Letter: Ellman has stood up for Illinois

I have been fortunate to be represented by Democratic Sen. Laura Ellman in the Illinois State Senate, 21st District, since her election in 2018. As she runs again for her second term in the General Election in November, I wanted to highlight some of the many ways she has stood for all of her constituents in the state and worked to make Illinois an even better place to live.

First and foremost, Sen. Ellman is accessible and responsive. Her local office and her attendance at thousands of events throughout the district and the state demonstrate her commitment to knowing and understanding her constituents and working to represent their needs. She truly knows that there are real bread and butter issues that are paramount to families in her district and unless she is responsive and advocating for those issues, sometimes bigger issues won't matter to individual families. One such example is the Property Tax Senior Homestead bill that became law, which renews the senior homestead property tax exemption for our seniors, without forcing them to reapply annually.

Secondly, Sen. Ellman acts when her constituents bring a real issue or idea to her. Because of concerns from her constituents, she introduced bills that now are laws that will change lives in our state. For example, one new law protects a person who may be accompanying someone who has experienced a drug overdose from penalties so they are not discouraged from quickly getting help for that individual. Personally, Sen. Ellman is helping me evaluate ways we could improve statewide dog ordinances to protect humans and dogs from other dogs that have previously attacked.

Sen. Ellman is an approachable, pragmatic and family-focused legislator who provides the best representation for her constituents. Please give her your vote in November.

Elizabeth Carroll

Naperville