21 Facts About Andy Manar

Andy Manar was born on November 15,1975 and is a former Democratic member of the Illinois Senate.

Andy Manar represented the 48th district, including part or all of Christian, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Montgomery, and Sangamon counties.

Andy Manar is known for being the chief advocate for SB 1947, which made dramatic reforms to Illinois' education funding formula.

On January 4,2021 Manar announced that he would be stepping down from the State Senate to assume a role in the administration of J B Pritzker.

On June 17,2021 it was announced that Manar would become Deputy Governor in the Pritzker Administration, taking over for Dan Hynes.

Andy Manar went to Bunker Hill Community High School where he learned first hand the importance of strong downstate schools.

Andy Manar learned about phenomenal public service through an unpaid internship working for the Senator's district office helping constituents.

Andy Manar attended Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville where he was a Golden Apple Scholar studying History to become a certified teacher.

In 1997, Andy Manar was elected to the Bunker Hill City Council.

In 2003, Andy Manar left the Mayor's post to join the Macoupin County Board as its youngest member.

Andy Manar shut down the county-run economic development office and helped to create a new collaborative public-private partnership run equally by private business and municipal and county government.

In December 2012, Andy Manar stepped down after four terms as the County Board Chairman, in order to transition to the Illinois Senate being succeeded by Mark Dragovich.

In September 2011, Andy Manar announced his intention to run for State Senate in the newly-drawn 48th district.

In 2014, Senator Andy Manar won his first race for re-election, defeating Macon County Board member Linda Little of Decatur.

Outside of the General Assembly chambers, Senator Andy Manar has been active in advocating on behalf of the communities of his district.

Andy Manar has publicly advocated to hold the Bruce Rauner administration responsible, including commissioning and publicizing a report revealing the financial mismanagement of state warehouse leasing.

Senator Andy Manar brought together Lewis and Clark Community College and the University of Illinois to establish a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program in Godfrey.

Andy Manar said he filed the bill after a teacher in his district talked to him about her struggle to pay for insulin for her diabetic children, and after reading about the State of Colorado's recently passed insulin co-pay cap bill.

Andy Manar is currently the only downstate Senator to chair an appropriations committee.

Andy Manar was a legislative appointee to the Agriculture Export Advisory Committee, Coal Development Board, Flue Gas Desulfurization Task Force, Professional Development Panel, and Illinois Workforce Innovation Board.

Andy Manar said his main objective as a senior advisor would be to help Pritzker with downstate economic revitalization, appropriations, and COVID-19 recovery efforts.