Bill Text: IL SR1692 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Recognizes Senator Michael Frerichs as he prepares to serve as Illinois' next State Treasurer.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2015-01-13 - Session Sine Die [SR1692 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2013-SR1692-Introduced.html
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1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Illinois State Senator Michael Frerichs has | ||||||
3 | represented the citizens of the State of
Illinois and the | ||||||
4 | families of the 52nd Senate District since 2007; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs grew up in Gifford, a small | ||||||
6 | farming community in Champaign
County; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs graduated from Rantoul Township | ||||||
8 | High School and Yale
University; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs moved to Taiwan and studied | ||||||
10 | Chinese at the National Cheng Kung
University while teaching | ||||||
11 | English; and
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12 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs taught at Rantoul Township High | ||||||
13 | School while serving his community as a
volunteer firefighter; | ||||||
14 | he also served on the board of a local non-profit nursing home | ||||||
15 | and was an active
member of the Rotary Club of Urbana; and
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16 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs was twice elected to the | ||||||
17 | Champaign County Board, where he fought against
wasteful | ||||||
18 | spending and was recognized for his independent voice; and
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19 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs served as the Champaign County |
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1 | Auditor, where he established a
reputation as a financial | ||||||
2 | watchdog, receiving awards for his transparent financial | ||||||
3 | reporting; and
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4 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs has been an innovative leader in | ||||||
5 | the Illinois Senate, highlighted
by his passage of the 2007 law | ||||||
6 | authorizing stem cell research in Illinois, further elevating | ||||||
7 | the State as a national leader in promoting critical medical | ||||||
8 | research to alleviate medical conditions such as
Parkinson's | ||||||
9 | Disease, juvenile diabetes, and different forms of cancer; and
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10 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs is a strong advocate for | ||||||
11 | government transparency and has worked to
end "pay to play" | ||||||
12 | politics in State government; and
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13 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs voted to impeach former Governor | ||||||
14 | Blagojevich and made a motion to
disqualify him from ever | ||||||
15 | holding public office in Illinois again; and
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16 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs led efforts to abolish the | ||||||
17 | General Assembly tuition waiver
program due to the struggles | ||||||
18 | Illinois colleges and universities faced as well as abuses of | ||||||
19 | the
program; and
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20 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs has the distinct honor of | ||||||
21 | representing the University of Illinois as
the Higher Education |
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1 | Committee Chairman; he passed an innovative law to jump start | ||||||
2 | Illinois' "Pay it
forward, Pay it Back" pilot tuition program | ||||||
3 | to make college affordable for Illinois residents regardless
of | ||||||
4 | their financial situation; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs knows the importance of the | ||||||
6 | agriculture industry in Illinois; growing
up in a small farming | ||||||
7 | town gave him a solid foundation as the Chairman of the | ||||||
8 | Agriculture
Committee to reflect on and support agriculture | ||||||
9 | policies for farmers across Illinois; his efforts were | ||||||
10 | recognized in 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014 by the Illinois Farm | ||||||
11 | Bureau by being awarded the
Friend of Agriculture Award; he | ||||||
12 | also was awarded the 2010 Legislative Award for his outstanding | ||||||
13 | service to the swine industry by the Illinois Pork
Producers | ||||||
14 | Association; and
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15 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs fought to help his hometown of | ||||||
16 | Gifford after the November
2013 tornadoes; he led the charge to | ||||||
17 | introduce legislation to help business owners recover from
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18 | natural disasters in Illinois by providing them with property | ||||||
19 | tax relief and working closely with
State agencies to secure | ||||||
20 | close to $1 million to help rebuild and repair the Village of | ||||||
21 | Gifford and
Compromise Township; he will continue to work with | ||||||
22 | local stakeholders to ensure the residents
of Gifford are given | ||||||
23 | the necessary resources to be successful in their efforts; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs understands the importance of | ||||||
2 | advocating for a strong local
economy and has been an advocate | ||||||
3 | of promoting job creation across Illinois in a number of
ways, | ||||||
4 | including his leadership as co-chair of the bipartisan Senate | ||||||
5 | Special Committee on
Enterprise Zone Extensions that has | ||||||
6 | traveled the State to gather input on proposed legislation to
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7 | modernize and extend the Enterprise Zone Program; in | ||||||
8 | recognition of his efforts, the Illinois
Enterprise Zone | ||||||
9 | Association presented Senator Frerichs with the 2012 | ||||||
10 | Legislative Achievement
Award; and
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11 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs understands our returning heroes | ||||||
12 | have risked their lives for our nation and we should do what we | ||||||
13 | can to recognize them for their service; in 2008, he passed a
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14 | law to allow Vietnam veterans to receive their high school | ||||||
15 | diplomas, which helped many
Vietnam Veterans who were drafted | ||||||
16 | before they could finish high school; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs worked for years to pass fracking | ||||||
18 | legislation that would protect the
environment and allow us to | ||||||
19 | take advantage of various economic opportunities by | ||||||
20 | implementing
the toughest fracking regulations in the nation; | ||||||
21 | to honor his work and service to the environment
the Illinois | ||||||
22 | Environmental Council (IEC) presented Senator Frerichs with | ||||||
23 | the IEC's Environmental Leadership Award; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs has worked for years to give | ||||||
2 | legal voters every opportunity
possible to go out and practice | ||||||
3 | their civic duty; he sponsored a law to require election
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4 | authorities to conduct grace period registration, grace period | ||||||
5 | voting, and early voting at public
universities, colleges and | ||||||
6 | community colleges in Illinois to make voting more accessible | ||||||
7 | to
college students who wish to vote, but are unable to do so | ||||||
8 | due to lack of transportation or busy school
schedules; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs, as the co-chairman of the | ||||||
10 | bipartisan Commission on
Government Forecasting and | ||||||
11 | Accountability (COGFA), helped resolve a dispute over the
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12 | bidding process for State employee health insurance contracts | ||||||
13 | and continues to serve as a voice
for downstate employees | ||||||
14 | worried about their benefits; and
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15 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs is the first Democrat from | ||||||
16 | Champaign County elected to any
Statewide constitutional | ||||||
17 | office; and
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18 | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs is the father of his loving and | ||||||
19 | wonderful daughter Ella Frerichs; he
will be dearly missed by | ||||||
20 | all in this chamber; therefore, be it
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21 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL | ||||||
22 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we thank State Senator |
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1 | Michael Frerichs for his dedicated
service to the people of | ||||||
2 | Illinois and honor him with this resolution; and be it further
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3 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
4 | presented to Senator Frerichs with our best wishes for him as | ||||||
5 | he prepares to serve Illinois as our
next State Treasurer.
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