Democratic nominee for Illinois House in the 4th District: Delia C. Ramirez

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Delia Ramirez was victorious in last week’s Democratic primary for state representative from the 4th district. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Complete coverage of the local and national primary and general election, including results, analysis and voter resources to keep Chicago voters informed.

Democrat Delia Ramirez is running unopposed in the general election. Before the March primary, we asked her why she’s running for the Democratic nomination in the Illinois House of Representatives 4th District.

My name is Delia Ramirez. I am running in the 4th House District in Illinois. I have lived my entire life in the 4th District and ran a couple of nonprofits. Center for Changing Lives, a nonprofit organization helping people experiencing homelessness and financial hardships, and I’m the president of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, and I am currently the president of LUCHA, an affordable housing organization in the 4th District. I would say that my specific causes would be stable housing and stable jobs and public safety. And looking at public safety not just from a law enforcement perspective, but from a perspective of really looking at the root causes of violence and how we ensure that we’re addressing the issues both at the root but also in the way in which we relate with police and access. As I’ve talked to people in the 4th District, housing, education and public safety are priorities. People want to be able to keep the home they lived in all their life. People want to be able to continue to rent from the landlord that has rented to them most of their life. I want to make sure that I am working on supporting the property owners but also stabilizing rent so people that live there can stay there. I say the second thing is the connection to schools and the importance of supporting our local schools and funding them. We’ve done a good job but we have so much more to do. The connection between housing and education is critical, and I want to make sure we are funding schools and adequate resources. And finally, it is public safety again. We need after-school programs. We need social services in place and we need to be able to continue to build relationships between police and community.


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. Ramirez 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: Stable housing & stable schools:

I believe housing is a human right. I have a lifelong commitment and track record of working to address homelessness and ensuring all have access to housing. I believe public policy and government resources should ensure a stable supply accessible and affordable housing so that all the members of our community can live without fear of displacement. As a state legislator, I will advocate for allocating state resources to reduce displacement by helping families continue affordable home ownership and rentals in the private housing market. For example, I want to target five years of property tax relief to landlords who keep their tenants’ rents stable through those five years, with only very limited rent increases. I believe that local governments should have the ability to enact rent control ordinances to stabilize housing markets and reduce displacement. I will also support local initiatives to fight displacement such as community benefits agreements for new developments, housing set-aside requirements for private developments, and property tax relief along the 606.

As a product of Chicago Public Schools, I know that our public education system is the backbone of a strong community. I believe we must invest more in public education which, despite recent legislation at the state level to achieve greater equity, is still being inadequately funded. I believe that a well-resourced public education, including access to childcare and pre-k, k-12 education, and higher education, should be guaranteed to every child in Illinois regardless of what community they grow up in. The state of Illinois has long underfunded its public education system and I am committed to change this while fighting against efforts to privatize our public-school systems. Specifically, I believe that Chicago needs an elected representative school board bring about greater transparency and accountability in the management and allocation of resources in CPS. I believe that our state government must increase revenues to more adequately fund public education statewide. Furthermore, I believe that state legislation should be passed to allow TIF revenues to be used to fund schools and other public services. I also support a moratorium on charter school expansion. After decades of expansion and research, there is no clear evidence that charter schools function any better than neighborhood public schools. Illinois is not adequately funding our neighborhood public schools, and this must be our top priority.

Reliable and responsible government:

I believe that government should work to meet the needs of people. Government services should be reliable, transparent, and revenues to fund them should be collected in a fair and responsible manner. It is unacceptable that our budgets are being balanced by cutting social services and programs which serve the most vulnerable members of society while wealthy individuals and corporations are getting tax cuts. I will fight to raise adequate revenues to fund the public services we all need and use, close tax loopholes that allow the wealthy to avoid paying their fair share, and work to get big money out of politics.

Specifically, I will champion fair revenue policies in which those who have more pay more for the services that benefit everyone. I believe that the Illinois legislature must place a referendum on the ballot for a constitutional amendment to enact a progressive income tax where those with higher incomes pay a higher rate and those with lower incomes pay lower rates. I support closing corporate tax loopholes (as proposed in HB4004) and eliminating the Carried Interest loophole. I also believe that we must work to get big money out of politics through legislation that establishes a small donor public matching fund as proposed in SB1424.

Public safety and justice reform:

I have invested my professional career in the social services and nonprofit sector. Through this experience I know firsthand that violence is unequivocally a public health issue. I believe that proactive approaches that address the root causes of violence must be put into practice instead of reactionary policies of locking people with no opportunities for rehabilitation. I will fight to keep our communities safe by advocating for community based approaches to reduce violence, working to pass laws that keep guns out of our communities, and ending the cycle of recidivism by expanding opportunities for people with records to gain housing and employment. Furthermore, I believe that we must work to restore the community’s trust in law enforcement so that a true community-police collaboration can be forged to create neighborhoods where everyone feels safe.

Specifically, I will advocate for greater investment into proven violence prevention strategies that target the needs of the young people most at risk for being victims or perpetrators of violence. We must prioritize investments into programs that address the root causes of crime and violence such as youth mentoring, street intervention initiatives, mental health and substance abuse treatments, and restorative justice programs that help repair harm without needing to criminalize people. I will also support Gun Dealer Licensing legislation (SB1657) and other common-sense gun laws that will help reduce the flow of illegal guns into our communities. I believe we must also expand opportunities in housing, education, and employment for people returning from the criminal justice system to be able to contribute to their communities and end the cycle of crime and recidivism. Finally, to restore community trust in law enforcement I believe we must enact state legislation that makes removes barriers to filing a complaint of police misconduct. State legislators should also seriously explore state licensing for sworn peace officers to modernize the policing profession and set conduct and training standards which will allow departments to more effectively combat crime while being able to hold bad actors accountable.


Delia C. Ramirez

Running for: Illinois House of Representatives 4th district

Political/civic background: President, Logan Square Neighborhood Association (2005-07)

Chair, District Advisory Council, 14th Police District (2005-08)

Emerging Leader Fellow, Chicago Community Trust (2013)

Campaign Chair, Irizarry for 26th Ward Alderman (2014-15)

President, Latin United Community Housing Association (2016-present)

Occupation: Public policy advocate & administrator:

Deputy Director, Community Renewal Society (Jan 2016 – Dec 2017)

Campaign Manager, Common Cause Illinois (2015)

Administrator, Humboldt Park United Methodist Church (2013-14)

Social service agency director:

Executive Director, Center for Changing Lives (2004-13)

Education:B.A., Justice Studies, Northeastern Illinois University

Campaign website: deliaforstaterep.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: Housing stability:

In large parts of the 4th District, low- and moderate-income families are at risk of displacement – both as renters and as homeowners – due to skyrocketing property taxes and rents. For ten years, as executive director of the Center for Changing Lives, I oversaw an emergency shelter for homeless men as well as transitional apartments for women and children. More recently, as a homeowner near the Bloomingdale Trail (The 606), I led a campaign for property tax relief and housing stability that sparked Neighborhood Housing Services to provide $1 million in forgivable loans for working-class families to repair their small rental buildings and single-family homes. I believe that housing stability is the most important challenge facing the 4th district and will dedicate a significant portion of my time as a state legislator advocating for public policies that will ensure people can afford to stay in their homes.

Funding public schools:

Through my years of service in the 4th district I have constantly heard that parents and teachers are concerned over the woefully inadequate resourcing of their public schools. This is one of the most significant reasons people are leaving Chicago in such high numbers. I am deeply committed to our public school system and believe we must fight to keep high quality public education available to all children in the 4th district. To do this, we must acknowledge that significant more investments are needed, and we must be willing to raise adequate revenues to pay for the quality public education we desire. It will be one of my priorities as a state legislator to see that state revenues for public education are significantly increased.

Reducing violence:

As I talk to my neighbors in the 4th district, I regularly hear concerns over gun violence. Parent’s are fearful that their children cannot walk to and from school safely and this is deeply unsettling. Through my work in the nonprofit sector, I know that there is no one magic solution to reducing crime and violence but that a holistic public health approach is needed. This requires not only stronger gun laws, but real meaningful investments into public services agencies that are working to prevent crime and violence before it occurs. I am committed to ensuring our communities are safe by advocating for proactive prevention in the form of youth mentoring, jobs, after school programs, and social services. I will also advocate for responses to crime and violence that address the root causes of why a crime was committed and not simply focus on locking people up without a plan for rehabilitation.


SUN-TIMES 2018 ILLINOIS VOTING GUIDE


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: Clearly, Illinois must address its pension liability. Currently, we pay three times more toward pension debt (including interest) than we pay each year into the pension system itself. Years of pension holidays and borrowing because of a refusal to raise adequate revenues are the real cause of our pension crisis and we need solutions that address this problem head on.  Illinois and Chicago need more revenues on the front end to stabilize the increasing payments that are coming due.

I support the re-amortization of pension liabilities to shift the way we pay pension debt from a graduated payment to a flat annual payment. I oppose a constitutional amendment that would reduce the liability of the pension debt. Proposals to cut pensions don’t get at the real cause of the crisis – the failure to make timely and adequate payments and the resulting debt.

The vast majority of state employees are not covered by Social Security, and their pensions are reasonable. Unfortunately, there are legislators who try to quietly manipulate their own pensions.  Their actions undermine public support for a pension system that helps the state retain skilled employees.  If elected, I will introduce a Legislative Pension Sunshine Act, requiring at least seven working days of detailed public notice prior to passage of any legislation that alters the pension of a current or former legislator.  I will also push to close other loopholes in the system that have been exploited to create unduly large pensions for a small number of individuals.

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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 support, and have advocated for, a $15 minimum wage in Illinois. My mother is a home care worker who does not make a living wage. For many years, my work and volunteer service have put me in close contact with many other people whose hard work is not compensated with a decent wage.  Raising the minimum wage is among the most important things we can do to support workers and low-income families.  In Illinois wages have stagnated while the cost of housing, health care and child care have increased sharply. Underemployment is a major cause of homelessness. A single person in Illinois earning our current minimum wage has to work 85 hours a week to affordably rent a modest one-bedroom apartment, according to 2017 data compiled by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

I would have supported SB 81 last year, but I would prefer a bill without the exclusions that were added to SB 81. Those exclusions would have allowed employers to pay youth under 18 much less than the overall minimum wage if they worked fewer than 650 hours per year. Part-time employment is an important source of income for many young people. The exclusion would incentivize employers to cap many teens’ hours at 650 per year.

TOPIC: Marijuana

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

ANSWER: Yes. Since my teens, I have worked with low-income families and homeless individuals in Humboldt Park, Logan Square and the surrounding area. I’ve seen how marijuana enforcement disproportionately criminalizes black and brown people, making it difficult for them to support families and contribute to their communities. A regulated system of legalized, taxed marijuana would reduce these impacts while creating a major new source of revenue for Illinois.

TOPIC: Casinos

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

ANSWER: I would prioritize several other revenue streams above more casino or racino licenses in Illinois, but I could support more licenses as part of a compromise that significantly expands overall revenue and creates living-wage, head-of-household jobs. At the same time, we must acknowledge that new casinos will not magically solve our state’s financial problems, and they will create new human costs – such as bankruptcies and the social impacts of addiction – that will require additional state expenditures.

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: I oppose a statewide property tax freeze. I have spoken out on behalf of my neighbors along the 606, many of whom are being displaced by rapidly increasing property taxes. And I am proud that an organization I once led, the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, is one of two groups suing Cook County Assessor Berrios over unfair assessments. But a freeze would do more harm than good. Amid shrinking funding from the state and federal levels, local governments need the ability to levy sufficient taxes to support essential services. As the Civic Federation has noted, “Freezing property taxes, and thus limiting municipalities’ revenue, would require further legislation to help balance their books.” The only way to reduce property taxes while protecting schools and local government services is to link property tax reductions to a progressive income tax and other increases in state revenue – and much greater state support for public education.

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, Illinois must spend more on schools. In recent years, Illinois has ranked 50th of the 50 states in the percentage of K-12 public school funding provided by the state, contributing less than 20%, while the national average for states is 45%. And we are not a poor state. As a result, school districts have relied on property tax payers to make up the difference, which contributes to inequity between poor and rich districts. (The school funding equity legislation passed last summer moves us in the right direction, but we still have a long way to go.)

In the longer term, this funding should come primarily from a progressive income tax. Because that will require a Constitutional amendment, we also need more readily available funding sources in the short term. I support:

Expanding sales taxes to cover more services. (Iowa, for example, taxes hundreds of services, while Illinois taxes fewer than 50.)

Closing corporate loopholes in our state tax system. (Now, as corporations are poised to benefit from lower federal taxes, is the time to act on this.)

Legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana.

TOPIC: Opioid abuse

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

ANSWER: I spent nine years leading an agency serving homeless and at-risk Chicagoans, and I know firsthand the extent to which addictions are a cause of homelessness and the devastation that addiction causes throughout our communities.  Addressing the problems of opioid abuse—and the full range of drug addictions–must be a multifaceted approach: changing medical prescription practice, expanding medication-assisted treatment and available of emergency overdose antidotes, social services and long-term treatment options for those addicted, and crackdowns on illegal distribution.  Illinois already has some useful laws on the books, and a recent state report frames a comprehensive approach.  The legislature needs to ensure that sufficient funding is available for implementing existing laws and initiatives. Funding drug treatment is especially vital. In addition, we should enact additional legislation in line with current research and best practices in other states. For example, the length of first prescriptions for opioids for pain relief strongly correlate with probability of continuing opioid use. Some 24 states now restrict the quantity of first prescriptions.  Illinois needs to follow suit.

TOPIC: Guns

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

 ANSWER: Yes.  Silencing or lowering the sound of gunshots endangers everyone where shots are being fired—reducing peoples’ ability to get out of harm’s way, calls to police, and other immediate responses.

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

ANSWER: Yes. Today, gun dealers in Illinois face fewer licensing requirements than nail salons or car dealerships.  Mandatory licensing for gun dealers, including requirements for recordkeeping, and background checks for employees and licensees, is a critical component of controlling illegal gun purchases and distribution. I support SB 1657 to create licensing requirements for gun dealers. (The Senate passed SB 1657, and it passed out of committee in the House, but the full House did not vote on it.)

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 in a strong position to know when a troubled family member may pose a danger if in possession of a gun.

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: I strongly support continued Medicaid expansion, which has been a lifesaving change for thousands of people across Illinois. It’s also an important way for our state to help save the Affordable Care Act. I support a national single-payer health care program. But right now, given the reckless quest by President Trump and Congressional Republicans to destroy the ACA, we must be ready to act at the state level.

To obtain the revenue we need, our most critical task is to enact a progressive state income tax. Because that will require a long process, we must increase other revenue right away. I support closing corporate tax loopholes, which could generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually for the state. I also support expanding our sales tax to include a wider range of services, especially luxury services.

I share the concerns of many legislators about the six-year, $63 billion managed care contract that Governor Rauner recently negotiated. Just a few months earlier, the Rauner administration had projected a $30 to 40 billion contract. I support Comptroller Mendoza’s call for a public hearing on the issue and for the Governor to personally testify.

I support allowing Illinoisans to buy into a public health care option. Illinois should be a leader in efforts to enact a national “Medicare for All” system.

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: I’m a graduate of a public university, Northeastern Illinois. I was able to earn my degree there while serving my community as a staff member for a social service agency. I value our public higher education system and believe it is imperative that we restore the funding that has been cut and create dependable revenue streams that students can count on for their full college careers. I support increased (and on-time) funding for public higher education. I also support increased (and on-time) funding of MAP (Monetary Award Program) grants to help low- and moderate-income students go to college. If we are to remain competitive in a growing global economy, we need to adequately and consistently invest in our public higher education system so that we can recruit and retain the most talented students to Illinois.

I do not believe that Illinois has too many state universities. The climate of uncertainty at our universities was directly caused by the state’s unnecessary budget crisis. That’s why we lost faculty and students. We don’t see other states closing their universities. John C. Austin of the Brookings Institution has recently released a series of articles showing that the public universities and community colleges are one of the key drivers of economic revival in the Rust Belt. Illinois’ economic future depends on strong public higher education.

TOPIC: Gov. Rauner

QUESTION: Please list three of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s principles, or decisions he has made, with which you agree. Also please list three of the governor’s principles, or decisions he has made, with which you disagree.

ANSWER: I have agreed with Governor Rauner on:

His decision to sign HB40, protecting a woman’s right to choose in Illinois even if the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision does not remain in force.

His support for the Illinois TRUST Act, which keeps immigration enforcement separate from local law enforcement, allowing police to build trust and enlist community cooperation.

His support for automatic voter registration. As a staff person at Common Cause Illinois in 2015, I personally advocated for this legislation in Springfield. The General Assembly passed it, and, to his credit, the Governor signed it.

I have disagreed with Governor Rauner on:

His determination to hold the state budget hostage to his ideological positions on unions and other non-budget policies, resulting in, among other things, enormous pain and suffering for Illinois’ most vulnerable and disadvantaged residents and critical social service infrastructure.

His refusal to lead toward compromise. For example, he acknowledged early on that Illinois needed additional revenue. But when the Senate came close to a bipartisan compromise including that new revenue, Rauner pressured Republicans to withdraw from the negotiations.

His lack of voice and leadership at the federal level on matters critical to Illinois. When other governors – including Republican governors – spoke out against changes to the Affordable Care Act, Governor Rauner remained silent, abdicating his responsibility to be an advocate for the needs of Illinois. Similarly, he has been silent on the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and on provisions in the new federal tax legislation that will adversely affect Illinoisans.

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