With contested presidential primaries in both the
Republican and Democratic Party, it will be hard to focus on the state legislative
races that will be on the March 15th ballot. But with Illinois and
Chicago both facing terrible fiscal crises with no end in sight, voters would
be well-served by better reporting on several of the important legislative
primary races.
Former Quinn staffer Theresa Mah is offering south
side voters a choice between fresh leadership or a continuation of the Acevedo
political dynasty, as State Representative Eddie Acevedo tries to bequeath his
seat to his son, Alex. Chicago Votes co-founder Harish Patel is challenging the
Mell machine and their current state representative, Jaime Andrade.
But the most important race on the ballot on March
15th is the Democratic primary for State Representative in the 15th
District, where longtime incumbent John D’Amico is being challenged by
community leader Jac Charlier. This race is so crucial because it is an
especially clear test of whether voters are finally willing to stand up to
entrenched interests and begin working on solutions to the problems facing
Illinois.
1. This race is a referendum on Mike
Madigan. Since the end of Jim Thompson era, no political
leader in Illinois has loomed larger than House Speaker Michael Madigan. Any
effort to solve our truly dire fiscal straits involves confronting his legacy.
This legacy includes years of unbalanced budgets, payrolls stuffed with
cronies, and contracts given to top donors.
John D’Amico has been a loyal
Madigan lieutenant since arriving in Springfield in January 2005. Jac Charlier
has proposed limits to the number of years that someone can serve as Speaker or
Minority Leader (also Senate President or Minority Leader). Charlier’s proposal
would prevent the accumulation of power that has made Madigan so difficult to
challenge.
2. This race is a referendum on the
state budget stalemate.
One of the most frustrating things
about the current budget stalemate, which has been so damaging for our most
vulnerable citizens who depend on many state services, is that it has shut down
real debate. Everyone has retrenched behind their party’s leadership and
stopped doing the hard labor of working together to address the crisis
consuming our state. John D’Amico has joined with his Democratic colleagues in
denouncing Rauner, but he hasn’t been working across the aisle to develop a
realistic budget.
As a Democrat, I have no problem
criticizing Rauner’s awful behavior during this budget crisis. He has abdicated
any claim to being the leader Illinois so desperately needs. But what Charlier
understands is that when the leaders in both parties fail, it is time for the
rank-and-file to step up. Charlier is willing to work with legislators in both
parties in good faith. More importantly, he is trying to build a citizen’s
movement that will apply constant pressure on politicians to put the needs of
the people first. He has years of experience creating community, most notably
as the co-founder of Fair Allocations in Runways (FAiR), so this type of
movement building comes naturally to him.
3. This race is a referendum on the
pension crisis.
This is the 800 pound gorilla of
Illinois politics these days. There are two steps in dealing with political
crisis caused by the pension crisis. First, vote out of office all of the
politicians who voted for pension holidays, who underfunded the pension year
after year, and who kept pensions “off the books” to deceive voters (and
journalists) about the magnitude of the crisis. Even worse, when the scale of
the pension problem they created became obvious, these same politicians took it
out on the public employees by trying to cut their pensions!
John D’Amico proudly voted for the
pension holidays, the budgets that underfunded the state pension funds, and the
pension cuts for state workers. Jac Charlier is the only candidate in Illinois
who I am aware of, who has put his name on a plan to resolve the pension crisis
over the next 30-40 years. That plan, informed by work done by the Center for
Tax and Budget Accountability, includes renegotiating our pension debt to end
the destructive and unrealistic pension ramp, and – just to be clear – tax
increases to address the pension crisis.
The most underfunded of the five
main state pension funds is the General Assembly Retirement System. It pays the
second highest level of benefits, over $56,000 a year but it has almost twice
as many retirees receiving benefits as it does active members paying into the
system. This is completely unsustainable and it means that the taxpayers will
be left on the hook for the bill.
But – wait a minute – being a
legislator is a part-time job. Why is anybody getting a pension for a part-time
job! John D’Amico will get two full-time pensions when he retires; one from his
government job with the City of Chicago, the other his legislative pension. Jac
Charlier will not accept a pension and he will propose legislation to end the
pension system for legislators.
The
voters in the 15th District have a choice between two clear
positions, John D’Amico’s “stay the course” agenda or Jac Charlier’s “Time to
Fix Illinois” agenda. I believe that one strong voice advocating for change can
make a difference, if they are willing to challenge the powers that be. There
is no stronger voice for change on this year’s ballot than Jac Charlier.
Josh Kilroy is a Democratic
campaign consultant currently running a race in Milwaukee, WI. For four months,
he served as Jac Chalier’s campaign manager.
