Gov. Pat Quinn paid a visit to Freeport yesterday, home of Sensata Technologies, a manufacturing plant owned by Bain Capital that is scheduled to outsource 170 jobs to China later this year. As PI has reported, the layoffs are a national issue with Freeport residents saying Bain founder Mitt Romney, the presumed Republican presidential nominee, should help the workers.

Quinn pushed for a national intervention yesterday, advocating for an idea proposed by Freeport Mayor George Gaulrapp to have Romney and President Barack Obama hold a debate in the town. Quinn also called for passage of the Bring Jobs Home Act, a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate that would change tax incentives in order to dissuade companies from shifting jobs overseas.