Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn came into office under the most difficult of circumstances in 2009.
His predecessor, like many Illinois governors before him, had been indicted. The nation's poor economic health wreaked havoc with the state's finances, which were strained by dwindling revenues and mounting pension obligations. Quinn narrowly won a re-election in 2010, and still faced more challenges, among them the state's still-high unemployment numbers and resistance to efforts to finally address the state's long-term financial obligations.
Quinn has been a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He first supported civil unions, then in 2012, publically came out in gay marriage. He has said that signing the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, along with the December passage of the pension reform package, are the proudest accomplishments of his term.
Four candidates are vying to be his Republican opponent: venture capitalist Bruce Rauner, who is currently the front-runner; state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale, who, according to a March 9 Chicago Tribune poll, is Rauner's strongest opponent; state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, who ran unsuccessfully against Quinn in 2010; and Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford, who earlier this year became embroiled in allegations of ethics violations and sexual harassment.
Windy City Times recently spoke with Quinn about LGBT rights, the upcoming election and the state economy. Some remarks have been edited for clarity and space.
Windy City Times: Gov. Quinn, what are your thoughts looking to the election year ahead?
Gov. Pat Gov. Pat Quinn: We've had to do some tough things in the last five years. When I was sworn in as governor, the state was facing three crises at the same time. One was the ethics crisis—we had one governor in jail and another going to jail. We had to pass strong ethics standards and enforce them. With respect to our economy, the country was in a tailspin and we had to deal with that, and restore Illinois' economy, and, finally, the state budget was greatly harmed by the recession.
We had to make reforms that were long overdue in order to make sure that we could invest in education and healthcare. That involved a great number of complicated decisions, including enacting comprehensive pension reform, something that was long overdue in Illinois. We had a $100 billion liability and we took steps necessary to straighten that out.
WCT: What would you rate as your biggest success of the previous term?
Gov. Pat Quinn: The fact that we made hard decisions to restore Illinois' financial position, that was significant and a necessary reform. But as a governor, I believe in a welcoming society, and last November we signed marriage equality into law. Prior to that I signed into law the bill allowing for civil unions. We signed a law disallowing the death penalty. My philosophy is, "Everybody in and nobody left out." We've made progress in those areas in the last five years in Illinois.
WCT: Every House member and most of the Senate are facing re-election. Are you doing anything to help legislators facing primary challenges, especially ones who voted for marriage equality?
Gov. Pat Quinn: I support all of those who voted for marriage equality. I think that was a courageous vote. Wherever I can, I try to help out the best I can. The key moment occurred when we passed that bill in the House. I won the election in 2010 by 31,000 votes. If I hadn't won, that day in November wouldn't have happened because the person I ran against was an opponent of marriage equality. In fact, in terms of the Republicans running right now, when we passed the bill, Bruce Rauner, in Quincy, Illinois, demanded that I veto the bill.
WCT: Many legislators are taking heat, especially from some unions, because of their votes on pension reform. Do you think that may add up to more Republican-held House and Senate seats come next term?
Gov. Pat Quinn: No, I don't think so. I think we'll be able to prevail based on issues that matter to everyday people. Clearly there are reactionary forces that are trying to roll the clock back and my job is to move our state forward and not backwards.
WCT: The past year has been a significant one for LGBT Illinoisans. What do you intend to do in the next year, and in a prospective next term, in order to further support for the LGBT community?
Gov. Pat Quinn: There's a whole movement to address the issue of bullying. We have to take that on; it's something we need to make a statewide mission. Also, we want to make sure that we properly run our AIDS Drug Assistance Program and prevent budget cuts that would harm people that would need access to those prescriptions, and I also believe that we have to take care of those who need housing.
The other day, after the attorney general issued her guidance to the county clerks in Illinois about the effective date of the marriage equality law, our department of public health indicated that we would honor every license issued by county clerks in Illinois, even before June 1. We're happy that the federal court acted in Cook County but we also wanted to make sure that is applicable in other counties in Illinois. I was in St. Clair County the other night and the county clerk told me he was going to issue licenses—that's in southern Illinois. It's important that we move forward in this historic mission. We've made history in a very short period of time and I think it's important that we continue in that progressive path.
WCT: For the last several months, President Obama has been foregrounding the idea of economic equality. What is the role of the governor in insuring that all the state's residents have an equal shot at prosperity?
Gov. Pat Quinn: It's all about opportunity. If you work hard in Illinois—if you work hard in America—we want you to have a middle-class standard of living moving forward. I believe, along with the president, that we should raise the minimum wage. I think the minimum wage should be raised to at least $10. Also, as I said in the State of the State Address, we should have earned sick leave. Many workers don't even have a single day of sick leave, especially those making the minimum wage. With respect to the tax system, we've been able to improve the value of the Earned Income Tax Credit. I want to continue to do that; we need to double the value of that. The bottom line is that we have to grow our economy so people can get good jobs and keep those jobs. To me the key parts of that are training and education. There are people on the other side who want to have radical, extreme cuts in our education budget and I'm against that. I think we should invest, not cut back.
WCT: Regarding job creation, Illinois is still struggling with a high unemployment rate, which is still hovering between 8.5 and 9 percent. What do you view as the biggest stumbling block to getting people back to work in the state, and what do you see as the governor's role in addressing that?
Gov. Pat Quinn: There's no question that the Great Recession harmed our state's economy. That's why after I became governor, we passed Illinois Jobs Now, which is a program of public works to put people back to work, working on our roads, our bridges, our water systems, our rail systems, repairing and building new schools, and laying fiber-optic cable for high-speed internet. There are many components of it. When you count everything together, it's about $44-45 billion dollars of investment.
WCT: What has been most challenging part of the Illinois governor's job?
Gov. Pat Quinn: There are always challenges. To give an example, we got word from the federal government that the federal government was not going to provide resources to some of the communities that were hit by tornadoes in November, and so the next day I was on the road to put together a $45 million package to help the families and governments, everyone who was affected by those tornadoes. That's what you have to do when you're governor. I understand that's a key part of the job—always be there when people need you the most. Another thing I've tried to do from Day One is make sure that Illinois is seen as a welcoming place, that we believe in tolerance and that nobody is left out.
Also see Windy City Times printable election chart at www.windycitymediagroup.com/pdf/WCT_2014_primarychartsforweb.pdf .
