In The Press

NORTH UTICA, Ill. – House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch joined first-term Rep. Amy ‘Murri’ Briel for a town hall meeting in her Illinois River Valley community this week, giving residents the opportunity to share their thoughts on the cost of living, energy, and the effects of Washington’s service cuts and high tariffs. The town hall meeting was one of the first stops in a tour visiting colleagues’ districts and hearing from people across the state ahead of the fall legislative session.

WESTCHESTER, Ill. – Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch is calling out the Trump administration’s latest effort to undermine senior care and workers’ rights, joining state labor leaders who have filed formal opposition to a new proposal in Washington to slash wages for home-healthcare workers. 

MAYWOOD, Ill. – House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch joined Black Men United to celebrate the opening of two dozen fully renovated affordable housing units in Maywood Wednesday, supported by state dollars secured in Welch’s fiscally and socially responsible state budgets.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A new law passed by Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch and House Democrats will end the practice of ticketing and fining students for basic school disciplinary matters, bringing crucial reform to a system that unnecessarily exposed young people to system involvement and disparately impacted students of color.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Law enforcement agencies will be better equipped to vet potential officers and make independent, merit-based employment decisions under a new law backed by Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch and House Democrats, improving police hiring practices following the recent killing of an innocent woman in the Springfield area by an officer with a serious record of misconduct.

WESTCHESTER, Ill. – House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch helped local families prepare for a new school year and save money at his 13th Annual Back-to-School Health Fair, distributing free backpacks loaded with supplies, connecting students with health screenings, and providing a day of family fun.

CHICAGO – House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch honored the extraordinary service of former Secretary of State Jesse White, joining state Rep. Harry Benton, Gov. JB Pritzker, and other state leaders to officially rename the building at 115 S. LaSalle Street in Chicago as the Jesse White State of Illinois Building.

CHICAGO – House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch welcomed religious leaders from across the country to Illinois this week, speaking with attendees of the Progressive National Baptist Convention about the important role faith communities play in advocating for healthcare, human rights, and economic empowerment.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Local students will have greater opportunity to earn a college degree under a new law backed by Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch and House Democrats, creating a new direct admissions program to help qualified young people earn automatic entry into state schools.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch and House Democrats are continuing efforts to protect reproductive freedom in Illinois as the state marks three years since the United States Supreme Court stripped the right to choose from tens of millions of women across the country. Working ahead to stop the Trump Administration’s latest assault on women’s health and safety, Welch and his colleagues delivered new protections ensuring doctors and patients can still access potentially lifesaving reproductive health medications—regardless of what extremists in Washington do.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch and House Democrats are continuing efforts to protect reproductive freedom in Illinois as the state marks three years since the United States Supreme Court stripped the right to choose from tens of millions of women across the country. Working ahead to stop the Trump Administration’s latest assault on women’s health and safety, Welch and his colleagues delivered new protections ensuring doctors and patients can still access potentially lifesaving reproductive health medications—regardless of what extremists in Washington do.

WESTCHESTER, Ill. – House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch welcomed community members for his annual Juneteenth Festival at Memorial Park in Hillside Thursday. Welch also joined celebrations throughout the suburbs, urging attendees in River Forest, Westchester, and DuPage County to celebrate freedom and reflect on the work still ahead.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch and House Democrats are continuing their efforts to expand access to affordable healthcare by advancing new reforms to crack down on the big pharma middlemen who drive up the cost of prescription drugs and hold them accountable for putting executive bonuses ahead of patient care.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch and Proviso West High School are making plans for a modern sports complex on the school’s Hillside campus a reality. The $40 million investment made possible through Welch’s new state budget will create a dynamic space for student athletics and community events—uplifting the entire region and promoting local economic development.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch and House Democrats are working to keep guns out of the wrong hands, protect children from accidental shootings, and track lost and stolen firearms by passing a new ‘safe storage’ bill.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch is bringing $4.6 million in new state dollars home to improve lighting and safety along the Prairie Path in Maywood and Berkeley.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch and House Democrats forcefully challenged Trump Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a demonstration countering the hateful rhetoric Noem brought to Illinois during a stop on her tour promoting Trump’s bigoted and unconstitutional agenda.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch and House Democrats are continuing their efforts to improve outcomes for new mothers and babies with legislation expanding implicit bias training for doctors, doulas and other maternal healthcare providers.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – New state funds will help local school libraries purchase the most up-to-date books, periodicals, digital and audio books, and equipment thanks to the work of House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch and Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias.

MELROSE PARK, Ill. – More than $20 million in new state funding will expand pathways to career training for thousands of young people in the west suburbs and across Illinois thanks to the work of House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch and Governor JB Pritzker.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – More than $2.3 million in state funding will help Forest Park replace lead pipelines and protect the safety of local drinking water thanks to the work of House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA).

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch met with Illinois fire fighters this week to discuss efforts to protect emergency responders on the job and strengthen retirement benefits for workers who serve communities.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch is leading House Democrats in speaking out against the ways the Trump agenda is hurting communities across Illinois. Members are taking to the House floor every session day to discuss the ways Trump’s erratic leadership is hurting the economy, stripping care from families and veterans, and raising prices in red communities and blue communities alike.

WESTCHESTER, Ill. – House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch is helping local students continue their education by supporting the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Foundation (ILBCF) Scholarship and encouraging qualified degree seekers to apply.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch is empowering two new working groups to lead House Democrats’ work on property tax relief and reform, and sustainability and economic security in state pensions.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Members of the Illinois House of Representatives recognized Black History Month by celebrating the historic Speakership of Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch, the first African American to serve as Speaker in the state’s history.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch and House Democrats welcomed Gov. JB Pritzker to the House floor Wednesday for the annual State of the State and Budget Address.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch is empowering colleagues to lead important conversations on reproductive rights, gun safety, education, healthcare access, and other critical matters facing the state by announcing reconstituted and reconfigured House Democratic working groups for the new legislative session.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch led his Democratic colleagues in condemning the cruel, destructive, and unlawful orders President Donald Trump has issued during his first weeks in office. Welch and his colleagues passed a series of formal resolutions aimed at calling out Trump’s extremism and committing to move Illinois in a fundamentally better direction.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch joined school administrators from across the state for a discussion on education funding, college and career readiness, teacher retention, and school safety priorities at the Education Leadership Forum held Wednesday at the University of Illinois-Springfield.