Iroquois County Board supports ‘Turnaround Agenda”

There's been a lot of opposition voiced in recent weeks, but the Iroquois County Board voted 12-5 Tuesday to approve a resolution in favor of Governor Bruce Rauner's 'Turnaround Agenda.'

The Local Government Empowerment & Reform Resolution has stirred a lot of controversial remarks since the governor first proposed the concept.

Union workers, and others, argue getting rid of unions in favor of right-to-work zones will hurt the economy. Opposing comments aired Tuesday morning at the County Board meeting. During the public comment section of the meeting, P.J. McCullough told members he begs to differ with the statement that 'Illinois has a one size fits all" approach when it comes to collective bargaining. Added costs, he said, are passed on to local taxpayers.

McCullough also doesn't agree with the 'Turnaround' language which states repealing the prevailing wage law and requirements for labor agreements would be good for local governments. McCullough said when lowering employee wages, it hurts the economy because people have less money to spend.

Regarding the claim that the 'Turnaround' plan helps create jobs, McCullough points to government decisions, like the Iroquois County Board itself, that's defeated work opportunities. Examples, he points to, are votes against wind farm development and an ethanol plant.

Board members voting against the Turnaround resolution were Vince Lamie, Larry Hasbargen, Ernie Curtis, Brett Schmid and Jed Whitlow.

94.1 WGFA