HJ0162LRB099 23395 GRL 50873 r

1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives and Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of
4the death of the beloved former Illinois State Representative
5and State Senator Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor, who passed
6away on September 10, 2016; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor was born on January
816, 1925 in Chicago; she moved with her family to Davenport,
9Iowa and to Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada, due to her father's
10parish assignments; after returning to Chicago, she attended
11Sherwood Elementary School and Englewood High School; after
12high school, she married Lawrence Taylor and had a child, Gayla
13Aniece; and
 
14    WHEREAS, With the help of her father, Ethel Skyles
15Alexander-Taylor was able to secure a position at the Clerk's
16Office of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Criminal Division,
17Appeal Section; afterwards, she became the first woman to be
18appointed Assistant Chief Deputy Clerk of the Criminal Division
19of the Circuit Court in 1973; her tenure at the Circuit Court
20of Cook County lasted 33 years; she then furthered her
21education at Wilson and received a degree from Loop (now Harold
22Washington) College as well as enrolling in an IBM Executive
23Training Course; and
 

 

 

HJ0162- 2 -LRB099 23395 GRL 50873 r

1    WHEREAS, Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor taught the first
2training school for Courtroom Minute Clerks in clerical
3procedures; she served as Ward Committeewoman of the 20th Ward
4Regular Democratic Organization for 21 years and as precinct
5Captain of the 20th Ward Regular Democratic Organization for 28
6years; and
 
7    WHEREAS, In 1978, Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor was
8elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, where she was
9known for waving a red handkerchief in the air whenever she
10wanted to discuss an issue with fellow legislators; in 1986,
11she was appointed to replace the late Charles Chew in the State
12Senate, where she remained until her retirement in 1993; while
13in the legislature, she served as Vice-Chair of the Elections
14and Reapportionment Committee and co-sponsored a bill that
15prohibited State agencies from trading with apartheid-era
16South Africa; she was also a leading advocate for Mayor Harold
17Washington; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor served as a mentor
19to many legislators and trained them on proper decorum; she
20also focused on issues that would empower the African-American
21community, stressed the importance in working with trade
22unions, emphasized social issues, and underscored the
23necessity of economic empowerment in the African-American

 

 

HJ0162- 3 -LRB099 23395 GRL 50873 r

1community; and
 
2    WHEREAS, As a State Representative, Ethel Skyles
3Alexander-Taylor served on the following committees during the
481st to 84th General Assemblies: Appropriations II, Cities &
5Villages (Vice Chair), Elections (Chair), Energy, Environment,
6and National Resources, Judiciary II, Revenue, State
7Government Administration and Regulatory Review, and Urban
8Redevelopment; as a State Senator, she served on the following
9committees during the 85th to 87th General Assemblies: Consumer
10Affairs, Elections & Reapportionment (Vice Chair and Chair),
11Energy & Environment, Judiciary, Judiciary II, Local
12Government, and Revenue; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor was a sponsor of
14many major bills that became law, including P.A. 82-627 (1981),
15which created the Domestic Violence Act; P.A. 82-453 (1981),
16which amended the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act to
17penalize making false reports of abuse or neglect and make
18other changes; P.A. 82-517 (1981), which amended the Criminal
19Code by imposing stricter penalties for juror harassment; P.A.
2082-291 (1981), which amended the Criminal Code by imposing
21stricter penalties for witness interference; P.A. 83-144
22(1984), which authorized the Department of Public Aid to
23authorize payments to medical providers for diagnosis and
24treatment of sickle cell anemia for people qualifying for

 

 

HJ0162- 4 -LRB099 23395 GRL 50873 r

1services under Public Aid Code Section 5-2; P.A. 83-1067
2(1984), which amended the Criminal Code and Code of Criminal
3Procedure to repeal existing sex crimes and replace them with
4criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual assault,
5criminal sexual abuse, and aggravated criminal sexual abuse;
6P.A. 83-495 (1983), which amended the Rape Victims Emergency
7Treatment Act by requiring hospitals to submit plans for
8providing emergency care to rape victims; P.A. 83-500 (1984),
9which amended the Rape Victims Emergency Treatment Act to
10require the City of Chicago and law enforcement to distribute
11Vitullo rape evidence kits to hospitals; P.A. 83-1406 (1984),
12which amended the Communicable Disease Act to allow reporting
13of sexually transmitted diseases in minors under the age of 11
14in accordance with the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting
15Act; P.A. 86-1168 (1990), which expanded the crime of child
16pornography to include depiction of children in "lewd
17exhibitions" of several private bodily areas; P.A. 86-1329
18(1990), which amended the Code of Civil Procedure to remove
19provisions that suspended the running of civil statute of
20limitations periods on prospective plaintiffs while they were
21in prison; P.A. 87-791 (1991), which imposed a $100 additional
22fine on persons convicted of a long list of crimes against the
23perpetrators' household members, with the proceeds going to the
24Domestic Violence Shelter and Service Fund; P.A. 87-933 (1992),
25which amended the Code of Civil Procedure to allow public
26housing authorities to evict a tenant for seven days based on

 

 

HJ0162- 5 -LRB099 23395 GRL 50873 r

1evidence that the rented premises are being used for selling
2illegal drugs; P.A. 84-588 (1986), which amended the Election
3Code to have all election authorities in the State prepare
4reports of votes cast in their jurisdictions and distribute
5them to local political parties; P.A. 84-197 (1986), which
6amended the Minority and Female Business Enterprise Act to
7require the Enterprise Council to act as clearinghouse for
8State contracts which minority and female-owned businesses can
9bid; P.A. 84-659 (1986), which amended the Election Code to
10require that each electronic voting booth be placed in a way
11that prevents election judges and poll watchers from observing
12casting of ballots; P.A. 84-658 (1986), which amended the
13Election Code to allow a write-in candidate to be nominated and
14elected without receiving at least as many votes as the
15required numbers of petition signatures, if the candidate
16received more votes than any other candidate; P.A. 84-966
17(1986), which amended the Election Code to allow discovery in
18one precinct, if there are fewer than four precincts under the
19jurisdiction of the election authority and within the area
20where votes may be cast on the petition filed for discovery;
21and P.A. 86-786 (1989), which amended acts on Cook County
22courts by reducing the number of associate judges and
23increasing numbers of circuit and Appellate Court judges; and
 
24    WHEREAS, Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor was President of
25the First Church of Deliverance 300 Voice Radio and T.V. Adult

 

 

HJ0162- 6 -LRB099 23395 GRL 50873 r

1Choir for over 20 years; she was also a member of Parkway
2Community House, the NAACP, and the Chicago Urban League; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor was preceded in
4death by her parents, former State Representative Charles M.
5Skyles and Mildred Skyles; her husband, Lawrence "Larry"
6"Poppy" Taylor; her siblings, Delores June Daniel, Ruby Elise
7King, and Charles M. Skyles II; and her nephew, Steven C.
8Green; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor is survived by her
10nieces and nephews, James E. (Alice) Daniel, Wayne K. King,
11Shalalia Daniel, Donna Skyles, Rae Lynn (Ernest) Durham, Ruby
12Turner, and Charles M. (Verne) Skyles III; her stepdaughter,
13Deidre (Anthony) Aleniyi, and her family, Attorney Bianca Brown
14and Jovanezer Dikeccha; her stepchildren, Lawrence Jr.,
15Kiimberling, Enrico, Yolanda, Brandy, Tondelayo, and Mario;
16her in-laws, Margaret Johnson, Robert Taylor, Lillian
17(Charles) Wade, Doris Eames, Earlene (Ronnie) Leverette, Earl
18(Stephenia) Taylor, and Marion and Candice Taylor; her special
19extended family, Lucille Arden, Samuel Thornton, Connie
20Tinner, Marian Joyce Randolph, Lauretta (Sweets) Hines,
21retired United States Senator Carol Moseley Braun, and Billie
22Paige; and the members of the First Church of Deliverance;
23therefore, be it
 

 

 

HJ0162- 7 -LRB099 23395 GRL 50873 r

1    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
2NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
3SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we, along with her family and
4friends, mourn the passing of former Illinois State
5Representative and State Senator Ethel Skyles
6Alexander-Taylor; and be it further
 
7    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
8presented to the family of Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor as an
9expression of our sympathy.