Seven Illinois legislators were featured in the Power, Passion, and Policy: Women in Politics Panel on Sept. 19 in the Jobe Lounge at Elgin Community College. The panel was hosted by the Center For Civic Engagement. Any women legislators that serve an area within ECC’s district were welcome to take part in the panel.
The audience consisted of students, faculty, administrators, and board members.
The legislators included Senator Laura Murphy, Senator Linda Holmes, Senator Cristina Castro, Representative Susan Ness, Representative Maura Hirschauer, Representative Michelle Mussman and Representative Anna Moeller.
Dr. LaTasha Chaffin DeHaan and Dr. Antonio Ramirez moderated the event. Dehaan asked previously prepared questions, while Ramirez asked questions suggested by the audience.
The panelists shared a sentiment that times are getting better for women in politics. They spoke of their first times in politics and then compared it to Representative Nabeela Syed, the youngest member of the Illinois General Assembly. She spoke at an event after the panel.
“You’ve heard one common theme here, ” Murphy said. “Everyone here said they were asked. I think that when you speak to Nabeela, she will say ‘I knew I wanted it,’ and that is where we are seeing generational change.”
Several bills were mentioned by the legislators that they have sponsored or otherwise helped pass.
“I have recently passed the Articulation bill,” Castro said. “It will make it much easier for students who come out of ECC and other community colleges to transfer to a four-year university without adding more debt.”
The bill mentioned attempts to create a common standard for all colleges to accept transfer classes from other colleges. Although many classes already transfer to other colleges, this bill focuses on making sure that colleges can’t decide that a class offered at another college is equivalent to a lower-level class on their own.
“I think it’s really important to mention that we all collectively worked on ensuring there was a budget,” Murphy said.
Representative Moeller mentioned that she sponsored a bill in the House that Castro sponsored in the Senate. All of the bills mentioned by the legislators were co-sponsored by several colleagues, showing that the process is truly a collaboration.
DeHaan asked the panelists what advice they would give to young women who are looking to get into politics.
“Just because you’re a girl, doesn’t mean you can’t do anything that anybody else does,” Holmes said. “You can be anything you want to be. As long as you give 100% of yourself, you can’t have any regrets.”
“You don’t have to feel like you are 100 percent before you dive in,” Moeller said. “You should go for it.”
“There is a table,” Castro said. “Sit at it, sit on it, whatever it takes. Don’t let your voice be shut down. You bring something of value. And dammit, you should be heard.”
