Maisch: Tale of two sessions
Monday, Jun 17, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Mark Maxwell…
Governor J.B. Pritzker, a first-term Democrat, “surprised the heck out of everybody” when he struck a series of pro-business compromises as the clock ran out in his first legislative session at the statehouse, Illinois Chamber of Commerce President Todd Maisch said on Capitol Connection.
“It’s really kind of a tale of two sessions, and almost a tale of two governors over the last several months,” Maisch said. “[Pritzker] came out of the gate with a huge minimum wage increase that small businesses are not going to be able to pay. He went straight to the graduated income tax. But then at the end, [he] came around and said, ‘you know what, the elimination of a lot of these taxes, a capital bill, a new economic development incentive that is really important for a lot of people.’ There it was. Like, bam. Surprised the heck out of everybody. It is a much, much more balanced assessment than it would have been two weeks before the end of session.”
Maisch, who represents business interests spanning the state, said “the jury is still out” on whether or not Pritzker qualifies as a pro-business governor, but also acknowledged that the new governor “certainly made some real substantial movement over the last three or four days of session. No doubt about that.”
- Grandson of Man - Monday, Jun 17, 19 @ 10:03 am:
How refreshing it is to have a governor who works with the other political party where deals can be made. Such a far cry from the last governor, who slammed and rejected the other political party’s reform offers.
- bobbychapelle - Monday, Jun 17, 19 @ 10:17 am:
Seems like Rauner wanted the platform to speak but had no real desire to listen.
Janus and the (unsucessful) war on labor was Rauner’s only desire. He got Janus, he lost the war on labor.
And in the end … what? He didn’t even want to run for a second term.
That’s not a legacy that will be fondly remembered.
- Quibbler - Monday, Jun 17, 19 @ 10:17 am:
What a bizarre thing to be surprised about. Pritzker’s a billionaire corporate Democrat, not a member of DSA.
- efudd - Monday, Jun 17, 19 @ 10:42 am:
Maisch, it really isn’t a surprise once one dispels two huge myths.
1-Republicans are pro business.
2-Democrats are anti-business.
Some of this country’s most profitable eras were with Democrats in the White House.
There were more millionaires made during Obama’s term than any president before, or since.
- Annonin' - Monday, Jun 17, 19 @ 10:53 am:
Todd should not have been real surprised by anything.
JB campaigned and won on hiking min wage
JB campaigned and won on fair tax
JB campaign and won on helping biz
Biz did better than four years of GovJunk nonsense.
- Postbot529 - Monday, Jun 17, 19 @ 11:06 am:
It’s easy to be surprised by the result when you aren’t part of the negotiations. IRMA and IMA weren’t surprised.
- Lester Holt’s Mustache - Monday, Jun 17, 19 @ 11:08 am:
JB will have to print that out and frame it. With GA elections and the fair tax referendum coming in 2020, it might be the last nice thing Maisch says about him for a couple years.
- Nonbeliever - Monday, Jun 17, 19 @ 11:27 am:
From Rauner to Pritzker. Neither good for the future of this state.
- T-N-T - Monday, Jun 17, 19 @ 11:43 am:
== IRMA and IMA weren’t surprised. ==
So true. Some organizations are focused on driving membership, while others are focused on solving problems. Just as some legislators are focused on generating social media content (McSweeney/Eastern Bloc) while others are focused on actually making laws (Durkin.)
More “pro-business” reforms happened in the final few days of session this year than occurred in the entire four years of the Rauner administration thanks to the problem solvers.
- walker - Monday, Jun 17, 19 @ 11:44 am:
Just now printed a list of eleven significant business investment and job creation bills passed this session. Four were pushed primarily by Republicans late in the session. Five were pushed primarily by Democrats earlier in the session. And two were fully joint efforts all along. Almost all had some bipartisan support from day one. The reality is that more controversial issues dominated the public reporting.
- Sideline Watcher - Monday, Jun 17, 19 @ 12:21 pm:
Walker…
Would love to see that list…
- The Bashful Raconteur - Monday, Jun 17, 19 @ 2:03 pm:
So ask small business owners whether the Gov. is pro-small business. I’ll wager 8 of 10 say No and the other 2 are “maybe”