HR1340 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1340 LRB100 24277 ALS 43612 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to honor our esteemed colleague, State Representative Al Riley, for his nearly 12 years as a member of the Illinois General Assembly and thank him for his dedicated service to our State and to his community; and

WHEREAS, Representative Riley was born in Chicago to a union steward and civil rights leader who focused on improving fair housing and equal opportunity, which, as a teenager, piqued his interest in public policy and quantitative research; and

WHEREAS, Professionally, Representative Riley is an urban planner and a statistician; he has worked as a Chief Planner and Director in county government, a Director in Institutional Research and Planning for Thornton Community College, and a Director of Biostatistics and Computer Services for the Illinois Cancer Council; for 11 years, he has also worked as a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Governor's State University; and

WHEREAS, Representative Riley proudly served his country on active and reserve duty in the United States Army from 1972 until 1978 in the branches of Psychological Operations and Civil Affairs; and

WHEREAS, Since joining the Illinois General Assembly, Representative Riley has dedicated his abundance of skills to making progress on issues of resource allocation and equity for the Southland region of the Chicago metropolitan area; and

WHEREAS, Representative Riley served as the Chairman of the House Mass Transit Committee and worked to produce landmark Mass Transit legislation which brought a permanent south suburban seat on the Metra Board, increased funds for innovative transit solutions for PACE, a bond issue promise for new cars, improvements on the Metra Electric line, and development of the SouthEast Service line to provide reliable transit to the Southland; and

WHEREAS, During an unprecedented State budget impasse, Representative Riley took a crucial step toward resolving the crisis by leading the charge on reforming state procurement operations as a major portion of a bargain to move the state forward; his efforts were integral in expanding access for small businesses and minority contractors to conduct business with the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Representative Riley has served on many civic and charitable foundations, including the executive boards of the Boy Scouts of America-Calumet Council, the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Jazz in the Park for Charity, the Unity Coalition of the South suburbs, and the UIC College of Urban Planning Alumni Association; he is also a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Theta Mu Lambda Chapter; and

WHEREAS, All who had the honor to serve with Representative Riley will miss his friendship, kindness, sincerity, unparalleled wit, and his unwavering commitment to his family, his community, and the State of Illinois; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate and thank State Representative Al Riley for his years of dedicated service; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Representative Riley as an expression of our esteem, respect, and best wishes.