Local officials and gubernatorial candidates decried Gov. Bruce Rauner’s speech from earlier this week, categorizing his call for bipartisan cooperation to pass a balanced budget plan insincere and hypocritical.

State Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) said in a news release that the governor’s own inaction was what put the state in a crisis in the first place. He asked for the governor to sit down with House Speaker Mike Madigan to “end the pain.”

“Illinoisans were just subjected to the worst infomercial in our state’s fiscal history — advertising more of the same hypocrisy out of Governor Rauner that we’ve seen over his entire term,” Biss said in the release. “While saying ‘failure to act is not an option’ with regards to passing a budget, he doubles down on the very fecklessness that’s gotten us here in the first place.”

State legislators are aiming to pass a budget plan before the end of the fiscal year on June 30. If they can’t, several cuts will need to be made, including halting work on the construction project on Sheridan Road — managed by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

In his address, Rauner seemed optimistic the two sides could reach an agreement, saying everyone shared “a common mission” to create a better life for their children and grandchildren. He said that failure to act is “not an option” and that it could cause permanent damage to the state.

“So, on the eve of what may become one of the most important legislative sessions in Illinois history, we’re asking the General Assembly to do what those who came before us did that changed the course of history: have the courage to dare to do what is right … to act for the people,” Rauner said in the speech.

Chicago Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th) also took issue with Rauner’s address, saying in a news release that the governor has been “exploiting the divisions” between Chicago and the rest of Illinois for too long. He said the state deserves a governor who understands how to put aside politics and actually improve people’s lives.

Both Pawar and Biss announced their gubernatorial bids earlier this year.

“Gov. Rauner is a liar, a fraud and a flake,” Pawar said in a news release. “In his brief televised address, he said he wants to work with all members of the General Assembly to pass a balanced budget during the special session, but he’s attacking Democrats with TV ads, mailers and flyers.”

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