Distrito 20 — Illinois State House of Representatives

Yes, I am for term limits on all state elected officials, including legislators, legislative leaders and constitutional officers. I am running because I am fed up with how things are going in Springfield, and it is time for new leadership in the 20^th District. Voters are tired of career politicians who are a part of the dysfunctional status quo that has resulted in a gridlocked state without a real budget.

I believe everyone currently in Springfield bears responsibility for our current budget stalemate. I believe the Governor’s job is to introduce a balanced budget and the Legislature’s job is to pass a balanced budget, and I feel that all sides are more interested in making excuses or blaming the other side than in getting the job done. I believe the state needs to take a balanced approach to the solving the budget crisis, and that any new revenue would need to be paired with spending decreases.

I strongly oppose the Governor’s drastic proposal to cut higher education funding by 30 percent. These massive funding cuts are incredibly short-sighted and extremely damaging to our state. Illinois is home to high-quality universities, some of the best in the country. Our excellent university system has created an educated work force that in turn helps attract and retain businesses in Illinois. Our government should be focused on making our higher education system even better rather than tearing it down.

Drastically slashing funding puts the not only the quality of our universities at risk but it will also lead to higher tuition and fees for Illinois students. More and more students are attending out of state schools both because of the uncertainty of higher education in Illinois and because they simply cannot afford it. When I attended the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, I worked hard and started my own business to be able to help pay my own way, but I could not have afforded to attend without the assistance of MAP grants. Funding for MAP grants and other state assistance has been incredibly unstable, making it nearly impossible for students to depend on these grants when making the decision on where to attend college.

Higher education is too important for our economy and the future of Illinois to allow it to be held hostage during budget games in Springfield. Our district, and state, deserve better.

I support changing the state’s school funding formula to provide excellent educational opportunities for all children throughout the state, but I would not vote for any legislation that would reduce funding for schools in my district. This is not an easy issue to tackle, and I believe we will need teachers, parents, administrators and local school board members to work together to achieve this goal. I believe achieving this goal would be made easier by the passage of HJRCA 26, legislation that would provide more money to schools by taxing income over $1 million an additional 3 percent. My district voted in favor of a nonbinding version of this initiative when it was on the ballot two years ago.

I am opposed to all tax increases on middle-class families and seniors. This includes a flat income tax increase, any “progressive” tax that increases taxes on the middle class, property tax increases, taxes on retirement income, sales tax increases, service taxes, or any other tax that would increase the tax burden on working families and seniors in my district.

I believe the state needs to take a balanced approach to the solving the budget crisis, and that any new revenue would need to be paired with spending decreases. I have spent months walking door-to-door in my district, and many families and seniors have told me that they are very concerned about being able to continue to afford to live in this area, and that high taxes are already causing them to have difficulty making ends meet. I only support taxing the very wealthy, millionaires and billionaires who can afford to pay more. HJRCA 26, which would have created a 3% surcharge on income over $1 million, failed to pass out of the House this year. I would support that measure as well as closing corporate tax loopholes.

There are some relatively easy cuts that can be made in order to take the first steps towards balancing the budget. The offices of the state treasurer and comptroller should be consolidated, duplicative services provided by separate agencies should be identified and consolidated, pay for part-time boards and commissions should be eliminated, unnecessary overtime should be eliminated and pay should be cut by 10 percent for state elected officials.

I support the constitutional amendment that would put the funds specifically raised for transportation in a lockbox reserved for transportation spending. Transportation funding is especially important for my district as many area businesses rely on their proximity to O’Hare Airport as well as easy access to several interstate highways, and many residents commute to downtown Chicago for work. Protecting this funding and making sure it is used to improve and maintain our transportation infrastructure will not only support our local businesses and commuters, it will also support and create much-needed jobs for members of our trade unions. I support closing corporate tax loopholes, increasing taxes on millionaires and cutting unnecessary state spending in order to pay for our transportation infrastructure needs.

I believe that the state will only be able to find a solution to this issue if all the affected groups, including representatives for unions and for taxpayers, work together. This is not a problem that is going to be solved overnight, as it took many years of the state not contributing enough to the funds as well as poor investment returns to get to the huge unfunded pension liability we have today. One of the worst funded pension systems is the General Assembly Retirement System because of the many perks that legislators have voted to give themselves over the years. I will not take a pension if elected, as I believe that if members of the General Assembly had been more focused on properly funding the pension systems and less focused on how to get the best pensions for themselves, the pension funds would be in a lot better shape today.

The voters of my district have told me at their doors that they are very concerned about keeping our community’s neighborhoods safe and secure. I am opposed to measures that would jeopardize that safety by releasing criminals from out of prison early.

I am very supportive of law enforcement’s efforts to keep our communities safe, and I have not heard my district’s voters express concern about this topic. Area residents are much more concerned about keeping our community’s neighborhoods safe and secure by providing additional funding for law enforcement and by hiring more officers to work in the 16^th Police District. They also want to see increased funding for important programs used to track dangerous sex offenders and the effort to test more rape kits in order to reduce the state’s backlog and put more rapists in prison. 

I support equal treatment for all Illinois residents. I look forward to learning more about this issue as it is debated and discussed in Springfield.

This is not a simple or easy issue, and I believe end-of-life decisions are very personal and should be discussed with families and doctors. I walk door-to-door in my district every day to speak to voters about the issues that are most important to them, and this is not an issue that has come up. Voters more often bring up their concerns with the impact that the budget impasse has had on their loved ones through cuts to meals for seniors, programs for children with disabilities and breast cancer screening programs.

We as a state need to be doing more to reduce gun violence. I support common-sense legislation that keeps guns out of the hand of criminals and keeps our neighborhoods and our schools safe. I will work to ban assault weapons, expand background checks to prevent people with violent histories or mental health problems from obtaining guns, and allow the courts to remove firearms from the homes of domestic abusers and other violent criminals. To make sure the background check process is being followed and to crack down on gun trafficking, gun dealers should be required to be licensed. I will also fight to make sure that individuals on the terrorist watch list are not able to purchase guns or obtain gun permits.

I support raising the minimum wage, as I believe a person working full time should be able to make enough money to support his or her family. The current minimum wage in Illinois for employees age 18 and older is $8.25 an hour, and a full-time employee working 40 hours a week at that wage earns only $16,500 a year. This is not enough money to raise a family on in Illinois. Also, as my district is made up of both Chicago and suburban residents, I do not believe that the work done by suburban workers should be worth less than the work done by Chicago workers, though I applaud the city for taking the initiative to increase the minimum wage. There are several different proposals to raise the minimum wage in Illinois, and I plan on working with businesses, labor organizations and community groups to decide which one best helps working families get on the path to a living wage.

I am against tax increases that would impact the middle-class families of my district, including a new tax on soft drinks.

I agree that in order to preserve our environment for future generations we need to work harder to develop renewable energy and rely less on fossil fuels. If we do not act now, we risk damaging not only the environment but also our future quality of life and the Illinois economy overall. I specifically support the Clean Jobs Bill, House Bill 2607. This legislation will create an estimated 32,000 new clean energy jobs while increasing energy efficiency and lowering costs for consumers. It will also require a larger portion of Illinois’ energy portfolio to be made from renewable sources by 2030. I believe this legislation is a good step towards not only a better environment in Illinois, but also in bringing more good-paying jobs to the state. I would need to review other proposals before supporting them to ensure that they do not place a greater tax or fee burden on middle class families.

If ever given the opportunity to vote to put term limits on the ballot, I would absolutely support the initiative. 

I think both the Governor AND the legislative leaders bear responsibility for the budget impasse. That said, I, and the majority of my constituents, would certainly agree with the Governor that taxpayers won't tolerate another tax hike without some changes to the way we do business in Illinois. And, thus far, there has been little interest to engage the Governor on anything meaningful. That is squarely on the leadership of the General Assembly.

I don't support massive cuts to our higher education community, but when you're looking at the budget as a whole, there are few discretionary areas that can be cut. We must work collaboratively with our higher education institutions to help them bring down their own costs while finding ways to keep their state funding strong. If compromise can be found between the Governor on reforms and the legislative leaders on revenue, I think some of the biggest winners would be our universities.

Our teacher pensions, both for the City of Chicago as well as the State, are crowding out resources that could be going directly into the classroom. We must find a way to get our pensions under control. I took a tough vote on the previous pension reform legislation that the court ruled unconstitutional, and I am committed to supporting any future reform measures that could put more money back in the classrooms. 

I think we need to enact the types of reforms that will bring our State pension costs under control as well as encourage good paying jobs to help grow our economy. We must look at this before we even begin to discuss hiking taxes.

I supported the legislation that put this on the ballot. Our State and regional infrastructure is one of our largest assets, and we can't keep neglecting it. I absolutely support more investment and ensuring that funds intended for our roads, bridges, and rail are allocated for their intended purpose.

Again, I supported the previous State pension reform legislation that the courts ruled unconstitutional. That was tough, but necessary, in the context of the fact that these payments are crowding out vital funding for everything else in state government. I stand ready to support the "consideration model" as proposed by Senate President Cullerton, and would be open to working on other solutions brought forward by stakeholders. 

Yes, as a whole; however, that said, I do think Chicago's gun violence needs to be addressed by mandatory minimum sentencing which could run concurrent to this. 

I think any issues relating to civil liberties need to be thoroughly looked at, especially when it comes to the seizure of property. This is an issue I am willing to use my bipartisan credentials to work on. 

I would need to see more details regarding both the process and the standard under which this would take place.

As a pro-life, devout Catholic, I just can't support assisted suicide.

As a long-time proponent of law enforcement, and the last member of my caucus to represent the City of Chicago, I think we need to continually look at ways to enhance law enforcement's ability to keep violent offenders off the streets. This would include enhanced penalties on gun-trafficking and mandatory minimums on those found guilty of weapons charges. In addition, while, undoubtedly, there are steps the Chicago Police Department can take in regards to training and accountability, they must know they are supported by the community and by the City. Police are demoralized and currently understaffed, and these unfortunate circumstances come at a time when we can least afford to have them outnumbered and second-guessing themselves in the face of violence. 

I do support a reasonable increase in the minimum wage. That said, Illinois should be aiming higher. Families and individuals in the workforce need to be given an opportunity to access more than minimum wage jobs. They need access to job training for skilled jobs. Minimum wage jobs should be a stepping stone towards a career, not a career itself. 

I don't support this tax on sugar. Taxes aimed at deterring behavior generally don't work, and besides we have enough taxes already. 

I do support efforts to develop renewable energy, but we can't lose sight of the need to maintain a reliable power grid and keep energy prices low. I think stakeholders on both sides will continue to negotiate, but those fighting for renewable energy absolutely have a seat at the table and know my door is always open.