bond status. Is that what we want for the fifth-largest state in the union?”
David Harris, R-Arlington Heights: “Without a budget the bond rating agencies would have rated us as junk. We would be the first state ever rated as junk. It just starts a death spiral. I’m tired of playing chicken with the fifth-largest state in the union and seeing who blinks first.”
David Harris, R-Arlington Heights: “It’s time to stop playing chicken with the fifth largest state in the Union…I was not elected as a state legislator to help preside over the financial destruction of this great state.”
And most importantly, it was about the district…
Sara Wojcicki Jimenez, R-Leland Grove: “But I think at the end of the day for our community, the fact that the impasse…for now is over will bring certainty and relief to a lot of people who live here.”
Reginald Phillips, R-Charleston: “First of all, if I decide to press my button to override the governor, it doesn’t make me any less a conservative Republican than the rest of the people that stand in here. It makes a person decide he has to vote for his district. He has to think about all the people in his district to the best of his ability.”
Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro: “I hope you will help me bring my university back.”
 

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