Dennis Reboletti: Candidate Profile

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Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioQA Bio City: ElmhurstWebsite: www.dennisreboletti.comOffice sought: 24th District Senate Age: 45Family: One son Zachary age 12Occupation: Legislator/AttorneyEducation: BA, Political Science, Eastern Illinois UniversityJD, Valparaiso University School of LawCivic involvement: Justinian Society, IAPC Board member, Churchville PTA, parishioner of Mary Queen of Heaven in ElmhurstElected offices held: Elmhurst Alderman, Addison Township TrusteeHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoQuestions Answers Why are you running for this office? Is there a particular issue that motivates you, and if so, what is that?To fill the leadership void left by Sen. Dillard and continue to advocate on behalf of the residents of DuPage and Cook County as I have done in the past. I am motivated by the desire to return this state to its past greatness so that my 12 year old son has an opportunity to be succeed in his home state instead of having to move.What differentiates you most from your opponents in the race?My seven years of experience in the House have given me the opportunity to serve as an Assistant Minority Leader and Floor Leader. I have been a vocal advocate for my district and have taken on the Democrats head on. I have also worked in a bipartisan way serving as the lead negotiator for criminal justice issues including conceal carry with member of the House and Senate and respected by both chambers. Sen. Dillard said that I would not need training wheels when I become a Senator and can hit the ground running. Also, my law practice is part time unlike my opponent. Also, I do not trumpet votes that claim to reform things that in reality only leave the state worse off than before such as workers compensation reform.Would you vote to make Illinois' temporary income tax hike permanent before it expires in January 2015? If not, how will you replace the billions of dollars the tax hike brought in, or what cuts would you make?I would not discuss revenue until additional reforms are implemented in our state. Pensions were a good start. We need to reform property taxes, education, Medicaid, Workers compensation and regulation of our business community. Once we reform our government we can truly see what deficits we have before discussing revenue or cuts.Please outline your views on public pensions in Illinois.I have voted for SB 1 the most recent pension reform bill as well as the 'Tier 2' reform, the Chicago Park District and MWRD legislation as well. It is important to make the pension systems solvent and guarantee that retirees will get their checks and not IOUs. We now need to reform the Chicago's remaining systems.What changes would you make to the state's new concealed carry law, if any? Would you change the number of exempted places where people cannot carry? In what way? Would you change the training requirements? In what way? Do you support restricting assault weapons? High-capacity magazines?As a lead negotiator on behalf of my caucus ofnthe legislation, my thought is to let the law take effect and make any changes as necessary along the way. One change I am working with Rep. Sullivan, is to make it a criminal offense for an instructor to sign off on classes that were not taken or passed. We can not have permits for sale. I do not support restrictions on weapons or magazines.Which of the following do you support: New casinos, slot machines at horse racing tracks, gambling on the Internet? Would you approve legislation that includes all of the above in order to compromise and get the parts that you want?I am always open to compromise. I support slots at the tracks to make our horse racing industry which employs over 20,000 people more competitive with other states, I could support additional casinos if the revenue is used for pensions, old bills or education and the same with the internet. Our residents already travel out of state to gamble in Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri and Indiana. It only makes sense that we keep those dollars here in Illinois.On what issues would you would break with your party, or have you broken with your party, and why?Most recently I would say pension reform, when a majority of my party in both chambers did not support Senate Bill 1. Pension Reform was critical to stabilizing our pension systems, business climate and bond ratings. It is easy to say a bill goes to far or not far enough, the real test of a leader is being able to compromise. My priorities are not to party platforms but to the priorities of the people that I represent.What is your position on limiting how much money party leaders can give candidates during a general election?Every time we have tried to pass common sense campaign finance reform, there are so many loopholes that it has no impact. The focus should be on real time reporting of all contributions so that everyone knows where the money is coming from.If elected, do you plan to vote for the current leader of your caucus? Why or why not?My focus is on winning a primary and then a general. Leadership races are not on my radar, but Leader Radagno has made the best of a bad situation with the map and has taken the lead on numerous issues even with super minority status. She would get my vote today.What is your view of the tax breaks granted to companies like Motorola Mobility, Navistar and Sears, and should state tax breaks be given to companies moving from one Illinois municipality to another?I have supported financial incentives to those companies. I do not believe that we should help a company move from one town to the next in general. We need to formulate an overall incentive policy that creates and retains jobs and applies to all businesses. we can not continue to apply these incentives on a case by case situation.Do you favor changing how Illinois sets new legislative district maps every 10 years? If so how?We should adopt the fair map proposal and let a computer draw maps based on federal and state laws and keeping communities of interest together instead of protecting the party in powerFinally, is there anything we haven't asked about that you feel we should know?Candidate did not respond.