SPRINGFIELD – Today, Governor Rauner addressed the General Assembly to explain his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2019. State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) released the following response:

“The governor isn’t budgeting for results,” said Castro. “What Governor Rauner presents on paper is never the true reality of our situation: that we have over $9 billion in unpaid bills and no real plan for paying it off. He says he wants to roll back taxes, increase education funding and invest in human services, but his budget does the opposite.

“Our universities, school districts and students are still suffering from Rauner’s impasse. Now he is shifting the cost of pensions and employee health care to universities and school districts. This could ultimately lead to raising property taxes, increasing tuition costs and fewer jobs and students in our state.

“Gov. Rauner presented some great talking points, but that’s all they are: talk, no substance. Words are meaningless without action and he has shown us time and time again that he doesn’t know how to manage his own budget. We need to mend what was caused by Rauner and his impasse.”