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SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Toi W. Hutchinson began her career in the Illinois
3Senate in 2009 and has proudly and admirably represented the
4families of Cook, Grundy, Kankakee, and Will Counties, an area
5often cited as a microcosm of Illinois as a whole due to its
6racial, geographic, and economic diversity; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Born in Tennessee, Senator Hutchinson and her
8family moved to Chicago's south suburbs, where, as a child, she
9attended Infant Jesus of Prague School in Flossmoor and Rich
10Central High School in Olympia Fields; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Senator Hutchinson earned a bachelor's degree in
12English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and
13a law degree from Northern Illinois University College of Law;
14she graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government
15Executive Management Program and is a 2012 Edgar Fellow of the
16Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Senator Hutchinson entered public service in
182002, when she began two terms as Village Clerk of Olympia
19Fields; she was appointed to the Illinois State Senate in
20January of 2009; and
 
21    WHEREAS, As Chair of the Senate Revenue Committee, Senator

 

 

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1Hutchinson often found herself at the center of some of the
2most pressing fiscal and economic issues facing Illinois; and
 
3    WHEREAS, In her role as Chair, Senator Hutchinson led in
4the passage of a difficult but necessary income tax increase
5that stabilized Illinois' finances after years of devastating
6budget woes, passed legislation increasing the Earned Income
7Tax Credit (EITC) and the standard tax exemption, allowing
8working families to keep more of their hard-earned money, and
9worked to close corporate tax loopholes to ensure large
10corporations paid their fair share in taxes; and
 
11    WHEREAS, During her time in the Senate, Senator Hutchinson
12passed numerous new laws aimed at protecting women, children,
13seniors, and Illinoisans with disabilities, including leading
14the effort to safeguard pregnant women in the workplace from
15discrimination; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Senator Hutchinson teamed with former Attorney
17General Lisa Madigan to make Illinois the first state that
18mandates all rape kits be tested within ten days and worked on
19numerous measures ensuring victims of sex trafficking and
20stalking have the resources they need to recover and return to
21society; and
 
22    WHEREAS, Senator Hutchinson led a crackdown on the culture

 

 

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1of sexual harassment in state government, passing legislation
2to require members of the General Assembly, as well as
3legislative staff and lobbyists, to participate in sexual
4harassment awareness training; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Senator Hutchinson recognized the importance of
6transportation development for the communities she served and
7passed a law creating the Southeast Commuter Rail Transit
8District, which will eventually construct a new Metra line
9connecting eleven South Suburban communities with downtown
10Chicago, as well as creating the first public-private financing
11agreement in Illinois; and
 
12    WHEREAS, As a proud mother of public school students
13concerned about the increasing number of students, especially
14African American boys, who receive severe disciplinary action
15that keeps them out of the classroom, Senator Hutchinson passed
16a law to study the problem and work with school districts to
17reduce expulsions and suspensions; and
 
18    WHEREAS, One of Senator Hutchinson's hardest and most
19high-profile successes while in the Senate was working with her
20colleagues on the passage of cannabis legalization legislation
21that prioritizes social equity, which complemented Senator
22Hutchinson's legislation allowing a legal cannabis business to
23use the banking system in Illinois and the creation of the

 

 

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1Industrial Hemp Act, allowing farmers in Illinois to cultivate
2and process industrial hemp; and
 
3    WHEREAS, A fierce proponent of a tax system that allows
4working families to thrive, Senator Hutchinson passed
5legislation to create a graduated rate structure for Illinois'
6income tax system, with lower-income families paying less while
7wealthier individuals would pay more; specifically,
8Illinoisans making less than $250,000 per year, which
9represents 97 percent of taxpayers, would pay the same or less
10in income taxes; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Senator Hutchinson passed legislation increasing
12stability and funding for Illinois families who rely on the
13Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) by extending the
14redetermination period for eligibility from six months to 12
15months and passed legislation protecting CCAP recipients by
16removing the executive branch's ability to unilaterally reduce
17eligibility through stringent requirements; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Senator Hutchinson recently ended her one-year
19leadership of the National Conference of State Legislature
20(NCSL), a bipartisan non-governmental organization that serves
21thousands of state lawmakers and staffers, during which
22Hutchinson traveled across the globe, connected with leaders
23from all walks of life, and shared with them the information

 

 

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1and resources to better serve the common good; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Throughout her tenure in the Illinois Senate,
3Senator Hutchinson's leadership and dedication earned her a
4number of accolades; in 2011, she received the Governors State
5University Annuitants Association Award "in appreciation of
6her leadership and advocacy on behalf of her constituents"; in
72013, she earned the Moxie Award from the Illinois Coalition
8Against Sexual Assault; in 2014, she earned the Champion Award
9from the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Assault; in 2016, she
10received the Legislative Champion Award from the Illinois State
11Alliance of YMCAs, and in 2018, she received one of Governing
12Magazine's Public Officials of the Year Awards; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Upon her retirement from the Illinois General
14Assembly, Senator Hutchinson will continue to advance the
15values of justice and equity as the Cannabis Regulation
16Oversight Officer for the State of Illinois; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Senator Hutchinson's most cherished role is being
18a wife to her husband Paul and a mother to her three children,
19Paul Jr., Camryn, and Ryan; therefore, be it
 
20    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL
21ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we thank State Senator
22Toi Hutchinson for her service to the people of Illinois and

 

 

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1honor her with this resolution; and be it further
 
2    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
3presented to Senator Hutchinson with our best wishes for all
4her future endeavors.