Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner/WJEZ file photo

By Todd Wineburner

You might call it a State of the State road show. Gov. Bruce Rauner spent Thursday in Southern Illinois and today (Friday) in Central Illinois, reviewing the points of Wednesday's speech and building support for what his team is calling a turnaround.

“I’m a business guy. I’m not a politician. I’ve never been inside government,” Rauner told a Chamber of Commerce audience in Peoria before building to a laugh line. “I’ve been in there now for a little while. Whoa. Let me tell you something: your tax dollars ain’t getting you what you think it’s getting.”

Rauner, sayin’ he’s not anti-union and not pro-right-to-work, but rather right-to-compete, says in his concept of local “employee empowerment zones,” “if you want to compete on those (closed-shop) terms, great.”

Rauner was met with union protestors on earlier stops on his two-day tour, including Decatur earlier today. That was not the case in Peoria.