Heidi Holan, the Republican candidate for House District 46, said she hopes to see change in the state’s legislature.
In fact, the desire to see a difference in Illinois was a large reason behind her decision to run for office again.
“My decision to run again was based on the problems that existed then still exist today,” Holan told WDCB news reporter Gary Zidek during a radio interview. “We’ve had one change and that has been the governor. And the one thing that has stopped is the veto on the unbalanced budget.”
Holan said the state’s economy needs to be much stronger so families and businesses can thrive. To do that, Illinois must get a handle of its budget, she emphasized.
“First and foremost, we have to have a balanced budget," she said. "For 15 years in a row, we’ve spent more than we’ve taken in. The budget that (legislators) proposed for the fiscal year 2017, which began July 1st, was proposed to spend $40 billion although our revenues were estimated to be $33 billion. We cannot do that.”
The state needs to get to a point where it only spends what it has. Holan said having that as a ground rule will help turn things around.
“What that will do is force the legislature to then do is to prioritize their spending, and that’s something I think we need to take a good look at,” she said.
Last year, Democratic leadership in Springfield and Gov. Bruce Rauner failed to agree on how the state should spend its money. Following an unprecedented budget stalemate, legislators finally passed a stopgap budget to fund the state through January.
Rauner is pushing for reforms in his turnaround agenda but has faced resistance from Democrats in Springfield led by long-serving House Speaker Mike Madigan.
Though some may have lost hope of major change in the state’s legislature, Holan said she believes Illinoisans will push for change.
“It’s going to change because the people are going to demand the change,” she said. “I think that enough people are aware now of what’s going on. That’s one thing [about] the race in 2014, between then and now that I’ve noticed about people as I speak to them at the doors, they are more aware. They are starting to wonder what is causing so many people to leave.”
Holan supports term limits and said most Illinois voters are seeing that the state’s district maps are being drawn in a way that allows legislators to pick their voters.
“When I speak to people they want term limits simply because they understand the maps have been drawn to favor one party,” she said.
Alerts Sign-up