Bill Text: IL HJR0162 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Mourns the death of former Illinois State Representative and State Senator Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2016-11-15 - Resolution Adopted [HJR0162 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2015-HJR0162-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
3 | Representatives and Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of | ||||||
4 | the death of the beloved former Illinois State Representative | ||||||
5 | and State Senator Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor, who passed | ||||||
6 | away on September 10, 2016; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor was born on January | ||||||
8 | 16, 1925 in Chicago; she moved with her family to Davenport, | ||||||
9 | Iowa and to Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada, due to her father's | ||||||
10 | parish assignments; after returning to Chicago, she attended | ||||||
11 | Sherwood Elementary School and Englewood High School; after | ||||||
12 | high school, she married Lawrence Taylor and had a child, Gayla | ||||||
13 | Aniece; and
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14 | WHEREAS, With the help of her father, Ethel Skyles | ||||||
15 | Alexander-Taylor was able to secure a position at the Clerk's | ||||||
16 | Office of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Criminal Division, | ||||||
17 | Appeal Section; afterwards, she became the first woman to be | ||||||
18 | appointed Assistant Chief Deputy Clerk of the Criminal Division | ||||||
19 | of the Circuit Court in 1973; her tenure at the Circuit Court | ||||||
20 | of Cook County lasted 33 years; she then furthered her | ||||||
21 | education at Wilson and received a degree from Loop (now Harold | ||||||
22 | Washington) College as well as enrolling in an IBM Executive | ||||||
23 | Training Course; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor taught the first | ||||||
2 | training school for Courtroom Minute Clerks in clerical | ||||||
3 | procedures; she served as Ward Committeewoman of the 20th Ward | ||||||
4 | Regular Democratic Organization for 21 years and as precinct | ||||||
5 | Captain of the 20th Ward Regular Democratic Organization for 28 | ||||||
6 | years; and
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7 | WHEREAS, In 1978, Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor was | ||||||
8 | elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, where she was | ||||||
9 | known for waving a red handkerchief in the air whenever she | ||||||
10 | wanted to discuss an issue with fellow legislators; in 1986, | ||||||
11 | she was appointed to replace the late Charles Chew in the State | ||||||
12 | Senate, where she remained until her retirement in 1993; while | ||||||
13 | in the legislature, she served as Vice-Chair of the Elections | ||||||
14 | and Reapportionment Committee and co-sponsored a bill that | ||||||
15 | prohibited State agencies from trading with apartheid-era | ||||||
16 | South Africa; she was also a leading advocate for Mayor Harold | ||||||
17 | Washington; and
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18 | WHEREAS, Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor served as a mentor | ||||||
19 | to many legislators and trained them on proper decorum; she | ||||||
20 | also focused on issues that would empower the African-American | ||||||
21 | community, stressed the importance in working with trade | ||||||
22 | unions, emphasized social issues, and underscored the | ||||||
23 | necessity of economic empowerment in the African-American |
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1 | community; and
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2 | WHEREAS, As a State Representative, Ethel Skyles | ||||||
3 | Alexander-Taylor served on the following committees during the | ||||||
4 | 81st to 84th General Assemblies: Appropriations II, Cities & | ||||||
5 | Villages (Vice Chair), Elections (Chair), Energy, Environment, | ||||||
6 | and National Resources, Judiciary II, Revenue, State | ||||||
7 | Government Administration and Regulatory Review, and Urban | ||||||
8 | Redevelopment; as a State Senator, she served on the following | ||||||
9 | committees during the 85th to 87th General Assemblies: Consumer | ||||||
10 | Affairs, Elections & Reapportionment (Vice Chair and Chair), | ||||||
11 | Energy & Environment, Judiciary, Judiciary II, Local | ||||||
12 | Government, and Revenue; and
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13 | WHEREAS, Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor was a sponsor of | ||||||
14 | many major bills that became law, including P.A. 82-627 (1981), | ||||||
15 | which created the Domestic Violence Act; P.A. 82-453 (1981), | ||||||
16 | which amended the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act to | ||||||
17 | penalize making false reports of abuse or neglect and make | ||||||
18 | other changes; P.A. 82-517 (1981), which amended the Criminal | ||||||
19 | Code by imposing stricter penalties for juror harassment; P.A. | ||||||
20 | 82-291 (1981), which amended the Criminal Code by imposing | ||||||
21 | stricter penalties for witness interference; P.A. 83-144 | ||||||
22 | (1984), which authorized the Department of Public Aid to | ||||||
23 | authorize payments to medical providers for diagnosis and | ||||||
24 | treatment of sickle cell anemia for people qualifying for |
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1 | services under Public Aid Code Section 5-2; P.A. 83-1067 | ||||||
2 | (1984), which amended the Criminal Code and Code of Criminal | ||||||
3 | Procedure to repeal existing sex crimes and replace them with | ||||||
4 | criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual assault, | ||||||
5 | criminal sexual abuse, and aggravated criminal sexual abuse; | ||||||
6 | P.A. 83-495 (1983), which amended the Rape Victims Emergency | ||||||
7 | Treatment Act by requiring hospitals to submit plans for | ||||||
8 | providing emergency care to rape victims; P.A. 83-500 (1984), | ||||||
9 | which amended the Rape Victims Emergency Treatment Act to | ||||||
10 | require the City of Chicago and law enforcement to distribute | ||||||
11 | Vitullo rape evidence kits to hospitals; P.A. 83-1406 (1984), | ||||||
12 | which amended the Communicable Disease Act to allow reporting | ||||||
13 | of sexually transmitted diseases in minors under the age of 11 | ||||||
14 | in accordance with the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting | ||||||
15 | Act; P.A. 86-1168 (1990), which expanded the crime of child | ||||||
16 | pornography to include depiction of children in "lewd | ||||||
17 | exhibitions" of several private bodily areas; P.A. 86-1329 | ||||||
18 | (1990), which amended the Code of Civil Procedure to remove | ||||||
19 | provisions that suspended the running of civil statute of | ||||||
20 | limitations periods on prospective plaintiffs while they were | ||||||
21 | in prison; P.A. 87-791 (1991), which imposed a $100 additional | ||||||
22 | fine on persons convicted of a long list of crimes against the | ||||||
23 | perpetrators' household members, with the proceeds going to the | ||||||
24 | Domestic Violence Shelter and Service Fund; P.A. 87-933 (1992), | ||||||
25 | which amended the Code of Civil Procedure to allow public | ||||||
26 | housing authorities to evict a tenant for seven days based on |
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1 | evidence that the rented premises are being used for selling | ||||||
2 | illegal drugs; P.A. 84-588 (1986), which amended the Election | ||||||
3 | Code to have all election authorities in the State prepare | ||||||
4 | reports of votes cast in their jurisdictions and distribute | ||||||
5 | them to local political parties; P.A. 84-197 (1986), which | ||||||
6 | amended the Minority and Female Business Enterprise Act to | ||||||
7 | require the Enterprise Council to act as clearinghouse for | ||||||
8 | State contracts which minority and female-owned businesses can | ||||||
9 | bid; P.A. 84-659 (1986), which amended the Election Code to | ||||||
10 | require that each electronic voting booth be placed in a way | ||||||
11 | that prevents election judges and poll watchers from observing | ||||||
12 | casting of ballots; P.A. 84-658 (1986), which amended the | ||||||
13 | Election Code to allow a write-in candidate to be nominated and | ||||||
14 | elected without receiving at least as many votes as the | ||||||
15 | required numbers of petition signatures, if the candidate | ||||||
16 | received more votes than any other candidate; P.A. 84-966 | ||||||
17 | (1986), which amended the Election Code to allow discovery in | ||||||
18 | one precinct, if there are fewer than four precincts under the | ||||||
19 | jurisdiction of the election authority and within the area | ||||||
20 | where votes may be cast on the petition filed for discovery; | ||||||
21 | and P.A. 86-786 (1989), which amended acts on Cook County | ||||||
22 | courts by reducing the number of associate judges and | ||||||
23 | increasing numbers of circuit and Appellate Court judges; and
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24 | WHEREAS, Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor was President of | ||||||
25 | the First Church of Deliverance 300 Voice Radio and T.V. Adult |
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1 | Choir for over 20 years; she was also a member of Parkway | ||||||
2 | Community House, the NAACP, and the Chicago Urban League; and
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3 | WHEREAS, Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor was preceded in | ||||||
4 | death by her parents, former State Representative Charles M. | ||||||
5 | Skyles and Mildred Skyles; her husband, Lawrence "Larry" | ||||||
6 | "Poppy" Taylor; her siblings, Delores June Daniel, Ruby Elise | ||||||
7 | King, and Charles M. Skyles II; and her nephew, Steven C. | ||||||
8 | Green; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor is survived by her | ||||||
10 | nieces and nephews, James E. (Alice) Daniel, Wayne K. King, | ||||||
11 | Shalalia Daniel, Donna Skyles, Rae Lynn (Ernest) Durham, Ruby | ||||||
12 | Turner, and Charles M. (Verne) Skyles III; her stepdaughter, | ||||||
13 | Deidre (Anthony) Aleniyi, and her family, Attorney Bianca Brown | ||||||
14 | and Jovanezer Dikeccha; her stepchildren, Lawrence Jr., | ||||||
15 | Kiimberling, Enrico, Yolanda, Brandy, Tondelayo, and Mario; | ||||||
16 | her in-laws, Margaret Johnson, Robert Taylor, Lillian | ||||||
17 | (Charles) Wade, Doris Eames, Earlene (Ronnie) Leverette, Earl | ||||||
18 | (Stephenia) Taylor, and Marion and Candice Taylor; her special | ||||||
19 | extended family, Lucille Arden, Samuel Thornton, Connie | ||||||
20 | Tinner, Marian Joyce Randolph, Lauretta (Sweets) Hines, | ||||||
21 | retired United States Senator Carol Moseley Braun, and Billie | ||||||
22 | Paige; and the members of the First Church of Deliverance; | ||||||
23 | therefore, be it
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1 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
2 | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | ||||||
3 | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we, along with her family and | ||||||
4 | friends, mourn the passing of former Illinois State | ||||||
5 | Representative and State Senator Ethel Skyles | ||||||
6 | Alexander-Taylor; and be it further
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7 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
8 | presented to the family of Ethel Skyles Alexander-Taylor as an | ||||||
9 | expression of our sympathy.
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