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State of the State of IL in 2016

The seven-month budget standoff with Democrats who control the Legislature has caused cuts to social service and higher-education programs and plunged the state further into debt.

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“The key to success in everything in life is persistence, and I am an extraordinarily persistent person”, Rauner said Monday.

Rauner specifically pointed to the state’s Department of Human Services as one agency that desperately requires modernization, as it still relies on systems that are decades old.

The Illinois AFL-CIO had a union teacher, painter, steelworker, fire fighter and others to denounce what they say is Gov. Bruce Rauner’s anti-union agenda a day before his State of the State address.

Lutheran Social Services of Illinois CEO Mark Stutrud says the Republican governor and legislators should raise taxes to help the state generate revenue to pay for safety-net programs.

Rauner said merging all of these systems under a centralized agency will save the state money and increase productivity.

“As the application portfolio grows, the cybersecurity practices also become inconsistent”, Bhatt said. “Unfortunately, the IL taxpayer doesn’t have the same experience when they interact with the state government”.

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Already, a growing number of social service agencies are closing because of the freeze in state funds. “We’re not going to back down on it”. I, too, would like to see term limits for members of the General Assembly, and I also agree that we need to end gerrymandered districts, not only in IL, but across the country.

Illinois CIO Hardik Bhatt and Gov. Bruce Rauner announce the state's IT consolidation plans at a press conference Monday