Ranking the state’s budget crisis as a top priority, candidates seeking the 42nd District House seat share similar ideas while differing on long term solutions.
Incumbent Sandy Pihos, a Republican from Glen Ellyn, faces a challenge from Democrat Kathryn Vlahos, of Downers Grove in the Nov. 2 election.
Since 2003, Pihos has served as state representative in the 42nd District, which covers parts of Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Lombard, Lisle, Villa Park, Oak Brook, Oakbrook Terrace and Downers Grove.
This will be Vlahos’ second time seeking a state office, having run for representative in 1990.
Citing a need to restructure government and control spending, Vlahos said improving the state’s fiscal health shouldn’t entirely depend on raising taxes or cutting into necessary programs.
Certain levels of government such as townships and mosquito districts should be eliminated and rolled into other state departments. This would then free up their tax base and lead to a more efficiently run form of government.
Consolidating school districts also would cut out the need to have several levels of administration all servicing the same group of taxpayers, she said.
“You don’t need to necessarily cut services if you provide them in a more efficient way,” Vlahos said.
Although in agreement their needs to be more efficiency, Pihos said that needs to be tied in with accountability and transparency. Legislators need to see where money is being spent in order to find solutions.
She specifically points to her time on the Legislative Audit Commission, where a number of funding inefficiencies were discovered within state agencies. Those agencies need to be held accountable, she said.
And only then could legislators begin to look at raising taxes.
Pihos said although she does not support raising the state income tax, it is difficult to imagine a balanced budget without realizing new revenues to pay down the debt.
Reforms to the pension system and Medicaid also are necessary.
“Ultimately, I think all options are on the table,” she said.
Although supportive of raising the income tax, Vlahos believes increasing the corporate income tax would only result in a poor environment for job creation.
However, spreading the tax base equally among all businesses would help bring in additional revenues while possibly lowering the overall rate.
And should the income tax be raised, the number of exemptions should be increased in order minimize the burden on the lower class, she said.
“We can’t keep borrowing to solve the problem,” Vlahos said.
Having more time to review the budget before it is brought to the floor was a vision both candidates shared.
Vlahos added that creative solutions brought up in committee – some of which could positively influence the state’s finances – also need to be brought to the floor more often than they are now.
“There is this major power in the hands of just a few people,” she said. “It’s a process that needs to be changed.”
Similarly, Pihos said discussing the state’s finances should be one of the first conversations in Springfield following the election.
“It’s a conversation that never starts until almost the last day,” she said.
Pihos added the game of officials threatening to cut state funding to social service agencies and school districts needs to come to a close. Too often, legislators take that route in order to gain support for a certain initiative they are looking to pass.
Aligning the state budget process with the school districts also could result in more reliability. Instead of letting teachers go based on assumptions of state funding, only to reinstate them for the school year, school officials would have a better idea of what to expect.
It would also hold the state accountable of making its payments on time, she said.
“We have an obligation to give them a reliable sense of what they can expect coming forward in the future,” Pihos said.
