Issue Position: GOVERNMENT REFORM, TRANSPARENCY & ETHICS

Issue Position

The Problem: Illinois has developed a national reputation as the most corrupt, incompetent State in the country. Aside from being an embarrassment, this reputation -- along with some very real structural deficiencies in our government -- hurts us in attracting jobs, businesses and investment.

*Illinois has the most taxing authorities of any state in the country -- almost twice as many as the state with the next largest number. Offices that can be consolidated or eliminated should be. We should examine ways to eliminate or substantially consolidate township government. As part of a broader package of education reforms, we should look at consolidating school districts to the extent that such policies maintain or even enhance local control.

*The Illinois House has almost 40 standing committees including 5 appropriations committees for a $35 billion budget. The US House of Representatives manages to complete its work with just over 20 committees and a single Appropriations Committee for a $3.5 trillion budget. It seems somewhere in the Illinois House we must have some overhead. Similarly, the executive branch has duplicative and overlapping agencies, pays salaries for boards and commissions that should be voluntary, and has become an employment agency and political machine rather than a government. Both institutions need substantial reform.

*Currently, campaign contribution limits regulate the amount of money that candidates can accept from individuals, corporations, and other entities. Sadly, these limits do not apply to the leaders of both parties in the General Assembly. They should. Allowing legislative leaders to play by different rules only exacerbates a system under which candidates must concern themselves with fealty to leadership in order to get reelected.

*My votes on final disposition of significant legislation will be posted and briefly explained on my Facebook page. My daily schedule of meetings during session will also be posted on Facebook. Voters will never need to wonder who I'm listening to, how I'm voting, or why.

*The 2011 tax increase makes plain the need to restrain the legislature's ability to pass tax and spending bills during lame-duck sessions. I believe we need to amend the Constitution to prohibit the practice.

*I will not participate in the legislative scholarship program and will work to see that the program is ended.

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