Bill Text: IL HR0609 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Urges support for peaceful exercise of First Amendment rights by Occupy protestors.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HR0609 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HR0609-Introduced.html

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HR0609 LRB097 14568 AJO 59591 r
HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The people of Illinois are suffering from an
ongoing economic crisis that threatens their health, wealth,
and security; and
WHEREAS, Occupy movements in Illinois are supported by
people of all trades and occupations, from school teachers to
military veterans, who are stirred to protest economic
injustice by the examples of the Occupy Wall Street movement in
New York City and the numerous other Occupy protests across the
country; and
WHEREAS, In Illinois, the unemployment rate is 10%
(numbering more than 660,000 people), the poverty rate is more
than 14% (1.8 million people), and the rate of people living in
extreme poverty (income less than $11,000 for a family of four)
is nearly 7% (680,000 people); and
WHEREAS, The average after-tax household income of the top
1% of the United States population grew by 275% between 1979
and 2007, and the average after-tax household income of the
lowest 20% of the United States population grew by just 18% in
that same period; and
WHEREAS, The top 1% of income earners control 40% of the

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wealth in the United States (a disparity greater than in Marie
Antoinette's France before the Revolution of 1789); and
WHEREAS, The foreclosure rate in Illinois last month was
the ninth worst in the country (1 of every 463 units), the rate
in Cook County was even worse (1 of 357 units), and nearly 45%
of the mortgage loans on Chicago homes are "underwater", that
is, the amount of the home mortgage loan exceeds the value of
the home; and
WHEREAS, The cost of the foreclosure crisis to Illinois
taxpayers in 2012 is expected to reach $12 billion, blighting
whole communities with decreased police and fire protection,
higher crime rates, less access to health care, poorer schools,
deteriorated infrastructure, diminished recreation services,
reduced library services, and park closures or reduced park
hours; and
WHEREAS, People of all ages (from young adults to seniors)
and backgrounds, individuals from all Chicago neighborhoods
(north, south, and west), and persons who live in the suburbs,
downstate cities, and rural areas are lawfully protesting the
failures of Wall Street, the subsequent economic crisis, and
the failure to address the needs of 99% of the population;
therefore, be it

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RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we recognize the injuries suffered by the people of Illinois as
a result of these economic injustices and we stand in support
of the continued peaceful exercise of First Amendment rights by
Occupy protestors.