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William Burns (Illinois)
William D. Burns is a former member of the Chicago City Council, representing Ward 4. He was elected in February 2011. Burns served until his resignation from the council in January 2016.[1] Before becoming a member of city council, Burns was a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing District 26 from 2009 to 2011.[2] He resigned his seat following his election as Chicago's 4th Ward Alderman.[3]
Burns received his M.A. and B.A. from the University of Chicago.
He is the Former Deputy Chief of Staff/Senior Advisor to the Illinois Senate President, and current President of the Chicago Urban League.[4]
Committee assignments
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Burns served on the following committees:
- Appropriations-Elementary & Secondary Education
- Appropriations-General Service
- Health Care Availability Access
- State Government Administration
- Telecommunications, Vice Chair
- Tourism & Conventions
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Burns served on the following committees:
- Appropriations-Elementary & Secondary Education
- Health Care Availability Access
- Health & Healthcare Disparities
- Infrastructure
- State Government Administration
- Subcommittee on Minority Procurement (Chair)
- Youth and Family
Issues
Death penalty
At the beginning of the 2011 session, Kwame Raoul sponsored a proposal that will appeal the death penalty in Illinois. He faced opposition from the Illinois State’s Attorneys Association.
Raoul cited 10 years of studies that demonstrate a broken criminal justice system.
“There’s got to be a point where you try and solve a problem,” said Raoul. “I think it’s high time the Illinois justice system catch up.”
In 2000, former Gov. George Ryan placed a temporary moratorium on the death penalty, which has since been upheld. Three years later and two days before leaving office, he commuted the sentences of 167 Death Row prisoners.
Sheldon Sobol, Grundy County state's attorney and president of the Illinois State's Attorneys Association, said that the legislation was rushed through committee and that victims didn’t get a chance to be heard by lawmakers.
“When this bill is taken by the Legislature, they have not heard from the most important people that are impacted by this decision,” said Sobol.[5]
On January 6, 2011, the House narrowly passed the bill to abolish the death penalty. The measure now moves to the Senate, where it will be considered when that chamber returns to the Capitol next week.
Lawmakers approved Senate Bill 3539 with the required 60 votes after waging an earlier emotional, hour-long debate. However, the $20 million annual cost of death penalty cases that convinced state Rep. Patrick J. Verschoore to change his previous “no” vote to “yes.”
“I was on both sides of this issue. But then you think of the potential cost savings of this bill, and the state needs all of the savings we can get,” Verschoore said. “Besides, my wife was on me to vote for it.”
“Let’s instead put that money where it really matters,” said state Rep. Karen Yarbrough. “Let’s give law enforcement some training that they need to wage the fight against crime. Let’s give victims of these heinous crimes the support and services that they long deserve.”
Former FBI agent and state Rep. Jim Sacia could not be swayed. He recalled that Brian Dugan confessed to the 1985 killing of 7-year-old Melissa Ackerman in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.
“We wouldn’t have had information on the heinousness of this crime had we not had the tool of the death penalty,” Sacia said.
Rep. Robert W. Pritchard said issues of life and death aren’t that cut and dried.
“I agree there are cases that we’d like to have that perpetrator put to death,” Pritchard said. “But it’s arbitrary how and who we pursue in those cases.”
Rep. William Burns agreed and noted that the death penalty has often been biased in its implementation.
“If you’re an African-American who kills a white victim, you’re more likely to be sentenced to death than a white person who kills a black person,” Burns said. “That if you’re low-income, if you are uneducated, you’re more likely to be sentenced to death than someone who has more education and more money.”[6]
Elections
2015
The city of Chicago, Illinois, held elections for city council on February 24, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was November 24, 2014.[7] In the general election for Ward 4, incumbent William D. Burns defeated Tracey Y. Bey and Norman H. Bolden.[8] Jeffrey Booker was removed from the ballot in December 2014.[9]
| Chicago City Council, Ward 4, 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
 William D. Burns Incumbent |
55.6% | 6,353 | |
| Tracey Y. Bey | 25% | 2,862 | |
| Norman H. Bolden | 19.4% | 2,214 | |
| Total Votes | 11,429 | ||
| Source: Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, "Official general election results," accessed July 9, 2015 | |||
2010
Burns won re-election to the 26th District seat against Republican Sylvester Hendricks. He ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on February 2nd. The general election took place on November 2, 2010.[10]
| Illinois House of Representatives, District 26 (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| William Burns (D)
|
29,914 | 83.48% | ||
| Sylvester Hendricks (R) | 5,920 | 16.52% | ||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Democrat William Burns won re-election to the Illinois House of Representatives District 26 receiving 41,807 votes, ahead of Republican Sylvester Hendricks who received 6,770 votes.[11]
| Illinois House of Representatives, District 26 (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| William Burns (D)
|
41,807 | |||
| Sylvester Hendricks (R) | 6,770 | |||
Campaign donors
2008
In 2008, Burns collected $498,192 in donations.[12]
Listed below are those that contributed most to his campaign.
| Donor | Amount |
|---|---|
| Friends of Kwame Raoul | $39,850 |
| Highlander Pac | $29,500 |
| 4th Ward Democratic Organization | $15,784 |
| Citizens for James M. Houlihan | $10,000 |
| Illinois Laborers | $7,500 |
| Illinois Federation of Teachers | $7,265 |
| Citizens for Preckwinkle | $7,000 |
| Service Employees Local 4 | $6,958 |
| Friends of Don Harmon | $6,000 |
| Cook County College Teachers Union | $5,500 |
| Illinois Education Association | $5,250 |
| Fred Eychaner | $5,000 |
| Synchronous Solutions Inc. | $5,000 |
| Stephen Davis | $5,000 |
| John W. Rogers Jr. | $4,250 |
| Illinois Trial Lawyers Association | $4,000 |
| Illinois State Medical Society | $4,000 |
| Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois | $3,000 |
| Conor O'Neil | $3,000 |
| Chicago Teachers Union | $3,000 |
External links
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign contributions: 2008
- Social Media
Footnotes
- ↑ NBC Chicago, "Mayor Weighs in on 4th Ward Ald. Will Burns' Surprising Resignation," January 31, 2016
- ↑ City of Chicago, "Ward 4," accessed November 24, 2014
- ↑ Chicago Breaking News, "Hyde Park gets new state representative," May 14, 2011
- ↑ Project Vote Smart - Rep. Burns
- ↑ "Local prosecutors: Don’t rush death penalty vote," Illinois Statehouse News, January 4, 2011
- ↑ "House narrowly approves abolition of death penalty," Illinois Statehouse News, January 6, 2011
- ↑ Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, "2015 Election Calendar," accessed August 21, 2014
- ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Unofficial election results," accessed February 24, 2015
- ↑ Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, "General Election Candidate List," accessed December 3, 2014
- ↑ Illinois Elections Division, "Illinois Official 2010 General Election Results," November 2, 2010
- ↑ Illinois Elections Division, "Illinois House of Representatives official election results for 2008," November 4, 2008
- ↑ Burns Campaign Donors
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Chicago City Council, Ward 4 2011-2016 |
Succeeded by Sophia King |
| Preceded by - |
Illinois House of Representatives District 26 2009–May 2011 |
Succeeded by Kimberly du Buclet |
 |
State of Illinois Springfield (capital) |
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