Saba Haider: 2026 candidate for Illinois House District 84

Bio

Office sought: House District 84

Party: Democratic

City: Aurora

Age: 42

Previous offices held: DuPage County Board Member

Q&A

What do you consider the three most pressing issues facing the state in the next four years, and how should they be addressed?

First, Illinois families need relief from rising costs. We need to spend public dollars judiciously, protect essential services, expand housing affordability, and reduce the burden of property taxes, health care, and other everyday expenses. We must support working people by protecting the right to organize and collectively bargain. Strong unions help workers earn fair wages, access good benefits, and have a meaningful voice in their workplaces. An economy that works for Illinois families should ensure that people who work full-time can afford to live and raise a family in their community.

Second, affordable health care must be treated as essential. As a member of the DuPage County Public Health Board, I have seen how access to health care, mental health services, and addiction treatment affects families. We should protect affordable coverage, strengthen behavioral-health services, and invest in prevention. Third, every child deserves a high-quality public education regardless of ZIP code or family income. Illinois should adequately and equitably fund public schools, support teachers and staff, and reduce reliance on local property taxes to provide essential educational services.

How would you assess the General Assembly's handling, to date, of the various proposals surrounding a Chicago Bears stadium in Arlington Heights? What proposals would you have been willing to support and in what ways, if any, might you have approached it differently?

I believe the basic principle should be that public dollars should serve a clear public purpose and should not be used simply to increase the private value of a large corporation.

I would not support a proposal that requires Illinois taxpayers to subsidize the construction of a privately owned stadium without a clear, enforceable and substantial public return. If a stadium development creates independently verifiable public benefits- such as infrastructure improvements, transportation investments, jobs, or broader economic development- those benefits should be quantified before public resources are committed. I also would want local communities to have a meaningful role in determining how a major development affects transportation, schools, housing, property taxes, public safety and infrastructure. The state should not write a blank check for a major corporation.

Now roughly three years into the elimination of cash bail in Illinois as part of the SAFE-T Act, how would you assess the success or failure of the criminal justice reform measure? What changes, if any, would you support?

The most important thing to acknowledge about the cash bail reform is that cash bail does not keep our community safe. The system of cash bail criminalizes the inability to pay.

Pre-Trial release is the component of community safety, not cash bail. The benefits of the Safe-T Act are that now we have comprehensive pre-trial screening questionnaires that Judges are required to review prior to determining if a party is eligible for pre-trial release. This allowed for a much greater in depth review of the risk of community danger or victim related danger a party poses when a Judge is granting pre-trial release.

I would support improvements that strengthen pretrial services, court notifications, electronic monitoring response, victim services, and restorative and reformative justice programs along with reviewing the standards of the pre-trial release analysis. Overall, the Safe-T Act has allowed the in-depth review of the Pre-Trial Release process, making our communities more safe from violent criminals while allowing non violent offenders to still go to their jobs, and pay their bills, as they go through the criminal justice system.

Illinois homeowners face one of the highest relative property tax burdens in the country. What specific proposals could you offer to ease the burden on state residents?

Property taxes are one of the most important affordability issues facing Illinois families, and we need to address the underlying reasons they are high rather than simply shifting the burden to taxpayers. I would support a comprehensive review of how we fund schools and local government, greater transparency around property-tax levies, continued improvements to the assessment and appeals process, and efforts to identify opportunities for government efficiencies and shared services.

We also need to be careful about proposals that simply reduce one property-tax bill while creating another cost elsewhere. My approach would be to spend public dollars judiciously, protect essential services, and look for sustainable ways to reduce the amount families are required to pay.

In particular, I would support examining how the state can assume a greater and more equitable share of education costs so that access to a high-quality public education is less dependent on local property value.

Gov. JB Pritzker recently paused a state initiative granting incentives to data center developers, and residents statewide have concerns about how such developments are affecting their access to water, utility rates, and the environment. How should the state approach data centers going forward?

Illinois should welcome responsible economic development while making sure residents do not subsidize the infrastructure costs of extremely large private developments. The proposed framework addresses electricity costs, water use, clean energy, environmental protections and community transparency.

I support the principle that large data centers should pay the costs they impose on the electric grid and water systems rather than passing those costs on to ordinary ratepayers. Before approving incentives, Illinois should require clear information about projected electricity and water consumption, infrastructure costs, jobs and wages, environmental impacts, and the long-term public return. Data centers should also meet strong water-efficiency and clean-air standards and should be required to contribute appropriately to new clean-energy and infrastructure needs.

Technology investment can be an economic opportunity, but it should not come at the expense of affordability, water security or environmental sustainability.

Illinois’ “sanctuary” policies concerning immigration have made it a target for the Trump administration and critics who say they encourage criminal behavior. How do you feel about those policies, and how, if at all, would you change them?

It is important to understand that sanctuary policies only reinforce the current requirements set for our State and Local enforcement agencies. Further, sanctuary policies do not prevent State or Local law enforcement from cooperating with Federal Agencies with lawful and active judicial warrants issued by the Federal Courts.

We know firsthand the challenges faced by law enforcement, including long hours, serious physical and mental health impacts, and limited resources. Asking state and local agencies to take on federal immigration enforcement would further strain departments and divert resources from the emergencies and public-safety needs they are responsible for handling.

Finally, sanctuary policies do not limit State or Local law enforcement from enforcing criminal statutes. They can continue to engage the community and enforce our laws as they are required to. Sanctuary policies ensure that the relationship between our law enforcement and immigrant communities can be built on a basis of trust, so victims feel comfortable reporting and witnesses feel comfortable assisting departments.

Many women in the legislature complain about a culture of sexual harassment in Springfield. Do you see evidence of this and, if so, what should be done about it?

Sexual harassment and retaliation have no place in the workplace, including the Illinois General Assembly. The fact that the Legislative Inspector General has specific authority to investigate allegations of sexual harassment and oversee prevention training demonstrates that this is an issue the legislature must take seriously. As a legislator, I would expect a professional workplace in which employees, interns, advocates and elected officials can raise concerns without fear of retaliation.

I would support strong mandatory training, clear reporting procedures, meaningful protection for people who report misconduct, timely independent investigations, and appropriate consequences when violations are substantiated. The process should be transparent enough to build confidence while protecting the rights and privacy of everyone involved.

The standard should be simple: power or political position should never shield someone from accountability.

Are you satisfied with the state's existing ethics policies for senators and representatives? If so, what about the policies should reassure Illinoisans that elected leaders abide by high standards? If not, what changes need to be made?

Illinois has important ethics requirements and an independent Legislative Inspector General, but ethics rules are only effective if they are enforced consistently and if people have confidence that complaints will be taken seriously.

I would support strengthening transparency, enforcement and accountability where necessary. That includes clear disclosure requirements, meaningful consequences for violations, strong protections for whistleblowers, robust conflict-of-interest rules, and sufficient independence and resources for ethics oversight. I also believe legislators should hold themselves to a higher standard than simply asking whether a particular action is technically legal. Public officials are entrusted with public resources and public authority, and decisions should be made with the public interest in mind.

My approach would be to strengthen the systems that allow misconduct to be identified, independently investigated and appropriately addressed rather than relying primarily on voluntary compliance.

What personal qualifications do you bring that would make you an effective legislator?

I am the current DuPage County Commissioner, a small business owner, and a mother. My husband and I moved to the US almost 20 years ago and chose Illinois to raise our family because we believed in the American Dream! This community has given us so much, and I have given back by being a volunteer in the communities for the last several years.

I have been a PTA President, I have served on the Executive Board of IPPC, a non profit that oversees all 34 PTAs and I serve as a Director on the Board of the biggest non profit arm of my school district. On the County Board, I serve as the Chair of the Strategic Planning and Environmental Committees. I also serve on the Public Safety, Finance, and Economic Development Committees. I serve on the Public Health Board of the DuPage County Health Department. I have a Master’s degree in Wildlife Science.

I have been endorsed by over 50 elected officials and several labor unions. Along with Planned Parenthood, Sierra Club, and Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Nurses Union, Firefighter Union, and the National Association of Social Workers. I have the grassroots support, experience to lead, and courage to fight.