Press Releases
Wednesday, February 15th, 2012
LAKE FOREST – Republican State Representative candidate LAUREN TURELLI announced her support today for Governor Pat Quinn’s $2 billion cuts in Medicaid as a first step in reforming Medicaid and balancing the budget. Turelli has repeatedly advocated specific reforms to the Medicaid program, including a rollback of eligibility standards to pre-2002 levels, the appointment of an independent auditing firm to identify waste and fraud on a commission-fee basis, and a re-evaluation of provider billing practices and fee payments. A fiscal conservative who is a long-time advocate of Medicaid reform, pension reform and a repeal of the 67% income tax increase, LAUREN TURELLI was recently endorsed by the TAXPAYERS UNITED OF AMERICA-PAC (TUA-PAC) for her efforts to improve Illinois’ business climate.
In making this announcement, Turelli acknowledged that “even though Governor Quinn changes his mind weekly about whether to spend more or spend less, I think all Illinoisans need to immediately lock him into a commitment to reduce Medicaid spending by $2 billion to begin the journey towards a balanced budget”. While two billion dollars a year for four years will only bring the State of Illinois current on its present backlog of bill payments, Governor Quinn’s willingness to put this ‘sacred cow’ on the table represents a major victory in our fight to force the Democrat-controlled government in Springfield to admit that throwing more money at a problem is not going to fix it.”
Turelli explained that “Medicaid was originally designed to provide indigent and disabled persons with access to basic medical treatment and prescription drugs which otherwise would be unavailable to them. Nevertheless, in the last decade of Democrat-controlled government in Springfield, Medicaid enrollment increased by sixty-six percent, resulting in one out of five Illinoisans participating in the program.”
Turelli further noted that “this increase has resulted in Medicaid spending becoming the largest and fastest growing line item in the Illinois state budget. More specifically, from 2001 to 2008, Medicaid spending increased from $8.4 billion to $13.8 billion dollars, or sixty-five percent. In FY 2009, Medicaid spending comprised about 30% of the state’s budget.”
Turelli went on to say that “special interests have driven our state budgets and resulting deficits to such a disastrous level that we no longer have any choice but to institute deep and aggressive reforms to stop the hemorrhaging. Forty percent of our state budget now covers Medicaid payments alone because special interest groups have been calling the shots down in Springfield – a practice I will fight to end by advocating that we cut, cut some more, and then cut some more, until we dig ourselves out of this hole. That means every person or entity involved in the Medicaid program – doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and patients – must join together in sharing the burdens necessary to reform this out-of control program because Illinois politicians can longer protect one special interest group to the detriment of our state as a whole.
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Wednesday, February 1st, 2012
SPRINGFIELD – Republican State Representative Candidate Lauren Turelli criticized Governor Pat Quinn for his failure to address the current debt and deficit issues, while advocating for more spending.
“The state has an $80 billion pension debt, an unsustainable Medicaid program, and an additional $7 billion dollars Pat Quinn plans to spend in 2012 that we don’t have, I am stunned” said Turelli. “I can’t believe that the Governor of our state has buried his head so far in the sand that he is honestly talking about increasing spending for anything. We should not be talking about how much more money the Governor is spending right now, we really should be talking about how we are going to cut and slash $7 billion from the expense side of the state ledger. Pat Quinn saying he wants to spend more money is akin to a person who just filed bankruptcy talking about buying a new Mercedes – it is ludicrous.”
Quinn’s initial vague increased spending warnings were geared toward education, children and businesses hiring veterans.
“I have never hidden the fact that I am a fiscal conservative, I believe we must work cooperatively with all legislators to roll back the massive program expansions we have seen over the last 10 years. We can not wait one more day. It is high time we put partisan bickering aside, lock the special interest groups out, and truly fix what’s wrong in Illinois,” concluded Turelli.
Quinn offered no specific or general explanations on how the State of Illinois would pay for his new spending proposals.
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Filed in: Press Releases
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
LAKE FOREST – Republican State Representative candidate Lauren Turelli today announced that she has been endorsed by the political action committee of Taxpayers United of America (TUA) in recognition of her pledge to fight tax increases.
“Taxpayers United of America does a great service to the general public by simply asking all elected officials to sign a pledge not to raise taxes. High taxes are killing the economy of Illinois because business owners are beginning to leave for other states that will not confiscate their revenues,” said Turelli. “Taxpayers United puts all candidates on notice that their actions are being watched. The candidates who mistakenly believe it is their duty to raise taxes to fund their special interest constituencies without any regard for the negative impact high taxes have on business growth and job creation need to be exposed. Jim Tobin and the Tax Accountability staff do a great job of holding elected officials accountable” added Turelli.
Founded in 1976, TUA is the largest taxpayer protection organization in Illinois with over 30,000 members and supporters.
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Filed in: Press Releases
Sunday, January 15th, 2012
Lake Forest, IL – Exactly one year ago today, the General Assembly passed the largest income tax increase in Illinois history. The tax increase raised the personal income tax rate from 3% to 5%, representing a 67% increase in the tax rate.
Citing declining revenue coupled with a $13 billion budget shortfall, the Democrat leadership in the General Assembly passed this monumental tax increase. The tax increase also raised the corporate tax rate, which has led to businesses leaving the state.
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Sunday, January 15th, 2012
LAKE FOREST, ILLINOIS – Republican State Representative candidate Lauren Turelli is calling for the end of the General Assembly Legislative Scholarship program, which has recently come under fire again after being racked with new scandals exposing abuses by legislators.
“Our state is driving full speed towards financial disaster, and we need to cut every single unnecessary expense, and the Legislative Scholarship program is a prime example of waste,” said Lauren Turelli, Republican candidate for State Representative. “The legislative scholarship program costs over $12 million a year, and while saving tax payers $12 million will not fix the state budget, I believe we need to start somewhere, and this is a good place to start.”
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