Rauner Reaches New Milestone – First Time Illinois Has Ever Missed School Payment

Milestone Joins Other Rauner Records of Failure – Lowest Credit Rating, Longest Budget Impasse

As Governor, Bruce Rauner has set new standards for failed governance. Rauner’s refusal to compromise and his willingness to push the state into crises for political gain has given the state new ways to describe itself, like “first ever” and “lowest.” Today, thanks to Governor Rauner’s overtly political amendatory veto of the state’s education funding formula, Illinois will miss its deadline to make school funding payments for the first time ever.
Here are just a few “milestones” in Governor Rauner’s legacy:

• Longest State Budget Impasse since the Great Depression: It could have been worse; Governor Rauner vetoed the budget that ended the impasse, requiring lawmakers of both parties to override him.
• Lowest Credit Rating of Any State on Record: Again, it could have been worse. With credit agencies warning that Illinois was facing another downgrade unless a budget was passed, Rauner told lawmakers to ignore the credit agencies and uphold his veto.
• First Time Missing Deadline to Make Payments for K-12 Schools: Governor Rauner’s amendatory veto of a bill his administration previously said it supported 90% of could force schools to close.

Thanks to his failure of leadership, Rauner earned his own moniker – “most vulnerable incumbent.”
“Governor Bruce Rauner has earned a place in the record books – for futility,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Rauner created an unprecedented two-year budget crisis that was only ended when lawmakers stood up to him. With his veto of the state’s education funding bill, Rauner is creating another crisis that will only harm Illinois families.
Rauner’s failed leadership is only making Illinois worse.”

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BACKGROUND:
Illinois Missed The Deadline To Make Payments To K-12 Schools For The First Time In History. “Illinois missed the deadline make payments to K-12 schools for the first time in history, according to the state comptroller. The state failed to make General State Aid payments by the Thursday deadline, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza said in a release. Mendoza directed the payment of $429 million in grants to schools as a contingency, according to the release.” [NBC 5 Chicago, 8/10/17]
Illinois Had The Longest Budget Impasse Since The Great Depression. “The Illinois House voted Thursday to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s vetoes of a budget package, giving the state its first spending blueprint in more than two years and ending the nation’s longest fiscal stalemate since at least the Great Depression.” [Associated Press, 7/6/17]
Illinois’ Credit Rating Dropped To Lowest Rating On Record For Any State. “Illinois had its bond rating downgraded to one step above junk by Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings, the lowest ranking on record for a U.S. state, as the long-running political stalemate over the budget shows no signs of ending.” [Bloomberg, 6/1/17]
Headline: CNN: “Illinois Could Soon Become America’s First ‘Junk’ State” [CNN Money, 6/28/17]