Illinois state senate president John Cullerton spoke at the University’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs early this afternoon. His appearance was part of a series presented by former Illinois governor and IGPA distinguished fellow Jim Edgar, who praised Cullerton’s leadership abilities and joked about his party affiliation during his introduction.

“It will be a difficult few months and maybe few years in Illinois government,” Edgar said. “I can’t think of anyone better on the Democratic side–I have to be a little partisan, to serve in this job (as senate president).”

Some of the topics for discussion included state revenue, the impact of the federal stimulus, and the political climate in Springfield. Cullerton also mentioned the implications of state financial shortfalls on education, saying that funding for schools would probably remain more stable than in other areas.

“Education is probably the last place that people would want to look to cut spending,” he said. “That’s a good thing for places like the University of Illinois.”

In the wake of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment in January, Cullerton also championed his work on ethics in the state legislature and added that people have a “distorted” image of members of state government.

“Rightfully or wrongfully, we have a bad reputation,” Cullerton said. “But most people in state government are there to be public servants.”

Cullerton, who has represented Chicago’s 6th district since 1992, said that many in that area don’t engage enough in the most important issues facing the state.

“With the Chicago media market, we don’t know much about state government,” he said. “We know who our mayor is. We know who our alderman is, but we don’t want to talk about state government.”