Today is the first day of the 102nd General Assembly coming off of a historic lame-duck session where we made strides in healthcare, education, housing and chose a new Speaker of the House for the first time in decades. A heartfelt congratulations to my friend and colleague, Emanuel “Chris” Welch on his election to be Illinois’ first Black Speaker of the House. I am confident that he will lead Illinois out of these multiple crises and be the one to restore unity in our party and change the culture of Springfield.
As the 6th House democrat to publicly call on former Speaker Madigan to resign back in August, I am so pleased to have elected a new leader at a moment when we desperately need to rebuild trust in government and politics, both locally and nationally.
It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve the people of the 19th House District and to work among such thoughtful, and caring members of this body here in Springfield and neighborhood residents in the district, all to better our state. We have so much work to do in the coming months and I was proud to take the oath of office yesterday and start this new chapter in Illinois history.
