Rauner, Dems Trade More Barbs About Jobs
(CBS) – Gov. Bruce Rauner is battling with state Democrats over what's needed to lure jobs back to Illinois.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel plugged the jobs he's brought here.
CBS 2 Political Reporter Derrick Blakley sorts it out.
Republican Rauner joined Hegewisch small business owners Tuesday in a kind of economic walk of shame: 30 empty storefronts and businesses closed in two blocks of an area he says is fighting a losing battle with nearby Indiana, where property taxes are up to 50 percent lower.
"That makes it unaffordable to compete here, that forces them to have higher prices to cover their high property taxes here," Rauner says.
His meeting with the business owners was another push for a property tax freeze, a main sticking point in the Springfield budget battle with Democrats.
Eric Roque has owned a local grocery for seven years. He says his property taxes have jumped from $12,000 to $30,000.
After celebrating the CTA's 125th anniversary, Emanuel pushed back hard, ticking off a number of manufacturers lured to the Far South Side.
Both he and Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Chris Kennedy insist the biggest drain on business is not having a state budget.
"It's the governor who's stopping us from having a budget in Illinois. He needs to understand that compromise isn't surrender, and he needs to show some leadership," Kenney says.
Despite union protests outside his appearance, Rauner says the same, old, same old won't work.
"We have got to become competitive so we can afford to be compassionate," he says.
Also Tuesday, the statewide AFL-CIO endorsed billionaire businessman J.B. Pritzker for governor. That puts big labor behind the Rauner challenger with the deepest pockets and cements Pritzer as the Democratic front-runner.
Kennedy says that reflects a back-room deal by union leaders, not the wishes of rank-and-file members.
