Governor Bruce Rauner lit a fire under labor unions in Illinois earlier this week when he suggested local governments -- like counties or cities -- should be able to implement their own right-to-work laws. Rauner went one step further Thursday, saying government unions should be banned from contributing to political campaigns.
Rauner had largely been silent about unions since winning his primary campaign last March. In the general election, the candidate abandoned his talk of "government union bosses" who he says control contracts with the state... driving up the cost of business.
But this week, that talk, and that phrase, is back.
The governor says he plans to outline potential restrictions on political contributions from labor unions in the next week.
"Groups that contract with the state should not be making campaign contributions to the people across the table from whom they're negotiating. That's a fundamental conflict of interest."
But outside the Champaign hotel where Rauner made his remarks, 150 local labor members thought otherwise.
Matt Langendorf, president of the East Central Illinois Building Trades, says Rauner is going after the wrong people.
"Surely we didn't elect someone who was stupid enough to believe that the working people of Illinois caused Illinois' problems. So surely they're going to see through that his motives must be different."
Rauner says he'll give more details in his State of the State speech next week.