By John Dempsey, WLS-AM News
(CHICAGO) Governor Bruce Rauner admitted the reason he’s having trouble advancing his pro-business agenda in Springfield is that Democrats in the Illinois House are afraid of their powerful Speaker, Michael Madigan.
Rauner told “The BIg John Howell Show” on WLS, “Yeah they are, they’re afraid of the Speaker, which you know, I don’t blame them he controls lobbyists, and you know, judges, and politicians and he’s got a lot of money. They don’t want to cross the Speaker. But the reality is if they work for their districts they will speak out against Speaker Madigan and they’ll vote for reforms, but right now they’re scared.”
So far only one House Democrat, Ken Dunkin of Chicago, has publicly crossed Madigan in favor of Rauner, but the Governor tells WLS several other Democrats would like to follow suit.
”We’re getting more and more members of the Democratic caucus in private who say they agree with me, that we need reforms and they’ll support it, but only one Democratic Rep. so far has publicly stated we need reforms as part of the budget. I’ve got to get more of them steppin’ up and speakin’ out. Hopefully that will happen.”
Listen to Governor Rauner’s call with “Big” John Howell here.
Illinois has been without a budget for several months because of the standoff between Rauner and Madigan, forcing social service agencies which contract with the State to cut back their services, and prompting Illinois colleges and Universities to threaten layoffs.
Rauner also says he tried, but did not succeed in getting a private meeting with President Obama, when Obama visits Springfield on Wednesday to address the Legislature. “I will meet him on the tarmac when he lands. I look forward to that. I’ve offered to have a beer with him or grab a quick sandwich after his speech to the Legislature. So far it looks like he’s probably not gonna be able to sit with me for any extended period, which is unfortunate.”
Rauner tells WLS he is heartened that Obama supports two of the reform proposals that he is working to pass in Illinois. “He has said that he supports re-districting reforms so our voters pick our politicians, instead of politicians picking the voters. Boy do we need that in Illinois. He has also said that he supports term limits to end corruption and self-dealing in government. I hope he’ll talk about that because we need that in Illinois too.”
