Gov. Bruce Rauner's controversial "Turnaround Illinois Agenda" died on the floor without a single Libertyville trustee willing to recommend approval during an April 14 meeting.
Municipalities throughout Illinois are being asked to approve a pre-written resolution that pledges support for a number of Rauner's ideas.
One item in the proclamation says local governing bodies should have the right to decide what workplace topics unions in their towns can bargain over and whether or not non-union members should pay "fair share" dues.
Among several other items, the resolution also pledges support for reforming workers compensation laws and removing the state requirements for government construction contracting, also known as "prevailing wage."
"The governor's office has asked that we pass this resolution as it stands," Libertyville Mayor Terry Weppler said. "In my opinion, we can pass any resolution we want. If we want to pass a resolution to the governor, it should say what we want."
Village trustees in Mundelein voted April 13 to spend two weeks revising Rauner's resolution in private before revisiting the matter April 27. Weppler said he agreed with a few items on the document and was willing to consider a revision, but his trustees decided otherwise.
"I swore an oath to uphold the constitution of the State of Illinois, so it would be inappropriate of me to recommend that we secede and join Wisconsin," Trustee Richard Moras said. "I cannot support this. It makes no sense, and it's plain silly."
Moras, who was the most outspoken of the trustees, compared the resolution to a hypothetical situation where Libertyville supports raising fees at the Federal Reserve.
"We have no authority or insights on these topics," Moras said. "This is a waste of our time, and nothing more than a political grandstand."
Trustee Todd Gaines said he agreed with Moras' statements, and also expressed discomfort with the Rauner's administration's emphasis that nothing in the resolution be changed…
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