Democratic candidate for Illinois House in the 31st District: Mary E. Flowers

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On Feb. 16, Mary Flowers appeared before the Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board. We asked her about running for re-election to the Illinois House of Representatives in the 31st District:

Hi, I’m state representative Mary Flowers of the 31st District, and I am a full-time legislator in the Illinois House of Representatives. My top priorities for this session would be to create my own state bank for the state of Illinois, like North Dakota. I would like to have Medicare for all so everyone can have access to health care, and more importantly, we need a financial transaction tax in the state. In order to build the infrastructure to create jobs. To make schools affordable. To help build roads and bridges. So those are the main three things I’ll be working on in Springfield.

I’m going to work across the aisle with both sets of colleagues to get them to understand the importance of everyone having health care. The importance of everyone being able to have access to a good education, and in order to do that, education needs to be affordable and attainable. We can also do that with a financial transaction tax and we need our own state bank. North Dakota has its own state bank. They don’t have to worry about raising the property taxes on their constituents. They don’t have to worry about borrowing at a high-interest rate. They don’t have to worry about putting taxes, fees and fines into two or three water bills on their constituents in order to raise revenue, in order to run their city or their state.

The Chicago Sun-Times sent the candidates seeking nominations for the Illinois House of Representatives a list of questions to find out their views on a range of important issues facing the state of Illinois. Mary Flowers submitted the following answers to our questionnaire:

TOPIC: Top priorities

QUESTION: Please explain what your specific cause or causes will be. Please avoid a generic topic or issue in your answer.

ANSWER: Under Gov. Rauner’s leadership, enrollment in the Child Care Assistance Program decreased by 48,000; 40,000 seniors were nearly stripped of homecare through the Community Care Program; tens of thousands of Illinois households didn’t receive federal food stamp benefits leading up to the holidays because of problems with a state computer system; 13 residents of the state-run Quincy Veterans’ Home died from Legionnaire’s disease, and this is just the beginning of issues that have plagued the governor’s administration. My top priorities are and will continue to be standing up to the Trump/Rauner agenda and protecting the well-being of children, seniors, working families and the most vulnerable members of our community.

Mary E. Flowers

Legislative District: 31

Political/civic background: State Representative since 1984; received 1993 “Legislator of the Year” award from Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association

Occupation: Full-time state legislator

Education:Attended Kennedy King Community College

Campaign website: n/a

TOPIC: Top district needs

QUESTION: Please list three district-specific needs that will be your priorities. This could be a project that is needed in your district, or a rule that needs to be changed, or some federal matter that has been ignored.

ANSWER:

• Ensuring healthcare coverage for all families
• Increased investment in education
• Economic development, including an increased minimum wage

TOPIC: Pension debt

QUESTION: In 2017, Illinois’ unfunded pension liability ballooned to at least $130 billion. Do you support re-amortizing this debt? Please explain your answer. And what is your position on a constitutional amendment that would reduce the liability of the pension debt?

ANSWER: I am committed to preserving the pension benefits people have earned. I believe that any changes to state pensions should be made with all stakeholders at the table, and not on the backs of middle-class families.

TOPIC: Minimum wage

QUESTION: Cook County and Chicago are on their way to paying a $13 hourly minimum wage. Many suburbs in the county, however, have opted out of the wage increase. Should Illinois raise its minimum wage from $8.25 an hour? Please explain. And if you favor an increase in the state minimum wage, what should it be?

ANSWER: The minimum wage needs to be a living wage, which is why I voted to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour.

TOPIC: Pot

QUESTION: Should recreational marijuana be legalized in Illinois? Please explain.

ANSWER:I have voted to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, which would reduce the number of non-violent offenders who are currently incarcerated.

TOPIC: Casinos

QUESTION: Would you support more casinos in Illinois, including in Chicago. What about racinos? Please explain.

ANSWER: I do not support further expansion of gambling.

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TOPIC: Property tax freeze

QUESTION: A property tax freeze in Illinois has been proposed frequently since Gov. Bruce Rauner took office. What’s your position? If you favor a freeze, how many years should it last? Should the freeze exclude property tax increases to service the debt, make pension payments or cover the cost of public safety? Again, please explain.

ANSWER: I supported a four-year property tax freeze, which included provisions to ensure voter-approved debt service and pension obligations, as well as legislation that expands exemptions for middle-class families, seniors and veterans.

TOPIC: School funding

QUESTION: A revised school funding formula was approved this year by the Legislature and the governor, but a bipartisan commission has concluded that billions more dollars are needed to achieve sufficient and equitable funding. Should Illinois spend more on schools, and where would the money come from?

ANSWER: Yes. The revised school funding formula that was approved by the Legislature this year did not do enough to provide a quality education to all children or to address the disparities between the haves and the have nots.

TOPIC: Opioid abuse

QUESTION: How can the Legislature best address the problem of opioid abuse and addiction? Please cite specific laws you have supported or would support.

ANSWER:

• I helped pass the Heroin Crisis Act, which takes a number of critical steps to expand access to the lifesaving overdose prevention medication Naloxone, train first responders in dealing with an overdose, and expand access to treatment.
• Working with medical professionals and the Department of Human Services, I am working to launch a comprehensive website that will provide critical information to help parents and educators have informed, honest conversations with young people about the dangerous of heroin, opioids and other drugs.
• I have supported including enacting a “Good Samaritan” law that ensures those who are overdosing or are trying to help someone from overdosing can receive medical treatment without fear of arrest.
• I voted to require prescriptions for the most powerfully addictive drugs come in locked bottles.

Meanwhile, in a Facebook post from Dec. 20, 2017, my opponent asked whether opioid abuse and addiction is even a problem impacting the 31st District.

TOPIC: Guns

QUESTION: Do you support a state ban on gun silencers? Please explain.

ANSWER: Yes

QUESTION: Should all gun dealers in Illinois be licensed by the state? Please explain.

ANSWER: Yes. I was a co-sponsor of House Bill 2541 and Senate Bill 1657.

QUESTION: Should family members be empowered to petition courts for the temporary removal of guns from emotionally or mentally disturbed people who may be a danger to themselves or others? Please explain.

ANSWER: Yes

TOPIC: Medicaid

QUESTION: What would you do to ensure the long-term viability of the state’s Medicaid program? Do you support continued Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act? Should the state continue on a path toward managed care for Medicaid beneficiaries? Should everyone be permitted to buy into Medicaid?

ANSWER: I oppose Gov. Rauner’s destructive Medicaid privatization scheme and support expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. A state-level public option would ensure all residents have access to affordable, life-saving care while also providing alternatives to large insurance companies that make billions every year by raising premiums and denying care.

TOPIC: College student exodus

QUESTION: Illinois is one of the largest exporters of college students in the country. What would you do to encourage the best and brightest young people in Illinois to attend college here at home? Does Illinois have too many state universities, as some have argued?

ANSWER: We need to properly invest in our colleges, universities and financial aid system. Bruce Rauner’s budget crisis slashed funding for higher education by billions of dollars and blocked funding for need-based financial aid for more than 700 days.

I supported legislation to end the governor’s budget crisis and properly fund higher education and financial aid for Illinois students. I also voted for a plan that would make college in Illinois debt-free for any student who earns a B-average of better.

TOPIC: Gov. Rauner

QUESTION: Please list three of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s principles, or decisions he has made, with which you agree. Also please list three of the governor’s principles, or decisions he has made, with which you disagree.

ANSWER: As I noted previously, under Gov. Rauner’s leadership, enrollment in the Child Care Assistance Program decreased by 48,000; 40,000 seniors were nearly stripped of homecare through the Community Care Program; tens of thousands of Illinois households didn’t receive federal food stamp benefits leading up to the holidays because of problems with a state computer system; 13 residents of the state-run Quincy Veterans’ Home died from Legionnaire’s disease, and this is just the beginning of issues that have plagued the governor’s administration.

From applauding Trump’s plan to strip health care coverage from millions of Illinois families to using critical services like Meals on Wheels, breast cancer screenings and services for children with developmental disabilities as leverage to advance his extreme agenda, the governor has refused to lead when leadership would require him to stand up to President Trump’s plans to benefit the ultra-wealthy at the expense of Illinois’ working families.