Mary E. Flowers

Mary E. Flowers (born July 31, 1951) is a former Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives. Representative Flowers was the longest serving African-American legislator in Illinois history. She represented the 31st district from January 9, 1985 to January 13, 1993, represented the 21st district from January 13, 1993 to January 8, 2003, and represented the 31st district again from January 8, 2003 to January 8, 2025.

Early life and education Flowers was born on July 31, 1951, in Inverness, Mississippi. Her family moved to Chicago when she was a child. She attended local schools in Chicago, Kennedy King Community College and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Political career Mary Flowers was first elected to the 84th General Assembly as a Democrat from the 31st district in 1985. She served 20 terms as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives and served as a House Deputy Majority Leader for the 103rd General Assembly. Flowers replied that the Speaker had taken her remarks out of context. In 2024, Welch directed more than $1.6 million in campaign contributions to Flowers' challenger in the 2024 Democratic primary. Crawford ultimately defeated Flowers in the primary.

At the conclusion of the legislative session in January 2025, Flowers had served forty years in the Illinois House of Representatives—the longest tenure of any woman in the history of the Illinois General Assembly.

Illinois State Representative Committees During her tenure in the Illinois House of Representatives, Flowers served on several different committees covering a range of topics and issues in the House of Representatives. Below is a list of her historical committee assignments.

As of 2024, Flowers had no committee assignments. Representative Flowers' Previous Committee Assignments Committee Name General Assembly Health Care Availability & Accessibility (Chair) 101st, 100th, 99th, 98th, and 97th Health Care Availability & Access (Chair) 90th through 96th Health & Healthcare Disparities 99th, 98th, 97th and 96th Health Care & Human Services 89th Healthy Illinois Plan 93rd Prescription Drug Affordability 101st Youth & Young Adults 99th Economic Justice & Equity 100th Economic Opportunity 100th Medicaid Reform 96th Medicaid Reform, Family & Children 96th Human Services 90th through 101st, and 84th The Disabled Community 92nd Restorative Justice 100th, 99th, and 98th Economic Development & Housing 99th Higher Education 100th, 99th, 98th, 97th, 96th, 95th, and 84th Juvenile Justice & System-Involved Youth 99th Small Business Empowerment & Workforce Development 99th and 97th Accountability & Administrative Review 98th Environmental Health 97th Special Investigative Committee 96th and 95th Agriculture & Conservation 97th and 96th Smart Growth & Regional Planning (Vice Chair) 95th Department of Children & Family Services Oversight 95th Drivers Education & Safety 95th International Trade & Commerce 94th Fee For Services Initiatives 94th and 93rd Special Committee and Tobacco Settlement Proceeds 92nd Special Committee on Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Distribution 91st Children & Youth 92nd and 91st Labor and Commerce 87th, 86th, 85th, and 84th Commerce & Business Development (Vice Chair) 93rd and 92nd Financial Institutions 89th, 86th and 85th Consumer Protection 89th Insurance (Minority Spokesperson) 89th Executive 88th, 87th and 86th Public Utilities (Vice Chair) 88th, 87th, 86th, and 85th Real Estate Law (Chair) 87th Registration & Regulation 87th, 86th, and 85th Museums, Arts& Cultural Enhancement 100th and 98th Implementation of Chicago School Reform 86th Appropriations – Elementary & Secondary Education (Vice Chair) 94th and 93rd Appropriations – Human Services 90th and 87th Appropriations Higher Education 97th and 96th Appropriations II 86th, 85th, and 84th Appropriations – General Services 88th Public Utilities Minority Spokesperson for 88th, Vice Chair for 87th, 86th, and 85th Small Business 85th and 84th Housing 85th World's Fair 1992 84th

Legislation Flowers' primary legislative focus was on health and child welfare matters. She was the principal sponsor of legislation related to medical patients rights, medical managed care reform, health insurance reforms, hospital and nursing home staffing standards, licensure of direct-entry midwives, adverse health event reporting, health facility regulatory reform, medical and dental practice reforms, and public health/communicable disease control.

Flowers was the primary sponsor of several laws, including:

Representative Flowers supported universal health care, and repeatedly filed related legislation and conducted public hearings to promote such reforms throughout her legislative career – House Bill 311, The Illinois Universal Health Care Act – of the 97th General Assembly is the primary model.

Flowers emphasized the safety of children in substitute care within the child welfare system regulated and administered by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, an agency and system that has experienced repeated tragedies and the subject of continuous judicial oversight.

Flowers received several awards during her tenure, including 1993 "Legislator of the Year" award from Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association, which became the Illinois Association for Behavioral Health Care.

Personal life Flowers was married to Daniel Coutee; the couple have one daughter, Makeda. Coutee died in September 2019. Flowers also has two grandchildren.

Electoral history