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Community Corner

Senator Oberweis reacts to Governor's 'State of the State' speech

SPRINGFIELD – State Sen. Jim Oberweis issued a statement about Gov. Pat Quinn’s “State of the State” speech, presented to a joint session of Illinois lawmakers Jan. 29 in the chambers of the House of Representatives.

“Our national economy has turned around. It was a slower recovery from the recession than virtually any other recession that we have had … at least since the Great Depression. But Illinois is lagging far behind the rest of the country,” Oberweis said. “We have the worst credit rating of any state in the nation. Our budget deficit is still a significant problem. We are one of the most business unfriendly states in the entire nation and unfortunately this has gone on now for six years of the Quinn Administration.”

The 25th District Senator said he is willing to work with Gov. Quinn and his fellow lawmakers to right Illinois’ economic and budget wrongs, but a new approach is needed.

“He talks about wanting to help the middle class. But that is certainly not what the reality is. Most of his programs hurt the middle class rather than help them,” he added. “We need to work on reducing the waste, fraud and abuse of some of those programs.”

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