Bill Text: IL HR0690 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Mourns the death of Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 77-38)
Status: (Passed) 2024-04-11 - Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Lance Yednock [HR0690 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2023-HR0690-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION | ||||||
2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
3 | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Cook | ||||||
4 | County Clerk Karen Yarbrough, a trailblazing Maywood Democrat | ||||||
5 | who served in public office for more than two decades; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Karen Yarbrough was born on August 22, 1950; she | ||||||
7 | was a native of Washington D.C. but established herself as a | ||||||
8 | third generation entrepreneur in Cook County; she earned a | ||||||
9 | degree in business administration from Chicago State | ||||||
10 | University and a master's degree in Inner City Studies at | ||||||
11 | Northeastern Illinois University and completed a senior | ||||||
12 | executive government program at Harvard's Kennedy School of | ||||||
13 | Government; and
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14 | WHEREAS, Karen Yarbrough made significant contributions | ||||||
15 | after entering her family's tradition of work in the real | ||||||
16 | estate, appraisal, and insurance industry, especially as a | ||||||
17 | woman in a then male-dominated profession; she was the founder | ||||||
18 | and longtime chief executive officer of Hathaway Insurance and | ||||||
19 | was driven to succeed despite those who looked over her | ||||||
20 | shoulder to see if the man who ran the business was around; she | ||||||
21 | often shared this anecdote to inspire young women to persevere | ||||||
22 | through adversity; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Karen Yarbrough was sworn in as a state | ||||||
2 | representative in 2001 and served for a time as assistant | ||||||
3 | majority leader; she earned a reputation as a hardworking | ||||||
4 | leader unafraid to fight for what she believed was right; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Karen Yarbrough was elected Cook County Recorder | ||||||
6 | of Deeds in 2012 and Clerk in 2018; she was the first Black | ||||||
7 | person and first woman to serve as Cook County Clerk; when the | ||||||
8 | recorder's office was eliminated, she assumed all duties of | ||||||
9 | that office as county clerk in 2020; and
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10 | WHEREAS, Karen Yarbrough believed that Illinois would be a | ||||||
11 | better place if it ended the death penalty, taking up an effort | ||||||
12 | that had made little progress in 30 years; she worked | ||||||
13 | tirelessly to help others find the courage to stand for true | ||||||
14 | justice and made Illinois the 16th state to repeal capital | ||||||
15 | punishment, earning her a Nobel Peace Prize nomination and an | ||||||
16 | audience with Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Karen Yarbrough believed than many of society's | ||||||
18 | problems stem from poverty, and she focused much of her effort | ||||||
19 | on eliminating it; she passed legislation creating the | ||||||
20 | Commission on the Elimination of Poverty in 2008, and as a | ||||||
21 | long-time member of the commission, she led its efforts to | ||||||
22 | expand access to affordable housing, adequate food and | ||||||
23 | nutrition, quality health care, equal access to education, |
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1 | dependable transportation, enriching child care for all, | ||||||
2 | opportunities to earn a living wage, and availability of | ||||||
3 | adequate income supports; and
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4 | WHEREAS, Karen Yarbrough recognized that predatory | ||||||
5 | mortgage lending practices had a deleterious effect on | ||||||
6 | communities, especially communities of color, and fought to | ||||||
7 | crack down on state-chartered banks and establish a program to | ||||||
8 | track lending and offer mortgage counseling to potential | ||||||
9 | buyers at risk; and
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10 | WHEREAS, Karen Yarbrough helped usher in the first major | ||||||
11 | statewide capital construction program in Illinois in a decade | ||||||
12 | to repair the state's crumbling roads, bridges, and schools | ||||||
13 | and create jobs; and
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14 | WHEREAS, Karen Yarbrough led the passage of the Smoke Free | ||||||
15 | Illinois Act, one of her proudest achievements, which | ||||||
16 | eliminated indoor smoking in bars, restaurants, and other | ||||||
17 | public places, protecting countless workers, customers, and | ||||||
18 | medically vulnerable individuals from the effects of | ||||||
19 | secondhand smoke; while at the time some believed the effort | ||||||
20 | could not be done, she fought for what was right and made | ||||||
21 | Illinois a leader in the effort to eliminate indoor smoking; | ||||||
22 | her policy is now law in the majority of the country; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Karen Yarbrough was active in Democratic Party | ||||||
2 | politics, working for both the Cook County Democratic Party | ||||||
3 | and the Democratic Party of Illinois; she was a Democratic | ||||||
4 | committeeperson representing west suburban Proviso Township | ||||||
5 | for the Cook County party, where she was also the treasurer; | ||||||
6 | she was a member of the state central committee for the | ||||||
7 | Illinois party; and
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8 | WHEREAS, Karen Yarbrough received numerous awards | ||||||
9 | recognizing her efforts to promote social justice, public | ||||||
10 | health, fair housing, anti-violence, volunteerism and women's | ||||||
11 | rights, and she proudly mentored young people who sought to | ||||||
12 | become more involved in their communities; and
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13 | WHEREAS, Karen Yarbrough enjoyed spending time with her | ||||||
14 | family and was especially proud of her children and | ||||||
15 | grandchildren; and
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16 | WHEREAS, Karen Yarbrough was a dedicated public servant | ||||||
17 | who was always encouraging and paved the way for many; she was | ||||||
18 | a wonderful human being and was loved by many; therefore, be it
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19 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
20 | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
21 | we mourn the death of Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough, a | ||||||
22 | trailblazing Maywood Democrat who served in public office for |
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1 | more than two decades; and be it further
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