SPRINGFIELD – Senate President John J. Cullerton released the following statement on the Governor’s State of the State address:

“The state of the state is the governor’s opportunity to give the people of Illinois a fact-based assessment of where we are and where we are going.  Unfortunately, too much of the governor’s opportunity was squandered with campaign rhetoric that denigrates the reputation of the state.
 
Illinois has made progress since the Great Recession. With each speech that Governor Rauner delivers, I am reminded that the new governor has a lot to learn if he is to build on our successes in Medicaid reform, workers compensation, pension reform, cutting the bill backlog and meeting our obligations.
 
All of those successes have been bipartisan, but there is still much more work to do. We are going to have to work together to find fiscal solutions that fully fund education, fuel economic growth and meet the diverse needs of working families needing higher wages and child care now. Talk is cheap, but these priorities will require targeted investments.
 
The people of this state elected a divided government, but the governor will soon learn that it doesn’t mean that he needs to be divisive.  As he begins to shape his budget, one of his principal tasks will be to identify common ground with the legislature as we all keep working for a better Illinois.”