* While speaking at an event, Gov. Rauner gave a statement to reporters today about AG Madigan’s motion to stop paying state workers without a valid appropriation…
I am deeply disappointed, very upset about this court filing that Attorney General Madigan has made in St. Clair County seeking to block state employee pay.
I hope this is not a direct attempt to cause a crisis, to force a shutdown of the government to force another stopgap spending plan, short-term, unbalanced, incomplete, as a step to force a tax hike without any changes to our broken system.
I hope that’s not what this is. I hope the attorney general will reconsider. This is gonna hurt workin’ families, the good hard-workin’ employees of Illinois, who deserve to be paid, deserve to stay workin’.
The people of our state need our state employees to continue workin’. I hope the attorney general will reconsider this move.
And let’s not block the great work that the Senate is doing to come up with a compromise and a truly balanced budget, which is what we need, along with changes to the system so we can grow the economy and create more jobs.
Please do not take steps to disrupt the Senate’s work. And please respect the fact that we are making progress.
I want to thank, again, the House that did pass the property tax freeze and has said that we need economic reforms to grow jobs.
Let’s not block our progress by creating a crisis.
Um, OK, but this crisis started when he vetoed the budget in 2015.
* Raw audio…
*** UPDATE *** The governor just sent an e-mail to all state workers…
Dear Employees:
By now you’ve heard the shocking news that Attorney General Lisa Madigan went into court late yesterday to petition a judge to halt state employee pay.
It’s disappointing to see any move to stop employee pay and disrupt government services, especially now as the Senate is on the verge of a bipartisan agreement to enact a balanced budget with changes to create jobs and lower property taxes. The Attorney General’s court filing seeks to directly harm thousands of employee families and even more who rely on your hard work every day.
Our Administration will use all available legal options to continue employee pay and avoid any disruption to government services. I am hopeful Comptroller Mendoza will stand with state employees - just as Comptroller Munger did previously - and support our legal arguments to continue employee pay.
No matter what, we will work tirelessly on your behalf to stop this attempt to undermine good-faith bipartisan negotiations in the Senate - ensuring employee pay continues, government services remain intact and the General Assembly enacts a bipartisan balanced budget with changes to our broken system.
Sincerely,
Governor Bruce Rauner
