College of DuPage (COD) Board of Trustee Deanne Mazzochi has been tapped to replace Rep. Patti Bellock (R-Hinsdale) for Illinois State Representative for the 47th House District of Illinois.
Mazzochi will be sworn in on July 24. She recently told the DuPage Policy Journal that Bellock has been incredibly responsive to the needs of this district during her 20 years of service and she is now ready to take the helm. Bellcok was recently named the next Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services Director.
“I hope to accomplish more than three things since fundamentally we need to get Illinois back on track to applying good governance principles,” Mazzochi said.
Newly appointed District 47 House representative Deanne Mazzochi
Mazzochi, who first ran for office in the April 2015 College of DuPage Board of Trustee election and won as part of the reform slate, became Board chairman in December 2015.
“We have truly seen the institution turn around to restore its focus on the students and earning full accreditation,” Mazzochi said.
She now plans on taking that same positive energy to Springfield.
The nature and extent of what is probable, or even possible, when it comes to meaningful reform in the state capital will depend greatly on which party secures the House for the January 2019 term and beyond, Mazzochi said. She also said a lot also depends on whether House representatives continue to operate under House Speaker Michael Madigan’s (D-Chicago) procedural rules for legislation.
“I am always looking for pathways that create value and finding ways to do things that can change lives for the better,” Mazzochi said. She added that the present state lawmaking process seems to exalt higher taxes and add more burdens on people while political insiders make out like bandits.
“That destroys value and confidence in government,” she said.
Mazzochi looks forward to the day when Springfield is filled with genuine citizen legislators who are innovation and future-focused, making decisions that will safeguard neighborhoods, strengthen out the education system and attract jobs and investment, she said.
“I want Illinois to be the state that welcomes people home, not causes them to flee,” Mazzochi said.
Hoping to remain in office after November, Mazzochi said she is on the 2018 ballot as the Republican candidate, since running unopposed in the March Primary election.
“I will not be taking a pension or health care benefits from the State of Illinois as a result of this position,” she said. “For this interim period, I will ensure that the good services residents have come to expect from the district offices will continue.”
Mazzochi’s swearing-in ceremony begins at 5 p.m. July 24 at Elmhurst College outside Hammerschmidt Chapel.
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