Bipartisanship May Not Be Dead in Springfield (We hope.)
Senators Cristina Pacione-Zayas (D-Chicago) and Sally Turner (R-Beason) come from different backgrounds and communities, but they agree on more than you might expect.
Two State Senators come from different parties, different ethnicities, different backgrounds, different cities. They don’t agree on anything in our hyper-partisan world, right? Not so fast.
Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas (D-Chicago) was appointed to the Senate just before Christmas to replace Iris Martinez, who was elected Cook County Circuit Clerk. Sen. Sally Turner (R-Beason) was appointed last month to replace longtime Senate fixture Bill Brady.
Pacione-Zayas is a working mom who has worked on education issues, issues facing the Puerto Rican community, and has served on the State Board of Education. Turner, meanwhile, spent 24 years as Logan County Clerk, managing elections and serving a mostly rural county of around 30,000 people.
Before we got the two Senators on Zoom Monday, they had never met. Pacione-Zayas had only been in Springfield as a Senator for four days during last month’s lame duck session. Turner has yet to serve in the chamber as the Senate hasn’t been in Springfield since before she was appointed, so don’t even ask her where the bathrooms are yet. (Hint: they’re in the back of the Senate chamber.)
Turns out, the two Senators share quite a bit of common ground, like on support for small business.
“[We should focus on] workforce and small businesses,” Pacione-Zayas said. “Really fortifying our mom and pop shops and the economic heartbeat of our communities.”
Pacione-Zayas listed priorities like early childhood education, health care and housing,
Turner says many of Pacione-Zayas’ priorities. mirror issues facing small towns throughout the state.
“There were so many things I’m right there with you nodding my head, my feelings are right there, as well,” Turner told Pacione-Zayas.
Turner says job creators have been hit hard by the pandemic and need support from the state.
“Job creation and sustainability of jobs are both such important things. In this time of COVID, it’s just overwhelming at times, not just necessarily for those individuals who have the businesses but the community that’s around them.”
State spending may be the most significant policy difference between the two. Turner wants fewer unfunded mandates, lower taxes, and less spending, while Pacione-Zayas argues for more revenue and spending on important issues.
“We need to start thinking about revenue in different ways because of our structural deficit and because of some of the recent borrowing we’ve done to plug the holes within our budget. I just don’t want to be talking about how we need to spend more, but I also want to think about how we need to be more effective in our spending and also come up with creative ways to generate revenue.”
Pacione-Zayas says she supported the Governor’s graduated income tax, but said the legislature needs to come up with “different ways’ to find revenue.
Both were critical of the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, Turner for availability to elderly in rural communities and Pacione-Zayas for access for elderly residents who didn’t have the means or tech-savvy to schedule appointments at local pharmacies.
The two struck up an e-mail conversation and exchanged numbers after our conversation Monday, potentially leading to a long-term effort to see policy from the other’s point of view.
Pacione-Zaysas says that’s what all lawmakers should be doing.
“I think what’s incredibly important is for us to constantly be engaged in conversation and to identify where we do have the common ground,” she said. “Because we’re not going to agree, and that’s ok. But what we’ve been entrusted to do is to come to the table to be willing to have those conversations and to identify a path forward for our state.”
Turner says more bridges can be built with less incendiary language by politicians of all stripes.
“It’s all about communication,” she said. “If we treat each other with kindness, it can be simple. We can agree to disagree and move on. “[Let’s] get jobs done, work together, for the good of all Illinoisans.”
Maybe it’s the lifting of a post-Trump or post-Madigan cloud, but both appear to believe in a bipartisan path forward.
(Watch our conversation with Sen. Pacione-Zayas and Sen. Turner below. Please note Sen. Turner’s rural internet connection was weak and her video quality is delayed at times.)
