Has Gov. Pat Quinn, once thought of as an ineffective governor, had a political resurrection? We go one-on-one with Quinn.
A note on the beginning of the interview with Gov. Quinn:
I wanted to begin by asking the governor about the state’s backlog of unpaid bills, estimated to be between $7 and $8 billion. Given that, I also wanted to ask how that would affect his decision on whether or not to extend the income tax hike that is scheduled to roll back in just over a year. In the middle of the question, the governor’s press aide interrupted me and said that the interview would be limited to reviewing the events of the past year; a year in review retrospective. That is clearly what the governor’s office wanted the focus of today’s interviews with the media to be. I informed them before the interview that I had planned on asking questions on issues the state will face in the coming year, as I believe they are on the minds of viewers. After the early interruption, the governor did entertain questions on topics like the income tax, a progressive tax, and the constitutional challenge to the pension law – things that will be news in 2014.
Watch the full interview: