Best model: Wisconsin or Minnesota?

Gov. Rauner is touring the state touting his "turnaround agenda" and saying that Gov. Scott Walker is his role model. Is this really what is best for Illinois?

All you have to do is to compare Gov. Walker's record with Gov. Dayton of Minnesota.

Walker has cut taxes for the most wealthy, attacked workers with anti-collective bargaining and right-to-work legislation. He cut funding of K-12 by 15 percent and cut funding for universities. He refuses to increase the minimum wage, or enact equal pay legislation. He made it harder to vote.

They have a 5.2 percent unemployment rate, creating only 90,000 of his 250,000 promised new jobs. He has a $2.2 billion dollar shortfall in the state budget. The cost of doing business in Wisconsin is higher than the national average and the median household income is thousands of dollars lower.

Forbes rates Wisconsin in the bottom half of the best states for business.

Gov. Dayton of Minnesota took an opposite course when he inherited a $5 billion deficit, which he turned into a $1 billion surplus.

He raised taxes on the top 2 percent, and increased the minimum wage. He expanded unionization, and gave women equal pay. He boosted educational spending, made it easier to vote and froze college tuition.

The state added 172,000 new jobs, and has a 3.6 percent unemployment rate. Their median income is $8,000 higher than Wisconsin. They are in the top tier of states in GDP growth and No. 1 in economic confidence, ranking eighth in the best states for business.

The question is this: Do we want to become Wisconsin or Minnesota? Rauner's agenda is similar to Walker's. Gov. Dayton invested in human capital and turned his state around and the citizens and businesses prospered.

Rauner needs to follow his example.

Marti Gorun

Libertyville