Barbara Flynn Currie

Barbara Flynn Currie (born May 3, 1940) was a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1979 to 2019. She served as the Majority Leader from 1997 to 2019. Flynn Currie's forty years as a member of the Illinois General Assembly is the longest tenure of any woman to serve in the Illinois General Assembly.[1]

Barbara Flynn Currie
Majority Leader of the Illinois House of Representatives
In office
January 8, 1997 – January 9, 2019
Preceded byBob Churchill
Succeeded byGreg Harris
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives
In office
January 1979 – January 2019
Preceded byLewis A. H. Caldwell
Succeeded byCurtis Tarver
Constituency24th district (1979–1983)
26th district (1983–1993)
25th district (1993–2019)
Personal details
Born (1940-05-03) May 3, 1940
La Crosse, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)David Currie
EducationUniversity of Chicago (BA, MA)

Personal life and education

Barbara attended the University of Chicago Lab School, graduating in 1958. She received a BA from the University of Chicago in 1968 and a master's degree in political science in 1973.[2] She is the widow of the legal scholar David P. Currie. She is a member of the Chicago League of Women Voters, the Illinois Women's Institute for Leadership, Women United for South Shore, and the Board of the ACLU of Illinois.

Political career

Currie was first elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1978, and assumed office in January 1979. She represented the Districts in Chicago which included the communities of Woodlawn, South Shore, Hyde Park, and Kenwood. Currie served as majority leader of the Illinois House of Representatives, a role from 1997 to 2019.[3] On September 14, 2017, she announced she would not stand for reelection in 2018.[4]

Impeachment of Rod Blagojevich

In December 2008, following the arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, Currie was named by Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan as the chairperson of the Illinois House committee to investigate Governor Blagojevich for possible impeachment as a result of federal corruption charges against him.[5] Blagojevich was subsequently impeached by the House and removed from office by the Illinois Senate.

Hyde Park 2006 Independence Day parade (left to right starting at center in light green): Chicago City Council Alderman Toni Preckwinkle as the Statue of Liberty, Currie as Uncle Sam, and Alderman Leslie Hairston as Betsy Ross

Burris controversy

In February 2009, Currie was caught in a follow-on controversy over the impeachment testimony of Roland Burris. Burris had been named by Blagojevich to fill President Barack Obama's Senate seat, after the emergence of the corruption charges against Blagojevich but before Blagojevich's removal from office. Burris had neglected to mention fund-raising contacts by Blagojevich's brother, Robert, in his testimony, but then filed an affidavit with Currie, listing three such contacts, shortly after February 5, 2009.[6]

Word of the new information did not reach the public, or the Republicans in the House, until its release in the Chicago Sun-Times on February 13, leading to questions of Currie and the Democrats by Republicans including ranking impeachment committee member Jim Durkin and House party leader Tom Cross.[6]

State employee pensions

Currie supported SB-1, a plan that amended state employee pension plans to reduce the benefits of Illinois state employees in retirement.[7] The Illinois Supreme Court ultimately found these legislative changes to be unconstitutional.[8]

References
  1. Musser, Ashley; Dutton, Julie (February 11, 2016). "Illinois Women in Congress and General Assembly" (PDF). Springfield, Illinois: Illinois Legislative Research Unit. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  2. Flynn Currie, Barbara. "State Representative". University of Chicago Alumni Directory.
  3. Buchman, Cassie (February 26, 2019). "Barbara Flynn Currie to get first Woman Legislator of the Year award". The State Journal-Register. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  4. Miller, Rich (September 14, 2017). "Leader Currie to retire at end of term". Capitol Fax. Archived from the original on 2017-09-15. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  5. Sweet, Lynn (2008-12-15). "Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, Majority leader Barbara Flynn Currie on Blagojevich impeachment. Transcript". Chicago Sun-Times. Sun-Times News Group. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
  6. Monica Davey, "Burris Defends His Evolving Description of Talks" The New York Times, p. A9, February 16, 2009; accessed December 11, 2014.
  7. http://votesmart.org/bill/votes/46516
  8. http://www.Chicago Archived 2013-07-28 at the Wayback Machine tribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-illinois-pension-law-court-ruling-2015050
Illinois House of Representatives
Preceded by
Bob Churchill		 Majority Leader of the Illinois House of Representatives
1997–2019		 Succeeded by
Greg Harris
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