Bill Brady: 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: BloomingtonWebsite: www.bradyforillinois.comOffice sought: Governor Age: 52Family: Married for 31 years to Nancy T. Brady; three adult childrenOccupation: Real Estate Development and Marketing/State SenatorEducation: Illinois Wesleyan University. B.S., 1983, economics, finance and political scienceCivic involvement: OSF Hospital Advisory BoardCatholic Charities, Peoria Diocese of IllinoisIllinois Association of RealtorsBloomington-Normal Association of RealtorsSigma ChiIllinois Association of HomebuildersNational Rifle AssociationIllinois State Rife AssociationSeveral local Chambers of CommerceElected offices held: Illinois Senate, 2002 -- present, currently Assistant Republican LeaderIllinois House of Representatives -- 1993 -- 2000Current Illinois General Assembly Committees: Insurance, Transportation, State Government and Veterans Affairs, Environment, Agriculture and Conservation, Conference Committee on SB 1 (Pension Reform)Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: No.Questions Answers Why are you running for this office? Is there a particular issue that motivates you, and if so, what is that?Illinois is at a tipping point. Our once great state is bleeding jobs because of its economic policies and it is losing residents at one of the highest rates in the nation. Our unfunded pension liability of $100 billion is the highest in the country, and our unemployment rate is two points higher than the national average and again among the highest in the nation.That's not a playbook for success. It's a record of the last decade.Illinois is facing serious challenges. We see them everyday ... on the front page, at boarded-up businesses and around the kitchen table as families struggle with their household budgets. Illinois has a serious choice next year -- whether to continue along the same path with the same expected outcome, or to set a new direction for Illinois with greater employment, greater investment and greater opportunity for Illinois families.It's time to demand more from our leaders and deliver more for our citizens.As a small businessman, I know how to make the tough decisions necessary to retool a business to keep it competitive. As a legislator, I know how to work with Democrats to forge common-sense solutions to challenges. With the right leadership, Illinois can grow and prosper again.I want to use my experience, as a businessman and legislator, to provide the leadership Illinois desperately needs today.What differentiates you most from your opponents in the race?Unlike my opponents, I'm a small businessman who understands the direct effect government policies and regulations can have on business decisions. I know what it's like to meet a payroll when financial times are difficult, and I know what it's like to make the hard and painful decisions that are sometimes necessary to help a business rebuild when other companies are faltering.In addition, I was the only one of the four Republican candidates for Governor to support the reforms that will put Illinois' public pension systems on sounder financial footing. It was not an easy decision, because we asked current participants, who have paid every dime they owed into their retirement system, to make a sacrifice. It was, however, the right decision for both the taxpayers and the long-term viability of the pension plans for our retired state employees and teachers.Being Governor requires showing leadership and making tough decisions every day. While other candidates opposed the reforms, perhaps for political reasons, I made the decision that those reforms were a critical first-step toward rebuilding confidence in Illinois and meeting the fiscal challenges our state faces. Illinoisans know my record, they know what I stand for. They know I am consistent in my decisions, and nearly 1.8 million of them trusted me with their vote four years ago.Would you support making 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?The long-term answer to Illinois' budget challenges is creating an environment that encourages job-creation in the private sector. Each new job created in Illinois adds approximately $4,000 to state tax revenues. Bringing back the 200,000 jobs we have lost in recent years would mean more than $800 million in tax revenues. Income tax increases, such as those imposed by the Quinn Administration, hinder job creation in Illinois and take a week's salary every year from every working Illinoisan. I will veto any extension of the 2011 income tax hike and create a stable climate for Illinois businesses and families. Resolving the massive budget debt, paying off the state's mounting unpaid bills and implementing the reforms of Illinois' pension systems are paramount to creating a strong economy and providing a measure of stability. My plans call for an open and transparent budget process, curbing new spending programs and expansions, continuing to root out fraud and abuse in the state's Medicaid program, and performance-based reviews to prioritize current state spending. I also support a study and reform of the Illinois Tax Code to encourage economic development and eliminate hurdles and barriers that stifle growthWhich 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 have voted "present" on recent gaming proposals due to a potential conflict of interest because of financial interests in a property in one of the cities included in those proposals for new gaming opportunities in the state.In general, however, I have consistently opposed the expansion of gambling for both societal and budgetary reasons. With limited entertainment dollars among our citizens, gaming is neither a financially reliable source of revenue nor a proper funding mechanism for the state of Illinois.I would not be in support of a Chicago casino owned and operated by the city. I also would oppose allowing gambling over the Internet.I do believe, however, that any gaming legislation must include a long-term solution to the ongoing challenges that our legal casinos have presented to the viability of our horse racing industry. The racing industry is a long-established part of Illinois' agricultural community, supporting some 37,000 agribusiness-related jobs throughout the state.Would you make any changes to the state's new concealed carry law? Would you change exempted places where people cannot carry? In what way? Would you change training requirements? In what way? Do you support restricting assault weapons? High-capacity magazines?The question of firearms ownership in Illinois is one of personal rights and personal responsibility. I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. I am opposed to any further restrictions to ownership of firearms as guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and would veto legislation banning the sale and possession of so-called "assault weapons" or high-capacity magazines.After many years of attempts, the legislature this year approved the concealed carry legislation, finally giving law-abiding Illinois residents the same rights that the residents of every other state in the country had. It was compromise legislation, without a doubt. Many of us supported fewer restrictions and greater reciprocity, especially regarding training requirements.Please outline your views on public pensions in Illinois.The state's public pension systems are in crisis, with an unfunded liability of $100 billion that is growing daily and amounts to the largest public pension liability in the country.For at least eight years, I have warned that the legislature needed to reform our retirement systems in order for them to remain financially viable for the retired state employees and teachers who have paid into the system and are expecting a retirement check.During that time, including the campaign four years ago, I advocated the state move from the current defined benefit program to a defined contribution system, similar to that we offer state university employees under legislation I sponsored and similar to 401(k) options common in the private sector.For the last two years, I have served on pension committees studying potential reforms -- a working group of legislators and administration officials and this year on the conference committee on Senate Bill 1.I believe the reforms enacted by the General Assembly in early December move the state's retirement systems to fiscal stability. They protect taxpayers with an estimated $160 billion in savings over the next 30 years, they mandate that the state make its required payment to the systems, and they safeguard the long-term health of the retirement systems on which retired public employees and teachers are counting.The reforms do ask current plan participants to make a sacrifice, and that's unfortunate because they have paid every dime they owe into their retirement plans. It's the fault of past governors and legislators who voted for budgets that didn't fully fund the pension systems that Illinois was in the shape it was.What other states' governors would you borrow ideas from and why?For Illinois to rebound, I believe we have to consider the experiences of other states in a multitude of areas.As Governor, I will be an active participant in the National Governors' Association, in part so Illinois can learn from the experience of others. Not all good ideas will cross state lines since each of the 50 states is unique, but many may.I would look to chief executives like former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels in terms of policies that boost economic development. Indiana had great success in bringing jobs to the state, in part because he revamped his state's economic development agency with a public/private partnership.For overall tax policy, I might look to Governors such as Bobby Jindal in Louisiana and Scott Walker in Wisconsin, both of whom are looking at the feasibility of overhauling their state's tax structures.Former Gov. Jeb Bush made great strides in improving Florida's elementary and secondary education system during his time in office.Is there a better way to pay down the state's unpaid bills? What is it?When Democrats in the legislature increased the income tax by 67 percent in 2011, they stated the approximately $7 billion it would raise would be used to pay off the state's mounting pile of unpaid bills owed to medical care providers, pharmacists, social service agencies and others.In November, nearly three years later, the list of unpaid bills totaled $7.5 billion.It's not right the current administration is attempting to balance its cash-flow on the backs of these vendors. It's not right that some vendors have had to take out loans to cover their own cash-flow while they wait for long overdue payments from the state.The state must stop spending money it doesn't have. As Governor, I will put greater transparency into the budget process. My administration will make required pension fund payments, implement a plan to eliminate the overall backlog of unpaid bills over four years, and then prioritize programs, eliminating and reducing those that are neither effective or economical, to cut spending while maintaining the state's highest priorities.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?There is always going to be competition among the states for jobs. Illinois needs to be competitive with the strategies of other states who are trying to attract the same corporate and business opportunities that Illinois should be trying hard to attract and maintain.Because of our central location and unrivaled highway, rail, air and water transportation capabilities, Illinois should be a magnet for job creation. Unfortunately our tax policies, unpredictability and regulatory requirements cause Illinois sometimes falls short in attracting and maintaining job opportunities for Illinois families.In some cases, tax incentives, through EDGE credits or other programs are an appropriate economic development tool so that Illinois can remain competitive with other states. Such offers need to have concrete and enforceable job-creation requirements on the part of the companies. I do not believe that Illinois should consider incentives for intra-state competition among cities for corporate moves. We should be concerned about attracting jobs to the state as a whole and maintaining them here, not in helping one city at the expense of taxpayers in another.Finally, is there anything we haven't asked about that you feel we should know?Candidate did not respond.