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Dan Kotowski
| Dan Kotowski | ||
 | ||
| Illinois State Senate District 33 | ||
| Incumbent | ||
| In office | ||
| 2007 - Present | ||
| Term ends | ||
| January 14, 2015 | ||
| Years in position | 6 | |
| Party | Democratic | |
| Compensation | ||
| Base salary | $67,836/year | |
| Per diem | $111/day | |
| Elections and appointments | ||
| Last election | November 6, 2012 | |
| First elected | November 2006 | |
| Next election | November 4, 2014 | |
| Term limits | N/A | |
| Education | ||
| Bachelor's | University of Illinois, Champaign–Urbana | |
| Master's | DePaul University | |
| Personal | ||
| Place of birth | Chicago, Illinois | |
| Websites | ||
| Office website | ||
| Campaign website | ||
 | ||
Contents |
Kotowski graduated from the University of Illinois-Champaign-Urbana with his Bachelor's degree in Communications and his Master's Degree from DePaul University.
Committee assignments
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Kotowski served on the following committees:
| Illinois Committee Assignments, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| • Appropriations, Vice-Chairperson | ||||
| • Appropriations II, Chairperson | ||||
| • Committee of the Whole | ||||
| • Criminal Law | ||||
| • Higher Education | ||||
| • Revenue | ||||
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Kotowski served on these committees:
| Illinois Committee Assignments, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| • Appropriations, Vice Chair | ||||
| • Appropriations II, Vice Chair | ||||
| • Committee of the Whole | ||||
| • Criminal Law | ||||
| • Higher Education | ||||
| • Revenue, Chair | ||||
| • Legislative Audit | ||||
- Subcommittee on Property Taxes, Chair
- Subcommittee on Tax Credits
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Kotowski served on these committees:[1]
| Illinois Committee Assignments, 2009 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| • Appropriations II | ||||
| • Commerce, Chairman | ||||
| • Criminal Law | ||||
| • Financial Institutions, Vice-Chairman | ||||
| • Human Services | ||||
Issues
Campaign themes
2012
Kotowski's campaign website lists the following two issue areas and links to relevant news articles about them:[2]
- Political Corruption
- Middle Class Families
Raising lawmaker salaries
In May 2011, Illinois Senate lawmakers entertained a bill, SB2467, which included an “additional amounts per year” for select lawmakers: committee chairmen and committee minority spokesmen and spokeswomen. Sen. Dan Kotowski sponsored the measure.
The lump-sum appropriations in the proposal would increase pay for Senate committee chiefs by 14 percent. House committee bosses would see a 47-percent jump in pay. The increases were on top of the base $67,836 annual salaries that all lawmakers earn. Committee and leadership posts bring extra pay. In other words, more taxpayers’ money would be funneled into extra pay for select lawmakers, said Sen. Dale Righter.
“So there’s some games being played here,” said Righter, a member of the Senate Executive Committee. “And sometimes that’s the way things happen — like this — is because (Democrats) want to do it before anyone really sees it.”
However, Kotowski said this move would restore the public’s good faith and trust to the government.
“We’re basically changing the existing law, to require legislators to work 12 days without getting paid,” he said. “That’s very, very, important, and that’s going to lead to reduction in salaries across the board this year and a total of saving $1.2 million for taxpayers.”
Lawmakers do want the public to notice when they cut their own pay, Righter and Kotowski said.
“But not this, the increasing the stipend (proposal), because it kind of makes it look like, ‘OK you’re taking it out of your pocket over here, but you’re going to shove your other pocket full,’” Righter said. “That’s what it looks like, like the outset that they’re trying to do here.”[3]
Elections
2012
- See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2012
Kotowski won re-election in the 2012 election for Illinois State Senate District 28. He was unopposed in the Democratic primary on March 20, 2012 and defeated Jim O'Donnell (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[4][5][6]
| Illinois State Senate, District 28, General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Daniel Kotowski Incumbent |
57.3% | 45,656 | |
| Republican | Jim O'Donnell | 42.7% | 34,035 | |
| Total Votes | 79,691 | |||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Democrat Dan Kotowski won re-election to the Illinois State Senate District 33 receiving 48,344 votes, ahead of Republican Michael Sweeney receiving 32,293 votes.[7]
| Illinois State Senate, District 33 (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Dan Kotowski (D)
|
48,344 | |||
| Michael Sweeney (R) | 32,293 | |||
Campaign donors
2012
Campaign donor information is not yet available for this year.
2008
In 2008, Kotowski collected $912,483 in donations.[8]
Listed below are those that contributed most to his campaign.
| Donor | Amount |
|---|---|
| Illinois Senate Democratic Fund | $150,000 |
| Friends of Clayborne | $44,000 |
| Illinois Education Association | $36,000 |
| Illinois Health Care Association | $27,711 |
| Illinois Realtors Association | $26,488 |
| Friends of Don Harmon | $26,000 |
| Deep Blue Illinois | $25,000 |
| Illinois Federation of Teachers | $21,000 |
| Cook County College Teachers Union | $18,500 |
| Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois | $18,500 |
| Illinois Laborers | $15,500 |
| Illinois Trial Lawyers Association | $12,000 |
| Service Employees Local 880 | $10,000 |
| Simmonscooper LLC | $9,500 |
| Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois | $9,500 |
| Illinois Hospital & Health Systems Association | $9,500 |
| West Suburban Teachers Local 571 | $9,200 |
| Illinois Credit Union League | $8,250 |
| Friends of A. J. Wilhelmi | $8,000 |
| Friends of Harper | $7,500 |
Scorecards
Illinois Opportunity Project
The Illinois Opportunity Project, "an independent research and public policy enterprise that promotes legislative solutions in advance of free markets and free minds," annually releases its Legislative Vote Card, grading all members in both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly on the basis of their support of "pro-growth economic policies that increase personal freedom and reign in expansive government."[9][10]
2012
Kotowski received a score of 50.00 out of 100 in 2012 for a grade of D- according to the IOP’s grading scale. His score was tied for the 32nd highest among all 59 members of the Illinois State Senate included in the Vote Card.[10]
Recent news
This section displays the most recent stories in a google news search for the term Dan + Kotowski + Illinois + Senate
- All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.
Dan Kotowski News Feed
- Illinois Senate panel endorses ammunition limit - The State Journal-Register
- Kotowski joins Newtown families in pushing to protect public from gun violence - Chicago Tribune
- Illinois Senate approves tighter disclosure rules - The State Journal-Register
- Illinois Senate panel advances 'puppy lemon' law - The State Journal-Register
- Illinois Senate Passes 'Puppy Lemon' Legislation - CBS2 Chicago
- Details of hazing plan under scrutiny in Senate committee - Chicago Daily Herald
- Newtown victims' parents ask for gun control, Senate panel endorses - Quad City Times
- Bernard Schoenburg: Push still on for better disclosure forms - The State Journal-Register
- Newtown parents join call to ban high-capacity gun magazines in Illinois - Chicago Tribune
- Sen. Kotowski's Proposal to Save State Money Passes House - Patch.com
Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found
District 33
Kotowski represents Illinois Senate District 33. District 33 includes the Northwest Chicago suburbs of Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect[11].
Personal
Kotowski resides in Park Ridge, Illinois.
External links
- Campaign website
- Biography, bills and committees at the Illinois General Assembly
- Summary, biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Campaign contributions at Follow The Money
- Profile at Twitter
- Profile at Wikipedia
- Dan Kotowski on Facebook
References
- ↑ "Illinois General Assembly" List of Illinois Senate Committees, July 28, 2009
- ↑ Dan Kotowski , "Issues," accessed October 21, 2012
- ↑ "Illinois lawmakers hush-hush about pay raise in the budget," Illinois Statehouse News, May 16, 2011
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections "Candidate List," December 5, 2011
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Official 2012 Primary Results"
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, “Official Vote - November 6, 2012 General Election,” accessed December 31, 2012
- ↑ Illinois Senate election results for 2008
- ↑ Kotowski Campaign Donors
- ↑ Illinois Opportunity Project, "The Project," accessed February 21, 2013
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Illinois Opportunity Project, Legislative Vote Card home page, accessed February 21, 2013
- ↑ "Illinois Chamber of * Commerce Committee, Illinois State Senate, Northeast Illinois Legislative District Maps, July 29, 2009
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Succeeded by Karen McConnaughay |
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- Current member, Illinois State Senate
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- Illinois
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- 2012 State Senate incumbent displaced by redistricting
