The Future of Human Services in Illinois – A Conversation with Illinois State Senator Heather Steans

The 2020 election saw Illinois voters deciding on the ‘Fair Tax.’ The referendum, which ultimately did not pass,  would have provided much-needed funding for human service agencies in the state.  This rejection has left many of these nonprofit agencies uncertain about their future in Illinois.

Please join Illinois State Senator Heather Steans and The Horton Group as we discuss the Illinois Budget Crisis, the rejection of the Fair Tax, and the impact to human service agencies. 

Senator Heather Steans / Illinois State Senator 

Heather Steans has represented Illinois’ 7th District in the Senate since 2008. She chairs the Appropriations I and Medicaid Managed Care Oversight Committees and serves on the Appropriations II, Executive, Executive Appointments, Environment and Conservation, Government Accountability and Pensions, and Human Services committees. Steans has passed legislation to bring marriage equality to Illinois, reform the state’s Medicaid program, enact significant nursing home reform and improve the environment by reducing mercury waste, creating commercial composting capabilities and banning microbeads. She also passed the Equal Rights Amendment in 2018, making Illinois the 37th state to ratify it and secured the passage of legislation that ensures Illinois remains a state where women can safely and legally exercise their right to choose. In 2019, she passed landmark legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis, a plan widely viewed as the most equity-centered in the country.

Heather Steans graduated from Princeton with a B.A. in Urban Studies and received her M.A. in Public Policy from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Her professional career has focused on government finance, economic development and education reform. She is the former budget director of the Wisconsin Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations, served as a strategic planner with the Chicago Public Schools and was a consultant with Ernst & Young. Steans has received numerous awards, including the Legislator of the Year Award from AARP, the Richard Phelan Profile in Courage Award from Planned Parenthood, the Legislative Recovery Award from Trilogy, and the Equality Illinois Freedom Award.

Heather Steans and her husband Leo have three children and have lived in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago for 25 years.