State Senator John M. Sullivan is currently serving his third term representing Western Illinois in the General Assembly. First elected in November 2002, Sullivan has become an expert on state fiscal and budgetary matters. He has been a champion of legislation to create jobs, improve industry and infrastructure, and grow the economy both in his home district and across the state.

During his tenure in the Senate, Sullivan has been a strong advocate for the state’s vital agricultural industry, having served as chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and pioneering new agricultural and renewable fuel programs. Sullivan has been a vocal proponent of investing in crop-based fuels to support the farming community, ease the state off of its dependence on foreign oil and stimulate the economy by putting Illinois at the forefront of emerging technologies. He was also a key voice in preventing the repeal of a state tax exemption on livestock feed, seed and farm chemicals.

In 2009, Sullivan served as one of the chief architects of the state’s first comprehensive capital construction bill in a decade. The $30 billion plan, signed into law in July 2009, was designed to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, while fostering a statewide economic recovery and building and repairing schools, roads, bridges, transit systems and other necessary infrastructure in cities and towns throughout Illinois. His efforts garnered significant funding for regional transportation improvements to drive businesses and jobs to Western Illinois. His work on capital construction followed his successful efforts to create a Western Illinois Economic Development Authority to foster economic growth in the region.

Sullivan currently serves as Chairman of a Senate Appropriations Committee, responsible for overseeing state budgets for agencies as varied as the Illinois Commerce Commission and the Department of Natural Resources to the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Secretary of State’s Office and the State Board of Education. He has been an advocate for increased funding for public education, and a staunch supporter of the state’s colleges and universities.

Sullivan’s foremost priority as a state legislator is representing the numerous and varied needs of the residents of Western Illinois. To that end he has spent considerable time on issues as significant and diverse as creating a discount prescription drug program for senior citizens, improving access to college grants for members of the Illinois National Guard, and combating the spread of methamphetamines in Western Illinois and across the state.

Sullivan lives in on his family farm in Schuyler County just north of Rushville with his wife, Joan, and their four children.