HR0374 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0374 LRB097 11817 KXB 55465 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to honor Kenneth Zehnder on the occasion of his retirement from a long and distinguished career in State government; and

WHEREAS, Kenneth Zehnder began his career working as a field coordinator for George H.W. Bush's first Illinois Presidential campaign; and

WHEREAS, In 1981, Kenneth Zehnder started with the Office of the Illinois Secretary of State as an administrative assistant and was quickly promoted through the ranks to become Director of the Human Resource and Senior Citizens Department; and

WHEREAS, Kenneth Zehnder was appointed Special Assistant to the Governor when Jim Edgar was elected in 1990; in this position, he developed an automated processing system for candidate and incumbent resource information and assisted board nominees during their Senate confirmation process; and

WHEREAS, Kenneth Zehnder was appointed Director of the Illinois Department of Revenue in 1995; his major accomplishments included major upgrades to the taxpayer registration and identification system; he also coordinated a program that resulted in doubling the collections of delinquent child support payments; and

WHEREAS, Kenneth Zehnder's latest professional venture led to Northern Illinois University as the Director of State and Local Relations; among his greatest accomplishments at NIU, he regularly provided information and legislative briefings to the NIU campus community regarding pending legislation, budget, and capital issues in Springfield; during session, he also penned a weekly column in NIU Today to update the campus community on General Assembly action; and

WHEREAS, Kenneth Zehnder has worked diligently and successfully to advocate for desperately needed State capital funds to renovate Cole Hall and the Stevens Building on the DeKalb campus; and

WHEREAS, He assisted NIU's renowned broadband research and development group in securing a $2 million State match to access millions of dollars in federal funds to create a broadband network for rural areas in the northern part of the State; and

WHEREAS, He frequently testified before various legislative committees in Springfield on behalf of NIU; he led the effort amongst public university liaisons in Springfield to negotiate a compromise with Harper College that resulted in a new four-year degree program offered at Harper College geared towards law enforcement and homeland security professionals; and

WHEREAS, Kenneth Zehnder is an accomplished golfer and has a passion for the sport; after retirement he plans to spend a great deal of time at his home in the Galena Territory golfing and relaxing; Ken also plans to pursue recreational horseback riding; and

WHEREAS, Kenneth Zehnder has served as a model of hard work, integrity, dedication, and success for the people of the State of Illinois; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Kenneth Zehnder on the occasion of his retirement and wish him many happy and healthy retirement years; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Kenneth Zehnder as a symbol of our esteem and respect.