By TESA CULLI
tesa.culli@register-news.com
MT. VERNON — During an appearance at the Rend Lake MarketPlace Thursday, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich touted the help now available for those seeking employment, and fielded questions from the public on late payments for private businesses and the capital bill.
Blagojevich said he was the last person to tell the public how tough things are economically at this time and that it was a responsibility for the state to find ways to deal with problems and help people.
“We’re in a recession, and possibly approaching — God forbid — a depression,” Blagojevich said. “Nothing is more important than helping people get jobs.”
Blagojevich was at the One-Stop Business and Employment Center located in the Rend Lake MarketPlace as part of the Workforce Outreach Days to promote the Illinois workNet portal that connects parents, job seekers, veterans, people with disabilities, small business owners and employers to state services. One of the people who have benefited from the portal spoke to the crowd and the governor about his experiences.
“I have to thank Man-Tra-Con and the Governor for programs like this that have helped me,” said Richard Degler, a former employee of Technicolor and former Dislocated Worker program participant. “When I lost my job in April 2006, I had one year of college, and I decided to finish training and get a degree at Rend Lake College. ... I was able to use Illinois workNet to explore wages in the area and trend information for businesses that had jobs.”
Degler not only received a bachelor’s degree, but is now working in Sesser.
“Mr. Degler’s story is a success story, but not the only success story out there,” Blagojevich said. “We need a lot more than we have to get back on track. ... This is one program out there that interfaces with the state and the public. ... It’s one of the ways to help in this difficult time.”
Getting the state back on track was one thing Blagojevich spoke about to those gathered at the center, saying he had “big plans” when it comes to taking advantage of the resources in Illinois. He specifically named coal, corn, ethanol, renewable energy and green technologies as areas he plans to try to promote in the near future.
“We can develop them sooner if the Legislature, the General Assembly will work with us,” Blagojevich said. “We need to build more ethanol plants in the state. I have an ambitious agenda that I plan to announce in January or February on renewable energy that will put people to work — it’s unique and in some respects things that are being done in other states as well.”
Blagojevich said the downturn in the economy will force the state and businesses to “rethink what we are doing and find opportunities to change things for the better.”
“Immediate urgency and crisis require us to do things differently,” Blagojevich asserted.
Local businessman Jay Koch questioned the governor on whether his company would see any end to the very late payments he is receiving from the Illinois Protection Agency on oil and tank cleanup.
“The slow payments are seriously jeopardizing our operation,” Koch said. “Is there any hope in sight of payments being made?”
The governor said he is hopeful that payments from the state in many areas would get better due to the “election shake up.”
“The dynamics in the state government have changed,” Blagojevich said. “There is a new Senate president, who I believe is someone who will bring a positive change in the dialogue ... and a new Republican Leader in the Senate who will also add a new voice to what has been a bit of a situation where not enough people are talking to each other.”
The increased dialog is what Blagojevich said he hopes will bring about a Capital Bill, but at this time, late payments are a result of the recession.
“Our economy has slowed,” Blagojevich said. “As a result the state budget is worse today than it was on Labor Day. ... The revenues are not as good as they were, and unemployment is up since Labor Day. ... Consumer confidence is down, and that means we lose revenues on income tax and sales tax. ... We started out with a budget deficit and we didn’t anticipate all of this. We have to find a way to address that.”
When the governor heard the state was more than 550 days late in paying Koch, Blagojevich said he needed to speak with the businessman before he left to find out more.
The governor continued to play his cards close when questioned about a replacement for President-elect Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat.
Blagojevich said he would be “deliberate and thoughtful” about the appointment and not make a hasty decision. In addition, he said there are geographic considerations and a lot of qualified applicants.
