Full Text of HR0860 93rd General Assembly
HR0860 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the | 3 |
| State of Illinois learned with great sadness of the death of | 4 |
| their colleague, Senator Vince Demuzio, on Tuesday, April 27, | 5 |
| 2004; and
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| WHEREAS, Senator Demuzio was born on May 7, 1941, in | 7 |
| Gillespie; he attended S & S Simon and Jude Catholic School and | 8 |
| Gillespie High School; he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in | 9 |
| education and human services from the University of Illinois at | 10 |
| Springfield in 1981; he earned a Master of Arts degree in | 11 |
| education and public policy from the same school in 1996; he | 12 |
| received an Honorary Doctorate from Lewis & Clark Community | 13 |
| College, and a Doctor of Laws, Honorist Causa, Degree from | 14 |
| Blackburn College; and
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| WHEREAS, Senator Demuzio was currently the Senate Majority | 16 |
| Leader, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, and Dean of the | 17 |
| Illinois Senate, having served in the upper chamber since 1975; | 18 |
| he was also a member of the education, executive, and executive | 19 |
| appointments committees; and
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| WHEREAS, Prior to his election to the Illinois Senate from | 21 |
| the 49th legislative district, he served as Executive Director | 22 |
| of the Illinois Valley Economic Development Corporation, a | 23 |
| community action agency providing programs in job training, | 24 |
| senior citizen nutrition, day care, sheltered workshops for the | 25 |
| physically and mentally handicapped, and other social | 26 |
| services; and
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| WHEREAS, Senator Demuzio was appointed Assistant Senate | 28 |
| Majority Leader in the 83rd General Assembly (1983-1984) and | 29 |
| was reappointed in the 84th, 85th, 86th, and 87th General | 30 |
| Assemblies; in January of 1993, he was appointed Assistant | 31 |
| Democratic Leader of the 88th General Assembly and again |
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| reappointed in January of 1995, 1997, 1999, and 2001; Senator | 2 |
| Demuzio was one of the General Assembly's leading spokesmen for | 3 |
| the interests of downstate Illinois; he was also a member of | 4 |
| the Legislative Audit Commission and served on the Steering | 5 |
| Committee to re-examine the Illinois Constitution; he served on | 6 |
| both the 1991 and 2001 Legislative Redistricting Commissions;
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| and
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| WHEREAS, Senator Demuzio was elected to the Illinois | 9 |
| Democratic State Central Committee from the 20th Congressional | 10 |
| District in 1982, and re-elected in 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1998; | 11 |
| he was elected Chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party in | 12 |
| April of 1986 and served through April of 1990; he also served | 13 |
| as Chairman of the Illinois delegation to the Democratic | 14 |
| National Convention in Atlanta in 1988 and as a member of the | 15 |
| Democratic National Committee's Executive Committee; he was | 16 |
| the first Chairman elected from downstate Illinois in more than | 17 |
| 40 years and is credited with rebuilding the infrastructure of | 18 |
| the Illinois Democratic Party; and | 19 |
| WHEREAS, In the post-Watergate era, Vince Demuzio is | 20 |
| credited with bringing legislative and Democratic Party | 21 |
| reforms with a like-minded group of lawmakers affectionately | 22 |
| known as the "Crazy Eight"; and
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| WHEREAS, Senator Demuzio received numerous distinguished | 24 |
| legislative service awards during his tenure; he served as | 25 |
| Secretary of the Blackburn College Board of Trustees in | 26 |
| Carlinville, Vice Chair of the Carlinville Hospital Board, and | 27 |
| he was on the Board of Directors for Kemmerer Village, a child | 28 |
| care agency, in Assumption; he was a member of numerous | 29 |
| fraternal and social organizations; and
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| WHEREAS, Among the highlights of his legislative career, | 31 |
| Senator Demuzio played a major role in securing funding for the | 32 |
| creation of the Orr Research Center and the completion of Route |
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| 36 from Jacksonville to Quincy; he received national attention | 2 |
| as part of a fight to clean up hazardous waste in Wilsonville | 3 |
| and has helped obtain funding for major road improvements along | 4 |
| the Route 67 corridor from Alton to Jacksonville;
in 1999, he | 5 |
| led a coalition from Christian County that convinced the | 6 |
| Governor to appropriate funds in the Illinois FIRST program to | 7 |
| turn Route 29 from Rochester to Taylorville into a four-lane | 8 |
| road; he helped many small communities obtain funding for sewer | 9 |
| and water improvements and was especially proud to sponsor | 10 |
| legislation renaming the State's income tax check-off for | 11 |
| breast and cervical cancer on the State income tax return in | 12 |
| honor of the late State Senator Penny Severns; and
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| WHEREAS, The passing of Senator Vince Demuzio has been | 14 |
| deeply felt by many across Illinois, especially his wife, | 15 |
| Deanna (Clemonds); his son, Brad; his daughter, Stephanie Blair | 16 |
| and her husband, Patrick; his mother, Catherine; his | 17 |
| mother-in-law, Virginia; and his sisters, Marlene, Donna | 18 |
| Burke, Cathy Visintin, and Bernadette Hasquin; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 20 |
| NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 21 |
| mourn the passing of Senator Vince Demuzio, our colleague, who | 22 |
| served the people with honor and distinction and exemplified | 23 |
| the highest standards, which won him unequivocal admiration; | 24 |
| and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 26 |
| presented to the family of Senator Vince Demuzio as an | 27 |
| expression of our sincerest condolences during their time of | 28 |
| bereavement.
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