Graciela’s governance as your 20th District senator is grounded in the belief that “none of us are free until all of us are free.” In collaboration and open dialogue with her community members, she has led a variety of legislative measures that are all rooted in this concept-fighting for equality for all of her neighbors, in areas like housing, health care, disability justice, and more. Read on to hear more about the initiatives Graciela has passed in past legislative sessions. You can also visit the Illinois General Assembly website to learn more about the legislature, here to see the Senate schedule, including upcoming committee hearings and votes, and here to see how a bill becomes a law.

104th General Assembly (2025 - 2026)

• Senate Bill 0453 — Expands protections for workers to collectively bargain
• Senate Bill 1261 — Offers more flexibility for buyers to pay their mortgage for properties on Community Land Trusts
• Senate Bill 1859 — Creates a Climate Displacement Task Force to develop recommendations for supporting those displaced by climate change
• Senate Bill 2201 — Collects data from the Illinois Department of Corrections facilities on how contraband enters facilities to establish more effective and fair methods to prevent overdose
• House Bill 1631 — Improving inter-agency collaboration and efficiency by clarifying scope of Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT)
• House Bill 2418 — Develops a commission on youth sports to ensure that all young people have access to equitable youth sports programs
• House Bill 2574 — Consolidates information on current state standardized tests for teachers to utilize more easily and efficiently
• House Bill 3026 — Adopts task force recommendations to encourage more schools to adopt dual language programs
• House Bill 3248 — Expands health care coverage to include medically necessary laser hair removal procedures
• House Bill 3616 — Collects data on which communities in Illinois lack affordable housing for working families

WELCOMING CENTERS
What is a Welcoming Center?

The Illinois Welcoming Centers (IWC) are a network of 34 full-service locations across the state, offering free, comprehensive support services to all immigrants and refugees in Illinois—regardless of immigration status.

What to Expect:
• Personalized case management and support in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner.
• Assistance accessing benefits and services from state, federal, and local social service agencies.
• Development of Community Alliances to improve service coordination and strengthen local support networks.
• Community education workshops to empower and inform immigrant and refugee communities.

List of welcoming centers: IDHS: Illinois Welcoming Center (IWC)

Register for our monthly town halls here.

Our next meeting is April 28th at 7 p.m. via Zoom.

Graciela Guzmán (she/her/ella) serves as the state senator for District 20 and as an organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union. Before becoming state senator, she served as chief of staff for Senator Cristina Pacione-Zayas and political director for her and Senator Omar Aquino.

Her passion for health care, community, and helping others is derived from her family’s early experiences immigrating to the United States from El Salvador to escape the Salvadoran Civil War. She graduated from Grinnell College in 2011 with a degree in anthropology and serves on their Board of Trustees.

Graciela has organized policy campaigns around health care, child welfare, economic justice and immigration. As campaign director for the Healthy Illinois campaign, Graciela secured a key victory by making Illinois the first state in the nation to expand health care to low-income adults age 55 and older regardless of their immigration status. At the height of the pandemic, she helped form the Belmont Cragin Mutual Aid and Northwest Mutual Aid hub to serve families in Belmont Cragin, Hermosa, Belmont Gardens, Logan Square, Irving Park, and Portage Park.