John Cullerton
| John Cullerton | |
|---|---|
 |
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| President of the Illinois Senate | |
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Assumed office January 14, 2009 |
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| Preceded by | Emil Jones |
| Member of the Illinois Senate from the 6th district |
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Assumed office January 31, 1991 |
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| Preceded by | Dawn Clark Netsch |
| Member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 7th district 12th district (1979-1983) |
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In office January 10, 1979 – January 31, 1991 |
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| Preceded by | Ellis B. Levin |
| Succeeded by | Ann Stepan |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
October 28, 1948 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Pam Cullerton |
| Children | Five |
| Alma mater | Loyola University Chicago |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army
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| Years of service | 1970–1976 |
| Unit | Illinois National Guard |
John J. Cullerton (born October 28, 1948) is an American politician who is currently a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 6th district since his appointment in 1991. He was elected President of the Illinois Senate in 2009.
Cullerton is a native of Chicago. He received his bachelor's degree in political science from Loyola University of Chicago, where he also earned his law degree. After graduating from law school, Cullerton served as a Chicago Assistant Public Defender. He went on to work at the law firm of Fagel and Haber.
In 1979, he was elected to the Illinois General Assembly where he served for twelve years as a member of the House of Representatives. He served as Democratic Floor Leader. According to Cullerton's campaign website, he sponsored the most bills and had the most bills passed of all legislators in the 93rd and 94th General Assemblies.
After being appointed to fill Dawn Clark Netsch's seat in 1991, Cullerton was elected to the state senate in 1992 where he was appointed Senate Majority Caucus Whip. Cullerton has been recognized for sponsoring more bills than any other legislator and having more signed into law by the governor.
Cullerton was chosen as the senate president by the Senate Democratic Caucus on November 19, 2008 to begin serving in 2009, replacing the retiring Emil Jones.
His first legislative priority as senate president was to pass the first Capital Bill in 10 years, which allocated roughly $31 billion for public works projects and created tens of thousands of jobs in Illinois Public Act 096-0036 [1]. Cullerton led the senate during the impeachment trial, and subsequent removal, of former Governor Rod Blagojevich.
Cullerton served as a delegate to the 2012 Democratic National Convention.
Senator Cullerton supported SB-1; a plan that amended state employee pension plans by drastically reducing the constitutionally protected benefits of Illinois state employees in retirement. The Illinois Supreme Court ultimately found these legislative changes to be unconstitutional.
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Wikipedia