* You can watch Speaker Madigan’s Tuesday press conference by clicking here.
From the Sun-Times…
Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, D-Chicago, on Tuesday called Gov. Bruce Rauner’s new TV ad blitz “extreme” and said a budget deal would come only “if everybody’s reasonable.”
Still, Madigan said he believed the Legislature was making “progress” toward breaking a budget impasse, despite entering the third week after adjournment without a balanced plan.
“That TV ad takes us to the extreme. It takes away from moderation. It’s just like the other non-budget issues,” Madigan told reporters in a Capitol news conference.
“I think we’re making progress,” Madigan added. “I’m working seven days a week on this.” […]
“In the House, we’re attempting to be responsive to the governor’s interests. That’s why number one, we passed a worker’s compensation bill. We provided four opportunities for Republicans to pass legislation that would freeze property taxes.”
* Illinois Review…
According to our count, during the 20 minute press conference, the Speaker used the term “moderation” 11 times, the term “reasonable” 10 times, “extreme” to describe the governor 16 times, and “non-budget issues” 13 times.
In referring to the House’s legislative session which has not yet adjourned and will meet every Tuesday until the budget is agreed upon, Madigan used the term “continuous session” 11 times.
He is being reasonable and moderate, the Governor is being extreme.
When a reporter asked why Rauner’s television ads would be considered extreme while Madigan-funded mailers attacking Republicans in their home districts were not problematic, the Speaker said the mailers the Democrats sent out “were not extreme, they were factual.”
* SJ-R…
Madigan said mailers critical of Republicans sent into Republican legislative districts by the Illinois Democratic Party he controls are different from the ads.
“We wouldn’t consider the mailers extreme,” Madigan said. “They are factual. They weren’t inflammatory. We’re not going to do any TV ads, I can tell you that.” […]
Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, who is not mentioned in the ads, “is encouraging the governor to pull back from campaigning and lean into governing,” said spokeswoman Rikeesha Phelon.
Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, said discussion of the ads among Democrats was “almost non-existent.”
“I don’t wake up every day and worry about what the governor is going to do when it comes to political rhetoric,” Manar said. “It’s clear to me that we have priorities that we need to fund in the state budget, and we need to find solutions to break the budget impasse. Unfortunately, I don’t think this commercial that the governor is airing is going to get us closer to breaking that impasse.”
* Illinois Public Radio…
“We’re not campaigning,” Cullerton said. “The election’s next year. This is the year we should be governing and reaching compromise. So that’s what I would urge the governor to do. To come back to the table and stop the ads, and let’s just see if we can get together.”
* QC Times…
Cullerton, who wasn’t named in the governor’s ad but has taken his own lumps in Rauner’s remarks to media, also continued to pitch the “let’s talk” angle.
“It’s not the best way to start a conversation when you’re trying to reach an agreement,” Cullerton said about Rauner’s ad. “I think he (Rauner) is still in campaign mode, and we’d like him to get out of the campaign mode and start governing.”
“Let’s work together,” the Senate president said. “That’s what we’re willing to do.”
* AP…
“We need to be focusing on actually getting a budget put in place,” said Sen. Heather Steans, a Chicago Democrat. “We need to provide fiscal stability and security.”
But there were few hints of progress on the budget Tuesday as lawmakers gathered for the lackluster session. Attendance was visibly down from regular session, with several lawmakers wearing Blackhawks jerseys to celebrate the team’s Stanley Cup win the evening before. And Madigan, who called a solo news conference while his session was still meeting, said he couldn’t recall the last time he spoke to Rauner about the budget.
* This quote is gonna wind up in a TV ad…
(S)tate Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, isn’t shying away from Madigan, the longtime House speaker and chairman of the state Democratic party.
“I support him as the head of my party. He believes in the same things I believe in,” Mautino, the House’s deputy majority leader, said in a phone interview Tuesday. […]
“I believe the Turnaround Agenda is wrong for Illinois,” said Mautino, who represents the majority of La Salle County, including Ottawa and Streator. “Even the Republicans will not vote for the governor’s right-to-work initiatives.” […]
“The governor needs to stop pointing his finger at bogeymen and quit running for election,” Mautino said. “What I would hope is that he would come to the table and negotiate. The governor’s budget was short $3.5 billion. The Democrats were $4 billion short. The cuts the governor has proposed are hurtful and designed to make a point rather than save money.”
* Tribune…
“I suppose it could have been worse, but worse doesn’t mean that this was a good idea,” said Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat and Madigan’s top deputy. “I do think that personal attacks are not helpful if we’re trying to set a table, a table around which we hope to negotiate. So I think this was not the best strategy, if one really wants to solve the budget problem.” […]
“Why are we here? To listen to testimony?” asked Rep. David Harris of Arlington Heights in a speech that drew applause from fellow Republicans. “Do you want to be here? Do you think it’s advantageous for us … to come from the north, the south, the east and the west, all over the state, to come down here just to listen to testimony from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity? I don’t believe that’s the best use of our time.”
Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, who chaired the hearing, had a pointed response.
“We hear all the time how the easiest way to raise revenue is to create more jobs, and most, if many of us, don’t want to raise taxes,” Franks said.
“Heck, I even saw a TV ad today about economic development put out by someone who might know,” he said in reference to Rauner’s ad. “So, (the governor’s) talking about economic development and I think that we all ought to be talking about economic development, and I believe that’s why we’re here today.”
* Hizzoner…
“Speaker Madigan believes firmly in his principles and believes firmly in fighting for those principles. I don’t think there should be any attack on character,” the mayor said.
“In politics, dialogue and trust are essential. Any time you break that up, you make coming to terms harder.” […]
“How do you create a context for people to make compromises so that people see there’s enough victory? Nobody is going to sign on to something where they lose and you win. And you’re not gonna sign onto something where I win and you lose,” Emanuel said.
“All of us have a role to play in creating a context where everybody has enough wins where they think that agreement is something that they are for because they see enough progress for the things that they care about.” […]
“Everybody should just lower the temperature and keep the conversation and the dialogue and the space for that conversation and dialogue, then create an ability for people to make the necessary compromises for people to reach an agreement that advances the city and the state’s interests,” the mayor said.
