Issues and Solutions
ETHICS REFORM
While prosecutors continue to charge and convict Illinois politicians, we must reform the culture of our government and end, once and for all, “pay to play” politics. Too many politicians abuse their trust and take advantage of a bureaucracy that hides corruption. Our government must become more transparent to the voters and we must implement safeguards that protect taxpayer money. Here are just a few measures that we can use to clean up Illinois and restore honor and integrity to our government:
* More transparency in budgets and elections
* Enact campaign finance reform
* Ban corrupt individuals and businesses from state contracts
ILLINOIS FINANCIAL RECOVERY
Illinois doesn’t have a revenue problem. Illinois has a spending problem. We’ve been hit with record tax increases, and our governor recently tried to raise our state income tax by 50%. While our hard-earned tax dollars are stretched thinner by the current economic crisis, we must live within our means and seek alternative solutions to our budget crisis. Some tactics to accomplish a strong and sustained recovery are:
* Exercise fiscal discipline and maintain a balanced budget
* Support business development and create incentives for business to remain in Illinois to create and preserve good-paying, quality jobs.
* Oppose tax increases
HEALTHCARE
We must be empowered to be more involved in our healthcare decisions. In order to bring the decision-making process closer to the patients, we must limit government involvement and create more efficiency and less bureaucracy. We must modernize the government processes used to build hospitals and deliver medicine. We can provide access to affordable health insurance coverage for all by:
* Retaining and bringing doctors to Illinois – especially, primary care physicians
* Improving access to Medicaid and Medicare
* Giving consumers more choices in the healthcare insurance market
* Enacting and supporting smart reforms to reduce costs through the use of technology
EDUCATION
While we are fortunate to have some of the best schools in the state, we can improve access and education by:
* Support aggressive education reform to include 21st Century Skills
* Remove caps on charter schools
* Require school funding to be spent inside the classrooms, rather than on the bureaucracy.
* Prioritize support for state universities, community colleges and libraries
