She Runs IL 2024! — Diane Blair-Sherlock, candidate for IL House of Representatives, District 46
She Votes Illinois is pleased to feature Diane Blair-Sherlock, incumbent, running for IL House of Representatives, District 46. Follow our series, She Runs Illinois 2024!, leading up to election day as we showcase and uplift the voices of Illinois women running for public office in the upcoming election, November 5, 2024.
Tell us about yourself
As a brief introduction, I am Diane Blair-Sherlock, Mom, wife, attorney, advocate, and currently the State Representative for Illinois House District 46. I have lived in the area for almost 30 years and the district for over 25 years. My children were both born with disabilities and this led to my getting involved in the advocacy for educational services for children with disabilities. In part due to my advocacy and the accommodations they received early on in the public schools, both of my children have excelled academically and are in graduate school. I am proud of my children’s achievements because, no matter the accommodation, they have to work harder than their contemporaries and have excelled. Sadly, as they have gone into the workforce, I have been witness to the “silent” discrimination they have had to face in being denied jobs they are qualified for while watching lesser qualified non-disabled candidates get hired. Clearly, my work is not done.
I have always been an active volunteer serving in various capacities over the years, including but not limited to: the Advisory Council on Education, Advisory Council on Women’s Issues, Illinois State Advisory Council on the Education of Children with Disabilities, Villa Park President’s Commission, Villa Park Pride Commission, Board of nonprofit Christian Day Care Center, St. Paul Youth Education Commission
What are your top three legislative priorities you intend to focus on in office?
- Expand access to quality affordable health care.
- Equal rights and access for women in health care, bodily autonomy, and domestic violence prevention.
- Equitable access to opportunities for good paying jobs with benefits for all.
What do you wish you had known before you ran for office?
Passing bills is much more complicated than School House Rock would lead you to believe, it involves a lot of compromise. But the most uncomfortable part for me is that you are expected to explain opposition to your legislation which is counterintuitive given my years as an attorney where you never want to give the opposition’s argument.
How do you propose Illinois can enhance access to affordable childcare and support services for working mothers, and what legislative measures have you championed to advance this goal?
We have expanded preschool with the goal of preschool for all. However, this has several challenges, not only is it a large financial commitment, but there are also difficulties in securing adequate staffing. I currently serve on k-12 policy and curriculum and k-12 appropriations which currently handle early childhood education, however, I also co-sponsored HB5451 creating a new agency that can focus on just early childhood ed which allows a stronger focus. I also co-sponsored HB2161 making it illegal to discriminate based on family responsibilities.
What policies will you advocate for to better support women, including those with disabilities and chronic pain, who often face medical gaslighting and barriers in accessing necessary healthcare?
In the 103rd I have co-sponsored the following: HB1384, HB4112, HB4180, HB4472, HB5142, HB5282 AND HB5295.
It is extremely difficult to control medical gaslighting as it occurs in private and there are privacy concerns. However, holding medical professionals accountable for ignoring patients’ concerns is key, as is, legislating insurance reforms which we have begun to do. My personal experience resulted in leaving a doctor who was more concerned about the insurance company than my family’s health.
How will you ensure that Illinois continues to lead in promoting women’s health and reproductive rights, especially in the face of potentially restrictive federal policies on abortion and birth control?
The SCOTUS decisions that have come down in the last term are concerning as they appear to be throwing out large swaths of well-settled law and blowing up precedents that attorneys have relied on for decades. It makes it difficult to anticipate how they would rule on any given issue, however, Illinois has shown that we are willing to take the chance when passing laws affecting reproductive rights and access to women’s health care. It is my hope that we will pass a Constitutional Amendment to enshrine these rights in Illinois. However, for now, we need to allow the resources to be used in states that are currently attacking women’s reproductive rights and continue to be a safe place for others to come to for care. I will continue to support legislation strengthening women’s access. We need to expand capacity for out-of-state providers being licensed in Illinois and have been working on that.
SCOTUS seemed to indicate this is a state’s rights issue and I will continue to make decisions based on that, and in Illinois we protect women. My daughter should have the same rights I did.
Closing comments
I have spent my first full term not only on legislation, but on bringing services and information to the community. We have been able to create partnerships resulting in additional private resources to non-profits serving the community and facilitated better coordination for the delivery of services. With the local high school district we have been able to present a series of informational seminars for parents of children with disabilities on guardianships, PUNS, and this fall special needs trusts and ABLE accounts. We formed a crochet/knitting group that has created and donated over 1600 hats, scarves, gloves, and washcloths to the less fortunate. And there is so much more we have done and have to do. That is why, I am humbly seeking another term, to not only legislate, but to work in the community and with the community to improve lives.
If you would like to learn more about Diane Blair-Sherlock and her platform or volunteer for her campaign, please check out her website at blairsherlockfor46.com. Don’t forget to follow her on Facebook. Reach out today and help make a difference in the upcoming 2024 election.
(The information contained in this post is provided only as general information and does not imply an endorsement by She Votes Illinois.)
