Health, education at issue as Surles takes on
Hunter in 3rd

As Election Day nears, candidates for political office nationwide are sounding off on a variety of issues, and the same holds true for candidates for Illinois’s 3rd State Senate district.

 Incumbent Mattie Hunter, a Democrat, and Republican challenger Chad Jackson Surles have much to say when it comes to the major issues facing Illinois residents, particularly health and education funding.

Native Chicagoan Mattie Hunter has made “many health services and education issues” her focus since taking over as State Senator for the previous Senator, Margaret Smith, when she resigned for health reasons in 2003. Hunter’s focus on health issues reflects her past: from 1994 to 1996, she was managing director for the Center for Health and Human Services in Johannesburg, South Africa. As a senator, Hunter represents the Illinois Senate in many regional and national health organizations. She also serves on several committees, including Health and Human Services.

Of the many pieces of legislation she has sponsored, Hunter said her greatest accomplishment was creating Ticket for the Cure, a scratch-off lottery ticket whose proceeds go to breast cancer research and outreach. Ticket for the Cure, which was unveiled in January, has surpassed expectations, raising $3 million.

Another Hunter-sponsored bill that became law requires insurance companies that denied mammogram coverage for women younger than 40 to cover the procedure for women in that age group who have a history of breast cancer in their family.

Many preventable diseases are on the rise, particularly those related to obesity, which Hunter regards as an issue of national security.  “Obesity has a major impact on the healthcare system in this country,” Hunter said. Obesity rates among African American and Hispanic youth are rising, as is the number of children being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, also known as adult-onset  diabetes. “This is directly related  to lifestyle and the lack of [health] education and exercise,” Hunter explained.

To stem this problem, Hunter has sponsored several bills on health education and wants to bring physical education back into public schools. She added that it is important to continue working on health issues and wants to find ways to fund education and achieve a parity level, as some schools receive more funding than others.

Republican candidate Chad Jackson Surles, a stock analyst, disagrees. The problems plaguing public education do not result from funding disparities among schools, according to Surles.

Throwing money at schools that predominantly serve students from lower socio-economic backgrounds is not enough. The problem “is a lot deeper than that,” he said, adding that education suffers when students have to deal with more pressing environmental concerns, such as neighborhood violence.

Regarding healthcare, Surles said more doctors, nurses, and other frontline workers are needed to treat patients at Stroger Hospital and should replace the numerous middle-management workers Surles said are the result of patronage. Also, Stroger Hospital provides everything from gunshot wound treatment to prenatal care to diabetes screening, but Surles believes it should open satellite offices to deal with non-emergencies.

Other key issues for Surles include fiscal responsibility and giving lower income people job opportunities. Surles said he would work to create a balanced budget amendment. “We shouldn’t spend more than we take in,” he said.

Surles added that, in addition to entitlement programs, lower income people should be given additional opportunities to become self-sufficient, such as in the plumbing and electrical trades.

With the increase in real estate development, particularly in Chicago, there is no lack of opportunities for those with such training to build and maintain their own businesses. If elected, Surles said he would work on ethics in light of the state’s recent corruption scandals. He said there are ample ethics laws but no political will to enforce  them.