U.S. Rep. for IL's 13th District. Proudly serving on @HouseAgDems & @VetAffairsDems for Central & Southern IL. Vice Chair for Policy @NewDemCoalition.
Illinois & Washington, DC
Joined December 2022
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Corruption is rampant in Washington – and that has to change.
Today, I’m unveiling an Anti-Corruption Agenda, demanding action in Congress to end Citizens United, ban insider trading and hold SCOTUS accountable. Here’s the plan.
Illinois SNAP enrollment is at its lowest level since 2013 — down 23% in a year. The need didn’t disappear. The Big, Ugly Law cut thousands of people off with new work requirements.
Food banks across IL-13 are stretched to the limit and a one-time $400 payment doesn’t replace a family’s grocery budget. I’ll keep fighting to restore the food assistance people depend on.
🚨BIG NEWS🚨
I led 33 of my colleagues in demanding the Federal Trade Commission investigate Dollar General, Family Dollar, 7-Eleven, and Circle K for systematically charging customers more at the register than the price shown on the shelf.
When Americans are already struggling to get by, giant corporations shouldn’t be taking advantage of them.
This year, I introduced the PREDICT Act — bipartisan legislation to ban members of Congress, the President, the Vice President, and political appointees from trading on political prediction markets.
If you help make the laws, you shouldn’t be allowed to bet on them.
As we continue to dig into the BAAJA language, I’m particularly interested in seeing emissions reductions front and center.
RFF has new and encouraging reporting showing the bill could reduce CO₂ emissions by 1.8 billion metric tons through 2041—equivalent to the annual emissions of 4,710 natural gas-fired power plants.
Resources For the Future has released its modeling on the Senate permitting bill.
Top findings:
- Increase transmission capacity by 30% by 2041
- Would facilitate 60GW of clean energy in 2028
- Reduce carbon emissions by 1.8 gigatonnes through 2041
rff.org/publications/issue-b…
The REAP program used to help small farmers afford clean energy upgrades. Under USDA’s new rule, you have to pay the full project cost yourself before you’re even eligible to apply for a grant — with no guarantee you’ll get it. Most family farmers in IL-13 can’t afford that gamble.
sustainableagriculture.net/b…
I'm proud to have led this effort to demand an FTC investigation into big corporations systematically overcharging people across the country.
We won't stop until we have answers that protect consumers from deceptive pricing and hold these corporations accountable.
theguardian.com/us-news/2026…
Congress blocked USDA’s reorganization plan and a federal court backed that up. USDA said they’re doing it anyway. Farmers in Central and SouthernIllinois need USDA focused on them, not fighting legal battles over a plan that both Congress and a federal judge have already pushed back on.
brownfieldagnews.com/news/us…
Health care should be easy to navigate, affordable, and accessible. Republicans made it confusing, more expensive, and for too many people in IL-13 — impossible. That’s not acceptable.
Jesus, a 16-year-old from Collinsville, was wrongfully taken by ICE in June and sent hundreds of miles away from his family. For months, my office worked closely with Jesus' family, legal representatives, and local community members to advocate for his return. After fighting alongside his family, Jesus is home. Every person in IL-13 deserves a representative who will fight for them — and that is what we will continue to do.
stlpr.org/government-politic…
Congratulations to Bob Flider on his retirement from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign after a remarkable career in public service. From local elected official to state legislator to Director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture to the University of Illinois — Bob has spent decades fighting for the people of Central Illinois. His retirement is well earned. Congratulations, Bob!
Dolores Huerta spent her life fighting for the dignity and rights of working people who put food on Americans' tables. As co-founder of the United Farm Workers, she helped secure better wages, safer conditions and real protections for farm workers across the country.
Her legacy lives on in every worker for generations to come. My thoughts are with her family and loved ones.
Dolores Huerta, who with Cesar Chavez founded what became the United Farm Workers and led strikes and boycotts in the 1960s and ’70s that unionized many California table-grape growers, changing laws and the lives of thousands of migrant laborers, died on Wednesday at her home in Bakersfield, Calif. She was 96.
nytimes.com/2026/10/28/us/do…
It's an encouraging sign to see projects move right here at home and hopefully — it's just the start. This is exactly the type of progress BAAJA would deliver if enacted.
By speeding up the approval process, we can bring clean energy online faster, expand our energy supply, and most importantly — lower costs for families across the country. Relief can’t wait.
Diesel in Illinois hit $6.83 a gallon. For a 7th generation farm in central Illinois, that’s $80,000 in fuel costs this harvest — double last year. A new U of I study puts the added cost at $6/acre for corn, $5/acre for soybeans. The Iran war is hitting Illinois farmers at exactly the wrong time.
cbsnews.com/chicago/news/rec…
The President promised “no wars.” He started one with Iran — 21 American lives lost, $43 billion spent, and no end in sight. The President promised inflation would end on day one. It has gone up.
Promises were made and broken.
ft.com/content/fead8c02-877a…
Family health coverage already costs workers nearly $7,500 a year in premiums. Next year it’s going up again. When your insurance costs are rising at 2-3x the rate of your paycheck, something is broken. We have to do better for working families.
People have made it clear they want affordable health care, not higher premiums and less coverage.
Last year, Republicans cut health care all to give tax breaks to billionaires. Now, the effects are being felt everywhere.
cnn.com/2026/10/22/economy/h…
Here’s a Halloween trick. Candy is up 15.3% this Halloween. Cocoa and sugar prices are actually DOWN — but corporations pocketed the savings instead of passing them on. Working families deserve a treat of an economy that actually passes savings along.
A U.S. Special Forces soldier was arrested for betting on classified military operations and winning $409,000. Now the Pentagon has had to formally ban the practice. I introduced the PREDICT Act to fully ban Members of Congress, government officials, and senior staff from betting on political events and policy decisions. The fact that this is something that had to be written down is a failure of basic integrity.
cbsnews.com/news/hegseth-bet…
Eight years ago, 11 lives were taken in an horrific act of antisemitism at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue. Today, we honor their memories and reaffirm our commitment to eliminating antisemitism and hate in all its forms.
The NCERC at SIUE has produced 100+ technologies improving ethanol efficiency over 20 years. Now a $17M expansion will add large-scale bioreactors, new research labs, and workforce training — opening the door to new corn-based products and stronger long-term prices for Illinois farmers. agrinews-pubs.com/news/scien…
ICYMI: I visited the New Broadview in East St. Louis last week, a historic 1927 hotel transformed into 110 units of affordable housing for seniors and veterans. Projects like this one show what’s possible when community leaders, developers, and public investment come together to help our communities grow.
