Campaign info

Position sought: 24th State Senate District

Political party: Republican

E-mail address: chris@chrisnybo.com

Phone: 630-941-9228

Address: 432 Eisenhower North, Suite A, Lombard, IL 60148

Campaign committee: Citizens for Chris Nybo

Personal info

Age: 34

Family: Wife, Faye; son, Connor; daughters, Olivia and Allison

Education: University of Chicago Law School, Juris Doctor at Dartmouth College

Occupation: Employment attorney

Previous Elected or Appointed Offices: State Representative, 41st District (2011-Present); Elmhurst Alderman (Vice Chair, Public Safety & Affairs, 2007-2010); Elmhurst Fire & Police Commission (2005-2007); DuPage County Zoning Board of Appeals (2003-2005)

Is there any additional experience you believe qualifies you for the position?

Ray Graham Association for People with Disabilities (Board Member); Immaculate Conception Parish (Capital Campaign Honorary Co-Chair); Knights of Columbus AYSO (Referee); Elmhurst Youth Baseball (Coach)

Candidate Questions

What would your priorities be if elected to this office?

The lack of jobs is the most important problem facing Illinois families and businesses, including those in the 24th Senate District. According to numerous studies, Illinois ranks nearly last among all states in job creation and retention over the last decade. Through its action and inaction, the General Assembly has created an environment hostile to business—exorbitant taxes and fees, unstable and unpredictable state finances, too many rules and regulations for businesses to navigate, and crumbling infrastructure and transit systems. Creating jobs and stemming the flow of jobs to other states must be our first priority. We must repeal the staggering number of fees on businesses imposed or increased since 2003, roll back new laws and regulations that make it more and more costly to do business here, increase access to capital, and give businesses greater incentive to keep and create jobs in this State. Because of my commitment to job creation for Illinois,  I focused my efforts on passing legislation that will assist us in creating and retaining quality employment. One of the bills on which I spent  a great deal of time on as a new legislator—and that now has become law—was S.B. 107. This new law will allow the State of Illinois to place a portion of its investment portfolio into venture capital funds that will boost start-up and growing technology companies, and it is a proven fact that most job growth comes from small—not large—companies. These are the kinds of initiatives that our State needs to be pursuing.

Although I believe job creation is the number one priority, a close second is restoring our State’s fiscal health. These issues go hand-in-hand. Our State’s finances are currently a disaster. Despite the constitutional requirement for a balanced budget, Springfield politicians for decades have spent billions more each year than revenue received and the state has accumulated long term debt up to $116 billion. To hide the extent of their mismanagement, state leaders have engaged in excessive borrowing and unconscionable delays in paying service providers. And rather than addressing the underlying problems that put us in this situation, state leaders incessantly look to new taxes (such as the recent income tax increase), more irresponsible borrowing or extremely undesirable and unproductive options for new revenue, such as video poker and a massive expansion of gambling. Compounding the difficulty of understanding and repairing this mess is the lack of transparency in our state fiscal affairs. The budget process is opaque and confusing, and there is no state agency that provides regular, timely and comprehensive reviews and analysis of state fiscal issues. 

Illinois needs to fundamentally change the way it manages its finances. We should create a strong, professionally-staffed, independent equivalent of the Congressional Budget Office, tasked with producing easily understood financial statements for the entire budget in a timely manner. We should then undergo a comprehensive review of all state spending to consolidate or eliminate duplicative, outdated, or ineffective state programs and remove ineffective or inefficient spending. And we need to curb all new state spending. New programs should only be adopted when existing programs can be eliminated to provide funding, and programs launched as part of stimulus funding must sunset when those funds are no longer available. Finally, we should make it harder for the politicians to tax their way out of their own problems by requiring a 3/5 supermajority vote on any legislation raising taxes or fees.

The one silver lining on this bleak outlook is that for the first time in over a decade, the General Assembly passed a balanced budget this year that actually spends less this fiscal year than last year.  It was the Illinois House—not the Senate—that took the lead in this effort, and I believe the impetus for this movement in large part came from the large class of new Representatives who were elected in 2010, including myself. The new State Representatives understood that we can no longer tolerate “business as usual” in Springfield, and they wee quite willing to challenge the status quo, ask the hard questions, buck their leadership if necessary and make the tough decisions that need to be made. We now need more of this in the Illinois Senate.

What sets you apart from the other candidates?

Our State is a disaster and an embarrassment, and I am more willing to change the status quo in Springfield than my opponent ever has been during his twenty years as a State Senator. On the final day of the Spring session I was the only House Republican to stand up to leadership and support last year’s workers’ compensation proposal saving businesses over $600 million on their rates. Needless to say, it is extremely unusual for any legislator—Republican or Democrat—to stand up in such a manner, let alone a freshman. But when it comes down to it, this bill will improve our job climate and that is what the voters sent me down to Springfield to do. 

Quite frankly, Springfield needs more legislators who will not cower to leaders and lobbyists, and who will instead fight for what they believe in and be willing to take a tough stand if it is needed. What is wrong with our State is that we have too many legislators who just want to “go along to get along,” and we will not have more productive and principled policy in this State, until we have more productive and principled policymakers.

Further illustrating my willingness to be bold and clean up Springfield, I believe that we need reasonable term limits here in Illinois. Serving in the legislature was never meant to be a “lifetime career” but too many legislators have made it that. By the time a new full term ends, Kirk Dillard will have served a quarter century in the Senate should he win. That is just wrong, and that’s why the first bill I filed this year is a meaningful, but reasonable term limits proposal.  The period of time I propose is long enough time for people to advocate for their districts before allowing new energy, new ideas and new people to emerge. As I go door-to-door throughout the district, this is the one issue nearly all people express support for. We need to do this, and get rid of “career politicians.”

What should first be done by the state to keep businesses that have strongly voiced the possibility of leaving, such as CME and Sears?

Businesses in Illinois, like residents, need tax relief. The best way to increase revenue is to increase the amount of taxpayers, not taxes. While I strongly support making Illinois a low-tax state, the special tax breaks for Sears and CME revealed there is no such thing as “business tax structure” in Illinois. Instead of a coherent policy applicable to all businesses, we have thousands of exemptions, breaks, discounts, and credits for numerous businesses and industries. Our State needs a cogent, coherent and consistent policy in this area, and we should make it a priority to establish ourselves as an overall “low tax” state for ALL businesses. 

What can be done to help College Illinois?

College Illinois has been undergoing numerous changes since last spring when a Crain’s Chicago Business investigation brought to light underfunding and mismanagement of the investment fund. Although the fund is run by  a new board and staff, I support several additional improvements. First, the College Illinois funds must abide by the same standards that are now imposed upon managers of federally regulated 401(k) plans. These standards include the transmission of unsolicited annual reports to investors, so they know how their money is being handled. Second, we must ban the use of College Illinois money from being taken out of the investment fund to pay the salaries or benefits of Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) personnel associated with the fund’s  management and oversight. Finally, lawmakers must give serious consideration to guaranteeing that the state will make good on the more than 50,000 existing contracts, given past marketing of the program that emphasized the "peace of mind" it provided college savers over traditional savings plans. The parents who have invested and participated in this program deserve nothing less than true “peace of mind” as they face the rising costs of funding college education for their children.

What should the government do to create more jobs?

The lack of jobs is the most important problem facing Illinois families and businesses, including those in the 24th Senate District. According to numerous studies, Illinois ranks nearly last among all states in job creation and retention over the last decade. Through its action and inaction, the General Assembly has created an environment hostile to business—exorbitant taxes and fees, unstable and unpredictable state finances, too many rules and regulations for businesses to navigate, and crumbling infrastructure and transit systems. Creating jobs and stemming the flow of jobs to other states must be our first priority. We must repeal the staggering number of fees on businesses imposed or increased since 2003, roll back new laws and regulations that make it more and more costly to do business here, increase access to capital, and give businesses greater incentive to keep and create jobs in this State.  Because of my commitment to job creation for Illinois, I focused my efforts on passing legislation that will assist us in creating and retaining quality employment. One of the bills on which I spent a great deal of time on as a new legislator—and that now has become law—was S.B. 107. This new law will allow the State of Illinois to place a portion of its investment portfolio into venture capital funds that will boost start-up and growing technology companies, and it is a proven fact that most job growth comes from small—not large—companies.  These are the kinds of initiatives that our State needs to be pursuing.

What are your philosophies on social issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion, and what should government’s role in those issues?

As a lifelong Catholic and a father of three children, I believe that marriage is a sacred covenant between a man and a woman, I do not support gay marriage, and I am dedicated to instilling respect for the sanctity of human life and am thus Pro Life. 

Do you support a gaming bill that would increase the number of casinos or other gambling venues in Illinois? Should a casino be built in Chicago?

One thing I would not consider as a solution to our budget problems is expanded gambling in our State. Chicago-based or any other casinos will only displace the revenues of existing Illinois casinos, leading to a spiraling decline of all of them in a “race toward the bottom.” The only thing worse than having casinos in your state is having casinos becoming run-down. The problem with the foolhardy plan of gambling expansion is that you’re pegging new revenue expenditures to a declining revenue source of diminishing returns. This has not worked anywhere in a sustainable way. It’s a band aid approach where a few people make a lot of money and society loses in more ways than just lost wagers.  More is not the answer. Accordingly, I have always opposing gaming expansion, including voting against this year’s “Casino Christmas Tree” bill and leading the effort to prohibit video poker in our community when I served on the Elmhurst City Council.

What do you suggest for property tax relief?

Going back to my days on the Elmhurst City Council, I have always been a strong opponent of higher property taxes. Although property taxes are primarily driven by local and not state government (i.e., school districts, community college districts, etc.), the State must remain adamant in not allow allowing any further weakening of the property tax caps. Various taxing entities, such as park districts and municipalities, continue to advocate for such weakening through additional exemptions and exceptions, but I remain opposed to them. Moreover, I believe we need to take bold action toward pension reform so that Speaker Madigan is not able to accomplish his goal of getting suburban communities like Elmhurst to pick up higher pension costs, which will only result in higher property taxes.

Should the state consider consolidating school districts? What would be the best way to accomplish this in your legislative district?

I support school consolidation within reason. Consolidation must be population-driven, and we need to first consider consolidation with respect to school districts serving very small populations and those districts that have (in some cases) only one school. In contrast, consolidation in the high density suburban areas around Chicago (such as the communities I currently represent) would simply not generate the same benefits that it would in less dense areas, and would probably actually cost more money since it would involve such a huge undertaking to execute. The ideal way to achieve consolidation is not to force it on unwilling participants, but rather to give school districts and their taxpayers incentives to consider the benefits of consolidation. For example, we might want to consider “consolidation grants” where school districts that consolidate are given increased transportation funding.

Should the state legalize marijuana?

No. Marijuana has been proven to be a “gateway” drug, and I do not support any liberalization of our criminality of its use, possession or distribution.

Are there ways to reform the legislative scholarship program, or would you support calls to eliminate the program?

One of my first official acts upon taking office last year as a new legislator was refusing to participate in the abused and controversial General Assembly “scholarship” program. The first bill I filed last year as a new legislator was to end the program for good (HB 201). I have frequently said that legislators need to lead by example in matters of ethics, and this is yet another situation where that is the case. My opposition to this perk (in principle and in practice) has been consistent and unwavering. I have never given them out, and I never will. Appropriately, other legislators now seem be to following this lead and example.

Who are your political heroes and why?

My political heroes are the literally thousands of voters who I have encountered on nearly a daily basis as I have walked every neighborhood in this district over the last nine months. Voters are smart and they pay attention, and I have found that what they expect from their legislators is too frequently lacking.  With me, however, what they see is what they get. People may not agree with all of my positions, but they understand that I am a hard worker, that I am willing to listen to all viewpoints, and that I have made a sincere and genuine effort to get to know as many of them as I can before the election on March 20.

Have you ever been convicted of a felony, sued successfully or had a restraining order placed against you? If so, please explain.

No.

To see Patch's 24th District race page, click here.