{{short description|American politician (born 1963)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Heather Steans | image = Heathersteans.jpg | state_senate = Illinois | district = 7th | term_start = February 10, 2008 | term_end = January 31, 2021 | predecessor = Carol Ronen | successor = Mike Simmons | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1963|5|8}} | birth_place = Lake Forest, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | party = Democratic | spouse = Leo Smith | education = Princeton University (BA)<br />Harvard University (MPP) }} '''Heather Adeline Steans''' (born May 8, 1963) is a former Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 7th district. She was appointed after winning a special primary election that followed the mid-term resignation of her predecessor, Senator Carol Ronen. She resigned from office on January 19, 2021 after 12 years in office.
==Early life== Steans was born on May 8, 1963, in Lake Forest, Illinois. Her father, Harrison I. Steans, was a wealthy banker who founded a bank holding company he later sold to JPMorgan Chase. Eventually becoming a billionaire, in 1994 he founded Financial Investments Corporation, which invests the Steans family wealth.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.steansfamilyfoundation.org/obituary_harrison.shtml |title= In Memorium Harrison I. Steans |website=steansfamilyfoundation.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagobusiness.com/obituaries/banker-civic-figure-harrison-steans-dies |title=Banker, civic figure Harrison Steans dies |website=chicagobusiness.com|date=February 27, 2019 }}</ref>
Financial Investments Corporation is now run by Steans's sister Jennifer, and has recently invested in Asia-focused private equity firms.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.financeasia.com/article/dynasty-to-dynasty-us-banking-heiress-reaches-out-to-asian-billionaires/455012 |title=Dynasty to dynasty: US banking heiress reaches out to Asian billionaires |website=financeasia.com}}</ref> Financial Investments Corporation also is actively invested in the banking and energy (oil and gas) industries,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ficcep.com/jennifer-w-steans/ |title=Jennifer Steans |website=ficcep.com}}</ref> and had an investment in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) services company Liberty Oilfield Services prior to its initial public offering in 2018, though Steans is not invested herself.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ficcep.com/liberty-oilfield-services-2/ |title=Liberty Oilfield Services |website=ficcep.com}}</ref>
==Education== Steans graduated with an A.B. in sociology from Princeton University in 1985 after completing a senior thesis titled "Public vs. Private: Low and Moderate Income Housing in Trenton, New Jersey."<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Steans |first=Heather Adeline |title=Public vs. Private: Low and Moderate Income Housing in Trenton, New Jersey |date=1985 |access-date=5 June 2025 |publisher=University of Princeton |url=https://dataspace.princeton.edu/handle/88435/dsp01cc08hh49d}}</ref> She earned an M.P.P. from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}
==Professional career== Steans is the former budget director of the Wisconsin Department of Industry, Labor, and Human Relations. She also worked as a strategic planner for the Chicago Public Schools and as a consultant at Ernst & Young.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://senatorsteans.com/biography |title=Biography |website=senatorsteans.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318033517/http://senatorsteans.com/biography |archive-date=18 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Political positions==
===LGBT rights=== In 2009, Steans introduced a gay marriage bill (SB 2468) which introduces civil marriages in Illinois and allows religious institutions the right to decline marrying same sex couples.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=2468&GAID=10&DocTypeID=SB&LegID=48572&SessionID=76&GA=96|title=Illinois General Assembly – Bill Status for SB2468|website=ilga.gov}}</ref> SB 2468 states, "nothing in the Act should be construed to interfere or regulate any religious practice concerning marriage and no religion is required to solemnize a marriage to which it objects".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=&SessionId=76&GA=96&DocTypeId=SB&DocNum=2468&GAID=10&LegID=48572&SpecSess=&Session=|title=Illinois General Assembly – Full Text of SB2468|website=ilga.gov}}</ref> In 2013, Steans sponsored the gay marriage bill that was signed into law.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/national-international/natl-chi-sweet-16-illinois-gov-signs-gay-marriage-bill/2047740/|title=Sweet 16: Illinois Gov. Signs Gay Marriage Bill}}</ref> Equality Illinois CEO Bernard Cherkasov called Steans "one of the General Assembly's most vocal and passionate supporters of full equality for LGBT people, including being the chief Senate sponsor of the marriage bill."<ref name="auto"/>
===Healthcare reform=== Steans was the Chief Sponsor of IL Senate Bill 655 (SB685), which created new rules designed to improve care at nursing homes and prevent patient neglect and abuse.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=685&GAID=10&GA=96&DocTypeID=SB&LegID=41577&SessionID=76#actions|title=Illinois General Assembly – Bill Status for SB0685|website=ilga.gov}}</ref> According to a press release by the Office of Governor Pat Quinn, "The new law remakes the system of admission to nursing homes, ensuring that only those in need of 24-hour skilled care are admitted. .. The law sets higher nursing home quality and staffing requirements, raises penalties for violations, and increases inspections and monitoring."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/pressroom/2010_07/07_29_10_Nursing_Home_Reform_Law_RELEASE.pdf |title=Nursing reform law |publisher=Illinois Attorney General |year=2010 |access-date=February 18, 2020}}</ref>
Steans also partnered with a formal political rival, Suzanne Elder, to pass anti-discrimination legislation. Working together, she and Elder faced formidable opposition from the state's teachers' unions and overrode an amendatory veto from Governor Quinn to enact legislation that protects the health and civil rights of students with diabetes and other disabilities (''The Care of Students with Diabetes Act,'' P.A. 96–1485).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=096-1485|title=Illinois General Assembly – Full Text of Public Act 096-1485|website=ilga.gov}}</ref>
In 2012, Heather Steans sponsored the "Save Medicaid Access and Resources Together Act" (SMART Act), which saved Illinois $1.6 billion in Medicaid costs by increasing the efficiency of the program.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.illinois.gov:443/news/release?ReleaseID=10307|title=Illinois News - Illinois.gov|website=www2.illinois.gov}}</ref> Steans also passed a law that allowed Illinois to enact Medicaid expansion under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.steansfamilyfoundation.org/bio_heather.shtml|title=Steans Family Foundation | Board|website=steansfamilyfoundation.org}}</ref>
In 2018 Heather Seans was the lead sponsor in the Senate to restrict Illinoisans' access to non-Obamacare compliant healthcare plans in an attempt to force them into much more expensive Obamacare compliant health insurance plans.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20181129/NEWS/181129919/illinois-legislature-overrides-veto-of-short-term-health-plan-limit| title = Illinois Legislature overrides veto of short-term health plan limit {{!}} Modern Healthcare| date = November 29, 2018}}</ref>
===Discrimination=== Steans sponsored Illinois' Equal Pay Act of 2012, which holds individuals liable for wage discrimination on the basis of gender.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/2012-equal-pay-legislation.aspx|title=2012 Equal Pay Legislation|website=ncsl.org}}</ref> Steans has led the fight to have Illinois ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, which passed the Illinois State Senate. On the subject, Steans said, "From equal pay to equal health care access to fair treatment on college campuses, women's rights are at risk as long as they are not protected in the Constitution."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://senatorsteans.com/news/press-releases/117-senate-votes-to-ratify-equal-rights-amendment-audio |title=Senate votes to ratify Equal Rights Amendment (AUDIO) |website=senatorsteans.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913065824/http://senatorsteans.com/news/press-releases/117-senate-votes-to-ratify-equal-rights-amendment-audio |archive-date=13 September 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
===Environment=== Steans authored the Lead Sinker Act, SB 1269, an education program that promotes the use of fishing products that are not detrimental to humans and wildlife.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=1269&GAID=10&GA=96&DocTypeID=SB&LegID=42210&SessionID=76|title=Illinois General Assembly – Bill Status for SB1269|website=ilga.gov}}</ref>
Co-sponsoring SB 3346 with State Representative Karen May, Steans passed a bill reducing mercury in the ambient environment by improving the material's collection and recycling from thermostat units. According to the Environmental Law and Policy Center, an organization that helped to draft the bill, "It's a bill that environmentalists, manufacturers and the entire General Assembly could agree on."<ref>[http://elpc.org/2010/05/07/illinois-passes-bill-to-control-mercury-pollution-from-thermostats Illinois Passes Bill to Control Mercury Pollution from Thermostats] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028184242/http://elpc.org/2010/05/07/illinois-passes-bill-to-control-mercury-pollution-from-thermostats |date=October 28, 2010 }}, Environmental Law and Policy Center, May 7, 2010.</ref>
Steans and her colleagues passed legislation that made Illinois the first state in the nation to ban the sale and manufacture of microbeads in cosmetics and soaps, which are major source of plastic pollution.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Germann |first1=Roger |date=December 30, 2015 |title=Great Lakes Triumph as Microbead-Free Waters Act Signed into Law |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/great-lakes-triumph-as-microbead-free_b_8891144 |website=HuffPost}}</ref>
===Education=== Senator Steans helped lead in the passage of a law that strengthened Illinois' anti-bullying laws by through anonymous reporting, protecting student privacy, prohibiting retaliation and other measures.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.equalityillinois.us/2014/06/gov-quinn-signs-anti-bullying-bill/|title=Gov. Quinn Signs Anti-Bullying Bill « Equality Illinois}}</ref> Steans further spearheaded efforts to create an independent state body with the power to require local taxing bodies to support private charter schools, even where the relevant school board would not do so voluntarily.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=5825&GAID=11&GA=97&DocTypeID=HB&LegID=66321&SessionID=84&SpecSess=|title=Illinois General Assembly – Bill Status for HB5825|website=ilga.gov}}</ref> This move in support of the charter school movement followed her efforts to pass SB7, which streamlined the process for firing public school teachers and made it more difficult for teachers to engage in the protected union activity of striking for better working conditions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=7&GAID=11&DocTypeID=SB&SessionID=84&GA=97|title=Illinois General Assembly – Bill Status for SB0007|website=ilga.gov}}</ref> The latter bill was part of the political run-up to then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel's overseeing the closing of roughly fifty elementary schools in Chicago with primarily African American student bodies.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wbez.org/shows/wbez-news/study-2013-chicago-school-closings-failed-to-help-students/0eea4948-78dc-4fc9-9c45-0750584cb9f4|title=Study: 2013 Chicago School Closings Failed To Help Students|first=Sarah|last=Karp|date=May 22, 2018 |publisher=WBEZ}}</ref>
===Redistricting=== Steans is a supporter of a group called "Yes for Independent Maps" redistricting reform proposals. Steans believes that independent maps would help "restore faith in our political system," in Illinois.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/05/02/group-gets-532000-signatures-to-end-gerrymandered-districts/|title=Group Gets 532,000 Signatures To End Gerrymandered Districts|date=May 2, 2014}}</ref>
===Fiscal issues=== As Chair of the Senate Appropriations I committee, Steans has worked to resolve Illinois budget impasse with Governor Bruce Rauner and the General Assembly. Steans opposed what she called Rauner's "draconian cuts" to programs for Illinois' "most vulnerable" and she supported a budget solution with what she termed "moderate cuts in spending and a moderate increase in revenues" in a budget.<ref>http://www.senatorsteans.com/news/e-newsletters/149-budget-update-im-disappointed-but-theres-a-better-path {{Dead link|date=February 2020}}</ref>
==State Senate== Steans has served in the Illinois Senate for the 7th district since 2008. In 2018, Democrat J. B. Pritzker appointed Steans the Co-chair of the gubernatorial transition's Healthy Children and Families Committee.<ref>{{cite news|last=Miller|first=Rich|title=Pritzker announces new health-related transition committee|date=November 15, 2018|newspaper=Capitol Fax|access-date=December 9, 2018|url=https://capitolfax.com/2018/11/15/pritzker-announces-new-health-related-transition-committee/}}</ref>
On January 19, 2021, Steans announced she would be resigning from the Illinois State Senate effective January 31, 2021.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://capitolfax.com/2021/01/19/sen-steans-announces-resignation/|title=Cassidy will seek appointment *** Sen. Steans announces resignation|last=Miller|first=Rich|work=capitolfax.com|date=2021-01-19|access-date=2021-01-19|language=en}}</ref> Local Democratic leaders appointed Mike Simmons as her replacement.<ref>{{cite news|last=Miller|first=Rich|title=Mike Simmons appointed to replace former Sen. Heather Steans|newspaper=Capitol Fax|date=February 6, 2021|access-date=February 6, 2021|url=https://capitolfax.com/2021/02/06/mike-simmons-appointed-to-replace-former-sen-heather-steans/}}</ref>
===Committees=== *Appropriations I (Chairperson)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilga.gov/senate/Senator.asp?MemberID=2159|title=Illinois General Assembly – Senator Biography|website=ilga.gov}}</ref> *Environment and Conservation (Vice-Chairperson) *Appropriations II (Vice-Chairperson) *Human Services
==Elections== Steans' predecessor, Carol Ronen, announced her resignation on October 22, 2007. Ronen said the timing of her announcement was chosen "so that anyone who wishes to run for the office will be able to file petitions for the February 5th, 2008, primary election by the November 5th deadline." Only two individuals, Heather Steans and Suzanne Elder, were able to collect enough signatures to run in the special primary.<ref>Joravsky, Ben. [http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/forty-eighth-ward-follies/Content?oid=999675 "Forty-Eighth Ward Follies"], ''Chicago Reader'', November 15, 2007.</ref> Steans won the election with 63.26% of the vote.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.elections.il.gov/ElectionInformation/VoteTotalsList.aspx?ElectionType=GP&ElectionID=21&SearchType=OfficeSearch&OfficeID=4561&QueryType=Office& |title=Official election results |access-date=August 23, 2010 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303181439/http://www.elections.il.gov/ElectionInformation/VoteTotalsList.aspx?ElectionType=GP&ElectionID=21&SearchType=OfficeSearch&OfficeID=4561&QueryType=Office& |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In 2008, Steans won re-election when she received 55,457 votes, ahead of her opponent's 13,190 votes. In 2010, Steans received 83.69% of the voter in her re-election. Steans was unopposed in her 2012 and 2016 reelection campaigns.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Heather_Steans|title=Heather Steans|website=Ballotpedia}}</ref>
==Personal life== Steans and her husband, Leo, live in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood and have three children.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.equalityillinois.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/RELEASE_SteansWinsFreedomAward_1-30-13.pdf |title=Sterns wins Freedom Award |publisher=equalityillinois.us |year=2013 |access-date=February 18, 2020}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == *[http://my.ilga.gov/Member/Index/1947?tab=1&chamber=S Biography, bills and committees] at the 98th Illinois General Assembly **By session: [http://www.ilga.gov/senate/Senator.asp?GA=98&MemberID=1947 98th], [http://www.ilga.gov/senate/Senator.asp?GA=97&MemberID=1736 97th], [http://www.ilga.gov/senate/Senator.asp?GA=96&MemberID=1532 96th], [http://www.ilga.gov/senate/Senator.asp?GA=95&MemberID=1352 95th] *[http://www.senatorsteans.com Illinois State Senator Heather Steans] legislative website *[http://www.illinoissenatedemocrats.com/index.php/sen-steans-home Senator Heather Steans] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901102851/http://www.illinoissenatedemocrats.com/index.php/sen-steans-home |date=September 1, 2013 }} at Illinois Senate Democrats * {{CongLinks | congbio= | votesmart=101672 | fec= | congress= }}<!-- Links formerly displayed via the CongLinks template: * [http://ballotpedia.org/Heather_Steans Biography] at Ballotpedia * [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/uniquecandidate.phtml?uc=9244 Financial information (state office)] at the National Institute for Money in State Politics * --> *[http://www.steansfamilyfoundation.org/ Steans Family Foundation]
{{Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steans, Heather}} Category:1963 births Category:Princeton University alumni Category:Harvard Kennedy School alumni Category:Democratic Party Illinois state senators Category:Living people Category:Politicians from Chicago Category:Women state legislators in Illinois Category:People from Lake Forest, Illinois Category:21st-century American women politicians Category:21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly