As Illinois Comptroller, I will...
Make Illinois work for Illinois families again
Overview
Safeguard IL tax dollars from Donald Trump
Uphold our commitments on healthcare, childcare, education and more.
The Illinois Comptroller doesn’t just pay bills — she decides who gets our money and who gets paid first. I believe the most vulnerable should always come first.
As Comptroller, I will ensure that we pay our bills on time, but I will also prioritize bill payments in order to protect our most vulnerable. That means ensuring healthcare, housing, mental health services and public education remain top priority.
I will use the Comptroller’s bully pulpit to tell the truth: where federal policy is shifting costs onto Illinois, where it’s threatening services, and where it’s forcing austerity. Then I’ll fight back with the tools we control: procurement, transparency, fiscal reporting, and public accountability. The message will be clear: Illinois tax dollars will reflect Illinois values, not federal cruelty.
Project 2025 told us what Trump was going to do and that meant funding cuts for essential services such as healthcare, childcare, education and more. Donald Trump has already tried to halt federal funding for essential services here in Illinois. We need a bold leader in the Comptroller office who not only prioritizes our most vulnerable but comes to the table with real solutions that do not require working people to foot the bill.
Ensure Billionaires and Corporations pay their fair share
Fight to fix IL’s regressive tax system to fund essential services
For too long, working people in Illinois have been footing the bill for an archaic and unfair tax system. Illinois has the 8th most regressive state and local tax system in the nation. That means the people who earn the least pay a larger share of their income than the wealthiest. That’s not just bad policy; it’s upside down. Our tax system does not reflect our values, and it’s long past time for real change.
Right now, Illinois is balancing its budget on the backs of working families while billionaires and large corporations skate by paying a lower effective tax rate than teachers, nurses and service workers. Year after year, we ask working people to do more while those with the most contribute the least.
As Chair of the Senate Progressive Caucus, I’ve led the fight to bring progressive revenue streams to the table. Together, we passed four pieces of revenue legislation that delivered real tax relief for the middle class, while beginning to rebalance a system that has been rigged for decades.
At the core of this fight is a simple truth: when we cut critical services to “balance” budgets, those cuts don’t hit spreadsheets—they hit real people. Schools, healthcare, public safety, and social services are lifelines, not line items.
As Comptroller, I will go all across the state of Illinois using the microphone of the office to show Illinoisans what is possible when we put working people over the ultra-wealthy.
By taxing billionaires and corporations, we will fund the essential services currently being cut by Donald Trump and his crony friends. Together, we will use the office of the Comptroller to put people over billionaires. Because the Office of Comptroller shouldn’t just manage what is—it should help Illinois see what could be when we put working people first.
Put our money where our values are
Illinois vendors contracting with ICE will not receive a dime of YOUR tax dollars
The Comptroller oversees procurement for billions in state contracts. That’s not symbolic power, that’s leverage. Illinois will not spend public dollars in ways that betray our communities. If a contractor profits from ICE raids, they’re out. If an investment profits from mass human suffering, we scrutinize it, disclose it, and we change course.
As Comptroller, I will work with the Chief Procurement Office to review state contracts, and build a public ban list and a contractor disclosure rule: any vendor seeking Illinois dollars must disclose ICE, Department of Homeland Security, and Border Patrol contracts and subcontracting relationships.
If you’re tied to the machinery that terrorizes Illinois residents, you’re out. The message will be clear: Illinois tax dollars will reflect Illinois values, not federal cruelty.
Leverage the power of procurement to drive job growth and instate investment
Inshore billions in state procurement contracts to create tens of thousands of new jobs and expand the tax base
The Comptroller’s procurement power is an economic development lever hiding in plain sight, one I intend to use to the fullest extent. Right now, too many of our contracts leak out of Illinois, to out-of-state vendors, out-of-state payrolls, out-of-state supply chains. When we send those dollars away, we’re exporting jobs. We’re exporting tax base. We’re exporting growth.
My priority as Comptroller is simple: Buy Illinois. Build Illinois.
If we use innovative procurement strategies to inshore even a meaningful share of what we already spend, we can generate billions of dollars in in-state economic activity and support tens of thousands of jobs, because those dollars circulate here rather than vanish across state lines.
Ensure transparent, accurate and accessible reporting
IL taxpayers deserve to know where every dollar is going and why — and what we can do collectively to make our state thrive.
The Comptroller has the clearest view of our state’s finances — where money comes from, when it’s paid out, and who gets left behind. Too often, that power is used quietly: pay the bills, close the books, move on. I believe the public deserves more than that.
As Comptroller I will pay the bills in the order of those who need it first, pay bills on time while loudly reporting on how we did not fully fund service line items, and make sure the state of Illinois puts its money where its values are.
I will use the Comptroller’s office to give people real, plain-language transparency about what’s actually happening with our money: how the budget is balanced, what programs were cut to get there, and who bears the cost of those decisions.
When revenue is tight, the worst thing the government can do is make decisions behind closed doors. My transparency framework starts with one simple rule: the public gets the same visibility insiders get. I’ll publish a live, readable dashboard showing the bill backlog by category: human services, public health, schools, municipal reimbursements, and more. And I’ll publish the payment rules in advance. No guessing. No favoritism.
My values-based criteria:
Protect life and dignity first
Protect workers
Protect the backbone of communities
And when shortfalls appear, I won’t pretend they come out of nowhere. I will name the real problem: budgets repeatedly “balanced” by cutting services while billionaires and corporations skate by without paying their fair share.
Transparency isn’t just about posting numbers. It’s about telling the truth — clearly, publicly, and without fear — so people can see who the system is working for, and who it’s not.
Uphold Prevailing Wage laws to protect fair pay for workers
Paying people what they are owed so everyone can live with dignity
What is the Prevailing Wage Act (Public Act 100-1177)?
Executive Order 19-01 of the Comptroller provides that the Comptroller shall not accept the submission of any grant, contract or other award by the State of Illinois of any type to finance, in whole or in part, public works projects unless the grant, contract or other award includes a certification that the contractor of the public works project complies with the Prevailing Wage Act (820 ILCS 120).
As Comptroller, I will continue to ensure that any contractor that wants to do business in Illinois must uphold the Prevailing Wage Act. The Prevailing Wage Act and Executive Order 19-01 established a strong safeguard for workers by ensuring that every contractor receiving state funds for public works projects certifies compliance with the Prevailing Wage Act. The Comptroller’s authority over disbursing state funds provides a critical opportunity to protect fair wages, accountability, and transparency.
As a State Senator, I have consistently supported legislation that strengthens prevailing wage protections and expands responsible contracting standards across Illinois. I have voted to ensure that infrastructure investments and public projects are built by union workers earning fair, family-supporting wages.
As Comptroller, I will continue this policy and strengthen enforcement through regular review of compliance certifications and coordination with the Illinois Department of Labor. I will appoint both a Prevailing Wage Officer and a Labor Law Compliance Liaison to ensure strong enforcement of Executive Order 19 01 and related labor standards.
I will also make compliance information accessible on the public portal so taxpayers and workers can see where their dollars are going. Contractors that ignore wage laws should not be rewarded with public funds. Upholding prevailing wage standards is about fairness, respect, and the dignity of work, and I will ensure those principles guide every dollar paid by the state.
