* Rather than go through all the stories, here’s the complete State of the State backgrounder from Team Rauner…

The governor will make clear that he is not only taking action to turn around our economy and restore trust in government, but he is committed to transforming state government so that it is more effective and efficient, delivering better outcomes and better value for every Illinoisan.

In addition to highlighting the need for job-creating economic reforms, property tax relief, term limits and redistricting reform, the governor will address a government transformation effort that includes:

· Pension Reform

· Education Reform

· Procurement Reform

· Improvements to the Way Illinois Delivers Health and Human Services

· Criminal Justice Reform

· The Information Technology Revolution

· A New Economic Development Initiative

Speech Excerpts

Pension Reform

“As a first step toward bipartisan compromise, President Cullerton and I have agreed to support his pension proposal that will save $1 billion per year.”

Education Reform

“The key to rising family incomes, more high paying jobs, and a higher quality of life for everyone in Illinois is to have a high quality, fully-integrated education system from cradle to career, from early education, to K-12 public schools, to outstanding community colleges and universities, all the way to coordinated job training and technical training later in life. To drive that result, we are committed to eliminating wasteful bureaucracy, putting more money into our classrooms, and holding our schools truly accountable for results.”

Economic Development Initiative

“Our Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity is hampered by red-tape and a slow bureaucracy that make business development and job recruitment more difficult…Last year, we introduced legislation to create a P3, but it stalled in the legislature. This year, we will move forward with a revised version that will laser focus on sales, marketing and customer service to increase our competitiveness for job creation and investment.”

Procurement Reform

“To save taxpayers money, we must also change the way we buy goods and services… The law more than tripled the time it takes to complete an RFP process, taking the process from 2-3 months to 9-12. The solution is comprehensive procurement reform… that maintains necessary ethics and transparency safeguards, streamlines bureaucracy, offers greater flexibility to agencies and follows best practices from other states. Done properly, we believe this can save taxpayers more than $500 million per year.”

Health and Human Services Transformation

“Historically, the state has spent most of its resources—tens of billions of dollars—on a broken patchwork of reactive, expensive, and ineffective interventions…Our transformation puts a strong new focus on prevention and public health; pays for value and outcomes rather than volume and services; makes evidence-based and data driven decisions; and moves individuals from institutions to community care to keep them more closely connected with their families and communities.”

Criminal Justice Reform

“Last year we created a bipartisan commission…to propose reforms to our criminal justice system…The Commission earlier this month recommended 14 reforms that can help us achieve our goal of SAFELY reducing the State’s prison population by 25 percent by 2025…These and other reforms will lead to fewer victims of crimes, a pathway back for ex-offenders, and safer communities for all.”

IT Revolution

“Illinois state government needs a digital revolution, and this week I created a secretary-level position to see this mission through. The Department of Innovation and Technology will allow us to consolidate, modernize and streamline our IT systems to better serve taxpayers and businesses, while fostering innovation among employees.”

* Some framing from Korecki…

Rauner’s office last night leaked some portions of the governor’s talking points and it already had members of his own party worried. It seemed to still lack a convincing argument of why holding on to his turnaround agenda is worth taking the public through a seven-month, painful odyssey that’s allowed human services to suffer and has had higher ed institutions warning of permanent damage. To make matters worse, on the eve of Rauner’s address, Moody’s came out with a stern warning that the state faces a downgrade if the pile of unpaid bills keep growing.

Rauner is expected to clarify his bungled rollout of his backing Senate President John Cullerton’s pension legislation. According to the Sun-Times’ Tina Sfondeles, his prepared remarks will say: “As a first step toward bipartisan compromise, President Cullerton and I have agreed to support his pension proposal that will save $1 billion per year.” […]

How will Dems react as Rauner delivers his remarks? Despite their negative feelings about the governor, Dems have been told to keep it respectful. No booing or jeering.