SR1084 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR1084 LRB096 24510 KXB 44314 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Senator Dan Rutherford has represented the citizens of central Illinois with merit in the General Assembly for 18 years; and

WHEREAS, He has served with distinction in the Illinois Senate after 5 honorable terms in the Illinois House of Representatives; and

WHEREAS, Senator Rutherford's legislative priorities have been those with regard to protecting the taxpayers and their wallets, nursing home residents, agricultural interests, business development, and job creation; and

WHEREAS, His tireless devotion to nursing home issues has earned him numerous awards from health care and senior citizen advocacy groups from across Illinois; and

WHEREAS, He was the legislative author of a bill to convert the reimbursement rates for nursing homes to the "Minimum Date Set," based on the health condition of the resident; and

WHEREAS, He has sponsored legislation which curtailed onerous governmental intrusion such as the 2004 legislation to curb "infamous" public health department inspections of non-commercial potlucks and the 2009 legislation to scale back regulatory burdens placed on contestants of amateur martial arts; and

WHEREAS, He has led efforts to ensure that the Department of Corrections is working in the best interest of those citizens whose lives are affected by the department and successfully worked against roving-prison closure policies on two occasions, which if enacted, would have jeopardized public safety and would have threatened the livelihood of thousands of Illinois citizens; and

WHEREAS, His steadfast opposition to the growing number of Illinois specialty license plates for vehicles has earned him the respect of the law enforcement community; and

WHEREAS, He has always recognized the need to work with legislators on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers regardless of their stance on public policy; and

WHEREAS, He and his legislative staff's constituent services have been a staple of the Senator's dedication to his District; and

WHEREAS, He was selected to serve as an Assistant Senate Republican Leader in 2009; and

WHEREAS, Senator Rutherford is currently the only member of the General Assembly to have served on a House of Representatives Investigative Impeachment Committee and Senate Impeachment Tribunal Committee as part of two separate impeachment processes; and

WHEREAS, He has served as the ranking Republican on the Senate Financial Institutions Committee during his entire tenure in the Illinois Senate, working to protect consumers from overbearing fees and predatory business practices; and

WHEREAS, He served on the General Assembly's Joint Committee on Administrative Rules while in the House of Representatives and the Senate and observes that "JCAR is the sharp end of the stick in making public policy"; and

WHEREAS, Dan Rutherford was the executive director of the Illinois for Ronald Reagan's 1980 Election to the Office of the President of the United States; and

WHEREAS, He served as President of the Student Body at Illinois State University; and

WHEREAS, He has traveled to all seven continents, including a stint in Antarctica and leading safaris in Africa, and has logged more than 200 deep sea dives across the globe; and

WHEREAS, He has successfully worked with the ServiceMaster Company for 25 years; and

WHEREAS, He has planted more than 19,000 trees and shrubs on his personal property to promote reforestation and wildlife habitat; and

WHEREAS, He graduated from Pontiac Township High School; and

WHEREAS, He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Illinois State University, where he has been admitted into the Hall of Fame for both the College of Business and the College of Arts and Sciences; and

WHEREAS, In his 18 years as a lawmaker, Dan Rutherford has represented his constituents in Springfield with determination and class, earning the respect and admiration of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle; and

WHEREAS, Lawmakers and staff alike know and appreciate Senator Rutherford for his work ethic; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Dan Rutherford on his retirement from the Illinois General Assembly after 18 years of honorable and dedicated service and on his election as Treasurer of the State of Illinois; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Dan Rutherford as a symbol of our friendship, our gratitude for his hard work, and our best wishes for his future service as the Treasurer of the State of Illinois.