State Sen. Chris Balkema, who represents northern McLean County and a wide swath of Central Illinois stretching from Peoria to the Indiana border, was sworn in Wednesday on the refurbished Senate floor.
Balkema worked at the heavy equipment maker Caterpillar for 30 years and served as the Grundy County Board chairman for six. He said he is excited to bring those experiences to the Senate.
Serving a predominantly rural area [the 53rd District], the Republican senator said he is passionate about agriculture, but also is focused on bringing business to Illinois. He said this could come with a balanced approach. It would involve choosing ahead of time which are the best places for farmland and best for manufacturing.
“Here's all the areas we want to remain farmland,” Balkema said in an interview on WGLT's Sound Ideas. “Here's the areas that we're willing to develop from an economic and a manufacturing perspective. And here's the areas we're OK where a wind turbine or a solar panel goes, but we've got to have a balanced component to preserve agriculture.”
He also said high property taxes are a reason business cannot thrive in Illinois.
“Property taxes are killing people,” Balkema said. “I don't think that there's very many people out of the 13 million in the state that would say that's not an issue. So, we are in the second or third highest in the nation, and we've got to do something about property taxes.”
Illinois has the second-highest property tax in the country with an average of 1.95% tax of a home's assessed value.
To lower property taxes, Balkema suggested the state should cut spending. He said across-the-board reductions may be necessary, adding he has not identified specific programs or departments that can be reduced.
Gun violence
Balkema ran a campaign to protect gun ownership laws, but knows there is a gun violence problem in America. He said the root cause of gun violence is a lack of compassion.
“A person's heart is the root cause of a person choosing to use a weapon in the wrong manner,” Balkema said. “And so, if we can change with hearts. Change the hearts of people, versus trying to legislate morality, we're going to get a lot further along.”
Balkema said he would support bills to address mental health issues amid this crisis. He also favors using nonprofits and churches to help with mental health challenges.
Unity
Balkema appreciated the sense of unity he felt between Senate President Don Harmon and Senate Minority Leader John Curran this week. He said he wants to work with his peers and negotiate when needed.
“It's understood that democracy in the United States represents negotiation and negotiation represents democracy,” Balkema said. “And so, we're all not going to believe the same thing, but if we can work together and negotiate appropriately, we can drive a lot of good bills that are going to be good for District 53, good for Illinois.”
The senator said he is hopes to be selected for the Appropriations and Energy committees.
