General Updates from Senator Mike Simmons

Dear Neighbor,

I hope you enjoy these recent updates from me and our district team. August was a remarkable month where I joined Vice President Kamala Harris in Chicago with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense, Students Demand Action and hundreds of organizers from around the country who are fighting for sensible gun laws. This rally was held on the same day that the Illinois Supreme Court narrowly voted to uphold the assault weapons ban I strongly supported and helped to pass in January.

I also am proud that my team and I organized and held a Back to School Bash at Sullivan High School where hundreds of people from across our district showed up to get colorful backpacks, supplies, local food, and connected with me and other folks from the neighborhood. We also connected attendees with state services.

During last week’s heatwave, we visited senior buildings across the district to do wellness checks and make sure folks know we’re here for them. Remember, if you or your neighbor is experiencing difficulty during a weather event, feel free to call me and my staff at 773-769-1717 and we will try to connect you with the right assistance.

This weekend I’ll be hosting our second annual “Chalk It Up” event at Whyte Park on Howard Street in Rogers Park, where community members can come and enjoy food, music, and draw a flag (or flags) on the ground that represent who they are as we celebrate the multiculturalism and diversity of the far north side. This is a unique, feel good community-building event and I hope you will stop by and say hi.

Read on for legislative updates and more community updates. See you soon!

Sincerely,

Mike Simmons

State Senator | 7th District

 Legislative Updates

Caption: Senator Mike Simmons joins gun violence prevention advocates at a gun safety event with Vice President Kamala Harris in Chicago to promote safer communities and reduce gun violence.

Caption: Senator Mike Simmons and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense join together for a day of advocacy for sensible gun legislation in Chicago with Vice President Harris.

To continue building safer communities and promoting gun-violence prevention, I attended a gun safety event with Vice President Kamala Harris in Chicago in tandem with the Illinois Supreme Court’s ruling to uphold the Assault Weapon Ban. I joined Vice President Harris, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense, and hundreds of passionate organizers for a day of advocacy for sensible gun legislation in Illinois and across the country.

Earlier this year, I co-sponsored and helped pass the Protect Illinois Communities Act, which outlaws assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in Illinois. With the ruling in favor of upholding this ban, Illinois will continue to have one of the strongest assault weapon bans in the country, which will save lives and rebuild communities.

As Vice President Harris said during our afternoon of advocacy, “We don’t have another moment or life to spare.” I will continue to be aggressive in supporting stronger gun laws. I want children to be able to walk to school and feel safe, moms and dads to see their children grow up and become adults, and our schools, places of worship, public transit, and nightclubs to be places where we can live and gather in peace. The racially motivated shooting this weekend in Florida is a stinging reminder that complacency is not an option and we must agitate for much tighter gun laws at the state and national levels. We cannot let up.

Joined by colleagues across many states, I also spoke with White House and Department of Justice officials about the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and how federal and state governments can work together to reduce gun violence. I have worked tirelessly to advocate against gun violence and have been aggressive in co-leading the passage of legislation last year that bans ghost guns, and previously supported a new law that implements universal background checks. It is evident that now is the time for us to take the work we have done here in Illinois to the next level by advocating for implementing stronger, consistent policy to create safer communities and reduce gun violence across the country.

In other news, as a fierce advocate for pedestrian and bike safety, I am proud to announce that I have secured over $2 million for pedestrian infrastructure projects in the 7th District. The investments will be used to install road calming improvements along Ridge Boulevard between Pratt and Howard over the next six years, which should help residents on foot, those who are disabled, and cyclists navigate the area more safely. I will continue to be vigilant for opportunities to secure additional funding to support road and traffic calming improvements.

As a recap and related to this, in the spring legislative session, I spearheaded a package of transportation bills to address bike and pedestrian safety, auto-renewal for CTA disability benefits, and increased roadway design safety. All these new safety measures were signed into law and will bring expanded safety and accessibility to the 7th District and across the state. This week I met with the Active Transportation Alliance and IDOT to kick off strong and vigorous implementation of Senate Bill 2014, for example, which will require bike and pedestrian safety improvements on non-highway state routes when routine roadwork improvements are already being done.

Finally, I am excited to announce that public schools in our district will receive allocations from $23 million in evidence-base funding. This results from an overhaul in 2017 of how the state funds K-12 education. The new funding formula ensures schools are more equitably funded. I believe our public schools should receive much more funding and deserve a dramatic reinvestment in resources to make up for decades of injustices and disinvestment. The evidence-based funding formula is a commitment to our communities that will ensure schools with the most need are prioritized. I was personally thrilled to advocate for a major increase in EBF funding in this year’s budget. Together we secured $350 million in additional funding in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget over the previous year, and that funding is making its way to our schools!

Senator Mike Simmons In the News

• "Towns could opt out of Illinois rent control ban under proposed law,” by Crain’s Chicago Business
  “Thousands of jobs, pennies on the job: How Illinois uses prison labor,” by The State Journal-Register
  “Lawmakers pushing legislation to give convicted prisoners voting rights,” by The Daily Line
  “Transit permits for Chicago seniors and people with disabilities drop sharply. Here’s why,” by The Chicago Tribune
  “Proposed Law Allows Towns to Opt Out of Illinois Rent Control Ban,” by BollyInside

Senator Mike Simmons’ Updates

Back to School Bash Event at Sullivan High School

Caption: Senator Mike Simmons prepares to hand out backpacks to give to students at his Back to School Bash in Rogers Park.

Caption: Senator Mike Simmons, constituents, volunteers, local restaurants, staff, and school administrators host a successful Back to School Bash at Sullivan High School.

Caption: Senator Mike Simmons greets parents at his Back to School Bash event on Aug. 18.

Caption: Volunteers at Senator Mike Simmons’ Back to School Bash serve food catered by local restaurants - Hon Kee, Ethiopian Diamond and Pizzeria Aroma, to community members.

Caption: State Senator Mike Simmons meets parents at the Back to School Bash on Aug. 18 at Sullivan High School.

My staff and I kicked off the school year with a bang at my Back to School Bash, where we passed out over 250 backpacks filled with school supplies at Sullivan High School! In partnership with Care for Real, Hon Kee, Ethiopian Diamond, Pizzeria Aroma, DJ Josh, Lakeview YMCA, Truman College, Principal Cooks and our team of dedicated volunteers from across the 7th District, we were able to bring an awesome and special event to the community just before school started. The evening was so positive, energetic and supportive of our youth that I honestly didn’t want it to end!

To all our teachers and administrators – thank you for the amazing work you do to educate our young people. To all our students – work hard, play hard, be yourself always, and enjoy being together with friends this school year! We all are so proud of you and counting on you!

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