Full Text of SR1692 98th General Assembly
SR1692 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Illinois State Senator Michael Frerichs has | 3 | | represented the citizens of the State of
Illinois and the | 4 | | families of the 52nd Senate District since 2007; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs grew up in Gifford, a small | 6 | | farming community in Champaign
County; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs graduated from Rantoul Township | 8 | | High School and Yale
University; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs moved to Taiwan and studied | 10 | | Chinese at the National Cheng Kung
University while teaching | 11 | | English; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs taught at Rantoul Township High | 13 | | School while serving his community as a
volunteer firefighter; | 14 | | he also served on the board of a local non-profit nursing home | 15 | | and was an active
member of the Rotary Club of Urbana; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs was twice elected to the | 17 | | Champaign County Board, where he fought against
wasteful | 18 | | spending and was recognized for his independent voice; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs served as the Champaign County |
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| 1 | | Auditor, where he established a
reputation as a financial | 2 | | watchdog, receiving awards for his transparent financial | 3 | | reporting; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs has been an innovative leader in | 5 | | the Illinois Senate, highlighted
by his passage of the 2007 law | 6 | | authorizing stem cell research in Illinois, further elevating | 7 | | the State as a national leader in promoting critical medical | 8 | | research to alleviate medical conditions such as
Parkinson's | 9 | | Disease, juvenile diabetes, and different forms of cancer; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs is a strong advocate for | 11 | | government transparency and has worked to
end "pay to play" | 12 | | politics in State government; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs voted to impeach former Governor | 14 | | Blagojevich and made a motion to
disqualify him from ever | 15 | | holding public office in Illinois again; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs led efforts to abolish the | 17 | | General Assembly tuition waiver
program due to the struggles | 18 | | Illinois colleges and universities faced as well as abuses of | 19 | | the
program; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs has the distinct honor of | 21 | | representing the University of Illinois as
the Higher Education |
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| 1 | | Committee Chairman; he passed an innovative law to jump start | 2 | | Illinois' "Pay it
forward, Pay it Back" pilot tuition program | 3 | | to make college affordable for Illinois residents regardless
of | 4 | | their financial situation; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs knows the importance of the | 6 | | agriculture industry in Illinois; growing
up in a small farming | 7 | | town gave him a solid foundation as the Chairman of the | 8 | | Agriculture
Committee to reflect on and support agriculture | 9 | | policies for farmers across Illinois; his efforts were | 10 | | recognized in 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014 by the Illinois Farm | 11 | | Bureau by being awarded the
Friend of Agriculture Award; he | 12 | | also was awarded the 2010 Legislative Award for his outstanding | 13 | | service to the swine industry by the Illinois Pork
Producers | 14 | | Association; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs fought to help his hometown of | 16 | | Gifford after the November
2013 tornadoes; he led the charge to | 17 | | introduce legislation to help business owners recover from
| 18 | | natural disasters in Illinois by providing them with property | 19 | | tax relief and working closely with
State agencies to secure | 20 | | close to $1 million to help rebuild and repair the Village of | 21 | | Gifford and
Compromise Township; he will continue to work with | 22 | | local stakeholders to ensure the residents
of Gifford are given | 23 | | the necessary resources to be successful in their efforts; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs understands the importance of | 2 | | advocating for a strong local
economy and has been an advocate | 3 | | of promoting job creation across Illinois in a number of
ways, | 4 | | including his leadership as co-chair of the bipartisan Senate | 5 | | Special Committee on
Enterprise Zone Extensions that has | 6 | | traveled the State to gather input on proposed legislation to
| 7 | | modernize and extend the Enterprise Zone Program; in | 8 | | recognition of his efforts, the Illinois
Enterprise Zone | 9 | | Association presented Senator Frerichs with the 2012 | 10 | | Legislative Achievement
Award; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs understands our returning heroes | 12 | | have risked their lives for our nation and we should do what we | 13 | | can to recognize them for their service; in 2008, he passed a
| 14 | | law to allow Vietnam veterans to receive their high school | 15 | | diplomas, which helped many
Vietnam Veterans who were drafted | 16 | | before they could finish high school; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs worked for years to pass fracking | 18 | | legislation that would protect the
environment and allow us to | 19 | | take advantage of various economic opportunities by | 20 | | implementing
the toughest fracking regulations in the nation; | 21 | | to honor his work and service to the environment
the Illinois | 22 | | Environmental Council (IEC) presented Senator Frerichs with | 23 | | the IEC's Environmental Leadership Award; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs has worked for years to give | 2 | | legal voters every opportunity
possible to go out and practice | 3 | | their civic duty; he sponsored a law to require election
| 4 | | authorities to conduct grace period registration, grace period | 5 | | voting, and early voting at public
universities, colleges and | 6 | | community colleges in Illinois to make voting more accessible | 7 | | to
college students who wish to vote, but are unable to do so | 8 | | due to lack of transportation or busy school
schedules; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs, as the co-chairman of the | 10 | | bipartisan Commission on
Government Forecasting and | 11 | | Accountability (COGFA), helped resolve a dispute over the
| 12 | | bidding process for State employee health insurance contracts | 13 | | and continues to serve as a voice
for downstate employees | 14 | | worried about their benefits; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs is the first Democrat from | 16 | | Champaign County elected to any
Statewide constitutional | 17 | | office; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs is the father of his loving and | 19 | | wonderful daughter Ella Frerichs; he
will be dearly missed by | 20 | | all in this chamber; therefore, be it
| 21 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL | 22 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we thank State Senator |
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| 1 | | Michael Frerichs for his dedicated
service to the people of | 2 | | Illinois and honor him with this resolution; and be it further
| 3 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 4 | | presented to Senator Frerichs with our best wishes for him as | 5 | | he prepares to serve Illinois as our
next State Treasurer.
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