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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to congratulate Representative Sidney
4Mathias on his distinguished service to the Illinois 51st and
553rd Legislative Districts and the people of the State of
6Illinois; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias has been a member of the
8Illinois House since 1999 and has served this body with honor
9and distinction; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias graduated from South Shore
11High School in 1962, earned a bachelor of science degree in
12Mathematics from Roosevelt University in 1966, and a juris
13doctorate degree from DePaul University's College of Law in
141968; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias is a recently-retired
16attorney who practiced in Arlington Heights for 40 years; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias has been married to his
18wife, Rita for 40 years, and has two adult sons, Rabbi Elliot
19and Rabbi Scott, and has 6 grandchildren; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias began his 30-years of

 

 

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1community service in 1983 as a member of the Buffalo Grove
2Zoning Board of Appeals; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias continued his community
4service as a village trustee in Buffalo Grove from 1988-1991;
5and
 
6    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias was elected by the people
7of Buffalo Grove to serve as their village president from
81991-1999, where he became a leading voice on transportation
9issues and was a driving force behind bringing the North
10Central Line and the Sidney H. Mathias Transit Center to
11Buffalo Grove; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias was first elected to the
13Illinois House in 1998 and is completing 7 consecutive two-year
14terms in office; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias has represented with
16distinction the people of Cook and Lake Counties in the
17communities of Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Wheeling,
18Mount Prospect, Prospect Heights, Palatine, Long Grove, Deer
19Park, Hawthorn Woods, Lake Zurich, Barrington, Hoffman
20Estates, Mundelein, Vernon Hills, Kildeer, and Inverness; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Since being elected to the House of

 

 

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1Representatives, Representative Mathias has served with
2distinction on the Mass Transit committee as the Republican
3Spokesperson, the Local Government committee as the Republican
4Spokesperson, the Cities & Villages committee as the Republican
5Spokesperson, the Tollway Oversight committee as the
6Republican Spokesperson, and the Mass Transit for Northeastern
7Illinois committee as the Republican Spokesperson; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias has also served as a member
9in good standing of the Judiciary I-Civil Law committee, the
10State Government Administration committee, the Select
11Committee on Discipline, the Appropriations-General Service
12committee, the Railroad Industry committee, the Health Care
13Availability Access committee, the Transportation & Motor
14Vehicles committee, the subcommittee on Railroads, the
15Adoption Reform committee, the Transit Management and
16Performance committee, the Appropriations-Public Safety
17committee, the Aging committee, the Financial Institutions
18committee, the Airports committee, and the Illinois State Toll
19Highway Authority committee; and
 
20    WHEREAS, During his 14-year term as a State Representative
21Mathias served as a chief sponsor of more than 120 public acts
22and as a chief co-sponsor or co-sponsor of hundreds of
23additional public acts; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias has been a vocal opponent
2of tax increases during his 14 years in office; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias has been a tireless
4advocate for children and adults with disabilities as well as
5special needs children; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias had a key role in reforming
7the State's Regional Transportation Authority by helping to
8bring financial stability and continuity of service to CTA,
9Metra and Pace; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias was deeply involved with
11bringing significant transportation improvements to his
12region, including the Route 22 bypass in Lake Zurich; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias fought with determination
14for the extension of Route 53 into Lake County by bringing key
15decision-makers together to build consensus for the project; he
16has also served on various councils instrumental in determining
17the feasibility for the extension of Route 53; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias has made other innumerable
19contributions to the public good through his service to the
20Northwest Municipal Conference, the Northwest Council of
21Mayors, the Illinois Alzheimer's Legislators Alliance, the

 

 

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1Illinois Holocaust and Genocide Commission, the Lake County
2Municipal League, the Illinois Municipal League, the North
3Central Metra Service Mayoral Task Force, the Corridor Planning
4Council of Central Lake County, the National Conference of
5State Legislatures Transportation committee, the National
6League of Cities Transportation & Communications committees,
7the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, the Solid Waste
8Agency of Northern Cook County, the Cook County Circuit Court,
9the College of Lake County's Southeast Regional Planning
10Council, Roosevelt University's Community Advisory Board, the
11Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, the Northwest
12Suburban Jewish Community Center, and to the Buffalo Grove Park
13District; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias has been a long-standing
15member of the Buffalo Grove, Arlington Heights, and
16Wheeling/Prospect Heights Chambers of Commerce; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias has received numerous
18awards and recognitions, including the Outstanding Legislator
19of the Year Award and the Community Service Award from the
20Illinois Association of Park Districts, the Friend of
21Agriculture Award from the Lake County Farm Bureau, the
22Legislator of the Year Award from the Illinois Psychological
23Association, the Lung Health Champion Award from the
24Respiratory Health Association, and Legislator of the Year from

 

 

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1the Illinois Child Care Association; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias traveled to Israel in 2012
3as part of a delegation of Illinois leaders to advance the
4economic and cultural ties between Illinois and Israel; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Representative Mathias and his family understand
6firsthand the suffering and challenges faced by the Jewish
7community; his father, Ernest Mathias, was a Holocaust survivor
8who was arrested on Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) in
9Germany and sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp; his
10father was able to secure safe passage to America where he
11worked in Chicago stockyards until becoming a business owner;
12tragically, Ernest Mathias' parents and 3 sisters were murdered
13in concentration camps during World War II; therefore, be it
 
14    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
15NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
16we wish Representative Mathias all the best in his future
17endeavors and congratulate him on a job well done in the
18General Assembly; and be it further
 
19    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
20presented to Representative Mathias, his wife Rita, and their
21family, as an expression of our esteem and respect for our
22colleague and friend.