SPRINGFIELD-Following is the response of SEIU Healthcare Illinois President Greg Kelley to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s FY 2019 Budget Address:

“Gov. Bruce Rauner is probably best known for using the budget process to take Illinois hostage for his non-budgetary political demands.

“Now, as he faces re-election, we see priorities that are still out-of-whack, with attacks on child care, safety-net hospitals, Medicaid recipients, as well as people with disabilities and seniors who rely on home healthcare to stay in their homes.

“Some of the “greatest hits” include refusing 12-month eligibility for child care recipients in an already badly-damaged program; a 4 percent rate cut to Medicaid providers; and a rollback or elimination of rate and wage increases for caregivers already at or near poverty.

“And instead of focusing on making sure that greedy corporations and billionaires like him pay their fair share, he seems intent on preserving tax loopholes and a system that benefits those at the very top.

   “Gov. Rauner has also made our already-challenging fiscal problems even worse, with credit downgrades, backlogged bills and penalties totaling $1 billion.”

“Under Gov. Rauner, Illinois has lagged in job growth, has led in out-migration and has endured a race to the bottom that has hurt people all over the state, dismantling the social safety net one rung at a time. This budget looks to be just more of the same.”

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RELATED: Caregivers Coalition Response to the Governor’s Budget Address: Illinois Must Invest In-NOT Defund-Home Healthcare for Seniors, People With Disabilities