Q&A: Walker, Harris in House 66

Harris: Passing a balanced budget and cutting excessive government spending. Like real estate where #8220;location, location, location is key, a balanced budget is the key to getting Illinois back on the right track.

The General Assembly has one primary responsibility every year, as spelled out in Article VIII, Section 2 of our state constitution: to pass a budget in which appropriations do not exceed estimated revenues. Given the fact that our current budget is estimated to be roughly $13 billion in the red, the incumbents in the General Assembly have completely failed in this single task. Further, they have abrogated their responsibility by delegating the budget authority to the Governor.

Business people recognize that Illinois' fiscal house is a total mess. There is no sense of financial stability in state government that would encourage a business person to expand or locate a business in our State. Businesses are the true engines of job creation, but there will be little job creation in Illinois as long as our State is mired in this financial quagmire. Business people want stability and predictability in costs and operations, yet all they hear about in Illinois are proposed tax increases: income tax, sales tax, gross receipts tax. Just the talk of all these taxes scares businesses away.

The agencies that rate Illinois bonds have given our State's bonds a rating at the bottom among the 50 states. That low rating costs taxpayers more in interest costs whenever the State borrows money. It was recently reported that Illinois taxpayers will have to pay an additional $551 million in interest charges on money borrowed in the last year because of our State's low bond rating.

The state of Illinois owes roughly $5 billion in overdue bills to health care providers, human service providers, universities, and untold others. These bills are 9 to 12 months overdue. We need to get the budget under control so that these bills can be paid.

In a similar vein, we owe a great debt of gratitude to the thousands of men and women in Illinois who have bravely served our country in uniform. Yet the funds needed for support of our veterans' benefits have fallen short because we have not properly prioritized our spending within the budget.

More and more, the problems in Illinois State government are centered around our huge budget deficit and the General Assembly's failure to deal with that deficit. That is why I believe the budget issue is the key one. The solutions to the others issues, like providing incentives for businesses to create jobs, proper pension funding, appropriate support to education and needed human services, all flow from having a budget that is in order.

Until we get our budget under control and wring out the excessive spending, bringing expenditures in line with revenues, the problems will continue. We must take immediate corrective action on this issue.

Q. What is your Number 2 campaign issue? Walker: Ending the culture of corruption in Springfield. If we can do that, then we can begin to tackle other issues. My first vote was to impeach Rod Blagojevich. Since then, I created a new law that treats corrupt officials like gangsters by allowing the state to seize their assets and campaign cash if they are obtained through bribes or kickbacks. I also voted to strip corrupt officials of their taxpayer funded pensions, and to enable voters to recall elected officials. This is just the beginning- more needs to be done, but these are good starts. The benefit of not being a career politician is that I do not owe anybody anything. I often joke that to run for office, a candidate should be at least 55 years old because they will have already made their career. Jokes aside, because I started this job later in life, I have already made my career, I an am outsider and I can serve as an independent lawmaker.

Harris: See issue No. 1 plus pension reform.

Q. What is your Number 3 campaign issue? Walker: Changing the way the state manages its finances. Over the past 19 months, I have reviewed the state budget process, and it's a mess. If I had run my businesses like this, I would have gone bankrupt- and that is what has happened to the state. It is a disgrace, and we must change the budget process from top to bottom. I am currently working to change how the state develops the budget by moving to a performance based budgeting process. We must lower our costs, cut waste and only fund what the state can afford. We must also budget on a five-year basis and rely on revenue forecasting to develop future budgets instead of deciding what the state will fund, and then scramble to find money.

Harris: See issue No. 1 plus proper support to schools and local municipalities.

Q. What should be done to solve the state's budget crisis? What specific measures should be cut for how much in savings? Would you support or oppose an income tax increase or a state sales tax increase? Lay out a specific plan of what needs to be done. Walker: Lawmakers must change the way the state manages its finances. Over the past 19 months, I have reviewed the state budget process, and it's a mess. If I would have run my businesses like this, I would have gone bankrupt- and that is what has happened to the state. It is a disgrace, and we must do better. I am currently working to change how the state develops the budget by moving to a performance based budgeting process that should be supported by both political parties. We must lower our costs, cut waste and only fund what the state can afford. We must also budget on a five-year basis and rely on revenue forecasting to develop future budgets instead of deciding what the state will fund, and then scramble to find money. By doing this, we can keep taxes low because I do not support a tax increase at this time- on individuals or businesses. It would also alleviate the need to cut funding for specific programs- the state would allot a percentage of the budget to each of its priorities. I will be hosting a town-hall meeting on September 29 at the Mount Prospect Library to seek public input on these ideas.

Harris: Step number one in any plan to get our State out of this budget mess is to bring expenditures in line with revenues. Since our spending is so much higher than our revenues, that means we need to reduce State spending.

As I said in listing my top three priorities, the budget is the responsibility of the General Assembly, and for the past 8 years the incumbent legislators have been passing budgets with bigger and bigger deficits. This has got to stop if we have any hope of pulling out of our downward spiral.

First of all, there is no #8220;silver bullet that will solve this problem in one year. We are going in the wrong direction now, and we need to turn Illinois around and getting it moving in a positive direction. This might take 2 or 3 years, but it is clear that the actions of the past 8 years have been all wrong.

Can we reduce spending? Yes. Again, there is no single answer to eliminating our $13 billion debt, but we can take serious belt-tightening actions to turn us around. These actions can yield both large and small dollar savings. For example:

All elected and appointed State officials should take a 10% salary reduction. A true salary reduction, NOT just furlough days. Furlough days do not reduce salary. A real salary reduction not only saves immediate expenses, it lowers future pension liabilities, which furlough days do not.

Reform Medicaid including a greater use of managed care as our neighboring states do. Tighten eligibility standards to exclude non-Illinois residents.

Eliminate many appointed Boards and Commissions; many of them are not truly needed.

Consolidate Departments of state government to eliminate duplication and excess expense. I have recommended the consolidation of the Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Military Affairs.

Sell the state of Illinois airplanes.

A serious reduction in spending is the important first step. Thus, I do not support a tax increase, either income or sales tax.

On the revenue side, we need more taxpayers, not more taxes. We get more taxpayers by having more of our citizens employed and earning an income. We need to enact policies and incentives that encourage all businesses to expand or locate in Illinois. While small businesses create the majority of jobs, we should not penalize businesses for being large. Government incentives to create jobs should be available to all businesses in our state.

Q. What is your view on the pension legislation passed last year? Do you support or oppose lower benefits and higher employee contributions for current state workers? Specifically, how should state officials resolve underfunding problems? Walker: I believe pension reform was long overdue. The state budget started on its downward spiral in the 1980s. As a result of years of poor financial decisions, supported by both Democrats and Republicans, the state, and its pension system, were in shambles. The pension reform legislation ended past abuses, like late-term raises, and double dipping- and also kept the system solvent for current retirees. I believe that current retirees and employees should maintain their current pensions, while restricting obvious abuses like end-of-career increases and double-dipping.

Harris: The pension legislation that passed last year was a good step in the right direction. However, it only impacts individuals who begin working for the State on or after January 1, 2011. Those changes, while beneficial regarding pension funding, will not have an impact for 20 years or more when those new employees enter retirement. We still have an immediate problem with the funding of current pensions.

I believe there needs to be modification for our current pension system. It does no good for the State to promise future pension benefits to an employee if there is insufficient money available for those benefits when employees retire. Recently some of the pension systems have had to sell assets in order to meet current pension obligations. This is a seriously ominous omen for the future. The pension system participants I have talked to recognize that, and they know that reasonable modifications are needed to solve the pension funding crisis. Even current beneficiaries, and I am one due to my previous legislative service, recognize the need for reform.

Q. Do you oppose or support civil unions? Gay marriage? What abortion restrictions do you support? What about parental notification? Late-term abortion? Should there be controls on gun ownership? If so, what would you support? Walker: I am a representative of the people I represent, and the majority of my district does support civil unions. I believe marriage is a sacred institution, and I believe in the separation of church and state. I am pro-choice, in that the government should stay out of this most personal moral decision. The residents of the community I represent do not support extreme views. I believe in 2nd amendment rights, but believe in common sense gun laws.

Harris: Since 1995 Illinois law has prohibited same-sex marriage. I support that law, and I do not support same-sex marriage. I am open to discussion and consideration of civil union legislation depending on what the legislation says.

I am pro-life on the issue of abortion, although I do recognize the exemptions of reported rape, incest and saving the life of the mother.

I DO NOT favor late-term abortions.

I DO favor parental notification when a minor is to have an abortion. The Parental Notification law which was passed years ago in Illinois should be allowed to go into effect.

I support the right, as spelled out in the Second Amendment of the US Constitution and Section 22 of Article I in our State Constitution, for individual citizens to keep and bear arms. This must be done lawfully and in accordance with all legal regulations. For example, one cannot have a firearm in Illinois without a valid Firearm Owners Identification Card issued by the State Police.

Q. Where do you stand on campaign finance caps for legislative leaders and parties? Will you vote for your current caucus leader? Do you support an amendment for a different political map system? Why or why not? Walker: While I have only been in office for 19 months, I was proud to support the most sweeping campaign finance reform in the state's history, reform that imposes the first ever limits on how much can be given to individual candidates, party leaders and political parties. Should future measures come before me that further reform the system, I will take them under serious consideration and support meaningful change. I am open to restructuring the political map system, but not as a political ploy or way to win votes. It should be reformed in the best interests of local residents, and in a way that is open and fair. I am also open to Iowa's process, which utilizes a computer to draw unbiased maps. Currently, I am focused on my new job as state representative, and will make a decision about caucus leadership if I am lucky enough to win in November.

Harris: I support limits on the amount of money legislative leaders and parties can contribute. The legislation that the General Assembly passed last year was only a half-measure. They could have done better by limiting contributions from legislative leaders.

Along those lines, I support term limits, both for all elected state officials and for terms of office for legislative leaders.

If elected, I would most likely vote for the current Republican caucus leader.

I do support an amendment changing the way legislative districts in Illinois are drawn. The current system allows partisan politicians to creatively draw legislative boundaries that protect their interests and their incumbents. We need a nonpartisan Redistricting Commission similar to what Iowa has in order to get fair districts. Such a Commission could give greater recognition to existing boundary lines like counties, townships and municipalities.

Q. Legislation recently passed that exempts the evaluations of all public workers from FOIA. Do you support such an exemption? For a certain class of public employees (e.g. police officers, road workers etc.)? Explain. Walker: I believe in an open and transparent government, one in which the public has access to information. That is a critical step in keeping government honest and accountable. Exemptions should only be made for security or safety reasons.

Harris: Public workers work for the public. In other words, they get paid with taxpayer dollars. Thus, they need to do the best job they can on behalf of the public, and the public should be able to know that they are doing that.

I do not believe the personnel evaluations of all public workers should be exempt from FOIA.

Along the same lines, I think that it is overly broad legislation to say that every employee evaluation should be open for public inspection. That could invite #8220;fishing expeditions among public employee personnel records. Does everyone need to know the evaluation of a secretary in the Dept. of Natural Resources? I do not think so.

I would favor legislation that would open employee evaluations to public inspection for all employees above a certain grade level within the State Personnel Code.