February 1, 2012
Governor Quinn's State of the State
Address
The Governor presented his
State of the State speech today to the General Assembly,
mentioning a few of the significant issues facing Illinois and
announcing a new Illinois Jobs Agenda for 2012. The Governor
also mentioned numerous thank yous to many who he felt have
improved Illinois over the last year. Included among his
"thank yous" were farmers for their hard work expanding
exports. So…thank you farmers!
The Governor did open and close his speech by mentioning that
Medicaid and pension reform must be addressed this year. As
has been reported, these issues continue to put Illinois in severe
financial hardship. The Governor mentioned his pension
working group that he has assembled to propose solutions and that
he would discuss those during his budget address later in
February. As he closed his speech, he mentioned that it will
take political courage in order to address these very significant
issues.
To build on the recent export growth in Illinois, the Governor
announced the creation of an Export Advisory Council. The
Council will be chaired by Navistar CEO Dan Ustian and will be made
up of other private sector leaders. This Council will
reportedly work with the Dept. of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
(DCEO) and the Dept. of Agriculture to recommend policies that will
make Illinois more competitive in the global marketplace. The
Governor also announced a new $6 million competition to build
ultra-high speed broadband across Illinois.
However, the majority of the speech focused on the Governor's
announcement of his Illinois Jobs Agenda for 2012. Among the
items included in the Jobs Agenda are three tax changes:
abolishing the natural gas utility tax, establishing a Child Tax
Credit for parents raising children, and a Hiring Veterans Tax
Credit to recognize businesses who hire veterans. Abolishing
the natural gas utility tax was promoted as targeted tax relief to
businesses and consumers and would cost the State of Illinois
approximately $164 million. The Child Tax Credit proposed by
the Governor would provide $100 in tax relief each year for a
typical family of four. The Hiring Veterans Tax Credit will
reportedly provide a tax credit to businesses for up to a maximum
of $5000 of a hired veteran's wages.
Another item included in the Illinois Jobs Agenda for 2012 was
additional investment in education. Mentioned as
investment items were implementing Lt. Governor Sheila Simon's
proposed changes to the Community College system, increasing
investment in early childhood education, raising the minimum school
attendance age to 18, investing in additional MAP scholarships, and
upgrading classrooms with the latest technology.
The Illinois Foreclosure Prevention Network was also included as
a part of the Jobs Agenda, providing resources, counseling, legal
assistance, and mortgage relief for struggling
homeowners.
Finally, the Jobs Agenda includes the Governors Clean Water
Initiative which would replace aging water infrastructure, update
wastewater treatment facilities, and clean up environmental
threats.
While the Governor did present these ideas in his Jobs Agenda,
he did not mention nor propose a way to pay for these changes and
investments. A common refrain heard around the Capitol
is…."how can we find a way to pay for it".
At the close of his speech, the Governor did comment that "cuts
alone will not solve" Illinois' fiscal situation. He stated
that we must also build and grow our economy. It will be
interesting to hear how the Governor proposes to address the
State's fiscal crisis in more detail when he presents his budget
address in a few weeks.
