Diane Pappas is an American politician. She served as a Democratic member of 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 ...

from 2022 to 2023 and 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 2019 to 2021.

Background and personal life

Pappas was born in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and immigrated to the United States aged 11. She attended Lake Park High School. She then earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

and a

juris doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

. Pappas is an attorney from Itasca specializing in corporate negotiations and contracts. She has worked for

Motorola Solutions Motorola Solutions, Inc. is an American technology, communications, and security company, headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. It is the legal successor of Motorola, Inc., following the spinoff of the mobile phone division into Motorola ...

YRC Worldwide Yellow Corporation was an American transportation holding company headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. Its subsidiaries included national less than truckload (LTL) carrier YRC Freight; regional LTL carriers New Penn, Holland, and Reddaway; ...

, and Locke Lord. Pappas was previously President of the Friends of Itasca Community Library. She is currently married to William Pappas. The couple has no children.

Illinois House of Representatives

2018 election

Pappas became politically involved in 2018 when she became an elected precinct committeewoman with the local Democratic organization in Addison Township. In the summer of 2018, Pappas was nominated by the local Democratic organizations in the district to run against the then-unopposed Republican incumbent Christine Winger. Pappas narrowly defeated Republican incumbent Christine Winger with 50.8% of the vote to represent the Republican-leaning district.

2020 election

Pappas lost the 2020 general election to Republican candidate Seth Lewis.

Tenure

Pappas represented Illinois 45th district, which at the time was located in northern DuPage County and included all or parts of Addison, Bartlett, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Hanover Park, Itasca, Medinah, Roselle, Wayne, West Chicago, and Wood Dale. Pappas was sworn into office on January 9, 2019. During the 101st General Assembly, Pappas served on the following committees: ''Adoption & Child Welfare''; ''Cities & Villages''; ''Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, & IT''; ''General Service Appropriations-General Service''; and ''Prescription Drug Affordability''.

Airport noise mitigation

Pappas proposed the creation of an income tax credit in an amount equal to the amount paid by the taxpayer for purchasing acoustical materials, other materials, labor, and professional services to soundproof a residential home located near airports against aircraft noise. This credit, if passed, would have allowed constituents living near O'Hare International Airport's new flightpaths to soundproof their homes.

Healthcare

Along with Deb Conroy, Pappas introduced legislation to provide coverage for the treatment of serious mental illnesses and serious emotional disturbances. Diane Pappas is pro-choice on abortion and voted for the Reproductive Healthcare Act. Dan Proft's conservative political publications and Republican legislators Mark Batinick (R- Plainfield) and

Darren Bailey Darren Bailey (born March 17, 1966) is an American politician who was a Republican member of the Illinois Senate for the 55th District and previously a member of the Illinois House of Representatives for the 109th District in Southern Illinois. ...

(R-

Xenia Xenia may refer to: People * Xenia (name), a feminine given name; includes a list of people with this name Places United States ''listed alphabetically by state'' * Xenia, Illinois, a village in Clay County ** Xenia Township, Clay County, Il ...

) criticized Pappas for an alleged remark that invoked castration when speaking about female autonomy at a town hall.

Tax reforms

Pappas proposed House Bill 338 which would create an assessment freeze homestead exemption for persons receiving federal

Supplemental Security Income Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a means-tested program that provides cash payments to disabled children, disabled adults, and individuals aged 65 or older who are citizens or nationals of the United States. SSI was created by the Social S ...

; a means tested program that is part of the

Social Security Act The Social Security Act of 1935 is a law enacted by the 74th United States Congress and signed into law by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 14, 1935. The law created the Social Security (United States), Social Security program as ...

. Pappas voted to place a referendum on the 2020 general election ballot that would allow the state of Illinois to repeal its current flat tax structure in favor of a progressive tax structure if passed by 60% of voters. Pappas supported Senate Bill 1217, which lowered the amount of money that municipalities are required to devote to tourism from the hotel/motel tax from 100% to 75%. The change had been long sought by local leaders in smaller towns to fund economic development efforts and infrastructure improvements.

Illinois Senate

Pappas was appointed to the

to succeed Tom Cullerton after Cullerton pleaded guilty to federal embezzlement charges and resigned from office. As of July 2022, Senator Pappas is a member of the following Illinois Senate committees: * Energy and Public Utilities Committee (SENE) * Insurance Committee (SINS) * Transportation Committee (STRN) * Veterans Affairs Committee (SVET)

Electoral history

References

External links

Official profile
at

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pappas, Diane Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women politicians American politicians of Polish descent Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Michigan State University alumni People from Itasca, Illinois University of Illinois Chicago alumni Women state legislators in Illinois Yale Law School alumni Living people 1970s births 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly