Nikia Handy graduated from Waukegan High School in 2015, earned a degree from the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, returned to her hometown and now works for the College of Lake County.

When she finished college and came back to Waukegan, not all of her classmates were around.

“I have lost friends to gun violence,” Handy said. “When I came back from college, they weren’t here anymore. They never got to see 25. We see it all around us, and no one is doing anything about it.”

Handy was one of 40 people asking questions and offering views during a town hall hosted by three members of the Illinois General Assembly Thursday at Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep in Waukegan, where the legislators sought community input.

State Sen. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove, state Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Gurnee, and state Rep. Dan Didech, D-Buffalo Grove, wanted to hear from constituents before the legislature begins its 2024 session Tuesday in Springfield.

Though she admitted she could not get sufficient support for gun safety legislation to her liking to make it law in Illinois, Mayfield made her views clear on how to handle the proliferation of guns.

“If it were up to me, I would strip the guns from every person in Illinois,” she said in response to a question form a constituent who expressed a preference from less gun control.

As the trio of legislators get ready to return to Springfield to begin work on the state’s budget for the next fiscal year, continue to work on legislation introduced in 2022 and propose new laws, Johnson said it was important to hear from constituents.

“We get our ideas listening to you,” she said. “Ninety-five percent of the laws I introduced came from ideas I received from constituents.”

Recognizing gun violence is a major problem in Lake County and throughout the state, Johnson said there are tangible results locally through Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart’s Gun Violence Prevention Initiative.

Through Rinehart’s program, Johnson said there are violence interrupters working on the streets in some parts of the county, having conversations with gang members and others trying to change their thinking.

“They have prevented 28 shootings. They’re risking their lives and dodging gang bullets to make a difference,” Johnson said. “It’s a public health crisis. It is a top priority.”

Handy’s comment came after another member of the audience asked young people to talk about what they felt was needed to enhance education, particularly after-school programs.

Mayfield said grants are available to not-for-profit organizations which can make contributions to reducing gun violence or crafting after-school programs to give young people productive activities. Johnson said $15.8 billion was made available.

“We have given out grants of $250,000,” she said. “You have to be a legitimate not-for-profit organization. There are three state departments who give grants for after-school (and gun violence prevention) programs.”

As soon as the legislators invited questions, the first one asked was what was being done to remove the coal ash ponds from the now shuttered NRG electric plant along the shores of Lake Michigan, just north of downtown Waukegan. Mayfield has a bill pending in the legislature which will require the company to fully remove them.

“We’re five votes short of a majority,” she said. “We’re circling back with some of the representatives on the bubble. We are getting some help from the unions.”

Christine Lensing, who is a member of the Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 Board of Education, said while the minimum wage in Illinois increased to $14 per hour on Jan. 1, it needs to go higher. A living wage for a single person is $19 per hour, she said.

Going to $15 per hour next year, Didech said the first vote he cast as a member of the General Assembly in 2019 was increasing the minimum wage. It took a lot of work with his colleagues.

Didech said some members wanted the wage lower in counties which bordered other states, like Lake County.

“I fought very hard to keep Lake County the same as everyone else,” Didech said. “Illinois has one of the highest minimum wages in the country.”