Last spring, Democrats acknowledged they passed a budget that’s badly out of balance. It spends way more money than the state will collect from taxes — a multi-billion-dollar shortfall.
In essence, the spending plan postponed the difficult choice between making a temporary tax hike into a permanent one or making deep cuts to programs.
Speaking to reporters, Rauner said today that the Illinois budget situation is even worse than he’d previously thought.
However, he says the focus should not be on the income tax.
“Our problems have not been created by the tax hike expiring,” he said. “That’s not what is creating our problems. What’s creating our problems is years and years of financial mismanagement."
Rauner campaigned on higher spending for things like education — but also lower tax rates.
“This is about good communication with the voters and the taxpayers,” he said. “Right now we are discussing the challenges that we face in some more detail so the voters really understand, because the voters have been misled intentionally by the politicians."
What Rauner did not say is that he told voters what they wanted to hear throughout his campaign — saying he would raise state spending in areas like education, while at the same time lowering taxes.
He says he’s not yet ready to say just how he plans to accomplish that.
Rauner is refusing to say how he'll deal with the financial mess — only that Illinois needs to focus on spurring economic growth.