ROCHELLE — With the primary election less than two weeks away, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner made two campaign stops in Rochelle on Tuesday morning.
Rauner, who is facing challenger Jeanne Ives in the March 20 primary, met with some local business leaders at the Rochelle Technology Center and also stopped at the Rochelle News-Leader prior to a scheduled tour of the Ingersoll plant in Rockford, touting his balanced budget proposal and efforts to create higher paying jobs in the state and help turn around the Illinois economy.
“The challenge for Illinois is our taxes and our regulations are too high and we are not competitive with other states. We make it difficult for our employers to grow and to hire,” Rauner said. “For decades we have been one of the slower growing states economically, and our government spending has grown too fast and it’s led to high deficits and debt and residents paying too much in property taxes.”
The Republican incumbent has had a rocky first term, as political stalemates, fund deficits and the loss of companies and jobs to neighboring states have dogged state leaders. Rauner though said he has plans to turn around Illinois’ economy.
“The budget is critical. I’ve looked back 20 years and I can’t find where we’ve actually had a truly balanced budget in that time,” Rauner stated.

“Either we don’t fund our pensions, we don’t pay our bills or we borrow in the bond market. This has been going on for years and years and it’s why we have some of the worst debt per person in the nation. We can’t sustain this or tax our way out of it. The only way to fix this problem is to grow economically and faster than our government spending.”
Rauner said he is proposing cuts and reprioritizing of state spending, building a $350 million surplus to pay down past due bills, a reform in the state’s pension plan and an income tax cut for residents. Rauner added that despite past stalemate battles with Democratic lawmakers in the past, he believes he can get support for change.

“I’m optimistic that we will get bi-partisan support,” Rauner said. “People are tired of the ranker and disagreements with the status quo… people know we have to make changes. I believe we can encourage members of the senate and house to come together on a balanced budget and I’m willing to negotiate on any part of it, but we need to compromise to get it done.”
Views of Rochelle
When speaking to a group of local business leaders on Tuesday at the RMU Tech Center, Rauner told the audience he is impressed with the workforce and advances made in the Rochelle region.
“Everywhere I go I tell people about Rochelle,” Rauner stated. “Your community is a place with great infrastructure and what you have to offer as far as transportation, location and workforce.”
Rauner took questions from those in attendance and listened to ways he might be able to help them grow their business.
“Rochelle is an incredible part of the state and economic hub, and I am all about trying to help get this booming,” he said. “I want to hear from businesses on what types of regulations are holding them back and what I can possibly change myself as governor and which ones I would need support from the legislature to get done.”
Rochelle Mayor Chet Olson said several business leaders from around the community were present, including representatives from the educational and healthcare fields. Olson said discussions touched on bringing new businesses to Rochelle as well as companies reinvesting and staying in the state of Illinois.
“We welcomed Governor Rauner to town. We are very appreciative of him coming and spending time here,” said Olson. “We had a great round table discussion with him and his staff.”
While at the News-Leader, Rauner said if he were re-elected to a second term, his main objective is to reduce regulations and barriers that are hurting businesses and pushing companies and workers to relocate to neighboring states where there are better paying jobs.
Additionally, Rauner said it’s important to roll back income taxes and also get property taxes down by taking unfunded mandates off from local school districts.
Finally, he said he plans to push for term-limits for state elected officials, which he believes would help restore ethics back to the government and prevent career politicians from dominating positions.
“I introduced a bill that calls for 8-year limits for statewide officials and 10-year limits for legislators,” Rauner stated. “I hope it gets voted on and passed, because I feel it’s imperative to returning common senses and ethics back to our state government.”
Rauner also touched on trade tariffs, voting redistricting and gun safety during his visit at the News-Leader.
When asked about current gun legislation, which includes banning bump stocks, a 72-hour waiting period and the prohibition of selling semi-automatic guns to anyone under the age of 21, Rauner did not indicate he would sign any current legislation but is definitely concerned about gun safety.
“I am a gun owner and a hunter, and I do support banning bump stocks, finding ways to improve safety at our schools and keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill,” he said. “We need to have bi-partisan efforts on any bill that both parties can reasonably agree on.”