Barbara Flynn Currie (born May 3, 1940) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

from 1979 to 2019. She served as the Majority Leader from 1997 to 2019. Flynn Currie's forty years as a member of the Illinois General Assembly is the longest tenure of any woman to serve in the Illinois General Assembly.

Personal life and education

Barbara Flynn grew up in the

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

neighborhood of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Her father, Frank Flynn, taught at the

University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration The Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice, formerly called the School of Social Service Administration (SSA), is the school of social work at the University of Chicago. History The school was founded in 1903 by minister and so ...

. She graduated from the

University of Chicago Laboratory Schools The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools (also known as Lab or Lab Schools and abbreviated as UCLS though the high school is nicknamed U-High) is a Private school, private, co-educational Day school, day Early childhood education, Pre-K and K� ...

in 1958, and enrolled at the

College of the University of Chicago The College of the University of Chicago is the university's sole undergraduate institution and one of its oldest components, emerging contemporaneously with the university's Hyde Park campus in 1892. Instruction is provided by faculty from acros ...

in the same year. She left the university in 1959 and married

David P. Currie David P. Currie (1936–2007) was the Edward H. Levi Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School, noted for his histories of the Constitution in Congress and the Supreme Court, his casebooks on federal courts and conf ...

. David, a native of

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

, had graduated from the college in 1957, and soon enrolled at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

. As David was a law student and held jobs as a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

, the Curries lived outside Chicago until 1962, when David became an instructor at the

University of Chicago Law School The University of Chicago Law School is the law school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is consistently ranked among the best and most prestigious law schools in the world, and has many dist ...

. The Curries had two children: Stephen and Margaret. Currie slowly finished her undergraduate degree at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, balancing her studies with caring for her children. She graduated from the college in 1968, followed by a master's degree in political science from the same university in 1973. She was politically active, working on the campaign for Michael Shakman, a Chicago-based attorney and activist who ran for delegate to the state's 1970 constitutional convention. Currie is a member of the Chicago League of Women Voters, the Illinois Women's Institute for Leadership, Women United for South Shore, and the Board of the ACLU of Illinois.

House of Representatives

Currie was elected to the

in 1978. She ran in the 24th district, where incumbent Robert E. Mann had announced his retirement. At the time, women comprised only 13% of the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

. In 1997, Currie became the

majority leader of the Illinois House of Representatives The office of Majority Leader of the Illinois House of Representatives, usually in practice called the Illinois House Majority Leader, is a statutory office of the Illinois House of Representatives. Duties of office The Illinois House Majority Lea ...

, the first woman to hold that position. On September 14, 2017, she announced she would not stand for reelection in 2018.

Political positions

Currie co-sponsored bills that established the Illinois

earned income tax credit The United States federal earned income tax credit or earned income credit (EITC or EIC) is a refundable tax credit for low- to moderate-income working individuals and couples, particularly those with children. The amount of EITC benefit depends ...

, repealed

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

, and legalized

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

Impeachment of Rod Blagojevich

In December 2008, following the arrest of Illinois Governor

Rod Blagojevich Rod Blagojevich ( , born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nicknames "Blago" or "B-Rod", is an American former politician, political commentator, and convicted felon who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009, when ...

, Currie was named by Illinois House Speaker

Michael Madigan Michael Joseph Madigan (born April 19, 1942) is an American politician who is the former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. He was the longest-serving leader of any state or federal legislative body in the history of the United Sta ...

as the chairperson of the Illinois House committee to investigate Governor Blagojevich for possible impeachment as a result of federal corruption charges against him. Blagojevich was subsequently impeached by the House and removed from office by the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state, State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adop ...

Later career

WBEZ WBEZ (91.5 FM) – branded ''WBEZ 91.5'' – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, and primarily serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Financed by corporate underwriting, government funding and lis ...

reported that in December 2018, Currie appeared at the top of a "clout list" from an aide to House Speaker

, who had recommended several people to fill roles in the administration of newly elected governor

J. B. Pritzker Jay Robert "J. B." Pritzker (born January 19, 1965) is an American billionaire businessman, philanthropist, and politician serving as the List of governors of Illinois, 43rd governor of Illinois since 2019. A member of the wealthy Pritzker fami ...

. In April 2019, Pritzker appointed Currie to the

Illinois Pollution Control Board The Illinois Pollution Control Board (PCB) is a State of Illinois governing panel that is staffed in the state capital of Springfield, Illinois. Its duty is to development environmental rules and standards for Illinois, adjudicate complaints allegi ...

. Her husband, David, had created the board 50 years before her appointment, and served as its first chairman. She also served as the board's chairman, earning an annual salary of nearly $124,000. Currie knew that Madigan had recommended her. However, she denied his clout had played a role, instead pointing to her legislative track record and interactions with the governor.

References

External links

Biography, bills and committees
at the 98th Illinois General Assembly **Previous sessions
97th96th95th94th93rdState Representative Barbara Flynn Currie
constituency site *
Profile
at OurCampaigns.com
Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie
at Illinois House Democrats , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Currie, Barbara Flynn 1940 births 2000 United States presidential electors 2004 United States presidential electors 2008 United States presidential electors 2016 United States presidential electors 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Living people Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Politicians from Chicago Politicians from La Crosse, Wisconsin Women state legislators in Illinois