Hultgren explains budget role, unpopular votes

Randy Hultgren brings a fairly consistent Republican voting pattern to the 14th Congressional District race as a long-serving Republican member of the Illinois General Assembly. But, like the man he's trying to unseat, there are some votes in his past not all voters may be fond of.

While incumbent Democrat Bill Foster lined up enemies for voting for health care reform and federal stimulus and bailout packages, Hultgren has the burden of Illinois' massive budget deficit. And, like Foster, he's voted against the budgets Democrats have presented. Unlike Foster, Hultgren has always served as a member of the minority party in those budget creations.

“The budget process here in Illinois is as dysfunctional and misleading as that of our federal budget," Hultgren said in an e-mail interview. “We need to fight for a fiscally responsible budgeting process that is accountable to the taxpayers rather than the one we have that uses the budget as a shell game, taking attention away from real dollars spent in an inefficient and reckless manner."

Hultgren's votes against the sales tax holiday, against increases to property and income taxes and against a $16 billion increase in bonds for pensions reflect that viewpoint.

But Hultgren, of Winfield, has also found himself accepting some budgetary evils in order to gain ground on expenses he cares about. Hultgren voted in favor of the state's capital bill, which included using video gambling as a funding mechanism. Video gambling has been largely decried by conservative Republicans throughout the state.

“The capital bill represented an opportunity to fix damaged infrastructure (including roads and bridges) badly in need of repair," Hultgren said. “However, the Democrats in charge of Springfield chose to attach a risky, unreliable method of funding through gambling revenue, which I have and continue to oppose."

While willing to compromise his opposition on gambling for capital projects, Hultgren has held firm conservative ground in other areas. He voted in favor of a bill requiring school teachers to observe a brief period of silence at the start of each school day. He also backed the idea of providing state vouchers for students to attend nonpublic schools if the public schools in their area were deemed low-performing.

Hultgren voted against the legalization of medical marijuana and a bill allowing stem cell research.

Business owners contemplating a vote for Hultgren might pause at his support for the public smoking ban that many restaurants, taverns and bowling alleys opposed. Hultgren said he supported the ban after polling his constituents.

“The smoking ban of public areas was something my constituents, towns and many small businesses were heavily in favor of and presented an opportunity to protect employees directly affected by secondhand smoke."

Other notable votes include Hultgren's support of tax increases on cigarette sales, his rejection of legislation providing free public transportation to seniors and a “no vote on banning the sale of foods with trans fats at public schools.