63rd District Representative Reick: 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: HarvardWebsite: www.steve463.com (currently being revised)Office sought: 63rd District Representative Age: 61Family: Candidate did not respond.Occupation: Tax AttorneyEducation: Univ. of IL (Accountancy 1975) Univ. of GA (Jd/MAcc 1980)Civic involvement: Candidate did not respond.Elected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoQuestions Answers How will you work to make the General Assembly function more productively and effectively? Wlll you vote to retain your party's current legislative leader? In what specific ways do you support changing how government in Springfield works?Government in Springfield doesnâ#128;™t work. The fastest way to get productive and effective governance is to eliminate the veto-proof majority that Mike Madigan has in the House. This can only be done by defeating those legislators, like my opponent, who consistently return him to the Speakerâ#128;™s chair (8 times in this case) and allow him to establish rules which stifle the voice of the minority. If the majority actually has to listen to the other side, we may be able to inch our way toward recovery.If the Supreme Court, strikes down the SB 1 pension reform, what is your Plan B and why do you think it would be both legal and effective?The Constitutional guarantee that benefits earned cannot be diminished or impaired must be given full effect; current retirees and those now working must be given the benefit of their bargain. But I believe that the only way to truly guarantee those benefits is to end the current defined benefit system, calculate vested benefits for all employees, and move all employees to a defined contribution system. The Illinois Constitution says that benefits earned while participating in a pension system cannot be diminished, it does not say that the current system itself must remain in place into perpetuity.As it stands now, the 2011 income tax increase will expire as planned on Jan. 1. Do you think that expiration should be reconsidered? Would you support making the increase permanent or extending it for some period of time? Please be specific about what level of tax increase, if any, you would support.Between 2011 and 2014, Illinois collected $20 billion more in income taxes than it would have had the rates not been increased. In that time, the underfunding of our pensions ran apace, bills remained unpaid, and weâ#128;™ve done nothing more than establish a higher spending baseline. I donâ#128;™t believe in rewarding bad behavior, and support rolling back the rates as well as rolling back spending to 2010 levels. Any changes to the tax system must be revenue neutral, and must serve as a substitute for, and not a supplement to, current revenue.Do you support cuts in state spending? If so, what specifically do you suggest cutting and how will those cuts be sufficient to restore the state's financial health and economic climate?The following philosophy will guide my actions on state spending: Government at every level should spend money on only those things which cannot be provided by the private sector. Without a clear line being drawn between what is governmentâ#128;™s responsibility and that which can be better provided by the private sector, those things which must be done by government: roads, public safety, education, a safety net for the poor and the like will be choked out and Illinois will continue to spiral downward.What changes, if any, do you believe the state should make in the area of education? Would you support the the so-called pension cost-shift to local schools?Too often the question of how we should educate our kids gets lost in the fight over how much to spend. Without systemic changes in the way education is funded, and without true pension and property tax reform, I canâ#128;™t support the shift. We canâ#128;™t do one without the rest, because to do so will be to further burden our property owners who need relief, not another line item on their bill. Besides, I doubt that weâ#128;™d see any savings coming from Springfield if it relieved itself of the burden, theyâ#128;™d find something else to spend the money on.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?We keep saying that we must prepare our children for the 21st centuryâ#128;™s economy, yet we continue to teach them using a 19th century model, where a childâ#128;™s â#128;œborn on dateâ#128;ť dictates his or her advancement through the system. Common Core got me into this race. National standards cannot help but result in a national curriculum (â#128;œIf you like your curriculum, you can keep your curriculum.â#128;ť Sound familiar?). Common Core was adopted without legislative or parental input, and should be halted until we have it. I believe in school choice, and Common Core is not going to get us there.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Our Founders, for by the example of their lives, they still lead.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Nothing in life was going to be given to me, if I wanted something, I needed to work for it.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I follow the wisdom of Satchel Paige: "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you."What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?English. It taught me that words mean things, and that our language has done more to elevate mankind than any other thing outside of capitalism.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Nothing in life is going to be given to you, if you want something, you need to work for it.