Full Text of HR0374 97th General Assembly
HR0374 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are pleased to honor Kenneth Zehnder on the | 4 | | occasion of his retirement from a long and distinguished career | 5 | | in State government; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Kenneth Zehnder began his career working as a | 7 | | field coordinator for George H.W. Bush's first Illinois | 8 | | Presidential campaign; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, In 1981, Kenneth Zehnder started with the Office | 10 | | of the Illinois Secretary of State as an administrative | 11 | | assistant and was quickly promoted through the ranks to become | 12 | | Director of the Human Resource and Senior Citizens Department; | 13 | | and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Kenneth Zehnder was appointed Special Assistant | 15 | | to the Governor when Jim Edgar was elected in 1990; in this | 16 | | position, he developed an automated processing system for | 17 | | candidate and incumbent resource information and assisted | 18 | | board nominees during their Senate confirmation process; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Kenneth Zehnder was appointed Director of the | 20 | | Illinois Department of Revenue in 1995; his major | 21 | | accomplishments included major upgrades to the taxpayer |
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| 1 | | registration and identification system; he also coordinated a | 2 | | program that resulted in doubling the collections of delinquent | 3 | | child support payments; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Kenneth Zehnder's latest professional venture led | 5 | | to Northern Illinois University as the Director of State and | 6 | | Local Relations; among his greatest accomplishments at NIU, he | 7 | | regularly provided information and legislative briefings to | 8 | | the NIU campus community regarding pending legislation, | 9 | | budget, and capital issues in Springfield; during session, he | 10 | | also penned a weekly column in NIU Today to update the campus | 11 | | community on General Assembly action; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Kenneth Zehnder has worked diligently and | 13 | | successfully to advocate for desperately needed State capital | 14 | | funds to renovate Cole Hall and the Stevens Building on the | 15 | | DeKalb campus; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, He assisted NIU's renowned broadband research and | 17 | | development group in securing a $2 million State match to | 18 | | access millions of dollars in federal funds to create a | 19 | | broadband network for rural areas in the northern part of the | 20 | | State; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, He frequently testified before various | 22 | | legislative committees in Springfield on behalf of NIU; he led |
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| 1 | | the effort amongst public university liaisons in Springfield to | 2 | | negotiate a compromise with Harper College that resulted in a | 3 | | new four-year degree program offered at Harper College geared | 4 | | towards law enforcement and homeland security professionals; | 5 | | and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Kenneth Zehnder is an accomplished golfer and has | 7 | | a passion for the sport; after retirement he plans to spend a | 8 | | great deal of time at his home in the Galena Territory golfing | 9 | | and relaxing; Ken also plans to pursue recreational horseback | 10 | | riding; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Kenneth Zehnder has served as a model of hard | 12 | | work, integrity, dedication, and success for the people of the | 13 | | State of Illinois; therefore, be it
| 14 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 15 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 16 | | we congratulate Kenneth Zehnder on the occasion of his | 17 | | retirement and wish him many happy and healthy retirement | 18 | | years; and be it further
| 19 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 20 | | presented to Kenneth Zehnder as a symbol of our esteem and | 21 | | respect.
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