State Senate, District 25

Education:

Marmion Military Academy
University of Illinois, (BS)
University of Chicago, (MBA)

Civic, professional, fraternal or other affiliations:

Northern Illinois Foodbank Board
Moose International
Secretary, United Republican Fund
Illinois Republican State Central Committee
FINRA Arbitrator
Moose International Pension Investment Committee

Have you held elective or appointive political office or been employed by any branch of government?

Elected to serve on the Illinois Republican State Central Committee in 2010

Please list jobs or contracts you, members of your immediate family or business partners have had with government.

None

Campaign headquarters: 951 Ice Cream Drive, North Aurora
Website: www.jimoberweis.com
Campaign manager: Ben Marcum
Campaign budget:
Name your five biggest campaign contributors and the amount they contributed.

Did not respond

Did not respond

We have the largest unfunded pension liablity of any state in the nation. Change is inevitable. New hires should be on a defined contribution system rather than a defined benefit system to keep the liability from getting worse. Private industry has already generally shifted to defined contribution over the last 30 years. I believe we have to ask all current state workers to retire later or pay more of their retirement costs if a defined benefit program remains. A defined contribution plan would allow state workers to retire whenever they wish to and can afford to do so while providing the flexibility to change jobs and move to the private sector while taking their accrued benefits with them.

See above answer

We need to require proof that Illinois Medicaid recipients live in Illinois and are legal residents. We should look at surrounding states and bench mark against best practices. Today, one out of two babies born in Illinois are paid for by Medicaid. We cannot afford to continue to cover such a large number of recipients, many of whom are not entiltled to or in need of coverage.

We need to make Illinois a more business friendly state. A first step might be to let the "temporary" income tax increase expire.

A second step would be Workman's Comp reform. Illinois is reputed to have one of the three worst Workman's Comp systems in the entire country.
The third step is pension reform in order to begin to reduce the huge future liabilty.
Fourth, we need to elect people (like myself) who understand the needs of business leaders and entrepreneurs, including a positive view of business and entrepreneurs so that we can attract more jobs to Illinois.

I don't believe that gambling revenue is a reliable long term source of financing for the state of Illinois. However, we already have gambling at race tracks and I believe slots at race tracks would help keep that industry competitive with other states without significantly expanding overall gambling in Illinois.

We must target the significant waste, fraud and abuse still prevalent in Illinois. Illinois taxpayers have suffered under a "corruption tax" for far too long. We can't afford to do so any longer,

I believe Illinois should not limit what an individual can contribute to a campaign but should continue to require full and immediate disclosure of receipt of all contributions over $1000. This will let voters support whoever they choose and will allow discriminating voters to discern who is supporting each candidate.

No.

As a former teacher, I believe competition will produce better education results. Therefore, I support an expansion of charter schools, I support merit pay for teachers, and I support testing a voucher system. Competition in our education system can produce better results for all without an increase in costs.

I believe marriage is a committment between one man and one woman.