Republican Sen. Chuck Weaver of the 37th District says Illinois doesn’t necessarily need to have all of it’s problems solved for business to come back to the state.
But it does need to have plans in place, he says.
Weaver has an extensive background in business from formerly being President of Weaver Enterprises that operates 30 KFC franchises to more recently investing in startups.
One of the largest issues looming over Gov. Bruce Rauner and the General Assembly is mounting unfunded pension liabilities.
Weaver says there are two plans to tackle pensions, one brought forth by Senate President John Cullerton to save $1 billion, and another by Gov. Rauner which does some “smoothing” as to how funding happens.
Weaver tells Galesburg’s Evening News on WGIL that if he’s called at midnight he’s ready to vote for either plan.
“I think it’s important that people understand that we’ve made a commitment to people that have earned these pensions and I think that they need to be comfortable that they know that we’re going to do everything we can to try to keep those protected,” Weaver says. “We also have to understand that some pension guidelines to need to change for the future because the workplace is not what the workplace was.”
Weaver was appointed to the 37th District Senate seat last October after Darin Lahood was appointed to fill Aaron Schock’s 18th District seat in the U.S. Congress. Weaver is currently running unopposed for election this November.
