State Rep. Smith to be chairman of the Illinois House Black Caucus

 State Rep. Nick Smith was in Politico's Playbook yesterday. This is news from Springfield recently:

The Illinois House Legislative Black Caucus has formed a political action committee that will be chaired by Reps. Nick Smith and Lakesia Collins.

“It’s something we’ve been talking about for a few years, and it took some time to put it together,” Smith told Playbook of the Illinois House Legislative Black Caucus PAC.

Black legislators have for years relied on the Black Caucus Foundation to help boost civic and philanthropic efforts in members’ communities. “We felt we needed something to support the caucus politically, too,” Smith said.

The goal, said Legislative Black Caucus Chairman Kam Buckner, “is to raise funds, mobilize volunteers, and have an effective apparatus to elect and re-elect members of the Black Caucus.”

Creating the PAC comes as the Democratic Party shifts its operations under new leadership. Party members can no longer rely on former House Speaker Michael Madigan to open the purse strings for campaigns. New party Chair Robin Kelly has created a separate fundraising arm for state and local campaigns, while she focuses on fundraising for federal positions.

“Speaker Welch is doing a great job but he’s focused on his entire caucus. And it’s too early to tell how the party’s local [fundraising] committee will do,” Smith said. “There’s a vacuum with Michael Madigan gone, and we see an opportunity to fundraise to help fill that hole.”

I found this via CapFax who further stated in reference to this story: "Smith is right. Also, If Rep. Buckner really does want to run for mayor, he’ll need some significant fundraising experience."

Bring it Buckner! Can't wait for '23!

Crain's: Dorms in the future for community college students

State Rep Nick Smith

I wonder if this legislation affects the City Colleges of Chicago. Closer to the south side imagine dorms at Olive-Harvey, Kennedy-King, or even Daley Colleges. This is an initiative of 34th District State Representative Nicholas Smith who has a history with two-year colleges.

Now that he’s a member of the Illinois General Assembly, Nick Smith isn’t embarrassed to say he struggled early in college. As he bounced back and forth between classes and his job, he spent little time on campus.

It wasn’t until Smith got a work-study job at Olive-Harvey College, a Far South Side community college, that things changed. “I started to feel immersed in the academic setting. I started to feel focused,” he recalls. After completing the two-year program, Smith went on to get a bachelor’s degree from nearby Chicago State University, and since 2019 he has represented the 34th District in the State Assembly.

With his personal experience in mind, Smith introduced legislation in Springfield this year that allows community colleges to add student housing for the first time. Signed into law July 9 by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the measure allows for residential projects to begin on or near campuses throughout the state starting in January.

The law is an empty vessel at the moment, expressing the ambition to do something new to address housing insecurity for people aiming to lift themselves out of poverty via a community college education. Nontrivial matters—most crucially, how the idea will be paid for—aren’t addressed in a piece of legislation that is only a few paragraphs long.

Here are some things specific to the city colleges:

At City Colleges, a network of seven campuses in Chicago, more than half of all students said they lacked stable housing in the last 12 months, according to a survey conducted in 2018 by the Hope Center for College, Community & Justice at Temple University. About 15 percent of students said they experienced homelessness in the same period. Black students, students identifying as LGBTQ and those who were independent of their parents or guardians in financial aid packages were more likely to experience needs insecurity, the report found. “Housing insecurity and homelessness have a particularly strong, statistically significant relationship with college completion rates, persistence, and credit attainment,” the report said.

City Colleges Chancellor Juan Salgado issued a statement to Crain’s saying the schools are committed to addressing students’ “comprehensive needs,” including housing and food insecurity, so attendees can focus on their schoolwork. The network looks forward to “exploring partnerships that would create affordable housing for our students, in particular the many City Colleges students experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity,” the statement said.

For students who are homeless and not connected to their parents, there’s a specific way their academic program is harmed, said Niya Kelly, director of state legislation at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. Because of “the presumption in this country that your parents help you until you’re 23 or 25 years old,” Kelly said, colleges generally require a parent’s Social Security and other tax information.

Students who don’t have that “get dinged and have to go through an appeal process,” Kelly said, which results in “getting their packets later, which means registering for classes after other people and dealing with that uncertainty of not knowing whether they’re going to get to go back to school or not.”

Removing any of these obstacles, Smith said, “is adding to our students’ chances of succeeding” and using that college degree to improve their circumstances.

You know how could this affect the surrounding area. With Olive-Harvey and Kennedy-King for example could this be a good thing for the surrounding neighborhoods? 

State Rep. Nick Smith: "I don't have the key, either"

 

[VIDEO] To be fair I'm not always on the lookout for news about 34th district state Rep. Nick Smith, however, it's very cool to see him in a news story. In this case he was in a story that aired on a downstate station with regards to the General Assembly map room which seems like such a highly secure area.

You can see more about this story over at Capitol Fax, however, the story is regarding the process to redraw the state legislative maps. So Rich Miller even notes Rep. Smith's quote, "I don't make the rules. And I don't have the key either". Nice....

BTW, I'm pretty sure in the background holding the door open is state Rep. Marcus Evans which is interesting. I could be wrong on that but that looks just like him. It seems as if whoever was holding the door was telling Smith to come on.

34 District Office Open House #Ward09

Happening on Saturday, September 7, 2019 from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 PM at 113 E. 95th St. Suite A

And state Rep. Smith has a website RepSmith34.com

You are NOT getting the people you are voting for as state representative and senator!

Sen. Trotter's name is on the ballot even though he has resigned from the office

For those who live in the 34th district (for state represenative) and 17th district for state senate: Did you know that the people you might be voting for  state represneative and state senator will NOT be the people who will take office for the term you are electing them for?

State Senator Donne Trotter resigned on January 19, 2018. This was essentially just in time to meet the deadline for people who wanted to register as a write-in candidate.

He will NOT be in office again. 34th district State Representative. Elgie Sims was chosen by Democratic Committeemen (NOT the vote of the people) to replace Trotter. Sims was in turn replaced by the same committee (and NOT the average voter)  by Nick Smith as State Representative.

The Chicago Tribune wrote an editorial about this voter omission in January.

What do our readers feel about this? Are you bothered by it? Do you feel it is a form of voter suppression? Support it? Please let us know

Nick Smith is coming the Chesterfield Community Council #Ward09

Your new 34th District State Representative Nicholas Smith is coming to a meeting of the Chesterfield Community Council next Tuesday.

When: Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Time: 6:30 PM
Where: Tuley Park - 90th & King Drive

If you want additional information or to contact the Chesterfield organization I will refer you to their website at www.chesterfieldcommunitycouncil.org. Also a posted is embedded from Chesterfield's FB page below.

 

Community meet & greet on Saturday

Sorry for the late notice on this as I just got wind of this on Friday night. Meet not only your new state Senator Elgie Sims, and state Rep. Nicholas Smith also county Commissioner Stanley Moore at their offices.

• 8658 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
  Suite 404
  Chicago, IL 60619
  1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
  Phone: 773.933.7715

Flyer is below.

Nick Smith succeeds Elgie Sims for 34th district state representative

On Wednesday with Elgie Sims moving up to his mentor's - Donne Trotter - state senate seat there was now a vacancy in Sims' 34th state house district. In a meeting with Democratic bosses Nick Smith was named Sen. Sims' successor in this state house seat. Smith is the current 9th ward Streets and Sanitation superintendent and was at one point a former President of the Roseland Heights Community Association.

Though I said I was going to step back from Nextdoor it was interesting the see the names who presented their credentials for this vacancy. Michael Lafargue of West Chesterfield, Richard Wooten a former police officer who actually ran for this seat in 2012, Jahmal Cole of My Block My Hood My City, Eli Washington of Chesterfield. These are all names many of us have heard of in public as leaders of community or youth organizations.

It let's you know that even though many of us didn't get to vote on any of these names, you can have an impact in your community and you can forward your name for any political position. And of course the possibility is there that you can become an elected official using in part that experience.

Congrats to state Rep. Smith!