Development of New Affordable & Supportive Housing

Implementing a Living Wage

As a member of the Illinois General Assembly, I will advocate for policies that allow our citizens to meet their basic needs from their wages. Housing repeatedly shows up as the greatest expense for any household, so a living wage for a geographic area must take into consideration the cost of housing in that region. A standard developed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development suggests that no more than 30% of a person's gross monthly income should be spent on housing. Unfortunately, in the 39th District and many other parts of Illinois and around the country, working people and families are often paying 50% or more of their income on housing. Not only do we need wages that allow people to afford decent housing for 30% of their income or less, but also we need affordable housing. In the 39th District in particular, we need to work for reform so that 'affordable' really means affordable.

I believe the answer lies somewhere between setting minimum wage levels that reflect a living wage, and government sponsored housing developments that base affordability on the median income of the actual locality served. Affordable housing can be a tool that promotes the economic revitalization of a community by making a long-term investment in the economic growth of the families and workers that make up our diverse district.

I will advocate for policies that bring the living wage up to a point where citizens can afford to pay for housing with 30% of their income or less; but also, I will advocate for tax policies and revenue programs that allow our state to offer affordable housing units in situations where the housing market does not allow for working individuals and families to bear the cost of housing with their pay wages.

Everybody in, Nobody out!

I firmly believe that healthcare is a human right. As such, I will work diligently to Pass House Bill 311 which would cover all Illinois residents under the Illinois Health Services Program.

From Physicians for a National Health Program, www.pnhp.org:

"Four principles shape our vision of reform.

• Access to comprehensive health care is a human right. It is the responsibility of society, through its government, to assure this right. Coverage should not be tied to employment. Private insurance firms’ past record disqualifies them from a central role in managing health care.
• The right to choose and change one’s physician is fundamental to patient autonomy. Patients should be free to seek care from any licensed health care professional.
• Pursuit of corporate profit and personal fortune have no place in caregiving and they create enormous waste. The U.S. already spends enough to provide comprehensive health care to all Americans with no increase in total costs. However, the vast health care resources now squandered on bureaucracy (mostly due to efforts to divert costs to other payers or onto patients themselves), profits, marketing, and useless or even harmful medical interventions must be shifted to needed care.
• In a democracy, the public should set overall health policies. Personal medical decisions must be made by patients with their caregivers, not by corporate or government bureaucrats.

We envision a national health insurance program (NHI) that builds upon the strengths of the current Medicare system. Coverage would be extended to all age groups, and expanded to include prescription medications and long term care. Payment mechanisms would be structured to improve efficiency and assure prompt reimbursement, while reducing bureaucracy and cost shifting. Health planning would be enhanced to improve the availability of resources and minimize wasteful duplication. Finally, investor-owned facilities would be phased out. In each section we present a key feature of the proposal followed by the rationale for our approach."

For more information please visit The Chicago Single-Payer Action Network at Chispan.org

I fully support SB 2288, which restructures Illinois' revenue system to take the tax burden off of low-income and middle class families through an increased state income tax on the rich and a reduction in property taxes. A child's education should not be dependent on the property values of their neighbors. The interests of property owners would no longer be pitted against the interest in fully funding our schools. It would eliminate the structural deficit, fund our schools, and put money back into the pension system.

Mass Transit

I believe that state-of-the-art mass transit is essential for the health and well-being of all Illinoisans, and especially residents of the 39th district. The Blue Line El train and many bus routes are important landmarks in our district, providing a viable means of daily transportation to our residents.

Mass transit in Chicago and the entire state of Illinois not only needs updated equipment, but expanded routes and lower fares. Rail transit is a low-cost method of transit, and emits a fraction of the pollution and CO2 emitted from cars and trucks.

I envision a Chicago where our neighbors readily choose public transit because it is faster, cheaper, and more reliable than auto travel. In Illinois, none of these conditions characterize our mass transit infrastructure. Car congestion in the city is at an all-time high, and thousands of hours are wasted each day by citizens who have no option but to travel to and from their daily activities by car.

Mass transit needs to be funded at a far greater level than it is today, and we need permanent sources for this funding. Our state legislature's inability to prioritize mass transit funding has left millions of federal dollars on the table. Illinois Congressmen and women continue to demand that our General Assembly pass legislation so all of us can reap the benefits of federal transportation funds ready for the taking.

As documented by the Illinois Public Interest Research Group, transit funding should either correct market failures by discouraging pollution and sprawl or target revenues from those who will most benefit from the reduced congestion brought about by transit. For example, impact fees paid by developers could help ensure that new development pay its fair share of public infrastructure needs, including transit, to accommodate new growth. Another option could include an increase in license, registration and title taxes based on vehicle fuel efficiency or miles traveled.

I won't sit idly by - as many of you will in your cars on the way to work - while our mass rail infrastructure races to the bottom, being one of the most unreliable, costly, and archaic systems in the world.

Affordable Clean Energy

I support the following legislative initiatives created for the Power to the People Campaign:

• An immediate rollback and freeze of electricity rates, followed by an introduction of a system of regulatory controls aimed at protecting the public interest.
• Establishment of publicly owned, publicly accountable energy utilities, and new regional electrical or energy cooperatives.
• Development of green building codes and programs to provide assistance for the retrofitting of homes and businesses, with first priority going to low-income housing.
• Increased state and local support for public mass transit, smart urban planning, a clean cars program, and other measures to promote sustainable transportation.
• Raising energy-efficiency requirements for electrical appliances sold in Illinois.
• Major campaign finance reform, which would prevent utilities and other for-profit corporations from exerting powerful influence on the election process.
• A strong renewable energy standard requiring utilities to obtain at least 25% of their power from renewable sources by the year 2020.
• Development of water-usage policy that promotes accountability and equity in water-use, distribution, and treatment-including publicizing industrial/commercial water-use data.

Neighborhood Crime & Non-Violence Programs

Social Service Funding

As a domestic violence counselor and a therapist, I am committed to working to fully fund programs under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) that the Federal government and the state legislature have hit with signficant and dangerous cuts.

Instant Runoff Voting

Campaign Finance Reform