Pat Quinn for Illinois! CopyLine Magazine Endorses Pat Quinn for Governor

By Juanita Bratcher

Author, Publisher & CEO, CopyLine Magazine

Illinois has economic woes; most Illinoisans are aware of that. But Illinois is not alone in this venue. A slow-growing economy has brought dire economic woes not only to the state of Illinois but to states across the nation – some are just a little worse off than others.

When Quinn took over the Governor’s Office on January 29, 2009 – after the Illinois Senate by a vote of 59-0 unanimously voted to remove former Gov. Rod Blagojevich from office – Quinn inherited a $3 billion state budget deficit, close to $4 billion in unpaid bills, a steadily rising unemployment rate, and was in the midst of one of the worst economic disasters imaginable. Quinn, himself, made note that it was “probably the greatest economic crisis that our state has ever had.”

In August 2014, the Illinois unemployment rate fell for the sixth consecutive month to 6.7 percent, and employers created about 13,800 jobs, according to a government labor survey – that figure was close to the 6.6 percent unemployment rate in July 2008.

And even though the economy and the unemployment rate have improved somewhat since Quinn took over the helm, it’s still not good enough for critics who feel he hasn’t done enough and should not get another four years as governor of Illinois.

In his efforts to bring fiscal stability to the state of Illinois and eliminate waste to reduce spending, Governor Quinn reduced state spending by more than $5.7 billion by rooting out and eliminating government waste.

Quinn proposed a clear five-year blueprint that will keep Illinois moving forward. Called “Securing Illinois’ Financial Future,” the governor’s detailed plan is an honest, responsible budget that will secure the state’s finances for the long-term and establish stable funding for education, public safety and critical human services.

COPYLINE WILL MAKE MORE ENDORSEMENTS THIS WEEK

Under Quinn’s leadership, more than half a million Illinoisans now have health insurance, which profoundly benefits low-wage workers who are one illness away from financial ruin. The Sun-Times in released video footage exposed Rauner behind closed doors telling a group of Tea Party supporters that he would veto the Medicaid expansion in Illinois. Obviously, if done, hundreds of thousands of people would lose their health insurance.

Rauner’s running mate for Lt. Governor is Wheaton City Councilwoman Evelyn Pacino Sanguinetti, reportedly a Tea Party Republican. She deleted her facebook account when added to his ticket. She is said to be closely affiliated with Tea Party extremist, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who led efforts to successfully shutdown the federal government last October in an attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

Quinn partners with nursing home providers to ensure nursing home residents across the state get the quality care they deserve.

Quinn created the Office of Health Innovation and Transformation to replace the Office of Health Information Technology, aiming to create a pathway to modernize health care and delivery models in Illinois.

He has worked tirelessly to make sure every student in Illinois has the opportunity to receive a good education.

Since taking office, Governor Quinn has fought to preserve early childhood education from radical budget cuts and invested $45 million to build early education centers in underserved areas.

Quinn dramatically strengthened school safety in Illinois, instituting proactive and preventative measures to make sure children are safe in the classroom.

Quinn strongly supports raising the minimum wage, creating more jobs, and putting college within reach of more students and moving the state forward. He is pushing for a minimum wage increase to $10.10. It is unclear about Rauner’s position on minimum wage. During the Republican primary, Rauner said he was “adamantly” opposed to raising minimum wage, but has since waivered on that statement.

Rauner opposes marriage equality (same-sex marriage) and said he would have vetoed the measure. He is a supporter of assault weapons, and has been mum on voting rights and Voter ID laws that Republican governors and Republican-controlled legislatures have passed in several states.

The Chicago Teachers Union in its endorsement of Quinn in September 2014 called Quinn a “consensus builder” but labeled Republican challenger Rauner as a “school privatization proponent.”

First lady Michelle Obama states in her endorsement commercial of Quinn: “Pat has the courage to do what’s right.”

CopyLine Magazine also believes that Pat Quinn “has the courage to do what’s right.” And he deserves another four years to move Illinois forward.