Met by protestors outside and members of the business community inside, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner came to the Quad Cities Monday for the second time in a week.
His message to members of the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce was largely the same: Illinois needs long-term structural change, which requires more than a state budget.
Rauner apologized to human service providers in attendance for problems they have because of the budget impasse.
"But here's the key - we need to change so we can properly fund our human services for the long-term, not just with stopgap spending. We also need to create more economic opportunity and more growth otherwise we're going to need more human services. We've got more people unemployed and more people on assistance because they cant take care of themselves unless we've got a strong vibrant economy."
He repeated key points of his agenda that critics argue should be set aside in order to pass a budget.
"Terms limits and fair maps have a huge effect on whether we have a long term budget or not. So when they say to me, and they say this all the time, 'let's only talk about budget stuff, term limits have nothing to do with the budget,' it has everything to do with the long-term budget and long-term prosperity for the state of Illinois."
Rauner applauded state senate democrats for their willingness to compromise and blamed house democrats for blocking any possible progress on fixing the state's finances.