J. B. Pritzker: 2022 Illinois governor candidate answers Tribune Editorial Board questionnaire
To inform voters and to help the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board make endorsements, the board posed a series of questions to the candidates running for governor. See their answers below. See how other candidates answered here.
Candidate name: J. B. Pritzker
Running for: Re-election as governor
Residence: Springfield
Current occupation: Governor
Previous political experience (elective and appointed positions): Governor, Hillary Clinton for President, National Co-Chair, Candidate for US House, Founder, Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century, Senator Alan Dixon, US Senate Legislative Assistant, Congressman Tom Lantos, US House Staff Assistant
Education: Duke University (BA), Northwestern University (JD)
Spouse’s occupation: First Lady of Illinois
Sources of outside income: No answer provided
[Editorial: Tribune announces endorsement in GOP governor primary]
Questions with candidate’s answers
State budget figures put Illinois’ unfunded pension liabilities at roughly $130 billion earlier this year. That’s a massive deficit that wreaks havoc on the state’s long-term financial stability, and discourages employers from bringing jobs to Illinois. What should Illinois do to fix this problem?
There are no silver bullet solutions that address the pension mistakes made by previous officeholders over the last few decades, and it’s important to recognize that the state is obligated to pay retirees what they are owed. The decades-long history of Illinois’ pensions is dotted with a series of missteps that led to its underfunding and an increased drain on the state’s General Revenue Fund. Politicians in both parties over decades created excess pension liabilities.
That’s why we are using this year’s budget surplus to pay down pension debt beyond the required amount, we have expanded the pension discounted buyout program, and we are achieving long-term investment returns in excess of the long-term targets. Each of these has played a part in my administration’s successful efforts to reduce the net pension liability. I worked with the General Assembly on the FY22 supplemental appropriation and the FY23 budget to appropriate an additional $500 million–on top of the certified contribution–toward shoring up the state’s pension funds, lowering future liabilities by nearly $2 billion. In addition, the pension buyout program expansions in 2019 and 2022 for which I advocated have reduced pension liabilities by over $2 billion so far. And responsible investment decision making by pension board appointees has led to the funds meeting or exceeding long-term pension investment return targets, which recently have seen a pension liability reduction of nearly $14 billion. Collectively, the result of these measures is that the pension payments from the General Revenue Fund make up a lower percent of the overall budget, allowing the State to appropriate these critical funds toward other priorities, such as relief for working families and building up our Rainy Day Fund.
Do you support establishing a pension reform referendum that would ask voters to amend the Illinois constitution to allow a reduction of future benefit growth to levels that the state can afford, while keeping current earned benefits untouched? Please explain why or why not.
There’s more work to do on pensions, but paying what we owe and using the tools currently available to us, as described above, are making a difference in addressing these challenges.
The Michael Madigan indictment highlighted the need for genuine ethics reform in Springfield that restores Illinois citizens’ confidence in government, and prevents the abuses of power that have become all too common in the state capital, and have persisted for decades. What is your vision for meaningful, lasting ethics reform in state governance?
Real, lasting ethics reform has been a priority of mine since day one. It’s critical that we restore the public’s faith and trust in government, and I have taken meaningful steps to continually improve the system so that it works for working families across Illinois, not the well-connected. In my first year in office, I pushed for and signed ethics reforms that strengthen statements of economic interest, increase lobbyist disclosure requirements, and require the creation of a publicly accessible and searchable database combining registered lobbyist disclosures, contributions by registered lobbyists and statements of economic interest.
Last year, I advocated for and signed a bipartisan comprehensive ethics package that included restricting the legislative revolving door, further limiting government officials from lobbying activities, tightening regulations and disclosure requirements on registered lobbyists and consultants, and expanding economic interest disclosures. I was also proud to make ethics reform for utility companies a centerpiece of my clean energy legislation.
The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act ended formula ratemaking, expanded statement of economic interest requirements, and required the Illinois Commerce Commission initiate an investigation into how ratepayer funds were used in connection with the conduct outlined in ComEd’s Deferred Prosecution Agreement. Ethics reform is not a one-time endeavor, considering bad actors always find a path toward corruption. I will continue to propose ethics reforms, and I stand ready and willing to work with the General Assembly to take new steps to root out corruption in our state.
Do you support making possible a referendum that would ask voters to approve a state constitutional amendment overhauling redistricting in Illinois by creating an independent citizens commission to oversee the decennial remap process? Please explain your answer.
Illinois’ strength is in our diversity, and the maps I signed last year help communities that have been left out and left behind achieve fairer representation in our government. I continue to support a constitutional amendment for an independent commission to draw the maps, something the General Assembly was unwilling or unable to pass in 2019.
Illinois has the second highest real estate property taxes in the country. Please lay out two ways that the state can provide a measure of relief to Illinois homeowners and citizens, and please be specific with your answer.
I have taken action to address the property tax burden statewide. For decades, police and fire pension systems have become increasingly underfunded, placing significant pressure on local governments to raise property taxes. In 2019, I proposed and signed the new law consolidating nearly 650 downstate and suburban first responders pension systems to lower costs and raise returns. Consolidation of police and fire pension systems has been attempted for more than 70 years, but working with the General Assembly, I was able to get this done in my first year in office. These consolidated funds are projected to save taxpayers billions of dollars over the coming 20 years and reduce the burden of property taxes. Already the consolidation has yielded significant savings.
Illinois state government has historically provided nearly the lowest percentage of school funding in the nation, leaving local school districts to carry an inordinate burden of paying for their schools. During my term in office, the General Assembly and I have increased state funding for schools, allowing school districts to alleviate the burden on property taxpayers. Finally, I proposed and signed into law a doubling of the tax rebate for homeowners up to $300 per household, helping working families deal with the current effects of inflation.
Runaway inflation continues to be a major source of concern for Illinois families. What specific measures should be undertaken at the state government level to help Illinois citizens and families cope with rising inflation that is causing undue economic hardship?
I was proud to sign the Fiscal Year 2023 budget into law, a budget that prioritizes and lifts up the working families of Illinois and those who have too often been left out and left behind. It will deliver $1.8 billion in relief to families through freezing the gas tax through the end of the year, saving consumers $70 million, eliminating the grocery tax for one year, saving consumers $400 million, and doubling the property tax rebate to $600 per household. 97 percent of income tax filers will also receive a direct check to help pay their monthly bills.
Additionally, the budget provides back-to-school tax relief to reduce costs for families and teachers in August and permanently expands the Earned Income Tax Credit, which benefits low- and moderate-income working people. All of these measures are designed to help working families deal with rising costs.
What should Illinois do to improve job growth across the state?
Improving job growth requires a holistic approach that centers around fiscal stability, workforce development, worker retention, and new business development.
As Governor, I’ve ushered in a new era of responsible fiscal stewardship. Previous administrations left Illinois’ finances in dire straits, but I have worked consistently to enact balanced budgets, eliminate the bill backlog, pay down debt, and achieve credit upgrades. By demonstrating fiscal responsibility, we’re making Illinois a place where people want to work and do business.
In 2019, I launched a five-year economic plan aimed at laying the foundation for long-term growth, reducing the equity gap, and attracting more workers and businesses to Illinois. We’re seeing the benefits of our efforts already: we’ve created hundreds of thousands of jobs, especially in fast-growing industries like information technology, transportation and logistics, life sciences, agricultural technology, and electric vehicle manufacturing. There were a record number of businesses created last year, including the most startups of any state in the Midwest, many corporations have chosen to relocate to or expand in Illinois, and we’ve expanded hiring opportunities for business owners through workforce development initiatives and apprenticeship tax credits.
Beginning in 2019, I cut taxes for 400,000 small businesses and provided tax incentives that have attracted billions of dollars of investment in industries such as data centers, electric vehicle manufacturing and clean energy production. My Rebuild Illinois capital plan is creating and supporting 500,000 jobs modernizing our airports, roads, bridges, and ports.
Finally, public safety is a vital component in the decision making of businesses choosing Illinois. That’s why, working with the General Assembly, I’ve taken a comprehensive approach to reducing crime in Illinois. We’ve hired more state police than at any time in the last decade, including the largest state police cadet class in history. We’ve funded the Gang Crime Witness Protection Program, invested in new state-of-the-art crime labs, and hired forensic scientists, DNA program specialists, and evidence technicians. We’ve invested $200 million in support of local police and provided new mental health and substance use treatment programs.
Through our Reimagine Public Safety program, we’re tackling the root causes of violence with an expansion of our successful youth summer jobs initiative and proven violence intervention programs. Illinois has never seen an effort this robust to fight and solve crime. Improving the business climate by lowering taxes, getting our fiscal house in order, and addressing public safety are key to improving job growth across Illinois.
Census 2020 figures showed that Illinois was just one of three states in the country to lose population over the previous decade. That cost the state a congressional seat. All but 15 of Illinois’ 102 counties lost population, according to the census. What should Illinois do to turn this trend around? (Editor’s note: This question was posed to candidates before new census figures were released showing Illinois’ population change was actually a modest gain.)
As Governor, I’ve taken enormous steps to reverse Illinois’ outmigration. Students are among the largest number of people leaving the state. Illinois has historically short-changed them by making college in-state unaffordable, and under Rauner, enrollment actually declined.
As Governor, I’ve made efforts to reverse outmigration by expanding college scholarships. I pushed for and achieved passage of the FAFSA application requirement so more high school seniors will be eligible for federal grants and increased funding for state colleges and universities.
Additionally, I’ve made investments in the foundation of a strong economy, like restoring fiscal stability, developing small businesses, creating jobs, and raising the minimum wage. Our small business efforts have yielded the highest growth of new small businesses among the most populous states and the highest growth in the Midwest. We’re preparing workers for the future with new Advanced Manufacturing Academies downstate, and we launched Rebuild Illinois, putting people to work rebuilding our roads and bridges.
Finally, we’re thinking creatively about the things that will attract new people to Illinois, such as strengthening the pipeline of healthcare workers and establishing minimum pay for teachers. Population growth comes not with simple platitudes or easy one-time solutions, but rather with sustained endeavors across multiple streams of effort, and that’s what I’ve worked to achieve.
In March, Department of Children and Family Services Director Marc Smith was cited an eighth time on a contempt of court order for failing to appropriately place a teen who was in the agency’s care into the proper setting. What should be done to address the agency’s shortage of proper shelter for children in DCFS care? What other reforms do you believe are needed at DCFS?
Former Governor Bruce Rauner decimated social services at DCFS, intentionally cutting 500 residential beds and refusing to pass a budget for over 700 days. Making improvements to this state agency is not like flipping a light switch: it requires ongoing investments and efforts.
As Governor, I’ve sought outside input on strategies and tactics to improve DCFS. As a result of those recommendations, we’ve increased DCFS’s budget by over $340 million, launched aggressive efforts to hire hundreds of additional staff, and eliminated the DCFS abuse and neglect reporting hotline backlog––reducing the percentage of calls requiring callbacks from 50% in 2019 to under 1% now.
DCFS has also overhauled its technology, led trainings for every staff member, and is working hard to create needed placements for children. Importantly, DCFS has bolstered its provider network and intends to hire an additional 360 DCFS staff this year and next. The agency has made improvements––but there’s still work to do––and those who seek to use our most vulnerable as political pawns don’t deserve to lead our state.
Rising violent crime continues to be Chicago’s top priority. Numbers of homicides, shootings and carjackings are all unacceptably high. What should Springfield do to help reverse the rise in violent crime in Chicago and elsewhere in the metro region and state?
Every neighborhood and every home in Illinois deserves to be free from violence, and I am committed to continuing to make the state as safe as possible for everyone. On my third day in office, I signed legislation creating the Firearm Dealer License Certification Act, requiring any gun dealer in the State of Illinois to be certified by ISP, and creating the Gun Trafficking Information Act, requiring ISP to publish key information related to crime-related firearms and impose penalties on individuals who fail to maintain a record of a private sale. I was also proud to sign legislation that modernized the Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card system and will expand background checks on all gun sales in Illinois. ISP has significantly reduced the backlog of DNA and rape kit evidence. Last year, I declared gun violence a public health crisis and required relevant state agencies to work with the new Office of Firearm Violence Prevention (OFVP) to address the systemic causes of firearm violence and to develop trauma-informed and equity-based strategies.
Since taking office in 2019, I have more than doubled violence prevention funding, with the state appropriating $507 million for violence prevention, diversion, and youth employment programs in FY22, including $125 million in funds made available from the American Rescue Plan Act. The Fiscal Year 2023 budget builds on those investments and includes funding for the largest state police class in Illinois history, $8 million for Redeploy Illinois, which reduces incarcerations and prevents crime, and more than $200 million to support public safety measures, invest in the tools law enforcement needs to prevent and solve crimes, and support violence prevention programs that keep communities safe.
We’ve hired more state police than at any time in the last decade, including the largest state police cadet class in history. In order to successfully reduce crime, we must provide law enforcement with the tools they need to act quickly. That’s why we’ve funded the Gang Crime Witness Protection Program, invested in new state-of-the-art crime labs, and hired forensic scientists, DNA program specialists, and evidence technicians.
Give us your assessment of the overhaul of the state’s criminal justice system that was passed by the General Assembly in January 2021. Will it help or hinder efforts to rein in crime? In your answer, please indicate whether you support or oppose the provision within that legislation that abolishes cash bail in 2023, and explain the rationale for your viewpoint on that provision.
Crime is a complex and multi-faceted problem to tackle, and it’s cynical and counter-productive to simply shout ‘lock them up’ while providing fewer resources to the people and programs that prevent crime in the first place. That’s why throughout my term in office I’ve consistently made significant additional investments in support of public safety officers and violence prevention programs. While the abolition of cash bail has not gone into effect yet, its purpose is to keep violent offenders in jail during pre-trial detention while not incarcerating those accused of low-level non-violent offenses simply because they cannot afford bail. I remain supportive of making improvements to the SAFE-T Act that help us achieve our goals to reduce crime and make the system fairer.
Give us the best example of when you displayed independence from your party or staked out an unpopular position.
Illinois was in a deep fiscal hole in the years before I was sworn into the governorship, but step by step, we are putting Illinois on firm fiscal footing. Many in my party thought we should use federal funds to support new programs or stand up initiatives that would have no long-term funding solutions — but fiscal responsibility means paying down our debts before taking on new ones. With my encouragement, and even with some who disagreed on the need for limited expenditures, the General Assembly has passed and I have signed four balanced budgets in a row. As a result, and with no help from the Republicans in the General Assembly, Illinois has earned its third credit upgrade in more than two decades.
Sum up why should voters nominate you and not your opponent(s).
Throughout the pandemic and some of our state’s darkest hours, I have endeavored to lead with conviction and compassion––providing strong leadership through tough times. I’ve put Illinois on firmer fiscal footing by balancing the budget every year, reducing our pension liability by more than any previous governor, restoring our Rainy Day Fund to its highest level ever, eliminating our unpaid bill backlog, and achieving the state’s first credit upgrades in more than 20 years. I brought Republicans and Democrats together to achieve bipartisan victories on police and fire pension reform, business incentives, ethics reform, and infrastructure investment, something the previous administration failed to do.
I’ve rebuilt the ranks of the Illinois State Police, doubled investments in violence prevention programs, and expanded mental health and substance use treatment. I’ve delivered on campaign promises, from raising the minimum wage to providing college scholarships to all 155,000 eligible applicants, to achieving the highest growth of new business creation in Illinois history.
I’ve supported individual civil and human rights by signing into law equal pay for equal work, codifying women’s reproductive rights even if Roe v. Wade is overturned, and leading the fight against climate change with the most comprehensive clean energy law in the nation. I’m delighted at how much we’ve been able to accomplish together in just three years, and I remain committed to tackling ongoing challenges.
If reelected, I’m determined to deliver even more historic progress for families across Illinois.
