-By Warner Todd Huston
The Associated Press asked all the candidates for Illinois Governor about their position on the budget woes facing the state and they found that only one candidate (that would be Dan Proft) is offering much by way of specifics on what they’d do to cut the budget and cap state spending.
One thing that is interesting about the piece is that the AP also quoted former State Senator Steve Rauschenberger, a well known expert on the Illinois budget.
Steve Rauschenberger, a former state senator and a budget expert, said it would require, among other things, cutting school spending and switching to a voucher system, reducing the number of prison inmates by one-quarter, trimming higher education and overhauling Medicaid from top to bottom.
“Any candidate who doesn’t talk frankly about major changes … I don’t think is being realistic,” Rauschenberger said. “You can’t balance this budget simply by looking for easy efficiencies or slight reductions in head count.”
Rauscehnberger is running for his old Senate seat in the 22nd District, but he is not a current candidate for Guv, so it is a bit odd that the AP quotes him in this story. Odd, but welcome. (Steve’s FaceBook page)
It isn’t surprising that most of the candidates desperately tired to avoid specifics, sadly.
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Guv Candidates on Budget Cuts”