(upbeat music) - This is.

"Meet the Candidates" With primary candidates for the 54th Senate district.

I'm Benjy Jeffords, WSIU Public Broadcasting and the League of Women's Voters are pleased to host today's forum.

The rules are simple.

Each candidate will have 60 seconds to answer the question and should not mention their opponent in their answer.

Joining us today are Senator Steve McClure and Don DeBolt.

Thank you both so much for joining us.

Senator McClure, we'll start with you.

What is your number one priority if elected?

I know it can be hard to narrow it down, but please try to stick to just one.

- Well, for me, it's crime, we have a severe crime problem right now.

Across this state, we are seeing a record number of law enforcement folks that have left the profession, that have moved to different states.

And as a former prosecutor and as the chair for Republicans on the criminal law committee, it's a very big issue and I'm seeing crime like we've never seen before.

And it's going in places in this state where we've never seen crime be a major problem before.

And so tackling the crime problem is a major issue that needs to be addressed.

On top of that, the cost of living, as well as corruption.

And we've got to also protect our second amendment rights and stay vigilant as they are concerned.

- Thank you, Senator McClure, Mr. DeBolt.

- I feel getting the financial house in order must be a top priority.

Working families are taxed too much because Springfield spends too much.

As a CPA, an auditor by trade, it's clear these skill sets are missing in Springfield.

I support a zero based budget, where every department starts at zero and makes a case for every penny spent.

This will help us to eliminate wasteful spending and deliver a tax cut for working families.

It will also help us to better prioritize and fund things like police, education and more.

The bottom line is we need more accountability and transparency in government and I plan to demand it as a state Senator, thank you.

- Thank you Mr. DeBolt, we'll start with you this time.

What would make you an effective lawmaker if elected?

- I believe my background as an auditor and a certified public accountant for over 45 years will help me to bring a financial viewpoint that seems lacking in Springfield.

Having prepared tax returns for those 45 years for individuals and businesses, I've seen this state decline steadily.

We need more fiscal responsibility and fewer laws coming out of Springfield.

I've raised my family in this district.

I've opened businesses in this district.

I'm the only one in this race who understands firsthand, what families and small businesses are going through and I'll fight for them.

- Thank you Mr. DeBolt, Senator McClure same question to you.

- Well, that's a great question.

You know, I started off thinking that this session was going to revolve around issues that are economic and certainly they had been there, but really what's been the driving force behind the Democrats agenda has been measures that have made all of us less safe as members of the public.

So I have been on the front lines fighting against the extreme radical agenda, which is to defund the police, to put criminals back on the streets that are very, very violent.

And so I have a record that's unlike any other in the State Senate.

I have killed more bills than any other Senate Republican.

And these typically have been crime bills, bills that had they passed, would've made us even less safe.

And so my record on killing bills is significant.

No one in either chamber has a record like I do, of killing horrible bills.

And on top of that, I've gotten some big bills passed.

We had, my constituent, Deidre Silas was brutally murdered.

She's a DCFS investigator and we passed a bill to allow for DCFS investigators to carry pepper spray.

- Thank you, for the next question, Senator McClure, the pandemic really exposed disparities in education funding.

What would you do to make sure schools in your district are able to meet the needs of the families and the students?

- Well, the first thing that we have to do is look at how the money was spent over the course of this pandemic.

We got a record number of dollars from the federal government.

And one of the things that we've been on the front lines as Senate Republicans trying to gather is, what was spent where?

And I think once we figure out where some of this money has gone, we can answer that question better.

But the first question is, you know, where is the transparency here?

Where is the money spent?

What was it spent on and who agreed to spend funds in the ways that they were spent?

So it's a transparency issue.

And once we figure out where exactly the money has been going, then we can figure out where it needs to go.

And we can figure out who made decisions and whether or not some of those decisions were bad or not, but it starts with transparency.

We've gotta get answers, which we've been demanding on a daily basis and we're gonna continue to demand.

And then we can go and look at where the gaps are and fill those gaps in.

- Thank you and Mr. DeBolt.

- Having served on the local school board 14 years, I would oppose unfunded mandates on schools and restore local control.

No more mandates from the governor like J.B. Pritzker.

Many of our districts rely on farmland and local family homes as their source of revenue.

Additional tax burdens on local residents is not the solution.

I'd oppose Springfield's one size fits all approach to education.

Downstate is not the same as the Chicago area.

I believe education should return to teaching the main courses and get out of the liberal agendas.

I also support Darren Bailey's plan for parent choice, thank you.

- Thank you, we're gonna start with you again, Mr. DeBolt.

The state budget is a major priority in Springfield, name three things you would prioritize.

- Well, first of all, getting the fiscal house in order, as I've said, to eliminate wasteful spending and pass real balanced budgets, not political trickery.

Secondly, tax cuts for working families, including repealing the gas tax increase that my opponent supported with its automatic increases.

With an 8% inflation, which we currently have.

The gas tax will double in nine years.

And if we return to the years of Jimmy Carter, which I remember, in the 13%, it'll double much quicker.

It's hurting working families and retirees on fixed incomes and it needs to go.

Funding for police, education and other essential services, obligations like pensions.

We need to do after we get the fiscal house in order.

We can talk about it, but until we can fund it, it's just talk, thank you.

- And thank you, and Senator McClure, same question to you.

- Well, first of all, we've got proposals as to what to do with the budget.

First of all, on the gas tax, you know, we've got a bill that I'm co-sponsor of, to eliminate much of the sales tax, which would be a greater reduction than even before the sales, the gas tax was added and we've gotta go after property taxes as well.

So we've gotta reduce the cost of living in general, and we've got the funds to do that.

And we've got the bills to do that, I'm the sponsor of one.

And another thing is property taxes.

I know that my opponent's a big fan property taxes, as a member of the school board that have really cost Illinoisans across this state to be in really, really rough shape.

And that's the tax you can't avoid.

You know, you can't move your house into another state.

Some people decide to be residents of other states and they can avoid income taxes or they choose to get gas in Missouri, or they choose not to drive that, you can avoid those taxes.

The worst of them all in the whole country for property taxes is in the state of Illinois and people are really, really hurt.

And so that's a really big area.

And the third area is public safety.

We've got to fund programs that are going to go after the criminals and aid our police officers.

- Thank you Senator McClure.

Now that we've talked about the budget priorities, what are three things that you would cut from the budget?

- Talking, is it me?

- Yes, to you.

- The first thing is is the wasteful spending that we're seeing, it's constant.

It's one of those things that is in every single government entity.

And when the governor came into office, he asked for a across the board tax or across the board budget decrease in every state agency in our state.

And we never got there, but I think it's rational for each of these agencies to find about 5% that they can each cut and go from there.

And the governor supported that.

And I think we can get bipartisan support to do that.

So it starts with the general wasteful spending that we're seeing in the state.

Another thing that I would do would be, there's a lot of jobs that are currently in Chicago that are state workers that should be in Springfield.

And the cost of living in Chicago is much greater than Springfield.

And so if you move those jobs to Springfield, number one, the cost of living is less.

It would cost less to keep those employees here and the cost and price of buildings in which those employees can work in would be much less.

So it would really reduce the cost of state government by a significant amount.

- Thank you Senator and Mr. DeBolt, what would be three things you would cut?

- One of the first things I'd like to see go is to end the pensions for all state elected officials, senators, legislators, governor, Secretary of State, elected officials.

I feel like this ought to be a service, not a career.

Too many politicians look at this as a way of life and a career.

Second, I'd like to review the cost of illegal immigrants in Illinois.

Current cost estimate for 2022 is 4.6 billion, which is 10% of our budget.

They're offering them free food stamps and housing, Medicare to some.

Our neighboring states all spend less than 1 billion.

This needs to be reviewed.

We don't do this for our veterans or families here that are struggling and need more help.

We must review all programs implemented in the last four years.

We've gone from around 32 billion to 45 billion in four years, why?

That's something I will be using my skills as a CPA and auditor to try to find out, thank you.

- Thank you, for the next question, Mr. DeBolt, we'll move on to some recent events.

Although the economy is recovering from the early stages of the pandemic, inflation is also on the rise.

What would you do to help Illinoisans who are finding their paychecks don't stretch as far as they did even a couple of months ago?

- Well, again, I'd go back.

Let's start with repealing the gas tax increase and the automatic increases.

Fuel cost effect food and all delivered products in our grocery stores and stores.

We need to bring those down.

In addition, our politicians handed us those automatic increases.

We've gotta stop that because down the road, I don't think they realize how those are gonna compound and build.

If inflation remains at the 8%, as I mentioned earlier, we're gonna double in nine years.

And then if we get up to 20 years, we can be at a dollar 55.

I do want to commend my opponent for working to get rid of the sales tax on fuel.

I think that's a great idea, thank you.

- Thank you Mr. DeBolt and Senator McClure, same question to you.

- Well, I appreciate the kind words for my opponent and that's where it starts, is getting our bill passed to reduce the sales tax on gas.

That would be more significant than the gas tax itself.

So you would have a net savings and we'd still have money to fund our roads and bridges, which all of us know in downstate are in really, really rough shape right now.

That's the first thing.

The second thing is to make the reductions in the grocery tax permanent.

And I think that's a really, that hits home every day when you go to the grocery store.

Another big issue I would say would be just ensuring that the government spends money efficiently and it's necessary.

I think there's too many unnecessary costs within government and once you reduce the size of government, the taxpayer gets to keep more of their hard earned funds.

And I think that's what it's all about, but I'll say again though, the other part that's really, really hitting folks every year, me included of course, is property taxes, and we've got to reduce property taxes and we've got to make those reductions permanent.

Those are very significant and I think that we can get bipartisan support to do that and we'll see what happens.

- Thank you Senator McClure, we'll start again with you this time.

Many people are pushing for more renewable energy, especially with the rising price of oil.

At the same time, parts of Illinois have fossil fuel supplies that could provide energy for many years to come.

What would you do to ensure Illinois has a steady supply of energy and keep it affordable for Illinoisans?

- Well, I would say that energy policy is really driven at the federal level.

And, you know, president Trump promised that if Joe Biden were president, we'd see gasoline at $7 a gallon.

We're seeing that now in places like California.

So the energy prices are really driven by federal policies.

You know, killing the pipeline.

Conflicts between countries at the federal level, not drilling in the United States, in places where there is an abundance of oil.

So I think that, you know, our jobs as state senators is to encourage a federal policy that allows us to be energy independent, which president Trump did advocate for in the gas prices, under president Trump, even with what Illinois has going on, we're very cheap.

And I think, we have to advocate for a federal policy that allows us to be energy independent.

And I think that's really where the people in Illinois can make a difference.

On top of the fact that I've said this now multiple times, my bill to reduce the sales tax on gas would really help us out significantly.

- Thanks Senator and Mr. DeBolt, same question to you.

- Well, of all I'd repeal the radical energy bill the Senate passed.

I support keeping the coal fire and nuclear power plants operational.

Also encouraging oil and gas production in this state.

They provide good paying jobs, jobs that we need for our citizens of Illinois and a dependable source of energy produced here in Illinois.

When wind and solar can compete financially, it will do, be a greater source of energy.

I'm against government mandating our power options.

That only increases cost for families and that is unacceptable.

We must work to restructure energy policies across the state, to help lower costs for families in our district and for everyone in Illinois.

- Thank you and we'll start again with you, Mr. DeBolt, COVID 19 really changed the way people looked at healthcare and public health.

What would you do to make sure Illinois is prepared to handle future public health emergencies?

- At first I'm against Governor Pritzker's mandates and the way he handled things in COVID.

Up until COVID, I believe Illinois has handled all emergencies reasonably well.

I think the problem this time, was the actions of our governor who excluded the legislators and took over control for himself.

No one person should have the authority to decide which businesses close and which businesses stay open.

We need protection by law from one person being the total authority.

I know his mandates affected our businesses and I don't think he should have had that much authority.

Thank you.

- Thank you, Mr. DeBolt, and Senator McClure, same question to you.

- Well, the first thing that needs to happen is past legislation that all of us on the Senate Republicans have brought forward, which I'm a co-sponsor of, to not allow for the governor to have any more than 30 days to make these emergency orders during, when the state is in an emergency.

So that's the first thing because the legislature has to vote.

This state is very diverse and very different.

And Chicago is a very different region than the Springfield region is or the Effingham region is, or any place in the 54th district.

And so you have to recognize that by allowing people that represent all of these areas to vote on any mandates or on any executive orders in an emergency.

So that's the first thing.

The second thing is, we've got to ensure that places like the Illinois department of, well, IDES are ready for managing such a crisis because I don't have much confidence that IDEES can handle a massive amount of people that have to go in unemployment again, because we've seen rampant fraud and we've seen a lot of folks that were trying to get benefits, that couldn't get benefits through no fault of their own because we've got agencies that quite frankly were incompetent during the crisis.

- Thank you Senator McClure, we'll start again with you this time.

Gun violence continues to be a problem for communities across the state.

What would you do to address the violence and how do you balance that with second amendment rights?

- Well, the first thing is, is the prisoner review board has been releasing some of the most heinous criminals that were not reformed that we've ever seen in the state of Illinois.

People that were never getting released before, child murderers, child rapists, horrible people.

I took the initiative, I took the lead to get members of the prison review board who were releasing folks back into the public that were dangerous, that were violent, that were murders.

So thanks to the efforts on the Senate Republicans led by me, we were able to fire several members of the prisoner review board, thus making us safer because they're not gonna be releasing these insane people anymore.

That's the first thing, the second thing is, is we've got to basically totally vote out the law that was the crazy criminal package that the Democrats brought just a short time ago.

They passed at 4:30 in the morning.

We've got to revoke and repeal that law because it puts us all in great danger.

And the third thing I would say is that we have to stand up for witnesses and victims, because right now there aren't proper protections under the law for each of these folks.

And we need to do more to protect them by funding programs and ensuring that we can prosecute people that go after them.

- Thanks Senator McClure and Mr. DeBolt.

- Well, first and foremost, I support the second amendment and I support eliminating point cards.

I believe them to be unconstitutional and only stand in the way of law abiding citizens and their rights.

I am an NRA member and I have concealed carry.

Most violence is committed by illegal gun owners who are not obeying the laws that's on the books.

We need to aggressively prosecute during gun crimes.

We also need to address our education systems in our larger cities.

When we graduate students who cannot read at an adult level, what does that leave for their future?

Let us give kids choice in schools and also promote the trades as an alternative to college, thank you.

- And thank you, Mr. DeBolt, we'll start again with you this time.

Criminal justice reform is a hot topic in Springfield.

Do you support changes to the system, including alternative sentencing options like drug courts, and what changes would you make to ensure safety while also making sure rehabilitation remains an option?

- Well, fortunately, my only exposure to the criminal court system comes from my oldest son, being a police officer for 16 years.

I'm certainly willing to listen to the points for and against and would make an informed decision at that time.

The bottom line is, we need to keep residents safe and do our to help our most vulnerable.

I support our police fully and law and order, and will always look for ways to work with them and others to improve the law system, thank you.

- Thank you Mr. DeBolt, and Senator McClure, same question to you please.

- Well, first of all, anytime there's a major issue with crime in the state, the first thing that the Democrats do is they try to revoke the second amendment rights of every citizen in this state.

And the fact of the matter is, is that folks that are in much of the state are following the laws as it relates to guns.

It's the people, the criminals that are committing crimes, that are not following the laws.

So we have to strongly protect the second amendment.

And we have to realize that a lot of these laws are just targeting law abiding citizens.

They do not target criminals.

Now on drug courts that you talked about, I think drug courts are doing wonderful work.

I think a lot of folks think that you just lock a person up and you never see them again.

But the fact is if you don't cure whatever problem that they've got and in many cases, it is a drug addiction that's causing them to commit crimes.

If you don't cure that problem, if you don't treat that problem, they're just gonna come back out and commit new crimes.

So the thing is with drug court, is there has to be teeth to it.

Folks have to know if they're in drug court that, look, if you don't complete this successfully, you have a chance of being locked up.

And so that gives them the incentive to try to treat their addiction problems.

And I think we need to help these people treat their problems.

And I think that will solve a lot of future crime activity if we can get these people treated and on the right path.

- Thank you, we got just enough time for one more question.

And we'll start with you, Senator McClure.

Recent events have shown how much Americans can be impacted by global politics, as evidenced by supply chain shortages and rising prices due to the pandemic and fighting in the Ukraine.

What would you do to try to help minimize these, the disruption of events like these on the people of Illinois?

- Well, it's gotta be, you know, inflation is really kinda what you're getting at.

What part of that question is, the price of everything goes up when there's some sort of global conflict or when we've got a federal policy that is anti-energy independence.

And so, you know, the energy bill, I voted no on the energy bill, of course, and I'm trying to get bills passed and voted on that do reduce the cost of living for folks.

You know, the bill that Governor Pritzker put forward to freeze the gas tax.

I voted for that and I voted to freeze the grocery tax.

That's a good step, however, we've got to do a lot more because this inflation issue is not going away anytime soon.

And in order to properly address it, we have to have legislation that does reflect the fact that it's an emergency with inflation right now.

The cost of living in every area is going up.

And that's why we've gotta go tackle our incredible property tax, is they're way too high.

We've gotta tackle the cost of living expenses that are dealt with in many of the bills that I'm happy to be a co-sponsor of.

So there's a lot that we can do at the state level.

And I would encourage, you know, the governor folks on both sides of the aisle to start working with me to get these things done.

- And thank you, Mr. DeBolt, same question to you.

- Well, first I'd give the people accurate information on the problem and possible solutions.

Make sure government's a partner for success instead of a problem standing in the way.

Pritzker lockdowns were detrimental and should not have occurred.

I would fight against unilateral mandates and lockdowns and work with local leaders and communities to ensure they have the resources needed to succeed.

- Thank you both so much for joining us and thank all of you for tuning in for.

"Meet the Candidates' For Senate district 54 with candidates, Senator Steve McClure and Don DeBolt.

Tune in next Thursday at 7:00 PM for more forums, for WSIU, I'm Benjy Jeffords.

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