About Daniel

State Representative Daniel Biss represents the 17th House District in the Illinois General Assembly. Daniel is a former math professor at the University of Chicago and is serving his first term in the House of Representatives. He is currently the Democratic candidate for the Illinois State Senate in the 9th District.

Since he was elected to office in 2010, Daniel has passed legislation on a variety of issues, including environmental policy, high tech economic growth, political reform, equal rights for individuals with autism and consumer protection. He rapidly emerged as an acknowledged leader on fiscal matters, pushing both parties to overhaul the budget process to align spending with available revenue while preserving our top priorities. He won an uphill battle to pass legislation that doubled the amount of electronic waste manufacturers are required to recycle. Daniel also played a pivotal role in passing legislation to support Illinois’s high tech entrepreneurs by tripling investments in Illinois venture capital at no cost to taxpayers, an effort that had stalled in the House in previous years.

In just his first term, Daniel has already earned broad acclaim for his leadership and accomplishments. The Illinois Recycling Association recognized Daniel as a Recycling Hero; he won the Legislator of the Year award from the Illinois Association of Park Districts and was given the John W. Maitland Award by the Illinois Biotechnology Industry Organization. Daniel served as a co-chair for a bipartisan working group to explore solutions to address the state’s pension crisis and was recently appointed to chair the state’s Digital Divide Elimination Advisory Committee.

Daniel serves on seven House Committees: Higher Education Appropriations, Elementary and Secondary Education Appropriations, Bio-Technology, Consumer Protection, International Trade and Commerce, Personnel and Pensions, and Small Business and Empowerment and Workforce Development.

With State Senator Jeff Schoenberg’s retirement at the end of the 2012 legislative session, Daniel is running for the open 9th State Senate district seat. The 9th district includes Golf, Kenilworth, Northfield, Wilmette, and Winnetka, and parts of Evanston, Glencoe, Glenview, Morton Grove, Northbrook and Skokie.

Daniel is married to Karin Steinbrueck, a doctoral candidate in history at Northwestern University. Daniel and Karin live in Evanston with their two young children, Elliot and Theodore. Daniel holds a doctorate in mathematics from MIT and an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Harvard University.