ONARGA, IL – In advance of the Spring Session and the Governor’s annual State of the State Address, State Sen. Shane Cultra (R-Onarga) spoke with journalists on Jan. 26 about what constituents should expect as the General Assembly returns to the Capitol on Jan. 31.
“Honestly, I do not expect much significant progress on the big-ticket items of budget cuts, pension reform and economic development. I am committed to working with my legislative colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Senate Republicans offered a menu last year that amounted to $6 billion in real spending cuts and these were rejected,” Cultra said. “The reality is this -- Speaker Madigan and Senate President Cullerton are not willing to make Illinois competitive with meaningful budget cuts or substantive changes to our job climate.”
The Senator addressed the need for legitimate Medicaid reforms. “We passed, what we assumed would be a simple reform, asking Medicaid recipients to prove their income levels and residency. These two reforms were blocked by the federal government in 2011. This year, I have legislation that would require Medicaid applicants to submit to drug tests; this is not a new idea, nor should it be brushed aside. It is a starting point for discussions on Medicaid reform,” Cultra said.
Economic development and job creation is being discussed by Gov. Pat Quinn, and the Senator believes that more than “lip service” needs to be paid to these two topics. “Job creation, will allow Illinois to expand its tax base instead of bleeding the current taxpayers even drier,” Cultra said. “In order to have consistent job growth, we have to streamline our permitting processes, establish causation-based workers’ compensation reforms and closely examine the corporate tax structure.”
Cultra also suggested Illinois might need to look at zero-based budgeting. “I would be in favor of this budgeting concept; agencies would have to justify their spending from year-to-year instead of simply getting nearly automatic increases in many cases,” Cultra said. “Illinois’ economy now has $7 billion less in the private sector, because it is going to Springfield as a result of the Democratic tax increase and what do we have to show for it, another $8.5 billion in backlogged bills.”
