and was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives. He was becoming a ranking member with influence and did not side with the Madigan allyship that many Democrats found shelter under. Because of that, he encountered several times where he had to stand in his own position when many others disagreed. In 2013, Representative Dunkin voted "yea" to a plan that amended state employee pension plans by drastically reducing the constitutionally protected benefits of Illinois state employees in retirement. The Illinois Supreme Court ultimately found these legislative changes to be unconstitutional. Dunkin most recently "no-showed" (did not vote) on an important vote in the House. House Democrats were attempting of override a veto by Governor Bruce Rauner on SB 1229. SB 1229 which would have empowered an arbitrator to decide negotiation disputes between public sector unions and the governor. Its implementation would have impeded the Governor's ability to force a "lock-out" of state workers during contract negotiations and also prevented the union from striking. As reported by the Chicago Sun-times, Dunkin, responding over text, played coy initially when a Sun-Times reporter asked him about his absence: "Why, what's going on??" Dunkin responded. He then said: "I'm out of town as I informed the Speaker et al last week. Period." When defending his decision to no-show on the SB1229 vote, Rep. Dunkin's response was, "This bill meant nothing to the average person." On November 10, 2015, Representative Dunkin once again sided with Governor Rauner rather than his Democratic caucus involving a vote on child care assistance. House Democrats were just one vote short — voting 70-35 on Senate Bill 570. It needed 71 votes to pass. Rep. Ken Dunkin, D-Chicago, didn't vote — showing some tension between House Democrats and the administration. "'Come on, Ken!'" House Democrats implored as Dunkin did not vote on two key bills favored by colleagues. […] "Let me be clear that no one bears more responsibility today for the defeat of this legislation, which protects our children and child care and home care in Illinois than Rep. Ken Dunkin himself," Jaquie Algee, vice president of SEIU Healthcare Illinois said at a press conference organized by House Speaker Michael Madigan. – At one point during an intense, emotional floor debate, state Rep. Jaime Andrade stripped Dunkin's nameplate from the front of his seat, walked it over to the Republican side of the chamber then threw it