Kathleen Myalls: 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: WilmetteWebsite: kathyforstaterep.comOffice sought: 17th District Representative Age: 52Family: Husband Scott Zettek (married 2004) Son Zack Zettek (born 2007) Son Logan Zettek (born 2010)Occupation: AttorneyEducation: AB, University of Michigan (with honors, political science 1984) JD, University of Illinois College of Law (Dean's List, Harno Fellow, 1987)Civic involvement: Board of Directors, Geneva Lake Water Safety Patrol. New Trier School Board Caucus. President, Chicago Board of Prevent Child Abuse America. National Board of Directors, Prevent Child Abuse America. Canine Therapy Corps Volunteer. Big Sister and Junior Board Member for Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Constitutional Rights Foundation Member. Chicago Coalition for Law-Related Education (Chicago Public Schools Trial Advocacy Competition) instructor.Elected offices held: NoneQuestions 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?I've held leadership positions in many organizations, and am successful at cultivating compromise among members. Everyone has specific goals; finding common ground and motivation will help forge new/unusual alliances and make progress despite the apparent gridlock. I'll support a Republican leader successful at unifying Republicans and recruiting and supporting strong candidates to help the party reclaim majority. If Durkin shows progress towards these goals, I'll support his re-election. I support term limits as the most effective way to change how government works, and redistricting to make representatives more reflective of their constituents and more accountable, and make races more competitive.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?Regardless of the outcome of SB 1, I support conversion to defined contribution pension plans. Defined benefits plans with automatic, compounded increases are unaffordable and unpredictable. I also support increasing retirement age (on a graduated basis, based on proximity to current retirement age) to align it more with private sector workers. This conversion will give workers more control, flexibility, mobility, and certainty, and will immediately cut the unfunded pension liability. It would be legal because it would not impact vested pensions. If upheld, I would still support reducing COLA increases going forward to further reduce future liability.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.I believe the tax increase should expire as planned and do not believe the increase should be reinstated, either at the current or at any other level.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?Yes, I support cuts in state spending. First we should target fraud in medicaid by continuing independent scrubbing of medicaid rolls to limit payments to those eligible and offering better insurance options. Second, revisions to the pension plans (see above) will reduce state obligations for future pensions. These reforms should include increasing worker contributions to health care benefits, and means-testing state contributions for workers earning six-figure retirement incomes. Third, we should implement across-the-board cuts of a defined percentage (I urge 4%) with caps on future increases limited to inflation plus population growth. Finally, government salaries should be reduced by 10%.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?I believe we should improve school choice for parents by approving a voucher program, expanding charter schools and digital learning, and creating opportunity scholarships for students in low-performing schools. I do support cost-shifting to local districts/schools to improve accountability in pension expenditures.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?We must stop the out-migration of jobs and families. We create more jobs by creating a more business-friendly environment, beginning with a tax policy that does not require special connections and back-room deals for a company to be competitive. We should reduce entry costs and red tape for businesses. Minimum wage should not be increased as this will increase unemployment in the poorest segment of the population. We must reduce workers compensation costs. We should improve government transparency, implement term limits and create a path for a reduction in the number of government units. We should shrink government.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. His determination to reform the pension problem in Wisconsin and balance the budget in the face of such opposition is inspiring.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Be persistent: you can accomplish almost anything if you set your mind to it and never give up.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I wouldn't. Everything that happened in my life put me where I am now, and I love where I am now.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Social studies. It taught me about multi-faceted problems and how to break them down into digestible, solvable pieces.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Be authentic. Do not pretend or try to be something you are not, and be proud of and true to the something you are.