Governor Bruce Rauner used his second State of the State address to call for bipartisan cooperation with lawmakers for the sake of the state's floundering economy. He used that olive branch though to whip unions, especially AFSCME, whose contract demands Rauner called "out of touch."
Rauner repeated his push for many of the reforms he's been touting for the past year, including new limits to collective bargaining, workers comp reform and limits on civil damage awards. He did say he now supports the pension reform plan of Senate President John Cullerton and a more equitable school funding system.
>>Democrats Skeptical Of Rauner's Peace Offering
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan chastised Governor Rauner for not mentioning the continuing budget crisis in his State of the State address yesterday. Madigan also pointed out that the successes Rauner pointed to in his speech came about because in those cases, Rauner dropped his insistence on his anti-union agenda.
Senate President John Cullerton, meanwhile, said his Senate colleagues may not support the pension reform plan he and Rauner now agree on because of Rauner's recent misstatements about the plan.
