Rick Heidner: 2026 candidate for Illinois Governor

Bio

Office sought: Illinois Governor

City: Barrington Hills

Age: 65

Occupation: Businessman

Previous offices held: None

Q&A

Are you comfortable with the way the state budget is developed? If not, what should be done differently?

Our budget process encourages year-over-year increases in spending, which in turn lead to even higher taxes for Illinois residents. As governor, the annual budget proposal I would submit would be crafted with the end-goal of reducing bloated spending and helping our state be able to attract out-of-state businesses. Our current budget is divorced from the reality that our state's taxpayers simply cannot afford more increases. Tax reform begins with budget reform.

Do you favor any tax increases or revenue enhancements to address fiscal problems?

Our state's fiscal problems can't be fixed with tax increases, which will only further drive businesses and families out of the state. The way to address our long-term fiscal outlook is through growth. As governor, I will not approve any new taxes. Instead, we will be looking at avenues for budget cuts to reduce waste and redundancies. With a streamlined budget, our goal should be to look for ways to cut taxes in the near-term and turn Illinois from a place of “take” and into a place of “make.”

Do you favor any changes in the pension structure for state employees?

Illinois has the worst pension crisis in the nation. We should have addressed this issue 15, 10, or even 5 years ago, but here we are today. This crisis has been in the making for decades, but it has reached a point where politicians can no longer avoid tackling this issue.

As governor, I will work to implement changes so we can rein in our pension obligations and begin to attract new employers to the state. We must fulfill the promises that we have made. Anyone who has worked for us in the past is owed the pension that they understood they were signing up for when they took the job. But moving forward, we should implement a new program with new percentages to put our state's budget on a more sustainable path.

What should Illinois policy be toward immigration and federal efforts to enforce immigration laws?

Our nation's immigration laws must be followed. Illinois has no authority to undermine the federal laws. Rather than the current antagonistic relationship between the state and the federal government, I would advance a policy that supports federal immigration law. The chaos we have witnessed in Chicago and elsewhere is the result of local decisions to defy and undermine the laws on the books. Illinois residents support the rule of law, and as governor, I will help to ensure that our state is advancing a rules-based approach to immigration law. Had we been cooperating with ICE, they would have been able to find all the violent criminals in 8-10 weeks.

President Trump has targeted Illinois with funding freezes and other actions. What would you do to insure that the state gets its fair share of federal money?

The only reason President Trump has called for freezing any funds for Illinois is because of "sanctuary city" policies and fraud with federal grants. As governor, I will enforce the rule of law, including our nation's immigration laws. Illinois would not be at risk of losing any federal funding in my administration.

What financial incentives, or tax benefits, should the state be willing to extend to the Chicago Bears to assist with the redevelopment of Arlington Park centered around a new stadium?

I support making it possible for the Bears to go to Arlington Heights so our team doesn't leave the state. If I had been governor, we would have accomplished this move in one week. The Bears deserve to own their own property; they have rented for 100 years. The taxes that would be generated from this complex exceed more than the simple revenue from the stadium. The ancillary businesses like restaurants, hotels, bars, fuel centers, parking garages, etc. would also generate massive new tax revenue. There should be a cap on the real estate taxes that the Bears would have to pay, in recognition of how much this proposed 326-acre complex would generate in new real estate and sales tax, as well as creating new jobs.