Bills Aim to Eliminate Bureaucracy in Illinois Government

SPRINGFIELD — The governor, lieutenant governor and a handful of legislators have rolled out the first bills derived from a year-long effort focused on how to downsize Illinois’ plethora of governments.

The goal, according to those officials: Whittle down Illinois’ nearly 7,000 units of government to get the taxpayers more for their money.

“Our present system of 7,000 governments is simply unsustainable, (and) it’s also a big reason we have the second-highest property taxes in the nation” said Rep. Jack Franks of Woodstock, the lone Democratic lawmaker to speak at a Naperville news conference headlined by Gov. Bruce Rauner and Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti.

“Our system is bloated, it’s inefficient, it’s opaque, and it’s unaccountable,” Franks said. “And our system, as a result, is open to corruption and abuse.”

“We need to stop digging a deeper hole,” he said. “It’s time for government to get out of the shadows. By implementing these ideas, I believe we can begin to restore balance, eliminate redundant governments and, most importantly, we can save taxpayers money.”

Gov. Rauner said the four bills rolled out Friday encompass eight of the 27 recommendations made by Sanguinetti’s bipartisan task force.

And, to a degree, the governor acknowledged, they represent some low-hanging fruit, or ideas perhaps the easiest upon which to find agreement.

“What we’d like to do is get some successes and walk before we run,” Rauner said.

The legislation includes efforts to...

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