* He didn’t really say a lot, but it’s rare to post video of a full speech by House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Madigan spoke to the IBEW this morning. He talked about the budget, the upcoming campaign and Sen. Bill Brady, among other things. Have a look…
* Gov. Quinn was also at the event, and answered questions from the press afterwards. He talked about several topics, including Sen. Brady’s refusal to detail his own budget plans. Have a gander…
*** UPDATE *** Sheesh. I must’ve zoned out when he said this…
Quinn backed off of his previous suggestion that lawmakers skip their upcoming break and stay in Springfield to work on his budget plan.
“I don’t think that’s going to be necessary,” Quinn told Daily Herald reporter Tim Magaw and others covering the meeting.
[ *** End of Update *** ]
* Quinn’s speech to the union was peppered with slams on Sen. Brady and the Illinois Policy Institute’s budget proposal.
The governor noted that Brady wanted to abolish the minimum wage, opposed unions, and then predicted a “rough, hard tough battle” against him.
Quinn vowed a fight…
“I’m not a shrinking violet. I’ve been around awhile. I’ve been knocked down, just like folks I’m sure in your union have been knocked down. But I always get up. And that’s what we have to do in Illinois. We have to get up and fight.”
The governor also spoke about AT&T’s plan to rewrite the Telecommunications Act. He pledged to make sure that the IBEW was at the bargaining table and claimed that AT&T had made promises in the past that didn’t turn out to be true. Here’s Part One…
Part two, which is pretty short, is here.
* Senate President John Cullerton also spoke to the union and answered a couple of questions from reporters. He talked about the governor’s suggestion that the General Assembly stick around through spring break if necessary to vote on his tax hike. He also talked briefly about the lt. governor situation. Watch…
* More raw videos from the IBEW meeting…
* Senate President Cullerton’s full speech.
* Rep. John Bradley’s speech.