Full Text of HR1535 99th General Assembly
HR1535 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives wish to congratulate their colleague, David R. | 4 | | Leitch, on the occasion of his retirement as State | 5 | | Representative of the 73rd District after a long and | 6 | | distinguished career of public service; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Representative Leitch was born on August 2, 1948 | 8 | | in Three Rivers, Michigan, the son of Duncan and Eunice Leitch, | 9 | | a county agricultural extension agent and a homemaker and | 10 | | teacher. The family included sister, Carol Fries, and brothers, | 11 | | Brian and Paul, now deceased; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, On Representative Leitch's 16th birthday, his | 13 | | family moved to East Peoria; he attended East Peoria Community | 14 | | High School; he was elected class president his senior year, | 15 | | editor of the newspaper, and worked on the referendum to create | 16 | | Illinois Central College while still in high school; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Representative Leitch was selected for the | 18 | | Journal Star Regional Scholarship; he started working as a copy | 19 | | boy in May of 1966; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, In 1970, Representative Leitch graduated from | 21 | | Kalamazoo College with a B.A. in History; he became a full-time |
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| 1 | | reporter for the Peoria Journal Star, covering city and State | 2 | | politics and general assignments, beginning in June of 1970; | 3 | | and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, In December 1974, Representative Leitch was asked | 5 | | to lead the Peoria Downtown Development Council as its new | 6 | | president, where he worked to implement the Downtown Peoria | 7 | | Plan intended to make Peoria a leading business and | 8 | | entertainment hub with the Peoria Civic Center, the University | 9 | | of Illinois Medical School relocation to downtown, and the | 10 | | restoration of the Peoria Hotel Pere Marquette; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, In 1980, the Downtown Development Council was | 12 | | winding down and Representative Leitch joined the Commercial | 13 | | National Bank as Vice President of Area Development; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, When State Senator Prescott Bloom died in January | 15 | | 1986, David Leitch was appointed to fill out his term in the | 16 | | Illinois State Senate; later in 1988, he succeeded State | 17 | | Representative Fred Tuerk in the Illinois House of | 18 | | Representatives; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, In 1990, Representative Leitch passed a | 20 | | long-awaited bill to require insurance coverage of mammograms; | 21 | | he was one of only 5 legislators to vote "No" on increasing | 22 | | Cost-of-Living Adjustment's in the system to a 3 percent |
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| 1 | | compounded rate; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, In addition to his diligent and dedicated work on | 3 | | issues of government reform, business climate, and | 4 | | agricultural issues, Representative Leitch focused on helping | 5 | | mentally ill and developmentally disabled citizens; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, With the goal of improving services for mental | 7 | | health recovery, Representative Leitch created the Central | 8 | | Illinois Coalition for Mental Health Recovery, designed to | 9 | | bring together the community-based agencies and Methodist | 10 | | Medical Center to work on issues plaguing the mentally ill in | 11 | | the community, a group which he has regularly met with for over | 12 | | 16 years; among their accomplishments are establishment of | 13 | | Peoria County Mental Health Court, creation of a psychiatric | 14 | | residency program at Methodist Medical Center, and creation of | 15 | | the Community Crisis Center, whose purpose is to keep the | 16 | | mentally ill out of emergency rooms and jail; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Representative Leitch passed landmark | 18 | | legislation, including first-in-the-nation cord blood stem | 19 | | cell donation legislation, Good Samaritan laws to allow doctors | 20 | | to donate their services to community clinics where doctors | 21 | | practice for free, and laws requiring improving health care | 22 | | delivery to the mentally ill and developmentally disabled; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Representative Leitch secured $18 million for the | 2 | | Illinois Central College East Peoria campus which enabled the | 3 | | college to build the mechanical and industrial building | 4 | | (Caterpillar diesel technology program), IT building, career | 5 | | center (later named in his honor) and a horticulture facility; | 6 | | and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Representative Leitch later secured the Zeller | 8 | | Mental Health Center, a 64-acre, 225,000 square foot complex | 9 | | for the North campus of Illinois Central College in Peoria; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Representative Leitch led local legislators in | 11 | | securing a $10 million loan to prevent the bankruptcy of | 12 | | Keystone Steel & Wire; the effort saved over 1,200 jobs; the | 13 | | entire loan has been repaid, and the company is thriving; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, Representative Leitch has always held a strong | 15 | | commitment to constituent service in public office and | 16 | | personally worked hard on problems brought to him by his | 17 | | constituents and communities he represented in the Illinois | 18 | | House; he instilled an environment in his office to work as | 19 | | hard as possible to help people with problems; serve | 20 | | communities and people he represented; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, Representative Leitch's service to our State and | 22 | | the Illinois House of Representatives grew when he was asked to |
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| 1 | | serve as an Assistant Republican Leader from 1993-94, | 2 | | 1997-2001, 2009-2010; as an Assistant Majority Leader from | 3 | | 1995-1997; and as Deputy Republican Leader from 2011-2016; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Representative Leitch's service to his community | 5 | | went beyond his public service in Springfield, including: Heart | 6 | | of Illinois United Way, past President; 20 year member of the | 7 | | United Way of Illinois Board; United Way of America Government | 8 | | Relations Committee; Heartland Community Health Clinic Board; | 9 | | the Hemophilia Center of Central and Northern Illinois; | 10 | | Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; Founder of | 11 | | the Government Involvement & Leadership School Peoria Chamber | 12 | | of Commerce; Founder, and past Chair of the Peoria Convention | 13 | | and Visitor's Bureau; and Riverfront Business District | 14 | | Commission; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, Representative Leitch is currently a member of the | 16 | | Illinois Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus, the Public Building | 17 | | Commission of Peoria (past Chair), Rotary Club of Downtown | 18 | | Peoria, and the Susan G. Komen Foundation Board; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, Representative Leitch's service has been | 20 | | recognized with over 75 "Legislator of the Year" Awards or | 21 | | their equivalency, including the American Medical Association | 22 | | Dr. Nathan David State Legislator of the Year Award in the | 23 | | United States in 1998, the Dr. Joseph Solovy Award from the |
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| 1 | | University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria in 2007, | 2 | | the Tom Connor Community Service Award in 2011, the Community | 3 | | Behavioral Healthcare Association of Illinois' President's | 4 | | Award in 2015 and the Peoria Historical Society's de Tonti | 5 | | Award in 2016, among countless others; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Representative Leitch has 3 adult children Sarah | 7 | | (Todd) Stille, Ben Leitch, and Elizabeth (Matt) Kunz and 4 | 8 | | grandchildren, Bennett Stille, Dallyn Stille, Reid Stille, and | 9 | | Kathryn Kunz; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Representative Leitch has shown great commitment, | 11 | | effectiveness, and vision in serving his constituents | 12 | | throughout his legislative career; therefore, be it
| 13 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 14 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 15 | | honor and congratulate State Representative David R. Leitch for | 16 | | his work in the Illinois House of Representatives and wish him | 17 | | our best on his retirement; and be it further
| 18 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 19 | | presented to Representative Leitch as an expression of our | 20 | | esteem and respect.
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