Kevin Olickal, Illinois House 16th District Democratic candidate profile

His top priorities include property tax reform, health care reform and equitable school funding.

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Kevin Olickal, 2020 Illinois House 16th District Democratic primary election candidate

Kevin Olickal, Illinois House 16th District Democratic primary candidate.

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Candidate profile

Kevin Olickal

Running for: State Representative 16th District

Political/civic background: After several years working on successful political campaigns and in government constituent outreach, I now serve as Executive Director at the Indo-American Democratic Organization, advocating on behalf of the South-Asian American community to grow socio-economic equity, working on issues such as immigration reform to ensure they have the resources they need to gain equal representation in government.

Occupation: Executive Director at the Indo-American Democratic Organization

Education: BS, Biology, The Ohio State University

Campaign website: kevinolickal.com

Facebook: @kevinfor16th

Twitter: @kevinfor16th

Instagram: @kevinfor16th


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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. Kevin Olickal 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 several years working on successful political campaigns and in government constituent outreach, I now serve as Executive Director at the Indo-American Democratic Organization, advocating on behalf of the South-Asian American community to grow socio-economic equity, working on issues such as immigration reform to ensure they have the resources they need to gain equal representation in government.

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. 

Property Tax Reform

Healthcare Reform

Equitable School Funding

What are your other top legislative priorities? 

Campaign Finance and Lobbying Reform

Investing in clean energy

Reforming our regressive property tax system

Protecting women’s access to reproductive health services

Investing in higher education

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

I strongly support Governor Pritzker’s graduated income tax. I believe that ultra-wealthy should pay their fair share in taxes, and we should not be balancing budgets on the backs of those already living paycheck to paycheck.

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 Fair Tax Proposal would bring in $3.4 billion more per year than our current flat tax, which is crucial to paying down our backlog while ensuring the middle-class isn’t bearing the brunt of this burden. Additionally, I will continue to support pension consolidation measures, such as the recently signed SB1300, which will allow us to make smarter investments without diminishing hard-working employees’ retirement funds. It is important that we also close loopholes that allow the wealthy and politically connected to avoid their responsibilities. Almost 2/3rds of corporations in Illinois pay nothing in income tax. We must also consider implementing the Lasalle street tax.

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

I do not support taxing retirement income. Seniors on fixed incomes are already facing rising property taxes and medical care, and I believe a tax on retirement income would increase instability for the members of our community who are growing more vulnerable.

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

We have a constitutional mandate that the state has the “primary responsibility for financing the system of public education.” The state has not fulfilled that responsibility. Ensuring our local public schools are adequately and equitably funded is fundamental to a thriving community. To stem the tide of outward migration and reinvigorate social mobility, Illinois must reform our broken property tax system and invest more into our new education funding formula to ensure that a child’s access to a good school isn’t dependent on the wealth of their neighborhood.

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

Under our current laws, a man convicted of a violent felony across the country was able to legally obtain a FOID card and purchase a firearm, which he later used to end five innocent lives in an Aurora factory this year. Illinois must require universal background checks with fingerprinting for firearm purchases. Additionally, we must ensure our law enforcement agencies are equipped with the resources and proper training they need to confiscate firearms from individuals who fail to return them upon having their FOID cards revoked. We must support efforts to stop the flow of illegal guns in our state. In communities that struggle with gun violence we must increase funding for youth programs that keep kids in safe and productive environments.

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

I do not believe term limits are the solution. We need to implement campaign finance, lobbying, and ethics reforms to ensure that power is not consolidated in the hands of a few.

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? 

It is my priority to ensure that the voices of minorities are not diluted during the remap process. I support a bipartisan redistricting commission that will ensure that every map is fairly drawn and no community is left without fair representation.

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? 

I support SB1639 and its efforts to increase transparency. We must extend transparency and accountability measures beyond lobbyists to public officials as well, including restrictions on conflicts of interest, full financial disclosure of investments and properties owned by government officials, and restrictions and disclosure on the “revolving door” between the private sector and the public sector. This would include a 5 year ban on lobbying for former legislators.

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? 

The Legislature should pass a measure like the 100th General Assembly’s Right to Know Act (HB2774) which would require websites to inform users of their data practices before collecting any information and notify consumers when their information is shared with a third party. The state should follow privacy laws passed by California which allows consumers to access their own data and request that it be deleted.

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? 

For decades our state has failed to properly fund our public colleges and universities. Many of these institutions and their surrounding communities were crippled by the 2 year budget impasse and are still recovering. We must increase our investment in higher education and put Illinois on a path to tuition free college for Illinois residents. A good first step is to expand funding for the Aim High Grant Program, which allows public universities to provide scholarships to students from working families.

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

We must end subsidies to companies like ComEd and accelerate investments in clean energy. We must pass legislation like the Clean Energy Jobs Act to get our state on track to zero carbon emissions by 2050. We have an opportunity to show the world that we can retool a massive economy to be carbon free and create jobs at the same time. I also support a state-wide ban on fracking. The state needs to work with neighboring states to ensure that we are protecting our Great Lakes as well.

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. 

Jane Addams, the founder of the Hull House, built a community where Chicago’s immigrants could thrive through education.

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

The Wire. The show teaches viewers about the flaws in our criminal justice system, public schools, and our political system. There is nothing like it.

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