State Treasurer Dan Rutherford continued spreading his message that the state cannot borrow its way out of debt while speaking to the Tinley Park Chamber of Commerce during its monthly meeting at the Odyssey Country Club last week.
His four-point list of “things I believe we need to do differently to save Illinois,” includes having the state stop borrowing to pay its backlog of bills. “This state cannot afford to go further into debt.”
Rutherford has been speaking out against a proposal floated by Gov. Pat Quinn in February to borrow $8.75 billion. His other three points for fixing the state’s money problems are no increases to the state’s operating budget, making substantive changes to the workers compensation laws and reforming the state’s public pension system.
“If Illinois does not address those four things, in my opinion, you cannot raise the income tax enough to pay for the debt,” Rutherford said. “You cannot expect companies to continue to grow and go here.”
When asked how to keep companies from leaving, Rutherford said policies that affect a business’ bottom line, like the corporate income tax and workers’ compensation laws, need to be changed so they’re less burdensome for employers.
While he listed cost-saving measures he has implemented in his own office since becoming Treasurer, such as closing satellite offices and cutting back on phone lines, he still said it’s going to take reform of the state’s big expenses, such as the pension system, to get spending back in the black.
Rutherford said he is in favor of consolidating state facilities but that he does not agree with the way Quinn has rolled out his plan to close seven state facilities, including the Tinley Park Mental Health Center.
“I believe we in government need to look at areas to consolidate,” he said. “But, I don’t support the idea of just having a press conference at 10:30 in the morning and saying your closing seven state facilities.”
Instead, he said the state should create a five-year plan for its facilities to allow time to prepare for the changes.
“If there are state assets that should be deployed in a different manner, then we need to plan that today so five years preparation can do it,” he said.
