North Cook News

Jessica Tucker, the Republican candidate for state House in the 18th District, recently added her voice to the ongoing conversation surrounding the “no budget, no pay” mandate in play at the State Capitol in Springfield.

 

“The General Assembly's No. 1 essential priority, and Illinois Constitutional mandate, is to adopt a balanced budget (with no gimmicks or fuzzy political math) by July 1st — the beginning of the state's fiscal year,” Tucker said. “Legislators failed to adopt a budget for 2016 and … 2017, and we are all suffering the terrible consequences not only from this failure, but from years of irresponsible, unbalanced spending plans.”

 

State Rep. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago) has become a central figure in the fiscal crisis, particularly following statements he made via social media that have created a backlash among constituents. On Aug. 5, he compared withholding legislators’ pay to bribery, suggesting that both were equally corrupt acts. When his tirade drew criticism, instead of responding to residents’ concerns, Martwick only redoubled his position.

 

Tucker responded that some vendors have waited up to a year for compensation while legislators cash their checks.

 

“Social service providers and higher education are among the victims of this fiscal recklessness that has resulted in an accumulated backlog of $8 billion owed to those who have done their jobs and provided goods and services to the state and its people,” she said.

 

Tucker said she and her colleagues all know that legislative office is a part-time job. 

 

“I served eight years at the local level in Winnetka at zero compensation, and spent 10 to 20 hours per week serving my community while working as an attorney and raising three children,” Tucker said. “I was happy to serve without pay as I was passionate about my community, good government and setting the right example."

 

Martwick also upheld the plight of a fellow lawmaker less fortunate than he who had recently made headlines of his own by taking a second job. The fiscal fracas has led some legislators to scramble for solutions; just to make ends meet for his family, Jaime Andrade Jr. took on a second job as an Uber driver, logging up to 50 hours a week.

 

What Martwick didn’t foresee was the inevitable parallels his critics would easily draw from his record. Family connections link him to property-tax law firms in the greater Chicago area — firms that profit directly from property tax cases. He and his father, Robert Martwick Sr. — along with Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) and Chicago Alderman Ed Burke — all run property-tax law firms in Cook County.

 

As one of 31 state representatives who voted against a property-tax freeze in April, Martwick fought the very policies that would benefit his constituents. Yet, when he and his colleagues weren’t paid sooner than the state’s vendors — who themselves must deal with untimely payments due to Illinois’ $7.5 billion budget backlog — he nevertheless cried foul.

 

Additionally, Rep. Martwick previously lobbied for a law that could have limited ridesharing activity in Chicago and denied Andrade the much-needed income had it become law. The bill was ultimately vetoed by then-Gov. Pat Quinn. 

 

Martwick’s position has done little to earn him sympathy among Illinois’ struggling citizens.

 

“Right back at you, Mr. Martwick,” Tucker said. “I want my representatives to know what it means to struggle so that when they vote, they can indeed relate to the fiscal issues that they, up until now, have refused to address.”

 

Asking rhetorically how Illinois’ government could be more divided than ever despite the stop-gap compromise budget, state Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) also parsed Illinois’ precarious position, saying, “It all comes down to two things: a man and money.”

 

Ives said Martwick claims to defend the middle class; but at the same time, he fails to address its topmost issues, such as property tax hikes.

 

"Martwick betrays his rhetoric regarding the middle class in other, subtler ways,” Ives said.