Andy Manar - Co-Chair

Organization - Deputy Governor, Office of the Governor

County - State of Illinois

Andy Manar is the Deputy Governor for Budget and Economy. Manar joined the Governor’s administration in January 2021. Prior to joining the Governor’s administration, Manar was a member of the Illinois General Assembly and chaired the Senate Appropriations II Committee. He was elected to the Illinois State Senate in November 2012 to serve the 48th district, which encompasses parts of Sangamon, Christian, Macoupin, Madison, Macon, and Montgomery counties. Manar has several legislative accomplishments during his time in the General Assembly. He was a driving force behind the passage of the K-12 Evidence-Based Funding Reform Formula. This historic legislation transformed public education to make it more equitable for all children in Illinois. Manar worked to pass several pieces of legislation regarding education including a bill to increase the minimum wage for teachers from $9,000 per year to $32,000 per year, a bill to bring highspeed broadband to school districts in need and passed legislation to help with the substitute teacher shortage in Illinois. He also worked to bring automatic voter registration to Illinois and capped insulin at $100 a month. As a Golden Apple Scholar, Manar received his Bachelor of History from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where he also received his teaching license.