The Republican candidate running for the seat held by Rep. Carol Sente (D-Vernon Hills) has said the General Assembly's attempt to punish local officials for enacting right-to-work laws has quashed a conversation that needs to be had in Illinois.
“I think it is clear they are looking for mechanisms to punish people that have different political perspectives than they do,” Marko Sukovic told the Lake Country Gazette.
“I think states are realizing that it is a part of its economic climate that they need to be able to attract new businesses to their state,” he added with regard to right-to-work ordinances.
“That has to be a robust discussion and I think states are making a legitimate case. It is obviously complex but you know we are also taking a look at that Supreme Court case, Janice vs Ashley, and that might kind of settle the situation here,” he said referring to a case where a government worker, Mark Janus, has challenged unions’ demands for worker dues.
In the veto session, the Illinois Senate voted to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of SB1905, a bill that would make enacting local right-to-work ordinances a crime. Penalties for violating the bill include fines up to $2,500 or up to one year in jail.
SB1905 would allow workers the right to decline to pay union fees and was one of the reasons behind Toyota’s rejection of Illinois as a location for a new plant. The House later failed to override Rauner's veto.
“Toyota took a look at Illinois and essentially said thanks but no thanks. That is not the message we want to be sending these companies when they are potentially providing thousands of jobs to our community,” Sukovic said.
“We need to take a look at specific bills that are common sense in nature and actually have that dialogue and then go ahead and see where we can get these stakeholders together and pass a bill that makes the economic environment in Illinois that much easier for businesses to say, ‘Hey. Let’s set up shop here. Let’s take our factory and go to Illinois.'”
Sukovic is running in House District 59, which includes Mundelein, Lincolnshire, Vernon Hills and Wheeling.
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