Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn attacked his Republican challenger's business acumen on Monday, calling state Sen. Bill Brady "an expert at layoffs."
The shot came as Quinn once again talked up a small-business job creation tax break. The governor sought to paint himself as a job creator days after Brady won the backing of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, an influential business group that said years of Democratic rule have pushed businesses from the state.
Brady is head of his family's Bloomington development company that's fallen on tough times as the housing market imploded. Quinn addressed that Monday.
"He knows all about layoffs," Quinn said of Brady. "He's applied his chain saw to his real estate development company and laid people off. He hasn't created any jobs at all."
A Brady spokeswoman decried Quinn's status as a career politician.
"It's the ultimate hypocrisy for Pat Quinn to attack a family business for making difficult decisions when he's been a lifelong politician who's never directly created a job in his life," Brady spokeswoman Patty Schuh said.
Left unsaid by both camps was Quinn's own failed attempt to lay off scores of state workers to help balance the budget. Quinn's layoff bid was blocked by unions representing state employees.
Quinn made his remarks at a Chicago news conference to highlight a program that gives small businesses a $2,500 tax credit for each new employee it hires. Since July 1, 143 businesses have registered to participate in the program, creating 92 jobs, according to the state's economic development agency. The jobs must pay at least $13.75 an hour, and workers must clock at least 35 hours a week.
Quinn alleged that Brady wants to cut that to $2,100, saying "that's the wrong direction."
But Schuh said Quinn was "distorting and manipulating" Brady's plan, which would give $2,100 credits to all businesses that create jobs, not just those that have 50 employees or fewer.
mcgarcia@tribune.com