Progress Illinois

The Illinois Senate Insurance Committee passed a measure Wednesday that looks to establish a state-run health insurance marketplace for small businesses and individuals as part of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act of 2010.

Some health care and consumer advocates are pushing for a state-based insurance exchange, but questions still remain on how to make the marketplace the best it can be.

"We're walking into a new territory. We haven’t been here yet," said Brigid Leahy, director of legislative affairs at Planned Parenthood of Illinois. "But at least we know that if we're running things at the state level, we can fix things, we can make them better, we have better control over making sure that it works for consumers. If it’s in the hands of the feds, we don’t have that power." 

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Hemlines, husbands and hairdos.

Despite this year being coined the "Year of the Woman" by some political pundits, those characteristics continue to define women seeking a run for public office or who are already in power, said Bev Perdue, former Democratic governor of North Carolina.

But as America's demographic profile continues to shift, and as today's young women enter the workforce, bias against female politicians will eventually dissipate, Perdue added.

"I think you're going to bring about all this change we've been fighting about," Purdue said at a Women In Politics panel discussion at the University of Chicago (U of C) Wednesday evening. "I'd like to live long enough to see a real year of the woman, and actually a year of the gay man and a year of people not worrying about sex or race."  Read more »