Issued the following announcement on Aug. 24.
In response to questions from voters on local issues ranging from the deployment of 5G technology, to unfunded mandates on schools and cities, to the Booker / Biden push to give the federal government powers over municipal zoning, Jeanne Ives, candidate for Congress (IL-06), has released the following statement:
In nearly all matters of public policy (the biggest exception being national security), the most effective elected body to handle issues important to most people is local government. I understood this rule to be true when I served on Wheaton City Council and my experience as a councilwoman informed my vote on legislation many times while serving in the state legislature. From unfunded mandates to business rules to zoning laws, increasingly state government, and the federal government, want to infringe on local control. Such intervention must be opposed at every turn.
My record is clear after many votes over six years in the legislature. I voted to protect local governments’ (school boards, park districts, municipal boards) rights to use general revenues as they saw fit and regulate businesses to accommodate their community standards, unless there was a very compelling reason to oppose such. Most importantly, I voted to protect local zoning ordinances as it relates to deployment of new technologies like small cell units. In the controversial deployment of 5G technology, not only did I vote against SB1451 but I used my platform to speak against the legislation as well.
I support and defend local communities to make decisions locally on topics that will, or can, impact safety, health, or property rights of the residents of that community – especially as it concerns new technology, new regulations or new mandates. My position is in accordance with our American system of federalism where we let states decide many matters. It is incumbent on state legislatures to respect local governments in the same way.
As regards new technology, whether it is in the communication field, health sciences, food production or any area, the federal government has a role in ensuring such new developments are deployed safely and studied overtime so that our citizens can prosper and enjoy life to the fullest. I recognize there are often tradeoffs between new technologies and consumers who may benefit from them, with citizens who may have specific needs or concerns about that technology. The government’s role then becomes one of ensuring citizens have choices in the use of the new technology, medicine, or other discovery. When those choices conflict, again, the lowest level of government should make the decision first on how to proceed.
Ives statement can be downloaded here.
Original source can be found here.
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