Representative Christian Mitchell – 26th House District
Senate Bill 209
The measures allows being a victim of domestic violence to be a mitigating factor at sentencing. In
instances of retaliation by the victim, a history of domestic violence should be considered.
Senator Kwame Raoul - 13th Senate District
Senate Bill 1304
The recent string of officer-involved deaths prompted Senator Raoul to lead the effort to pass Senate
Bill 1304, which makes provisions for body cameras, independent investigators in officer-related
deaths, special prosecutors and cultural competency training.
Representative Reaves Harris – 10th House District
House Bill 6037
Representative Reaves-Ha rris passed legislation allowing people suffering from a serious mental
illness that substantially influenced their perception of the crime but unable to use the defense of
insanity should have their sentencing withheld or minimized.
Assistant Majority Leader Al Riley – 38th House District
Representative Riley discovered an archeology site with national historical significance to the 1908
Springfield Race Riots was not receiving the recognition it deserved. He galvanized support from
the Illinois General Assembly, which steered the federal government to extend the public comment
period indefinitely. Because of his involvement, there was a subject matter hearing on the topic of
the Carpenter Street Underpass-Archeology Site.
Representative Elgie Sims- 34 House District
House Bill 5668
The unemployment rate among African-American men is staggering at nearly 50 percent. Rep.
Sims passed legislation to create the Youth Unemployment Task Force to explore and develop
solutions for this issue.
Representative Andre Thapedi – 32nd House District
House Bill 5918
Provides that a charter shall be granted for five school years and may be renewed in incremental
periods not to exceed 10 school years. The accountability measure also makes changes regarding
the use of start-up grants and loans from the Charter Schools Revolving Loan Fund.
Assistant Majority Leader Senator Donne Trotter - 17th Senate District
Senate Bill 2300
State Senator Donne Trotter took an important step to ensure that instances of lead exposure like
what happened in Flint, Michigan, doesn’t happen in Illinois. A measure that passed through both
chambers of the General Assembly would prohibit the reuse of that property until the lead issue
is solved.
Assistant Majority Leader Arthur Turner – 9th House District
House Bill 6328
The legislation removes two critical barriers for pursuing arrest expungements. It allows people to
seek expungements of arrests where the charges were dropped (or found not guilty) even if they
have previous unrelated convictions on their record. The measure also eliminates the fee of $120 or
more to apply for expungements for those who have had their charges dropped.
Senator Patricia Van Pelt Watkins - 5th Senate District
Senate Bill 2370
Children in police custody for certain crimes would have greater protection when being
interrogated by police under the measure. The legislation will require any child 15 or younger to
have an attorney present during custodial interrogations by police when accused of murder and sex
offenses. It also would require police to recite a simplified Miranda warning for youth.
Representative Litesa Wallace – 67th House District
House Bill 5580
Rep. Wallace wants to make sure that every parent in Illinois has an opportunity to get an education
and move forward in life. She sponsored House Bill 5580, which will expand access to affordable
child care for parents who are working low-wage jobs or who are in school or training programs.
Representative Chris Welch – 7th House District
House Bill 580
The measure would create an additional method for concluding agreements between public sector
unions in Illinois and the state government. This creates the option of using binding arbitration
instead of providing for exclusive use of the Illinois Labor Relations Board.