Amanda Biela, a former Chicago schoolteacher, is taking on establishment politics in her Republican primary bid for the seat held by longtime Rep. John D'Amico (D-Chicago) with a platform that includes tax relief for Illinois families.
Biela, running in the 15th House District, is also speaking out about some of the political practices that seem irresponsible to many residents.
"Want to guess how many days the Illinois House of Representatives is scheduled to meet between now and April 1?" Biela wrote in a recent Facebook post on her campaign page. "Sixteen days. That's it. Representatives receive $67,000 a year in salary and a public pension, you might think they work a bit harder for the people they represent. This might be OK if the General Assembly was actually productive. But no, there is an extreme lack of action in Springfield."
Biela cited a lack of evidence of property tax reform, pension reform or government consolidation, three of the things that taxpayer advocates point to as solutions for what's bloating the state government's expense ledger.
"The only thing the General Assembly seems good at is raising our taxes," Biela wrote. "It's time for change and the first step is electing folks who will put in the long hours to get the job done."
Biela expounded on some of her thoughts on inaction at the state level in recent comments to the Chicago City Wire.
"Illinoisans recognize the hypocrisy of elected officials who spend so little time in session while they (residents) are working hard to support their families," Biela said. "It's especially upsetting when the little work the Legislature does results in tax increases that hurt these same families."
Like some others who spend time looking at how state politics has worked in Illinois, Biela also laid some of the state's problems at the feet of House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago).
"In the age of Mike Madigan, you see very few structural reforms make it through committee and to the floor," Biela said. "It's a lot easier for Madigan and his Democratic machine, which includes my opponent John D'Amico, to maintain power by just kicking the can down the road than actually make hard decisions about pension reform and educational spending."
Biela had some specific words for her opponent:
"John D'Amico is a complacent cog in the Madigan's machine," she said. "He had no problem voting to raise the state income tax by 32 percent last summer and he has offered no solutions to the burdensome property taxes that are driving people from Illinois."
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