Bill Text: IL HR0652 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Congratulates Joel Africk on his retirement from full-time employment as the CEO of Respiratory Health and commends him on his many years of service on behalf the residents in the State of Illinois and beyond.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-03-13 - Resolution Adopted [HR0652 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HR0652-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
Representatives wish to congratulate Joel Jay Africk on his
retirement from full-time employment as CEO of the Respiratory
Health Association and commend him for his unwavering
commitment to improving the health of residents of Illinois;
and
WHEREAS, Joel Africk is a native of Chicago; he graduated
from Niles North High School, the University of Illinois
(Urbana), and Harvard Law School; afterward, he clerked for
the Honorable Judge Bernard M. Decker and became a partner in
the Chicago law firm of Jenner & Block, LLP, where he
represented clients in a broad range of business litigation
matters from 1984 to 2001; and
WHEREAS, Joel Africk became the CEO of the Respiratory
Health Association in 2002, focusing on creating a safer and
healthier environment for Illinois families; and
WHEREAS, Joel Africk helped pass the Chicago Smoke-Free
Ordinance in 2005, amending the Clean Air Act to make all
places of employment 100% smoke-free in the City of Chicago;
and

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WHEREAS, Joel Africk's leadership helped pass the 2007
Smoke-free Illinois Act, making all restaurants, bars, and
other workplaces in Illinois 100% smoke-free; the law is
considered the strongest smoke-free law in the country, as it
includes casinos and private clubs in its list of required
smoke-free venues; this policy was supported by more than 450
organizations and tens of thousands of advocates; and
WHEREAS, Joel Africk helped pass the State's first No
Idling Diesel Law, which limited diesel truck idling in the
metropolitan Chicago and metro East St. Louis areas to 10
minutes; following this legislation, the Respiratory Health
Association along with Citizen Action/Illinois formally
launched the Illinois Campaign to Clean Up Diesel Pollution,
with the aim to significantly clean up diesel pollution in the
State; to date, over 80 public health, community, labor, and
environmental organizations have endorsed the campaign; in
2008, he helped secure $19.5 million in federal Congestion
Mitigation and Air Improvement funding to clean up diesel
engines in the Chicago metropolitan area, the largest amount
of money the committee has dedicated for diesel cleanup in
Chicago; and
WHEREAS, Joel Africk launched the first annual Living
Better Together COPD Conference in 2005, the largest patient
gathering in the U.S., and led a coalition in the development

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of the nation's first statewide COPD plan to reduce
COPD-related morbidity and mortality, which improved the
quality of life for people in Illinois living with COPD; he
created the COPD Caregiver's Toolkit in 2017, which was
digitalized and became available nationwide on the National
Institute of Health website in 2023; and
WHEREAS, Joel Africk's effort to ensure smoke-free places
for Illinois residents enabled the Chicago Parks districts to
adopt a smoke-free park policy, covering 580 parks, 90
gardens, 90 museum campuses, 9 lakefront harbors, 9 skating
rinks, and more than 24 miles of lakefront property, becoming
the largest smoke-free park district in the country; the
Respiratory Health Association's efforts, with the help of
many advocates and institutions, reduced the adult smoking
rate in Illinois from 20.9% in 2011 to 12.1% in 2021 and the
statewide youth smoking rate from 12.5% in 2009 to 1.1% in
2021; and
WHEREAS, Joel Africk was passionate about raising
awareness and support for community events that supported the
mission to create smoke-free environments in Illinois; he
championed initiatives through creative community events,
propelling The Witt Hotel and The Hustle, which has raised
just under $21 million over its lifetime, the Jewelry
Television, and Catch Your Breath fundraisers and three

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Chicago Auto Show black-tie galas to support the Respiratory
Health Association and community efforts in promoting
Smoke-Free Illinois and patient support programs; and
WHEREAS, Joel Africk and the Respiratory Health
Association worked with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn in 2009 to
release a Green Construction Executive Order, which requires
all state-funded road construction projects, in non-attainment
areas, to use clean construction practices; and
WHEREAS, Joel Africk and the Respiratory Health
Association worked to pass the Climate & Equitable Jobs Act in
2021, which sets Illinois on the path to 100% clean energy by
2050 and commits millions of dollars to quickly expand
transportation electrification in Illinois; this law has been
instrumental in closing or preventing 23 coal power plant
operations; and
WHEREAS, Joel Africk was born to Diane (Lazow) and Richard
Africk, along with younger siblings, Michael Africk and Juli
Noll; he married Julie Magyar on December 17, 1989, and they
have three children, Jared (Kate), Megan, and Sarah Africk;
and
WHEREAS, Joel Africk looks forward to spending more time
with his family, traveling, and cycling in retirement;

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therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we congratulate Joel Africk on his retirement from full-time
employment as the CEO of Respiratory Health, and we commend
him on his many years of service on behalf the residents in the
State of Illinois and beyond; and be it further