Governor names members of Local Government and Unfunded Mandates Task Force
Lt. Governor Sanguinetti to chair task force

[March 14, 2015]  CHICAGO – Governor Bruce Rauner announced today the members of the newly created Local Government and Unfunded Mandates Task Force. The task force is comprised of municipal and county leaders, representatives of school districts, state legislators, and experts in consolidation. They represent all areas of Illinois. The task force is chaired by Lt. Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti.
This task force will identify ways to help local governments consolidate and eliminate duplicate governmental bodies, school districts and taxing authorities. Streamlining these services will help prevent waste and use taxpayer dollars more efficiently. It will also find ways to reduce the number of unfunded mandates the state imposes on local communities.

“Illinois has an excessive number of local government units and the state severely limits local governments’ ability to control their own costs,” Gov. Rauner said. “Consolidating local government and reducing the burden of unfunded mandates imposed by the state will reduce costs, increase efficiency and improve delivery of services.”

“Streamlining local governments will help them better provide core services to the hard-working families in Illinois,” Lt. Gov. Sanguinetti said. “I am honored to work for the taxpayers by helping their local governments become more efficient so they can better serve the people they represent.”

Members of the Local Government Consolidation and Unfunded Mandates Task Force are as follows:

Chaired By: Lt. Governor Sanguinetti

• Rep. Tom Demmer, Former Lee County Board Member
• Rep. Mark Batinick
• Rep. Jack D. Franks
• Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch
• Sen. Dan Duffy
• Sen. Dale A. Righter
• Sen. Martin A. Sandoval
• Sen. Linda Holmes
• Karen Darch, Barrington Mayor
• Karen Hasara, Member of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, Former Mayor of Springfield, Chair of Sangamon County Citizens Efficiency Commission

• Brad Cole, Executive Director of the Illinois Municipal League, Former Carbondale Mayor
• Ryan Spain, Peoria City Council Member
• Dan Cronin, DuPage County Chairman, Former Member of the Illinois General Assembly
• Michael Bigger, Former Stark County Chairman
• Mark Kern, St. Clair County Chairman, Former Alderman and Mayor of Belleville
• John Espinoza, Whiteside County Board Member
• Rev. James T. Meeks, Illinois State Board of Education
• Dr. Darlene Ruscitti, DuPage Regional Superintendent of Schools
• Steffanie Seegmiller, Arthur School Board Chairman
• M. Hill Hammock, Senior Fellow - Metropolitan Planning Council, Former Chief Administrative Officer for Chicago Public Schools
• Char Foss-Eggemann, Park Ridge Library Board of Trustees
• Warren L. Dixon III, Naperville Township Assessor, Former DuPage County Board of Review
• George Obernagel, Chairman - Kaskaskia Regional Port District

Serving in an Advisory Capacity: Clayton Frick, Deloitte Services LP

[Catherine Kelly, Office of the Governor Bruce Rauner]