By Greg Bishop/Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Bruce Rauner is encouraged that Illinois’ leading democrats are discussing the need for growth.

It started with a package of bills reintroduced in the state senate, which includes several economic reforms like changes to workers’ compensation and a temporary property tax freeze as part of a budget compromise.

Then, before swearing in with the new legislature, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan penned an op-ed about the need for economic growth to solve Illinois’ long-standing problems.

Rauner said it’s taken some time, but Democratic leaders are starting to come around.

“We’ve had some significant breakthroughs in the recent days,” he said. “For the first time, really, Democratic leaders in both the Senate and in the House are publicly acknowledging we need significant structural change as part of getting balanced budgets. This has been 18 months in the works. It’s taken too long and I’m very frustrated, but this is a major breakthrough.”

Madigan steered away from addressing the cost of doing business in Illinois, but Rauner said that, either way, it’s good news Democratic leaders are seeing the light.

“There are a lot of proposals being floated right now, a lot of ideas out there,” he said. “That is a good thing. We need a lot of good ideas. Some will make sense. Some won’t. Some folks will think are good, some bad. At this point … let’s get the ideas out there.”

Rauner said there’s still a lot of work to do to find the right reforms, but he’s encouraged pro-growth reforms will be implemented.

Meanwhile, the newly sworn-in legislature is in session today.