JB Pritzker: 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: ChicagoWebsite: www.jbpritzker.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/JBPritzkerFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/jbpritzker/Office sought: Governor Age: 52Family: I'm a husband and the father of two great kids. I've been married to my wife MK for almost 25 years. She is my partner in this endeavor. She's the love of my life. Our daughter, Teddi, is 15 years old and my son, Donny, is 13. I'm so proud of both of them for the kindness and caring they consistently demonstrate. I grew up in a home where my parents taught me to fight for social and economic justice. Both passed away at a very young age, but they left me with a lifelong commitment to public service.Occupation: BusinessmanEducation: B.A., Duke University, J.D., Northwestern University School of LawCivic involvement: I've spent my life getting big things done for Illinois. For two decades I've been a national advocate for early childhood education, providing childcare and preschool for Illinois children and organizing the White House Summit on Early Childhood for President Obama. I helped over 200,000 children in low-income school districts receive school breakfast. I've fought bigotry as the chair of the bipartisan Illinois Human Rights Commission and leading the building of the Illinois Holocaust Museum. I led efforts to turn Chicago into a technology startup hub and founded 1871, North America's top startup incubator that has created over 7,000 jobs.Elected offices held: None.Questions Answers What do you consider the key to an effective working relationship between the governor's office and legislative leaders? To what extent is this relationship effective now and to whatever extent it may not be effective, what would you do to improve it?A governor should work with legislative leaders, whoever they are, to do what's best for Illinois' working families. But Bruce Rauner has made no effort to build a collaborative relationship with the General Assembly. Instead, Rauner is solely focused on his special interest, teardown agenda. His disastrous relationship with legislative leaders has led to significant negative consequences for Illinoisans who have seen critical spending on social services and education slashed while he became the biggest deficit spender in the history of Illinois. The governor has created crisis after crisis, leading to instability in our state and driving jobs away from Illinois. When I'm governor, I will work to build constructive relationships with legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle to move our state forward. I've been an independent, progressive leader and thinker my entire life and that won't change as governor. I will work with anyone to put Springfield back on the side of working families, and I am ready to bring people together to move Illinois forward.On budgeting, what should be done to ensure that the state does not again go through a period of time without a budget in place? What will you do as governor to ensure that the spending priorities you espouse during your campaign are reflected in the budget?It's the constitutional obligation of the governor to propose a balanced budget to the legislature. In three years, Bruce Rauner hasn't met that obligation even once. To address the state's fiscal challenges, I will propose a forward-thinking and balanced budget that prioritizes job creation, expands healthcare coverage, and invests in quality, equitable public education. I'm the only candidate for governor to put forward concrete plans in each of those priority areas. I will work with the legislature and stakeholders to ensure we balance the budget and that it reflects these priorities. Unlike Bruce Rauner, I won't give up before it's done, and I won't claim Ãâ#128;™I'm not in charge.Ãâ#128;œ I will focus on how best to create prosperity for working families. To pay for critically important priorities, I will focus on reforming our tax system to make it less regressive. I have proposed a progressive income tax for Illinois so we can meet our obligations to fund education while lowering regressive property taxes and protecting the middle class and those striving to get there.How important do you consider the issues of term limits and legislative redistricting? Would you act to promote or oppose either of these initiatives?As governor, I would sign a bill limiting the terms of legislative leaders. I also support independent legislative maps so elections throughout the state will be more competitive.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 Ãâ#128;™adequateÃâ#128;œ state funding for Illinois schools and what will you do to promote that?Leaders like State Senator Andy Manar worked for years to implement an evidence-based school funding model. I supported that effort, and I'm relieved that lawmakers came together to pass it. But Bruce Rauner's AV of SB444 puts the $361 million in new funding for schools across the state in limbo, and the legislature must override it to ensure school districts get their funding. The governor vetoed the original equitable school funding bill, and now we know why: he leveraged the bipartisan desire to improve school funding to force through a back-door voucher program. I support the new school funding formula, but oppose the backdoor voucher program and will work to repeal it as governor. Even with our new funding formula in place, Illinois is nearly last in the nation in state funding for public education. We need to increase state investments in public PK-12 education across the board so that we move away from relying on local property taxes and move toward the constitutional requirement of having the majority of our education funding come from the state. We can begin to get there with a progressive income tax. It's time for a tax system where those who can afford it pay more, our middle class and those striving to get into the middle class get relief, and our kids get the education they deserve.What will you do to fix the public employee pension systems?I believe it's a legal and moral obligation to live up to the commitments made to those who have been promised pensions. Furthermore, the courts have ruled on the existing constitutional provision. Poor management of our pension liabilities by both parties has put our pension system at risk. While there's no time to waste, Bruce Rauner has squandered three years with his unwillingness to compromise. Illinois cannot kick the can down the road and avoid its pension liabilities. To manage future budgets and meet our pension obligations, one way forward is to determine a higher level dollar annual payment beginning now and into future years and re-amortize the pension payment schedule. That will allow the state to pay into the system at a rate that compensates all pensioners for what is due and allows a manageable budgeting process.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?My parents raised me with a commitment to social justice, and I have fought for those values throughout my life. I have been a national leader supporting early childhood education, and I have released a five-point plan to expand access to give every child an opportunity to achieve their full potential. My plan would make kindergarten universal, put Illinois on a path towards universal preschool, increase access to childcare, and invest in adding more teachers and classrooms throughout Illinois. I also have a comprehensive first-in-the-nation plan to expand healthcare called IllinoisCares. IllinoisCares would allow every Illinois resident the chance to purchase lower cost health insurance through the state's Medicaid system like President Obama proposed. With the creation of IllinoisCares, small businesses, families and individuals can save thousands of dollars each year on health insurance premiums while making insurance more affordable for those without it. IllinoisCares would expand healthcare coverage in Illinois at little or no cost to the taxpayers. And my plan for Illinois jobs will grow the economy statewide, advancing an economy that works for every Illinoisan. It includes a focus on small businesses by providing access to capital and training, particularly focusing on our state's forgotten communities. My plan would invest in economic development projects and infrastructure with a comprehensive 21st Century Capital Bill, and invest in higher education, lifting up community colleges and universities as economic hubs. By implementing my plan and stabilizing state government, I'm confident we can create good-paying jobs throughout our state.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Senator Dick Durbin for always fighting for Illinois families and standing up to Donald Trump in Washington.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?My parents raised me with a commitment to economic and social justice and taught me to stand up and fight for what I believe in.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would have expressed more gratitude to my parents, who I lost at a young age. They were genuine, loving and honorable.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?History/Law/Social Studies Ãâ#128;~ I believe in the importance of learning from history. That's one reason I led the building of the Illinois Holocaust Museum.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Work hard, be good, stand up for others, leave the world a better place and be grateful.