SR0929 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0929 LRB094 22257 RCE 60956 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, In 1987 Linda Hawker was appointed Secretary of the Illinois Senate, the first woman to hold the post in the Illinois General Assembly; and

WHEREAS, As we honor Linda Hawker today, we stand in the newly renovated and restored Senate Chamber that, as Co-Chair of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol board, she was deeply involved in the details of the renovation and instrumental in seeing this project through to completion; and

WHEREAS, From 1971 to 1980, she worked for the Senate Democrat Leadership staff under former Senate Presidents Cecil Partee, Thomas Hynes and Philip Rock; and then as a Public Affairs Associate at Sangamon State University (now the University of Illinois at Springfield) where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Political Science; and

WHEREAS, She then returned to staff as a special assistant to former Senate President Philip J. Rock who in 1987 provided her the opportunity to serve as the first woman in the post of Secretary of the Illinois Senate; and

WHEREAS, Senate President Emil Jones, Jr. further entrusted her with the responsibility of that position when he was elected Senate Democratic Leader in 1993; and

WHEREAS, While Linda Hawker has accomplished many things during her twenty years serving both as Secretary and as Assistant Secretary, she has made it her priority to ensure that the proceedings of the Illinois Senate are fully transparent and easily accessible to the public, just one example of her commitment and integrity; and

WHEREAS, Linda has worked closely with Senate President Emil Jones, Jr. on his efforts to make the Senate proceedings available on the Internet, and with his support worked with internal technology experts to develop a state of the art voting system that has improved efficiency as well as being adaptable to our changing environment; and

WHEREAS, Secretary Hawker has also coordinated efforts to automate the Journal Room functions including the integration of Bill Status, filing of legislative measures, Daily Calendar, Daily Journal, and committee hearing notices, leading to greater accuracy; and

WHEREAS, Linda has ably managed numerous budgets in her job as Secretary of the Senate and her knowledge and skills in parliamentary procedure are highly regarded and respected; and

WHEREAS, As Secretary of the Illinois Senate, Linda has also been extremely active in the American Society of Legislative Clerks and Secretaries, serving as committee chair and vice chair, as well as submitting articles to the Legislative Administrator and the Professional Journal, hosting professional development seminars, and working on the host committee of the 2000 NCSL annual conference held in Chicago; for her many efforts she was awarded the National Conference of State Legislatures Legislative Staff Achievement Award of 2006; and

WHEREAS Linda Hawker is committed to the Springfield community where she grew up, serving on numerous boards and committees, including the Springfield Urban League, the Center for the Study of Middle-Sized Cities, the Springfield Energy Project, the Committee to Study the Honesty and Integrity of Springfield Elections, the Springfield Election Commission, the UIS Alumni Council, Sister Cities International, and Illinois Democratic Women; she is a founding member of Illinois Women in Government and the Illinois Women's Institute for Leadership; and

WHEREAS, Linda has been blessed in her professional life but profoundly blessed in her personal life as mother to Brittany, mother-by-marriage to Michelle, Tim and Molly and grandmother to Maureen and Gracie; and

WHEREAS, It is with high esteem and great affection that we wish Linda Hawker the very best that the future has to offer; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Linda Hawker on her more than 35 years of service to the people of Illinois and to the Illinois Senate; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Linda Hawker as a token of our thanks for her many efforts on behalf of the members of this body and the citizens of the State of Illinois.