Democratic nominee in Illinois House 14th District: Kelly Cassidy

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

Rep. Kelly Cassidy, the incumbent, is running unopposed in the Illinois House 14th district in the general election. Before the March primary, 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.

Cassidy 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: One key issue will continue to be the legalization of recreational marijuana for adult use. I introduced the bill last March with Senator Heather Steans, and we are continuing to work diligently on crafting the best bill possible. When we pass it, we’re likely to be the first state in the country to do so by legislation rather than ballot initiative. That means we have the chance to get it right the first time, and we intend to do so. We have been working methodically to address concerns from stakeholders as well as to ensure significant public input. These are the key differences between working on a ballot initiative and working through the legislative process. We have already held several public hearings and town hall meetings on the topic and intend to continue to do so in the months ahead.

Legalization will not be my only issue, though. I will attempt to pass Sen. Biss’ small donor matching bill through the House, to truly open up the election process in the state of Illinois to folks without the means to self-finance. I will also continue to work on closing the loopholes that put illegal guns on our streets, like inaccurately reporting weapons “lost or stolen” and circumventing background checks and FOID cards via private sale.

Throughout my career I have also taken lead roles on various aspects of criminal justice reform and LGBTQ equality, and I will continue to do so going forward.

Kelly Cassidy

Running for: Illinois House of Representatives 14th district

Political/civic background: State Representative since 2011

Occupation: State Representative

Campaign website:citizensforcassidy.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:Fully funding human services. Much of my district, especially the senior population, is reliant on public assistance and state-funded social service agencies. We can’t starve of them funds the way we did during the budget impasse.

Criminal justice reform. I have one of the most diverse communities in the state, and many of my constituents have been directly impacted by the over-incarceration of black and brown communities. We need to continue to make the system more fair, and reduce unnecessary time behind bars in addition to reducing collateral consequences for returning citizens who are working to resume productive lives in the community.

Fully funding public education. Most of my district relies on CPS to educate their children. For the first time in decades, we have a funding formula that treats them more fairly. But we need to allocate the funds to make that formula work.

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 supported the budget this year which adjusted the pension ramp, and have consistently supported the proposals to reamortize the pension debt. I do not support amending the constitution to escape from our obligation to the retirees who depend on the pension promised them during their employment. These retirees worked for the state under this promise, at lower wages than private sector employment would provide and without the benefits of social security. The fact that we failed to pay our share into the system does not excuse us from our obligations. The good news is that we’re starting to turn things around: we have made our full statutory pension payments in each of the six fiscal years I’ve been in office.

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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: Yes, the minimum wage in the State of Illinois should be raised by yearly increments up to $15 an hour. I voted to do just that in this past session. A recent study co-authored by the Governor’s new budget director suggests that raising the minimum wage could help stem the tide of outmigration from the state, and that the subsequent pay raise low-income workers could lift many families out of poverty. That boost would lessen budgetary pressures on social safety net programs like SNAP, since fewer people would require public aid. Our current minimum wage simply isn’t adequate for day-to-day living in Illinois. No one working a full-time job should be forced to rely on public assistance just to buy necessities.

SUN-TIMES 2018 ILLINOIS VOTING GUIDE

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: It is without question time to legalize recreational marijuana for adult use in Illinois. This is my bill, and an issue I have become quite passionate about. Before even considering tax revenues, it’s critical to understand that legalization is just good public policy as prohibition has simply not worked. For years, we’ve wasted taxpayer money prosecuting mostly minority communities for use of a drug that we know full well is less harmful than legal substances like tobacco and alcohol. While some of the criminal justice implications of cannabis prohibition have been addressed by the Uniform Civil Enforcement of Cannabis law I passed a few years ago, we cannot fully right the wrongs of the past until we fully legalize it for adult use. Moreover, despite the myths to the contrary, the evidence is clear that teen marijuana use drops or stays steady after legalization. Dealers don’t card; regulated shops do. In fact, the only demographic that sees use increase is 50 and older. The CDC study is here: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/ss/ss6511a1.htm?s_cid=ss6511a1_e

TOPIC: Marijuana

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

ANSWER: While revenue is the last reason to support legalization because the primary benefits are on the social justice side, it will also bring booming economic development and business growth to Illinois. Opening up a new economic sector is just the kind of revitalization our state needs in the wake of a manufactured budget crisis and years of slow growth.

The state would raise hundreds of millions of dollars yearly in tax revenues while realizing even greater savings at both the state and local level in law enforcement expenses, which would be utilized to ensure proper enforcement and fill some gaps in other funds, like pension obligations and education. We can learn from the mistakes of Colorado and others to build a system that is safe, effective, and innovative.

TOPIC: Casinos

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

ANSWER: While I have significant concerns about the impact of legalized gaming on low income communities, the reality is that it is here to stay. Given that fact, we should do it right. A Chicago casino would be a significant tourism driver and could provide needed revenue both at the state and local level. Under such a scenario, the horseracing industry would demand some supports that would be a needed point to pass a comprehensive gaming expansion bill.

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: Our property tax system in Illinois is broken. One of the primary issues that the recent education funding bill sought to address was how reliant Illinois public schools had become on property taxes for funding. But whether a property tax freeze is truly viable, as opposed to an attempt to score cheap political points for the Governor, depends entirely on what other revenue sources we have. Public education and public safety simply cannot be compromised by cuts, and allowing our pension debt to continue to grow will only mean more pain in the long-term.

True revenue reform and fulling funding our education obligation is integral to limiting local schools’ reliance on property tax as the primary source of funding for schools. Beyond that, we should move aggressively to reduce the number of taxing bodies in Illinois which add to the local property tax burden. That said, the idea of the state placing limits on the right of local governments to make their own fiscal decisions seems well beyond smart policy.

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. The formula is a great start, but it’s meaningless without the actual funds to support it. As I mentioned previously, the best place to start is a progressive income tax that mirrors the federal structure. Without raising taxes on the middle class, we could bring in significant new revenue. The reality of the bill passed this year is that we prioritized private school vouchers by diverting up to $100 million towards private school scholarships. We should be dedicating every available penny to elevating the local schools most Illinoisans rely upon.

TOPIC: Opioids

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: The heart of the opioid problem is systemic. Neither chronic pain nor the desire to achieve an altered state is going away any time soon. We can either nibble away at the edges of the issue or address it head-on. Legalizing marijuana would provide a significantly safer alternative to opiates, while addressing the symptoms that drive people to use opiates in the first place. Sen. Harmon is proposing legislation that would allow opioid prescriptions to be converted into medical marijuana prescriptions, allowing Illinois residents the choice to ease their pain issues without resorting to a substance that can be fatally addictive. No other pieces of legislation will have that same kind of concrete impact on the opioid crisis. Beyond this change, we should look to expand the way we track and control out of control opioid prescriptions, discouraging physicians from leading patients into dependence and addiction. Under the current system, there are more than 7.5 million opioid prescriptions in Illinois. In Cook County, there are enough prescriptions for half of all adults (2.3 million). The anecdotal data around heroin addiction and prior opioid prescriptions is chilling.

TOPIC: Guns

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

ANSWER: Yes. The gun lobby’s reason du jour for needing silencers – “hearing protection” – must be weighed against the increased potential for tragic violence. Giving would-be shooters the ability to muffle their shots, and thus more easily evade police detection, is simply unacceptable. The city of Chicago has invested in technology to generate an alert when gun shot sounds are detected – silencers would make it nearly useless, and make our streets less safe as a result. This is a great example of how an issue that some in other parts of the state might experience one way is very different in the city of Chicago, and is why we have to respect our regional differences and craft policies that respect those differences.

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

ANSWER: Yes. States should be allowed to set their own standards on what constitutes safe gun dealing. We have shops in Illinois that are federally licensed but still sell huge amounts of weapons that end up in the hands of non-purchasers at crime scenes.

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. One of the most common causes of gun violence in America is domestic disputes. The statistics are clear – the mere presence of a gun in a household drastically increases the chances that domestic disputes end in tragedy. This is simply common sense. If family members believe that a gun owner is on the brink of committing an act of violence, they should be able to seek help to prevent it. The legislation in question provided gun owners with an appeals process, so no one’s constitutional rights were in question. This is about family safety.

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 both the ACA expansion of Medicaid and a theoretical Medicaid buy-in. In a country with resources like ours, health care should be a basic human right. And with the way our healthcare system is structured, that means ensuring that every Illinois resident has health insurance. We’re already paying for the uninsured: when hospitals treat uninsured patients, they raise rates to compensate, which is then reflected in insurance premiums. It’s time to guarantee that every Illinoisan can access medical care when they need it.

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: The biggest issue in Illinois higher education is that we simply refuse to adequately fund it. When we go two years without properly funding our universities, it’s no wonder that students choose to head elsewhere. The national statistics are clear: better funding for higher education leads to more prepared students, which means a higher quality workforce. Every dollar we choke off from higher education is another seven or eight dollars we lose in economic value down the line.

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 agree with the Governor’s eventual stance on HB40, some aspects of criminal justice reform, and the TRUST act. He kept his campaign promise to keep abortion services legal and accessible in Illinois, which is a deeply personal issue for me. I also appreciate that he’s kept an open mind on some of my criminal justice reform efforts, and that he signed the TRUST act.

I strongly disagree with the way Governor Rauner handled the budget impasse, and his philosophy of government that got us to that place. He prioritizes lower taxes over most everything, especially the social service safety net that keeps a large portion of our population fed, clothed, and receiving medical care. I also disagree with his position that organized labor, which is the foundation of the Illinois middle class, must be broken. Third, he has vowed to fight a progressive income tax, which is nearly ubiquitous around the country in both red and blue states. Presumably this is because it would increase the tax burden on him and his friends, rather than middle and lower income Illinoisans.