Governor Bruce Rauner says he’s been visiting the Illinois State Fair daily, and he’d like to see it become the nation’s greatest fair.
Rauner says one way to support the fair is by using private donations to help pay for upkeep of the state fairgrounds in Springfield.
“So we’ve recommended that we form a foundation,” Rauner said. “Some other states have done that. So that we can raise private donations from businesses and individuals who want to give and donate, so that we can use that money to enhance the fairgrounds, enhance the experience for all the visitors, and make this world-class.”
Legislation to create a state fairgrounds foundation was introduced by Republican State Representative Raymond Poe of Springfield back in February. But Rauner says Speaker Michael Madigan and House Democrats have kept it bottled up in committee ever since.
There are state fair foundations in Iowa, Indiana, Missouri and Minnesota. They all raise money for upkeep of their fairgrounds, but some provide funding for programs as well.. The museum at the Illinois State Fair has a fundraising foundation, but there’s no foundation for the State Fair itself.
Rauner also turned back to his long-term goal of raising state funding for state universities at the fair yesterday.
The Republican governor repeated the argument he made in his gubernatorial campaign last year -- that an increase in funding should come with a change in how that funding is spent.
“I want to make sure our universities shrink their bureaucracy, their overhead, their layers of administration and inefficiency; shrink some of their costs on some of their pensions and compensation levels, they’re quite high; and put that money into the classroom, with the professors, with the researchers and with the students,” Rauner said.
State universities in Illinois have been operating since July 1st without any state funding, because Governor Rauner and legislative Democrats can’t agree on a state budget.
Like the governor, the Democrats also propose a cut in state funding for universities --- but at a lower rate than the governor’s proposal.
