HR0946 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0946 LRB098 15896 GRL 54810 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate Ann Hilton Fisher on the occasion of her retirement as Executive Director of the AIDS Legal Council of Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Ann Hilton Fisher earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1969 and her Juris Doctor from Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, Michigan in 1977; and

WHEREAS, After clerking in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 1978 to 1980, Ann Hilton Fisher served as a staff attorney at the Legal Assistance Foundation's office in Chicago from 1980 to 1986; she subsequently served as a senior attorney for the Legal Assistance Foundation's Disability Law Project from 1987 to 1994 before working as a supervisor for the Legal Assistance Foundation's HIV Law Project from 1994 to 1997; in July of 1997, she was selected to serve as Executive Director of the AIDS Legal Council of Chicago, where she remained until her retirement; and

WHEREAS, During Ann Hilton Fisher's tenure at the AIDS Legal Council of Chicago, the organization's staff has doubled, the budget has greatly increased, and the number of cases has increased to approximately 1,500 per year; under her leadership, new projects were created at the AIDS Legal Council of Chicago assisting HIV+ immigrants, HIV-impacted families, HIV+ youth, and clients who want to return to work from disability; and

WHEREAS, Ann Hilton Fisher has used her advocacy skills to benefit seniors and persons with disabilities; she helped to initiate and lead the effort to raise Medicaid eligibility in Illinois from 41% of the federal poverty level to 100%, resulting in almost 100,000 seniors and persons with disabilities in Illinois becoming newly eligible for Medicaid; she also worked with a coalition to repeal Illinois's HIV Principal Notification law; and

WHEREAS, Ann Hilton Fisher has been a well-respected trainer of many social service agencies, law schools, medical clinics, bar association committees, HIV+ support groups, and other organizations on many complex legal issues, including Medicare Part D pharmaceutical programs and issues surrounding the Affordable Care Act; she has also been the author of numerous publications and lectures dealing with a wide range of legal topics; and

WHEREAS, Ann Hilton Fisher has been the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions from numerous civic and legal organizations, including the Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, the Hearts Foundation, the Illinois Lawyers Trust Fund, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, the Council for Disability Rights, and the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Ann Hilton Fisher has volunteered as a docent at the historic Second Presbyterian Church in Chicago since 2010, gladly offering visitors a tour of the church and its famed Tiffany stained glass windows; she is an avid birdwatcher, a proud lifelong Yooper, and a lover of photography who routinely delights her friends with her candid street scenes and lovely pictures of nature; she is a friend and mentor to her staff, a champion for her clients, and an admired and respected partner in advocacy for the rights of people with HIV, seniors, and persons with disabilities; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Ann Hilton Fisher on the occasion of her retirement and wish her continued success and happiness in the future; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Ann Hilton Fisher as a symbol of our esteem and respect.