Julie Hamos

Infobox State Representative


imagesize = 150px
name=Julie Hamos


state_house=Illinois
state=Illinois
district=18th
term=1999 -
preceded=
succeeded=Incumbent
date of birth=birth date and age|1949|01|29
place of birth=Budapest, Hungary
date of death=
place of death=
spouse=Alan Greiman
profession=attorney
religion=Jewish
party=Democratic|

Julie Hamos is a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 18th District since 1999. Her district includes Rogers Park, Evanston, Wilmette, Kenilworth, Winnetka and Glencoe.

Long before seeking public office, Hamos championed public interest policies and community issues for more than 20 years. After receiving her law degree in 1975 from George Washington University in Washington DC, she became the first staff attorney for a newly formed subcommittee of the powerful U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means.

That experience launched a lifelong recognition for Hamos that government can be an important catalyst for change and opportunity. In 1976, Hamos moved to Springfield, Illinois, with the purpose of creating the first organization to advocate for issues affecting low-income families before the Illinois legislature. Later she became legislative and political action director for the American Federation of State, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, working on policy issues affecting working men and women.

From 1981 to 1984, Hamos served as legislative counsel and policy advisor to then-State's Attorney Richard M. Daley, advocating for the first-ever laws and policies on domestic violence and sexual assault. She was appointed in 1984 as director of the child support division, with oversight of 300,000 child support cases.

In 1988, Hamos founded Julie E. Hamos & Associates, a public policy and community relations consulting firm.

She is currently serving as Chair of the Mass Transit Committee. She was previously Chair of the Housing and Urban Development Committee and Chair of the House Aviation Committee. Hamos also has been appointed to the Governor's Illinois Housing Task Force, Child Support Advisory Committee, the Interagency Council on Early Intervention, the Legislative Audit Commission and the Illinois Workforce Investment Board.

In June 2004, Hamos was selected as a fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government for Senior Executives in State and Local Government.

Personal

At the height of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, in the dead of night, Gary and Agnes Hamos led their children, Julie and Jim, across their country's frontier to freedom. Behind them they left the antisemitism that sent three of Hamos's grandparents to concentration camps, and the oppression that continued under Communist rule. That experience as a seven-year-old girl taught her a lesson about courage and determination that remains the driving force behind her work as State Representative.

Hamos is 56 years old and lives in Evanston with her husband, Alan Greiman, an appellate court judge.

External links

* [http://www.ilga.gov/house/Rep.asp?MemberID=1156 Illinois General Assembly - Representative Julie Hamos (D) 18th District] official IL House website
** [http://www.ilga.gov/house/RepBills.asp?MemberID=1156 Bills] [http://www.ilga.gov/house/RepCommittees.asp?MemberID=1156 Committees]
* [http://votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=18321 Project Vote Smart - Representative Julie Hamos (IL)] profile
*"Follow the Money" - Julie Hamos
** [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?si=200614&c=417271 2006] [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?si=200414&c=395885 2004] [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?si=200214&c=18601 2002] [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?si=200014&c=355317 2000] [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?si=199814&c=354909 1998] campaign contributions
* [http://www.housedem.state.il.us/members/hamosj/index.htm Illinois House Democrats - Julie Hamos] profile