Following the governor’s annual budget address State Senator Mattie Hunter (D- Chicago) released the following statement:

Here we are yet again, without a proposed balanced budget. The governor has failed his obligation to provide us with a balanced budget plan. Social service providers are closing their doors due to the lack of state funding causing continuing suffering to our most vulnerable.

Today, the governor addressed the heroin and opioid crisis plaguing our state. However, for two years, he’s failed to provide adequate funding for treatment centers and providers.  

What will it take for the governor to prioritize the budget crisis? The governor has promised to make Illinois compassionate and competitive but we’re still waiting for his actions to match his rhetoric. There is nothing compassionate about holding a state and its residents hostage until an unrelated turn-around agenda is passed; In fact it’s careless.

He’s a businessman. If Illinois were a business, board members would be ready and able to replace the CEO. He needs to step aside and allow someone else to take control if he cannot fulfil his duty as the leader of this state.