Illinois House 43rd District Democratic nominee: Anna Moeller

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Democrat Anna Moeller is the Sun-Times’ endorsed candidate in the 43rd district Illinois House race. Moeller faces Republican Andrew Cuming in the 43rd district in the general election.

On Sept. 19, Moeller appeared before the Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board. Watch the video above to find out why she’s running.


The Chicago Sun-Times also 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.

Moeller submitted the following answers to our questionnaire.


Please explain what cause or causes you will make priorities. 

Moeller: My priorities have been and continue to be:

  • Ensuring a balanced state budget that adequately funds K-12 education community colleges, critical mental health and other social services;
  • Lowering the burden of property taxes;
  • Closing the gender wage gap and giving women a greater voice in state government;
  • Environmental protection and the creation of clean energy jobs;
  • Gun law reforms such as gun dealer licensing and banning bump stock modifications that increase a gun’s lethality;
  • Protecting seniors and preserving their access to in-home services that keep them independent and out of nursing homes.

Who is Anna Moeller?

She’s running for: Illinois House of Representatives, 43rd District Her political/civic background:

  • Appointed State Representative in March 2014.
  • Elected in 2014 and Re-elected in 2016.
  • Former Elgin City Councilmember (2011 to 2014)
  • Former member of the Elgin Planning and Development Commission
  • Former member of the Elgin Human Relations Commission
  • Former Vice-President of the Northeast Neighborhood Association
  • Former PTO Treasurer at Channing Elementary School
  • Former ESL tutor for the Literacy Connection.
  • Former Executive Director of the McHenry County Council of Governments.

Her occupation: State Representative Her education: BA History, NIU and MPA, NIU Campaign website: annamoeller.org Twitter: @annamoeller


Please list three concerns that are highly specific to your district, such as a project that should be undertaken or a state policy related to some local issue that must be changed. 

Moeller: My district includes U-46, the second largest school district in the state and therefore school funding and ensuring a high quality education for students is an important and ongoing issue in my district. Because of the diverse socio-economic make up of the communities I serve, property tax rates are high but per-pupil funding for education is at or below the state average. This dynamic reflected the regressive and unfair education funding system the state had employed for decades. I have been a strong supporter of changing our funding formula to ensure that the quality of a child’s education is not related to his or her zip code. I supported the evidenced-based education funding formula that provides an additional $350 million to schools across the state. We need to ensure that we continue to fund our schools at the levels prescribed in the new funding formula and monitor to ensure that these monies are improving educational outcomes.

Property taxes are a concern in my district and it is the most common concern that I hear from residents. The bill that created the education funding formula that I referenced above included a companion provision to provide $50 million in property tax relief throughout the state. That was a good first step. The state needs to go further in reforming our tax structure so that the burden for paying for education does not fall so heavily on local property taxes.

Many of the communities in my district have historic commercial residential districts and have worked hard to attract new investment in their communities. I have been a strong supporter of providing economic development tools including the Rivers’ Edge Tax Credit and Historic Preservation Tax Credit to help leverage investment, create new jobs and bring old buildings back into productive use.

What are the most important differences between you and your opponent? 

Moeller: During my time in office, I have been a strong voice advocating for issues the that my constituents care about in my district. As a full-time legislator, I have endeavored to work in a bipartisan fashion to pass legislation to improve the quality of life for Illinoisans. These include working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to end the budget impasse, policies to ensure equal pay for equal work for women, support for labor unions and collective bargaining rights, pro-environmental initiatives to create clean energy jobs and address climate change, tax reforms to lessen the reliance on property taxes to fund education, reasonable gun safety measures like banning bump stocks and strengthening background checks and licensing gun dealers, legislation to protect the Community Care Program to allow seniors to stay in their homes and out of nursing homes and more.

My opponent characterizes himself as a “Ron Paul Republican” and anti-government libertarian. I believe that residents in my district understand the differences between me and my opponent and how we address the issues that are important to them.


SUN-TIMES 2018 ILLINOIS VOTING GUIDE


Illinois is now the sixth-most populated state, down from No. 5, after 33,703 people moved out between July 2016 and July 2017. What must the Legislature do to make Illinois a more desirable place to live? 

Moeller: Illinois’ population loss is a concern because it limits economic growth in the state. The reasons for the declines are complicated and cannot be attributed to one factor. According to the Better Government Association and Migration Policy Institute, immigration drove population growth in Chicago and Illinois during the 1990s, but has slowed substantially since the Great Recession in 2007 when fewer immigrants from primarily Mexico, migrated to the US. Meanwhile, the numbers of both African-American and non-Hispanic white residents have declined in recent years. That has had a modest impact on population numbers in the Chicago area, but a much steeper one downstate, a trend that tracks with mostly rural counties throughout the Midwest. The loss of manufacturing jobs has contributed to the decline as has the long-term trend of retirees seeking warmer climates in the South. While we have no control over the reasons people leave for warmer climates, we do have the ability to craft policies that attract new industries and investments to the state. A good recent example and something we should be doing more of, is the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA), that I co-sponsored and was passed in 2016. Because of FEJA, the state is seeing a substantial increase in the number of solar companies investing in Illinois. We need to be creative in identifying and attracting new industries like the clean energy sector.

The state’s financial instability and regressive tax structure that relies too heavily on local property taxes to fund public services has also led to a loss of confidence in Illinois. In recent years, thousands of students have left Illinois due to the lack of higher ed funding during budget impasse. Furthermore, many families with children who have developmental disabilities have waited on the state’s PUNS list for several years to receive services. And families have seen their property taxes soar because state school funding levels fell short for so long. The state’s lack of funding in these areas has led many families and young people to leave our state. We need to ensure that the state is providing adequate funding and support for these important programs.

Finally, the constant negative drumbeat about Illinois from political interest groups and even our own current Governor have not helped to attract new families or investment or give confidence to those already living here. We shouldn’t be naïve about or downplay our challenges, but we can change the narrative around them. I am hopeful that we can shift from focusing solely on tearing our state down to rebuilding our state and how people feel about it. It will take time, but we’ll never get there if we don’t come together to put an end to constant, divisive and politically motivated naysaying.

In 2017, our state’s unfunded pension liability ballooned to more than $130 billion. What’s to be done about that?

Moeller: The unfunded pension liability is the result of prior General Assemblies and Governors failing to make the statutorily required payments to the pension funds for many years and the loss of investment revenue for the funds during the Great Recession. Since I have been in office, I have fought to ensure that the state makes its required payments and live up to its obligations.

From 2000 to 2016, the number of Illinois residents who enrolled as college freshmen outside the state increased by 73% (20,507 to 35,445). Why are so many more Illinois residents going to college elsewhere? What should be done to encourage more of them to go to school here? 

Moeller: The budget impasse from 2015 to 2017 resulted in very little to no funding for state universities and a reduction in MAP grants for students needing financial assistance. This had a significant impact on the number of students leaving Illinois. I worked with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass a budget that provides funding for our universities and community colleges and I supported legislation to provide MAP grant funding available to students for four years (versus only one year as had been in place previously). I recognize that college affordability is a problem and until we find a more comprehensive solution to lowering tuition and increasing state support for higher ed, we need to give students the ability to lower the cost of higher ed by expanding access to dual credit programs, advanced placement and other college readiness programs.

What laws, if any, should the Legislature pass to address the problem of gun violence? 

Moeller: I recognize that gun violence is a problem in our state and nation and that elected officials need to take action to stem the violence in our schools and communities. There were several pieces of legislation introduced last year to address gun violence that I supported. These include banning bump stocks, which allow semi-automatic weapons simulate or work like fully-automatic guns and requiring the licensing of gun dealers in order to ensure adequate background checks for gun purchasers. I also supported legislation to create a lethal order of protection for those who have made credible threats of violence and have access to guns.

On-demand scheduling software now helps large retail companies determine how many staff members they will need on a day-to-day or even hour-to-hour basis. The downside is that employees may not receive their work schedules until the last minute. Oregon and a number of cities have responded by adopting “fair scheduling” laws. Would it be appropriate for the Illinois Legislature to pass a “fair scheduling” law? Please explain. What would such a law look like? 

Moeller: I support fair scheduling regulations. I recognize that workers, especially workers with small children or loved ones who are in their care, need predictability in their schedules. HB5046, sponsored by Rep. Chris Welch has been introduced to establish fair scheduling practices and require employers to provide at least 72 hours notice for their employees schedules. This legislation is one option that I would consider in order to ensure that shift employees have some predictability in their work schedules.

Should recreational marijuana be legalized in Illinois? Please explain. 

Moeller: I have supported decriminalizing possession of marijuana, making medical marijuana available to patients who need it and I generally support legalizing marijuana in Illinois. Nevertheless, I recognize that more work needs to be done to address the concerns of law enforcement to ensure that our law enforcement officers can detect and prevent impaired driving.

Opioid overdoses and fatalities continue to rise in number. In Illinois in 2017, there were 13,395 opioid overdoses, including 2,110 deaths. What should the Legislature do, if anything, about this? 

Moeller: In order to combat the opioid crisis the state needs to take a comprehensive approach to dealing with this complex problem. We need to adequately fund addiction, mental health, community based programs and drug interdiction resources. Furthermore, we need to address the continuum of care for addiction. Too many patients are showing up in hospital emergency rooms due to an opioid overdose and discharged without any treatment follow-up. This results in a cycle that is never disrupted and often ends with a fatal overdose. The General Assembly did take a step in the right direction in passing the Heroin Crisis Act, which expands treatment and requires insurance companies to provide better access to care but there are still gaps. And more needs to be done to prevent opioid addiction in the first place. We need to address the over-prescription of painkillers and support efforts to crack down on pharmaceutical companies and doctors who knowingly over-prescribe or wrongfully prescribe highly addictive drugs.

The Future Energy Jobs Act, passed in 2016, is generating job growth in renewable energy and improving energy efficiency. Do you agree or disagree with the objectives and substance of the Act? What more — or less — should be done? 

Moeller: I was a co-sponsor of the Future Energy Jobs Act and agree with the substance of the Act. We need to do all that we can to combat climate change by lessening our reliance on fossil fuels for electricity generation, encouraging energy efficiency and investing in clean, renewable energy technologies like solar and wind. According to a report by Energy News in August 2018, the FEJA is already responsible for increasing investment by solar energy companies in the state and bringing new jobs to Illinois. As technology changes and more renewables are brought on-line, we need to re-evaluate the incentives and requirements in the Act to ensure that we are meet our clean-energy transition goals.

What would you do to ensure the long-term viability of the state’s Medicaid program? What is your view on managed care for Medicaid beneficiaries? 

Moeller: The state has finite resources to fund the Medicaid program and the demand for care is increasing. Therefore, managed care as a mechanism to coordinate care, create efficiencies and eliminate redundancies makes sense. However, the implementation of the managed care system by the Rauner Administration has resulted in less than optimal outcomes, with hospitals and care providers having to incur additional costs to deal with increased bureaucracy and paperwork, patients being wrongly denied care and $7 billion in payments to MCOs not properly monitored. We need greater transparency and accountability in the Medicaid and MCO system to ensure that insurance companies are not wrongly denying care in order to maximize their profits and that we are maximizing our resources to provide coverage to the people who need it.

Underfunding at the Department of Corrections has led to troubling findings by the auditor general that many inmates don’t receive services or opportunities for work while incarcerated. Is this a legitimate concern? What should the Legislature do? 

Moeller: The services and opportunities for work for those incarcerated have value and are in place to give inmates the skills they need to lead productive lives when their prison terms have ended. They are also intended to prevent re-incarceration and reduce recidivism rates. That being said, there are so many areas of underfunding in our budget, including higher education, mental health services, care for senior citizens and the like and we need to prioritize how we allocate our scarce resources. These programs have value but must be evaluated in relation to all of the vital programs we fund in the state.

Should the state restore the practice of parole for people sentenced to long terms? Why or why not? 

Moeller: I have supported criminal justice reform measures in the past and I would consider further changes. As with other areas for reform, all stakeholder groups including law enforcement, need to be at the table to provide their perspectives on any new proposals.

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Ahead of the historic 2018 elections, the Sun-Times is teaming up weekly with the Better Government Association, in print and online, to fact-check the truthfulness of the candidates. You can find all of the PolitiFact Illinois stories we’ve reported together here.

RELATED

• ENDORSEMENT: Anna Moeller for Illinois House in the 43rd District

• Illinois House 43rd District Republican nominee: Andrew R. Cuming

Endorsements for 16 Illinois House races in the Chicago area, Districts 15 through 50

• Endorsements for 17 Illinois House races in the Chicago area, Districts 51 through 98

Illinois Senate endorsements for the Chicago area

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