SR1692 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR1692 LRB098 23491 MST 62661 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Illinois State Senator Michael Frerichs has represented the citizens of the State of Illinois and the families of the 52nd Senate District since 2007; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs grew up in Gifford, a small farming community in Champaign County; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs graduated from Rantoul Township High School and Yale University; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs moved to Taiwan and studied Chinese at the National Cheng Kung University while teaching English; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs taught at Rantoul Township High School while serving his community as a volunteer firefighter; he also served on the board of a local non-profit nursing home and was an active member of the Rotary Club of Urbana; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs was twice elected to the Champaign County Board, where he fought against wasteful spending and was recognized for his independent voice; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs served as the Champaign County Auditor, where he established a reputation as a financial watchdog, receiving awards for his transparent financial reporting; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs has been an innovative leader in the Illinois Senate, highlighted by his passage of the 2007 law authorizing stem cell research in Illinois, further elevating the State as a national leader in promoting critical medical research to alleviate medical conditions such as Parkinson's Disease, juvenile diabetes, and different forms of cancer; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs is a strong advocate for government transparency and has worked to end "pay to play" politics in State government; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs voted to impeach former Governor Blagojevich and made a motion to disqualify him from ever holding public office in Illinois again; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs led efforts to abolish the General Assembly tuition waiver program due to the struggles Illinois colleges and universities faced as well as abuses of the program; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs has the distinct honor of representing the University of Illinois as the Higher Education Committee Chairman; he passed an innovative law to jump start Illinois' "Pay it forward, Pay it Back" pilot tuition program to make college affordable for Illinois residents regardless of their financial situation; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs knows the importance of the agriculture industry in Illinois; growing up in a small farming town gave him a solid foundation as the Chairman of the Agriculture Committee to reflect on and support agriculture policies for farmers across Illinois; his efforts were recognized in 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014 by the Illinois Farm Bureau by being awarded the Friend of Agriculture Award; he also was awarded the 2010 Legislative Award for his outstanding service to the swine industry by the Illinois Pork Producers Association; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs fought to help his hometown of Gifford after the November 2013 tornadoes; he led the charge to introduce legislation to help business owners recover from natural disasters in Illinois by providing them with property tax relief and working closely with State agencies to secure close to $1 million to help rebuild and repair the Village of Gifford and Compromise Township; he will continue to work with local stakeholders to ensure the residents of Gifford are given the necessary resources to be successful in their efforts; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs understands the importance of advocating for a strong local economy and has been an advocate of promoting job creation across Illinois in a number of ways, including his leadership as co-chair of the bipartisan Senate Special Committee on Enterprise Zone Extensions that has traveled the State to gather input on proposed legislation to modernize and extend the Enterprise Zone Program; in recognition of his efforts, the Illinois Enterprise Zone Association presented Senator Frerichs with the 2012 Legislative Achievement Award; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs understands our returning heroes have risked their lives for our nation and we should do what we can to recognize them for their service; in 2008, he passed a law to allow Vietnam veterans to receive their high school diplomas, which helped many Vietnam Veterans who were drafted before they could finish high school; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs worked for years to pass fracking legislation that would protect the environment and allow us to take advantage of various economic opportunities by implementing the toughest fracking regulations in the nation; to honor his work and service to the environment the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC) presented Senator Frerichs with the IEC's Environmental Leadership Award; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs has worked for years to give legal voters every opportunity possible to go out and practice their civic duty; he sponsored a law to require election authorities to conduct grace period registration, grace period voting, and early voting at public universities, colleges and community colleges in Illinois to make voting more accessible to college students who wish to vote, but are unable to do so due to lack of transportation or busy school schedules; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs, as the co-chairman of the bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA), helped resolve a dispute over the bidding process for State employee health insurance contracts and continues to serve as a voice for downstate employees worried about their benefits; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs is the first Democrat from Champaign County elected to any Statewide constitutional office; and

WHEREAS, Senator Frerichs is the father of his loving and wonderful daughter Ella Frerichs; he will be dearly missed by all in this chamber; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we thank State Senator Michael Frerichs for his dedicated service to the people of Illinois and honor him with this resolution; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Senator Frerichs with our best wishes for him as he prepares to serve Illinois as our next State Treasurer.