Trisha Zubert: Candidate profile

Bio:

Name: Trisha Zubert

City: Volo

Website: TeamZubert.org

Twitter:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeamZubert64/

Party: Democrat

Office sought: State Representative, District 64

Age: 38

Family: Husband, Dustin, Three kids: Madeline (11), James (9), Charlotte (7), and Rufus the wonderdog

Occupation:

Education:

Civic involvement: Civic involvement: Former Athletic Directer at Frassati Catholic Academy, coordinator of Market Day, led Vacation Bible School, walked 60 miles in 3 days 4 separate times for Susan G. Komen and raised over $2300.00 each time, make dinners for Lake County Haven, volunteer at other local homeless shelters.

Elected offices held: Former School Board Member and School Board President at St. Mary of the Annunciation Catholic School

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?

I'm supportive of putting a question before the voters that allows for a change in how we tax in the State of Illinois. There's too much of a tax burden placed on the middle class right now. I want a tax plan that lowers the burden on the middle class and places more of the burden on those who can most afford to pay it: the wealthy. Obviously, any change to our tax structure would need to be placed before the voters. The General Assembly will debate it, set the rates, and vote to put it on the ballot. Then you as voters, get to decide, as you absolutely should. So if there's a tax plan put on the ballot that you don't like, you can, and should, vote it down. I can't tell people what rates will be right now, because it will be debated 100 times before it's agreed upon. We need to bring in fiscal experts to talk to us about exactly what decimal point goes where. But I can tell you that those people who can most afford to pay more should pay more.

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?

Property taxes are the problem I am most asked about when meeting voters. We have passed education funding reform, but it didn't go far enough. We need to meet our obligation to our kids. 75% of our property tax bill goes to school districts. If the State of Illinois can start paying its fair share towards funding education, we can reduce the property tax burden for homeowners. We also need to consolidate redundant layers of government. There are over 7,000 layers of local government in the State of Illinois, and many of them levy property taxes. If we reduce the number of units of government we can reduce property taxes. Finally, there are too many loopholes that people are abusing. We need to maintain exemptions for the people who need them most, but we should eliminate exemptions that are often taken advantage of by the wealthy. All this does is force the middle class to pick up a larger share of the property tax burden.

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

I don't feel he's done a very good job. I understand that being a governor is complicated, but he's not only been horribly unproductive, he also spends far too much time claiming Illinois is horrible, and placing blame for that on everyone other than himself. A low would be his handling of Legionnaire's Disease, but I support his signing of the Alternative to Opioids Act of 2018.

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.

While I support much of what Speaker Madigan has done, I also support term limits in leadership.

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?

There should be term limits for leadership, but I don't think there should be on all elected officials. Look at how long legislature takes to get passed now, I cannot imagine how much longer it would take if we had elected officials constantly changing. That being said, I think the best way to encourage bipartisanship is for voters to show up to the polls. If our elected officials can't learn to work together, then they shouldn't be elected. The best way to move those people along is for constituents to vote them out.

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

I think we should be concerned - fewer people here means less growth. We need to make secondary education more affordable, because when students leave this state for college, only 50% of them return. Then we're losing those people as potential business owners, surely as employees, and also as those who would contribute to the growth of our state financially. We also need to prioritize a balanced budget - I think it's hard to convince people to stay here when it looks like we are irresponsible and uncaring about our finances as a state. Finally, as part of the budget, if we can move the majority of school funding to come from Springfield, then we could decrease property taxes and that would also be a huge help to retaining and even increasing our population.

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

I've not received any financial support from my party (besides a small donation in the form of software access).

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

Over 65% of Illinoisans want marijuana legalized. We should legalize it and tax it. We should also regulate it like we do anything else, and then we can place restrictions on who can grow it, how it's grown, what is in it, etc. My opponent will cite an incredibly biased report from the Police Foundation as to why we shouldn't legalize it. However, one of many flaws in that report is the mention of an increase in crime since the legalization of marijuana. Even later citations state that no direct correlation can be made between those two. Fewer people die of marijuana-related incidents than do from alcohol. Even fewer would die if we were controlling what is in the cannabis they're obtaining.

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?

Who is your hero?

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

The First Amendment, and while all of it is important, I am extremely grateful for the freedoms of speech and the press. There are so many countries that don't celebrate the advantages which these simple policies bring to the whole society, and yet many in our nation have started to take the advantages of a free press for granted.

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

When I was young I wanted to have all the answers. I was terrified of not knowing everything about everything and everyone. However, at some point I realized that it's a better quality to admit when you don't have an answer and to ask for help than to power through with ignorance.

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

I tried to run a 100-mile race last year. I dropped out at mile 67.7. I spent months and months training, but nothing helps prepare for a race like actually running it. I learned how to push through when exhausted, how to listen to my body, and most importantly, after I pulled out of the race, I learned that a runner can take a nap if needed at the time. I think it's rather indicative of real life - we never really know what something is like until we're a part of it. And it's important to know when to push through and when to rest.