“Governor Rauner did a good job of laying out some of the recent successes we’ve had in state government. We’ve been able to work together to pass a complete rewrite of how we fund schools, passed significant criminal justice reform, and we’ve also had some success in reducing unnecessary regulations and red tape while reducing the size of government. We’ve recently seen some growth in manufacturing and a few other small signs that we are about to turn a corner.”

‘But the recent positive news of growth is in serious jeopardy, largely because we are still dealing with many of the same issues that have been plaguing our state for decades. The 2010 tax increase proved that we can’t tax our way into a solution, but yet here we are again, with another massive hike, advanced by Democrats, pushing people out of our state while we look to fix another massive budget shortfall. We have to break away from the old way that has left our state with a broken economy that is lagging behind its neighbors for job growth.”

“We have another spring session in front of us to take significant steps forward and prove to the people of Illinois that we have their long-term best interest in mind. We will have to make tough choices and we will need good-faith partners from the majority party with us at the negotiating table. I look forward to the opportunity we have and I remain hopeful that my colleagues across the aisle will feel the same way.”