Allen Skillicorn, Candidate for State Representative (66th House District)
Candidate Full Name: Allen Skillicorn
Office: State Representative (66th House District)
Party: Republican
Email Address: allen@allenskillicorn.com
Web Site: www.allenskillicorn.com
Campaign Name: Taxpayers for Skillicorn
Mailing Address: 245 Dunridge Circle, East Dundee, IL 60118
Phone: (224) 484-0458
Survey Questions (Character limit of 2,000 per response)
1. Please tell us about yourself, your background and why you believe you are qualified to hold this office.
There's a lot of talk in the 66th district about lower taxes, fiscal responsibility, and who's "the real Republican." I appreciate the discourse on these issues, which are near and dear to my heart, but the State of Illinois needs more doers, not talkers.
To date all candidates, including myself, seeking the primary nomination are elected officials. History repeats itself and I encourage everyone to scrutinize how our past governing lines up with our respective campaign platforms.
Talking about lower taxes is easy. Changing the way we govern to stop the crushing burden of higher property taxes... when you are up against the dysfunctional unfunded mandates of Illinois and climbing employee costs... that on the other-hand is not easy.
Here in East Dundee since I was elected four years ago, we've worked together to freeze the property tax levy and keep it that way. We've become a model for neighboring communities. Combined with local economic growth, village property taxes have dropped dramatically per home. On my latest property tax bill, the village of East Dundee only levied three dollars.
Talking about change is easy. Getting a village board to fully embrace open transparent government... that's not easy.
Prior to my first term as trustee, important village records and budgets were not easily available to the public. I think it's important, so I changed that. Now all financial information, even the check register, is posted regularly on East Dundee's website.
In a crowded primary full of local officials, the March 15 primary is about substance. Talk vs. Action. Nobody's perfect, and I haven't won every fight, but I'm the only proven conservative reformer in this race.
And that's important because the problems that most local governments in Illinois face are not homegrown, they are the result of bad policies forced down from Springfield... We need to change the way Springfield works. We need to turnaround Illinois
In closing I want to leave you with two thoughts:
We need a state representative committed to turning out state around, not simply winning a new job. Being your state representative is not a birthright or somebody's next step in public service. The whole state of Illinois is at stake. Which candidate is actually going to work against Speaker Madigan? I've been doing it for years. If elected I'll charge up mountains to help Governor Rauner save Illinois... that's why I'm running.
Being a good Representative of the Fox River Valley and the Northwest Suburbs starts with actually being from there. My grandfather worked as a janitor at Crystal Lake South High School. My mother was a teacher in School District 300 and led Crystal Lake's Head Start program.
I grew up between Crystal Lake and Algonquin before meeting my wife Heather and settling down in East Dundee. We go to Fox Valley Church near the corner of Huntley and Randall Road volunteer for the local animal rescue. Local roots matter.
I'm Allen Skillicorn, the conservative reformer and I humbly ask for your vote to shake up Springfield.
2. Governor Bruce Rauner and other politicians are pushing for term limits for Illinois legislators. Do you favor term limits? Why or why not? If yes, what type of term limits do you favor?
After eight years, it is time to move on from the Illinois House. Limiting a politician's span of service helps them focus on what they were sent by the people to do. Endless re-election campaigns and the accumulation of power by too many for too long have led Illinois to its current state of dysfunction.
3. What solution would you propose to get a budget passed in the State of Illinois?
We need to restore the two-party system in the Illinois legislature. Republican super-minorities in the House and Senate have empowered Chicago Democrat Speaker Madigan to hold the state budget hostage. Behind closed doors he silently refuses to negotiate with the Governor. Madigan could ignore Rauner's reforms and pass his own state budget tomorrow, yet he chooses not to do so. He is the architect of the Illinois Budget Crisis and the single largest road-block to an effective General Assembly.
The only path to restoring true economic opportunity in Illinois requires peeling back the claws of control from Speaker Madigan. He's amassed vast wealth profiting from Illinois's convoluted property tax system. For insiders like Madigan, the system works great. I'm running for the rest of us.
4. Chicago is the only city in Illinois with an appointed school board. Other large American cities, including San Francisco, elect their school board members. Would you favor changing Illinois law to provide Chicago with an elected school board? Why or why not?
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) are failing the students, parents and taxpayers of Illinois. Months ago, Chicago appointed chief CPS administrator, Barbara Byrd-Bennett plead guilty to a $2.3 million bribery scheme. Obviously Mayor Rahm Emanuel is incapable of the reforming the broken school system. For these reasons, I am open to shifting CPS to an elected board.
However, my primary concern is a costly bail-out of CPS by state taxpayers that does nothing to improve or correct this truly dysfunctional institution. Based on their current behavior, I oppose bailing-out CPS under any circumstances.
