Springfield — The following is a statement from John Bouman, Chair of the Responsible Budget Coalition ( RBC ) Executive Committee, and President of the Shriver Center, on behalf of the RBC:
In the budget address today, instead of choosing to invest in children, families communities, and our state's economy through a responsible budget, the Governor chose to continue to advocate for his non-budget policy agenda and place it ahead of the budget. Hard-working families need a budget that chooses revenue over cuts to services they rely on, not a prolonged stalemate that forces state government and vital programs to languish.
While its good that the Governor supports new investment in education, it means little without revenue to support it and all the critical services that support and provide opportunity for those children, their families and communities.
Children and families are more than line items on a page. Families need to have the opportunity to send their older kids to college and their younger kids to a quality pre-school. Communities need both strong after-school programs and strong K-12 schools. Children, seniors, students, veterans, law enforcement officials, and people with disabilities need a budget that fully-funds all the services they depend on daily.
The Governor needs to work with the General Assembly to pass a responsible budget with adequate revenue.
The Responsible Budget Coalition ( RBC ) is a large and diverse coalition of more than 250 organizations concerned about state budget and tax issues. It includes organizations that serve children, families, veterans, seniors and people with disabilities; education groups concerned about early learning, K-12 and higher education; labor unions; faith-based and civic organizations; immigrant and refugee families; and many others.
The RBC is a non-partisan, trusted source of information on state budget and tax policy and a leader in the fight to pass a budget that chooses revenue over cuts to vital services.
The individual organizations that belong to the RBC represent a diverse range of interests but are united by these three common principles:
- Adequate revenue to support state priorities and make smart investments
- No more cuts to vital programs and services
- Fairness in raising revenue
