Dear Neighbor,

July has been a month of enjoying Summer with family, spending quality time meeting with constituents in the 7th District, and organizing upcoming events I will be hosting.

My first upcoming event is Mobile Office Hours on Wednesday, August 7th from 12:30-3:00 pm at the Edgewater Chicago Public Library Branch in partnership with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). My constituent services team and folks from IDFPR will be set-up at the library to assist with job licenses, Medicaid/SNAP, senior services, and any questions or concerns you may have. Delays in job licensing with IDFPR is a common case with my constituent service team, and I am pleased to welcome IDFPR to the district to allow constituents 1:1 time to get your licenses processed!

Additionally, I am hosting an outreach and resource event for Survivors of Domestic Violence in partnership with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office on Thursday, August 8th from 6:00-7:00 pm at the Church of the Atonement (5749 N. Kenmore Ave). This event will offer a safe space for survivors to share and advocate for their needs and to receive help connecting directly with resources, state programs, and services available. Full details are below.

Finally, as many of you already know, we lost yet another innocent, beautiful life - Sonya Massey, a young Black woman - at the hands of a reckless and unjust act of violence by a Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy. You can read my full statement here. When I watched the video of Sonya’s tragic and heart rending last moments, I thought to myself how many Black people don’t feel safe calling on law enforcement when we don’t feel safe. I felt that personally in the moment and it was unsettling. It’s going to take all of us – people of all racial backgrounds and levels of wealth and privilege – demanding much better of our justice systems. We owe that to Sonya’s surviving family and scores of communities across our state who are reeling from this heinous violence that our state’s systems continue to visit on Black bodies with routine regularity. 

As we look to the rest of summer, I wish you healthy and safe days ahead. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to my office if you need help accessing housing, food, health care, transportation, and any other state-level resource, or wish to advocate for policy and state legislation. 

Sincerely,

Mike Simmons

State Senator | 7th District

Dear Neighbor,

Six months ago, I stood in a restaurant in Edgewater on Broadway and alongside small businesses, community partners and press in attendance, announced that I’d secured $2.5 million specifically for mom and pop small businesses in our far northside district. I had grown weary of hearing from too many small business owners across our district who feel the squeeze of sudden rent increases and gentrification on their storefronts, lack of translation services for immigrant-owned shops, difficulty with payroll, and other systemic challenges. We created the 7th District Small Business Restoration Grant from scratch with these funds to fill in these major gaps.

I have an update to share about the 7th District Small Business Restoration Grant. The grant process has now been completed and 225 small businesses across our district have received their grants! From Rogers Park to Buena Park to Lincoln Square to Uptown to Budlong Woods to Andersonville to Ravenswood to Edgewater, brick and mortar small businesses from every corner of the 7th District and in every single commercial corridor have received grants. Full details on the grant program are below. I could not be more proud of the 7SBRG and the timely and positive boost and encouragement it has given our local mom and pop shops and storefronts.

Caption: Senator Mike Simmons, along with dozens of 7th District small business owners, chambers and community leaders gathered in Edgewater in December to announce the launch of the 7th District Small Business Restoration Grant.

Thank you to the five local chambers and our community organizations who worked with me and my team to pull off this unprecedented and innovative program, and to our indispensable partners who provided translation services in more than a dozen languages. I’m inspired by what we were able to accomplish here. I also want to thank my Chief of Staff, Heather Saenger, who worked tirelessly to help make this happen and has a heart for our small businesses and especially those that have been left out of previous assistance efforts. Last but not least, thank you to the staff at the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for working with us to execute a vision that at first seemed daunting.

We did it!

Sincerely,

Mike Simmons
State Senator | 7th District

General Updates from Senator Mike Simmons

Dear Neighbor,

The 2024 Spring Legislative session has adjourned and I am thrilled to share updates on several pieces of legislation I (and many others) worked around the clock to pass. Read on for an overview of those.

Next you will see an interesting write up that Chicago’s first Black Women-Owned business magazine, (Extra) Ordinary People, ran in May profiling me and my experiences with mental health in college.

Then in the second half of the newsletter you will also find a run through of key highlights from the $53 Billion Fiscal Year 2025 Budget we passed at the end of May. Spoiler alert: I got our child tax credit passed making Illinois the 15th state in the nation to implement this policy!

Finally, you will see a photo recap from yesterday’s historic ribbon cutting of the brand spanking new Metra station at Peterson and Ridge in the 7th District in Edgewater! And more community updates.

Sincerely,
Mike Simmons

State Senator | 7th District

General Updates from Senator Mike Simmons

Dear Neighbor,

The Spring 2024 Legislative Session is coming to a close, but I like to think of this time of year as more of a beginning of session when things really ramp up! I have been working around the clock to get dozens of crucial pieces of legislation passed – from medical debt cancellation and affordable healthcare measures, culturally competent hair care for foster children, to transit safety and housing opportunities – I have been fighting for a budget that supports the needs of our district and state.

In this newsletter, you will find a few key updates on the most paramount bills I am working to pass out of the General Assembly this May after months of input from constituents and negotiations with stakeholders, senate colleagues, and house representatives.

Thank you to every constituent who has reached out either by sending me an email, filling out the “Contact Us” form on my website, or calling my district or Springfield office. Your input on legislation and bill ideas have been invaluable as I work to represent you all.

Looking forward to seeing you in and around the 7th District this summer!

Sincerely,

Mike Simmons
State Senator | 7th District