Democratic candidate for Illinois House in the 29th District: Corean Davis

Corean Davis, Democratic primary candidate for Illinois House in the 29th District. | Provided photo

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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. Corean Davis 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:

Provide Better Representation and Jobs for the 29th District. The 29^th District deserves better representation. We deserve a leader who genuinely cares about the people of our community, who will fight to make people realize the value of our community and the importance of investing in this district. We need someone who will search for solutions to the problems we face before they become full-blown crises. Many people admit that we need a change, but they’re unwilling to go up against the machine.
Give Our Students the Education and Opportunities They Deserve. We need resources, and we need a leader who will fight for those resources. Not only do we need more education funding from the state, but we also need to have a plan locally to address this issue, as we know from history that no one else is going to solve our problems for us. As your State Representative, I will work with our superintendents to make sure our schools have the resources they need. In the northern part of the district, we need to develop plans to attract more people who will be taxpayers and help support the schools. In the southern part of the district, we need to bring businesses to the community so we can keep our resources here instead of sending them to other districts.
Enact Police Reforms So Our Neighborhoods and Families Feel Safe. As a leader in this community, I will work to make sure our police officers receive the training that they need. I will ensure that we continually bring in new officers, because just like politicians some officers who are in their position for too long can feel like they are the authority rather than remembering that they are community servants. I will work with our law enforcement to help them build better relationships with the community, so people know their local police officers as friends and associates who are involved with them in bettering the neighborhood. I will also foster an atmosphere of accountability for our police force, working with our mayors and community leaders. We must be sure we are hiring and retaining people who truly want to protect and serve their communities, who have a sense of urgency and are invested in ending the war zones we have in some areas. I will also work with our State’s Attorneys and courts so that they have the ability and authority to evaluate offenders’ mental health status, and when applicable send them to rehabilitation instead of incarcerating them and perpetuating the cycle of violence.

Corean Davis

Legislative District: 29th

Political/civic background: Democratic

Occupation: Human Resource professional

Education: Bachelors in Communications

Campaign website: Coreandavis.com

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: I will introduce legislation that will deal with the vacant homes, unemployment and lack of small businesses throughout Illinois. I will collaborate with the banking community, realtors and labor unions and propose implementing a plan that will train community residents on different trades needed to rehab a home. This program can be run through the department of economic commerce and opportunity along with the Illinois department of housing authority, Illinois finance authority, with the help from Urban league and Chicago area project.

I will propose legislation that will implement a graduated income tax that will allow school districts to lower property tax levy.

I will propose legislation that will allow small businesses to access capital. I want to make it easier for small businesses to get access to capital by allowing companies to do business in Illinois that will be open to high risk business loans.

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 would not consider re-amortizing or a constitutional amendment in an attempt to reduce pension liability unless the state and demonstrate a commitment not to funnel moneys from the pension fund for any reason. Re-amortizing will also have to be combined with increase revenue into the pension fund without taxation on the middle and lower class.

We need a fiscally responsible government. A commitment from the state is necessary because the state has demonstrated bad habits of spending pension funds on other government necessities.

Re-amortization nor a constitutional amendment will reduce the debt without first start practicing responsible behavior.

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:I will consider a graduated minimum wage increase from 8.25 to 10.00 to 13.00 to15.00 over the period of 5 to 10 years if it included the implementing tax breaks for small businesses. this will encourage businesses close to state line boarders an incentive to stay in the state.

Tax breaks will reduce the number of companies moving from my district to Indiana which has a lesser minimum wage and lower taxes than Illinois.

TOPIC: Pot

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

ANSWER:We need criminal justice reform in Illinois. Lower level drug offenders are living with the consequences of misdemeanors and felonies due to possession of marijuana. The legalization of marijuana will reduce tax payors dollars from being spent on detaining lower level drug offenders.

A large portion of Cook County budget is used for incarceration of drug offenders causing a shortfall on other important line items like child care and health care

TOPIC: Casinos

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

ANSWER: If the state could be fiscally responsible for the revenue a casino will generate in Illinois or in the prime location of Chicago I do believe that will can be good for our state by creating jobs. I would consider supporting legislation in support of casinos if it includes restrictions on the government using the revenue on other line items and if it is not used as a replacement of current government budget items like the lotto.

CHECK OUT THE CANDIDATES IN THE SUN-TIMES 2018 ILLINOIS PRIMARY VOTING GUIDE

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: The state of Illinois should consider a 1year property tax freeze because taxes in Illinois are increasing high. This freeze should include an detailed report to analyze the effects of the freezes. The freeze should not include taxes on servicing the debt, pension and public safety which cannot be done without the commitment from the government to not spend this revenue on other line items like they have historically done.

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 we should spend more on schools from the graduated tax if the government commitment does not change nor other funding that school districts are receiving.

TOPIC: Opioid abuse

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

Statue 720ILCS 570 says that selling or attempt to sale most people that have opiod addiction usually have more than one drug on them because they are addicted increasing the amount of grams being charged with the attempt to sale which is a against the law and not just being a drug addict. Many people are chanrge with the criminal act instead of being treated like a drug addict.

Start to treat opioid abuse and addiction as a disease instead of a criminal act.

TOPIC: Guns

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

ANSWER: Yes Gun silencers gives criminals the ability to commit crimes without detection.

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

ANSWER: Yes Licensing by the state will provide another stop gap measure keeping gun dealers from participating straw purchases especially at gun shows.

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 family members are usually the first ones to recognize erratic behavior in a loved one. It would be safer to give family members the ability to petition the court because it will reduce the possibility of deadly violence

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: We can use money from a graduated tax increase and a crackdown on Medicaid fraud to ensure the long term viability of the states Medicaid program. The affordable care act has provided millions of people with affordable healthcare and this program as well as managed care for Medicaid beneficiaries should both stay intact and have the ability to buy into the Medicaid program so the program and be offset with the additional revenue generated.

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: To encourage students to attend college in Illinois I would consider proposing legislation that will lower tuition rates and/or provide students with additional financial assistance. If the state reduces the operation of one university this may be able to produce the resources needed to provide this assistance