Don Harmon

Don Harmon
Illinois Senate President Pro Tempore
Assumed office
January 3, 2011
Governor Bruce Rauner
Preceded by Position Established
Member of the Illinois Senate
from the 39th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2003
Preceded by Dan Cronin (redistricted)
Personal details
Born (1966-11-26) November 26, 1966
Oak Park, Illinois
Political party Democratic
Residence Oak Park, Illinois
Alma mater Knox College (B.A.)
University of Chicago (M.B.A.)
University of Chicago (J.D.)
Profession Attorney
Religion Roman Catholic

Don Harmon (born November 26, 1966) is a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 39th District since 2003. His district includes Chicago's Austin neighborhood and the suburbs of Oak Park, Addison, Bensenville, Elmwood Park, Franklin Park, Melrose Park, Northlake, River Grove, Rosemont, Schiller Park, and Stone Park.[1] In January 2009, incoming Senate President John Cullerton appointed Harmon Assistant Majority Leader. Harmon has since been appointed Illinois Senate President Pro Tempore.

Early life and career

Harmon was born and raised in Oak Park where he attended St. Giles Grade School. He graduated from St. Ignatius High School on Chicago's west side, Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, and the University of Chicago (law degree and MBA). After law school, Harmon served in Springfield on the House legal staff.

Political career

In August 2000, Don Harmon was nominated by members of the Democratic Party of Oak Park to fulfill the term of former Illinois Senate President Phil Rock as Oak Park Democratic Committeeman. He was then elected to his first full term as Committeeman in 2002 and has since been re-elected in 2006 and 2010. In 2010, Harmon was elected to serve as the Suburban Vice-Chair of the Democratic Party of Cook County.

Illinois Senate

First elected in the fall of 2002, Harmon has promoted a progressive agenda in the Illinois Senate. During his first term he served alongside then-State Senator and now U.S. President Barack Obama.

Harmon sponsored legislation creating the Illinois Early Learning Council to create policy recommendations regarding the education of children from birth to age five. The result of that effort was the Pre-School for All program implemented throughout the state. He also authored the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003 to prohibit discriminatory policies by state, county or local governments, and to preserve for Illinois citizens civil rights protections eroded by recent U.S. Supreme Court Decisions.

Additionally he helped pass legislation to eliminate two obsolete taxing districts-the Cook County Tuberculosis Sanitarium District and the Cicero Township Trustee of Schools saving taxpayers millions of dollars.

Committee Assignments

In the 99th General Assembly, Senator Harmon serves as the Chair of the Executive Committee as well as the Executive Committee's Subcommittee on Election Law. He is the Vice Chair of the Assignments Committee. He serves on the Judiciary Committee, the committee's Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendements and is the Chair of its Subcommittee on Firearms.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "PA 97-0006 Legislative District 59" (PDF). 2011-05-18. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
  2. ↑ http://www.ilga.gov/senate/SenCommittees.asp?MemberID=2125&GA=99
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/5/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.