Stop campaigning and produce a budget
The governor's election is still a year and a half away but Mr. Rauner is already campaigning for re-election.
His campaign ads want us to know that he is just like the working people of Illinois and so concerned about the middle class. His ads blast the Democrats for our lack of a budget and for thwarting his magnificent plans for Illinois.
According to Mr. Rauner, the Democrats will not agree to freeze our property taxes for long enough. This sounds like he is concerned about our high property taxes.
Don't be fooled by this false concern. This is a back-door way of trying to get rid of unions in our state. He couldn't get the local governments to adopt his "right to work (for less)" agenda.
Since property taxes have no effect on the state budget, but everything to do with funding local services and schools, this will put the squeeze on local services like police and fire protection, road conditions, libraries and schools.
When local officials cannot afford to provide for union contracts or hire qualified workers, they will be forced to look for other ways to save money. Maybe they will have to lower the quality of workers as well as the quality of work performed, which would directly impact our lives.
A majority of Illinois mayors have come out against freezing property taxes. This is just a squeeze play to lower wages and destroy the middle class in Illinois.
If we want our property taxes lowered, then we should push our legislators and our governor to ensure that the state properly funds our schools.
Look at your property tax bill and you will see that 66 percent of your bill is to fund the community schools. The state Constitution directs that the state assume the major role in school funding, which they have not done in many, many years.
We should demand that Mr. Rauner do his job and submit a balanced budget to the General Assembly. The General Assembly can then work on funding the budget. The governor should stop pushing off his responsibility and avoiding his job. He should stop campaigning and work on presenting a fair budget.
Irene Wojtysiak
Pingree Grove,