Watson:  “Governor’s Address More of the Same”

Representative responds to budget address

Springfield, IL…… Following the Governor’s budget address Wednesday, State Representative Jim Watson (R-Jacksonville) said that it wasn’t just ‘more of the same’ from the chief executive….but “it was a lot more of the same.”

Watson pointed to the fact that in the last three years, the Governor has borrowed more money than any of his predecessors in the past 20 years and with no plan to pay it back.  During the same time period, Illinois’ General Obligation Bond debt has nearly tripled from $7.6-billion to over $20.3-billion, a 167% increase.  Added to that is the state’s Medicaid debt that has nearly doubled from approximately $1-billion at the end of FY03 to nearly $2-billion at the end of FY06.

“And now he wants to add $1.4-billion in new spending” said Watson.  “While some of his projects are admirable, such as universal preschool and college tuition tax credits, you have to live within your means.  We haven’t fully funded our current K-12 program and he wants to add new education programs with the limited resources that we have.”

The 97^th District State Representative said there may have been some facts that were distorted or twisted somewhat in the Governor’s address when citing the state’s financial shape.  “What is fact is that when he took office our long term debt was $7.5-billion dollars” said Watson.  “Today it is $21-billion and that is a fact.  In three years the long term debt has almost tripled.  At some point our children are going to have to pay for that.  It makes no sense to create all of these programs for kids and then saddle them with this debt when they enter the workforce.”

Watson said it is not too late to get the state’s finances back on track.  “Good things happen when we work together” Watson said.  “A prime example is the bi-partisan medical malpractice reforms we were able to pass into law last year.  We can pass a fiscally responsible budget this year, but for that to occur we will defiantly need to be at the negotiation table.”