Quinn says he will not detail his visions for pension and Medicaid reform during this speech. He promises to tackle those issues during his budget speech later this month.
Watch complete video of Gov. Quinn's State of the State address
Wednesday, Quinn says, he will focus on job creation-- not only jobs created in Illinois during the past 12 months, but also the jobs his administration hopes to help create in the state during the remainder of 2012.
Still, the General Assembly this session is facing a ballooning deficit because of skyrocketing payments to retirees and Medicaid recipients. A report released Monday from the Civic Federation of Chicago projected Illinois to be as much as $35 billion in debt by 2017. That is despite the fact the state increased its income tax 67 percent last
Illinois Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno wants the government to attack those fiscal issues immediately.
"The fact of the matter is, any accomplishment or form of movement in this state is dependent on us getting the budget under control," said Radogno. "To make a statement that he is not going to deal with that is the horse sticking his head in the sand. We need to embrace the problem in order to deal with it."
The governor's speech will get under way in the house chamber at noon. All of the state senators and representatives will be in attendance, as well as the governor's cabinet.
