Topic: Emil Jones

Emil Jones, Jr. (born October 18, 1935 in Chicago, Illinois) was the President of the Illinois Senate. A Democrat, Jones served in the Illinois Senate from 1983 to 2009, where he served as President of the Illinois Senate from 2003 to the end of his term. Previously, he was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1973 until 1983.

Jones is one of the more influential blacks in Illinois political history and a leading advocate for education reform. He has said he is proud of his work on criminal justice reform.

Jones fought for billions of dollars more for public schools during the past half-decade, but his efforts to make education funding fairer, according to his view, by basing it on income taxes instead of property taxes have failed because of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s no-income-tax-hike pledge. Jones has been one of Blagojevich's staunchest allies in Illinois government.