Stephanie Kifowit: Candidate profile

Bio:

Name: Stephanie Kifowit

City: Oswego, IL

Website: www.stephaniekifowit.org

Twitter: @repkifowit

Facebook: skifowit

Party: Democrat

Office sought: State Representative

Age: 46

Family: married, three children, two grandchildren

Occupation: Full time legislator

Education: US Marine Veteran, BS Political Science, Masters of Public Administration

Civic involvement: various Veterans Organizations and fighting domestic violence

Elected offices held: 3rd Ward Alderman - City of Aurora

84th District, IL House of Representatives

Questions & Answers

Would you vote to approve a graduated income tax? If so, what qualifiers would you impose and where would you set the brackets? What would the top tax rate be?

The vote for a graduated income tax comes from the Voters in the 2020 election. If the Voters support this idea, then the members of the 102 General Assembly would have to make those determinations.

How big a problem is the level of property taxation in Illinois? If you view it as a problem, what should be done about it?

The property taxes in IL are extremely high. The largest part of the property tax bill is funding of schools. Two years ago we passed an education reform package (HB109) and began to increase funding of our schools by $350 Million for last year and this year. In addition, this new funding formula includes $50 Million for property tax reduction. This needs to continue. We also need to fund the school construction grants that were promised 10 years ago and never disbursed. In addition, providing school districts with additional funds to reduce debt would lead to an almost automatic reduction in property taxes in school districts like mine which had to build new schools to accommodate the students without an established commercial base. I voted for House Bill 156,which would have cut property taxes for families, seniors and Veterans by expanding exemptions. I have voted to freeze property taxes numerous times.

What is your evaluation of Gov. Rauner's job performance? Please specify what you view as its highs and lows.

Government is a series of checks and balances with three equal branches of Government. I don't think he understood the dynamics that happen in this form of Government. It also appeared to me that he was not interested in understanding the small details of government that have so many consequences to people. As a U.S. Marine Veteran, I believe that the deaths at the Quincy Veterans home could have been avoided and serious mistakes happened that claimed the lives of our American heroes. I was speechless when he declared that his staff did an excellent job when 14 people had died and over 60 people became ill.

What is your evaluation of Speaker Michael Madigan's (President John Cullerton's) job performance? If you voted for him for speaker (president) in the last legislative session, please explain your vote.

I was able to work with him to advance important legislation to ensure a safer work environment for nurses and other health care providers in addition to provide protections for our Veterans and pass important legislation to address and prevent Veteran Suicide. I intend to continue to fight for Veterans, to lower property taxes, provide better funding for our schools and I will continue to be open and accessible to the residents in my district. If there is another person nominated, then I would consider that person. There was no other person nominated.

Should there be term limits for legislative leaders? If so, what would you do to make that happen? What other systemic changes should be made to strengthen the voice of individual legislators, limit the control of legislative leaders, encourage bipartisanship?

I have always been able to work across the aisle on important legislation that I have passed. I believe that there is bipartisanship in the General Assembly; which recently was shown by the balanced budget being passed by overwhelmingly bi-partisan margins. I believe when the rank and file members work together the leadership has to take notice of that. I am a strong voice for my district and my legislative accomplishments speak to that with the majority of my legislation signed into law originating from citizens in my district. I would consider a proposal on leadership term limits.

How concerned should we be about Illinois' population loss? What needs to be done to reverse the trend?

I believe that we need to look at investing in small and mid-size companies. Too often, the large companies (such as Amazon) are the main focus of incentives; where the small and mid-size companies provide more than half the jobs for people. I believe we need to start investing in Job training programs and fill the vacancies in our trades and manufacturing sectors. We also need to improve funding of our Universities and Community Colleges and encourage the entrepreneurs of the future. We need to invest in internet-infrastructure for southern Illinois to provide fast reliable fiber so companies can compete in downstate. For too long, the state of Illinois has focused on other areas than in Southern Illinois and I believe high speed rail, high speed internet and investment in our small and mid-size businesses will help Illinois retain and begin to expand in population again.

Please provide one example that demonstrates your independence from your party.

SB2332 is an example of a Dem partisan bill, supported by the Sen President and the Speaker which I did not support. There are many other independent votes; but this one is an example.

What other issues are important to you as a candidate for this office?

My son has high functioning autism, so I am very passionate about early intervention programs, and autism funding, helping individuals with disabilities and fighting domestic violence. I am also very passionate about ensuring the Veteran population in Illinois are represented and heard, there are only seven Veterans out of the 118 representatives.

In addition, here a few questions meant to provide more personal insight into you as a person:

What's the hardest decision you ever had to make?

Whether to re-enlist in the Marines or not; I ended up not re-enlisting.

Who is your hero?

My great aunt Irene, who passed away many years ago but I still hold her in my heart to this day.

Each amendment in the Bill of Rights is important, but which one of those 10 is most precious to you?

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

What lesson of youth has been most important to you as an adult?

I worked hard at sports all my life, and that dedication and determination has been with me ever since.

Think back to a time you failed at something. What did you learn from it?

When I was a kid, I signed up to deliver the Chicago Tribune. I got up early and did my paper route. However, I did not realize how big and heavy the Sunday edition was and I was unable to deliver the papers on my own, so I had to ask my dad for assistance. He told me when we were done delivering the papers that I need to ensure that I evaluate the decisions that I make and make sure I know all the details before committing to something. I realized I miscalculated how long it would take to deliver the Sunday papers, and because I could not drive at that time I could not do the job properly and ended delivering papers in hopes that someone with a vehicle could do a better job than me. To this day, I research and evaluate and learn as much as I can to be a good legislator. I understand and work hard on legislation that impacts peoples lives, and I read as much as I can to ensure I know all that details to the best of my ability.