Dear Friends,

Thank you for visiting my legislative website.  It is my honor to serve the citizens of the 12th Senate District in the Illinois General Assembly. On this website, you can learn a little bit about me, my record in the General Assembly, and the services I can provide you.

Right now, my top priorities are bringing more jobs to 12th Legislative District, finding a responsible solution to our current budget situation, and putting an end to business as usual in Springfield. 

I will continue to work to cut costs for students attending college.  The cost of higher education in Illinois has grown astronomical over the past decade, increasingly due to administrative salaries.  In light of this, I have and will continue to sponsor initiatives which are aimed at providing students with an affordable quality college education.

Two measures that I will continue to fight for include freezing tuition and fee rates for students at the 2010-2011 level.  To take this one step further, I will continue working to require that university tuition levels be set by the General Assembly and cannot be increased unless a law is passed to do so

I always welcome feedback from my constituents, so if you have any questions, concerns, or ideas, please do not hesitate to contact me. Check the Constituent Services section of my website to learn about upcoming events.

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois State Senator Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago) has passed a measure that will help prevent deadly accidents caused by inexperienced young drivers. It stems from an incident involving a teenager who caused another drivers death while driving under a graduated driver’s license (GDL).

“This is legislation was named Kelsey’s Law in honor of Kelsey Little, who received serious injuries in an accident caused by a young driver who had a GDL,” stated Sandoval. “The GDL has been successful in curbing the number of teen driving deaths since it became law in 2008.”

Under current law, a GDL applicant is not required to report any pending traffic citations. House Bill 1009 will prohibit the issuance of a graduated driver’s license to any applicant under the age of 18 years until all of the applicant’s pending traffic citation’s have been resolved.

In addition, under this measure, the secretary of state will be able to cancel the license or permit of any minor if they have had an unresolved traffic citation. After cancellation, the secretary will not issue a new license or permit until the applicant has resolved the citation.

Senator Sandoval was proud to show his support for Go Red for Women Day at the State Capitol. The campaign by the American Heart Association is supported by the Conference of Women Legislators. Senator Iris Y. Martinez and Senator Heather Steans join Senator Sandoval here in the Capitol.

State Senator Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago) missed several weeks of legislative session in Springfield recently, due to a horseback riding accident resulting in three fractured ribs.

“I was bucked by a horse named ‘The Tornado,’ said Sandoval. “I’m just happy to have recovered quickly and be back in Springfield.”