By Breanna Lee/WMBD-TV

PONTIAC – Hours after announcing his re-election bid, Gov. Bruce Rauner stopped in Pontiac on Monday to advocate for public safety with State Rep. Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City) and a couple of local public safety officials.

Rauner spoke on two new public safety bills. One says police applicants are no longer required to have an associates degree to become an officer. They can now apply with at least 60 credit hours toward a bachelors degree from any university. The other allows vehicles operated by commanding emergency responders to have sirens.

“Our men and women in uniform, our men and women as first responders that put their lives on the line to keep us safe, thank you for that,” Rauner said. “And thank you for stepping forward to these important changes to expand our police force in a high-quality way, and to keep our first responders safe as they get to emergencies.”

Rauner said these bills will help keep families safe.

The governor also spoke on some things he’s proud to have done with his time in office and some things he hopes to fix if he were to be reelected as governor.

“The three biggest changes we have not yet achieved are to bring down our property tax burden,” says Governor Rauner.

“We also need to roll back Madigan’s income tax hike that Speaker Madigan forced through the General Assembly over my veto last June,” Rauner said. “And the third thing we need to do is achieve term limits on elected officials.”

Rauner says Republicans need to focus on what they do agree on after he took heat from others in the party after he signed a controversial bill that allows tax-payer dollars to pay for abortions.

“What we can agree on is the economic opportunity, more growth in jobs, in higher family incomes,” Rauner said. “What we can agree on is bringing down our tax burden. What we can agree on is term limits. Everyone in the state, Democrats, Republicans, can agree on that.”