L-R Incumbent 81st State Rep. David Olsen and Democratic challenger Greg Hose speak at the League of Women Voters Candidate Forum Oct. 17 in Downers Grove. (Screenshot, Village of Downers Grove Video).

The epicenter of the 81st State Rep. District appears to be the Village of Downers Grove. Former State Rep. Ron Sandack was mayor of Downers Grove from 2007-2010 and now two village trustees are facing off as Democrat and Republican candidates for the General Assembly.

Perhaps because both David Olsen, 27, and Greg Hose (pronounced HoZAY), 35, have served side-by-side in local government, the race has been exceptionally civil and respectful. That was apparent Oct. 17 when the two candidates appeared in a League of Women Voters candidate forum at the Downers Grove Village Hall.

While presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton snarled and sparred onstage, the moderator of the Olsen-Hose forum praised the two candidates several times for their “thoughtful answers.”

Olsen, 27, is considered a GOP rising star, home-grown in Downers Grove and a product of the local public schools. A compliance officer for a financial firm, Olsen was a vocal critic of the financial maneuvers of the College of DuPage board prior to the election of the new majority “Clean Slate.”  Gov. Bruce Rauner chose Olsen to fill a board vacancy at COD, which broke a logjam amongst battling board members. Then, when Sandack stepped down in July, claiming he was a victim of “internet sextortion,” DuPage and Will Co. GOP leaders chose Olsen to finish the state rep’s term.

Hose is a local employment and labor attorney, originally from Mackinaw, Michigan. He describes himself as coming from a “bipartisan household” with a Democratic mother and a Republican small-businessman father. Hose and his wife have lived in Downers Grove for 10 years, he said. Hose held up the village government of Downers Grove as a well-functioning governing body who held down taxes by “thinking outside the box.”

At the forum, both candidates agreed on redistricting reform, and the need for cooperative relationships in Springfield. But they differed on how to grow the state economy to pay the bills. They also differed on how the Illinois state pension system could be made sustainable.

The most striking contrasts between candidates were their plans for growing the state economy and balancing the state budget.

“We have to invest in two things, infrastructure and education,” Hose said. Hose said he favored the “Safe Roads” Amendment, which would protect transportation-dedicated funds in a “lockbox.” Hose said, “Any kind of economic development is driven by infrastructure.”

As for education, Hose said the state must close the education gap between high- and low-income communities. “What kind of education you get should not depend on the accident of where you were born.” He said, however, that he opposed using an unfair tax funding formula to “bail out Chicago [schools].”

Olsen’s vision of growing the economy was to look “long term,” he said.

“We can’t tax our way out of our problems and we can’t cut our way out of our problems. If there was an easy way to fix the budget in Springfield, they would have done it by now.” Olsen said the vision needed to be “decades-long.”

“We need to make a substantive change to policy to make our state friendly to [job] creators who want to bring their businesses into the state and friendly to people who want to move into the state. Bringing more taxpayers into the state, that’s really the long-term solution,” he said.

Hose said he would support a graduated income tax, which he said would be offset by property tax reductions if the state adequately funded public schools. He also said he supported a “millionaire tax” which was approved by 60 percent of voters in a 2014 statewide advisory referendum. Hose said the middle class needed to be protected from taxes. “Illinois is strong when the middle class is strong,” Hose said.

Olsen did not support a graduated income tax, he said. He pointed to the 2011 “temporary tax” that increased the rate from 3.5 to 5 percent, supposedly to allow Springfield to pay the bills. “The accompanying reforms that would have reduced the size and scope of [the government] did not happen,” Olsen said. “We need to have representatives in Springfield who will get to work responsibly to create structural reforms that will drive our state and drive growth in our state.”

Olsen said “uncertainty” about the future in Springfield was driving local school districts to levy as much as possible, raising property taxes. “Businesses, people and families can benefit from good public policy and they can live with bad public policy, but what they can’t deal with is uncertainty.”

Regarding the state’s unsustainable pension burden, Olsen said he believed current retirees deserved to keep their benefits. “A promise made is a promise kept,” he said. But he suggested a “Tier Three” for newly hired state employees that included a defined contribution plan. A defined contribution plan is an employee-managed investment plan, such as a 401(k) as opposed to a set government payment for life after retirement.

Hose said his legal experience managing pensions made him understand that plan was unworkable. “Moving to a defined contribution plan would trigger additional liability to run both plans side by side. There would be no cost savings in the short term for the next 20 years,” Hose said.

Both candidates were asked how independent they were from party leadership in Springfield.

“I’m the candidate in this race that wasn’t handpicked by leadership,” Hose said.

Olsen pointed to his experience as a lone member in 2014 bucking the Downers Grove board (including Hose) who wanted to approve a $46 million rebuild of village hall and the police department. Olsen demanded the project be taken to the voters, who ended up rejecting the proposal.

The candidates may stress their independence, but both state parties have contributed heavily to their races, which are seen as close. The Illinois Republican Party has donated $138,896.40 to the Olsen for Illinois committee since Aug. 1. The House Republican Organization and Citizens for Durkin have contributed $20,131.26 and $7,000 respectively, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections. Additionally, the independent Liberty Principles Super PAC spent $98,200 on promotional materials supporting Olsen in the race.

Hose has received money from Springfield Democrats, including $138,449.02 from the Democratic Party of Illinois and $46,539.95 from House Speaker Michael Madigan’s Democratic Majority Committee.

The 81st District in DuPage and Will Cos. includes parts of Bolingbrook, Darien, Downers Grove, Lisle, Naperville, Westmont and Woodridge. About 108,000 people in 42,000 households live in the district. The March, 2016 primary election brought out 19,824 GOP voters and 17,461 Democrats. In 2014, Gov. Bruce Rauner won the district by 24 percent.

Asked whether they would support their party’s candidate in the presidential election, Hose seemed to have the easier response, slamming GOP candidate Donald Trump and giving his approval of Hillary Clinton.  “While she definitely has her drawbacks and flaws, Hillary Clinton has the temperament and experience to be the commander in chief,” he said.

Olsen avoided the question of his own choice for president, but observed, “When you’re canvassing neighborhoods day in and day out, you figure out that people know who they’re going to vote for in the presidential race,” Olsen said. “[The presidential choice] is a feature race, but it has little effect on your day-to-day life. People will make their own decisions in that race.”