Issue: 1173 Date: 2/14/2013
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Ill. Gov. Pat Quinn Delivers 2013 'State Of The State' Address
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Ill. Gov. Pat Quinn
(February 6, 2013) Many Republicans are criticizing Illinois Governor Pat Quinn's State of the State Address as being too vague.
Today Quinn outlined his priorities for the upcoming year - including raising the minimum wage and banning high capacity guns.
State Representative Dennis Reboletti represents part of Chicago's western suburbs. He says that Quinn's speech sounded like Quinn was gearing up for re-election next year.
"It's like watching an episode of Jerry Seinfeld," Reboletti says. "It was a speech about absolutely nothing and I'm not exactly sure what the legislative agenda will be. It sounded more like a campaign speech."
Reboletti says Quinn should've focused more on reforming the state's $96 billion pension debt.
Quinn is expected to talk more about Illinois' poor fiscal health in the coming weeks - leading up to his budget address.
Some Illinois lawmakers also raised questions about how the governor plans to raise the state's minimum wage.
Quinn said in his address today that he wants to increase the minimum wage from $8.25 an hour to $10 an hour.
Democratic State Representative Lou Lang represents Chicago's northwest suburbs and says there are still a lot of details to work out.
"It's great to say something he said, which is true, that nobody working 40 hours a week in Illinois should live in poverty. I agree with that," Lang said. "But we have to get there by doing the right thing and we have to get there by making sure businesses don't collapse while we do it."
Lang says he didn't hear any specific proposals in the governor's speech.
In the meantime, an Illinois business group says raising the minimum wage could force companies to cut hours and jobs.
