Denyse Wang Stoneback, Illinois House 16th District Democratic candidate profile

Her top priorities include gun violence prevention, school funding and women’s reproductive rights.

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Denyse Wang Stoneback, 2020 Illinois House 16th District Democratic primary election candidate.

Denyse Wang Stoneback, Illinois House 16th District Democratic primary candidate.

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Candidate profile

Denyse Wang Stoneback

Running for: State Representative in District 16

Political/civic background: I am a community activist and organizer, having founded the nonprofit organization People for a Safer Society, which has raised awareness, educated the public, and advocated for and helped pass gun violence prevention legislation. This is my first time running for office.

Occupation: Independent contractor (project management)

Education: B.A. in Criminology and Law Studies and Spanish from Marquette University, M.A. in Translation (Spanish/English) from Complutense University of Madrid, Spain

Campaign website: denyseforstaterep.com

Facebook: @DenyseforStateRep

Instagram: @electdenysestoneback


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The Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board sent candidates 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 and their districts. Denyse Wang Stoneback submitted the following responses:

Please tell us about your civic work in the last two years, whether it’s legislation you have sponsored or work you have done in other ways to improve your community. 

After the Sandy Hook School shooting, I founded the Illinois gun violence prevention nonprofit People for a Safer Society. As its president for six years, I led the fight to stop the opening of the state’s largest gun shop and range in Niles, IL, near multiple schools and children’s recreational facilities. I also helped pass landmark state legislation, including the Combating Illegal Gun Trafficking Act and the Firearms Restraining Order Act, making our children and communities safer.

In addition, I helped lead the effort to convince the Skokie Village Board to not opt out of Cook County’s minimum wage and paid sick leave ordinance.

Please list three concerns that are specific to your district, such as a project that should be undertaken or a state policy related to an important local issue that should be revised. 

In addition to those listed below, my top three local concerns are the lack of affordable housing, the continued presence of lead water service pipes, and underfunded local government pensions.

What are your other top legislative priorities? 

My top legislative priorities are reducing gun violence, reducing property taxes by fully funding our schools, protecting reproductive rights, improving public education, improving healthcare, and working on environmental concerns.

What is your position on Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed graduated income tax? Please explain. 

I fully support the proposed amendment for a graduated income tax. Our state continues to have a structural deficit which will never be resolved under the flat tax system, because it overburdens working families and allows the top 1% to pay a lower percentage of state income tax.

Illinois continues to struggle financially, with a backlog of unpaid bills that tops $6 billion. In addition to a progressive state income tax — or in lieu of such a tax — what should the state do to pay its bills, meet its pension obligations and fund core services such as higher education? 

The state still needs to modernize its sales tax system by taxing high-end services, which is the fastest growing segment of the economy. At the same time, we should close corporate tax loopholes.

Regarding pensions, we first need to make sure that the payments are always made because skipping payments is the reason we have this situation. I also support considering refinancing pension debt at a flat rate over the next 25 to 30 years.

Should Illinois consider taxing the retirement incomes of its very wealthiest residents, as most states do? And your argument is? 

I oppose any retirement income tax as long as we have a flat tax provision in the Illinois Constitution.

What can Illinois do to improve its elementary and high schools? 

The most important step to improving the public preK-12 system is to fully fund the evidence- based funding formula. This formula funnels new revenue to the schools with the highest need. Funding will enable them to hire teachers and more support services for students and their parents.

Given the shortage of teachers, steps need to be taken to foster more teachers to enter the profession.

Mass shootings and gun violence plague America. What can or should the Legislature do, if anything, to address this problem in Illinois? 

There is much that should be done. First, we need to fix the Firearms Owner Identification (FOID) card system by supporting legislation such as the BIO bill, Blocking Illegal Ownership. The current legislature failed to achieve this. We need to strengthen the application system by making fingerprinting mandatory and requiring an in-person application. We must also require a background check for every gun sale. In addition, legislators can help educate their constituents about existing laws and newly enacted laws, such as the Firearms Restraining Order law, which went into effect January 1, 2019.

I support banning military-style assault weapons, large capacity magazines, and ghost guns. We should maintain schools as gun-free zones and establish the same for places of worship. We also need to fund violence prevention programs, especially in underserved areas most affected by gun violence. This represents the start of what I consider a larger agenda that would help protect our communities from gun violence.

Do you favor or oppose term limits for any elected official in Illinois? Please explain. 

While establishing legislative tenure enables knowledge, I am open to considering term limits for legislative leaders.

Everybody says gerrymandering is bad, but the party in power in every state — Democrats in Illinois — resist doing anything about it. Or do we have that wrong? What should be done? 

I believe redistricting reform is needed to move Illinois forward and put the people’s interests ahead of the politicians’ interests. However, we need a plan that will also include fair representation and protect all Illinois citizens.

An independent, transparent redistricting process that ensures communities are fully and fairly represented in the legislature and that complies with federal law would protect the integrity of the democratic process and restore citizens’ faith that their votes matter.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago is investigating possible official corruption by state and local officials. This prompted the Legislature to pass an ethics reform measure to amend the Lobbyist Registration Act (SB 1639). It was signed into law in December. What’s your take on this and what more should be done? 

For Illinois to successfully fight corruption, I believe we need to move towards allowing small donor matching funds for elections, or at least find ways to limit contributions in light of the Citizens United decision. We must also end the revolving door between the legislature and lobbying firms. Legislators should not be allowed to serve as lobbyists while in the legislature and for a period of years following retirement from the legislature. We must immediately implement stronger and more transparent conflict of interest and ethics rules with teeth for all government officials.

When people use the internet and wireless devices, companies collect data about us. Oftentimes, the information is sold to other companies, which can use it to track our movements or invade our privacy in other ways. When companies share this data, we also face a greater risk of identity theft. What should the Legislature do, if anything? 

To protect privacy and reduce the threat of identity theft we must pass legislation to keep up with the changing world in which we live. I support efforts to restrict the extent to which a company can collect, use, and sell personal data. Earlier this year, a bill prohibiting Internet device manufacturers from collecting audio from internet-connected devices without consumers’ consent passed through the Illinois Senate but stalled in the House. I would have supported this legislation.

The number of Illinois public high school graduates who enroll in out-of-state universities continues to climb. What can Illinois do to make its state universities more attractive to Illinois high school students? 

The state’s financial situation has taken a toll on our universities. Fixing Illinois’ budget will help improve the situation. We can start by restoring funding to our public universities and colleges, and then continue to increase it at least at the rate of inflation. At the same time, I support making community colleges tuition-free as an economic development policy. I also support efforts which place tuition for our 4-year public universities on a graduated structure, securing affordable places for students of working-class families while still requiring students from higher-income families to pay full tuition. This could be done by increasing the $50,000 household income qualifying threshold for University of Illinois’ “Illinois Promise” grant throughout the state.

What is your top legislative priority with respect to the environment? 

My top priority is to establish aggressive environmental policies that put our state on track towards 100% renewable energy by the year 2050. This includes passage of the Clean Energy Jobs Act and cutting carbon pollution from the power sector by 2030.

What historical figure from Illinois, other than Abraham Lincoln (because everybody’s big on Abe), do you most admire or draw inspiration from? Please explain. 

As an activist and community organizer, I am inspired by Jane Addams’ relentless work and commitment to the common good. Born in Cedarville, Illinois in 1860, Jane Addams was a college-educated woman who was ahead of her time. She founded Chicago’s Hull House, a settlement house to provide community services to ease poverty. She believed that women’s voices should be heard and dedicated her life to public service.

As an advocate for nonviolent social change, she worked to bridge the gap between ideals and action, helping the poor and most marginalized of society. She was an advocate for workers’ rights, labor unions, immigrants, and she was a strong proponent of African-American civil rights. She founded the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom in 1919. She was among the co-founders of the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.

Jane Addams made a profound difference, significantly improving the lives of some of Illinois’ most vulnerable people. As a state legislator, I will strive to do the same.

What’s your favorite TV, streaming or web-based show of all time. Why? 

I have enjoyed watching the series “Madam Secretary,” which mirrors issues being addressed in our nation today, and depicts a strong female leader who has the wisdom and knowledge to move the country in the right direction.

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