SR0144 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0144 LRB098 11258 GRL 42306 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of our friend and former colleague, Dawn Clark Netsch, who passed away on March 5, 2013; and

WHEREAS, Dawn Clark Netsch was born on September 16, 1926, in Cincinnati, Ohio; after attending public schools throughout the Depression and World War II, she graduated from Northwestern University in 1948 and subsequently enrolled in the University's law school, where she graduated first in her class in 1952; and

WHEREAS, Dawn Clark Netsch dedicated herself to a lifetime of service to the people of the State of Illinois and the nation at large; after working for Adlai Stevenson during his 1952 presidential campaign, she worked with a Washington, D.C. law firm for 2 years before returning to Chicago, where she served as a clerk for Judge Julius Hoffman; she again worked for Stevenson's presidential campaign in 1956, and afterwards became an active member of the Committee on Illinois Government, a group of independent Democrats that sought to carry on Stevenson's legacy; she then worked for 4 years in a Chicago law firm before beginning her service as an assistant to Governor Otto Kerner from 1961 to 1965; in 1965, she joined the Northwestern University School of Law faculty, becoming one of the first group of women law professors in the United States; in 1969, she was elected as a delegate to the Illinois Constitutional Convention; and

WHEREAS, In 1972, Dawn Clark Netsch was elected to serve as State Senator; she served in the Senate until 1991 and quickly became one of the most prominent members of the body; during her tenure, she served as a stalwart champion of numerous issues, including the Equal Rights Amendment, ethics reform, the merit selection of State judges, the reform of State revenue and finance, and many issues related to gender equality; and

WHEREAS, In 1990, Dawn Clark Netsch was elected to serve as the Illinois State Comptroller, where she served with integrity and dedication during a time of severe budget constraints in the State and achieved the distinction of being the first woman elected to a State constitutional executive office in Illinois; in 1994, she ran against Governor Jim Edgar for the governorship, once again making history as the first woman to run for governor of Illinois as the candidate of a major political party; during the election, she advocated for a raise in the State income tax coupled with a decrease in individual property taxes in order to restore fiscal health to the State's school system; following her defeat in the gubernatorial election, she began serving on the faculty of the Northwestern University School of Law; despite her exit from State politics, she remained involved in a variety of worthwhile causes, including Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's Ethics Reform Task Force, and gained a great and deserved reputation as one of the State's most respected elder statesmen; and

WHEREAS, Dawn Clark Netsch was preceded in death by her dear husband, Walter Netsch; and

WHEREAS, Dawn Clark Netsch's legacy of honest governance and great dignity and integrity will be dearly missed by the members of this body, the people of the State of Illinois, and her friends and admirers throughout the nation; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with her family and friends, the passing of our friend and colleague, Dawn Clark Netsch; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Dawn Clark Netsch as an expression of our sympathy and great respect for Dawn Clark Netsch's life and legacy.