MARCH 20, 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
IL House of Representatives District 4 Voter Guide Prepared by INDIVISIBLE HUMBOLDT-LOGAN and INDIVISIBLE WEST TOWN based on candidate responses to a questionnaire sent to each campaign. Thank you to all of the candidates and campaign staff for your time, the care and thought you put into your responses, and your commitment to grassroots democracy and voters in the 4th district.
TABLE OF CONTENTS HEALTHCARE
2
REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
3
NET NEUTRALITY
4
EDUCATION
5
IMMIGRATION
6
CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
7
MEDICAL AND RECREATIONAL CANNABIS
8
LABOR AND ECONOMY
9
ENVIRONMENT
10
GOVERNANCE
11
PERSONAL INSIGHT
12
VOTE IN THE PRIMARY ELECTION ON MARCH 20! POLLS OPEN 6AM - 7PM Early voting already underway! Get more info and find your polling place at chicagoelections.com
Illinois House of Representatives - 4th District View an interactive map here
INDIVISIBLE HUMBOLDT-LOGAN
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MARCH 20, 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
IL House–District 4 Voter Guide HEALTHCARE Iris Millan
Alyx Pattison
Delia Ramirez
Anne Shaw
Do you support universal health care in Illinois?
Yes!
I support single-payer healthcare at the federal level. And, while I support the concept of single-payer healthcare in Illinois, I also know that with our billions of dollars in unpaid bills and a budget that already doesn’t meet the needs of its people, that is a policy goal that will have to wait.
Yes.
Yes
If yes, what type of plan would you favor, and how would you work to implement it in Illinois?
A single payer system is the best option, I hope to implement this system with the creation of the Progressive Caucus.
Single-payer – but again, not until we get our fiscal house in order.
I believe we must continue the fight to preserve the care which currently exists under the Affordable Care Act, while building the movement for Medicare for All—a universal, single-payer healthcare system in Illinois. While the ACA has significantly increased healthcare access to thousands of people across Illinois, the goal of providing quality affordable healthcare for all was not achieved through this legislation and will not be achieved until we have a single payer system in Illinois.
I support a form of Medicaid for All as a public option for residents of Illinois. A true single payer system should be achieved at the federal level by expanding Medicare to cover everyone.
If not, what will you do to ensure affordable, accessible, and useful healthcare in Illinois?
N/A
I would strengthen the state’s Medicaid program by ensuring that insurance providers are being reimbursed at a rate sufficient to keep them in the program. I worry that Governor Rauner’s recent “overhaul” of Medicaid is intended to kill the program from within by lowballing reimbursement rates to the point that providers will jump ship. I also support continued Medicaid expansion under the ACA.
N/A
N/A
We need to raise adequate revenues to increase appropriations for the types of services our communities need. The state legislature should increase appropriations that fund community based mental health treatment, especially in the communities most impacted by trauma. However, making these investments requires adequate revenues which I will advocate for.
The 2011 City of Chicago budget closed the only community mental health clinic in our neighborhood. I opposed that budget then, and I will fight to restore those services now. The first order of business is to reform the state’s budget and revenue system so that we have the resources we need.
I spent nine years leading an agency serving homeless and at-risk Chicagoans, and I know firsthand the extent to which addictions are a cause of homelessness and the devastation that addiction causes throughout our communities. Addressing the problems of opioid abuse—and the full range of drug addictions—must be a multifaceted approach: changing medical prescription practice, expanding medication-assisted treatment and available of emergency overdose antidotes, social services and long-term treatment options for those addicted, and crackdowns on illegal distribution.
Illinois’ response to the opioid epidemic has to focus on three elements. The first is prevention. Paradoxically, one important step in prevention is legalizing recreational marijuana. Many people start their opioid addiction by using pain medication to selfmedicate. The availability of a non-addictive substance would reduce the number of people who turn to the far more addictive pain killers such as Vicodin. Similarly, we need to keep better track of which physicians overprescribe pain killers.
Whether we like it or not, it appears that Governor Rauner has unilaterally expanded the number of Illinoisans in managed care. In my view, we should stop any additional expansion until this move is evaluated and a cost benefit analysis conducted which includes an assessment of the impact to health and health outcomes for the people receiving the care.
How would you restore and advance community mental health systems?
Moving our state from a flat tax to a progressive state tax will finally mean the state will have the financial means to fully fund our commitment to mental health systems.
Many of the social services that have been budgeted to be provided by the state of Illinois have collapsed due to lack of funding under Governor Rauner’s administration. I would begin to repair this issue by helping to pass a thoughtful and balanced budget that includes new revenue. I believe that budgets are moral documents. When balancing Illinois’ budget, we have to think about how it will best serve the people of Illinois by providing the funding and services the people of our state need in everyday life, in times of crisis, and in times of re-building. It needs to be a top priority in Springfield to come to a consensus and create a budget that allows the state to provide these services through accessible and affordable institutions / programs across the state.
How would you address the opiod crisis?
The state’s task force had some great ideas, providing narcan (naloxone) to all first responders (Firefighters, EMTs, Police), increase funding rehab centers. Personally in my district, I will host naloxone trainings, and community collection days where citizens can turn in expired drugs.
Whether they be medical officials or policy makers, nobody seems to have a thorough well-researched plan to address the issue and I won’t pretend to have or know the answers. That said, I think that any smart comprehensive approach to the issue should recognize some basic truths: 1) We must treat those already addicted while also addressing the prevention of additional addictions; 2) The issue of drug addiction is a public health issue, not a criminal justice issue—we have to stop treating addicts as criminals. This should be true whether their drug of choice is an opioid or crack cocaine; 3) We have to educate medical professionals, kids and adults about the dangers of drug addiction. This includes building awareness among medical professionals that they are targets for aggressive marketing by pharmaceutical companies which appears to have played a role in starting the crisis; 4) We must create treatment programs that rather than sending people to jail—which is likely to be far cheaper anyway; 5) We must investigate allegations that pharmaceutical companies have intentionally pushed opioid use in order to boost profits. And, to the extent it’s true, enact laws that criminalize such behavior—how is it any different to pedal fentanyl than crack for profit? Being a big company and pushing drugs for profit is fundamentally no different than being a street hustler who pushes drugs for profit. After all, we’ve seen this before with cigarettes.
Illinois already has some useful laws on the books, and a recent state report frames a comprehensive approach. The legislature needs to ensure that sufficient funding is available for implementing existing laws and initiatives. Funding drug treatment is especially vital. In addition, we should enact additional legislation in line with current research and best practices in other states. For example, the length of first prescriptions for opioids for pain relief strongly correlate with probability of continuing opioid use. Some 24 states now restrict the quantity of first prescriptions. Illinois needs to follow suit.
The second element is treatment. Substance abuse treatment programs get put on the chopping block all too often, and the result is that even when an addict wants to get better she often can’t. I support restoring funding for mental health and substance abuse treatment. I also think we need to seriously look into providing more pharmaceutical options to control addiction. For some, the current treatment regime of programs like Narcotics Anonymous simply does not work. (For others, NA has performed miracles.) The FDA has recently approved generic Suboxone and Naltrexone for treating opioid addiction. The State should be funding programs to increase access to these medicines, especially in conjunction with programs like NA. The third element is addressing the dangers of overdose and heroin contaminated with Fentyl and similar substances. I support legislation making Narcan, a drug that is very effective in treating someone who is overdosing, more readily available and training police officers in its administration and use..
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IL House–District 4 Voter Guide REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE Iris Millan
Alyx Pattison
Delia Ramirez
Anne Shaw
Would you continue to uphold HB40 and a woman’s right to choose in Illinois?
YES!!
Yes.
Yes
Yes
How would you address conflicts between a woman’s right to choose and to obtain contraception and religious claims to exceptions from health insurance mandates?
Any institution that receives tax payers’ dollars cannot claim religious exemptions, and I will fight to remind those groups of that fact.
A woman’s right to choose or to obtain contraception should never be hindered because they cannot access adequate healthcare through their employer or through the healthcare market. If a true public option existed in Illinois, women would be able to obtain coverage for all their reproductive health needs without the harms caused by religious exceptions from health insurance mandates. I do not believe employers should be able to decide what reproductive services women should have access to and would oppose any new religious exemptions while working to create pathways for all women to be able to access the reproductive services they need.
I believe that we should respect the sincerely held religious beliefs of health care practitioners, but we should not use religion as a way of depriving others of their rights. In the health care context this means:
I would vote no on any legislation that would ban coverage for abortion in private insurance plans.
1) For individual health care practitioners, they should be allowed to exercise a conscientious objection to performing services that violate sincerely held religious beliefs under the following conditions: a) There is an alternative provider readily available; b) Withholding services will not threaten the life of health of the patients; and c) The practitioner provides full information about the service (including providing patients notice that they do not provide all services) and will give the patient a referral to a provider who does provide the service. 2) An organization providing health care or other services: a) The organization is primarily engaged in providing religious worship or religious activities, and is not merely sponsoring by a religious entity; b) The organization does not act as a secular provider of services, and limits itself to religious activities; and c) The organization clearly states to the public and its patients/clients that it does not provide all health care services.
I would arduously fight to continue supporting organizations like Planned Parenthood, whom provide supportive services to alleviate the cost and access to birth control. Also, with a comprehensive health care for all legislation, Illinois could lead by example in making equitable health care decisions for women.
I will continue to be a supporter of Planned Parenthood and fight to keep them fully funded in order to ensure that women have a safe, affordable place to access female specific healthcare. Also, I’d like to work to find ways of getting state money to Planned Parenthood to fund mobile clinics that can visit poor neighborhoods across our state to deliver much needed reproductive services like HIV and STD testing, pregnancy testing, and access to affordable contraception.
All women should have access to affordable contraceptives. As stated previously, we must work to eliminate exceptions that deny women access to the contraceptives they need. I would also advocate for adequate resourcing of community clinics that provide women free or low-cost contraceptives when they do not have access to adequate healthcare. Finally, we must also make sure that all schools are teaching adequate, age appropriate, sexuality and health education.
I support full funding of Title X with no additional restrictions (including to Planned Parenthood), insurance coverage of contraception, and increasing the availability of emergency contraception by allowing pharmacists to prescribe at the drug store.
Do you support universal paid family leave?
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes
What type of family leave plan would you support?
Personally I would like to see something similar to the Swedish model, where both mothers and fathers are able to stay home on paid leave for up to two years.
I support a 12-week family leave plan. A few variations of this have been proposed on the state and federal levels of government, and I will work to create legislation that implements this as the standard amount of time for families moving forward. Whether it is a pregnancy or caring for an ill family member, individuals should not have to struggle to make ends meet during times where their family should be put first.
I believe DC’s Family Leave Act is a good model as a starting point for Family Leave legislation in the state of Illinois.
I think the simplest way to achieve paid family leave is to use the existing unpaid Family Leave Act template and make it paid leave, with paid family leave accrued in much the same way as sick leave or vacation.
What would you do to make daycare more affordable for working families?
Tax breaks for companies that offer daycare to their employees. Also, protecting our child care providers with sensible unionized practices to ensure fair wages. In addition, Illinois needs to continue fully funding childcare supportive programs that provide child care financial assistance, such as Action for Children.
I would change and increase the income limits so more working families can qualify for subsidized child care, but in a dream world, I would like there to be universal pre-K education in Illinois.
Illinois legislators should work to increase access to Child Care Assistance Program by increasing the caps for income eligibility. Legislators should also ensure that this program and other initiatives designed to help working parents are adequately funded.
We need to expand child care options. One important way to do that is for the State to increase the pay rate for Child Care workers.
Yes
Yes.
What will you do to support access to and affordability of contraceptives?
Do you support the expansion of home visiting and community doula services?
Yes
I am in support of universal Pre-K program for many reasons and one of them is because of its benefit to working families. Child care is outrageously expensive. If our public education system can offer pre-school and early childhood development programs, that not only benefits the children in the long run, it also benefits working families who struggle to balance between paying for childcare to go to work and actually paying to put food on the table for their children.
Yes.
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IL House–District 4 Voter Guide NET NEUTRALITY Following the FCC’s decision to repeal rules protecting net neutrality, more than half of US states now have pending legislation enforcing net neutrality. Illinois AG Lisa Madigan announced on December 14, 2017 that she would be one of several State Attorneys General to appeal the FCC decision to rollback rules protecting net neutrality and in February 2018 State Representative Ann Williams filed House Bill 4819, the Broadband Procurement and Disclosure Act.
Would you support this legislation to restore and protect net neutrality in Illinois?
If this particular legislation fails to advance or pass, what actions would you take to enact future legislation to ensure net neutrality in Illinois?
Iris Millan
Alyx Pattison
Delia Ramirez
Anne Shaw
YES
Yes.
Yes
Yes
I would have to see why the bill failed, was it too lax or too strict for the assembly? Possible ideas would be to give tax breaks to smaller internet providers so they can improve and expand their services to new towns. The tax breaks would only be given out to internet providers that support net neutrality
I support legislation like that passed in Washington State just this week. The Washington state legislature has approved a net neutrality law that applies to all wired and wireless Internet providers in the state and prohibits blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. States must stand up to protect consumers and free speech if the federal government is unwilling to do so – Washington state is likely to be sued by providers who say that federal law pre-empts the states from acting, but I think there’s a good chance states will win.
Illinois legislators should continue to take a firm public stance against the repeal of net neutrality at the Federal Level and urge their colleagues in the U.S. Congress to pass federal legislation in support of net neutrality.
I would continue to lobby for, co-sponsor, and help draft net neutrality legislation until it passes.
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IL House–District 4 Voter Guide EDUCATION
What will you do to ensure equitable, high-quality, fully funded public education for all off Illinois, from grade school through college?
Iris Millan
Alyx Pattison
Delia Ramirez
Anne Shaw
The progressive tax, combined with the luxury tax and tax dollars collected from legalized recreational marijuana should allow Illinois to fully fund our public education.
Illinois needs a long-term plan to educate its citizens from early childhood through college or vocational training. Research shows that providing a quality education for children before they turn five leads to impressive long-term benefits, not just to the child but to society. Children enrolled in quality preschool programs ultimately earn up to $2,000 more per month than those not so enrolled. Kids who start on the right foot with pre-school are more likely to graduate from high school and own homes, are less likely to repeat grades, need access to special education or get into trouble with the law.
Illinois must spend more on schools, not just in Chicago, but across the state. In recent years, Illinois has ranked 50th of the 50 states in the percentage of K-12 public school funding provided by the state, contributing less than 20%, while the national average for states is 45%. As a result, school districts have relied on property tax payers to make up the difference, which contributes to inequity between poor and rich districts.
The most important thing the legislature can do to improve Chicago Public Schools is to bring accountability to the school board by making it an elected, representative body accountable to the people. I also believe that the State needs to live up to the constitutional mandate to be the primary funder of public schools. We are second to last in State funding of our schools, and that means we get highly inequitable education and an overreliance on property taxes. Last, I would like to develop a school-to-work apprenticeship program so that students in my district have an incentive to stay in school and have a path to a good job when they graduate.
We also must reinvest in our public higher education institutions which were devastated in during the budget stalemate and which still have not recovered. I also want to work on a systematic vocational training program in high schools that will train young people who choose a path other than college for good-paying jobs of the future, like those in clean energy, that do not necessarily require a college education.
In the longer term, this funding should come primarily from a progressive income tax. Because that will require a Constitutional amendment, we also need more readily available funding sources in the short term, such as the revenue sources I detailed in a previous question. The state legislature should also pass legislation to allow TIF resources to be used to finance local public schools. This would allow the City of Chicago to use TIF surplus to make greater investments into the Chicago Public School system.
Government can and should be in the business of investing in people – investments in education don’t just serve individuals, they also make good economic sense and will put Illinois on a path to developing a vibrant workforce and economy and to Illinois being seen as a destination state for both business and individuals.
What do you think Illinois should do to address its pension issue?
Put a permanent block on our state from borrowing from our pension system. We used our state employees’ pension like a credit card. Our legislators should never have the option of borrowing and not paying back.
I support re-amortizing Illinois’ pension debt. But, I do believe that an agreement to do that must be part of a larger package that includes fixes to Illinois’ revenue issues. Re-amortizing the pension debt would make the debt payments manageable and predictable. It would put Illinois on a path to fiscal stability. That stability and predictability is something that both Illinois residents and businesses would find appealing and comforting and would go a long way in revitalizing our economy and putting the faith of the people back in their government. As a legal matter, I don’t believe there is a constitutional amendment that could “reduce” our current pension debt – the Supreme Court of Illinois has spoken. Pursuant to our state’s pension protection clause which states that pension contracts “shall be an enforceable contractual relationship” and which provides that the benefits of those contracts “shall not be diminished or impaired” we are on the hook for those contracts entered into by the state with their public-sector workers while that amendment has been in effect. While an amendment to the Constitution may change the way pension debt is incurred on a going forward basis, it would do nothing to change the state’s current obligations.
I believe that resolving our pension funding shortfall is one of the critical issues facing our state and must be resolved for Illinois to balance its budgets long term. It is important that we work together in a bipartisan effort to once and for all tackle our pensions issues. We must be clear in recognizing that Illinois has a pension debt problem and not necessarily a pension benefits problem as it is often characterized. The actual cost of funding our pensions is not what is causing this shortfall. Years of pension holidays and borrowing because of a refusal to raise adequate revenues are the real cause of our pension crisis and we need solutions that address this problem head on. Any solutions must be focused on ways to significantly pay down this debt in a responsible manner and without impacting the vital services and programs our state has an obligation to provide. Currently, we pay three times more toward pension debt (including interest) than we pay each year into the pension system itself. I support the re-amortization of pension liabilities to shift the way we pay pension debt from a graduated payment to a flat annual payment. This means we must raise adequate revenues on the front end while receiving substantial savings long term.
The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled three times that the State should keep its promise to pay pensions to workers who paid into the system. We have to address the pension debt honestly, and that means coming up with a workable plan to pay down the debt we have been accumulating since World War I by not making the required payments. A responsible plan would include a dedicated funding source, reamortization of the debt over a 30 or 40 year period and a level dollar payment plan rather than a “ramp to the ARC.” In other words, it would look much like a conventional mortgage. In the past, the ramp to the ARC required a payment that increased each year, putting off the payments to the future with each year’s payment increasing. Of course, because each year requires a higher payment, the pension debt continues to squeeze budgets year after year. If we had a dedicated funding source with a level dollar payment, this squeeze would not happen. It may require some short term pain, but long term a real solution to our pension debt frees the state to concentrate on its other priorities.
Proposals to cut pensions don't get at the real cause of the crisis – the failure to make timely and adequate payments by raising adequate revenue and failing to create a plan that responsibly pays off the resulting debt.
Do you support the state funding of Chicago teachers’ pension fund?
Yes
Yes.
Yes
Do you support inquiry-based learning versus teaching to the test in K-12 education?
Yes
Yes! I will be a vocal and active advocate for ending policies that prompt teachers to “teach to the test” instead of encouraging kids to think critically and independently.
Yes
Do you support greater funding for higher education in Illinois?
Yes
Yes.
Yes
Do you support tuition-free public higher education in Illinois?
Yes. Having worked in higher education for the last two and a half years, I witnessed first-hand the disservice to college students in Illinois during the 973 days of the budget crisis. I have personally benefited from MAP and Pell grants as a young mother in college, and I find it disheartening and irresponsible that Illinois allowed for these benefits to be stripped away from our most vulnerable students. No college student should ever have to choose between keeping food on the table and paying their rent or enrolling in college.
Only for low-income families. Given our state’s budget crisis, I believe people who can should pay their fair share to support our higher education institutions.
Yes
Do you support universal pre-K and an expansion of 0-3 home visiting and doula services?
Yes
Yes.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes at least initially at public universities
Yes
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IL House–District 4 Voter Guide IMMIGRATION Iris Millan
Alyx Pattison
Delia Ramirez
Anne Shaw
Would you support renewed efforts to accept refugees in Illinois?
YES. As an immigrant, these issues are personal to me. Our nation, and certainly our state, should be welcoming to refugees. It is a fundamental responsibility from a country that was formed by immigrants to begin with.
Yes.
Yes
Yes
What would you do to support the Trust Act and ensure Illinois remains a sanctuary state?
The Trust Act was a step forward for Illinois in responding to our immigrant community. As legislator, I will wholeheartedly advocate to protect our immigrant community and work with our federal elected officials to ensure that we continue building a path to citizenship for our undocumented community in Illinois, and in our nation.
I would join in helping cross the aisle to ensure we keep this legislation intact. I will work with law enforcement and community groups to focus on community policing and keeping our neighborhoods safe versus trying to kick innocent people out.
As a state legislator, I would work to make sure that the local municipalities are complying with state law under the Trust Act. Ultimately, it will be up to local law enforcement jurisdictions to comply with state law but state legislators can be strong public watchdogs over the policy and use their platform to ensure that no immigrant families are being harmed by violations of the state law.
I would lobby for it, co-sponsor, and draft legislation to protect the Trust Act.
How else can Illinois better welcome, protect, and support all members of its immigrant, migrant, and refugee communities?
There are several nonprofit organizations that are doing excellent work to educate and support our immigrant communities on their rights. As state legislator, I commit to ensuring that such nonprofit organizations are fully funded and supported by our state to continue their advocacy work. I also look forward to the opportunity to draft legislation with such organizations to continue moving forward on immigration issues, and that we chart a path to citizenship for an immigrant community that is already contributing and invigorating our economy.
By working with organizations like ICIRR, we can continue to provide the resources necessary towards citizenship and building a better future for these individuals in the state of Illinois. They deserve to be given the information and resources needed to thrive in our state — just like everyone else.
Local Welcoming City Ordinances should be a priority of all elected officials. Legislators should take a strong stand in advocating for the elimination of current carve outs in Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance. Furthermore, as federal attacks on immigration policy continue, local officials should continue to adequately invest in immigrant services line items and other programs in place to support immigrants across Illinois.
I was one of the first attorneys to help process DACA applications pro-bono, so this is an issue particularly close to me. The TRUST Act provides a decent framework for assuring undocumented residents that they can rely on the protection and services of the State, but what is really important is outreach in immigrant communities and oversight. As a state representative, I will make it a priority to ask state agencies what they are doing to reach out to undocumented residents and investigate any claims of discrimination based on immigration status.
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IL House–District 4 Voter Guide CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM Iris Millan
Alyx Pattison
Delia Ramirez
Anne Shaw
This issue is so complex, I honestly don’t know where to start. One thing I can promise is that I will be on the front lines of fighting against racial injustice and intolerance wherever it occurs. I am a strong supporter and proponent of the Black Lives Matter movement and I will work with people across all races and ethnicities and in communities across the 4th District to make sure police understand that they must be accountable to us for unfairly targeting any racial minority.
Through my work at Community Renewal Society I have been a strong advocate of greater police accountability in Chicago. Chicago elected officials should be advocating for three things; Chicago needs to create a civilian body that can provide community oversight over the Chicago Police Department, the City should also work with the Illinois AG and community groups to create a consent decree that addresses the reform recommendations laid out in the Department of Justice’s 2017 report, and finally, state legislators should work to eliminate barriers in state law that limit civilians ability to file complaints of police misconduct.
Communities of color need a police force they can trust. I think the single most important change we can mandate to get that trust back is to return to the idea of local, community policing. We need police officers who know their community and know the needs in that community. Hyper-militarized police forces with officers who don’t get out of their squads cars cannot provide the law enforcement services communities of color need. I also believe that professional accountability systems in CPD are broken and need to be reformed so that police officers can be protected when they come forward as whistleblowers, victims have an important voice in the process, policeman who do not behave professionally are punished quickly, and a culture of silence is not allowed to thrive.
Absolutely.
Yes.
Yes
Yes
YES
Yes.
Yes
Yes
How would you address the high rates of street stops in minority communities in Chicago and high rates of minority traffic stops in the state?
Elected officials can and should play a key role in mending tensions between community and police. Criminal justice reform should be a collective effort to include and uplift those most affected by the current inequities. As state legislator, I would ensure that minority communities have a seat at the table to make their voices heard in discussions of restorative and social justice especially when it comes to police accountability.
Like the police accountability question above, the issue is complex. I don’t know what the answer is except to be on the forefront of the fight against racial injustice and intolerance. The color of your skin or your class cannot be allowed to substitute for probable cause. We must vocally and repeatedly demand justice for black and brown communities. But, legislation can only do so much to eradicate racial bias.
See question 1. Additionally, state legislators should support SB 3415, the Pedestrian Stop Act, to ensure the permanent and adequate collection of data on civilian traffic stops in Illinois.
Do you support gun dealer licensing, an assault weapons ban, and similar gun control initiatives?
YES, I’m encouraged by this week’s passage of several bills that I have been pushing for several years.
Yes.
Yes
What would you do to ensure greater police accountability in every Illinois community?
Would you support expanding voting rights to the currently incarcerated?
Would you support new laws to limit local communities’ ability to get military hardware from the federal 1033 program or to obtain surveillance technologies such as Stingrays?
There is a need to restore trust between our police and our communities. As state legislator, I would support programs and organizations already doing great work to shine a light on the gaps that have led our state and our nation to a disconnect between underserved communities and our police. Educating and empowering our communities is crucial to understand the role that we can all play in holding accountable our law enforcement officials.
Police need to earn trust from the communities they serve. When we adopt a policing strategy that keeps police officers in cars and bases them far away from the communities they are supposed to serve, it is no surprise that one sees a disparity in police traffic stops. I believe we should continue to keep statistics on traffic stops, but we know enough today that we need to take action. I support getting police officers into the communities they serve and out of the squad car. One important step is returning to smaller, community based police stations.
Yes.
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IL House–District 4 Voter Guide MEDICAL AND RECREATIONAL CANNABIS Iris Millan
Alyx Pattison
Delia Ramirez
Do you support the current medical cannabis pilot program in Illinois? Will you support its expansion and formal adoption in Illinois?
YES!
Yes and yes.
Yes to both.
Do you support the legalization of recreational cannabis in Illinois?
YES
If cannabis is legalized, do you support dismissing and sealing convictions of non-violent, cannabis-related offenses, including those dating back prior to legalization?
YES
Yes.
Yes. It would be a top priority of mine that any legalization and taxation of cannabis should be accompanied by restitution to individuals criminalized under current laws.
Would you direct revenue from legalized cannabis to special funds, or would you use it for general operating funds?
I would put the revenue towards general operating funds. So much of our state finances could use the boost legalized cannabis will provide.
I believe this question cannot be answered without seeing what an actual balanced budget for the state of Illinois looks like. I personally think a portion of cannabis funds should be put away for pensions and benefit funding, but there are holes in the general operating budget that need to be compensated for, so this revenue may very well be the newfound solution for that lack of funding.
I am open to either if it makes sense. However, I generally believe that we should not put in place unnecessary restrictions on state revenues. Flexibility is very important to making sure we do not get into unmanageable budgeting situations because of too many specialty funds that all must be funded.
What you would do to ensure diversity in the legalized cannabis supply chain (growers and dispensary owners)?
I would work closely with the UFCW union which is trying to unionize many of the employees at the farms and dispensaries. Their track record in making sure everyone from all walks of life are hired and well represented where they work.
Just like any other business, they would have to adhere to any and all existing non-discrimination laws that would prevent an imbalance of this sort and of course they would be eligible for any grants and services offered to other minority and womenowned businesses.
This is why it would be a top priority for me to ensure that adequate restitution is made to those who have served time for illegally selling cannabis. Once legalized, many of these individuals are locked out of the business because of their criminal history and this should not be the case. Furthermore, some states have offered special breaks or tax incentives to minority owned cannabis businesses and I believe Illinois should also do this in any cannabis legalization legislation.
Yes! Enthusiastically and wholeheartedly!
Yes
Anne Shaw Yes, although I think we should add certain medical conditions like chronic pain.
Yes.
Yes.
While revenue from legalized recreational cannabis may be substantial, it will not solve Illinois’ fiscal crisis. Revenue from legalized cannabis should be used first to defray the costs of administering the program. Beyond that I believe the revenue should be deposited in the General Revenue Fund because with only a few exceptions, special funds are not good policy in the long run.
In the abstract, I believe that the same equal opportunity programs that we have for government contracting and procurement should apply to cannabis licensing. Without seeing the particular legislation and licensing scheme, it’s hard to discuss how those program should be modified for cannabis businesses.
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IL House–District 4 Voter Guide LABOR AND ECONOMY Iris Millan
Alyx Pattison
Delia Ramirez
Anne Shaw
Do you support a $15/hour minimum wage?
YES
Yes.
Yes
Yes.
If so, what is your proposal for implementation?
I will introduce legislation to raise the minimum wage to $15 over the course of four years. This will allow small businesses around the state to ease into raising their pay without causing serious harm to their businesses.
Do you support the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)?
YES
Yes.
Yes
Yes.
What actions will you take to advance the ratification of the ERA in Illinois?
Much of the ERA has already been passed piece by piece. I will push to pass the remaining amendments of the ERA.
I will organize in our community around the issue. And, do the same with a progressive income tax amendment.
I would support adoption of the Equal Rights Amendment by the Illinois General Assembly and would advocate for its passing.
I will sign on as a co-sponsor of the resolution, and calling the resolution will be one of my demands on leadership.
YES
Yes.
Yes
Yes.
What actions will you take to advance a progressive income tax in Illinois?
Vote for it, help organize the Progressive Caucus to vote for it, create the first Women’s Caucus in the House all to help push for a constitutional amendment to pass the Progressive income tax.
I will stand up to the 1% and work to replace the regressive flat tax with a progressive tax. The flat tax places a greater financial burden on working families that feel the squeeze more than the millionaires and billionaires who aren’t paying their fair share. A progressive income tax has been talked about for years, but actual movement needs to happen now. As your state representative, you can count on me reaching out to groups like yours to build a movement that gets this amendment done once and for all.
I believe that a fair graduated income tax, with lower rates for lower incomes and higher rates for higher incomes, is one of the most concrete ways our state government can raise revenues fairly and increase our investments into social services and education funding. I have been an advocate for the Fair Tax for many years and was the Deputy Director at Community Renewal Society as the organization actively worked to get a constitutional amendment for the Fair Tax on the ballot in the spring 2016 legislative session. As a state legislator, I would co-sponsor and continue to advocate for a constitutional amendment for a fair progressive income tax.
I will co-sponsor the resolution. I will make my vote for Speaker (whoever that may be) contingent on a commitment to bring the resolution to the floor for a vote. I will campaign for passage of the constitutional amendment in my district and any other district that needs my help.
Illinois’ budget challenges and backlog of unpaid bills are well-known. How does this influence your priorities? How would you balance the responsibility to put Illinois on better fiscal footing with the need to invest in people and provide support for community, non-profit, and public sector services throughout the state?
My priorities as state legislator will be to ensure that we never fall into an irresponsible funding crisis again. Forming a powerful voting block to hold our Springfield leaders accountable will be crucial to accomplish this. I am determined to formcoalitions with other legislators, such as a Progressive Caucus, to advocate for crucial continued support for our non-profit and public sector services in the 4th district and across Illinois.
Budgets are moral documents and government’s investment should always be in its people first. That means education, social services, job training, mental health and substance abuse, daycare subsidies and higher education grants to kids who can’t afford it. Our first priority must always be an investment in our people— not corporations like Amazon —if you do that, economic success will follow.
The State of Illinois requires stable and predictable revenues to support core operations, adequately fund and invest in vital state services and programs and manage the debts that have built up over years of irresponsible budgeting. There are many potential sources of revenue that can do this and that I support.
Illinois cannot cut its way out of our fiscal mess. The only funds available for cutting are general revenue funds. Once you take out “hard costs” (things like debt service, which are required by the Constitution), 90% of remaining general revenue is spent on education, health care, social services, and public safety. Each of those areas has been underfunded in Illinois. While I think we need to be efficient and make cuts where we can, there is no way to cut enough to balance the budget. We need to reform our tax system so that we ease the burden on working class families while at the same time increase revenue from making the rich pay their fair share.
Do you support a progressive/ fair income tax in IL?
I support an incremental increase over 3 years.
I believe Illinois should raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour as soon as feasible. I would advocate for the proposal that implements a $15 minimum wage the fastest.
I have discussed the Fair Progressive Income Tax at length in the previous question. In addition, we also need more readily available funding sources in the short term. I support: • Closing corporate loopholes in our state tax system - I support SB 1719/HB 3393 to tax hedge fund managers and private equity traders whose large profits currently go untaxed, as well as closing corporate tax loopholes as outlined in HB4004. Now, as corporations are poised to benefit from lower federal taxes, is the time to act on this.
The minimum wage must be adjusted annually for cost of living. If there is a phase-in period, it should be relatively short (no more than 3 years) and the wage should be set so that it equals $15 in 2018 inflation-adjusted dollars.
• Legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana - In addition to bringing in substantial new revenues, decriminalization has the potential to lower enforcement and incarceration costs to state and local governments. • Expanding sales taxes to cover more services Expanding our sales tax base could generate several billions annually and this would significantly help us balance our budget without cutting vital social and public services. (Iowa, for example, taxes hundreds of services, while Illinois taxes fewer than 50.)
What are your plans for solving homelessness?
I pride myself in having served on the board of non-profit organizations that spearhead efforts to address issues of homelessness in our communities. As state legislator I will continue uplifting these efforts to provide civic engagement, financial literacy, and workforce development for those in most need. Ultimately, our homeless community can no longer depend on being given a hand-out, but we need to establish successful efforts to give them a hand up, instead.
This circles back to my thoughts regarding a balanced budget in Illinois. We need to balance our statewide budget in order to open up our state funded shelters, mental health institutions, and properly fund programs that will house these individuals off of the streets and provide the care and leg up people need in times of despair and need.
I believe housing is a human right. As a community advocate who started and led a community organization with a focus on addressing homelessness, I have a lifelong commitment and track record of working to address homelessness and ensuring all have access to housing. I believe public policy and government resources should ensure a stable supply accessible and affordable housing so that all the members of our community can live without fear of being displaced or homeless. This can only be accomplished through:
Services for homeless people, like many other areas of Illinois’ social service budget, have been devastated by the budget stalemate.
• Supporting HB2430, which will allow Chicagoans to make local decisions about rent control and rent stabilization programs. • Supporting local initiatives that hold developers accountable and fight displacement such as community benefits agreements for new developments, housing set-aside requirements for private developments, and property tax relief along the 606. • Protecting social services for people experiencing homelessness and working to direct new resources to homeless families. • Allocating state funds to develop affordable housing for the most vulnerable members of our community.
What would you do to support I struggle with our current leadership in the County affordable housing in Illinois?
Assessor's office, and I would like to see new leadership there to implement equitable practices that are fair to low-income households and that are not only looking after the interests of the wealthy. In Springfield, I would wholeheartedly support legislation such as rent-control to elevate the conversation of affordable housing and to directly provide a fair opportunity for families to stay in their communities.
What do you see as the state’s biggest unmet infrastructure or capital need?
There is a significant gap in education funding between schools in underserved communities and wealthier ones. State legislators are and should be held responsible for ensuring that our schools are receiving the funding they need to successfully serve our most vulnerable communities.
• Keep the programs we have and insist they are fully funded consistent with my views on a budget that invests in people.
See question 5. [above]
The single biggest thing we can do to help long-time residents stay in place is property tax relief. Since the biggest part of property taxes is education, this is directly related to reforming both the state tax system to make it fair and generate more revenue, and reform of school funding so that the State meets its obligation to fund schools. As for rent control, I am supportive of lifting the moratorium but we have to be very, very careful when we write the municipal rent control ordinance. Rent control can easily be abused (such as in New York), or lead to unintended consequences such as a shortage of rental housing (such as in San Francisco).
Illinois needs to make greater investment into high speed energy efficient public transportation.
The biggest infrastructure need in my district is replacing old water pipes that contain lead. It is both an infrastructure improvement to prevent leaking, but also a public health necessity.
• Pass a rent stabilization bill in the state legislature. • And work on more expansive protections for people being squeezed by high property taxes as a result of gentrification.
As state representative, it will be one of my top priorities to reach across the aisle and out to colleagues from rural parts of the state to build consensus to pass an infrastructure bill. Consistent with my other top priorities, an infrastructure bill will kill multiple birds with one stone by beginning to repair Illinois’ crumbling infrastructure, spurring economic development and creating good-paying jobs. But, dreaming big, I think we have to start building high speed rail that connects Illinois’ major metropolitan areas. While I know it’s a long way off as a goal, I think it’s the right one for job creation, long-term economic success, and the environment.
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IL House–District 4 Voter Guide ENVIRONMENT
What measures would you support to reduce our carbon footprint and transition Illinois to a clean-energy economy?
Iris Millan
Alyx Pattison
Delia Ramirez
Anne Shaw
Increased investment in public transit is sorely needed in all communities in Chicago and it has the added benefit of reducing congestion, lowering our overall carbon footprint, and promoting healthier communities in Chicago.
I would support legislation that would establish limits on carbon pollution from Illinois sources. The only condition or priority I see with regard to moving away from carbon pollution would be to make sure that those who lose jobs as a result of shifting technologies have opportunities to get the training needed to switch jobs in a green economy. I would make an effort to ensure that money is provided for such training so people are not left behind as we adapt to our new world and new technologies.
I believe that Illinois must be at the frontlines of clean energy innovation if we are to remain competitive in the emerging global economy while combatting the effects of global warming. As State Representative, I will advocate for major investment in the clean energy economy. Illinois must be ready to garner all the benefits that come with investing in clean energy including a cleaner environment, new jobs, and economic development. Significant investments into clean energy will only positively impacts the next generations of Illinoisans by protecting our physical environment and creating a new more sustainable economy.
I support measures that move us to a 100% clean energy economy. I believe that these efforts should be combined with economic development and job creation efforts because I believe that we can grow jobs through a green economy.
As I walk door to door in the less affluent parts of the 4th district, I hear a lot about the desire for jobs, job training and generally increasing economic opportunity. I see a direct connection to the environment when I think about job creation. As we move toward clean energy, we will also be creating new clean energy jobs — I’d love to see programs that can train young people, and those out of work for these jobs of the future. Additionally, I hear lots about the need for more plentiful and accessible public transportation. Building new public transportation infrastructure will not only help create new jobs, but also work toward a cleaner greener environment. So, I guess I would say that for me, the environment intersects very obviously with job creation and economic growth — both of which will be priorities for me as a state representative.
Racial and economic justice is at the heart of my personal and professional formation and I carry these values into the work of my campaign. I strongly support the work of the Illinois Environmental Justice Commission and, as a legislator, I would with them to explore legislative and policy solutions that I can support to achieve their goals.
Climate change does not respect borders, be they political, geographical, or demographic. However, it is true that poor people will be the ones who suffer first and suffer most because of climate change. The solution is large scale, and quite frankly rich corporations are the first ones who should reduce carbon emissions. However, we need to make sure that mitigation efforts are directed at communities in need rather than just communities of wealth. We also have to make sure that we provide appropriate assistance to poor communities when mandating carbon reduction.
I support a capital bill for replacing water pipes containing lead.
How will you ensure that communities benefit equitably from climate solutions?
What measures do you support for eliminating lead contamination in the public drinking water?
Nitrogen and phosphorus runoff is a tremendous problem for Illinois’ water systems, and I would support initiatives such as the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy to keep these chemicals from leaching into waterways. A vital program that I’d review for additional state assistance is the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Congress has recently approved funding for the program, however I am skeptical that the Trump administration will use funding properly or that Republicans in Congress won’t try to cut funding. Should they fail to act, Illinois should demonstrate leadership on this issue.
I would support legislation to create good jobs in clean water infrastructure that would focus on clean water projects across the city and within our communities. I would also support stiffer penalties for landlords who have not removed lead from the homes they rent — and more resources for inspections of those lead contaminated homes.
I support the Sierra Club’s position to enact legislation to reduce nutrient pollution from agriculture and urban sources. This could be done using a combination of stormwater management plans, ordinances, and fees to incentivize local county governments to adequately address this issue.
What measures do you support for the elimination of heavy metal exposure, particularly through air pollution?
It is vital to keep our waterways and their fragile ecosystems safe. Chicago has finally begun investments in making its waterway systems a truly engaging and attractive feature of its neighborhoods. We need to clean up these waterways and realize their full potential.
Coal ash contains high levels of harmful heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, and selenium, and it is known to be leaching into streams, rivers, lakes, and groundwater throughout the state. I would fully support legislation to create a stringent statewide coal ash rule to ensure coal ash is handled in a dry and safe manner and the cost of coal ash remediation is not placed on Illinois taxpayers. If big business is going to insist on making money from a dying, dirty technology, they need to pay to prevent the damage it may cause.
I do not currently know of any policies to address the issue of heavy metal exposure through air pollution. I would work to become more informed on this issue and listen to environmental justice advocates to learn about appropriate policy solutions.
What measures would you take to address habitat loss in Illinois?
I would advocate for fully funding the Department of Natural Resources to protect the preservation and encourage the creation of more state parks.
I will continuously support and help create legislation that limits pollution, promotes clean energy and protects our natural resources and green spaces in order to preserve, slow and prevent any further damage from occurring to our ever shrinking ecosystems. It will be a priority of mine to ensure that we protect our land and natural habitats.
See previous response.
Would you support taxes (such as the Chicago bag tax) as a means of promoting environmentally-friendly practices across the state?
YES. During my tenure in the 1st ward office, I was exposed and helped coordinate input from constituents on the Bag Tax legislation in Chicago. This was an eye-opening experience that enabled me to understand the importance environmentallyfriendly regulation and the key toll that irresponsible practices can have on the environment.
Yes.
Yes
The Chicago bag tax seems to be working pretty well, and I would vote for a statewide version.
As the Trump administration turns its back on critical environmental protections, how can Illinois step forward to protect Lake Michigan, the Chicago River, and other natural resources that benefit us all?
Fully funding our ILEPA, hiring more State Conservation Police, Illinois has somewhere between 12-15 conservation police officers for the entire state.
Climate change is real. And, climate science deniers like Trump threaten our way of life and stand as obstacles to the change and progress needed to reverse the perverse impact human activity is having on our earth — the only home we have. I intend to be a vocal advocate for investing in, and supporting, new technologies and a path to 100% renewable energy so we can begin to reverse the destructive impact we’ve had on our environment. I stand by the Sierra Club and their belief that Illinois must show the world that we will act on climate if we are to attract major investments in the global clean energy economy. Setting a goal of 100% clean energy will put Illinois on a path to cleaner air and water. It will guide efforts to ensure that workers, consumers, and communities benefit and lead the charge to a better, brighter, and a more efficient future for the state of Illinois.
Our public water sources are among our most vital resources and state legislators should make it one of their top priorities to protect the water sources that are critical to thriving communities across all of Illinois. It is important that state legislators remain vigilant of the lapses in federal protections for our water sources and take immediate action to protect our water whenever necessary.
There are currently several Great Lakes initiatives driven by the respective states. While Illinois can do more to protect its watershed (for example, by giving counties the power to adopt stormwater management plans), I believe the most effective way to protect the Great Lakes is by taking a more active role in these interstate organizations.
I support full funding of the IEPA and oppose any efforts to remove science as the basis for their enforcement decisions.
The Department of Natural Resources has been severely underfunded for a decade or more, and we need to fix Illinois tax system to get the revenue to fund it properly. In addition, we need to make regional planning a priority as too many developers prefer suburban sprawl, and too many communities are willing to accommodate the sprawl in the belief that their neighbors will pay the cost.
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IL House–District 4 Voter Guide GOVERNANCE Current elected officials, from Chicago aldermen to the Speaker of the House, wield immense power in Illinois. At the same time, many in our community feel that our outgoing State Representative in the 4th district has not been available or responsive enough to local voices.
Why should everyday voters and community members trust that you will remain responsive and accessible to them, and not just wealthy donors and entrenched political interests?
Iris Millan
Alyx Pattison
Delia Ramirez
Anne Shaw
I pride myself in having built a career in community relations and community building across sectors (government, nonprofit, and public) in the very 4th district communities. Through this work, I have demonstrated my passion to be involved and present in every way possible in my community. Continuing to be a consistent presence will be crucial to the implementation of my role as state legislator.
I am not a candidate being driven, controlled, or funded by politician(s) or an organization. I pride myself on the fact that I have run a lean campaign that has relied solely on donors who support me and my ability to be a state representative. I am being backed by Alderman Brian Hopkins, who is my former opponent, and that is solely because we gained each other’s respect through hard work and determination in the 2015 Municipal runoff for 2nd Ward Alderman. I will not answer to anyone as State Representative except the voters who hired me.
As a lifelong resident of the 4th district, I am rooted in the 4th district and connected to the people who make up our community. I have been shaped by various personal and professional experiences serving in the community. I know the issues because of personal lived experiences either being impacted directly by issues like housing, education, and healthcare or through experience serving in my church, several community based non-profit organizations, and various public advocacy campaigns.
A quick look at my financial disclosure reports will show that wealthy donors and entrenched political interests are not behind my campaign. You don’t see a long list of lobbyists and special interest PACs; instead, my campaign is funded by my friends, colleagues, and neighbors. This stands in contrast to the $10,000 donation by Alderman and Committeeman to one candidate; two $2,500 donations by aldermen to another candidate; and an astounding $65,000 from ONE COMMITTEEMAN ALONE to the third candidate. My campaign is funded by people who believe in me, not by people and interests who want something from me.
I am running for state representative because my community drafted me to serve in this role. In the summer of 2017, over 100 community residents came together and asked me to run for this office. Unlike many elected officials, I was not chosen to run for this seat by entrenched political interests. Instead, the community who knows my years of public service to the people of the 4th district drafted me to run to represent them and I will ultimately be accountable to them. While I have received endorsements from many elected public officials, those endorsements have been earned through the hard work of the committed volunteers and community members who have joined our campaign. I have also earned the endorsement of several community political groups including United Working Families and Grassroots Illinois Action. I believe that my deep roots in serving the people of the 4th district, my extensive leadership through my career and volunteer experiences in the Humboldt Park and Logan Square communities, and my track record in fighting for progressive causes make me the candidate that is best qualified to represent the 4th district and best positioned to be accountable to the people of the 4th district.
What will you do to stay open, available, and involved in our local communities?
I commit to forming coalitions with key community-based organizations in the 4th district to ensure regular dialogue and consistent opportunities for 4th district residents to voice their concerns. Equally, I will provide feedback about current initiatives and legislation being proposed in Springfield to allow for the community to play an advisor role on such. Accessibility to the 4th district constituents will be a priority as state legislator.
I will regularly hold evening and weekend office hours for my constituents in the District. I can’t effectively fight for what our communities need while in Springfield without hearing from the residents themselves on a regular basis. I will continue to knock doors—not just when it’s time to be re-elected, but throughout my term as state representative because I feel it is necessary to stay connected to people because I want to represent them to the best of my ability and not because I just want their vote.
I will continue to do what I have done my whole life, stay engaged with the community groups, leaders, and organizations that are fighting to make our communities great for all of us. I will seek ways to proactively build relationships in the parts of the district where maybe I do not have as deep roots. I will use my experiences as a coalition builder to make sure that the diverse interests of the people in the 4th district are adequately represented in Springfield.
Beyond the usual newsletters, office hours, and townhall meetings, I intend to keep attending meetings of neighborhood associations and community organizations in the district. I have always been involved and supported neighborhood groups throughout my district from East Village to Hermosa, and will continue to do so. I want the residents and communities I represent to drive my legislative agenda and be my partners in Springfield.
Campaign finance reform is a complicated topic, but I think it really starts with an easy solution. Big money gets taken out of politics if voters invest in candidates. Whether it’s five, twenty-five, or fifty dollars, grassroots campaign funding is what is going to drive progressive agendas moving forward. We have several Supreme Court decisions—Buckley v. Valeo and Citizens United among them, that will make change possible without amending our federal constitution. But, I hope to work on some organizing around that issue.
The campaign finance reforms in Illinois in 2009 were a step in the right direction. However, wealthy candidates are still able to circumvent limits by self-funding their campaigns. Today, 13 states provide some form of public financing option for campaigns. Illinois should join them. While at Common Cause, I worked to advance the public financing measure SB 1424, which was passed by the Illinois Senate in the previous session. As state representative I would continue to support such a plan.
There’s too much money in politics, and it’s unfairly distributed. As a result, candidates for office spend entirely too much time talking with donors and potential donors rather than listening to voters. As a result, I would like to see a system of public financing of elections. I don’t expect such a system to pass easily or soon, so in the interim I support a small income tax credit for political contributions to increase the number of small dollar contributions.
I will form committees/task forces made up of constituents from across the district on issues like education, criminal justice reform, seniors and the environment—these voters will help to hold me accountable by telling me what I need to hear and what it is they want from their state government. I plan to go back to volunteering at my neighborhood school, Jose de Diego elementary. It is a goal of mine to make myself as accessible as possible to every single person in the 4th District.
What role will you take in reforming the campaign finance system in Illinois, and in using the current system to advance a progressive agenda?
I support any legislation to place a cap on campaign donations, especially from corporations and special interest political action committees.
Do you support term limits for legislative leadership in Illinois?
Yes
Yes.
Yes. However, I am less convinced that term limits for all elected state representatives or state senators are good. I believe people should have the right to vote for whoever they believe will best represent their interests. While term limits for legislative leaders are appropriate I am not unilaterally in support of term limits.
Yes.
Do you believe Mike Madigan should continue to serve as Speaker of the House?
I believe that the Speaker of the House should be a position for which our legislature should have options to vote on. We have ended up with a long-term Speaker of the House because of lack of options for our legislators to choose from. If we create a Progressive Caucus in Illinois, we would be better positioned to ensure that others are elevated to the opportunity to serve as Speaker of the House.
I believe there should be term-limits for House and Senate leadership. I respect Speaker Madigan and his years of service, but in order to have a fair and just legislature, we must restrict the amount of time a single individual has in powerful positions.
Every two years, members of the Illinois General Assembly have an opportunity to vote for who they believe should be Speaker of the House. Speaker Madigan should continue to serve in this role as long as he keeps getting reelected. If members, believe someone else is better qualified to be speaker then they should vote accordingly.
I have said that my vote for Speaker and leadership will go to the person who will commit to a floor vote on the progressive income tax, a comprehensive gun control package, and a bill for an elected representative school board in Chicago. Given recent events in Springfield, I am also going to look at how Speaker Madigan handles the investigation into sexual harassment at the Statehouse and on campaigns.
YES
Yes.
Yes
Yes
What would you do to improve the transparency of state financial systems?
I would require the state and/or all corporations bidding on state contracts to post their bid online in a publicly accessible website.
I cannot pretend to know all the ways in which our state financial system is not transparent. It’s not honestly an issue I’ve studied so I’m not prepared to make recommendations. But, I fully support bills like the one championed by Comptroller Susana Mendoza, the Debt Transparency Act.
I believe recent reforms to be more accountable and transparent about state payments by Comptroller Mendoza are steps in the right direction. We can and should always be doing more to make sure that the state budgeting process is more transparent including advocating for budget revenue and appropriations bills that actually go through the established committee hearing process and which are not called on the house floor just a few hours after they are introduced.
There are two ways for someone to hide information. The first way is don’t disclose any information. There are good laws on the books in Illinois to address this problem, we just need to enforce them. The second way is the preferred way to get around FOIA and other laws: simply drown a resident in information and make it hard to find the answer. I think we have a real problem in this regard. The amount of information available online in Chicago and Illinois is pretty impressive. The problem is that it is hard to organize and understand that information. I support reforms that simplify how we deliver information, to prevent politicians from hiding things by burying a person in a document dump.
Name a bill that struggles to get out of committee but deserves a House vote?
In the context of agriculture in Illinois, the processing of hemp helps to expand manufacturing jobs. Although we have seen a decrease in manufacturing in Illinois, it would be a missed workforce development opportunity to continue passing up bills such as the Industrial Hemp Act (HB2668).
Will Guzzardi’s rent stabilization bill that will permit municipalities like Chicago to pass rent control ordinances.
The Constitutional Amendment for a Graduated Progressive Income Tax and an accompanying rate structure bill deserve to be voted on by the full house.
HB 696 and HB 1774 (both sponsored by Rep. Martwick) for an elected representative school board in Chicago.
Will you support efforts to remove Illinois from Crosscheck, the voter data-sharing system managed by Kansas Secretary of State and former Trump “voter fraud commission” chair Kris Kobach?
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IL House–District 4 Voter Guide PERSONAL INSIGHT
Name one person who has changed your life, and tell us what you learned from this person’s example.
Iris Millan
Alyx Pattison
Delia Ramirez
Anne Shaw
At just eight-years old, I arrived to Chicago from Mexico and I encountered a culture shock that I wouldn’t have been able to surpass if it wasn’t for a community and a school that embraced me as an individual. Not knowing a word of English was the first roadblock to my assimilation in this country. However, at Darwin Elementary School, I was assigned an English as a Second Language teacher / tutor — Ms. Camacho. Ms. Camacho was the first person that helped me visualize that there was a place for me in my community. I was empowered by her humanistic teaching approach and I still remember my conversations with her 26 years later, as if they happened yesterday. Today, I am running for office for the very fact that my community has afforded me so much, from being welcomed as an immigrant, to becoming a citizen. It is a full privilege to exercise my citizenship to its fullest; something I find that so many others take for granted. Ms. Camacho certainly is someone that helped establish a successful path for me in this country, and I will always aim to lead by her example of lifting others up in my community.
When I was 15 years old, a group of my girlfriends and I were sitting around giggling and sharing our hopes and dreams for our future. We were telling each other what we wanted to be when we grew up and a teacher overheard me say I thought I wanted to be a lawyer to help people. She went out of her way to walk over to me and tell me, in front of everyone, that I was never going to be a lawyer because I wasn’t smart enough and wouldn’t work hard enough — she made this observation based on nothing more than the fact I was from a working-class, struggling community and from a single-parent home which she had commented upon on other occasions. I made it my mission to prove that horrible person wrong and to never make assumptions about a person’s ability to accomplish anything they set out to accomplish.
My mom, Elvira Ramirez, has been a constant example for me to follow throughout my life. Whether it was through seeing her serve our community by volunteering in the Church homeless shelter or seeing her work a minimum wage job in order to provide for our family, she has been a tireless and determined advocate and foundation for our family. I am grateful to be the daughter of such a caring and committed first generation Guatemalan immigrant who is deeply rooted in her community and who serves others with great humility.
I admire my father, Jack Shaw, very much. He came to this country to study for and obtain his Master’s Degree in Social work, and after graduating took a job as a social worker in Atlanta, Georgia, in the 1960s. Among his many talents is judo, and as one of his activities he volunteered to teach young African-American boys the sport. However, when it came to competing in the segregated South, his team was not welcome. In one case, the organizers of a tournament actually cancelled the competition rather than compete with my dad’s African-American students. My dad took it in stride. He told his kids that they should just have a good practice, because the equipment was so much better than the equipment they had.
I think of her often and find motivation in the fact that I am nothing like she predicted I’d be. When I graduated from a top-ten law school, I thought of her and all of the people who believed that people, like me, from a working-class community with little access to the kinds of advantages others have, will never amount to much. It informs basically everything I do – when I look at people I don’t see where they come from, but instead always look for where they could go if we just expressed our faith in them, invested in them, and helped them get there.
I did not learn until I was an adult that during this time he often received calls from civil rights giants such as Dr. King, offering to help protest that his kids were blocked from competing because they were black. For my dad, helping the kids was the important part of the story. Late night phone calls from Dr. King were secondary details.
