Will County Gazette

The Homer Township Republican Lincoln Day Dinner is scheduled for June 2 at the Palos Country Club in Orland Park.

Hosted by HTRO chairman Steve Balich, the event kicks off at 5:30 p.m. with tickets that include access to buffet at $50. Sponsorships are also available starting at $150 all the way up to $1,000. Checks at the door are to be made to the Homer Township Republicans.

Those expected to be in attendance include Republican candidates for governor state Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) and Paul Schimpf, Orland Park Mayor Keith Peckau, Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara, state Sen. John Curran (R-Lemont) and state Reps. Jim Durkin (R-Burr Ridge) and Tim Ozinga (R-Mokena).

Now serving the 55th District, Bailey has vowed change is coming to Illinois if he is elected.

“I think that when people begin to meet me, they get to know me and see the sincerity is real,” he recently told WAWV TV. “When we travel, we go to places with people that have been with us for a long time and they vouch that ‘this guy is who he says he is.’”

Bailey said much of his vision focuses on getting the state’s fiscal house in order.

“I have proposed a zero-based budget,” he said. “There would absolutely be a spending freeze and no tax increases. Every department would start at zero and they would have to show why they need this money.”

Bailey said the impact of all the state’s reckless spending and wayward policies can be found anywhere you look.

“The economy has been decimated, children are hurting and senior citizens and long-term care facilities are frustrated because there’s been no visitation rights, no social activity,” he said of the shutdown orders put in place by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the wake of COVID-19.

“We’ve all taken a toll because of that,” he added. “We need to let each county decide what the health department needs to do.”

In Springfield, Bailey recently filed a bill that “provides that nothing in the Illinois Constitution shall be construed to limit the power of the General Assembly to reduce or change pension benefits or other benefits of membership in any public pension or public retirement system.”