Chris Nybo
444 S. Mitchell
Elmhurst, IL 60126
(630) 941-9228
chris.nybo@gmail.com

Introduction

1. Illinois is struggling to balance its budget this year and may face a $12 billion deficit in 2010-2011. Given the recent reduction in Illinois' bond ratings to A2, what are your specific solutions for alleviating our state government's fiscal crisis?

Our state’s finances are a disaster. Despite the constitutional requirement for a balanced budget, Springfield politicians continue to spend billions more than revenue received each year and the state has accumulated financial liabilities and commitments in excess of the State’s assets by over $116 billion. To hide the extent of their mismanagement, state leaders have engaged in excessive borrowing and unconscionable delays in paying service providers. And rather than addressing the underlying problems putting us in this situation, state leaders want to increase income taxes during the worst economy since the Great Depression.

Compounding the difficulty of understanding and fixing this mess is the lack of transparency in our state fiscal affairs. The budget process is opaque and confusing, and there is no state agency that provides regular, timely and comprehensive reviews and analysis of state fiscal issues.

Illinois needs to fundamentally change the way it manages its finances. We should create a strong, professionally-staffed, independent equivalent of the Congressional Budget Office, tasked with producing easily understood financial statements for the entire budget in a timely manner. We should then undergo a comprehensive review of all state spending to consolidate or eliminate duplicative, outdated, or ineffective state programs and remove ineffective or inefficient spending. And we need to curb all new state spending. New programs should only be adopted when existing programs can be eliminated to provide funding, and programs launched as part of stimulus funding must sunset when those funds are no longer available. Finally, we should make it harder for the politicians to tax their way out of their own problems by requiring a 3/5 supermajority vote on any legislation raising taxes or fees.

We must also cut spending. The first spending cut should be in the area of pensions. We should move to a defined contribution pension system for new hires, and we should increase the contribution rates for current and retired employees. The second spending cut should be moving Medicaid to a managed care program, rather than the current fee for service system, and reducing the salary eligibility from its current rate of 400% of poverty level to a more reasonable level. The final area for a spending cuts should renegotiating and lowering previously-approved union pay increases. These approved increases are significantly out of line with what is taking place at all other organizations, where pay freezes or cuts are the norm.

2. Do you favor or oppose limits on campaign contributions by individuals and interest groups? Should limits apply to contributions made by political parties and by funds controlled by the leaders of the House and Senate? Please explain.

This is the exact same type of "pay to play" situation that sent George Ryan and that will likely send Rod Blagojevich to prison. All candidates in this race must be committed to cleaning up Illinois government, ending "pay to play" politics, and restoring public trust in government – not only through their words, but also through their conduct.

3. The National Census will be counted in April of this year and Illinois is likely to lose 1 seat in Congress, perhaps more, if Illinois residents fail to respond to the census. Should the new Illinois legislative and congressional districts be drawn by an independent, nonpolitical organization, or should that power stay with the legislature? If you support a change, explain how that should be done.

Legislative and congressional districts should be drawn by an independent, nonpolitical organization. I favor the use of computers, such as in Iowa, programmed with existing boundaries such as villages, townships, counties and school districts. One need only look at the boundaries of the 41st District to see how poorly many villages and townships have been divided. For example, the village of Riverside (population 8,895) in the eastern portion of the 41st District has three separate state senators and three separate state representatives representing it.

4. What policies do you support to resolve the financial issues confronting the Illinois public school districts?

It is absolutely critical for the state do all that it can to support public schools. One priority I would immediately push for is a moratorium on any further raiding of any specially-created revenue sources for education – such as the lottery – to support day-to-day state operations. This practice of raiding special funds has caused great harm to many across the state, including our public schools.

That being said, public school districts need to confront the same problem draining state government resources – the rapidly escalating costs of employee pay. No serious attempt to address public school financial issues can ignore this problem. Whereas pay freezes or cuts have been the norm in the private sector over the last two years, teachers continue to receive relatively high wage increases under union contracts negotiated in better economic times. As we have done in the City of Elmhurst, public school district must curtail these increases and bring the unions back to the tables for additional concessions. Districts should undertake across-the-board pay and hiring freezes, including stopping any cost-of-living adjustments

Another area on which I would like to focus attention is that Illinois has an excessively high number of school districts – 869 to be exact – each operating their own administration. After finding that smaller school districts directed less of their per pupil costs into the classroom, Pennsylvania recently consolidated to 100 districts from 500. Illinois should do the same, which should generate additional state resources for public schools.

5. Given the current economic climate, would you support a salary freeze or reduction for Illinois’ elected officials?

I would absolutely support a salary freeze or reduction for Illinois’ elected officials. Unlike some of my opponents, my primary background is in the private sector, and my service to the public has been essentially volunteer work, rather than career work. I do not want to serve for the money, nor do I need the money to serve.

But salary freezes and reductions need to extend well beyond the personnel ranks of just the elected officials and should include all state workers. The magnitude of our state fiscal problems is such that elected official salaries will not even begin to address the serious problems facing our state. Moreover, the overall personnel costs of the entire state workforce have grown at a much more rapid pace than the growth in state revenue. When one includes benefits costs as well, such as pension and health insurance costs, it is obvious that Illinois suffers from a severe structural problem in that it simply cannot sustain the costs of its workforce. We must fix this problem.

6. Recently, federal funding has become available to the states for a myriad of projects to develop green technology and reduce green house gas emissions. What actions do you advocate to reduce the Illinois carbon footprint?

Elected officials at all levels of government must be more diligent about protecting the natural resources of Illinois. I speak from personal experience on this issue as it was within my first two years on the City Council during which the City of Elmhurst adopted it first environmental sustainability policy. Through this action supported by me, Elmhurst made a commitment to reduce its own carbon footprint and to adopt more environmentally-friendly operational practices. The State of Illinois should likewise adopt a comprehensive sustainability policy. Government must lead by example on this issue to encourage other organizations to do the same.

7. Illinois ranked 48th out of 50 states in job growth between 1997 and 2007, according to the 2009 Alec-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index. What specific steps should Illinois lawmakers take to enhance job creation and expand the economic base? What do you see as the greatest obstacle to job creation here? Do you favor lowering the Illinois minimum wage?

The lack of jobs is the most important problem facing Illinois families. According to numerous studies, Illinois ranks nearly last among all states in job creation and retention over the last decade. Through its action and inaction, the General Assembly has created an environment hostile to business – exorbitant taxes and fees, crumbling infrastructure and transit systems, a liability system heavily weighted toward plaintiffs, one of nation’s highest minimum wages and too many failing schools.

Creating jobs and stemming the flow of jobs to other states must be our first priority. We must repeal the staggering number of fees on businesses imposed or increased since 2003, roll back new laws and regulations that make it more and more costly to do business here, and offer more incentives to businesses to keep and create jobs in this state. One thing we should not do, however, is to raise the corporate income tax, which will only drive more of our businesses out of state or out of business.

Given the importance of job creation, we need leaders with both private and public sector experience supporting business and helping to keep and create jobs. As an Elmhurst Alderman, I consistently opposed tax increases adversely impacting our local business climate, and I have championed efforts to promote and enhance our City’s business districts through parking and infrastructure improvements. As an employment attorney, I work on a daily basis with small and large businesses all across the state and I understand the anti-business political climate to which they are subjected and why they frequently find it more advantageous to move to other states. Notwithstanding these challenges, I have helped these businesses to maintain operations here in Illinois and to deal with our state government as best they can.

8. Please address the academic achievement gap between white and minority students, and between students in property wealthy and property poor communities -- in your district and throughout Illinois. What policies would you support to boost student achievement in your district and statewide?

We must improve the academic performance of all our schools – public and private – and reduce the achievement gap between white and minority students. As a first step, I would fight for removing the cap on charter schools. Charter schools have shown the most success in improving student achievement and educating children, and we must not allow union protectionism to impede educational improvement. Second, I would push for a standard teacher evaluation system across the state that includes student performance as an important component. We must ensure that we have capable and competent teachers in the classroom, and work with those who need to improve their performance. Finally, I would support an expansion of the tuition tax credit for private schools to make it easier for all students, including minority students from poorly performing districts, to go to the school of their choice and to get the quality education they deserve.

9. Positive DNA tests and dead carp have provided evidence that Asian carp have moved over nearly ten miles up the CalSag Channel and Ship Canal above the electronic barrier installed to prevent them from entering Lake Michigan. Do you consider this a concern and if so, what solutions would you recommend and fund to prevent the carp from entering Lake Michigan?

This is absolutely a concern, but there is another concern that we must be attentive to in dealing with this issue. In response to this development, several states have joined together to try to immediately close the canal locks and shut down Chicago-area shipping to keep the Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan. As we struggle with the lack of jobs in our state, state leaders must oppose this effort to shutdown an important source for jobs and economic development in our region – our shipping industry. By one estimate, millions of tons of shipments, totaling more than $1.5 billion a year, and more than 400 barge industry jobs would be hurt by a shutdown. I oppose any closure of the locks, and instead support the continued efforts to conduct fishing expeditions on a periodic and “as needed” basis, as was done last month with much success.