Rauner blames Chicago State woes on Democrats

A day after Chicago State University employees were told to turn in their keys, Gov. Bruce Rauner accused Democrats of dragging out the budget crisis to try to force a tax hike.

Rauner called the Chicago State situation "an outrage" and pointed his finger at the Democrats.

"It should never happen. There's really no excuse for it. I believe that the supermajority in the Legislature is using Chicago State University and many other service providers in Illinois as leverage to try to force a massive tax hike," Rauner said. "I believe that's what's going on, and that's wrong."

Administrators at Chicago State this week demanded all employees turn in all keys to campus facilities by next week as an April 30 date for layoffs to begin looms but later backtracked to say they would take an inventory of keys that might have to be collected should layoffs be necessary.

For details, check chicago.suntimes.com.