Gov. Bruce Rauner is “attempting to enact an extreme right agenda,” Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan told WGN News while touting his relationships with previous governors.
Madigan, a leader in Illinois office since 1983, said Rauner is not effectively helping the middle class of Illinois. Instead, he is focusing on wealthy residents.
“What you’re really doing is lowering the wages of the middle class, lowering the standard of living of the middle class, and driving injured workers to welfare and to the emergency room.”
House Speaker Michael Madigan
Madigan emphasized the relationships he has with past governors such as Gov. Edgar, Gov. Thompson, and Gov. Ryan, all who he's worked with to make Illinois a better place. He said with past governors they always worked together to have a budget so state programs could be properly funded. One of those relationships he specifically brought up was Gov. Jim Edgar, in office from 1991 to 1999.
“Gov. Edgar and I had a good relationship and we maintained a good relationship since," Madigan said. They attend the same events, where they have opportunities to catch up and discuss the current state of Illinois. They have similar points of view on how to fix the issues, he said.
But Patrick Hughes, co-host of radio show "Illinois Rising" and co-founder of the Illinois Opportunity Project, doesn't see it in such a positive light. In a May broadcast of the radio show, Hughes said Edgar was a “failed governor” and together with Madigan, he made decisions that put the state in the financial situation it's in now.
Dan Proft, who co-hosts "Illinois Rising," is a principal of Local Government Information Services, which owns this publication.
Edgar “has such a large role in getting us to where we are now,” Hughes said, adding Edgar was responsible for tax increases and additional unnecessary state spending.
The former governor blames Rauner for the fiscal mess, but Hughes said while in office, Edgar “only wanted to get along with his buddy Mike Madigan.”
“Edgar is the worst of the worst when it comes to enemies within our perimeter,” Hughes said. “They have ruined so many people’s lives.”
The Illinois Policy Institute reported higher taxes, scarce job opportunities, and extraneous state spending in Illinois have convinced many residents to flee to bordering states. Migration data from the U.S. Census Bureau for July 2015 to July 2015 showed Illinois saw a net loss of 114,000 people to other states — a record high, the institute reported.
Residents move out of state every 4.6 minutes, the institute reported, which causes a “net loss of $30,000 of taxable income every 4.6 minutes, too."
The quality of life for working people, which Madigan refers to in his interview, is what his priority is while in office. Hughes said the quality of life for these Illinois residents is “bad,” and that Madigan is not protecting those working class people at all.
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