Bill Text: IL HR0181 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Congratulates the Citizen Advocacy Center on the occasion of its 25th anniversary.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-03-12 - Resolution Adopted [HR0181 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-HR0181-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
Representatives wish to congratulate the staff and Board of
Directors of the Citizen Advocacy Center in Elmhurst on the
occasion of its 25th anniversary; and
WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center opened to the public
in 1994 and is an award-winning, non-profit, non-partisan free
community legal organization that has been recognized at the
local, state, and national levels; and
WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center was founded by Theresa
Amato, who served as the Center's first executive director for
eight years and has been a member of the organization's
dedicated Board of Directors for 25 years; and
WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center dedicates itself to
building democracy for the 21st century by strengthening the
citizenry's capacities, resources, and institutions for
self-governance; to advance its mission, the Center developed a
pioneering community lawyer model that protects the public's
assets, increases democratic protocols at every level of
government, and develops the voice of the citizenry through a
multi-faceted approach that includes community lawyering,
organizing, policy analysis, legal advocacy, civic education,

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coalition building, and litigation; and
WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center advances reforms
through efforts that start at the local level and become
State-wide initiatives, where undemocratic barriers rooted in
State law prevent or deter meaningful participation in the
democratic process; and
WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center is open to the public
and offers a wide spectrum of services to further the
citizenry's skills, confidence, and understanding of civic
tools, to promote individual and community efforts to resolve
issues of public concern, and to stimulate the citizenry's
awareness of and action on issues of public significance;
services include a library of free resource materials, legal
and advocacy advice on matters of public concern from community
lawyers, frequent discussion forums on local to statewide
issues and the impact on community members, and civic and legal
trainings for the public; and
WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center is committed to making
government more accountable, accessible, and transparent
through improving access to areas such as government-held
information and government institutions, the airwaves, the
ballot, and the courts, to monitoring local government entities
to insure accountability and to deter officials from acting

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contrary to the general interest of the community, to providing
journalism training on government issues, and to litigating on
behalf of select causes to sustain access to justice; and
WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center's pursuit of building
democracy includes many public initiatives, such as the Civic
Empowerment Zone with a library of resources, teacher and
student trainings, and a hands-on internship program that has
mentored hundreds of high school, college, and law students and
includes the Public Access Counselor Rulings database, which
makes more than 200 decisions immediately available to the
public, various government audits that assess compliance with
state laws or practices in areas such as election
administration, the Freedom of Information Act, and the Open
Meetings Act, and journalism education on policy issues and
much more; and
WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center has contributed to
advancing statewide reforms, including civic education, the
Freedom of Information Act, the Open Meetings Act, access to
the ballot, protecting the First Amendment Rights of the
citizenry, tax increment financing, ethics, and campaign
finance; and
WHEREAS, The Board of Directors and staff of the Citizen
Advocacy Center serve as a model of hard work, integrity, and

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dedication for the people of the State of Illinois; therefore,
be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we congratulate the administration and staff of the Citizen
Advocacy Center on the occasion of its 25th anniversary and
wish them continued success in the future; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
presented to the Citizen Advocacy Center as a symbol of our
esteem and respect.