Quinn applauded for tight budget

For the first time since the recession, Gov. Pat Quinn signed Illinois’s fiscal budget June 30 without new borrowing. Line, by line, Gov. Quinn carefully examined the budget passed by the General Assembly and identified areas for improvement and reduction. He made several line item vetoes, by eliminating double appropriations, and reduced state spending by another $376 million. He reduced bureaucracy costs by more than $11 million. His vetoes bring this year’s total spending cuts to more than $7 billion.

Gov. Quinn re-prioritized government spending to protect our state’s core principles, and stressed the need to invest in education by reducing high administrative costs and reallocating those funds to the classroom, particularly in early childhood education. Every area of state government was evaluated by specific performance metrics, retaining those that measure up, and eliminating or changing those that do not.

With these reductions, Gov. Quinn is implementing smart efficiencies that support Illinois on its continuing path to fiscal and economic recovery. These are the kinds of positive signs that many of us look for every day from our government.

Thank you, Gov. Quinn. You are honest, real and you get it.

Gov. Quinn was able to avoid political gridlock that shut down Minnesota’s government. Economic growth and fiscal stability go hand in hand. Simply having the ability to pay our bills on time will have a positive effect on our economy and jobs across Illinois. Democrat Gov. Pat Quinn took on these difficult decisions and did not go down the path that Wisconsin’s Republican Gov. Scott Walker did, by attacking the middle class, by taking away public employees unions’ collective bargaining rights, and preventing them from negotiating benefits, working conditions, and jobs that pay a decent and fair wage.

Chrisi Vineyard

Oswego