Written by Steans Staff Wednesday, 15 February 2012 14:01
With recent reports highlighting the ballooning cost of Illinois’ pension systems and Medicaid program, State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago) appeared on ‘Chicago Tonight’ to discuss the fiscal challenges facing the General Assembly in the upcoming legislative session. Steans, along with Senator Matt Murphy and Representative’s Lou Lang and Jim Durkin, discussed recently passed pension reforms as well as proposed reforms that raise the retirement age for current workers and shift public employees retirement accounts to a 401(k) style retirement system.
Steans also addressed the increasing cost of the Medicaid program, a safety-net health insurance program for children, the elderly and the poor. Enrollment in the Medicaid program has almost doubled in the last ten years while health care costs industry wide have seen dramatic increases.
Click here to watch the entire ‘Chicago Tonight’ segment.
Senator Steans Menu
7th District
Years served: Appointed February 2008 - Present
Committee assignments: Human Services; Appropriations II; Public Health; Education (Vice-Chairperson); Environment (Vice-Chairperson); Committee of the Whole; Subcommittee on Amendments (Sub-Chairperson); Deficit Reduction; Subcomm.Medicaid &Provider Rate Ref; Subcommittee on Special Issues.
Biography: Born May 8, 1963, in Lake Forest, IL; B.A. in Urban Studies from Princeton; M.A. in Public Policy from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government; former budget director, WI Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations and former strategic planner, Chicago Public Schools; married (husband, Leo Smith) with three children.