SR1611 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR1611 LRB101 23475 LAW 74864 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, State Senator Andy Manar will step away from the Illinois Senate after eight years of dedicated service to the people of the 48th District and a vigorous record of fighting for children, working families, educators, small businesses, and senior citizens; and

WHEREAS, Senator Manar, a lifelong resident of Bunker Hill in southern Macoupin County, has served in elected public office for nearly 24 years; he was first elected to the Bunker Hill City Council at the age of 21 in 1997; he was elected mayor of Bunker Hill in 2001; he later chaired the Macoupin County Board until his election to the Illinois Senate in 2012; and

WHEREAS, Senator Manar's influences include his family and his mentor, the late State Senator Vince Demuzio, who instilled in him the deeply held beliefs that hard work, a record of bipartisanship, and accountability to the people he represents are among his most important achievements as an elected official; and

WHEREAS, Senator Manar has been a champion for responsible State budgets, collective bargaining, access to affordable health care, teachers, and the LGBTQ community; he passed numerous laws that will have a lasting impact on Illinois citizens for generations; and

WHEREAS, Arguably, Senator Manar's most defining accomplishments were born out of his passion for and commitment to public education in Illinois; in addition to taking steps to address a dire teacher shortage in schools throughout the State, he and a coalition of advocates succeeded in reshaping the way Illinois schools are funded after decades of worst-in-the-nation rankings for the State's contributions to school funding; and

WHEREAS, Senator Manar spent countless hours negotiating a plan to overhaul the school funding formula, holding town hall meetings, talking with school superintendents, explaining school funding to taxpayers, and making the case to newspaper editorial boards throughout Illinois for why the State should update its formula; and

WHEREAS, Senator Manar's efforts resulted in the Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act becoming law in 2017, which meant that Illinois would put the most underfunded school districts at the front of the line for State support and make equity the foundation of public school funding for the first time in a generation; and

WHEREAS, Senator Manar has also been an ardent proponent of affordable, accessible health care, particularly in rural and underserved communities; he was instrumental in creating the Critical Access Pharmacy program to help independent, locally-owned pharmacies keep their doors open in the wake of increasing financial pressure from corporations and pharmacy benefit managers; he also passed the State's first regulation of pharmacy benefit managers in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Seeing that the exorbitant cost of insulin put this life-saving drug out of reach for many Illinoisans, Senator Manar built a statewide, grassroots campaign and contended with predatory pharmaceutical companies, passing a historic law to cap the out-of-pocket cost of insulin at $100 per month in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Senator Manar made access to the ballot box another priority, and he succeeded in passing an automatic voter registration plan that has modernized State bureaucracy and made it easier for Illinois citizens to register to vote while also protecting the State from voter fraud; and

WHEREAS, Senator Manar served as chair of one of the Illinois Senate's two budget committees during a period of great political gridlock and financial uncertainty; he delivered millions of dollars in State investments for schools, parks, libraries, and roads to communities in the 48th District; and

WHEREAS, Senator Manar directed State resources to programs to help develop the 48th District's workforce, including millions of dollars for the Work Skills Program at Richland Community College in Decatur, for the South Macoupin Consortium for Innovation and Career Pathways serving students in six high schools, in funding for a new South Central Illinois Regional Workforce Training and Innovation Center in Litchfield, and for the Golden Apple Teacher Accelerators program at Blackburn College in Carlinville; and

WHEREAS, Senator Manar has been recognized by numerous organizations for his work in the Illinois Senate, including receiving the Dawn Clark Netsch Straight Talk Award from the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, the Common Cause Champion of Democracy, Rural Legislator of the Year from the Illinois Hospital Association, the President's Award from the Faith Coalition for the Common Good, the Vince Demuzio Legislator of the Year Award from the Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies, and the 2019 Illinois Education Association Friend of Education Award and being named a 2016 Wall of Honor inductee at Bunker Hill High School; and

WHEREAS, Senator Manar's proudest achievement is his family, which includes his wife, Trista, and their three children, Abbie, Will, and Ben; they will continue to reside in Bunker Hill, three blocks from his childhood home; and

WHEREAS, The Senate's loss is certainly the Governor's gain, as Senator Manar will join Governor JB Pritzker's administration; he will no doubt remain a champion for working families and downstate communities; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we thank Senator Andy Manar for his years of service to the people of Illinois and wish him the best in his future endeavors; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Senator Manar as a symbol of our gratitude and esteem.