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Candidate Q&A
Why are you running?
For more than 15 years I have studied the fiscal problems in Illinois, proposed the solutions, and watched as the Democrats ignored all of it and turned this state into a place of stagnant growth and record corruption. It was time to get onto the political battlefield and fight for better policies. Illinois should be a top five state, not the bottom-five state that failed Democratic policies have turned it into.
What do you think is the most pressing issue facing Illinois residents and how do you plan on addressing it?
Affordability. Illinois’ lack of affordability is largely a matter of taxes, hostility to job creators, suppressed wages and a spendthrift government. As governor, I will veto any and all tax increases and implement a range of spending cuts to reduce the tax burden. They include terminating welfare benefits for noncitizens, serious consolidation of our massive number of government units and ending unfunded mandates that Springfield imposes on local governments. As a long-term goal, I will push to limit property taxes to one-percent on the assessed value of a home. Most importantly, I will make Illinois affordable by driving wages up through high growth policies, putting workers in the driver’s seat.
How would you attract more businesses to open in or relocate to Illinois?
Illinois has suffered the nation’s 4th-worst private-sector job growth, the 6th-worst GDP growth and the 7th-worst wage growth since Gov. Pritzker took office. Illinois’ high costs and economic stagnation have driven a net of more than 400,000 residents out of Illinois since 2020 alone. Illinois must enact the polar opposites of all of Pritzker’s economic policies if we are to become a jobs and people magnet.
Illinois businesses need relief from the nation’s 3rd-highest corporate income tax and 7th-highest commercial property taxes. A property tax cap, an income tax cut, and reforms to major expenses like workers compensation can provide that relief. And we must slash Illinois’ web of 280,000 regulations and rules – the nation’s 4th-most – that burden small businesses and entrepreneurs.
We must repeal Illinois’ “zero emissions” energy policy and return to a sensible balance of fossil fuels, nuclear and renewable sources that will bring energy costs down.
Finally, we must stop the creation of new pension debts. I will call for 401K-style retirement plans for all new government workers. That will halt the creation of new debt and help kickstart business confidence in Illinois.
What approach should the state take when it comes to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions?
Gov. Pritzker’s embrace of sanctuary laws, his welcoming programs and the billions he’s spent on illegal immigrants – including $2 billion spent on healthcare alone – has contributed to the chaos Chicagoans struggle with today.
The governor should be cooperating with President Trump’s attempts to reduce crime and deport criminal illegal immigrants from the state.
Gov. Pritzker’s refusal to directly hand over criminals has resulted in the release of 1,768 criminal illegal aliens in the last year. Worse, the governor continues to engage in unacceptable, incendiary rhetoric that foments violence against federal law enforcement officers.
I am appalled by demands for the abolishment of ICE and open disregard of immigration laws. Deportation of criminals is the necessary consequence of the open border policy that prevailed for years. They must proceed while being conducted in a humane manner.
Under my governorship, intervention by federal authorities will be unnecessary as I would work cooperatively with federal law enforcement to remove criminal illegal immigrants from our streets and our jails, restoring the law and order Illinoisans deserve.
How should Illinois address the rising costs of health care?
Healthcare costs are driven primarily by federal policy, which is a disastrous failure. I will advocate for federal changes that replicate the best elements from other nation’s systems, many of which deliver superior care at far less cost per patient than here. State-level actions that can be taken include expanded telecare for less serious issues and a crackdown on fraud, more and more of which is now being exposed.
What approach would you take on tax policy and what is your top priority?
Illinois taxpayers have suffered for decades. They pay the nation’s highest property taxes. They pay the nation’s 3rd-highest gas taxes after Pritzker doubled the motor fuel tax. They pay the nation’s highest cell phone taxes. And Chicagoans now pay the nation’s highest sales tax rates as a result of the recent CTA bailout.
Illinoisans need tax cuts, not tax hikes.
More importantly, we need an entire culture change in how we budget. The budget is often dumped on legislators in the middle of the night and only a few hours before a vote, preventing both taxpayers and lawmakers from knowing what’s being spent. Most of the time the budget just grows automatically, never mind the actual merits of each line item.
Change starts with determining what the state government should be doing and not be doing. What it shouldn’t be doing must be cut altogether. What it should be doing must be supported wholeheartedly. And waste, fraud and abuse should be rooted out relentlessly.
But fixing the budget process is only part of what’s needed. The state requires a complete overhaul of how it does business. Among the measures I would pursue: end all welfare programs to illegal immigrants; aggressively consolidate units of government; zero out all appropriations to NGOs that are engaged in political activity or fraud; end pensions for new government workers; end subsidies for most renewable energy projects; stop picking winners and losers via corporate welfare; and benchmark our school spending against other states.
How should Illinois address shortfalls in public pension funding?
Warren Buffett once remarked he wouldn’t invest in high-debt states like Illinois because the growing taxes to cover those pension debts would target his companies for 30 to 40 years.
The first step to solving the pension crisis, then, is to stop digging the hole deeper. All new government hires must be enrolled into a defined contribution 401K-style plan, one modeled after the retirement option currently offered to Illinois public university employees. Government workers should control their own retirements – get irresponsible politicians out of the process.
Moving to 401ks won’t reduce the nation’s-worst debt load that Illinoisans are burdened with, but it will stop new debts from accruing and demonstrate to the rest of the country that Illinois is finally taking steps to address its pension crisis.
Double-dipping, pension spiking, unlimited unused sick leave accumulation – practices that no private sector Illinoisan has access to, but has to pay for – must also be ended
More significant pension reform requires a state constitutional amendment. Lawmakers, the unions and taxpayers must come to the table to address any potential reforms.
Is the funding system for public education in Illinois currently working? What would you change?
Illinois public education is a broken system. Overall, just a third of Illinois children perform reading and math at grade level. We’re spending more than $24,000 per student – the most in the Midwest – all for dismal results.
I would return the state’s education funding formula to its pre-Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) form. Illinois politicians promised EBF would “transform” Illinois K-12 education. Nearly a decade and $9 billion-plus in dedicated funding later, the only evidence so far is that EBF has been an expensive flop.
EBF hasn’t “enhanced” student outcomes at all. A number of districts have since reached and exceeded 100% of their funding targets, and yet their student proficiency scores are still dismal, many of them worse-off than before.
Overall, property taxes should remain the primary source of education funding because, as painful as they are, they allow local residents to have some say over policies of their local district. Giving politicians in Springfield more power over K-12 education is the last thing we need.
How would you describe the current state of your party and what changes or new approaches would you like to see your party adopt?
The Illinois GOP is clearly in disarray. Part of its problems is infighting that’s sometimes extreme – a circular firing squad. Another problem is uncoordinated voting and strategies among Republicans in the General Assembly. Both of those problems result from weak leadership at the top. I will put the hammer down and demand better discipline that gets real results.