ARLINGTON HEIGHTS – State Senator Ann Gillespie and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum are holding an essay contest for students in the 27th Senate District to showcase their writing abilities and knowledge of American history.

There are two essay prompts for different grade levels.

4th and 5th Graders must answer the question "What is Abraham Lincoln’s greatest accomplishment and how is it relevant today?" (3 page max.)

7th and 8th Graders are asked to answer the question "What lessons learned from Lincoln's life and public service can be applied to government and politics today?" (5 page max.)

Essays can be submitted to Senator Gillespie’s district office or electronically at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Jan. 27, 2020. All submissions should include the student’s name, school, home address, and the best contact information for their parents.

Winners will be announced on Lincoln’s 211th birthday on Feb. 12, 2020. The winning author from each age group will receive a certificate from the Illinois Senate, free admission to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, and the opportunity to be Senator Gillespie’s page for a day on the Senate floor in Springfield.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS – State Senator Ann Gillespie (D-Arlington Heights) will join members of business, education and labor in overseeing an employment grant program, she announced today.

As a member of the 21st Century Employment Grant Program Advisory Board, it will be Gillespie’s duty to help oversee the progress of grant recipients, track gainful-employment rates of participants and monitor industry trends to determine where employment gaps can be filled.

“Equipping people with the professional and technical skills for jobs in their area will revitalize regional industries and uplift thousands of working class people,” Gillespie said. “Adults seeking employment and young people looking for low-cost alternatives to higher education will now have opportunities to receive hands-on training in a variety of fields.”

Read more: Gillespie appointed to workforce development board

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS – State Senator Ann Gillespie (D-Arlington Heights) announced that she is taking action on the abuse of isolation rooms in public schools. A Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois investigation revealed that school staff placed children in isolation rooms over 20,000 times in the 2017-2018 academic year.

“Classrooms shouldn’t instill fear in our children,” Gillespie said. “Students deserve to feel safe with their teachers and school staff, not made to feel like literal prisoners.”

Isolation rooms function much like solitary confinement for prison inmates. They are small, locked chambers where children have no interaction with their peers and limited interaction with adults. Some don’t even have a place to sit other than the floor.

Senate Bill 2315 would make Illinois the 20th state to ban the use of isolation rooms in schools.
State Representative Jonathan Carroll (D-Northbrook) filed identical legislation in the Illinois House under House Bill 3975. The two legislators have vowed to work together to end the traumatic practice.

Current law allows school staff to isolate a student if they pose a danger to themselves or others. However, the investigation revealed that the isolation rooms are often used as a punishment for refusing to do classwork, swearing and other behavior that does not pose a threat to safety.

Governor JB Pritzker directed the Illinois State Board of Education to end the use of isolation rooms. ISBE amended their rules to only allow timeouts with a trained adult in the room, an unlocked door and “only for therapeutic reasons or protecting the safety of students and staff.”

Both bills will be considered when legislators return to Springfield in January.

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Ann Gillespie (D-Arlington Heights) helped pass two government ethics measures today. The legislation strengthens statements of economic interests and creates a bipartisan commission to recommend where other ethics laws can be strengthened moving forward.

“These measures are starting a conversation on how we can regain public trust in our state institutions,” Gillespie said. “I am looking forward to hearing the commission’s recommendations on how we can take preventative measures against corruption.”

Senate Bill 1639 broadens the criteria for what must be disclosed on a statement of economic interests, requires the secretary of state to create a database of lobbyist contributions and statements of economic interests filed by state officials, and requires lobbyists to disclose their subcontractors.

House Joint Resolution 93 creates the Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform. The commission will consist of 16 members appointed by legislative leaders, the governor, the secretary of state and the attorney general. Appointees must be bipartisan and no member may have been a lobbyist in the past five years. The commission will hold a series of public hearings to review ethics laws and make their recommendations to the General Assembly by the end of March 2020.

House Joint Resolution 93 takes effect immediately and Senate Bill 1639 awaits the governor’s signature.