House Speaker Michael Madigan wasn’t being overly dramatic when he told his fellow legislators Tuesday, “We are involved in a historic struggle.” He said the House has passed four separate bills that attempt to meet Gov. Bruce Rauner half way, but he said the governor’s response is always, “I have to have my agenda. As is. No change. If I get it, I’ll talk.” Madigan: “The best promise you get is, ‘I’ll talk.’” As we report this week [see p.7 “Child care cuts threaten families on the edge,” by Patrick Yeagle] the worst effects of the governor’s failure to craft a resonable budget will fall on the poor. The administration has limited new child care subsidies to families that earn less than 50 percent of the federal poverty level. That cuts out many low-income families from subsidized child care. It is but one of many disasters the new governor has inflicted on Illinois. –Fletcher Farrar, editor and publisher
This article appears in Jul 30 – Aug 5, 2015.
