BIOGRAPHY: STATE REP. SUZIE BASSI, 54^TH DISTRICT

Rep. Bassi is in her sixth term as State Representative of the 54^th District, having first been elected in November 1998. To date, many of the bills that she has actively worked on have been signed into law, including charter school legislation, additional protection for kids in schools, anti-pollution acts, protection for victims of domestic violence, increased benefits for senior citizens, and improvements in mass transit.

Her other legislative accomplishments include: school violence prevention; crackdown on gun violence; increased penalties for sex offenders and drug users, specifically targeting “club drugs” such as Ecstasy; increased funding for local schools; expanded pharmaceutical coverage under the Circuit Breaker/IL Rx programs; and stricter permit and inspection regulations for carnival and amusement rides.

Rep. Bassi currently serves on six House committees: Elementary & Secondary Education, Infrastructure (Minority Spokesperson), Appropriations-Elementary & Secondary Education (Minority Spokesperson), Mass Transit, Revenue and Finance and State Government Administration. She is also an active member of COWL (Conference of Women Legislators) and a member of the Task Force on Alzheimer’s, the Task Force on Re-Enrolling Students Who Dropped Out of School, and the Task Force on Autism.

Rep. Bassi was one of nine Republicans who served on the 21-member House Special Investigative Committee to impeach Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Since her election in 1998, Rep. Bassi has received many awards, including Legislator of the Year from the Suburban Area Agency on Aging, as well as the Champion of Free Enterprise from the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and the Friend of Agriculture by the Illinois Farm Bureau.

In addition to her regular legislative duties, Rep. Bassi served during her freshman year as a member of the U.S. Trade Mission to the Republic of South Africa, where she participated in the opening of the new Illinois Trade Office in Johannesburg. The purpose of this mission was to help Illinois businesses develop new trading relationships and business agreements in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent.

Following her first term in office, she was awarded a fellowship to the Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development.