| Annazette Collins | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Illinois Senate from the 5th district |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office March 16, 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Rickey Hendon |
| Member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 10th district |
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| In office January 10, 2001 – March 16, 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Coy Pugh |
| Succeeded by | TBD |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 28, 1962 Chicago, Illinois |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Keith Langston |
| Religion | Baptist |
Annazette Collins is a Democratic member of the Illinois State Senate, representing the 5th district since 2011, She previously served in the Illinois House of Representatives representing the 10th District from 2001 to 2011.
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Collins earned her undergraduate degree in sociology and her master’s in Criminal Justice from Chicago State University.
Prior to her election as state representative, Collins held various positions in social services and criminal justice agencies. Collins worked as an Administrator of the Chicago Board of Education, a Public Service Administrator for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Cook County Social Services, Probation Department, and a Correctional Officer with the Bureau of Prisons.
Collins lists her legislative priorities as improving education, expanding access to quality health care, raising the age of majority for juveniles and reforming juvenile justice system.
Ms. Collins co-sponsored FamilyCare, which allows working parents of KidCare-eligible children, to have access to state subsidized heath care. Collins worked on legislation to allow patients to sue HMO’s for harmful and delayed medical procedures.
Collins worked to move children out of state custody into family environments whenever possible. She was the chief sponsor of adoption reform legislation allowing godparents and second cousins to adopt children in the custody of DCFS.
In July 2008, the Illinois State Board of Elections fined Collins' campaign committee $20,000 and ordered her to issue an apology for filing political finance reports from 2005 to 2007 that reflected the raising, but not spending, of campaign money. The board's orders stemmed from a complaint filed by the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform indicating a lack of contributions or expenditures on her state-mandated campaign disclosure. Collins' campaign committee has corrected 18 of its previously filed reports after the complaint was filed.[1]
Representative Collins is married to Keith Langston and they have two daughters, Angelique Nicole and Taylor Kourtnie.
She was robbed at gunpoint by a masked man on Chicago's South Side on November 15, 2001 while walking to her mother's home.