Creating Jobs
Creating jobs and putting people back to work is a top priority. I have spoken with far too many people in our community who have had their hours cut or who are out of work all together. We must provide financial incentives to encourage companies to hire unemployed workers and expand their operation in Illinois, and foster investments in new technology and the green economy to create good paying jobs. Corporations that receive tax breaks and then move jobs out of the state must be held accountable by requiring them to refund their tax breaks while making them ineligible for future tax incentives.

Ending the Culture of Corruption
The citizens of Illinois are fed up and sick of self-serving politicians who have repeatedly abused our trust and misused our tax dollars. It is time for average citizens to take back our government. If elected, I will fight for legislation that requires mandatory jail time for government officials and employees who commit serious ethics violations and automatically strip them of their taxpayer-funded pension benefits.

Recall of State and Local Elected Officials
Too often our elected officials are failing those they were elected to represent. When this is the case, the public should have the option of recalling those who have failed them; however, the Illinois Constitution does not currently permit recall of elected officials. I support amending the constitution to provide the voters with the ability to recall all state and local elected officials.

Term Limits for Elected Officials
Too often, our elected officials become entrenched with the office they hold and lose touch with those they represent. Instead of working for us, they spend their time fighting each other and listening to the special interest groups and lobbyists that line their pockets. I support a constitutional amendment to establish term limits for statewide and legislative offices.

Reducing Legislative Pay
Too many out of touch legislators have been insulated from the hard choices average families are making right now. Legislators receive a full-time salary, but serve part-time. Many have other jobs and collect another full-time paycheck. Legislative salaries must be cut and future pay increases should be approved by the public.

Reducing Taxes on Working Families and Small Businesses
With so many families struggling to make ends meet, Illinois should not raise the income tax or impose any additional taxes. I will say NO to efforts to increase the income tax or tax services important to our families, such as oil changes and haircuts. In an effort to reduce property taxes, we must also force local governments to re-evaluate administrative expenses. I strongly support legislation that freezes increases in property tax assessments.

Reforming the Budget Process
We must revamp the budget process, even if such a change is politically dangerous for the legislative leaders and rank and file members. It is unacceptable that the General Assembly left Springfield in May without a balanced budget. Illinois has a $13 billion deficit and our problems will only get worse if our elected officials continue to fail to address the budget crisis head on. If party leaders were more concerned with politics, the rank and file members should have stood up to the leaders and demanded that they stay in Springfield until the job they were elected to do was finished. Instead, they simply passed an unbalanced budget.

We must learn to live within our means and maximize every hard earned tax dollar. It is time to go through the budget line by line and reduce spending. We must put an end taxpayer funded programs that aren’t working and taxpayer funded jobs that are unnecessary or duplicative. We must find and eliminate fraud and waste at all levels of government. Most importantly, the public and rank and file members should have a minimum of 7 days to review Illinois’ multi-billion dollar budget. Legislative leaders should not have total control of the process - the days of legislative leaders drafting a budget in a backroom must end.

Strengthening Schools
Many people choose to live in our community because of the quality of our schools. As a mother of three boys who is married to a high school teacher, I believe that preserving and strengthening these institutions, as well as making college affordable, is vital to our state’s future. Improving the performance of public schools is critical and requires that all parties – parents, teachers, administrators, and members of the community – work together to make education a priority for children.

As State Representative, I will demand the State fund schools appropriately and honor its obligation to pay our schools on time. To stop schools from cutting teachers and programs that help students, I will fight for a law limiting school district administrative expenses and requiring 85% of revenue to be spent on educating our kids. Also, we have all read stories about school administrators raking in Wall Street salaries and collecting huge taxpayer pensions after working a short while. I will push for legislation that limits administrator’s pay and requires they serve at least 20 years before receiving a pension.

Protecting Seniors
I know that maintaining independence means everything to older adults. I will support property tax assistance and funding for home care programs that help senior citizens to stay in their homes. I will also push for tougher criminal penalties against those who defraud the elderly.