Barbara Flynn Currie (born May 3, 1940) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

from 1979 to 2019. She served as the Majority Leader from 1997 to 2019. Flynn Currie's forty years as a member of the Illinois General Assembly is the longest tenure of any woman to serve in the Illinois General Assembly.

Personal life and education

Barbara Flynn grew up in the Hyde Park neighborhood of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Her father, Frank Flynn, taught at the

University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration The University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, formerly known as the School of Social Service Administration (SSA) from 1920 to 2021, is the school of social work at the University of Chicago. History The sc ...

. She graduated from the

University of Chicago Laboratory Schools The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools (also known as Lab, Lab Schools, or U-High, abbreviated UCLS) is a private, co-educational, day pre-school and K-12 school affiliated with the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. Almost half ...

in 1958, and enrolled at the

College of the University of Chicago The College of the University of Chicago is the university's sole undergraduate institution and one of its oldest components, emerging contemporaneously with the university's Hyde Park campus in 1892. The College is notable for pioneering a now-w ...

in the same year. She left the university in 1959 and married David P. Currie. David, a native of

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

, had graduated from the college in 1957, and soon enrolled at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

. As David was a law student and held jobs as a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

, the Curries lived outside Chicago until 1962, when David became an instructor at the

University of Chicago Law School The University of Chicago Law School is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It employs more than 180 full-time and part-time facul ...

. The Curries had two children: Stephen and Margaret. Currie slowly finished her undergraduate degree at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, balancing her studies with caring for her children. She graduated from the college in 1968, followed by a master's degree in political science from the same university in 1973. She was politically active, working on the campaign for Michael Shakman, a Chicago-based attorney and activist who ran for delegate to the state's 1970 constitutional convention. Currie is a member of the Chicago League of Women Voters, the Illinois Women's Institute for Leadership, Women United for South Shore, and the Board of the ACLU of Illinois.

House of Representatives

Currie was elected to the

in 1978. She ran in the 24th district, where incumbent Robert E. Mann had announced his retirement. At the time, women comprised only 13% of the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

. In 1997, Currie became the

majority leader of the Illinois House of Representatives The office of Majority Leader of the Illinois House of Representatives, usually in practice called the Illinois House Majority Leader, is a statutory office of the Illinois House of Representatives. Duties of office The Illinois House Majority Lead ...

, the first woman to hold that position. On September 14, 2017, she announced she would not stand for reelection in 2018.

Political positions

Currie co-sponsored bills that established the Illinois

earned income tax credit The United States federal earned income tax credit or earned income credit (EITC or EIC) is a refundable tax credit for low- to moderate-income working individuals and couples, particularly those with children. The amount of EITC benefit depend ...

, repealed

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

, and legalized

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

Impeachment of Rod Blagojevich

In December 2008, following the arrest of Illinois Governor

Rod Blagojevich Rod R. Blagojevich ( ; born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nickname "Blago", is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Blagojevich previously worked ...

, Currie was named by Illinois House Speaker

Michael Madigan Michael Joseph Madigan (born April 19, 1942) is an American politician and convicted felon who is the former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was the longes ...

as the chairperson of the Illinois House committee to investigate Governor Blagojevich for possible impeachment as a result of federal corruption charges against him. Blagojevich was subsequently impeached by the House and removed from office by the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the ...

Later career

WBEZ WBEZ (91.5 FM) – branded ''WBEZ 91.5'' – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, and primarily serving the tri-state region of the Chicago metropolitan area. It is owned by Chicago Public Media and is f ...

reported that in December 2018, Currie appeared at the top of a "clout list" from an aide to House Speaker

, who had recommended several people to fill roles in the administration of newly elected governor

J. B. Pritzker Jay Robert Pritzker (born January 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2019 as the 43rd governor of Illinois. A member of the wealthy Pritzker family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain, Pritzker has started several vent ...

. In April 2019, Pritzker appointed Currie to the

Illinois Pollution Control Board The Illinois Pollution Control Board (PCB) is a State of Illinois governing panel that is staffed in the state capital of Springfield, Illinois. Its duty is to development environmental rules and standards for Illinois, adjudicate complaints alleg ...

. Her husband, David, had created the board 50 years before her appointment, and served as its first chairman. She also served as the board's chairman, earning an annual salary of nearly $124,000. Currie knew that Madigan had recommended her. However, she denied his clout had played a role, instead pointing to her legislative track record and interactions with the governor.

References

External links

Biography, bills and committees
at the 98th Illinois General Assembly **Previous sessions
97th96th95th94th93rdState Representative Barbara Flynn Currie
constituency site *
Profile
at OurCampaigns.com
Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie
at Illinois House Democrats , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Currie, Barbara Flynn 1940 births 2000 United States presidential electors 2004 United States presidential electors 2008 United States presidential electors 2016 United States presidential electors 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American women politicians Living people Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Politicians from Chicago Politicians from La Crosse, Wisconsin Women state legislators in Illinois 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly