FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Luis Klein
Reps. Guzzardi, Demmer, Other Young Legislative Leaders Launch “Future Caucus”
Bipartisan group will focus on building consensus on 21st-century issues platform
CHICAGO — On Friday, a dozen young legislators in the Illinois House announced the launch of the Illinois Future Caucus.
The Future Caucus is a bipartisan group of young leaders who believe that cooperation, not conflict, should be the dominant political paradigm, and who are committed to working together to address the challenges facing the next generation of Illinoisans.
In a joint statement, Rep. Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago) and Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon), co-chairs of the Illinois Future Caucus, said, “We’re proud to join our colleagues in reaching across party lines and working on the issues that face our generation. As newer arrivals on the political scene, we know that people expect better than what they’re getting from Illinois government, and we believe that as a group, we can work to transcend the partisan gridlock and get things done for our constituents.”
Illinois becomes the twelfth state to form a Future Caucus of young legislators, joining a diverse group of states including Wisconsin, Ohio, Texas, and Hawaii. The state caucuses work in concert with the Congressional Future Caucus, co-chaired by US Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and US Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX).
The various Future Caucuses are coordinated and supported by the Millennial Action Project. MAP’s founder, Steven Olikara, flew to Chicago from Washington, D.C. to lend his support to the new Illinois initiative.
“We’re excited that young leaders in Illinois are taking steps to forge bipartisan consensus here,” said Olikara. “We’ve seen great legislative successes in other states, and at the federal level, when millennials cross party lines to get things done. We’re thrilled to see that kind of progress here in Illinois.”
The Caucus will meet regularly in Springfield to discuss current issues, and will seek to identify legislation to put forward as a group.
Founding members of the Caucus include Guzzardi, Demmer, Avery Bourne (R-Raymond), Jehan Gordon (D-Peoria), Sonya Harper (D-Chicago), Christian Mitchell (D-Chicago), Art Turner (D-Chicago), Litesa Wallace (D-Rockford), Sara Wojcicki Jimenez (R-Springfield), and Mike Zalewski (D-Riverside).