The republican candidate for Lt. Governor, Jason Plummer, spoke to the EIU Republicans during their Wednesday meeting.

After arriving late, Plummer gave a brief introduction of his background and then opened the room for a question and answer discussion on his views and future goals, if elected to office.

Creating jobs is the number one issue on Plummer’s agenda.

“We have to address the issues that keep businesses from investing in Illinois,” Plummer said.

If businesses do not know what their return will be in Illinois, they will not come, and the government has to address these broader themes, Plummer said.

The reason for this is the unpredictable state that Illinois is in politically and economically.

“Illinois is completely different from other states,” Plummer said. “While other states have a status quo, Illinois tends to shoot from the hip in a Wild West way and anything could happen.”

Lowering property taxes is another idea Plummer plans to address.

Plummer pointed out that property taxes affect college students, even if they are not aware. The landlord of the college housing is giving the cost of the tax in rent.

Illinois has the second worst retention rate for keeping college graduates in the state.

“You’ve got metropolitan areas, medium cities and small villages. We have all these things going for us, but we can’t keep our graduates in the state,” Plummer said. “People aren’t staying because people look at property taxes and look at the cost of living and Illinois is not competitive.”

Plummer also wants to take a hard look at and complete the state budget.

“It is not going to be about cutting state jobs or merging programs, but you have to address the two 900 pound gorillas in the room-Medicaid and the pension system,” Plummer said.

Greg Sainer, a sophomore communication studies major from Newton, said he was happy with what Plummer said about balancing the budget.

“To be honest, I live very close to Indiana and I always here about their surplus of income and I think its essential Illinois gets there,” Sainer said.

Plummer said the issues that need to be dealt with are the ones people are concerned with.

“I am a huge 2nd amendment fan, but anyone who is voting on gun laws right now has missed the ball,” Plummer said. “We are

in a financial train wreck and we need to fix these things first.”

Eleven members from the Eastern community attended the meeting including Neal Maloney, a senior general studies major from Champaign.

“I thought he was very articulate and very clear about what he wants done,” Maloney said. “I think he spoke on the right issues.”

Plummer also addressed the possibility of the lieutenant governor’s job being eliminated from the state to save money.

“Getting rid of a position that could have a very large influence within the state is a mistake,” Plummer said. “When it comes to our office and the budget, our office would be a very small drop in a very big bucket.”

On the lines of education, Plummer said there is a difference between promising money and then not paying it and having a set budget and following through with it.

“We aren’t here to fund bloated pensions and bloated government,” Plummer said. “We are here to take care of what we say were are going to do and get off your back as far as everything else.”

Kayleigh Zyskowski can be reached at 581-7942 or kzyskowski@eiu.edu

Lieutenant governor candidate Jason Plummer speaks to the registered student organization, EIU Republicans, Wednesday in Coleman Hall. (Danny Damiani / The Daily Eastern News)

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