Providing Real Property Tax Relief
As our State Representative, Ann will be an outspoken advocate for taxpayers who are paying more than their fair share of property taxes. As a homeowner, Ann understands the financial toll of escalating property tax values in light of falling home values. Today’s economic hardships are hitting everyone, especially homeowners. The current property tax plan for Illinois places a heavy burden on homeowners in districts like ours.
Ann is committed to real property tax reform that will lower the burden on our homeowners and she will support tax cap legislation that balances falling home values with property tax increases.
Protecting Our Environment
Ann understands that protecting our environment must be a top priority. She believes that economic development and environmental protection go hand in hand.
As an Assistant Attorney General, Ann worked with a coalition of environmental groups and advocates to draft and pass the Safe and Clean Communities Act to protect our air, water, and land resources from harmful pollution.
As our State Representative, Ann will fight to reduce green house gas emissions and promote the development of renewable energy in Illinois. She will be a strong advocate for tougher energy efficiency standards that will help Illinois consumers reduce their usage of electriticy and help lower their bills. Renewable energy and energy efficiency means green jobs for Illinois
Ann will also fight for cleaner air and water This starts with reducing emissions from coal fired power plants, and better funding for public transportation. It means policies that reduce pollution in Lake Michigan and eliminate beach closures. Ann understands that clean air and clean water means a healthier Illinois, with less asthma and most importantly, lower rates of cancer.
As our State Representative, Ann will continue working to protect our natural resources by being an advocate for green jobs, providing incentives to use alternative energies, and building partnerships between corporations and communities.
Protecting Illinois Consumers
As an Assistant Attorney General, Ann was at the forefront of protecting consumers’ rights. Ann helped pass important legislation to assist victims of identity theft regain their personal and financial security, and legislation designed to make it easier to prosecute these devastating financial crimes. Ann was also instrumental in efforts by the Attorney General’s office to stop cell phone companies from selling private customer information.
In addition, Ann worked to pass the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which ensures that people who fall behind in their credit card payments are not intimidated and unlawfully pressured by unscrupulous debt collection agencies.
Ann also helped pass the Mortgage Rescue Fraud Prevention Act, to protect homeowners from mortgage fraud schemes and predatory lenders who intentionally uses deceptive practices to take advantage of homeowners desperate to stay in their homes.
She also worked to pass the Fair Patient Billing Act, which protected patients struggling to meet the demands of skyrocketing medical payments and make sense of complex medical billing practices.
As our State Representative, Ann will continue her efforts to work on behalf of Illinois consumer.
Protecting a Woman’s Right to Choose
Ann serves on the board of Personal PAC, a pro-choice advocacy organizationand is 100% committed to preserving every woman’s access to safe and legal abortion. Ann will fight any attempt to limit or restrict this right.
Maintaining Safe Communities
Ann knows that a safe community is a thriving community. Ann has been a long time activist for public safety both in a volunteer capacity – on the board of the Illinois Council for Handgun Violence – and while working for Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
Ann worked with a coalition of organizations and individuals in Springfield to fight the NRA’s efforts to increase availability of firearms and worked on legislation to tighten up background checks for gun purchases, limit access to high powered assault weapons, and limit the quantity of gun purchases.
Human Rights/LGBT Rights
Ann believes all of us deserve equal protection and access to benefits, regardless of sexual orientation. Under current law, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons are discriminated against by legal protections and benefits that are tied to marriage laws. Illinois parentage laws also fail to provide the same legal protection for lesbian and gay parents as they do for heterosexual parents.
Ann will support efforts to eliminate these barriers and ensure that all persons may participate equally in our society regardless of their sexual orientation.
Fighting to Clean up State Government
The core of Ann’s campaign is to clean up state government and ensure that those elected to represent us are working on our behalf – not to line their own pockets. Ann believes we need to take government out of the back room and return it to where it belongs – in the hands of the people. She is committed to serving as a true representative of the people, not a representative of any special interest, power broker or political machine.
As Assistant Attorney General with Lisa Madigan’s office for almost 5 years, Ann worked on issues related to open and accessible government, including legislation to strengthen the state’s sunshine laws like the Open Meetings Act and the Freedom of Information Act. She worked closely with the Office’s Public Access Counselor to ensure that information was provided to citizens in compliance with these laws.
As State Representative, Ann will continue to be a champion of ethics legislation in state government, fighting the entrenched special interests and power brokers, so that back room deals become a thing of the past, and public officials are held accountable for their actions. Ann will work to cut wasteful spending in government by providing more oversight in the budgeting process, ensuring that voters know how their money is spent and who is spending it.
Cracking Down on Sex Offenders
Ann has a track record of advocating for comprehensive and tough laws to protect women and children, and she worked closely with Attorney General Lisa Madigan to advance a strong and agressive agenda to crack down on sexual predators.
As an Assistant Attorney General, Ann worked on passing legislation to bring local, state and federal law enforcement agencies together to collaborate in prosecuting and tracking sexual offenders by creating the Illinois Sex Offender Registry Team (I-SORT) under Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
Ann also helped draft and pass Lifetime Supervision for Sex Offenders – one of the strongest laws in the nation to close loopholes in the existing law and to ensure that convicted sex offenders are closely monitored to prevent repeat offenses. Ann worked with a coalition of legislators and advocates to override former Governor Rod Blagojevich’s veto of this legislation and was successful in this effort.
Ann also helped pass legislation to provide tools and resources for law enforcement agencies such as the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which, to date, has been responsible for the arrest and prosecution of over 400 online sex predators.
As our State Representative, Ann will continue to make sure that our families are protected by ensuring appropriate resources and legislative efforts are expended to keep every child safe.
Caring For Our Seniors
Ann has worked to protect nursing home residents by helping to pass legislation requiring background checks of all applicants for residence in nursing homes, and to provide detailed information to residents and their families as to the population of any particular facility.
As our State Representative, Ann will continue to make sure that our seniors are given the tools and resources to enjoy safe, productive, healthy lives whether in their own homes or in nursing home facilities.
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