Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

“Because it never was one.”

Posted in:

Illinois

Yesterday, the governor said this:

Blagojevich proposed a $140 million increase for schools next year, to be funded through a potentially risky plan of dipping into some of the more than 400 special funds set up throughout state government that collect cash from licensing fees and fines.

That increase is well below the school-funding increases he signed off on in his first two budgets, and it provoked criticism in the Legislature that Blagojevich was failing to live up to some of his key campaign promises on education — a claim the governor denied. […]

When asked after his address why his spending proposal that appeared to fall short of his 51percent pledge did not amount to a broken campaign promise, Blagojevich responded, “Because it never was one.”

Not quite. As I pointed out in today’s Capitol Fax, this is what candidate Rod Blagojevich said in 2002:

“One way that I plan to increase funding for our schools is by not only continuing Governor Ryanâ€™s commitment to direct 51 percent of new revenues to education funding, but to codify that promise into law.”

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Feb 17, 05 @ 6:02 am

Comments

Rebecca R.

We patiently await your crafted response to Rich’s observation. I am sure it will be a doosie.

Comment by Bo Thursday, Feb 17, 05 @ 6:14 am
This actually doesn’t even look like 51% of new revenue; it’s a bunch of money sitting around that the GA hasn’t let him at. But on the other hand, because pension costs are growing faster than revenue growth, to put 51% of “new revenue” into education would mean bone-jarring cuts anywhere (not that those are entirely unlikely anyway). Anyway, there is a difference between committing 51% of “new revenues” to education and committing to the state paying 51% of education costs, which seems like an ever-more-distant dream.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Feb 17, 05 @ 6:25 am
Hey Rich, the Trib picked up on “because it never was one” campaign promise as well. Him saying that…it is almost comical and says a lot about him, as well as those who he has watching out for him. Kind of like when he made the “won’t balance the budget on the backs” speech in Vandalia to prison workers and then tried to close the facility.

Comment by Bo Thursday, Feb 17, 05 @ 8:25 am