For Immediate Release
Jan. 13, 2025
Speaker Welch Announces Committee Chairs for New Session
Bipartisan Slate Includes Republican Veteran to Lead VA Committee
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch announced a bipartisan slate of veteran policy experts and new leaders to chair House committees in the coming legislative session, including selecting the first Republican to chair a committee in more than a decade.
“Enacting policies that help families make ends meet, protect and expand the rights of working people, and create opportunity for a bright future takes careful review, deliberation, and thoughtful discussion—and that’s the work that needs to be happening every day in our committees,” Welch said. “The chairs I have selected bring invaluable legislative knowledge, firsthand experience at the critical junctures where policy is implemented on the community level, an abiding sense of compassion, and a deep appreciation for the importance of the work we’re doing on behalf of Illinois families.”
In addition to selecting subject matter experts with years of experience from his own caucus, Welch tapped Republican Representative and 27-year United States Army veteran Dan Swanson to lead the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
“As a veteran, Representative Swanson has served our country with honor and distinction, and I know he will bring the same solemn sense of duty to leading a bipartisan Veterans Affairs Committee,” Welch said. “Every committee unites people of different backgrounds and perspectives in order to achieve a common goal. Whether that goal is serving our veterans, supporting our students and educators, improving our workplaces, or protecting the dignity of everyone who calls Illinois home, the work before us is clear and we all must be ready to talk, to compromise, and to do that work together.”
The full list of House committee chairs is:
| Committee | Chair |
| Adoption & Child Welfare | Suzanne M. Ness |
| Agriculture & Conservation | Sonya M. Harper |
| Appropriations: Elementary & Secondary Education | William ‘Will’ Davis |
| Appropriations: Health & Human Services | Anna Moeller |
| Appropriations: General Services | Fred Crespo |
| Appropriations: Higher Education | La Shawn K. Ford |
| Appropriations: Personnel & Pensions | Stephanie A. Kifowit |
| Appropriations: Public Safety & Infrastructure | Rita Mayfield |
| Childcare Access & Early Childhood Education | Joyce Mason |
| Cities & Villages | Anthony DeLuca |
| Consumer Protection | Debbie Meyers-Martin |
| Counties & Townships | Aaron Ortiz |
| Cyber Security | Edgar Gonzalez, Jr. |
| Economic Opportunity | Will Guzzardi |
| Education Policy Committee | Michelle Mussman |
| Elementary & Secondary Education: Licensing & Charter Schools | Sue Scherer |
| Energy & Environment | Carol Ammons |
| Ethics & Elections | Maurice A. West, II |
| Executive | Ann M. Williams |
| Financial Institutions | Margaret Croke |
| Gaming | Daniel Didech |
| Gun Violence Prevention | Maura Hirschauer |
| Healthcare Access & Availability | Natalie A. Manley |
| Healthcare Licenses | Bob Morgan |
| Higher Education | Katie Stuart |
| Housing | Lilian Jimenez |
| Human Services | Terra Costa Howard |
| Immigration & Human Rights | Barbara Hernandez |
| Insurance | Thaddeus Jones |
| International Relations, Tourism, & Trade | Dave Vella |
| Judiciary-Civil | Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz |
| Judiciary-Criminal | Justin Slaughter |
| Labor & Commerce | Marcus C. Evans, Jr. |
| Mental Health & Addiction | Lindsey LaPointe |
| Museums, Arts, & Culture | Kimberly Du Buclet |
| Personnel & Pensions | Janet Yang Rohr |
| Police & Fire | Michael J. Kelly |
| Prescription Drug Affordability | Jawaharial Williams |
| Public Health | Anne Stava-Murray |
| Public Utilities | Lawrence ‘Larry’ Walsh, Jr. |
| Restorative Justice & Public Safety | Kelly M. Cassidy |
| Revenue & Finance | Curtis J. Tarver II |
| Rules | Robyn Gabel |
| Small Business, Tech Innovation, & Entrepreneurship | Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar |
| State Government Administration | Diane Blair-Sherlock |
| Transportation: Regulations, Roads, & Bridges | Martin J. Moylan |
| Transportation: Vehicles & Safety | Jaime M. Andrade, Jr. |
| Veterans Affairs | Dan Swanson |
The Appropriations: Personnel & Pensions Committee was created this year in the House Rules. In consultation with members, Speaker Welch has agreed to create a new Gun Violence Prevention Committee; an International Relations, Tourism, & Trade Committee; and a Museums, Arts, & Culture Committee.
In order to better reflect their purviews, the Elementary & Secondary Education: Curriculum & Policy Committee will be renamed as the Education Policy Committee, and the Restorative Justice Committee will be renamed as the Restorative Justice & Public Safety Committee.
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