Meet Laura Fine

Laura's path to public service began with a fight for her family’s future.

Raised in Glenview, Illinois, blocks from where she lives today, Laura grew up believing in education, community, and the responsibility to stand up for others. 

After graduating from Indiana University, Laura began her career in journalism and broadcasting before going on to teach at Northeastern Illinois University. She and her husband, Michael, built their careers and family, raising their two sons, Jeremy and Jacob.

In 2010, Laura’s world changed instantly when Michael was involved in a catastrophic car accident. After spending weeks in the hospital, Michael miraculously survived, although he lost his left arm. The insurance coverage they relied upon to navigate their medical expenses was unexpectedly denied when the company tried to cancel Michael’s insurance policy.  While Michael began to recover, Laura was forced to battle a broken insurance system or face bankruptcy and lose their home.

Laura stepped up. She studied and earned her insurance license to understand the industry in Illinois and fight against the heartless policies devastating her family. 

That experience lit a fire in Laura that still burns today. Laura refused to accept a system that failed families like hers. Laura took her fight from her living room to the halls of Springfield, winning election to the State House and then the Senate. In that time, she has built a record as Illinois’ leading champion for healthcare access, consumer protection, and mental health services.

Laura wrote and passed laws that provide quality, affordable access to mental healthcare, grow the healthcare workforce, cut red tape to allow patients the medications they need, protect a woman's access to reproductive healthcare.

Thanks to Laura's work, Illinois has gone from leading the nation in insurers wrongfully cancelling policies to having some of the strongest consumer protection laws in the country during her time in the General Assembly.

Laura has fought to expand newborn screening programs, protect infants from toxic heavy metals in baby foods, strengthen protections for children with disabilities, and expanded fertility coverage to all families. 

She has also tackled environmental threats, banning Styrofoam in Illinois and expanding protections for pollinators critical to our food systems.

Through it all, Laura has never forgotten what brought her to public service: the families who need someone fighting on their side. For Laura, every bill, every battle, and every victory is personal – because she knows what it’s like to be the person counting on a system that too often says no.

Now Laura is running for Congress to continue her fight to make sure Illinois continues to have a champion in Washington that stands up for families, not special interests.