Some lawmakers wary of governor's ideas

SPRINGFIELD -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich's budget speech received a lukewarm reception Wednesday, with suburban lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle questioning key components.

Leasing the state's lottery didn't bode well with some lawmakers including state Sen. Terry Link, a Waukegan Democrat.

"I think that what this will do is cause us to look more closely to what we were doing on the riverboats last year -- the expansion," said Link, who's backing a new casino for Waukegan.

State Sen. Dan Kotowski, a Park Ridge Democrat, said he needs more details before he could support a plan that would tax businesses for not spending enough on health care for their employees.

"You've got to look at this with a very careful eye and determine how businesses are going to be impacted by this," Kotowski said. "For a lot of businesses, they may have to close their doors."

State Rep. Linda Chapa-LaVia, an Aurora Democrat, questioned whether the governor's health care tax would hurt more than help.

"On one side in his discussion, he's saying he's giving tax breaks on the businesses. On the other one, he says he's going to fine you if you don't have health coverage," she said. "I'm a small business owner. I can't afford to give people health coverage. It costs a fortune. So, I don't understand penalizing somebody for not providing insurance."

State Sen. Carole Pankau, a Roselle Republican, said the governor's speech was optimistic but wanted to see him follow through with actions.

"Forget who the governor is, if you just looked at the words of that speech -- that's a Republican speech," Pankau said. "Now the problem is that actions speak louder than words. No one trusts that the governor will go through with any of the words he had in his speech."