Governor-elect Bruce Rauner is to arrive in Springfield in time for Thursday morning’s session.
Since winning the Nov. 4 election, Rauner has spoken to more than 50 lawmakers, his staff says.
“There’s more that he wants to meet with,” said spokesman Mike Schrimpf, and he’s hoping to set up meetings while they’re in Springfield. Schrimpf described the meetings as get-to-know you conversations and laying the groundwork for working together in the future. During his campaign for governor, Rauner had repeatedly vowed to get to know every legislator by name.
Rauner is headed to Springfield after first traveling to Florida on Tuesday for the Republican Governors Association annual conference.
What Rauner won’t be doing in Springfield is lobbying on any issues — not the Uber bill or a proposal to increase the minimum wage — his staff says.
The ride-sharing issue is on deck and likely to come up for an override attempt on Thursday, Early and Often reported last week.
“He has made two very clear public statements: One on the Uber legislation; the other is they shouldn’t take any major action during the lameduck,” Schrimpf said.
Lawmakers know where Rauner stands on ride-sharing, Schrimpf said. Rauner had repeatedly urged Gov. Pat Quinn to veto the bill.
The state’s clout-heavy taxi industry had pushed the legislation, which would have imposed a statewide regulatory framework on commercial ridesharing services, including driver background checks, vehicle inspections and new insurance requirements, among other things. Quinn vetoed the measure.
