Comptroller candidates spar over taxes, experience in candidate forum

Democratic candidates for comptroller from left are Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim; Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego; Sen. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago; and Rep. Margaret Croke, D-Chicago. (Illustration and photos by Capitol News Illinois)

Four Democrats seeking the office of state comptroller put their pitches to the test on Tuesday at a candidate forum on Chicago’s South Side.

Some tried to flex their progressive policy muscles and others leaned into their experience to convince voters why they are the right person to manage billions of dollars of state funds annually.

Comptroller Susana Mendoza is not seeking reelection after nine years in office, creating an opportunity for a new Democrat to seek a state constitutional office for the first time since 2018.

The comptroller’s core constitutional function is to pay the state’s bills, and the race features three members of the General Assembly — Rep. Margaret Croke, D-Chicago, Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, and Sen. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago — and Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim. Democratic Champaign County Auditor George Danos and Republican Bryan Drew are also running but did not attend the forum.

In 90 minutes of questions and answers, the four women listed their experience in financial management and debated the effectiveness of the state budget and whether Illinois is generating enough taxes to pay for Democratic priorities.

Revive the graduated income tax

Each candidate proclaimed their support for a graduated income tax, which would require an amendment to the state constitution. Voters rejected such a proposal in 2020 despite its backing from Gov. JB Pritzker, but the candidates all said they support giving it another try.

Villa argued the state needs more revenue to pay for progressive priorities and a graduated income tax, which has also been called the “progressive tax” or “fair tax,” would help.

“The fact that it has failed does not mean that we shouldn’t go at it again,” Villa said.

She added “the name sucked,” while criticizing how the amendment was pitched to voters. Villa said another try at passing it should tie the amendment to public school funding and property tax relief.

Croke, a Pritzker ally, said a better name would have helped, but she defended Pritzker’s ability to sell it to voters.

“I thought the governor did an incredible job trying to push that initiative and I guarantee that if we were able to get it back on the ballot, which is something that I would support in the legislature … that same fervor and that same coalition-building would be utilized again,” Croke said.

Budget effectiveness

Debate over the graduated income tax was part of a broader discussion during the forum about the state budget, which included some criticism of the Democrat-authored budget.

“We can’t celebrate passing balanced budgets when we are cutting service for everyday people,” said Villa, who voted for the budget in May.

Villa argued the state’s $55.1 billion budget, which has grown by $15 billion since Pritzker took office, is not spending enough on health care, education and other key services.

“I agree that the budget is out of whack, which is why I voted against it,” Kifowit said. Croke and Villa “voted for a budget that doesn’t fund our schools, that doesn’t fund what we need to do.”

Villa said she supports a digital advertising tax, which was briefly part of budget discussions in May before Villa said it was “magically pulled out” despite support from the progressive caucus. A similar tax has faced legal challenges in other states.

Croke said lawmakers need to pass taxes they can count on receiving.

“I don’t want to promise you revenues and not be able to give you those dollars,” Croke said. “That’s really important for me that you always know that I’m coming from a truly genuine place. And I’m not going to balance a budget just in words alone.”

Villa responded that “I’m not a lazy legislator” and legal concerns about the tax are “based on false lies.”

“There is revenue to be had,” she said. “That revenue is from corporations and billionaires.”

Comptroller’s responsibilities

How the comptroller prioritizes payments was also a major aspect for candidates when asked about addressing budget challenges, specifically on social services.

Croke worried that rural hospitals are being pushed to the brink of closure because of federal policies and said she would ensure they are some of the first groups to receive payments from the state.

Kim said the state needs to prevent more problems for people earlier on before they become more costly.

“Nothing saves money like prevention,” Kim said. “If we give them proactive health care, it saves us so much money later when they’re going to the emergency rooms and it costs so much money then.”

Appearing to take a shot at Mendoza, Villa said if she is elected, “I’m not going to jump up and down and say I paid the bills on time in front of people who are looking at their bills and saying ‘I don’t have money to feed my family.’”

Mendoza often touts her success in bringing the state down from a $17 billion bill backlog during Rauner’s term to a rate where she pays the bills days after they arrive.

How to stand out

Kifowit often pointed to her work on the House Democrats’ budget team while Rauner was governor to argue she has adequate financial experience to be comptroller during President Donald Trump’s tumultuous administration. She is the longest-serving politician in the field, having joined the House in 2013.

“This is the Rauner years, just exasperated,” Kifowit said. “This is what Bruce Rauner did and I’ve seen it and I can deal with it and we’ve got to be on the frontlines, at the ready to make sure that we grab the resources when they’re available.”

Villa, who had a career in social work before becoming a lawmaker, is trying to position herself as the progressive in the race.

“When I think about a budget, I don’t just see numbers on a page,” she said. “I see the budget as a moral document.”

Croke argued her role as chair of the House financial institutions committee makes her the “foremost authority” on the comptroller’s primary responsibility of payment processing.

But Kim said being county treasurer is the only comparable experience.

“I’m the only one up here that’s already doing the job of comptroller,” Kim said.

Kifowit countered that a county role isn’t enough experience.

“The comptroller manages 16 million transactions a year,” Kifowit said. “That is not a treasurer on the county level, my friends. This is an important business. It’s the chief financial office and we deserve somebody who is experienced.”

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.