State representative candidates for the 69th District

Name: Ronald A. Wait

Party affiliation: Republican

Education: B.S. Accounting Drake University, M.S. Special Education Northern Illinois University, M.B.A. Northern Illinois University and J.D. Drake University Law School

Political experience: Illinois House of Representatives (1983-1993), Illinois State House of Representatives (1995-present)

Source: http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=6398

Source: e-mail interview with Ron Wait

Issues:

Education: Illinois has increased funding for elementary and secondary education. Wait has and will continue to support additional funding for public schools. Wait says that the government needs to “shake up the entrenched bureaucracies that are more concerned with their own self-preservation than with the education of school children.” He supports performance-based pay for teachers but does not support shortening the time needed for a teacher to get tenure. Wait supports public and private schools and preschool for all children given that there is funding. He does not support unfunded mandates in school districts. Ron Wait disagrees with Governor Blagojevich’s policies toward higher education and believes they have led to tuition increases and program cutbacks. He supports increased funding for higher education.

Economy: Wait believes that the economy our area has been facing is not good. He has seen the job losses, specifically in Rockford, and would pass a new program to help create 500,000 jobs statewide. Wait believes that the Governor and Democratic leaders’ stream of anti-jobs, anti-business legislation being proposed in Springfield must be stopped. He will aim to improve the business conditions and create jobs.

Health Care: Wait believes that the state government should make sure that everyone has the opportunity to get affordable, quality health care and says this can be done through private health insurance and a “state safety net for individuals who cannot afford insurance or who have pre-existing conditions.” He does not support a universal health care system run by the government because he says it would be too expensive to the state’s budget.

Civil Rights: “I support equal rights for all of our citizens. However, I do not support special rights for one group over another. Everyone should be treated equally under the Constitution.”

War In Iraq: Wait feels the war in Iraq was not handled well due to the lack of planning to deal with the response of the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime. He said the U.S should work with the Iraqi government to make a smooth transfer of power and security in the country while downsizing on the amount of U.S. troops stationed there. He does acknowledge that he is not involved with the U.S foreign policy.

Name: Greg Tuite

Party affiliation: Democrat

Education: B.A. University of Colorado, J.D. Illinois Institute of Technology/Chicago-Kent College of Law,

Political Experience: Illinois State House of Representatives candidate for District 69 (2006), Democratic Central Committee chair (2002-present) and Rockford Township trustee (2001-present)

Occupation: Attorney in Rockford

Source: http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=58569, http://www.tuiteforrep.com/aboutgreg.html

Issues:

Education: Tuite supports increased funding for education and higher education and believes the state needs more teachers and smaller class sizes. Tuite’s campaign representative said he will fight to make sure the 69th District gets its fair share of state resources to accomplish this.

Economy: Tuite recognizes the recent economy crisis and that Rockford in particular has the highest unemployment rate in the state. He supports incentives for companies to come to Illinois which would create jobs. He does not support state tax breaks for corporations that move jobs out of Illinois to other countries. According to his rep., he will fight for a law that requires the companies to refund these tax breaks.

Health Care: Tuite will fight to make sure that injured war veterans receive state-of-the-art treatment from state facilities. He also wants to ensure that Illinois pays health care providers on time to make sure people have the opportunity to get quality health care.

Civil Rights: Tuite thinks the movement transformed our county and allows that individuals are judged on their character. He believes it is important to build on this and “not go backwards in terms of government’s commitment to protecting everyone’s civil rights.”