Rauner among 'least effective' of governors...
Diane Ravitch is reporting on her blog that Governing magazine has named Governor Bruce Rauner of Illinois as one of the two "least effective" governors in the USA. Rauner is joined in that dubious honor with Governor Pete Ricketts of Nebraska.
Illinois' Bruce Rauner, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts having rough first years so far, says Governing...
Locked in a bitter, partisan struggle that has Illinois in the fourth month of its budget year with no budget in place, Gov. Bruce Rauner is one of two new governors in the U.S. categorized as "struggling" by Governing magazine. To the surprise of no one, both of the "worst" are billionaire businessmen who seem to believe that governing, like being the "Chief Executive Officer" of a corporation, means telling everyone what to do and firing those who don't.
Of the 12 new governors in office this year, only Rauner and Ricketts earned Governing�s lowest rating.
Arguably, Ricketts could be described as struggling more mightily than Rauner. The Republican Ricketts� political defeats have come at the hands of a Republican-controlled state legislature.
From Governing:
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, a Republican, governs a solidly Republican state, but the nominally nonpartisan and unicameral legislature has stymied him on several key issues. He opposed a gas tax increase, the issuance of driver�s licenses for children of undocumented immigrants who came to the United States at a young age, and arepeal of the death penalty. Ricketts vetoed all three measures but was overridden each time. It was �a very bad start for a first-year governor,� said Paul Landow, a University of Nebraska-Omaha political scientist. �A savvy politician would have picked the battles more carefully.
Here�s what Governing has to say about Rauner:
Finally, Republican Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has been stuck in a stalemate with the legislature, which is controlled by the Democrats. The standoff centers around his veto of the Democratic-backed budget. As a result, the state has been without a budget since July 1. Federal court orders, consent decrees, temporary restraining orders and an appropriation bill have kept things running � state employees are showing up for work (and being paid) � even though their agencies have no operating budgets. Still, the state comptroller estimates that continuing governance this way through the end of the calendar year will add $9 billion in costs.
�Social services agencies are closing, our state museum in Springfield and satellite locations could close � lottery winners over $25,000 can�t be paid because there�s no appropriation, and there�s some talk some colleges could close in the spring semester,� said Bernard Schoenburg, a political writer for the State-Journal Registerof Springfield, Ill.
Kent Redfield, a University of Illinois-Springfield political scientist, said Rauner won�t approve a budget until he gets his �turnaround agenda,� which includes curbing collective bargaining rights, a property-tax freeze, and overhauls of the worker compensation and tort rules. �The Democratic legislature is not going to pass the collective bargaining part, but they probably will negotiate on the other parts of the agenda,� Redfield said. �The governor shows no sign of giving up on his demand for the entire package, so nothing is getting done.�
Meanwhile, other proposals by Rauner from the campaign have withered, including overhauls to education and charter schools, economic development, the tax structure, state agencies, and business regulation.
The article is a worthwhile read beyond the Rauner mention. It follows up on Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, a Democrat who as state treasurer earned the enmity of public employee unions by engineering a sweeping pension reform plan.
While Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is in an identical situation to Rauner�s � Wolf is a Democrat in a budget standoff with a Republican legislature � Governing notes a key difference. Wolf and his Republican counterparts are in budget negotiations.
For instance, observers say he could secure new education money using proceeds from a natural gas severance tax and an increase in the personal income tax, in exchange for such Republican priorities as a state employee pension overhaul and a green light for grocery stores to sell beer and wine. But agreeing to such a deal would draw fire from public employee and other labor unions, and so far Wolf hasn�t pulled the trigger
Republican Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has been stuck in a stalemate with the legislature, which is controlled by the Democrats. The standoff centers around his veto of the Democratic-backed budget. As a result, the state has been without a budget since July 1. Federal court orders, consent decrees, temporary restraining orders and an appropriation bill have kept things running � state employees are showing up for work (and being paid) � even though their agencies have no operating budgets. Still, the state comptroller estimates that continuing governance this way through the end of the calendar year will add $9 billion in costs.
�Social services agencies are closing, our state museum in Springfield and satellite locations could close � lottery winners over $25,000 can�t be paid because there�s no appropriation, and there�s some talk some colleges could close in the spring semester,� said Bernard Schoenburg, a political writer for the State-Journal Registerof Springfield, Ill.
Kent Redfield, a University of Illinois-Springfield political scientist, said Rauner won�t approve a budget until he gets his �turnaround agenda,� which includes curbing collective bargaining rights, a property-tax freeze, and overhauls of the worker compensation and tort rules. �The Democratic legislature is not going to pass the collective bargaining part, but they probably will negotiate on the other parts of the agenda,� Redfield said. �The governor shows no sign of giving up on his demand for the entire package, so nothing is getting done.�
Meanwhile, other proposals by Rauner from the campaign have withered, including overhauls to education and charter schools, economic development, the tax structure, state agencies, and business regulation.
