Cristina Castro: Candidate profile

Bio

Party: Democrat

City: Elgin

Office sought: State Senator, 22nd District

Age: 41

Family: Husband and our three dogs

Occupation: State Senator, 22nd District

Education: Master of Business Administration, Northern Illinois University; Bachelor of Science in Marketing, Northern Illinois University; Associates of Science, Elgin Community College

Civic involvement: Co-Chair of NIU Caucus; WINGS Leadership Council; Advisory Board, Centro de Informacion; Black History Family Festival; Elgin Hispanic Network; City of Elgin Complete Count Commission 2020

Elected offices held: Commissioner, Kane County Board (2008-2016)

Incumbent? If yes, when were first elected: Yes. 2016

Website: castroforstatesenate.org

Twitter: CastroforIL22

Facebook: Castroforstatesenate

Questions and Answers

1. What is your position on placing a 'Fair Maps' amendment on the November ballot? If the amendment makes the ballot after the primary, will you support it? Why or why not?

I've always said that I'm open and will give thoughtful consideration to reforming the way we draw legislative maps. I would need to study the proposal, any ballot initiative passed in November 2020 would have to have very strict timelines in order to meet the tight deadlines for the redistricting process. Any delay, could hamper the process and have unintended consequences.

2. What are the most important components that should be included in legislative ethics reform? What will you do to help them come to pass?

I was appointed by President John Cullerton to the Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform. The members of this bipartisan and bicameral commission have a clear goal, identify and fix loopholes and shortcomings in the state's ethics and lobbyist registration laws. To do so we will hear from experts on what works in other states and how we can make similar changes work here. We will also look to review and reform the states lobbying laws, ethics laws for state officials and employees, and state purchasing and contracting laws. The commission's mission is to produce concrete legislative recommendations for our colleagues and the governor to enact. I look forward to working with my colleagues on this important issue. In addition to the commission, Comptroller Susana Mendoza and I are working to close a legislative pay loophole that currently allows retiring or new legislators to receive an entire month's pay despite not serving the full month. This is a glaring loophole that has been exploited far too many times at taxpayers' expense and it's time to close it.

3. What should the state do to address the still-growing problems with its key pension programs?

The Governor and General Assembly have begun the work in tackling Illinois pension problems. During Veto session, I was the chief sponsor of the Police, Fire Pension Consolidation bill (Senate Bill 1300) that was signed into law by Governor Pritzker. The bill consolidates over 649 police and firefighter pensions into two statewide funds, one for fire and one for police, for investment purposes. This new law improves the financial stability of the pension funds, while easing pressure on local governments to raise taxes to fund those pensions. Experts believe this could generate an additional $820 million to $2.5 billion over five years. The Pension Consolidation Feasibility Taskforce and a bipartisan group of lawmakers worked tirelessly to see this bill pass. As the chair of Government Accountability and Pensions Committee, I look forward to working closely with the taskforce and Governor to continue making progress on this issue.

4. Describe at least two circumstances in which you have shown or would show a willingness and capacity to act independently of the direction or demands of party leadership. Do you support term limits for majority and minority leaders in both chambers?

During my first year in the General Assembly, we were entering year three of the budget impasse under former Governor Bruce Rauner. In the Senate, President Cullerton and Leader Radgno as well as Rank and File senate members began crafting the Grand Bargain, several bills to finally end the impasse. When the bills stalled due to the Governor's unreasonable demands, rank and file members pushed forward and sent to the house several of those bills. We had many constituencies who contacted us asking us not to do anything, but we couldn't sit back and wait. We pushed forward and finally ended the impasse on July 4th. Another example is The Small Wireless Facilities Deployment Act, leaders felt the bill would standardize and streamline small cell regulation. However, all the local municipalities in my district felt it allowed private companies to have unlimited control of public infrastructure without any ability for them to intervene. In addition, Chicago was exempted from the legislation and was the only municipality in the state exempted. While the bill passed and was ultimately signed into law, I was one of a few senators to vote against the measure.

In 2017, the senate passed leader term limits for both the Senate President and Minority Leader which puts a 10 year limit for each position.

5. What should lawmakers be doing to stem out-migration from Illinois?

Bring stability and continue to invest in our schools (K-12/Higher Education) and infrastructure. This state went almost three years with no budget, many organizations, social service providers closed their doors, several public universities were close to closing, the state itself was one step from Junk Bond status, not to mention the large number of students who left the state to go to school elsewhere. We have begun to undo some of the damage from those years by investing in education and passing an infrastructure plan that will fix our crumbling roads and bridges. Undoing the damage done will take time and patience but the general assembly has in a bipartisan fashion begun to tackle many of the complex issues facing us.

6. Do you believe climate change is caused by human activity? What steps should government be taking to address the issue?

Yes, climate change is caused by what we do and how we treat our environment. It's real and it impacts every aspect of our lives. Illinois has always been at the forefront of environmental and renewable energy issues for a long time. We can continue to address climate change by fighting for strong policies to eliminate pollution and invest in renewable energy development. I am the Chief Senate Sponsor of the only comprehensive clean energy legislation, the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA). CEJA takes major steps to address climate change while also promoting jobs and equity for people of color and small town communities that are being left behind. CEJA will fundamentally reshape our power generation and transportation sectors to meet the challenges of the next century.

The Clean Energy Jobs Act addresses these major energy crises facing Illinois with four main pillars:

1. Promoting jobs, equity and economic opportunity for communities left behind in the current economy

2. Ensuring Illinois reaches 100% renewable energy by 2050

3. Eliminating the pollution equivalent of one million gasoline and diesel-powered

Vehicles.

4. Making a just transition to a carbon-free power sector by 2030. This will be one of my main priorities.

7. The graduated income tax is designed with the intent to reduce taxes for 97 percent of Illinoisans. Do you believe that will happen? Why or why not? What assurances can you offer voters?

We are among only a few states in the country that impose the same tax rate on all residents no matter their income. A fair tax will ask the wealthiest to pay their fair share while working families, approximately 97% of Illinois' tax base, would see relief under the plan. Passing the Fair Tax is critical to restoring Illinois' financial health and repairing the disastrous effect of the financial crisis created under former Governor Bruce Rauner. My constituents want the wealthy to pay their fair share and our regressive tax systems hurts many working families in my district. If this measure does not pass, it will leave the general assembly with some very tough decisions to make because we won't be able to sustain or expand many of the much needed services people rely on. If passed, I will make sure we are mindful of how we spend these funds. Addition, continuing to identify efficiencies and cut waste within state government will be imperative. One idea I have is to conduct an audit on the number of state owned facilities and see if we can consolidate some of those buildings in order to cut expenses.