Amrozowicz, Bush address wasteful spending in state Senate race
Two candidates for a Lake County state senate seat have different ideas on where to find wasteful government spending.
Republican newcomer Michael Amrozowicz of Gurnee is challenging Democratic incumbent Sen. Melinda Bush of Grayslake in the Nov. 8 election for the 31st Senate District seat. The district includes much of northern Lake County, including Gurnee, Beach Park, Grayslake, Round Lake, Round Lake Beach, Lindenhurst and Antioch.
Bush and Amrozowicz most recently addressed wasteful state spending at a Lake County League of Women Voters forum in Round Lake Beach.
Amrozowicz said administrative expenses are too high in Illinois. As an example, he said jobs at state universities have grown at a rate greater than student enrollment since 2004.
He said the state's information technology department also should be examined for potentially wasting money, contending that state government has too many mismatched systems and must be modernized.
"We need to have a forensic study to take a look at all these different departments where we can cut spending," Amrozowicz added.
Bush disputed Amrozowicz's stance that information technology expenses are too high.
"We're actually spending more money on IT because we need to," she said.
Elected officials should take a close look at myriad programs every five years to see if changes are needed, which could lead to "serious cuts in the money we're spending," Bush said.
Amrozowicz, 57, who's retired from the Navy and co-owns an exterior remodeling business, is making his first run for a public office. He was selected chairman of the Lake County Republican Party in 2014 and previously headed Warren Township's GOP organization.
Bush, 60, won her first elected post as a Grayslake village trustee and served from 1990 to 1994. She served in the dual role of Lake County Board member and forest preserve district commissioner from 2008 until 2012, when she won election to the state senate.