Treasurer: Scott K. Summers
Political affiliation: Green
City: Harvard
Marital status: Married
Occupation/Firm name: Scott K. Summers, Attorney at Law
Campaign HQ address: PO Box 430, Harvard, IL 60033
Campaign website: www.SummersForTreasurer.org
Campaign manager cell phone
pending
What is your campaign budget- $10,000
What do you consider to be the most important roles and responsibilities of this office-
As treasurer, I will be duty-bound, of course, to (1) invest prudently, (2) minimize risks,
and (3) maximize returns. Caution and conservatism shall be my watchwords.
If elected, I also intend to use the post for jobs creation and financial advocacy. Here is a sampling of the programs and outreach I'll undertake:
Enforce fiscal responsibility, including a balanced state budget and debt reduction
Champion a three-part jobs program: "Microcapitalism" (incubation of home and community-based businesses); a "New Homestead Act" (housing rehabilitation); and "Invigorate Illinois" (a summer work project)
Develop green-collar jobs and training programs
Recognize that economy and ecology really are bound up as one: commit to a statewide "eco-eco" program of business and development
Stand up for citizens, and work hard to rein in predatory financial practices and
dubious lending schemes
Foster financial education as early as grade school, and equip children and adults
alike with smart money management skills for their personal lives
What role should the treasurer play in solving the state's budget crisis-
The budget, of course, falls within the purview of the governor and the General Assembly; the treasurer has no direct responsibility. To the extent that I am able, however, I'll work cooperatively with the executive and legislative branches, and with the state comptroller, to craft prudent fiscal plans.
As necessary, I intend to be outspoken and resolute in my advocacy. The reprehensible gimmicks (such as short term borrowing, and stalling payments to vendors for months on end) can't be pushed any more: we're on the brink of ruining our credit rating (thereby making matters worse by increasing our borrowing costs).
Let's be clear: given years of egregious and irresponsible financial practices and bookkeeping sleights of hand, plus the enormity of our "Great Recession", we cannot possibly work our ways out of debt solely through spending cuts. Unsavory and unpleasant as the prospect is -- taxes do need to go up. (I'm suggesting a temporary three-years-and-out income tax surcharge for both individuals and corporations.) Over the intermediate-to-longer term, I support a shift to a graduated income tax (state constitutional amendment required), and a concurrent "swap" of income taxes for property taxes.
We can (and should) do a few things at the margins. Slash at least one of the state fairs.
End legislative scholarships. Reduce (or eliminate) the airplane fleet. End horse racing subsidies. But make no mistake: the absolute percentage of dollars saved will be negligible.
As I see it, the best opportunity for a substantive reduction in state spending actually
wouldn't be a cut at all: it'd be a shift. A national "Medicare for All" program, which I
ardently support (aka universal care, aka single payer), would get Illinois out of the
Medicaid business -- and relieve the state of its enormous direct financial obligation.
Given the recent passage of national health care reform legislation, this is, unfortunately, not an immediate prospect. I now propose another initiative: merge the Medicare and Medicaid programs. On this basis, the 50/50 federal-state funding split for Medicaid would end (or be phased out), and Illinois and the other states would be relieved of this financial burden.
As for state and municipal pensions -- both Illinois and nationally -- the time has come. We need to "retire public pension programs."
Many of the plans now are horribly unsound from an actuarial standpoint: for decades, legislators have simultaneously sweetened benefits and shorted contributions. In other words, there's too much systemic risk to warrant complete remediation.
I believe that we should carefully and thoughtfully wind down and exit most state and municipal pension programs altogether. This will take a matter of years. Federal legislation will, I think, be required to fully effectuate this.
Here are some methods: (1) Refurbish some plans and return them to sound actuarial footing. (Example: the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund has reasonable prospects.) (2) As part of a federal pension reform bill, shift some individuals into Social Security. (3) Move some plans and beneficiaries into "limited liquidation", in the style of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. (4) Make benefits portable for some current workers, and direct individual accruals to rollover IRAs (in lieu of future benefits). (5) Move some pension plan assets into trust funds for administration, in the style of the 9/11 settlement fund. (6) Structure disability and survivor benefits for police/fire through commercial annuities and insurance programs. (6) Consolidate municipal plans for administration and wind-down. (7) Place all new hires in traditional Social Security and 401k/403b arrangements. (8) Levy state income taxes on benefits. (9) Convert annual benefits increases to indexes used by the Social Security Administration. (10) End "highest attained salary" predicates for calculation of benefits. (11) In order to control health care costs, move employees and retirees into a combination of high deductible major medical insurance and health savings accounts (HSAs).
Indirectly, Illinois must do much more to further tax reform and relief throughout the
state. Agency consolidation will help. (Examples: townships and special purpose districts into counties and municipalities; RTA/CTA/Metra/Pace and the Tollway Authority into the Department of Transportation; state's attorneys/clerks of court from each of the counties into each of the state's judicial circuits.)
Slowly, we're doing something about the inordinate numbers of local units of government we have here (e.g., incentives for consolidating school districts). But we need to do more to streamline and eliminate superfluous and redundant entities. Property taxes need to go down commensurate with income tax increases, and schools funded equitably. Property tax anomalies such as Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts must be curbed. By streamlining both state and local government in these fashions, modest amounts of taxes can be saved over the longer term.
What role can the treasurer's office play in creating jobs and attracting investors to Illinois-
The traditional top-down job creation techniques -- tax incentives, property tax reductions, enterprise zones, and the like -- aren't working very well.
Instead, I advocate a bottoms-up or grassroots approach. Per Issue #1, I have a three-part jobs program: "Microcapitalism" (incubation of home and community-based businesses); a "New Homestead Act" (housing rehabilitation); and "Invigorate Illinois" (a summer work project). I also support the linked deposit program (please see answer to Issue #6, below).
Additionally, the governor and treasurer are particularly well suited to serve as "ambassadors", reaching out on behalf of Illinois to investors across the country and throughout the world.
I long have been disturbed by the highly competitive methods states employ for job creation.
Rather than taking an "every state for itself" approach, I would attempt to do this more cooperatively, and on a regional/multi-state basis. A recent example is Boeing expanding its Missouri operations by setting up a limited operation at the badly underused Mid-America Airport in Mascoutah. Other initiatives might be cooperating with Iowa on heavy equipment (Quad Cities/Peoria) and with Wisconsin on automobile manufacturing (Belvidere/Janesville).
What is your philosophy on how best to invest the state's money-
I will do everything in my power to make investments "Illinois-centric". In other words -- with all other elements equal, I intend to give preference to Illinois-based financial institutions and entities. I would like to increase deposits with Illinois community banks and credit unions in particular.
As treasurer (and as previously noted), I also will champion the establishment of a grass-roots, bottoms-up investment program -- a program I call "microcapitalism" for short. This will involve setting aside (subject to requisite approvals) state funds into a revolving loan program. "Microloans" in this style (along with "microgrants") will be directed to incubation and cultivation of home and community-based businesses statewide.
In short--as state treasurer, I'll be putting Illinois money to work in Illinois institutions.
And Illinois businesses. And Illinois people.
How well managed is the Bright Start college saving program- Do you have a plan to generate better returns-
Over the course of the service of two different state treasurers, Bright Start has been ￯﾿ﾽ- to
use a polite word ￯﾿ﾽ- disappointing. The investigation of recent fund losses continues; my
judgment on this shall abide the final reports.
Given the poor state of the markets, and low interest rates generally, I see no immediate prospects for generating better returns in Bright Start. And as treasurer, I'll not succumb to the temptation of incrementally better returns on what are, at their core, unacceptably higher risks.
To strengthen management and improve efficiency, I suggest that the Bright Start program be moved out of the state treasurer's office and combined with that of the College Illinois! program. In addition to availing Bright Start of the management expertise of College Illinois!, a small savings in administrative expenses might also be realized.
Similarly (and over the longer term), I envision Illinois and other states banding together in "compacts" for administration of "527" programs like Bright Start. This will -- on a multi-state basis -- consolidate management expertise while simultaneously driving down costs of administration.
What is your opinion of the state's linked deposit programs- Is this the best use of state investment dollars-
I support the concept of linked deposits (i.e., placing some state monies with institutions
at reduced rates, with the condition that the funds be directed to economic development
projects). This is not a be-all or end-all, however. I intend to undertake like-minded
initiatives, such as the revolving "microloan" fund described above for community-based
and home-based entrepreneurs.
Do you support combining the functions of the offices of the comptroller and treasurer-
Yes. This will, however, require a constitutional amendment.
(And it's actually an old idea championed by many people over the years. If memory serves, its past proponents include a former state senator named Barack Obama.)
It appears that the framers of the 1970 state constitution envisioned a checks-and-
balances scheme when it chose to divide fiscal functions between two officers. I believe
that the requisite oversight and management intended forty years ago can be achieved
through other means (e.g., auditors; Inspector General; posting of all books and records online for universal access and inspection at all times).
Let's be clear: this consolidation will be useful. But the current attention being given to it is entirely out of proportion. If -- if -- it's effectuated in four years, it will save $12 million of our current $12 billion deficit. That's a factor of one to one thousand.
In other words, what my Republican and Democratic opponents are excitedly talking about (as part of a self-congratulatory twenty city fly-around tour of the state) is saving one-tenth of one cent -- four years from now! In effect, they're taking the cherry off the top of a figurative sundae and insisting that they're putting Illinois on a diet.
Their priorities are way out of whack. Let's concentrate on the big fiscal issues -- Medicaid and pensions -- and not on smaller issues such as this suggested merger.
List your educational background
United States Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, New York (no degree); University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, A.B. (liberal arts); Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management, MBA; Northern Illinois University, College of Law, J.D. Licenses and certifications: admitted to the practice of law in Illinois; Certified Financial Planner (CFP); Illinois real estate broker; Illinois insurance producer (all lines).
Please list civic, professional, fraternal or other organizations to which you belong
Illinois State Bar Association.
Have you held elective or appointive political office or been employed by any branch of government-
Elected trustee, McHenry County College, Crystal Lake, IL (2005-2009). Trustee, Harvard (IL) Community Memorial Hospital, 1980-1982 (appointed by McHenry County Board). Member, McHenry County Welfare Services Committee, approx. 1982-1984 (appointed by McHenry County Board). Staff member, Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, Chicago, 1975-79 (three management positions). Research assistant with NIU's Department of Local Government Affairs, 1983-85. Intern with City of Evanston and Illinois Department of Employment Security while a student at Northwestern, 1974-75.
Please list jobs or contracts you, members of your immediate family or business partners have had with government
Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, 1975-1979 (staff; three management positions).
Research assistant with NIU's Department of Local Government Affairs, 1983-85. Intern with City of Evanston and Illinois Department of Employment Security while a student at Northwestern, 1974-75. My wife (a physician) was an assistant clinical professor of medicine (now retired) with the University of Illinois College of Medicine (Chicago and Rockford). One of my sons was a teaching assistant at Northern Illinois University and Purdue University (2006-2009). My other son worked in food service at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in 2009.
No government contracts of any sort. No business partners.
Name your five biggest campaign contributors and the amount they contributed
My campaign is, essentially, self-financed: I have made personal contributions and personal loans of approximately $4,000.00 to date. Contributions from all other sources to date total $475.00.
I simply shall not be swayed by campaign contributions. As a matter of principle, I (and other Green candidates) simply refuse to accept donations from corporations. I go a step further, and refuse donations from all special interests. My donors are private individuals -- only.
Please paste a brief biography here
Scott Summers has been an attorney for over twenty years. He concentrates in estate
planning, probate, and business. In addition to his law degree from Northern Illinois
University, Summers holds an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate
School of Management and a liberal arts degree from the University of Illinois in Urbana-
Champaign.
Summers long has been active in a wide variety of civic pursuits. Between 2005 and
2009, he served as an elected trustee at McHenry County College. Scott was a member of
the Board of Visitors of Northern Illinois University's College of Law between 1997 and
2004. During the 1980s, he was treasurer for three nonprofits: Harvard Community
Memorial Hospital, Hospice for McHenry County, and a church in Woodstock, IL.
Before becoming a lawyer, Scott worked as an executive in the public sector, including
four years with the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission.
Summers also is the author of two "how-to" volumes. "Guardianship and Conservatorship: A Handbook for Lawyers" appeared in 1996. "Advance Health Care Directives: A Handbook for Professionals" was released in 2002. Both titles are published by the American Bar Association.
Born in Evanston and raised in Wilmette, Scott has resided in Chicago and Oak Park. For
over thirty years, he and his wife and have lived on a small farm near Harvard, in far
northern McHenry County. They are the parents of two adult sons.
For information on Scott's campaign for Illinois state treasurer, please visit
www.SummersForTreasurer.org
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