In January 2024, Chicago Sun-Times/WBEZ editors emailed a questionnaire to candidates in contested March 19 primary races for the Illinois General Assembly, requesting biographical information as well as their views on issues ranging from corruption in state politics to Illinois’ longstanding pension crisis. Answers have been lightly edited for typos, minor grammar and consistency in styling, but not for content or length. Age was calculated as of Feb. 6, 2024.
Geary Yonker: If we want the people of Illinois to support big ideas then they need to trust us with their tax dollars. I believe one of the core causes of corruption in Illinois is our unique practice of allowing members of the State Senate and General Assembly to be paid lobbyist while they are currently in office, as long as they do not lobby the body they are part of. This unbelievable practice was one the factors that led to the indictment of Speaker Madigan and other elected officials in Illinois. We should ban Illinois legislators from working as paid lobbyists while they are in office and for 3 years after the leave office.
Geary Yonker: Our state’s pension situation will not be solved until we finally adopt a Graduated Income Tax. Everything else is just window dressing. We need to fight to put this measure back on the ballot. A graduated income tax will finally solve our ongoing pension issues and will not raise the taxes of the overwhelming majority of tax payers in Illinois.
Geary Yonker: First we need to acknowledge where we are. Things did not return to “normal” when our economy re-opened after the pandemic. The pandemic inflicted severe damage to our small business community, dramatically changed consumer habits, and showed the real vulnerabilities we have in our supply chain. Instead of taking inventory of these developments and attempting to learn from them, we’ve instead just plowed forward in this “new normal.” It is a normal that is more unequal than before, with even more wealth being concentrated at the top. We need to stop, realize where we are, and turn around. We need to rebuild our local economy into one that benefits more stakeholders up and down organizations and not only the shareholders at the top. We need to realize that small business are one of things that make living in this city so special and are integral parts of our communities. We need to re-invigorate the rich history of small manufacturing on the northwest side and use our existing infrastructure to bring in new green good-paying jobs to our communities. We need to work with our brothers and sisters in the trades and teach a whole new generation of young people how they can create a great life for themselves and their families by working with their hands. All roads, rails, and flight paths lead through Chicago and we should be the fulfillment center of this continent. We need to be Chicago again. Not just a place for tech companies to have a Midwest outpost but place that makes things, moves things, and builds things.
Geary Yonker: Politicians should not be able to pick their voters. We should start working now on a plan to create an independent body to draw the new maps after the 2030 Census.
Geary Yonker: Working families in our city and state are hurting, and while every candidate in this race will say that they care about working families, we are the only campaign that is putting forth real solutions in our Action Plan for Working Families. We knocked on over 5,000 doors and spoke to 3,000 voters this past Fall, and from Belmont Cragin to Bucktown people brought up the same concerns: the cost of housing, the cost of child care, the cost of groceries, and public safety.
We have a housing affordability crisis in this city that is caused by a number of factors. Wages are not keeping up with increases in rents and property taxes, there is a shortage of new affordable housing being built, and we give rental property owners the wrong tax incentives. The state of Illinois can do much more in funding the construction of more 100% affordable housing units. We can control property taxes by finding more progressive state funding solutions. Then we can incentivize rental property owners to rehab and bring back online housing that is in disrepair or has been purposefully left vacant for tax purposes. We can build our way out of this crisis with the right investments.
The signal largest focus of our campaign is strengthening families by the expanding state programs that offset the costs of child care and elder care. We will propose a dramatic expansion of the Child Care Assistance Program so that more young families will not have to spend one third of their income on child care and we will have more equitable access to quality child care services. This expansion of state funded child care services MUST go hand in hand with wage increases within the childcare industry to reward the people who are helping raise our children.
I have not only raised two kids in the city and paid over $3000 a month for child care, but I have also cared for an ailing parent in my own home. My dad had a severe stroke, was paralyzed on one side of his body, and required around the clock care. We made the decision to bring Dad into our home and to care to him as a family with the help of a caregiver. The assistance these caregivers provided made caring for Dad in our home possible and he was able to live out the final years of his life surrounded by the love of his family. All residents of Illinois who require such care and meet the requirements should have access to quality at-home care and these essential care givers should be compensated accordingly for the incredible work that they do.
One of the most common concerns voters bring up to us is the cost of groceries. The State of Illinois should permanently abolish the state sales tax on groceries and increase the tax on ecommerce transactions in Illinois. The tax burden should fall on those who choose to do their purchases online and not on the working families that shop in brick & mortar stores. There should be a cost for convenience. The State should also be doing everything possible to keep expanding access to grocery stores and creating tax incentives for the building of new grocery stores in food deserts.
The last pillar of our Action Plan for Working Families is public safety. Families cannot thrive if they are not safe. While overall crime statistics have gone down in Chicago, we have a specific problem with armed robberies that plagues our district from Belmont Cragin to Bucktown. We need to go after the organizers of these armed robbery sprees and not just young perpetrators. If we never target the organizers will never be able to stem this tide. We also lose too many of our young people to gun violence. We have to rebuild our communities and do everything we can to stop the flow of illegal guns into Illinois from neighboring states. The essential trust between law enforcement and the people of Illinois must be rebuilt. All families, regardless of their zip code, deserve to live in safe neighborhoods.
Every campaign in this race is going to say they care about working families. We are the only campaign putting forth a real plan to create stronger and more thriving families. Families are the foundation of this state.
Geary Yonker: I didn’t move to Chicago to run for office. I was born here. I wasn’t given a State Senate seat as a gift. The gift my family gave me was a work ethic and a belief in everyday people. And I’m sure as hell not some rich doctor from Lincoln Park. I have lived in this district for the past 30 years, for the past 22 years on the west side of Logan Square, raising my family and organizing my community. I worked together with my neighbors to fight and win millions of dollars of improvements to our neighborhoods parks. I have brought thousands of people together every summer for 15 years to celebrate our diverse and dynamic community. I’ve knocked on doors and won hard fought campaigns for progressive causes and candidates. Now I am humbly asking for the opportunity to take that passion, that ethic, and those beliefs to another level and to serve as your representative in the Illinois State Senate.
