Tom Cullerton
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Tom Cullerton was a member of 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 ...
representing the 23rd district from 2013 to 2022. The 23rd district spans northern
DuPage County DuPage County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, and one of the collar counties of the Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 932,877, making it Illinois' second-most populous county. Its county seat is ...
and includes all or parts of
Addison Addison may refer to: Places Canada * Addison, Ontario United States *Addison, Alabama *Addison, Illinois *Addison Street in Chicago, Illinois which runs by Wrigley Field * Addison, Kentucky *Addison, Maine *Addison, Michigan *Addison, New York ...
, Bloomingdale, Bartlett, Carol Stream, Glendale Heights, Hanover Park, Itasca, Roselle,
Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...
,
West Chicago West Chicago is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 27,086 at the 2010 census. It was formerly named Junction and later Turner, after its founder, John B. Turner, president of the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad ...
, Wayne, Wood Dale and
Medinah Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
. Prior to his service in 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 ...
he was the Village President of Villa Park from 2009 to 2013 and served one term as a village trustee from 2005 to 2009.


Early and personal life

After graduating high school from
Loyola Academy Loyola Academy is a private, Catholic, co-educational college preparatory high school run by the USA Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus in Wilmette, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, and in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago ...
Cullerton went to the
University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
. In 1990 Cullerton enlisted in the
US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
and served as an 11H TOW Gunner until being honorably discharged in 1993. After moving to DuPage County, Cullerton decided to become active in the community. He formed and served as a captain a local
neighborhood watch A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch (see spelling differences), also called a crime watch or neighbourhood crime watch, is an organized group of civilians devoted to crime and vandalism prevention within a neighborhood. The aim of neig ...
. He also became a member of the
Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...
, the
American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...
, and coaches little league with his team winning the 2011 Farm League World Series. He is married to his wife, Stacey, and they have three sons. A distant cousin,
John Cullerton John J. Cullerton (born October 28, 1948) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 6th district from his appointment in 1991 to 2020. He served as President of the Illinois Senate from ...
, served as
President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...
.


Village President of Villa Park

In 2005 Tom Cullerton was elected a trustee for Villa Park. He served one term before defeating incumbent Joyce Stupegia in a three-way race to become Village President in 2009. While in office he was an active member of the DuPage Mayors & Managers Conference and the Metropolitan Mayors. While Village President, the other mayors from municipalities in DuPage County Board District 2 elected him to serve as their representative on the DuPage Water Commission. Later that year, Cullerton was recognized by the
Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...
for reducing the village's carbon footprint via Cool Cities. In the 2013 municipal elections, Cullerton was succeeded as Village President by Deb Bullwinkle.


Illinois Senate


Election

In November 2011 Tom Cullerton announced his candidacy for state senate in the newly redrawn 23rd district. In the March 2012 primary he won the Democratic nomination defeating two perennial candidates. In the general election he faced incumbent State Senator
Carole Pankau Carole Pankau is a former Republican Illinois State Senator, representing the 23rd district from 2005 to 2013. Pankau previously served as State Representative from 1993 to 2005. Early life Pankau earned a B.S. in accounting from the Universit ...
, the winner of the Republican nomination against State Representative Randy Ramey. Cullerton was endorsed by the Illinois AFL–CIO, Personal PAC, Planned Parenthood, Equality Illinois and the Illinois Sierra Club. Tom Cullerton won the general election defeating 20 year Springfield incumbent Senator Pankau by a margin of a little over 2,000 votes to become the first Democratic member of the Illinois Senate from DuPage County.


Tenure

Senator Cullerton was first sworn in to represent the 23rd district on January 9, 2013. At the beginning of the General Assembly, Senator Cullerton joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers who turned down a pension as part of the effort to fix the state's pension system. In January 2013, Senator Cullerton proposed his first bill which would allow county boards to more easily reduce crime in residential areas by adopting crime free rental housing ordinances.


Government consolidation

In 2012, DuPage County performed a review that found a variety of small units of government that provide mosquito abatement, sanitary and street lighting services cost taxpayers $300 million annually. These districts included small entities such as the one square mile Century Hill Street Lighting District whose board members had wanted to dissolve the district, but were unable to. In response, Cullerton introduced SB 494 as a pilot program to allow for consolidation of these types of government bodies. The bill would allow the DuPage County Board to pass ordinances to dissolve thirteen small units of government after an audit issued by the County Board Chair was completed. The dissolution of a district could to be overturned via
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
by voters in that district. The bill’s cosponsors included suburban legislators and it was supported by Republican County Board Chair
Dan Cronin Daniel J. Cronin (born November 7, 1959) is an American politician and attorney who served as county board chairman of DuPage County, Illinois from December 2010 until December 2022. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the ...
. On April 25, the bill was passed unanimously in the Illinois Senate and on May 6, its house counterpart sponsored by
Deb Conroy Deborah "Deb" O'Keefe Conroy is an American politician currently serving as chair of the county board of DuPage County, Illinois. She previously served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 46th district from 201 ...
passed 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 ...
with 108 yes votes. The bill was signed into law by Pat Quinn in August. Since then, DuPage County has been able to pass an ordinance to dissolve the Fairview Fire Protection District. In 2015, Representative Jack Franks a co-sponsor of SB 494 proposed legislation to give McHenry and
Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
counties the same ability to consolidate small, special purpose districts.


Education

Concerned that Illinois had some of the weakest civic education programs in the country, Cullerton and State Representative
Deb Conroy Deborah "Deb" O'Keefe Conroy is an American politician currently serving as chair of the county board of DuPage County, Illinois. She previously served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 46th district from 201 ...
proposed the creation of the Task Force on Civic Education. The commission recommended Illinois establish a requirement for a civics course as a part of a broader revision of the state's social studies standards, that the state establish a project-based and/or service learning requirement, student involvement in elections and professional development for teachers who teach civics. After the task force released its findings, Cullerton introduced a bill which would put the task force's recommendations into place. The bill passed the Senate with 46 votes and passed the House with 81 votes. The
McCormick Foundation McCormick Foundation is a Chicago-based nonprofit charitable trust established in 1955, following the death of "Colonel" Robert R. McCormick of the McCormick family. , it had more than US$1 billion in assets. History In 1911, McCormick became the e ...
and other non-profit organizations pledged $3 million to cover the costs of civics education training for teachers in poorer school districts. The bill was signed into law by
Bruce Rauner Bruce Vincent Rauner (; born February 18, 1956) is an American businessman, philanthropist, and politician who served as the 42nd governor of Illinois from 2015 to 2019. Prior to his election, he was the chairman of R8 Capital Partners and chai ...
on August 21, 2015 to take effect during the 2016–2017 school year. Citing the rising costs associated with a college education, Cullerton served as the co-sponsor of a bill that would allow students who achieve at least a 3 on an AP test to receive post-secondary level course credit at public colleges and universities. This would make Illinois competitive with neighboring states who have that policy. The colleges themselves would be allowed to decide the number of credits granted for a particular score.


Anti-heroin legislation

DuPage County, the bulk of Cullerton’s district, has seen an increase in heroin use in the county. This was accompanied by an epidemic of overdoses and at one point the county was averaging one overdose death per week. In 2014, DuPage County began to train officers in the use of
Narcan Naloxone, sold under the brand names Narcan (4 mg) and Kloxxado (8 mg) among others, is a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids. It is commonly used to counter decreased breathing in opioid overdose. Effects begin within ...
, a medication that reverses the effect of opioids like heroin in overdoses. Since the start of the program, twenty five overdose deaths have been prevented through the use of Narcan by first responders. In 2015, Cullerton served as Chief Co-sponsor of SB 10 which would amend the Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse and Dependency Act to allow local law enforcement to the list of entities that may apply for grants to create or support local drug overdose prevention, recognition, and response projects including grants for training in the use of narcan to stop overdoses. In September, Cullerton voted to override Bruce Rauner's veto of the Heroin Crisis Act.


Crowdfunding

Cullerton served as the Chief Senate Sponsor for HB 3429. HB 3429 would create an intrastate exemption for crowdfunding. Under the bill nonaccredited investors who meet certain income criteria would be able to invest $5,000 per company per year. The bill was signed into law by Governor Rauner on July 29, 2015 to take effect January 1, 2016.


Veterans affairs

In 2014, citing an increase in suicide among U.S. military veterans Cullerton sponsored legislation to create the Illinois Veteran Suicide Task Force. The task force is charged with investigating the causes of veteran suicide and forming policy recommendations for the
Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...
to act on. Cullerton, a veteran of the United States Army, was appointed to the task force. In 2018, Cullerton was appointed to
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
-elect J.B. Pritzker's transition committee on Veterans Affairs.


Committee assignments

During the 100th General Assembly, Cullerton is assigned to the following committees: Agriculture; Committee of the Whole; Higher Education; Labor; State Government (Vice-Chairperson); Telecommunications & InfoTechnology; Veterans Affairs (Chairperson); Pub. High. Ed. Adm. Cost. Tui. Fees; Sub. on Compensation and Benefits. In the 99th General Assembly, Cullerton was a member of the following committees: Appropriations II, Labor, State Government & Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Energy and Public Utilities and the
Committee of the Whole A committee of the whole is a meeting of a legislative or deliberative assembly using procedural rules that are based on those of a committee, except that in this case the committee includes all members of the assembly. As with other (standing) c ...
. He also served as Vice-Chairperson of the Local Government committee.


Embezzlement charges

On August 2, 2019, Cullerton was indicted by federal authorities on one count of conspiracy to embezzle from a labor union and 39 counts of embezzlement from a labor union. Cullerton is a member of the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the un ...
. Shortly after his election, Cullerton was hired by union official John T. Coli as a labor organizer for Teamsters Joint Council 25, a position which, according to the indictment, allowed him to collect a full salary and benefits despite performing little or no work for the union. Cullerton resigned his seat in the Illinois Senate on February 23, 2022, the same day he announced his intent to plead guilty to his embezzlement charges. In June 2022, Cullterton was sentenced to 14 months in prison for embezzlement.


Electoral history

On November 8, 2016, Cullerton won re-election against Republican Seth Lewis.


See also

*
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 ...
*
Illinois Senate elections, 2012 The Illinois State Senate Election of 2012 was held on November 6th, 2012. Elections were held in all 59 senate seats because the election followed a redistricting of the state's legislative districts. List of candidates District 1 :March 3 ...


References


External links


Biography, bills and committees
at the 99th Illinois General Assembly **By session
99th98thState Senator Tom Cullerton
constituency site *
Senator Thomas Cullerton
at Illinois Senate Democrats {{DEFAULTSORT:Cullerton, Tom 1969 births Living people 21st-century American politicians Illinois city council members Democratic Party Illinois state senators Mayors of places in Illinois People from Evanston, Illinois People from Villa Park, Illinois United States Army soldiers University of Kansas alumni Illinois politicians convicted of crimes