Campaign Finance Reform
The way campaigns are financed must change. We cannot have fair elections if companies like General Motors and Comcast keep pumping large amounts of money into political campaigns in Illinois. This causes elected officials to focus working for the corporations that helped them get elected, not the actual people that voted for them.
Election Reform
Enacting equal petition signature requirements for all political parties or independent candidates and reduced referenda petition signature requirements to appear on the ballot. This is needed to ensure that our democracy flows and is not stampeded by a 1-party or 2-party system.
Ranked choice and instant runoff voting methods can increase accountability of elected officials.
Protect the integrity of the vote by requiring paper ballots that can be recounted by hand. We cannot trust an electronic system that has our votes on electronic chips. In COVID-19 times, this is necessity to maintain the essence of our electoral system and the right to vote.
Protect the public sector in Illinois from expansion of privatization and “public/private partnership” schemes. Privatization of public services curtails the essence of government and reduces accountability of elected officials.
A Constitutional amendment providing that corporations do not enjoy the same rights as people, and that money is not protected “speech.” These campaign reforms help restore power to the people in the political system.
Term Limits
I support the following term limits and I understand that we need to get our pensions under control:
– 2-year seats, maximum of 3 consecutive terms;
– 3-year seats, maximum of 3 consecutive terms;
– 4-year seats, maximum of 2 consecutive terms; and
– 6-year seats, maximum of 2 consecutive terms.
We need to keep our government officials in office enough to have experience, provide them an opportunity to enjoy another aspect of life, an opportunity to run for the seat again in a non-consecutive term, and to have more people experience being in office.
The Budget/Taxation and Education Funding Reform
As a homeowner and small business owner, Anna understands the need to come up with other viable solutions for tax revenue, such as the LaSalle Street Tax. We cannot rely on our homeowners and business owners to bear any further burdens of the Illinois budget. She will not increase property taxes!
For the breakdown of the Illinois Budget Solution that she supports, visit: Illinois Budget Solution.
Education Policy
I am a parent with 2 children in public elementary school. From the feedback I have received, it seems teachers do not have enough time to be creative or run their own schedule because they are too busy with the standardized testing preparation. The average 3rd grader in the academic year 2019-2020 spent 2-3 hours on screen time on any given day, which is about 44% of the school day. I have learned a lot about the educational system since my children started school and have found that the standardized testing seems to be the root cause for most of the problems that teachers and students face due to time constraints and standardized learning materials.
End school vouchers and other privatization schemes in education. Vouchers curtail the very essence of the public school system.
Begin “opting out” of federal programs that require frequent testing as a yardstick for educational progress and “teaching to the test.” Opting out of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) test is currently completed on the individual level.
Provide tuition-free higher education at public colleges and universities. This is possible and should be a goal of Illinois to provide this. Education is the best investment we can make and increase general well-being of the residents.
Energy Policy
Renewable energy should be our main focus of development and investment. Oil, coal, and nuclear power need to be phased out as we develop and integrate sustainable energy solutions.
Begin phasing out of coal-fired plants and nuclear power in Illinois. We have to focus on sustainable resources in order to ensure a sustainable environment for our children.
Environmental Policy
Power over environmental policy should be home-rule, where the residents of municipalities have control over their environment.
Ban on fracking and new oil or gas pipelines in Illinois. No new investments or research should be considered for fracking new oil or gas pipelines in Illinois.
Support for clean energy, sustainable transportation, and other strategies to combat global climate change. This has to be a main goal if we want our children to have a chance of a sustainable earth and environment.
Economic Policy
A focus on supporting small business and self-sufficient communities could keep local money on the local level to create stable economies.
I support the People and Planet First Budget proposed by Fair Economy Illinois, or similar budgetary priorities. The budget closes tax loops for corporations, and sets a progressive income tax, which may add over $14 billion in revenue. The budget also includes the LaSalle Street Tax, which imposes a small fee on speculative trading at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Board Options Exchange and Board of Trade and may bring in up to $12 billion in revenue.
Propose a constitutional amendment or other means of creating a progressive income tax or its equivalent in Illinois. I support this as a way to help the workers with a better living wage.
End Illinois’ extreme reliance on local property taxes for school funding; increasing state funding for education from progressive taxation. It is unfair to the homeowners to bail out a failed state budget without any recourse for a solution.
Create stronger regulation or restriction on the use or misuse of Tax Increment Financing (“TIF”) districts and “free enterprise zones.” Measures need to be place to ensure that accountability and common sense usage occurs.
Crime and Criminal Justice
A better living wage and access to mental illness treatment could reduce crimes and crime-ridden areas. Crimes should be re-evaluated with a view to the harm to society and appropriate sentences.
- There are sustainable gun solutions including registration of guns and sellers, re-instating the 1968 definition of a gun-dealer in regards to registration and re-instating the 1968 sales bans at gun shows.
- White-collar crimes should be investigated more and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
- A well-rounded community starts at home. Access to help for mental illness and disorders should be available to ensure the well-being of the people.
- Mediation-oriented solutions may be a viable option in some local communities.
- Reforming the criminal justice system to focus on rehabilitation, restorative justice, education and teaching living and job skills, not punishment and “incapacitation.” People adapt to their surrounding, and if an encouraging environment is presented with economic security, then we should expect people to make better decisions.
Health Care
Healthcare should be a basic human right. We should have a sustainable budget for people to receive essential medical care and annual psychical exams. I support an improved Medicare for all single-payer or publicly funded universal healthcare system.
Equal Rights Policy
Equal rights and opportunities for all, regardless of racial or national identity, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.
Gun Laws
Even though I am a supporter of the 2nd Amendment as a strict constitutionalist, I do believe reasonable solutions could be enacted that can produce significant differences. Solutions include registration of guns and sellers; reinstating the 1968 definition of a gun-dealer; banning sales at gun shows; and a zero-tolerance policy on those who intentionally or knowingly sold guns to minors or those who do not have a FOID card.
Paid for by Friends of Anna Schiefelbein