Pritzker needs to focus on state's key questions

JB Pritzker has entered the race for governor of Illinois. Pritzker has been spending a lot of money on TV ads, which show him (or his family's foundation) as a champion of feeding schoolchildren. While feeding schoolchildren is a noble act, it doesn't solve Illinois' most pending problems: a balanced budget and a pension fund which is $120 billion-plus in debt.

Nowhere in Pritzker's ads does he address these two problems. He is trying to tug on the heartstrings of Illinois voters by using children's issues as his way of garnering votes. He goes further in his ads to note the spending cuts Gov. Rauner has tried to implement. The last budget presented to Rauner showed expenses outpaced revenue by billions of dollars. If Springfield is trying not to raise taxes (which generate revenue), then the only way to balance the budget is to make cuts in expenses.

Unfortunately, any cuts in state programs are going to cause people to complain and say the cuts are unfair. Well, so is an unbalanced budget, which just digs Illinois into a deeper hole. This problem has been going on for decades under the control of Mike Madigan and John Cullerton. Illinois faces a potential bond rating just above junk. What is JB Pritzker's solution to these continuing problems? If he wants to become governor, tell us how he will solve these problems and bring Illinois back to financial stability.

Ed Kabot

Vernon Hills