SR1857 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Senator Kirk W. Dillard stepped down from his seat representing the 24th District, ending a prolific and successful legislative career in which he served the people of Illinois with distinction and honor; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard has always felt it was a true privilege to serve the people of Illinois and has done so his entire adult life; before being elected to the Illinois Senate, he began his career as a legislative intern for the Senate Republican Staff; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard served with distinction as Chief of Staff for Governor Jim Edgar, as a Legislative Director for Governor James Thompson, and as a judge on the Court of Claims; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard was first elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1995 and began a remarkable and effective 20-year legislative career; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard served honorably as the Republican Co-Chairman and Spokesman for the Senate Judiciary Committee and as a member of the Senate Transportation, Energy, Executive Appointments, and Veterans Affairs Committees; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard was Chairman of the Local Government Committee and the Republican Spokesman on the Rules Committee, and he served on the Licensed Activities Committee; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard chaired the Senate High Technology Task Force, which led to the creation of the Illinois Century Network, linking vast information sources, including schools, libraries, universities, museums, and laboratories, such as the Argonne National Laboratory in Darien; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard worked to improve infrastructure in the suburbs; he spearheaded numerous projects through the legislative process and watched them become reality; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard worked to assist the Village of Downers Grove on the completion of the Belmont Road underpass; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard was instrumental in the rebuilding of the Chicago Avenue/Naperville Road project through Clarendon Hills and Westmont and was a contributing factor in developing the new Oak Street Bridge project in Hinsdale; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard worked diligently to clean up contaminated drinking water in unincorporated Lisle, Woodridge, and Downers Grove and to fund flood mitigation projects for Salt Creek; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard is most proud of the work he did to help create the Giant Steps Autism School in Lisle and in securing funding for the Woodridge-based Respite House to help medically fragile children; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard sponsored the law allowing the construction of the Museum of Contemporary Art, enhancing Chicago's Gold Coast and Streeterville neighborhoods; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard has been the chief sponsor of many landmark pieces of legislation, including a law banning sex offenders from practicing medicine in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard sponsored a bill to create the AMBER Alert Program for missing children; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard sponsored the Secretary of State's railroad safety initiative, resulting in a significant drop in fatalities; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard sponsored a law to create statewide grand juries for gunrunning and made the discharge of a firearm from a moving motor vehicle a felony; and

WHEREAS, Following the September 11 terrorist acts, Sen. Dillard sponsored a law to return the Pledge of Allegiance to Illinois high schools after a 30-year absence; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard was the chief sponsor of the Attorney General's Safe To Learn legislation, which insured the safety of children in school buildings; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard helped create thousands of jobs in Illinois by shepherding legislation to expand McCormick Place and Navy Pier, and he sponsored the incentives to lure the Boeing Company headquarters to Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard sponsored the senior citizens tax deferral program to help elderly homeowners remain in their homes with dignity, and he sponsored legislation to require parental notice of abortion and parental notice for body piercing on minors; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard sponsored the bill creating the ever-popular "Pet Friendly" license plate law; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard sponsored many laws to increase transparency and accountability in government, sponsoring, with then-State Senator Barack Obama, the first ethics and campaign finance reforms in 25 years; legislation to address racial profiling by law enforcement personnel, and an overhaul of Illinois's death penalty laws; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard was the chief sponsor of the law to create the Illinois Internet Portal to disclose online every salary, contract, tax break, and tax deadbeat; and

WHEREAS, Over the years, Sen. Dillard sponsored truth-in-sentencing legislation to make sure violent felons serve their full sentence; he also sponsored a law requiring mandatory DNA testing for all felons, a law abolishing the much-maligned General Assembly legislative scholarship program, and a law reforming McCormick Place work rules; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard worked tirelessly rewriting the archaic Criminal Code of 1961 with Senate President John Cullerton; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard sponsored laws related to tort reform to ensure access to health care in Illinois, especially for women; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard is a respected legislator and is considered to be the consummate statesman by both chambers and both parties; he was voted Outstanding Legislator by both the nation's private bi-partisan and Republican lawmakers associations, and he won the National Federation of Independent Business Guardian of Small Business Award and the Illinois Chamber Champion of Free Enterprise award multiple times; he received the Illinois Press Association's legislative service award, and he received the Legislator of the Year Award from the Illinois State Crime Commission; he was selected for the Legislative Staff Hall of Fame by Illinois Issues magazine, in conjunction with the University of Illinois; he was named a Friend of Agriculture by the Illinois Farm Bureau, and he was listed in the Who's Who in Chicago Business by Crain's Chicago Business magazine; while he was president of the Western Illinois University Alumni Association, the association won the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) award as the nation's finest among peer State institutions; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard has always believed that taxpayers should be treated like trusted business customers, with a smile and respect; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard's colleagues note that he should now have more time to spend with his wife, Stephanie, and daughters, Emma and Ava, and an opportunity to reacclimate himself to the game of golf, as well as watching Chicago's 2 baseball teams; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard is a graduate of Hinsdale Central High School, where his father taught for more than 40 years, and is a member of that school's Hall of Fame; Sen. Dillard earned, with honors, a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Economics, and a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Western Illinois University and a Juris Doctor from the DePaul University College of Law; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard looks to continued success as a partner with Locke Lord, one of Chicago's largest law firms, which he has been associated with since 1987; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Dillard has served as president of the award-winning Western Illinois University Alumni Association, as a member of the Dean's Council of the DePaul University College of Law, and as a foundation board member of the College of DuPage, raising scholarship funds for deserving students; and

WHEREAS, Following his departure from the General Assembly, Sen. Dillard has begun work as Chairman of the Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees the nation's second largest mass transit system with over 2,000,000 riders daily; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we thank Senator Kirk W. Dillard for serving the people of the State of Illinois with distinction and acknowledge that both parties will truly miss his experience and leadership; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Sen. Dillard as an expression of our esteem and respect.