Sullivan and Koehler weigh in on state spending, the business climate, taxes, and concealed carry.
At the state level this election, all eyes will turn to the 46th District State Senate seat currently held by incumbent Democrat David Koehler. Republican Pat Sullivan, Peoria businessman and restaurant owner, is challenging Koehler who began his tenure in Springfield in 2006.
Sullivan, who owns Kelleher’s and Beignets along the Peoria Riverfront with business partner John Hunt and also rents space to other local businesses, says “when you’re in business, you’re in politics” and hopes to use his background to place the state on a different path. Koehler, a retired minister in the United Church of Christ, has utilized his experience on the Peoria County Board and Peoria City Council in hopes of turning the state around for the better without hurting the poor and middle class.
Changing Direction
Sullivan has been in business since the early 1970s when he started his own company and purchased old buildings to renovate the Peoria warehouse and riverfront districts. Born and raised in Central Illinois, Sullivan says now is the time to use his business sense to change the direction Illinois is headed. Having created jobs on the Peoria Riverfront for years, he believes he has the know-how to bring jobs back to Illinois. Sullivan says the thought of his children and grandchildren’s futures influenced his decision to run. “I can’t leave this state to my kids, your kids, grandkids. It’s broke. We have to turn it around.”
Koehler, having served two terms in the state house and worked across party lines to pass legislation to improve Illinois’ fiscal climate, understands Sullivan’s concerns and says the state has struggled to cut billions of dollars from the budget over the past few years—$2 billion last year and $1.6 billion this year.
Hot-button topics ranging from taxes to prison closings to gun control have dominated state senate debates, turning the weeks leading up to the election into a battleground over controversial issues.
Get a Grip on State Spending
The state’s 67 percent income tax hike has provoked much disagreement between the two parties since Democrats, including Koehler, voted to pass legislation favoring the increase. In response to the tax hike, Republicans responded by arguing that taxes should never be raised during a recession.
“This tax increase on our workers is at 67 percent,” said Sullivan. “A family of four is paying over 700 dollars more in taxes last April. They’re not used to this. These high taxes have got to stop. It’s running jobs out of the state, and businesses can’t operate with this high tax.”
Sullivan says high taxes combined with egregious spending will not help Illinois “get its fiscal house in order” or bring jobs back to the state. “We need to get hold of this; we have to get hold of it fast for our workers and for us. Our workers need to go back to work.”
Koehler says budget cuts are a must. According to Koehler, the legislature made $2 billion dollars in cuts last year and another $1.6 billion this year. “We do have a plan to pay the back debt.”
The Democrat made reference to Senator John Sullivan’s legislation regarding bonding the debt rather than paying vendors 1 percent per month (or 12 percent per year). “We could bond that at 4 percent interest and save a lot of money,” said Koehler. “And plus pay our vendors and our schools … so that can actually make some plans in terms of what their future is going to be.”
Prison Shutdowns
The looming budget crisis has evoked yet another controversial topic: closing Illinois prisons. The Governor’s proposed solution has remained highly unpopular among both Republicans and Democrats. Koehler says the guards employed at the Illinois River Prison in Canton are “frightened to death” at the prospect of mixing certain prison populations.
“You have levels of prisoners in terms of their classification, some very violent, some prisoners that really have to be isolated, others that have committed lesser crimes, and when you start mixing those prison populations it’s a powder keg,” says Koehler. “They’re very concerned about the safety of their own workers.”
Koehler also questioned whether the amount of money saved is worth the risk.
Sullivan also opposes prison shutdowns, citing the fact that a large percentage of the prisoners are felons. Illinois prison shutdowns is a concept, he says, lacks forethought. “We’ve had a lot of laws pass in the last couple of years on knee-jerk decisions,” he says. “Let’s sit down and talk this out and find out what we really need to do with our prisons.”
Protecting the Second
Although far less poignant an issue than taxes and the safety of prison workers, protecting Second Amendment rights has always been paramount among Republicans. Illinois remains the only state in the nation not to pass a concealed carry law.
“Why don’t we have it yet? We’ve got to take a stand to Chicago and say: ‘Let’s get this on the floor and go.’” says Sullivan.
Koehler, a co-sponsor of the concealed carry bill, says legislation is currently pending in the state senate—legislation that he supports. If passed, the law would allow the practice of carrying a concealed handgun in public.
State Senator Dave Koehler is a proponent of the bill and says concealed carry has been a long-term issue between Illinois and Chicago. “Until we can solve that issue, it’s not going to go anywhere,” he says.
He said it is still in the hands of a few lawmakers, not those in Central Illinois, who are keeping the bill from being passed.
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