* Comptroller Leslie Munger at the Chicago Tribune editorial board debate with her opponents…

“We have to pass a balanced budget. I don’t know how you pass a balanced budget, unless you literally cut social services completely as an example, cut education,” Munger said. “You cannot get to a balanced budget without a growing economy in our state right now. We cannot do it.”

* SEIU Healthcare used that quote to slam her…

* Politifact justifiably rated the union’s claim “False.” Its reasoning…

The video includes Munger’s comments in their entirety, though both the title and the description imply the comptroller was saying the state needs to completely eliminate funding for social services to balance the budget.

Despite Munger making clear she was using such cuts as “an example” to illustrate how drastic cuts alone would have to be, SEIU makes it appear as if Munger wants and is proposing to eliminate all funding for social services in the video as well as on its social media accounts.

Munger reiterated her support for an income tax increase as long as it’s “coupled” with reductions in spending, noting the current individual income tax rate of 3.75 percent would have to be hiked up to about 8 percent just to pay down the state’s current $8.1 billion backlog of unpaid bills.

“You cannot cut enough to get to a balanced budget, so you need revenue,” Munger said during the debate. “And you cannot raise revenue enough to get it balanced without a growing economy.”

This statement also debunks SEIU’s contention that Munger wants to “cut social services completely,” and further clarifies she was saying the state never would be able to make cuts as severe as what you would need to balance the budget as things currently stand.

Agreed.