
The Illinois State Football team took fans, alumni and all of Illinois on a football adventure as they crisscrossed the country in the FCS playoffs on their way to the most exciting national championship game at any level. Honored to meet team members during their recent Capitol visit with Senator Dave Koehler.

The Chicago region has everything needed for success. Great resources, great people, great opportunities and great location.
You don’t have to take my word for it.
With more than 600 qualifying business projects across the region in 2025, Site Selection Magazine ranked Chicagoland as the top metro region in the nation. It’s the 13th year in a row the metro region has received the top designation from the industry publication.
https://siteselection.com/2025-top-metros-tier-1.../
Chicago scored higher than the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth metro areas.
“This momentum is not accidental. It is the result of a region with unmatched logistics power, a diversified and resilient economic base, and a nearly five-million–person workforce spanning advanced research to essential operations. Add to that over 150,000 students entering the regional economy each year, competitive utilities, abundant water, scalable industrial space and a deliberate focus on vibrancy as an economic driver — and you have a market built for sustained corporate growth.” -- Andrew Hayes, vice president of marketing communications for World Business Chicago

Enjoyed a wide-ranging live radio discussion with Illinois Public Media's The 21st Show.
You can listen here: The 21st Show
Over the past months, communities across Chicagoland – our communities – and Minneapolis have been shaken by scenes that belong in history books warning us what not to become: masked federal agents jumping out of unmarked vans, grabbing residents off sidewalks, terrorizing families outside schools, hospitals and courthouses. In the most horrific incidents, they have killed innocent people exercising their constitutional rights.
Working together, the Illinois Senate Democratic Caucus, and a broad coalition of advocates, passed a new law designed to restore some measure of dignity, accountability and basic constitutional order. I was proud to sponsor it — and prouder still to see it signed immediately into law by Gov. JB Pritzker.
The purpose is simple: your rights follow you everywhere. Into the courthouse. Onto campus. To the hospital. To your child’s daycare. No badge, no title, no mask puts anyone above the Constitution.
You can read the rest of my op-ed in the Wednesday Journal here:
In defense of dignity and the rule of law - Wednesday Journal
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