Full Text of SR0754 101st General Assembly
SR0754 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Toi W. Hutchinson began her career in the Illinois | 3 | | Senate in 2009 and has proudly and admirably represented the | 4 | | families of Cook, Grundy, Kankakee, and Will Counties, an area | 5 | | often cited as a microcosm of Illinois as a whole due to its | 6 | | racial, geographic, and economic diversity; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Born in Tennessee, Senator Hutchinson and her | 8 | | family moved to Chicago's south suburbs, where, as a child, she | 9 | | attended Infant Jesus of Prague School in Flossmoor and Rich | 10 | | Central High School in Olympia Fields; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hutchinson earned a bachelor's degree in | 12 | | English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and | 13 | | a law degree from Northern Illinois University College of Law; | 14 | | she graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government | 15 | | Executive Management Program and is a 2012 Edgar Fellow of the | 16 | | Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hutchinson entered public service in | 18 | | 2002, when she began two terms as Village Clerk of Olympia | 19 | | Fields; she was appointed to the Illinois State Senate in | 20 | | January of 2009; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, As Chair of the Senate Revenue Committee, Senator |
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| 1 | | Hutchinson often found herself at the center of some of the | 2 | | most pressing fiscal and economic issues facing Illinois; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, In her role as Chair, Senator Hutchinson led in | 4 | | the passage of a difficult but necessary income tax increase | 5 | | that stabilized Illinois' finances after years of devastating | 6 | | budget woes, passed legislation increasing the Earned Income | 7 | | Tax Credit (EITC) and the standard tax exemption, allowing | 8 | | working families to keep more of their hard-earned money, and | 9 | | worked to close corporate tax loopholes to ensure large | 10 | | corporations paid their fair share in taxes; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, During her time in the Senate, Senator Hutchinson | 12 | | passed numerous new laws aimed at protecting women, children, | 13 | | seniors, and Illinoisans with disabilities, including leading | 14 | | the effort to safeguard pregnant women in the workplace from | 15 | | discrimination; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hutchinson teamed with former Attorney | 17 | | General Lisa Madigan to make Illinois the first state that | 18 | | mandates all rape kits be tested within ten days and worked on | 19 | | numerous measures ensuring victims of sex trafficking and | 20 | | stalking have the resources they need to recover and return to | 21 | | society; and | 22 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hutchinson led a crackdown on the culture |
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| 1 | | of sexual harassment in state government, passing legislation | 2 | | to require members of the General Assembly, as well as | 3 | | legislative staff and lobbyists, to participate in sexual | 4 | | harassment awareness training; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hutchinson recognized the importance of | 6 | | transportation development for the communities she served and | 7 | | passed a law creating the Southeast Commuter Rail Transit | 8 | | District, which will eventually construct a new Metra line | 9 | | connecting eleven South Suburban communities with downtown | 10 | | Chicago, as well as creating the first public-private financing | 11 | | agreement in Illinois; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, As a proud mother of public school students | 13 | | concerned about the increasing number of students, especially | 14 | | African American boys, who receive severe disciplinary action | 15 | | that keeps them out of the classroom, Senator Hutchinson passed | 16 | | a law to study the problem and work with school districts to | 17 | | reduce expulsions and suspensions; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, One of Senator Hutchinson's hardest and most | 19 | | high-profile successes while in the Senate was working with her | 20 | | colleagues on the passage of cannabis legalization legislation | 21 | | that prioritizes social equity, which complemented Senator | 22 | | Hutchinson's legislation allowing a legal cannabis business to | 23 | | use the banking system in Illinois and the creation of the |
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| 1 | | Industrial Hemp Act, allowing farmers in Illinois to cultivate | 2 | | and process industrial hemp; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, A fierce proponent of a tax system that allows | 4 | | working families to thrive, Senator Hutchinson passed | 5 | | legislation to create a graduated rate structure for Illinois' | 6 | | income tax system, with lower-income families paying less while | 7 | | wealthier individuals would pay more; specifically, | 8 | | Illinoisans making less than $250,000 per year, which | 9 | | represents 97 percent of taxpayers, would pay the same or less | 10 | | in income taxes; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hutchinson passed legislation increasing | 12 | | stability and funding for Illinois families who rely on the | 13 | | Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) by extending the | 14 | | redetermination period for eligibility from six months to 12 | 15 | | months and passed legislation protecting CCAP recipients by | 16 | | removing the executive branch's ability to unilaterally reduce | 17 | | eligibility through stringent requirements; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hutchinson recently ended her one-year | 19 | | leadership of the National Conference of State Legislature | 20 | | (NCSL), a bipartisan non-governmental organization that serves | 21 | | thousands of state lawmakers and staffers, during which | 22 | | Hutchinson traveled across the globe, connected with leaders | 23 | | from all walks of life, and shared with them the information |
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| 1 | | and resources to better serve the common good; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Throughout her tenure in the Illinois Senate, | 3 | | Senator Hutchinson's leadership and dedication earned her a | 4 | | number of accolades; in 2011, she received the Governors State | 5 | | University Annuitants Association Award "in appreciation of | 6 | | her leadership and advocacy on behalf of her constituents"; in | 7 | | 2013, she earned the Moxie Award from the Illinois Coalition | 8 | | Against Sexual Assault; in 2014, she earned the Champion Award | 9 | | from the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Assault; in 2016, she | 10 | | received the Legislative Champion Award from the Illinois State | 11 | | Alliance of YMCAs, and in 2018, she received one of Governing | 12 | | Magazine's Public Officials of the Year Awards; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Upon her retirement from the Illinois General | 14 | | Assembly, Senator Hutchinson will continue to advance the | 15 | | values of justice and equity as the Cannabis Regulation | 16 | | Oversight Officer for the State of Illinois; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hutchinson's most cherished role is being | 18 | | a wife to her husband Paul and a mother to her three children, | 19 | | Paul Jr., Camryn, and Ryan; therefore, be it
| 20 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL | 21 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we thank State Senator | 22 | | Toi Hutchinson for her service to the people of Illinois and |
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| 1 | | honor her with this resolution; and be it further
| 2 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 3 | | presented to Senator Hutchinson with our best wishes for all | 4 | | her future endeavors.
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