Full Text of HR1314 100th General Assembly
HR1314 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives wish to congratulate State Rep. Mike Fortner on | 4 | | his retirement and recognize his years of service to the State | 5 | | of Illinois; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Fortner and his wife, Becky, have two adult | 7 | | children, Liz and Charles; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Fortner received a Bachelor of Arts in Math | 9 | | and Physics from Carleton College in Northfield,
Minnesota and | 10 | | a Master of Science and Ph.D. in Physics from Brandeis | 11 | | University in Massachusetts; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Fortner is an accomplished professor and | 13 | | researcher; he served as an associate
professor of physics at | 14 | | Northern Illinois University in DeKalb for over 25 years and | 15 | | dedicated over 30
years as a researcher at Fermilab National | 16 | | Laboratory; he continues to share his
knowledge and technical | 17 | | expertise in science through teaching and mentoring students; | 18 | | and | 19 | | WHEREAS, Prior to joining the House of Representatives, | 20 | | Rep. Fortner served as Mayor of the City of
West Chicago for | 21 | | six years, after serving as an alderman and a member of the |
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| 1 | | West Chicago Elementary
District 33 School Board; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Fortner brought his experience in local | 3 | | government, teaching, and research to the
General Assembly in | 4 | | 2007 to help further serve the people of Illinois; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Fortner served 12 years in the Illinois House | 6 | | of Representatives for the 95th District and
then the 49th | 7 | | Legislative District, where he contributed to dozens of bills | 8 | | to help our State; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Working at the forefront of the effort to improve | 10 | | the State's electric power, Rep. Fortner
sponsored legislation | 11 | | to allow municipalities to buy power on behalf of their | 12 | | residents; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Fortner protected the privacy rights of | 14 | | citizens against unauthorized video recording and
unauthorized | 15 | | use of passwords on social media; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, An environmental advocate, Rep. Fortner | 17 | | negotiated improvements to the way electronics are recycled; he | 18 | | was honored with the Environmental Leadership Award from the | 19 | | Illinois Environmental
Council in 2013, 2016, and 2018 for his | 20 | | legislative work; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Fortner supported clean energy initiatives | 2 | | and held discussions with constituents,
interest groups, and | 3 | | fellow lawmakers to gain further support for the legislation; | 4 | | and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Fortner was instrumental in negotiating the | 6 | | Small Wireless Facilities Act in 2017, which
brought high tech | 7 | | wireless technology to Illinois; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, In 2018, Rep. Fortner worked to improve access to | 9 | | voting through automatic registration and to
make the process | 10 | | more efficient and effective through his legislation, HB 6582; | 11 | | and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Fortner was an integral force in pension | 13 | | reform negotiations; he brought the unfunded
pension system to | 14 | | the forefront of discussions in the General Assembly and worked | 15 | | alongside fellow
lawmakers to find viable solutions to help the | 16 | | State's fiscal future; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Fortner had an honest voice in debates in the | 18 | | House and provided technical reason to
the dialogue on a | 19 | | balanced budget for Illinois; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Fortner was dedicated to improving Illinois; | 21 | | term limits and fair map redistricting were
two top concerns |
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| 1 | | for him throughout his tenure in the House of Representatives, | 2 | | and
he filed legislation to help make them a reality for our | 3 | | State; in 2009, he drew the
winning legislative map for Ohio's | 4 | | redistricting, a competition that allows private citizens an | 5 | | opportunity
to draw district lines for the Ohio House and | 6 | | Senate; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Fortner served as the voice of his | 8 | | constituents in Springfield and provided many
resources in | 9 | | district to his community including his annual senior fair, | 10 | | summer reading programs, and
informational forums on State | 11 | | issues; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Throughout his career, Rep. Fortner has been | 13 | | recognized for the countless pieces of
legislation he sponsored | 14 | | and supported and for the leader he was in the General Assembly | 15 | | and at home
in his district; he received many awards throughout | 16 | | his tenure and was most recently named the 2018
Legislator of | 17 | | the Year by the Metro West Council of Governments; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, With his diverse background of public service, | 19 | | professional work, and community service,
Rep. Fortner helped | 20 | | make a positive difference in the lives of Illinois residents | 21 | | both in the 49th
District community and beyond; therefore, be | 22 | | it
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 2 | | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 3 | | congratulate State Rep. Mike Fortner on his retirement and | 4 | | recognize his years of service to the State of Illinois; and be | 5 | | it further
| 6 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 7 | | presented to Rep. Fortner as a symbol of our respect and | 8 | | esteem.
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