Chris Metcalfe: 2022 candidate for Illinois House District 85

Bio

Party: Republican

Office sought: Illinois House District 85

City: Bolingbrook

Age: 67

Occupation: Operations Manager, Eberhart Accounting Services

Previous offices held: None

Q&A

Q: What needs to be done structurally to make the legislature more effective? What is your position on term limits in general and for legislative leaders specifically?

A: The legislature needs to have a balanced budget. The budgets cannot be released and voted on in the middle of the night with no public input or public hearings. The budgets need to come out with enough time to give the lawmakers and the public sufficient time to review and meaningfully discuss.

Bills should not be voted on until the cost of the bill to the taxpayers is included in the bill. It should also say where the funding will be coming from.

The state should not be passing bills that put cost burdens on local governments (unfunded mandates). These costs end only up being shifted to the taxpayers local property taxes. If the legislature wants a bill passed, then it must fund it.

I support a term limit on all politicians.

Q: Federal assistance has enabled the state to make important advances toward improving its budget. What will you do to ensure these advances continue when the federal aid is gone?

A: I would have voted to put most of the federal money toward paying down state debt. Instead $2 billion was lost to unemployment fraud, due to the mishandling of funds called out by federal auditors. New programs were created that will increase the amount of new taxes needed in the future to continue these programs.

To improve the state budget going forward, I would prioritize core government services, like keeping our citizens safe through investments in public safety spending. We must cut duplicate and wasteful spending and end the automatic pay raises for legislators. I also support passing pension reform to help address the large unfunded liability.

Q: To what extent are you happy or unhappy with the evidence-based model for education funding now in place in Illinois? How would you define "adequate" state funding for Illinois schools and what will you do to promote that?

A: Funding education is a top priority. The evidence-based model for funding was a good attempt at giving a more equitable education to all Illinois children. Despite this, since it was put in place, the test scores of students in math and English are still lower than the national average. Funding alone does not guarantee success. Accountability for schools, teachers, and students needs to be improved with more engaged parents. Our children deserve better.

Q: Do you believe elections in Illinois are free and fair? What changes, if any, are needed regarding election security and voter access?

A: Yes, from my experience of being an election judge our elections are fair. I did not observe anything that would have changed an election. I would update the voter database to remove people who have moved out of state, out of the district, or have died. By correcting a few errors, we would greatly improve the reputation of the voting process. Everyone should be issued a photo voter ID (for free for those who cannot afford it) to make it easier for election judges to verify the people at the polling place.

Q: How well has Illinois responded to Supreme Court indications that it considers abortion, gay marriage and other social issues to be state, not federal, responsibilities? What if anything needs to be done in these areas and what would you do to make your vision come to pass?

A: Nothing has changed in Illinois due to the Supreme Court ruling on abortion. Illinois is a progressive leader in these areas already. However, the parental notification law has been changed and parents are not required to be notified if their underage child has an abortion. There were laws and procedures in place to account for children who lived in abusive homes. This change of the parental notification law is an infringement when parents do not get notified if their underage child is planning to have a major medical procedure. I would bring forward a bill to reinstate the parental notification law.