Will County Gazette

In a policy discussion with CLTV’s Paul Lisnek, longtime state Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia (D-Aurora) lauded her recent ascension to a House leadership position.

Lisnek opened the Jan. 16 interview by congratulating LaVia, a House member since 2002, on being named assistant majority leader.

LaVia said she was the first Latino elected outside of Cook County, and her new role follows in the footsteps of that earlier achievement.  

Linda Chapa LaVia

“Being (named) the assistant majority leader by my colleagues in the Latino Caucus, I’m the first Latina to ever hold that position in 200 years, so it’s phenomenal, with a lot of responsibility,” she said.

When the discussion turned to policy, she was less emphatic.

When Lisnek asked her if Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s progressive agenda would require tax hikes, she first answered “not at all” and suggested budget cuts could negate the need for new or higher taxes.

“I'm gonna tell you, when I had the opportunity to sit face to face with the governor on issues that are important to him, he also understood—being a businessperson—where to find the waste in government,” she asserted.

Then she segued into discussing Veterans Affairs, of which she is a committee chair.

“I'm the chair of Veterans Affairs,” LaVia said. “And I know one place specifically (where) we come in dead last (is) in the dollars we secure from the federal government for the veterans in our state, and we have the tenth-largest population in the whole, entire United States. So what we're doing—if we're not getting federal funds for (the veterans)—it's being supplanted by state funds."

As the interview moved on, LaVia praised Gov. Pritzker’s business background, suggesting it could help reverse citizens’ loss of faith in government, an issue she said the governor had raised with her.

“So I’m really excited about the governor’s past, as far as all his startup companies, especially the design thinking,” she explained. “Because I really do think that we have to fine-tune the way we deliver back to our customers, who are our constituents, and we've forgotten about them."

When Lisnek asked whether it is realistic to implement the governor’s progressive agenda without a tax increase, LaVia apparently contradicted her earlier denial.

“Well, I do not think we can, okay?” she replied. “Just based on some of the waste—like I said—in government.”

Next, the discussion turned to a failed plan last year to tax services on landscaping, dry cleaning, manicures and spas, and even Netflix streaming. Lisnek asked whether the proposal would be revisited.

“I think it will,” LaVia said. “I think we will see that, but we have to be fair in the process. I like to say where we see boutique services, let's say 'luxury,' because I know you don't like the dry cleaning, so, but things like that: nails, make-up, things that, we're gonna say, if you can afford these things, then you can probably pay a little more."

When the subject turned to health care, LaVia took the opportunity to launch a vague attack against the current White House.

“Just think about what's happening right now with our president, with all this ugly rhetoric, that hateful speech,” she stated. “Which actually promoted a lot of Latinos into running for office, so I thank him there, but not too much more."

She then asserted frugality should be observed in managing funds from Washington.

“The things that are coming down, they're gonna affect us drastically as a state, and all the federal dollars we get in every department,” LaVia said. "So, it's kind of a scary time for us all. But we do have to buckle down and be very, very conservative with the dollars we do have, and spend them wisely, efficiently and effectively."

The majority leader capped the interview by declining to discuss pension reform and equivocating about raising property taxes.

“We are taxing people out of their properties,” she said. “But that's one of the things I know my constituency is clamoring for—how do you let us keep our houses? We can't afford to be here. So, I'm really looking forward to working with the new administration on a solution.”