Statewide candidates address ag audience
LEXINGTON – Those running for Illinois governor and U.S. Senate for Illinois addressed an agricultural audience at Schuler Farms near Lexington Wednesday.
The Illinois Agricultural Legislative Roundtable candidate forum is held every election cycle for those seeking statewide office to inform agricultural leaders concerning candidate platforms relating to key ag issues. IALR is comprised of over 100 ag industry leaders and Wednesday’s forum was not an Illinois Farm Bureau sponsored event.
Republican Gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey reminded the audience ag is the backbone of Illinois and this country. If elected governor, Bailey said he would be a strong candidate for members of the ag community. He is proud to be a family farmer and feels it is time to have a farmer in the governor’s mansion.
“Illinois has one of the highest estate taxes in the country,” Bailey stated.
Bailey claims the state was once an energy exporter and now is on its hands and knees begging to buy energy from others.
“The only way to fix Illinois is to fire J.B. Pritzker.”
Pensions and education were also talking points for the third-generation farmer and state senator from Southern Illinois. He plans to address the pension issues in Illinois and believes schools are top heavy with administration. Bailey said the energy bill just signed was not well thought out.
“If we’re going to attract industry, we’ve got to have the power to supply,” he added.
Democratic Governor JB Pritzker took the stage following Bailey and called it a great honor to speak at the event.
“You deserve a governor who works as hard as you do,” Pritzker told the crowd inside a shed.
Pritzker noted the livelihoods of farmers are important to the future of the state as those involved in ag keep Illinois moving, providing essential labor to our state. Pritzker pointed to his background as a businessman with 10,000 employees before he was governor, something he said makes him familiar with the ins and outs of running a business.
“I believe in the people of Illinois,” said Pritzker.
The Chicago resident and venture capitalist is proud of the expansion of ag education programs in Illinois and reminded everyone of the Farm Family Resource Initiative which was established in 2019 to address behavioral health in the rural areas. He also spoke of the Homegrown by Heroes program for veterans.
“We are one Illinois and I have delivered more for downstate Illinois than any governor in recent memory.”
Pritzker accused Bailey of voting against nearly everything he talked about. Pritzker said he has delivered four balanced budgets and two years of surpluses.
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth admitted agriculture is the cornerstone of our state’s economy, noting she has been interested in ag long before running for Congress. She called for sensible regulations and a push for economic policies. This year, Duckworth is working to get the Next Generation Fuels Act passed.
“We can’t support biofuels without ensuring the RFS is strong.”
Strengthening ag is a matter of national security, according to Duckworth. She does not feel the country should be “cozying-up” to countries like Saudi Arabia because they control oil. She believes biofuels are important to our independence and the ability to lead the free world.
Duckworth has been to Taiwan and South Korea working on trade to highlight Illinois and how it is poised for great investment from international partners. The senator alluded to the next farm bill in 2023 and being more aggressive on trade.
Duckworth’s opponent, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kathy Salvi, is concerned with the direction of the country.
“I will be a working senator, a citizen senator,” Salvi explained. “I plan to make a difference out there.”
Salvi’s goal is to become a go-to person in the Senate for agriculture. She said the Inflation Reduction Act will have a negative impact on small businesses and families in Illinois.
“It is a tax on productivity, a tax on the people who work and a tax on small business.”
Salvi does not support regulations such as Proposition 12 and vows to push for a comprehensive energy policy to drive the economy.
“We need to have policies that won’t change administration to administration,” she added.
Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert Jr. served as moderator for the legislative roundtable. Candidates took the stage individually to answer questions submitted by IALR members attending and posed by the moderator. The IALR is comprised of more than 100 agricultural industry leaders and the goals are to discuss and evaluate ag issues currently being addressed by local, state and federal governments.
The last IALR candidate forum was held in 2020.
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