Release Date 02-06-2009

BROADVIEW, IL – State Rep. Karen Yarbrough (D-Maywood) on Friday announced her committee assignments for the 96th General Assembly.  She will continue to serve as Chair of the Appropriations-Public Safety Committee and as Vice-Chair of the Insurance Committee, as well as assuming a role on other committees that reflect her work in public policy in recent years.

“As chair of the Appropriations-Public Safety Committee, I will be able to make sure that our state continues its work towards prison reform and encourages successful community-based violence prevention programs like CeaseFire,” Yarbrough said. 
 
Yarbrough will also serve as Vice-Chair of the Insurance Committee and as a member of the Appropriations-Higher Education, Computer Technology, Cities and Villages, Elementary and Secondary Education, Environmental Health, Public Policy and Accountability for Education and the Special Committee on Railroad Industry.  In past years, Yarbrough has worked on legislation to improve indoor air quality and accountability for school board members, and her appointment to the Environmental Health Committee and the newly-created Public Policy and Accountability for Education Committee will facilitate her continuing work in these areas of public policy.
 
Yarbrough also joined her colleagues Thursday to create a new, special joint committee on ethics reform.  Senate Joint Resolution 1 creates a committee made up of Democrats and Republicans from both the House and Senate to hear ideas on how to further strengthen ethics laws in Illinois in the wake of scandal-plagued former Governor Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment and removal from office.
 
“Our state is faced with a fiscal crisis and the public is concerned about making ends meet and providing for their families,” Yarbrough said.  “We also have to address the deep lack of trust that Illinoisans have with state government so that we can turn our economy around and improve the quality of life for those we represent.”
 
For more information, please contact Yarbrough’s constituent service office at (708) 615-1747.