SPRINGFIELD-Following is the response of SEIU Healthcare Illinois President Greg Kelley to the State of the State address Wednesday from Gov. Bruce Rauner to the General Assembly:

“Ask anyone who doesn’t work for Gov. Bruce Rauner what the real state of the state is and they’ll tell you: Tired, broke and getting worse.

 

“Tired of a governor who makes excuses, blames others for his bad acts and refuses to compromise or make billionaires and millionaires at the very top share any of the burden of fixing our structural problems.

 

“Broke from a useless budget shutdown that added to our deficit and backlog of bills, made borrowing more expensive and wantonly blew a billion dollars on late fees that could have gone to pay for vital services.

 

“And getting worse in just about every major category, with massive damage to the state’s child care and home healthcare services, not to mention hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans whose lives have been permanently damaged by Gov. Rauner’s actions.

 

“On top of it, Gov. Rauner continues to pursue the destruction of unions. And he has failed to stand up even a little to the policies of Donald Trump that hurt the welfare of Illinoisans in everything from health care and immigration to tax cuts for the rich and the dismantling of the social safety net.

 

“Today you heard a politician more interested in being re-elected, on what basis nobody knows.

 

“That’s because, while it is true that Illinois had problems before he was elected governor, there can be no question that Bruce Rauner has made the lives of Illinoisans significantly worse.”

 

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