Dear Editor,
Serving as your State Representative has been a great honor and a tremendous responsibility. I have decided to try to take my advocacy on behalf of our community's shared goals one step further, which is why I’m running for the State Senate. That will leave a vacancy in the House of Representatives, and I’m hopeful you will join me in supporting Laura Fine to replace me as State Representative in the 17th District.
Laura is a perfect fit to represent our district. She is a mother, teacher and accomplished community volunteer. Laura is not running for personal gain, but rather as a way of giving back to the community that rallied around her and her family following a horrific car accident that almost took her husband’s life.
Laura is committed to working with all parties to make our state and our district a better place to live. She knows that business-as-usual politics in Springfield have caused our state tremendous pain and need to change, and, like me, she is committed to making that change.
Her passion for high-quality education is another reason why I believe Laura would do a fantastic job in the Illinois House. We are both educators and know how important it is for our community to retain its high educational standards as well as access to the many resources that are available to our children.
I hope you consider my personal endorsement of Laura Fine for State Representative when you come out and vote on Election Day this year. I’m confident in Laura’s skills and ability to work with others to do what is right for our community. I also know that if we are both fortunate to be elected as your respective State Senator and State Representative, we will work together as a team to represent you and your family.
Sincerely,
Daniel Biss
State Senate Candidate
And current State Representative – 17th District
r neville
12:17 pm on Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Laura may or may not be the best person to represent the 17th district, but isn't it disingenuous to suggest that our representatives public service is a sacrifice and devoid of self-interest?
Do we have to hear, and are we expected to believe "Laura is not running for personal gain, but to give back...". Does that make her a better choice to fix the economy and Springfield?
The salary of a Representative in our part time legislature is over $70,000 and that's before benefits; including health care for their entire family, pension, travel allowances, office space, staff, meals, self voted raises, and god knows what else.
Is that a hardship for part-time work?
I'm not picking on Dan or Laura, but can't they start out honestly and say they want the job because they want it? Are we to believe that the generous compensation, the highest of any part-time legislature in the entire nation, represents some sort of ennobling sacrifice?
$70,000 plus pension and benefits for part time work, how many of us would jump at that deal?
Personally I'd rather hear the specifics of how Laura and Dan plan to fix the bog Mike Madigan and John Cullerton have dragged Illinois into over the last dozen years. We need the rest of this malarky about as much as we need the medicaid expansion, or high speed rail between Chicago and St Louis.
In other words we can't afford to do anything but send our best to Springfield regardless of party, regardless of their feigned sacrifice.