Voters in Illinois's 7th District should recognize the name Heather Steans.
After devoting much of her early professional life to public policy on finance and education, Steans was approached by former state Sen. Carol Ronen who asked her if she had ever considered running for public office.
Steans initially rejected the idea. However, after Ronen's resignation in 2008, and a realization by Steans that getting into politics might be the best way to change bad government polices, Steans decided to run for Ronen's vacated seat.
Following a special Democratic primary election in February 2008, Steans was elected to represent Illinois' 7th District, an election she has called both "exciting" and "humbling."
The frontrunner in the upcoming Feb. 2 primary election, Steans has stated she is looking forward to her re-election attempt and, if elected, once again serving the residents of the 7th District.
Recently, Windy City was able to talk with Steans about the primary and her first term as a State Senator.
Windy City Times: Could you go into your background before politics?
Heather Steans: Sure, ever since I finished graduate school I've been involved with public policy and government. My first job out of school was working for the Bureau of the Budget for the State of Illinois. Then I got into doing some consulting work on public policy and finance, which required me to make trips around Indiana quite a bit. I got tired of traveling with that job so I got back into more direct governmental public policy work by moving to Wisconsin and working with the state budget there. And then eventually I moved back to the Chicago area with my family and did some work with the Chicago Public School system. At the same time I also worked on urban development in Chicago as a member of the Civic Committee.
WCT: It seems like you were interested in government policy and urban development pretty early. Why do you think you're so passionate about this subject?
Heather Steans: Well, I think government is where public policy and welfare changes. Its government that sets the laws we follow, but even above that the programs and initiatives that our government creates and sponsors are immensely important to how our communities develop. So really in any area that you care about or want to see changed you have to deal with government influence to see an impact; that's where real change occurs and I've always been interested in government because of that. My main focus has always been to make sure everyone has the same equal rights and access to resources. I've been very fortunate in my life, but you see people all the time unable to get fair access to a good education and other programs. So you have to ask yourself, "how do I change that?" and government is the way I think you can.
WCT: How was your first term as a state senator?
Heather Steans: It was really great; tiring sometimes, but great. A lot went on in this term. We elected a new senate president and we also impeached a governor, so there was definitely a lot of activity. One of the big problems with why I think stuff doesn't always get done in Springfield is too much power often rests with the major leaders. So you hear things like the "pay-to-play" bill where 47 senators were in support of it, but we couldn't get it out of the rules committee to a vote because the way our power structure is.
So one of the most interesting things I was able to be apart of this term was joining a few of my fellow Democratic colleagues to try to change the way things are structured. Now, we just thought that we would be asking for a change in the structure but instead Senate President Emil Jones announced he would retire and we were able to appoint John Cullerton to the post, a senator who had really pushed for change in the way we operate. That was exciting and we were able to make some changes, for instance the rules committee no longer exists which I think has created a better overall dynamic in the senate. However, we weren't able to get some of the bigger things changed, which was a disappointment. But, we're definitely moving in the right direction.
WCT: You recently introduced bill 2468, an equal-marriage act, in the Senate. Could you talk about that?
Heather Steans: As you know one of the great things about the 7th District is that it has one of the largest LGBT populations in the state. In representing the district I've gotten to talk with a lot of LGBT individuals about some of the concerns they have and I've seen that marriage is a fundamental human right that all people should have. Rep. Greg Harris has been working hard in the house, introducing an equal marriage bill and campaigning for marriage equality, but we have never had such a bill in the senate so I felt it was the right time. The tide is turning, we have full marriage equality in a number of states including our neighbor Iowa and I think Illinois needed this kind of legislation on the table to move forward in getting rights for everyone.
I do support civil unions, but only as a step toward full equal marriage rights; full rights has to be the clear goal. Let me tell you no piece of legislation I have ever supported has ever gotten the kind of emotional support I've seen with this bill. I have received many stories from LGBT individuals explaining how they were unable to do so many things with their partner because they weren't technically family. Marriage is a basic civil right that everyone in Illinois should be able to enjoy.
WCT: Please comment on the timing of the equal-marriage bill being introduced so close to the end of the session and near the voting on the civil-unions bill.
Heather Steans: I advanced the marriage-equality bill recently because other states are moving ahead with full marriage equality. While the civil-unions bill has been stalled in both chambers, no one advancing civil unions, including my opponent, advocates that our community would be willing to settle for civil unions. Civil unions have always been a stepping stone to full marriage equality. I introduced the marriage-equality bill with the full support of Springfield advocates and Rep. Greg Harris said that this was a good time to confirm that there is support in the Senate as well as the House for complete marriage equality; Rep. Harris has previously filed a marriage equality bill in the House. Since introducing the Equal Marriage Act I have had many discussions to advance both civil unions as well as full marriage equality sooner rather than later.
WCT: Your Democratic opponent, Jim Madigan, has accused you of buying your seat from former Gov. Blagojevich. Could you respond to this?
Heather Steans: My opponent's statement is based on faulty facts. [ In 2008 ] , I ran and won election in a competitive, open Democratic primary based on my experience and vision for leadership for 7th District residents. The fact is that I won an open Democratic primary. Maybe my opponent doesn't remember the primary election because he didn't vote in this district the last Democratic primary.
WCT: What has the support been like from your colleagues in Springfield?
Heather Steans: In general, I have to say elected officials are not the most courageous people. It's sad, but usually they are most interested in how to get re-elected so they are usually pretty slow to get behind something that could be unpopular. What we have to do is show them that the majority of people do support equal marriage and that it's an electable issue to support. The statistics are clearly going that way, a recent survey did show a slim majority in favor of same-sex marriage in the United States, but I think we might have a little bit further to go to convince some elected officials.
WCT: So going forward to the Feb. 2 primary election, what are some of the things your campaign is working on?
Heather Steans: Well first, let me say that the 7th District is a great district. It's the most diverse district in the state; the local high school has over 50 different languages spoken in it showing that we have residents in our community that come from all over. It's also a very smart and well-informed district. They know what's going on in Springfield and you can talk to residents about pretty much any issue. So with this election I've decided to set up more panels for discussion to get more people involved and discuss more issues. I love the job, I love campaigning because you get to meet the people you represent face to face and discuss what's important to them. Campaigning holds politicians accountable I think, it's great and I'm looking forward to it.
