Sean Casten represents Illinois’ 6th Congressional District, located in Chicago’s western suburbs. First elected in 2018, he is the first Democrat to represent the 6th District in nearly 50 years.
Casten is focused on supporting families by fighting inflation, lowering prescription drug prices and creating good paying jobs. Casten believes in common-sense gun reforms like universal background checks that protect our children and communities. He has consistently supported legislation to keep abortion safe and legal.
Legislation Signed Into Law
In line with the needs and wants of constituents in the 6th District, Sean has been tirelessly working to write, support, and advocate for legislation addressing important issues for the people he represents.
Rep. Casten was integral in securing the following legislation:
Education: Making higher education more affordable and equitable for families
GRADUATE Act – President Biden Signed into Law
Sean introduced the Graduate ACT which eliminates the restriction that students can only take out federally subsidized student loans over three years for an Associate’s Degree or six years for a Bachelor’s Degree. The bill became law in December 2020.
Reauthorization of Violence Against Women Act – President Biden Signed into Law
Sean’s amendment passed into law will ensure campus faculty have the training and resources necessary to recognize victims of sexual or domestic violence and respond to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
Energy: Lowering the cost of energy while fighting climate change
Clean Energy Provision – President Biden Signed into Law
President Joe Biden signed into law clean energy provisions Sean introduced. The provision will require 10% of existing and future military installations to reach net zero emissions by 2035. It will also require a report on the status of the current DoD energy security goal which aims to have the agency produce or procure not less than 25% renewable energy by 2025.
Clean Energy Funds – President Biden Signed into Law
Sean directly pushed for the following provisions that were then signed into law: $510 million for industrial decarbonization technology R&D, including implementation of the Clean Industrial Technologies Act (CITA), $500 million for battery storage technology R&D, including implementation of the Battery Energy Storage Technology (BEST) Act, and a total of $715M for the State Department to provide Bilateral Economic Assistance funding for adaptation, renewable energy development, and sustainable landscapes.
Rebuilding America’s infrastructure with union jobs
American Rescue Plan – President Biden Signed into Law
Sean helped secure over $42 Billion in funds for Illinois through the American Rescue Plan and Bipartisan Infrastructure Package. These funds help support restaurants, venues, K-12 schools, community health centers, airports and more.
Legislation Introduced
Below is a list of highlighted legislation introduced and led by Sean Casten since 2019. Rep. Casten has introduced a total of 45 pieces of legislation. A full list can be found here.
Climate
Sean is a well-respected scientist with a deep and successful background in developing businesses that create jobs, lower carbon emissions, and lower energy prices. He takes his expertise and passion to Congress everyday. He is a leading voice in Congress and has proposed several important bills including:
End Oil and Gas Tax Subsidies Act
Eliminates nearly a dozen of the most egregious tax breaks enjoyed by the oil and gas industry.
Tradeable Performance Standard Act
Which would decarbonize the electric and industrial thermal energy sectors by creating carbon intensity standards for each sector that decline each year.
Bipartisan Clean Industrial Technology Act
Establishes a new advisory council to coordinate funding for developing innovative technologies for industrial processes.
Bipartisan Promoting Grid Storage Act
Boosts research and development of cutting-edge technologies to increase energy storage capabilities for America’s electric grid and enable the expanded use of clean energy.
EV GRID Act
Directs the Department of Energy to conduct a study and develop a plan related to the ability of the electric system to meet the electricity demand of new electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Right to Timely Rehearings at FERC Act
Amends the Federal Power Act by changing the timeline that FERC must respond to requests for rehearing orders on any of its decisions.
Energy PRICE Act
Clarifies that for the purposes of the Federal Power Act (which has been law for nearly a century) that any electricity price not accounting for the price of greenhouse gas emissions is ‘unjust, unreasonable, or unduly preferential, or discriminatory’.
Climate Change Financial Risk Act
Improves the ability of federal regulators to understand and mitigate risks from climate change within the financial system.
Interregional Transmission Planning Improvement Act
Requires FERC to issue a rulemaking on interregional transmission, requiring grid operators to look at interregional solutions, not just intraregional ones, as is often the case today.
Climate Risk Disclosure Act
Requires public companies to disclose their financial and business risks related to climate change.
Efficient Vehicle Leadership Act
Creates a financial incentive for consumers to purchase more fuel efficient vehicles.
Energy Tax Credit Direct Payment Act
Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act to allow converting certain clean energy tax credits into cash grants.
SEC Disclosure Effectiveness Testing Act
Require the SEC to ensure regular investors have the information they need to invest their savings.
National Security Resiliency and Sustainability Act
Enact President Obama-era standards to reduce emissions and increase use of clean energy sources for the Department of Defense (DoD) while maintaining military readiness.
Housing Efficiency Standards Act
Modernizes housing energy efficiency requirements for federal housing to reduce emissions and combat the climate crisis.
Healthcare
FLAT Prices Act
Help address unfair price hikes for prescription drugs.
Equality
Fair Calculations in Civil Damages Act
Prohibits the consideration of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or actual or perceived sexual orientation when calculating damages in civil lawsuits.
Business Accountability
Trading Isn’t a Game Act
Requires the U.S. Government Accountability Office to carry out a study on the harmful impacts of the gamification of online trading platforms.
Bipartisan H.R. 8796 (116th Congress)
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney General to jointly conduct a study on the efforts of authoritarian regimes in foreign countries to exploit the financial system of the United States.
K-12 Education
Stop Sexual Harassment in K–12 Act
Address sexual harassment and assault occurring in our nation’s K-12 schools by creating clear standards and related funding streams for schools to uphold their students’ Title IX rights.
Seniors
Ensuring Seniors’ Access to COVID Treatments Act
Require Medicare Part D plans to cover drugs to treat COVID without cost-sharing, prior authorization, or other utilization management barriers.
Bipartisan Resolution H. Res. 328 (116th Congress)
Supporting the protection of elders through financial literacy.
COVID Relief
Emergency Unemployment Relief for Nonprofits Act
Provide greater relief to struggling nonprofits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Workers Rights
Bipartisan ESP Family Leave Act
Allows more educational support professionals (ESP) at schools—teacher’s assistants, custodians and maintenance staff, among others—access its benefits.
Guns
Gun Trafficker Detection Act
Require lost or stolen firearms to be reported to law enforcement authorities within 48 hours.
Digital Ecosystem
Digital Services Oversight and Safety Act
Establishes a Bureau of Digital Services Oversight and Safety at the Federal Trade Commission that would have the authority and resources necessary to hold powerful online companies accountable for the promises they make to users, parents, advertisers, and enforcers.
Higher Education
Pell Grant Sustainability Act
Ensures federal resources for college students keep up with current costs by indexing Pell Grants to inflation.
Letters
In Congress, leading letters is a powerful way for members to signal their priorities and the priorities of the people they represent. Through his letters, Sean has led the country in advocating for policies that benefit the people of IL-06, building diverse coalitions of members of Congress across the country. Below is a collection of letters that Rep. Casten has led since 2019.
Gun Violence
Sean led a letter urging Members of House Leadership to take action on pending gun violence prevention legislation in the face of the worsening gun violence epidemic.
Oil and Gas Subsidies
Sean sent a letter to House leadership urging them to pair a direct cash rebate for consumers with a repeal of some of the hundreds of billions in direct and indirect tax subsidies flowing to oil and gas companies.
Climate change
Sean sent a letter to Chairman Glick of FERC to Realign Incentives to Promote Deployment of Advanced Transmission Technologies.
Sean sent a letter to President Biden urging his administration to lead the restarting of bicameral reconciliation negotiations recognizing climate provisions as a key starting point where common ground can be pursued.
U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (D-IL) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s request for public comment on climate disclosures, highlighting several climate-related financial priorities for the Commission to consider.
Postal Board
Sean led a letter with the Illinois Democratic Congressional Delegation calling on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI) to prioritize the swift confirmation of President Biden’s Nominees to the Postal Board of Governors.
Sean led fourteen Democratic members of the Illinois Congressional delegation in urging Postmaster General DeJoy to take corrective action against the recent operational changes, including the elimination of overtime and a reduction in mail sorting and processing hours, which have led to significant delays in the delivery of letters and packages to Illinoisans.
Sean sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi requesting strong support for the United States Postal Service in forthcoming COVID-19 relief legislation.
Benefits
Sean sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging the expansion of Medicare to include dental, vision, and hearing services in the Build Back Better Act.
Foreign Affairs
U.S. Congressman Sean Casten joined 138 House Democrats in a letter to President Biden calling for him and his Administration to boldly lead and take decisive action to immediately end the violence in Israel and Gaza.
Sean a letter urging the Biden administration to take steps to create a robust resettlement program for Ukrainian refugees within the United States, including raising the refugee cap, ensuring that Ukrainians are eligible for priority resettlement, and expediting applications for humanitarian immigration programs.
Filibuster
Sean led more than 114 Democrats in sending a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to abolish the filibuster and enshrine reproductive rights into law and ensure a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions.
Trading
Led a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) President Robert Cook pressing them on how they are protecting inexperienced investors on online trading platforms.
Money Brought to the District
Rep. Casten is directly bringing money back to IL-06 and Illinois.
Over $4M directly to constituents
Through our strong casework team, we have helped deliver over $4M back to constituents.
$513.6M in Funding for Metra
The American Rescue Plan funds will allow Metra to continue providing a low-carbon transportation service critical to the region’s 8.6 million residents. The funds are intended to help transit agencies around the country maintain service and keep workers on the payroll as communities continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
$1 Billion in New Funding for Roads and Bridges
New federal funding under the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to create good-paying jobs for Illinoisans while improving roads and bridges across the state.
$94 Million for Midway and O’Hare
New federal funding under the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is headed to Illinois to make much-needed improvements to O’Hare and Midway airports.
$14.7 million in transportation funding projects for Illinois’ 6th Congressional district
The legislation proposes transformational investments in our roads, bridges, transit, rail, and wastewater and drinking water infrastructure to modernize our infrastructure, create jobs, and reduce carbon pollution.
$900,000 for Energy Startups in the Midwest
Midwest Regional Innovation Partnership, a project by Clean Energy Trust, Centrepolis Accelerator at Lawrence Technological University, mHUB, and Spark Innovation Center, was selected for an award of over $900,000 from the Energy Program for Innovation Clusters (EPIC).
$29 million in emergency funding for colleges, universities, and students in Illinois’ 6th Congressional District
The funding will help local institutions cope with the severe financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and continue serving their students safely. At least half of the funding each institution receives will be distributed in the form of emergency cash assistance grants to students who are facing hunger, homelessness, and other hardship. Schools receiving funding were: Elgin Community College: $17,521,163, North Central College: $6,520,089 and Wheaton College: $5,227,217.
$614,000 for Deer Park Boulevard
Deer Park Boulevard is a main thoroughfare in the current IL-06. This funding will be used to repair it.
$500,000 for Barrington – Pedestrian Grade Separation at Main Street and the Canadian National Railroad
Sean secured funding to build a Pedestrian Grade Seperation at Main Street and the Canadian National Railroad, which would allow pedestrians to safely cross the street without interrupting traffic.
$197,644 for Bridges Communities
For 33 years, Bridge Communities has been serving extremely low to low income homeless families, mostly single mothers with two or more children. This funding will be used to rehab current space and provide safe, clean and affordable housing for families.
$3,000,000 for 360 Youth Services – Youth Affordable Housing Resource Center
The funding would be used as a Youth Affordable Housing Resource Center to provide youth-specific housing and homelessness prevention services in DuPage, Kane, Will and surrounding counties. 360 Youth Services provides a regional access point for trauma-informed mental health care, crisis intervention, family services, vocational training, educational support, rental assistance, legal aid and LGBTQ+ affirming services.
$1,080,000 for Downers Grove Sanitary District for Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation
The funding would be used for Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation in Downers Grove.
$785,000 for Village of Burr Ridge for Stormwater Management Improvements
Sean secured funding to improve stormwater management in Burr Ridge beneath Elm Street, preventing the collapse of a pipe that would impact local schools.
$750,000 for Morton Arboretum for an Urban Forestry Project
Sean secured funding for a project that will allow Morton Arboretum to diversify the urban forestry and improve the ability to plant and care for trees.
$500,000 Community College District 502 Nursing, Dental Hygiene, and Health Sciences Program
Sean secured funding to better prepare students for careers in health care.
$250,000 for DuPage Regional Office of Education, Wheaton, IL for high school work-based learning
Sean secured funding to better prepare high school students for jobs in manufacturing and other trades.
$250,000 for Boys & Girls Clubs of Dundee Township, Carpentersville, IL
Sean secured funding that will be used to run programs to help address learning loss and social-emotional learning needs for students caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.