By Black Headline News
Indianapolis— Illinois Representative Marcus C. Evans, Jr., has been elected vice president of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), a bipartisan organization serving the nation’s 7,383 state lawmakers and more than 30,000 legislative staff.
Evans will serve one year as vice president, ascend to president-elect the following year, and become NCSL’s president at the 2025 Legislative Summit in Boston. NCSL’s presidency alternates between parties every year. Rhode Island Speaker Pro Tempore Brian Patrick Kennedy (D) is NCSL’s current president, and Utah Senate President Pro Tempore Wayne Harper (R) is president-elect.
“NCSL has done an exceptional job promoting legislative institutions and supporting legislators and staff,” Evans said. “As your next vice president, one of my principal goals is to increase the number of legislators participating in NCSL. I truly believe this organization nurtures every state policymaker across the country, reinforcing the strength of the nation. Better state policymakers equal better legislatures that produce quality legislation for the hardworking people of this country.”
Evans has served in the Illinois House of Representatives since 2012. He is assistant majority leader and chairman of the Labor and Commerce Committee under House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch. He has been actively involved with NCSL since 2016, serving on the Executive Committee, NCSL Task Force on State & Local Taxation and Task Force on Energy Supply, among others.
Evans resides on the southside of Chicago, where he has been active in the civic process since high school. Throughout his years of service, Evans has passed a wide range of impactful legislation in areas such as energy reliability, labor rights and policy, transportation, health care funding and availability, and housing stabilization and development. Outside of the Legislature, he gives back by serving as an Illinois High School Association official and an advocate for cancer awareness. Evans is passionate about finding innovative solutions to today’s most complex problems.