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Phelps, challenger debate issues in legislative contest

by The Southern

Sunday, October 1, 2006 6:50 AM CDT

MARION _ State Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, and Republican challenger Rhonda Belford debated Friday in The Southern's office at the Illinois Centre.

Phelps and Belford, who are running for the State House in the 118th district, were questioned by three journalists, Southern editor James Bennett, reporter Ashley Wiehle and reporter/columnist Jim Muir.

Belford won the coin toss and was asked the first question. Each candidate had 90 seconds to answer each question, with the candidate answering the question first given a 60-second rebuttal.

The transcript from the debate:

The Southern: Why do you want to run for state representative, and if you win, what would you say will be your top priorities?

Belford: Why I want to run is because I have a deep concern for Southern Illinois. I feel like focus has been lost. I feel like for far too long we've been losing out to other states, we've been losing out to the city of Chicago. Our children as far as education have been losing out; our state employees, our teachers have been losing benefits that are very meaningful to them.

What really topped it off was the pensions we have been failing to pay into; our Medicaid bills that have been falling by the wayside ? we're not paying our bills. It's just a fiscal responsibility that we have that's just being lost. One of first things I'd like to do is look at bringing jobs back to Southern Illinois.

We've lost over 2,000 jobs in Southern Illinois alone. That's a lot to bite off and a lot to chew, but I feel like that's something we can work on together. I've worked in economic development for over 20 years; I've worked healthcare for over 20 years. It's something that as a wife and a mother and just as citizens we're obligated to do something about.

Phelps: I appreciate being here. I'm going to keep doing what I've been doing. I think we've seen a steady growth in projects and money down here and job growth. Illinois has led the state in job growth. In my district alone, we have increased almost 30, 40 percent in job growth. Just in Pulaski County, we've grown almost 70 percent. What we're doing in some of those depressed areas. I think the district wants a state rep that can get along with everybody on both sides and that can bring projects and needed jobs down to an area that's been deprived for a long time. Especially with education ? that was one of my main priorities when I ran and every year in four years, the 118th district has gotten more money in schools because we've been able to hold harmless our schools. Coal mines have had expansions. There's one right now that's getting ready to be bought and shut down because of the union issue. The ethanol and biodiesel industry is just amazing now what they're being able to do. We've got a couple of other companies coming, one in Gallatin County and Saline County, and Hamilton County and Pulaski County ? Dippin' Dots Curt Jones wanting to do something there, a $100 million project. I think my record speaks for itself. I've voted for a lot of bills. That's all I have going is my record, and I'm proud of it and proud to be a state rep for the 118th district.

Belford: The problem being with that, I'm finding is there's special dedicated funds that Mr. Phelps has gone along with this administration in raiding and part of that has been the Coal Technology Development Assistant program as well as the reforms for our pension plans for our downstate teachers and our state employees. It's not fair that our downstate teachers would not have their pensions paid into while Chicago teachers would be allowed to keep their pensions paid into. All of our state employees are not having their pensions paid into; that's a problem for me. Our education system ? I've talked to all of our superintendents across the state, while per student maybe they're trying to raise the formula level of per student ? grants are not being paid. There is no gain for education in District 118. That's a problem.

The Southern: How are you going to restore people's faith in government given George Ryan's recent scandal and speculation surround Gov. Rod Blagojevich this election season?

Phelps: That's a good point. When you take that oath of office, you owe it to your constituents to do what's right. We found out, if we would have had Glenn Poshard as governor, we wouldn't have been seeing this with George Ryan. There's a lot of people that supported George Ryan over Glenn Poshard and they say they care about Southern Illinois, but really do they when they support George Ryan? The other thing is, he got what was coming to him. You've got to let justice take its course in the process. Now, a lot of people think the governor has been indicted. The governor has not been indicted right now, Rod Blagojevich. If he's done something wrong, I'm sure the process will take its course and the investigations will come out. If he did wrong, and I know there's speculation on the treasurer as well and some of the things she did with George Ryan.

The process will take its course. I'm worried about it, sure, because it's our leadership and what George Ryan went through: It's a sad time for Illinois right now, for the Willis family and for all the people involved in that. All I'm doing right now is going door to door and talking to constituents and what's important to them. I'm not an investigator, I'm not the judge. I'm just going to let the process take its course and I'm sure someone will get it in the end just like George Ryan did.

Belford: I'm a person that will say what I mean and will mean what I say. To me, this election is not about Republican or Democrat; it's about what's right and what's wrong. I will concern myself with the issues, both state and district. I don't want to be a legislator that is a patronage legislator. I think people have lost faith in government because of those types of situations. I don't want to be someone who works by legislation or threats that this administration have looming over its head.

Republican or Democrat, if they are found to be guilty of anything, that should be sought out and that should be punished. It's not right; I don't care what side of the ticket you're on. That's something this administration has looming over it, and you yourself as The Southern have reported this on many issues. Nobody should be threatened by being a Republican. That's something you reported: That Mr. Phelps' uncle had said once Rod Blagojevich was re-elected, there would be a mass exodus of Republicans.

Nobody should be criticized for their politics; that's for sure. That's something I want to seek out. We're just people trying to get along here in Southern Illinois, and that's something I want to get rid of in Southern Illinois.

Phelps: I don't expect my opponent to say very nice things about me with a month out in the campaign. I have a record with the ethics reforms I have sponsored. I sponsor them every year. I don't think you can have enough accountability. You have to let the process work itself out just like what happened with Gov. Ryan.

The Southern: At the SIU inauguration, President Poshard said that he sees a future for Southern Illinois "chiseled from the hard granite of reality." What does that statement mean to you, looking at all the issues and things facing Southern Illinois?

Belford: The hard granite of reality for Illinois is we've got a lot to overcome here. We're sinking fast as far as financially.

If we don't get a grip in Southern Illinois and stop this borrowing and spending, start cleaning our house, start paying our bills, being more responsible and start looking at cold hard facts ? we're not going to have a state before too long.

It's time to do some housekeeping here in Illinois, so we're going to have to start just like you would in your own home. You don't go out and buy something you can't pay for. We're going to have to start being more accountable in all situations. We're going to have to start taking care of our veterans. We're going to have to start taking care of our elderly. We're going to have to start taking care of our children or we're not going to have them. Our businesses are leaving us by the droves. They're going to outlying states. Something is wrong here in Southern Illinois, and the state, in general, so we're going to have to look for ways to do a better job in government and across the state.

Phelps: I was there with President Poshard and heard his speech, and I think we're on the right road. My opponent just said we need to help kids; we've done that with All Kids. Veterans, veterans care ? we've done that. With our ethanol, $25 million in ethanol projects. Biodiesel is coming to my area. Tourism ? the old Slave House, the Crenshaw House, Sahara Woods, Mound City National Cemetery, bike trails at Fort Defiance has got 630,000, depressed Cairo. We've done more education and money. We are seeing more jobs come to the area. You can ask anyone in Pulaski County just to ask one county and they'll tell you: It's amazing the growth that we've done and been able to do by working together. I'm proud of that, and I think we're on the right path.

Belford: You've taken those out of dedicated funds for particular projects. You've taken those out of your long-term care providers' funds, your veterans' funds for your Anna home for your veterans rehab projects. You've taken those out of special dedicated funds to put them in your general funds here seven weeks before the election to go out and drop for particular pork-barrel projects just because it's election time. Where were you four years ago, Brandon, when we needed those things? The ethanol project ? that's years to come and those are private-sector projects. What about that?

And All Kids program ? insurance for these kids ? how are you going to pay for that when you're not paying your Medicaid bills right now? That's a good program but it's a redundant program. As a nurse, I've known about programs in the past. We were paying for programs in the past; this is a redundant program. How are you going to pay for that? How are we going to fund that?

The Southern: Medicaid reimbursements are one of the top crisis situations facing the state as evidenced by hospitals, nursing homes and doctors going six to eight months without being paid. In recent weeks, we've had children turn away because the state has failed to pay its bills. What is the solution to this problem?

Phelps: The state's always been late in making its payments. The budget we inherited four years ago was notorious for not making its payments. I think that problem occurred a long time ago, and I think it's getting better now.

I talked to Comptroller Hynes, and it's time to get paid in 30 days maybe in the span of 120 days. We're trying to see a balance and we're trying to equalize the payments in 67 days. I've had a lot of people from my area that have called and needed the money ASAP and we were able to go to Comptroller Haynes and maybe expedite that payment. I've supported budgets that not only maintained current payment cycles but at the same time increased rates for some providers and expanded the coverage.

We do have a lot of work left, but I think you can see with the stabilization of what we're trying to do. It is around 67 days right now, and that's a lot better than 120 days.

Belford: I think it's a matter of priorities, and we're going to have to get our priorities straight.

We're expecting to play on the good nature of doctors, nursing homes, pharmacies because that is a caring profession. As a nurse, these types of people have to be caring people. You have to be that kind of person to be in that profession in the first place. The government is playing on the good nature of these people and expecting them to hold off on these payments.

I think a lot of it is the priority situation, and if we'll get our priorities straight and start paying these people instead of expecting them to hold off, that's one thing. We're going to have to get in there and look at means and ways to do that. We're going to have to just start looking at that.

You're throwing money at particular areas. You're going out and you can give a million dollars extra to a ball field. Come on. You can be paying your bills. You can be putting that down for a pharmacy or a nursing home or a physician that's having to close his doors or having to turn kids away. It's a matter of getting our priorities straight, and that's where we're at in the state of Illinois right now.

Phelps: I wish I knew the house bill number, and there's thousands of house bills out there number-wise, what we did came to be a campaign issue. Democrats voted for it and Republicans all voted against it. We took that treasurer's fund that had millions of dollars in it that was just laying there and used it to pay back some of those providers. I think that was a good deal that we did.

As far as these other funds they say we raided, there were surpluses there. It was just laying there stagnant not doing a bit of good. I'm more for that than having to raise taxes.

The equalized payments are back to 67 and surely we can go earlier than that. Comptroller Hynes and I have agreed to sit down and write a bill and hopefully get it back down to 30 days like it should be.

The Southern: Maytag's closure will no doubt affect members of your district. What is the solution to landing and keeping business in Southern Illinois?

Belford: Some of the solutions are to look at fees and taxes that are imposed on small businesses and businesses in general. We're going to have to look at ways that are going to be able to entice them to not only keep businesses in Southern Illinois and the region but ways we can work with the businesses that they're not so taxed and feed that they're able to set up shop here.

That's the biggest problem that I'm finding and folks are telling us. They're just not able to do business with Illinois. We are not business-friendly here.

Phelps: That was a corporate decision.

We came in with Sen. Forby and Rep. Bradley and DCEO and offered them a lot of grants that we were going to take from some other businesses to try to keep them there in Williamson County.

As far as the hurtful fees, I agree there have been some fees that have absolutely hurt Illinois, and I was one of the ones that repealed the trucking fee that was harmful to our trucking company. With that fee gone, I think you're seeing a lot of trucking companies coming in.

As a matter of fact, in the city of Metropolis, we're getting ready to put a new trucking company in along the interstate. If you look at Schneider International, they're getting ready to put their huge Midwestern hub in Illinois. A lot of those fees we've repealed are working, and we're definitely coming back.

Belford: We still have not done enough in the state of Illinois. We're going to have to continue to look at ways to bring businesses back and to keep them. There's still leaving by the droves. There's over 2,000 jobs that have left Southern Illinois, and that's recently.

There are folks that would like to come here who are just unable to do that. Brandon has got a 38 percent voting record for small business issues; we've not done enough. There's certainly areas we could improve on in Southern Illinois, and that's something I want to look at and work with and toward. I've served on economic development boards for over 20 years. There's a lot more we can do and we've got to strive toward that.

The Southern: A capital bill has been stalled in legislature for the last four years. Gov Blagojevich has not been able to pass a capital bill. Has that reached a crisis stage now, especially with not being able to do school construction?

Phelps: $3.2 billion dollars we could have had; 230,000 jobs that we could have had if we had a capital bill. It's a shame that politics got in the way with it being an election year. I think we could have passed that with it not being an election year, to be totally honest with you. By talking to folks on both sides of the aisle, I have friends on both sides of the aisle, some of these Republicans that we needed just said, 'We don't know if we're going to get what we need to get with this capital bill and the projects in their area.' The governor decided he would do memorandums of understanding to put his word down and get this done. That was just an election-year deal. I think you're going to see that come up. I'm not so sure in the veto section, but come January, I think you're going to see that come up. We need that in Southern Illinois for our infrastructure. We've got to do that with six lanes in Williamson County. It's not my area, but still it's going to be able to help us and a lot of people in my area that come to Williamson County and Jackson County for my job. I think you're going to see more conversation come up with $3.2 billion and 230,000 jobs committed. With the unions ? they're really, really pushing it because they need the work as well.

Belford: The problem I see with so many memorandums of understanding ? there's a real issue with this administration. What we're seeing is they can't come to an agreement on anything. You can't trust this governor; you can't trust this administration. They're never going to come to an agreement on anything. What I'm finding is you can talk to anybody about this: We're not going to come to an agreement. People are saying it's come down to an argument over this pair of shoes are black; these pair of brown. You're going to have to go with this or the other. They're not going to agree. Republicans and Democrats ? it's a matter of arguing over what people want anymore. There's no partisanship. You can't trust this administration. It's a matter of trust, and you've got to find a leadership you can trust. You've got a Democrat representative, a Democratic governor. We should be getting more out of this district, and it should have been happening over the last four years. We should be getting almost anything we want out of this district.

Phelps: I'm not a braggart. I am not at all, but when I'm walking door to door, even Republican houses thank me because they can't believe the amount of money and progress and jobs we've had in this district. We put more education money in this district than ever before. The prison staffing issue ? we've got it. Down here in Southern Illinois, we're getting over 50 percent of the new prison workers coming in. We just hired about 25 new workers last week; I just call a call from union presidents thanking me on that. The veterans care, All Kids, $25 million in ethanol plants ? we've got four or five coming in my district. People are just pleased at the money of money and progress we've been able to bring out in the 118th district and I want to keep continuing to do that every year.

The Southern: Union leaders with AFSCME Council 31 continue to say there is a serious shortage of correctional officers in prisons statewide to the point that safety is a serious issue while Gov. Blagojevich and the Department of Corrections maintain that staffing levels are adequate. Who's telling the truth here, and is there a shortage of correctional officers in the state of Illinois?

Belford: Certainly there is a shortage of frontline workers in the state of Illinois. It's been reviewed that they're too top-heavy. From the director down, there are at least 19 levels that you go through before you get to front-line staff. And it has been reported as well that they'll jump these folks around just to give them a raise. That needs to be evaluated and get some more front-line staff in there to ensure safety and security of employees there. Interestingly enough, while this administration touts they have cut the top management, there've been times in past that this tier of top management staff has been only six to eight levels. There are at least 19 tiers before you get to frontline staff. There truly needs to be an evaluation of that situation to get some more frontline staff there to ensure the safety and security.

Phelps: We've done it. I held out on my budget vote to get more and more staff. I was hand in hand with AFSCME all during that, and the committee when they brought all those prison workers down with the understaffing and the Public Safety Committee, I was right there at the front table with AFSCME. We've got 63 new ones in 118th district ? 25 in Shawnee, 20 to Vienna, 18 to Tamms. They've already seen over half of those already been employed and working down there as well. All I have is a record. Gov. Ryan, God bless him ? when he was there, you want to talk about top-heavy. There was an assistant to the assistant to the assistant and they all drove Crown Vics. They've cut 20 percent of that hierarchy in the Department of Corrections, and when we're able to get these staffing levels too: We wanted 2,000, we did, the downstate caucus held out on our vote because it's a very important vote. We came to an agreement of 500, and that's where we're at right now. Coming back in January, I've already talked to AFSCME: We're going to try to do another bill and get more staff there: Not only frontline staff, but clerical and everything else that's needed there. There are a lot of jobs needed there.

Belford: We're tickled to death to see more help in corrections system ? that's well and good ? but how come it's taken this long? How come it's taken so many accidents, so many things coming down the pike? How come it's taken this long for this to come about? Is it because it's an election year? Why is this happening now and at this time?

The Southern: Illinois has become the poster child for political corruption. And with former Gov. George Ryan, a Republican, now a convicted felon and the current governor, a Democrat, the target of a federal investigation, it's fair to say that the corruption is not unique to one party but instead an accepted way of doing business in Springfield. Instead of addressing this issue along party lines, talk about the issue of weeding out corruption, regardless of party affiliation, and explain how, if you're elected or re-elected, the state must go about changing an ingrained system?

Phelps: I'll go back to my record. In 2003 and 2005, I sponsored landform ethics reforms. I think there needs to be more accountability across the board for everybody. You talk about corruption: George Ryan was convicted; Gov. Blagojevich has not been indicted. There's a lot of speculation out there, but just to make the record clear, he's not been indicted, so as far as any wrongdoing, there's not any there right now. Now, the process will take its course, and I'm sure if there was any wrongdoing with the governor's office, it will come out just like it did with Gov. Ryan's office. The only thing I can do is make sure I am involved in those ethics reforms that we've done. In 2005, I was the chief cosponsor of huge landform ethics reforms.

Belford: What's important to me is to be able to curtail some of this is the pay-to-play ethics that seems to be involved so heavily in this administration. One of the things and the first piece of legislation I'd like to see is if I were elected is to bar utility companies from making donations to political campaigns. Utilities are regulated by the Illinois Commerce Commission and shouldn't be allowed to influence legislators with cash donations. That's a big, hot topic right now as well. We're seeing a lot of these things, and not just in that. Big labor ? all these different areas seem to influence and seem to basically buy our legislators this day in time, all the way up to the governor. That tends to corrupt the whole system. We've got to get back to basics, get away from that and totally represent our district and the citizens in it. These people don't become their own anywhere. There's got to be a stop somewhere and say enough is enough to this type of thing, and there's got to be laws enacted to prevent this type of thing.

Phelps: All you can do is try to start these ethics reforms like we've sponsored. I led the charge in 2005. The leadership in both houses and even Republican and Democrat didn't think there needed to be more changes, and that's fine with me. I'll sponsor them every time. There needs to be more funding for audits; there needs to be more registration. I will be in the forefront of the ethics packages every single time.

CLOSING

Phelps: I appreciate the opportunity in doing this. A lot of people need to know what's going on, and I think my record speaks for itself. If you look at my endorsements right now, I've had every major endorsement in this campaign. We talked about teachers ? I've got IEA, the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the administrators, the Alliance Pack. The Illinois Nurses Association with reforms I led with nurses, the Illinois Medical Society with doctors' reforms, AFSCME's endorsement; every union has endorsed me. The three proudest bills I've done were being able to go against President Bush and keep overtime in Illinois; I was the main sponsor along with Comptroller Hynes on that. The Let Them Rest in Peace bill: When a fallen soldier has died, these protestors cannot show up anymore. I was the main sponsor in that, and the Born Alive Bill. I have been endorsed by the NRA and both the Illinois Federation for Right to Life and Illinois Citizens for life. My record speaks for itself, and I think my constituents agree with me. I will never turn my back on my district and I will always work as hard as I can for them.

Belford: I would also like to thank you for having us here today to get this out. Unlike Brandon, I am not endorsed by everybody. I am endorsed hopefully by the citizens of the 118th district, that's what's most important to me. I am endorsed by the Illinois Federation for Right to Life Tax Accountability. With that said, I'm not bought and paid for by anybody. The interesting thing I would like you to know is that Mr. Phelps did receive $1,200 from Ameren, and he's received lots of money from all these other big special interest groups. What I would like to say regarding that: I liken a lot of this to Ken Lay and some of those other types of situations ? protecting yourself and protecting those around you. You're bought and paid for, Brandon. You're not your own. Unlike that, I can be the true people's voice of Southern Illinois.