Appointment and elections
On February 6,2021,Simmons was appointed to the Illinois Senate,succeeding retiring incumbent Heather Steans. [3] The appointment was made by elected committeepeople of the Cook County Democratic Party representing the wards and townships covered by the 7th district. State Representative Kelly Cassidy was reported as the frontrunner for the appointment soon after Steans announced her retirement. [10] [11] However,Simmons secured the position after earning the support of 48th ward alderman Harry Osterman (who held the largest weighted share of the votes in the appointment process) and three other committeepeople. [1] [3] He is the first Ethiopian American and openly gay member of the Illinois State Senate. [6]
Simmons won re-election to the seat in the 2022 and 2024 elections,running unopposed both times.
Tenure
In 2021,Simmons introduced a bill to address hair discrimination in schools that would prohibit schools from applying uniform or dress code policies to hairstyles,with the goal of prohibiting discrimination faced especially by African American students for traditional hairstyles such as dreadlocks,cornrows,and braids. [12] [13] The bill was named the Jett Hawkins Act,after a 4-year-old child who was told to remove his braids by school administrators. [14] The bill was passed later that year and signed into law by Governor JB Pritzker at Uplift Community High School,located in Simmons' district. [15]
Since 2021,Simmons has advocated for a permanent state-level child tax credit. [16] In 2023,he sponsored a bill that would provide a credit of $700 per child under age 17. [17] [18] [19] He pointed to the impact of the federal American Rescue Plan Act's temporary child tax credit expansion on reducing child poverty,and argued that Illinois could continue those reductions through a permanent state version. [20] Governor Pritzker's budget proposal in 2024 allocated $12 million for a more modest child tax credit applying to children under age 3. [18] The final budget passed by the General Assembly allocated $150 million for a credit of up to $300 per child under age 12. [21] [22]
In 2023,as part of the budget for the next fiscal year,Simmons secured $2.5 million in funding for $10,000 micro-grants for small businesses facing financial hardships in the 7th district. [23] [24] The grants were allocated to 225 small businesses in 2024. [25]
Simmons has advocated for public transit improvements and access in Chicago. In 2023,he was the chief sponsor of enacted legislation to accelerate the adoption of electric buses and offer reduced fares for survivors of domestic violence and participants in youth jobs programs. [26] In 2024,after the announcement of plans for overhauling the northernmost part of Lake Shore Drive,he criticized the plan for being "incremental" in its changes to facilitate express bus travel. [27] In 2025,he sponsored a bill to provide free transit for low-income individuals. [28] During the debate over the "fiscal cliff" facing the Regional Transportation Authority in 2025,he supported a proposal to create an integrated regional transit system. [29]
Simmons supports transgender rights and supports providing gender affirming care to youth that identify as transgender. He introduced the Gender Affirming Healthcare Protection Act on November 22,2022. [30] [31]
Simmons supports gun control and describes himself as aggressively supporting gun control legislation,and says that he strongly supports a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines at the state and federal level. [32]
