Glowiak Hilton, Senate Minority Leader Curran working to improve life for Illinoisans
Two state senators represent Hinsdale residents in Springfield. Democrat Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton, who was elected in 2018, represents the 23rd Senate District, which includes the north and western sections of Hinsdale. Republican Sen. John Curran was elected in 2017 and has been serving as Senate minority leader since 2023. He represents the 41st Senate District serving the southeastern part the village.
Both spoke with The Hinsdalean recently, reflecting on legislative accomplishments of 2024 and looking ahead to 2025.
Glowiak Hilton pointed to a new law she sponsored that has made life easier for anyone who needs to obtain a professional license.
“I’m really excited that we were able to streamline and update our licensing procedures,” she said. “It’s really dry and dull but is really important to my constituents to be able to easily and quickly renew their licenses.”
In the past, when people called to inquire about the status of their license application, someone would go down to the mail room and look through envelopes, Glowiak Hilton said. Converting to an electronic process was necessary but took some time, she said.
“We made the appropriation for that software probably two years ago,” she said “We were finally able to get the procurement done. There’s a lot of red tape involved.”
Looking ahead to 2025, as a member of the transportation committee, she will be involved in work to change the governance structure of the RTA Board and dealing with revenue shortfalls related to the drop in ridership since the pandemic.
“We want it to be equitable toward DuPage,” she said. “We don’t want to have to diminish service. We don’t want to have to raise the fares, but we’re going to have to look at what we need to do to make it better.”
She said she is concerned President Donald Trump’s administration will diminish citizen’s rights, especially for women, members of the LGBTQ community and legal immigrants.
“We don’t want to lose any rights that we fought so hard to bring to the people of Illinois,” she said.
Sen. John Curran
Curran said he is most excited about legislation that lowered the cost of living for families, including bringing down the cap on epinephrine costs and lowering the cost of generic drugs.
“The No. 1 issue we saw in the (November) election, and it’s been that way for a while, is inflation, and families are really feeling the squeeze,” he said.
Reducing burdens and barriers related to child care, especially for moms re-entering the work force, was another legislative priority.
“We have a lot of child care deserts,” Curran said. “Twenty-four hour child care, having that kind of service available and having it available at a cost that is not a barrier, is incredibly important.”
Curran, a Downers Grove resident and former DuPage County Board member, also pointed to the increasing number of carjackings and vehicle thefts.
“I’m working with police chiefs on legislation to try to give law enforcement better tools to combat this rising epidemic,” he said.
The election produced a clear winner in President Donald Trump and a mandate to address the cost of living and safety and security, Curran said. He encouraged everyone to stay focused.
“I think a lot of the political theater, people can get caught up in it,” he said. “What we need to do is focus on policy and strong lines of communication. My hope is that Illinois — particularly Gov. (JB) Pritzker — is going to focus on policy and working with the federal administration, because there is no win for Illinois if we’re not working with the federal administration, whether it’s a Democrat or Republican in the White House and whether it’s a Democrat or Republican in the governor’s mansion.
“We have to make government work for all Illinoisans.”
