Of the four Republicans running for governor, venture capitalist Bruce Rauner is the only one who's never before served in government. But he's already looking to change it, and in significant ways.
Rauner is heading a petition drive to institute term limits, to make it harder for legislators to override a governor's veto, and to reduce the size of the General Assembly. His plan adds a handful of members to the Illinois House, but takes away 18 senators.
Rauner says that'll make elections more competitive.
"By having three House members per Senate district, no one House member already has half the district sort of locked up and have power of incumbency there," he says. "It'll allow challengers to take on incumbents."
Fellow GOP gubernatorial candidate Kirk Dillard, a state Senator from Hinsdale, says it's a bad idea.
"I think it's a real slap in the face to downstate Illinois to downsize the state Senate because the districts become so geographically large, your chances of having input face to face to your state senator are greatly diminished," Dillard says.
He says Illinois' problem is that too much power is concentrated the speaker of the House and Senate president. He says he favors term limits for those jobs.
