Jennifer Zordani: Candidate profile, Illinois State House - 47th District

In the race for Illinois House from District 47, Democrat Jennifer Zordani of Clarendon Hills is challenging incumbent Deanne Mazzochi, an Elmhurst Republican, in the Nov. 3 general election.

Zordani is a financial services attorney.

To explore her campaign website, visit votezordani.com.

The 47th District includes all or portions of Elmhurst, Oak Brook, Oakbrook Terrace, Western Springs, Clarendon Hills, Hinsdale, Westmont and Downers Grove.

The Daily Herald asked the candidates a series of questions. Here are Zordani responses.

Q: Should Speaker Madigan resign from his leadership positions? If he does not resign, will you support him for a new term as House speaker?

A: When the news of the Commonwealth Edison indictment was reported, I gave a statement that it is long past time to end the machine politics in Illinois.

Speaker Madigan has not been charged or convicted but the court of public opinion is harsh, particularly because he has served for so long and across the board, Americans are tired of long-term elected officials.

I understand my role in the legislature will be to build coalitions and support for the priorities in my district. I will work to do that regardless of whether Mike Madigan remains as Speaker. I have every confidence that any Democrat elected to the role of Speaker will manage the role adeptly.

In the same vein, should the leadership of our party transition to another person, there is no doubt that the person will be well-equipped to maintain and build coalitions with our teachers, our health care workers, our families committed to public education and so many more.

From the very first day in office, I commit to working for the people in my district - not for ComEd, not for anyone in leadership, not for any lobbyists - only the constituents that I serve.

Q: Describe at least two circumstances in which you have shown or would show a willingness and capacity to act independently of the direction or demands of party leadership.

A: Neighbors asked me to run after getting to know me and my willingness to serve. District residents are my priority and I'm comfortable raising differences, asking questions and challenging decisions, even if it's with party leadership.

The core issues of equality, restoring our middle class, supporting small business growth, protecting public education, and balancing the budget are pretty well-regarded as great goals by residents of my district. With these issues and others in mind, I know that budget priorities are going to require me to make tough decisions, and I'll make these choices responsibly and with a view to making every dollar the state collects provide value to our residents.

On both sides, individual representatives might not always align with their party leadership. But as I see the DuPage GOP refuse to separate itself from Donald Trump and his divisive policies, I'm really glad to be on the side of the aisle that Donald Trump isn't directing.

I'm committed to bipartisanship, bringing people together and looking to unify and restore our economy and our communities, not further divide us.

Q: How would you rate the governor's handling of the COVID-19 crisis? Does the legislature need to have more input and influence in establishing rules and policies related to stemming the spread of the disease? What would you have done differently, if anything? If nothing, please say so.

A: Handling the pandemic was a group project and governors in both parties who recognized the risks and effects, like Gov. Pritzker, should receive the top grades.

Recognizing that the federal administration was unwilling to coordinate a realistic or effective plan, Pritzker worked tirelessly to navigate the known and unknown. His willingness to lead press conferences with health experts and to include elected officials from across the region helped inform and motivate Illinoisans to respond to the pandemic as the threat it is.

DuPage County has received resources that help support a COVID-19 testing facility, which is very important to the residents in my Illinois House District 47.

The mayors and managers in our area disagreed with the regions initially developed by the governor and his team, which they felt lumped too many towns with Chicago, and Gov. Pritzker reviewed and agreed that there should be adjustment. He's getting things done.

Q: Regardless of whether the federal government provides assistance, what is the impact of the pandemic on the state's economic outlook and what immediate and long-term actions should be taken to address it? Would you support increasing taxes to pay for COVID-19 response or to make up for lost revenue related to COVID-19?

A: Illinois is a high-tax state for middle class families and that has to change, so no, I'm not supporting more taxes to pay for COVID-19. Residents are voting on the fair tax and that is the only tax proposal on the table.

Q: The graduated income tax is designed with the intent to reduce taxes for 97 percent of Illinoisans. Do you believe that will happen? Why or why not? What assurances can be given to voters?

A: The proposal for a graduated income tax will be decided by Illinois voters. The choice voters are making is whether middle class families continue to pay more than they can afford as a proportion of their income or ultra high net worth earners pay more.

If Illinois voters pass the fair tax proposal, my commitment is to honor the promises made by others that this is not going to lead to tax increases on the middle class. My goal is to use any new dollars to get Illinois' financial house in order, which means paying our old bills and supporting the services Illinoisans need, like public education, health care and child safety. This helps move Illinois away from its reliance on property taxes.

Illinois residents, businesses and the financial community want to see a commitment to responsible budgeting over the long term. The budgets passed since the impasse certainly were not perfect in anyone's view, but they started to chip away at unpaid bills and move Illinois in the right direction.

Q: Do you support any type of tax on retirement benefits?

A: No. My goal is to provide property tax relief to seniors to permit them to stay here in Illinois with their children and grandchildren and not be forced out of their homes.

I'm going to try to find solutions that help our seniors, particularly when Republicans at the federal level are attacking Social Security and Medicare. I don't support taxing their retirement benefits.

Q: Should Illinois prohibit lawmakers from lobbying other levels of government? Should lawmakers be prohibited from becoming lobbyists after their term in office? For how long?

A: Yes, we should restrict lobbying by lawmakers. As I state in response to another question, ComEd's admissions in the deferred prosecution agreement along with the recommendations provided to the Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform earlier this year give me a playbook I can use for reform.

The recommendations include restricting lobbying activity by legislators and requiring more disclosure by legislators of conflicts and contacts with lobbyists. The recommendations seek to prohibit lobbying for a minimum of two years and some contributors noted certain states prohibit legislators from lobbying for up to 6 years. I'd like to see the restrictions greater than two years so we create real disincentives for people seeking to use their public service as an inroad to lobbying.

Q: What are the most important components that should be included in legislative ethics reform? What will you do to help them come to pass?

A: I can easily commit to broad ethics reform. The suggestions from the Joint Commission on Ethics Reform and Lobbying include changing some of the "guidelines" to restrictions, restricting lobbying by legislators, increasing disclosures and restrictions on lobbyists and insuring autonomy and independence to the Legislative Inspector General.

We also should consider stronger processes to permit pension boards and the legal process to terminate pension payments and clawback pension funds from elected officials convicted of felonies related to their positions.

Am I worried about what shakes out once we achieve transparency? No, because voters I talk with - in both parties - recognize it may be their party this week and the other party next week. Illinoisans are so tired of corruption, and they recognize it affects all levels of government and it imposes real costs on our state. Ethics reform is one way to lower the cost imposed on Illinoisans and I will support it.

Q: What should the state do to address the still-growing problems with its key pension programs?

A: Illinois has taken significant steps toward addressing its pension structure, including passing pension reform and recently consolidating hundreds of police and fire pension systems. Lawmakers should continue to implement changes with the support of all stakeholders.

Teachers, for example, should not suffer in retirement after local school boards authorized their contracts and teachers made the contributions required of them. The benefits that are available to most retirees are not the reason Illinois is in crisis.

Decades of legislators failing to fund the obligations are the cause of this issue. Lawmakers should meet the funding obligations and make the additional contributions required by the Edgar ramp without borrowing to do it.

Lawmakers should not authorize pension holidays. I am generally not in favor of re-amortizing the debt as it is kicking the can.

The priority now is for the state to show a real commitment to paying old bills and meeting our contractual obligations with any new revenues we see from gambling, cannabis and if passed, the graduated tax.

Q: Do you believe climate change is caused by human activity? What steps should state government be taking to address the issue?

A: Climate change is real and human activity causes climate change. It is an imminent threat to our children and grandchildren.

We have to take actions that will quickly reduce carbon pollution. We can do that at the state level, and our actions will make our state more competitive economically.

Fossil fuels may be necessary to some degree - but the reality is that coal is not a growing industry and it is not the best choice for energy needs from a cost perspective. It also creates health issues for the people affected by the pollutants, including coal workers. And the coal ash and other byproducts create environmental hazards.

The federal government's ongoing choice to give costly price protections to 19th-century industries is not the model we should follow in 21st-century Illinois.

Illinois should lead on renewable and clean energy because it makes sense on multiple fronts. I support the Clean Energy Jobs Act to help Illinois continue to reduce carbon emissions and move toward greater renewable energy. Illinoisans recognize the urgency of climate change and support efforts to achieve renewable clean energy in our state while also growing jobs.

Q: Protesters have massed in the streets in Chicago and other cities across Illinois for greater social justice and changes in the funding and responsibilities for police. How significant a role does systemic racism play in limiting equal opportunity in Illinois? To the degree that it exists, what should be done about it? What, if any, changes should be made in funding and duties of police?

A: Residents in my district - regardless of their party - support social justice. They appreciate the growing body of learning that confirms wrongful deaths in policing can be prevented, discrimination in policing can be reduced and violence can be de-escalated.

They know Democrats are not talking about removing police departments, but recognizing the need for a fresh look at resources to help communities and to alleviate wrongful deaths, distrust and yes, crime. Each community necessarily will look at these issues differently.

In our towns, our local police officers can direct school traffic. At Hinsdale Central, two officers direct kids through a crosswalk in the morning. Chicago and other big cities don't have the resources to have police officers help kids cross a street, when some kids need escorts to cross gang territory lines to get to school.

In addition to policing, we have multiple issues that collide and block progress on equality in America. Problems that confront densely populated, under-resourced areas deserve our attention for many reasons - not to be used to fearmonger suburbanites - but to help work together to find solutions.

Q: What should the General Assembly do to improve the state's unemployment benefits system?

A: We've had significant problems with the overloaded Department of Employment Security. The Depression-era level of claims inundated state systems in a short period of time. Many states experienced these issues and also had outdated technology and a lack of manpower.

The governor moved quickly to address many of the technology issues and expand the ability to process claims from the technology side. For the unemployed, the problems can cripple their ability to meet their living expenses. I still hear from residents about those issues and the manpower issues remain troublesome.

The General Assembly should seek reporting on what has been done, how costly and how effective it has been and whether there are additional steps the state should take with IDES. I'd like to form a working group to evaluate what we've learned about the ability of our government to function remotely, our systems and our responsiveness to our residents. While we hope this is the only pandemic we see for at least another 100 years, we'd be shortsighted and irresponsible not to use what we've learned to be better prepared for another pandemic and to improve our state government operations regardless.