Governor's ribbon cutting dropped off after elections

SPRINGFIELD - When Gov. Pat Quinn stepped inside a famous West side Chicago soul food restaurant on Friday to celebrate Black History Month alongside lawmakers, it marked the end of a more than two-week hibernation from public events.

Quinn's postelection downtime was in stark contrast to the whirlwind of government appearances he held before the Feb. 2 primary, announcing millions of dollars of taxpayer-funded construction projects.

Quinn's official government schedule shows the governor's Friday event was the first time he's held an appearance on taxpayer time since before he narrowly defeated Comptroller Dan Hynes in the Democratic primary. Today, Quinn's scheduled to be in Washington, D.C., for several events, including a meeting with President Obama along with other members of the National Governors' Association.

Political observers noted that the governor's numerous public appearances on government time in late January, instead of campaign time, were simply the usual political trappings of his government office.

Quinn's staff, however, insisted the governor was just doing his job - not campaigning on government time or with taxpayer resources to give him an advantage in his close Democratic primary run.

So what's Illinois' chief executive officer been up to?

"I've been at work every day," Quinn said as he entered the Capitol in Springfield one day last week, adding that he's gone back and forth between Chicago and Springfield.

A spokeswoman for Quinn said in a statement that the governor has been focused "on getting our economy back on track, creating jobs, restoring faith in government and solving the state's historic budget crisis." The spokeswoman would not address the coincidence of Quinn's numerous government appearances before the election compared to his recent relatively barren public schedule.

Another tough campaign awaits Quinn against either state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington or Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale, as Republicans see a real chance of winning the office in November. The two GOP hopefuls are currently only a few hundred votes apart.

Heading into the general election, Quinn will command a $31 billion state construction program that could supply a near endless schedule of ribbon cutting and funding announcements through key campaign months.

Both Brady and Dillard expect Quinn to use the perk.

"I think the public sees through it," Brady said. "He can do what he wants. It's certainly his prerogative as governor. It's a little disingenuous, and I think the public's smart enough to get it."

Dillard said the governorship is a good platform to run on during an election year and that cutting ribbons was an appropriate government function. Still, he said Quinn's use of taxpayer dollars for what appears to be campaigning should be scrutinized.

"If you look at his schedule where he was cutting ribbons every minute before the primary and has done none since the primary, it shows you Pat Quinn uses his office for political purposes," Dillard said.

Quinn was scheduled to give his budget address last week, laying out his plans to fix the state's widening $13 billion budget shortfall, but the General Assembly approved Quinn's request to bump it to March 10. In pushing the delay, House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat, said Quinn had been busy with a contentious campaign.

"His attention has been somewhat diverted," Madigan said during the House debate.

Quinn promised, and is now required to deliver by law, a more open budget process. On Feb. 24, the governor is supposed to post the current budget information and the estimated state revenues and cost of programs for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. The governor said the public could visit the site and weigh in on the state's fiscal crisis.