Sangamon Sun

Gov. Bruce Rauner has brought a new weapon into his legislative battles: his wife.

In a new digital ad, Illinois first lady Diana Rauner emphasizes her husband's accomplishments with education funding, according to a news release from BruceRauner.com.

“Bruce and I share a passion for education,” Diana Rauner says in the ad. “It's motivated him his entire life. It's about ensuring that every child has the opportunity to be successful in life. We know how lucky we are to have the opportunities to help other people, and we treat it like a mission.”

House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago)

Diana Rauner says her husband has increased the state's education funding by $700 million and early childhood education funding a record level.

“It's about doing what's right, not what's easy," she says. "We're doing this for our next generation."

Gov. Rauner has called a second special session this summer, that was to begin at noon on Wednesday and focus on education-funding legislation. No public school funding measure was included in the recently passed state budget.

House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) released a statement on July 25, reprinted on CapitolFax.com, in which he called on the governor to “sign a bill that he is on record as supporting 90 percent of.”

The speaker also seemed to disapprove of the special session.

“By calling a special session while he refuses to negotiate and even says 'there’s nothing to discuss,’ the governor is continuing to create a crisis that pits one child against another,” Madigan said in the statement.