State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) and Steve Pemberton, author and Walgreens executive, received the Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities (TASC) Leadership award for being a consistent champion for addiction treatment and fair criminal justice policies.

Hunter described the challenges Illinois is facing, including the struggle to promote equality in the criminal justice system and highlighted some of the successful legislative partnerships between her and TASC.

Early this morning Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, an Illinois icon, passed away at the age of 70. In a released statement, State Senator Mattie Hunter remembered Topinka's contributions to women, minorities and the state as a whole.

"My condolences go out to Judy Baar Topinka's family and loved one during this difficult time. Judy was a strong and respected leader in Illinois. She had many friends and supporters from the African-American community. She will be missed, though her legacy of passionate independence and fierce loyalty lives on."

Topinka served as the Illinois state comptroller for three years and was the first woman to become state treasurer, serving in the position for 12 years. The Chicago native gained a reputation for leading the state in a bipartisan fashion and holding a strong commitment to her job.

The memory and legacy of Judy Baar Topinka will forever shape the state's history.

Following the voter's lead, State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) has been in support of Assistant Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford's push to gradually raise Illinois' minimum wage to $11 per hour over the next four years.

"The people have spoken," said Majority Caucus Whip Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago). "Making Illinois' minimum wage a living wage will help lift families out of poverty, and it will decrease reliance on state and federal aid. It's time Illinois stands together and honors the overwhelming majority of residents who supported raising the minimum wage."

State Senators Mattie Hunter and Martin A. Sandoval joined Metra, last month, to unveil the new $142 million Englewood flyover bridge designed to eliminate one of the nation's worst railroad bottlenecks on Chicago's Southside.

The landmark flyover bridge will decrease Metra and Amtrak train delays for the 140 freight and passenger trains that use tracks each day. Outdated signals and switches made crossing on ground level an arduous process. The century-old maze of track took some trains two days to navigate the city's railroad system.