Pat Quinn in 2010 Governor's State of the State speeches
On Crime:
Alternative sentencing for low-level non-violent offenders
In Illinois, for the last 30 years, we have gone from 18,000 inmates in the prison to 46,000. We have to deal with this issue in our state, like other big states. We want to make sure our prisons incarcerate hardened criminals, at all times.
We have to do that. At the same time, our society has to ask itself, "Is the best way to punish a low-level, non-violent offender--someone who has committed a crime and has to serve some kind of punishment--is it the best way to have them go to a state
prison, with its cost?" I think it's important in our state that we examine this issue.We are going to take a look at a Sentence Advisory Council. We want to make sure our prisons are always incarcerating hardened criminals; at the same time we
want to take a look at how we deal with these low-level non-violent offenders who still must be punished. There may be other ways; there are other ways to do it, and I think that's something we need to embark on this year.
Source: Illinois 2010 State of the State Address
Jan 13, 2010
On Crime:
Sold unused state prison to federal prison agency
I was contacted by our President and his administration to inspect a nearly vacant prison that we haven't been able to afford to open, Thomson prison. There were then some that when we even opened the door for inspection, criticized that decision. As
Governor, I allowed those federal prison officials to come to Illinois to inspect the prison. When they came through here they found that it was an ideal prison for a federal prison that they were anxious to buy. I agreed to sell, for a fair market value
Source: Illinois 2010 State of the State Address
Jan 13, 2010
On Education:
Race to the Top: Invest in elementary & secondary education
We worked hard on getting a law passed that can make a difference for years to come, called "Race to the Top," accountable education, with up to half a billion dollars in federal money, to make sure our education in our state at the elementary and
secondary level is second to none.I think it's up to 340 schools districts, have already signed on to participate in this program. Education is the key to economic empowerment. It's the best way for equal opportunity for the most people in a democracy
Source: Illinois 2010 State of the State Address
Jan 13, 2010
On Energy & Oil:
$400M for IL as center of Midwestern high-speed rail network
We can be an inland port for the whole central part of our country. But we have to make sure we have good transportation. We have to unsnarl some of the freight bottlenecks in our rail. We have to have good passenger rail. We want to have a passenger
train that goes from Chicago to the Quad Cities & beyond. And we also want to have high-speed rail that connects Chicago to St. Louis.You know, fast trains are the wave of the future. Our president is committed to this. Our state has invested $400
million dollars. We look forward to a high-speed rail network where our state is the center for the whole network for the Midwest. I've worked with other governors across the Midwest, both Democrat & Republican. We understand that rail can create a lot
of new jobs, and we're very committed to that.
We want to use an inland port, that whole idea, to create new high-wage jobs in Illinois. We are creating an intermodal [system] that is going to create thousands of jobs for hard-working people.
Source: Illinois 2010 State of the State Address
Jan 13, 2010
On Energy & Oil:
Invest in both clean coal and wind power
We understand that FutureGen, a project that is on the drawing board and is close to fruition, located in Matton, Illinois, where we have clean coal, we do it in the right way. This is an opportunity for our State, and I want to personally thank
Senator Durbin for his leadership on this issue. Hopefully we can get that investment in downstate Illinois.Related to this: the whole area of wind mills and wind turbines. I think this is something that all of us will embrace as we go through this
next few years. We've invested money in our capital bill in this. We have investment also in opportunities for credit for those who develop wind power. We make sure they have contracts and so on. But what's important about wind power is it's clean,
and it's all from our own back yard and it's all American.
I've been to Iraq; I've been to the combat zone. And I think it's our duty back home to try and be as energy independent as we can.
Source: Illinois 2010 State of the State Address
Jan 13, 2010
On Environment:
Leave no child inside
I think it's very, very important that in this time of economic recession, we have parks available for the people. And I made sure that that happened.We want to leave no child inside in Illinois. I believe that it's important for kids to get outside
in nature with their moms and dads, and with others, their friends, to see the wonders of nature. It's important that we understand the spiritual value of being in nature. I was distressed that my predecessor padlocked some of the State parks.
Source: Illinois 2010 State of the State Address
Jan 13, 2010
On Government Reform:
Limits on campaign contributions and much more disclosure
Obviously, the events that preceded my Oath of Office shook the confidence of the people of Illinois. So we went about the task: we enacted strong standards with respect to procurement and contracts. We reformed the behavior; we enacted strong ethic
standards for lobbyists as well as state employees. We enacted a campaign finance reform law that I did sign, that is for the first time a chance to have limits on campaign contributions in the State of Illinois and much more disclosure and openness
with respect to money and politics. I think that's a great achievement.
I think we do need in Illinois, what I would call, an ethics initiative that we would put into our constitution that would give voters at every level of government - whether it
be the local level, or county level, or the state level - the power to petition and binding referendum to enact binding ethical standards and campaign finance rules that the people feel are appropriate for all of us who are elected representatives.
Source: Illinois 2010 State of the State Address
Jan 13, 2010
On Health Care:
Independent review of denial of care by insurance companies
A consumer bill, a very important one that we enacted, was to deal with the issue of denial of care by insurance companies. Many health insurance consumers have found that when they need help the most the insurance company denies care.
We should have a process where there's an independent review of that and we were able to pass that law. And it will make sure that we have good health in our society.
Source: Illinois 2010 State of the State Address
Jan 13, 2010
On Health Care:
Allow women of color & low-income access to mammograms
One of my very first bills that I signed this year had to do with mammograms and breast cancer screening. And it takes sometimes in a democracy the efforts of lots of citizens at the grassroots level to bring to our attention the need for important
reforms. And that happened, and one of the first bills I did sign was a bill that allows women of color, women of low income access to mammograms and breast cancer screening.
Source: Illinois 2010 State of the State Address
Jan 13, 2010
On Homeland Security:
Supports the Illinois Military Family Relief Trust Fund
We have a program in Illinois, a good program, the first of its kind in the country. And it's been imitated by many other states, but we have the best. It's called the Illinois Military Family Relief Trust Fund, provides financial assistance to all of ou
Guard Members and Reservists. It's helped nearly 20,000 military families in Illinois with more than $10 million. I want to thank the people of Illinois for voluntarily contributing to that program through a check-off box, on our income tax.
Source: Illinois 2010 State of the State Address
Jan 13, 2010
On Jobs:
I want to be the "Building Governor"
I want to be the "Building Governor." I want to build more things, more good things, across our state than any other governor in state history. We have the wherewithal to do it. We have the will & the people to do it. We have the work ethic to do it.
It's very important in Illinois that we have work.I've laid out a jobs and economic growth plan for our state. We have planned road construction, bridge repair, water investment, rail construction. Helping build new schools and repair old schools.
Source: Illinois 2010 State of the State Address
Jan 13, 2010
On Tax Reform:
Shift from property tax to taxing ability to pay
We ought to reform our tax system. We have an unfair tax system. It relies way too much on property taxes, and other levies that are not based on ability to pay. Taxes should be based on ability to pay. Nobody likes paying taxes, nobody. But in a
democracy, that's what all of us as citizens do. And so I look forward to working with the general assembly on finding a fair way to raise revenue from a fair tax code. There is something wrong where our state is taxing poor people into further poverty.
Source: Illinois 2010 State of the State Address
Jan 13, 2010
On Technology:
Ban texting while driving
There's a passage in Scripture that says, if you save one life, you save the whole world. And this year in Illinois, a historic year, 2009, for the first time since 1921 we had less than 1,000 deaths on the highways of Illinois.
Now that took a lot of work. It took State policemen on the highways, the Department of Transportation. We passed a law this year, a very important law that will ban texting while driving.
Source: Illinois 2010 State of the State Address
Jan 13, 2010
On Welfare & Poverty:
Maintain human services even during the Great Recession
We're using strategic borrowing where necessary, in order to get our state through a tough time. There was an effort last summer to cut human services in Illinois during this Great Recession, cut them in half. Now I didn't think that was right, and
I vetoed that budget. And we passed a different budget, one that does involve some borrowing in order to keep our human services going.What are these human services?
They are things like child care to make sure that working parents have a good place for their children to go to, during the day. Same way with our community care, to help our seniors stay in their home, so they don't have to go to a nursing home.
Same way with our persons with disabilities, for independent living. So we rejected the unwise efforts to cut the budget for those with disabilities. It's very important, even in a tough time, that we always retain our heart, our decency.
Source: Illinois 2010 State of the State Address
Jan 13, 2010
Page last updated: Dec 03, 2018