He fought to include funding in the state budget for the FamilyCare program, which provides health insurance to the parents of children enrolled in KidCare.

[3] The legislation provides that birth parents may legally leave a newborn at a hospital, fire station, or emergency medical facility.

In 2000 Trotter made an unsuccessful bid for the United States House of Representatives in the Illinois's 1st congressional district against Bobby Rush and then-State Senator Barack Obama.

On Wednesday, December 5, 2012, Trotter was charged with "attempt to board an aircraft with a weapon", which is normally a Class 4 felony, after Transportation Security Administration agents found a .25 caliber Beretta handgun and magazine loaded with six live rounds, which were in the outer pocket of a garment bag.

However, on Wednesday, April 24, 2013, Thomas Durkin, Trotter's attorney, stated that his client had entered a guilty plea, in a plea deal approved by the judge, to a misdemeanor count of reckless conduct (Trotter allegedly had worked a part-time security job, and had forgotten that the weapon was in a garment bag).

The misdemeanor plea allows him to keep his job without fear of impeachment or removal, and the conviction will be stricken if Senator Trotter completes a year of non-reporting court supervision.