CHICAGO - Crain's Greg Hinz is reporting a Rauner insider says the governor-elect is putting his money where his mouth is and setting up a $20 million war chest to push through reforms he sees badly needed in Illinois.
Later today, Illinois State Board of Elections data will show Rauner is putting in $10 Million of his own funds, $8 Million from his top financier Ken Griffin and another $2 Million from Dick Uihlein to build a legislative coalition willing to stand with Rauner. The funds will be needed, Hinz says, when he goes against House Speaker Mike Madigan's House super-majority and Senate President John Cullerton's in the upcoming General Assembly session.
UPDATE: As Hinz predicted, the funds were reported Wednesday afternoon (see below the fold). In addition the Republican Governors Association dumped in $39,000 additional funds.
Monday, Rauner's transition budget director released a review of the state's current financial status, titled "Sins of the Past and Dishonest State Budgets" which rips the veil off the financial trickery Democrats have been hiding from taxpayers for decades.
Sub-headings on the report submitted by Tim Nuding, Budget Director for the Transition, are ominous:
- Borrowing to "Replace" Revenue
- Ignoring Additional Balanced Budget Requirements
- Giving Away Unaffordable Benefits and Kicking the Can Down the Road
Nuding writes in conclusion,
When tough decisions are put off for another day, when the can is kicked down the road;to be dealt with by a future generation, this is what happens. Illinois taxpayers, schoolchildren and those citizens who need critical state services are being strangled by these additional costs that were incurred because of their government’s failure to make responsible financial decisions.
Nuding's report is HERE.
UPDATE on Illinois State Board of Elections website:
