SR2035 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Illinois State Senator William Delgado has represented the citizens of the State of Illinois and the families of the 2nd Senate District since 2006; and

WHEREAS, Senator William Delgado joined the Illinois Senate in December of 2006 as the unanimous choice to fill the vacancy created by then-Senator Miguel del Valle when he became the Clerk for the City Of Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Senator William Delgado began his career of elected service to his community when he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1998, representing the families of the 3rd Legislative District; before being elected to the House of Representatives, he worked as a Hispanic liaison for former Attorney General Roland Burris and as the Latino liaison during the 1994 campaign of gubernatorial candidate Dawn Clark Netsch; and

WHEREAS, In the Senate, Senator William Delgado drew on his background in community service, including his tenure as a Youth and Family Counselor and his work at the Department of Children and Family Services when he served as Chairman of the Senate Public Health Committee; he subsequently brought that knowledge to his leadership as the Chairman of the Senate Education Committee and as a member of the Senate Human Services Committee; and

WHEREAS, Senator William Delgado's chairmanship of the Senate Education Committee established him as one of the Senate's strongest advocates for education; understanding the importance that a quality education can have in a child's life, he supported initiatives to eliminate race-based standards in schools, restrict disciplinary practices that unnecessarily burden students, and ensure that students are being tested in ways that are accepted by Illinois public universities; and

WHEREAS, Senator William Delgado has a rich history of supporting initiatives to improve the quality of our schools, including legislation to address the Chicago teacher shortage by expanding the provisions of the Grow Your Own Teacher program, which offers grants to cover tuition for students seeking their bachelor's degrees to become teachers in hard-to-staff schools; and

WHEREAS, Senator William Delgado passed groundbreaking legislation that requires all public schools to include studying the events surrounding the forceful removal and illegal deportation of almost two million Mexican-American United States citizens during the Great Depression, beginning in 1929 and ending in the mid-1940s called "Mexican Repatriation", noting that the incident is often omitted from textbooks; and

WHEREAS, When funding for The Children's Place, a pre-k educational facility for children and families suffering from severe illness and poverty located in Humboldt Park, came under threat, Senator William Delgado rallied his colleagues to a press conference to announce their support for the facility and stand in opposition to the funding cuts; and

WHEREAS, Senator William Delgado has been instrumental in passing a number of measures to protect the rights and freedoms of LGBTQ individuals, including his support for marriage equality and the initiative to allow individuals to provide their own instructions for the appearance, name, and gender pronouns of their remains regardless of whether they've had a court-ordered name change; and

WHEREAS, Senator William Delgado spearheaded The Puerto Rico Project, which sought to help Puerto Rican drug addicts that were being sent to Chicago without any plan in place for their rehabilitation; he connected with local rehab facilities and community members to take them in and worked with the government of Puerto Rico to prevent the problem from becoming worse; and

WHEREAS, Working with the Illinois Department of Public Health, Senator William Delgado fought to make the Mobile Asthma Pilot program a reality in Illinois; the focus of this program is to provide children with preventive care that will allow them to avoid asthma before an attack becomes serious; and

WHEREAS, To protect expectant mothers and their unborn children, Senator William Delgado chaired a series of hearings concerning prenatal and neonatal congenital toxoplasmosis, a preventable and treatable disease if tested for and caught early in pregnancy; he has continued to fight to get these tests covered by health insurers; and

WHEREAS, Despite his many responsibilities, Senator Delgado remains active in his community through events such as his annual Back-To-School and Family Health Fair, his work with the community group Blocks Together, and his participation in both the annual Walk Now for Autism event at Soldier Field and the Chicago Healthy Living Challenge; and

WHEREAS, Senator William Delgado has recently been honored for his work in the community by the Illinois Environmental Council and the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois; he was also named a Legislative Champion for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities; and

WHEREAS, Senator William Delgado holds certificates in social work and community organizing from the John Marshall Law School; he is also a graduate of Northeastern University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice with a minor in sociology; and

WHEREAS, Senator William Delgado will return to Chicago, where he lives with his wife, Iris; he will be missed by all in this chamber; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we thank Senator William Delgado for his dedicated service to the people of Illinois and honor him with this resolution; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to William Delgado with our best wishes for his future endeavors.