Bill Text: IL SR2152 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Honors and thanks Senator Bill Haine for his dedicated service to the people of Illinois.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2018-11-13 - Resolution Adopted [SR2152 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2017-SR2152-Introduced.html
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1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Fifty years ago, Bill Haine, a recent graduate | ||||||
3 | from St. Louis University, enlisted in the United States Army | ||||||
4 | and went to war in Vietnam, where he was a member of the 1st | ||||||
5 | Cavalry Division Airmobile from 1967 until 1969; enlisting was | ||||||
6 | the first step in a lifetime of distinguished public service | ||||||
7 | that also includes a Bronze Star for combat services, election | ||||||
8 | to the Madison County Board, 14 years as Madison County State's | ||||||
9 | Attorney, and service in the Illinois Senate since 2002; and
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10 | WHEREAS, In 2017, Senator Haine announced that this would | ||||||
11 | be his final term in the Illinois Senate, where he has loyally | ||||||
12 | represented the 56th Senate District, which includes the | ||||||
13 | communities of Caseyville, East Alton, Edwardsville, Granite | ||||||
14 | City, Wood River, and his beloved hometown of Alton; and
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15 | WHEREAS, Senator Haine has battled multiple myeloma, a form | ||||||
16 | of blood cancer, and treatments kept him away from the Capitol | ||||||
17 | for most of the 2017 legislative session; however, he returned | ||||||
18 | to cast the deciding votes on a balanced budget, which ended | ||||||
19 | the state's two-year financial impasse, and the Senate's | ||||||
20 | override of the governor's veto of a historic school funding | ||||||
21 | overhaul; and
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22 | WHEREAS, Senator Haine is a true historian, who often |
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1 | sprinkles legislative debates with rhetorical lessons and | ||||||
2 | anecdotes from the works of Roman emperors, a litany of popes | ||||||
3 | spanning civilized history, and the founding fathers; he has | ||||||
4 | long been an advocate for the genius of American democracy and | ||||||
5 | for what James Madison described as the ordered liberty of the | ||||||
6 | legislative process as a constitutional foil to the corrupting | ||||||
7 | evils of demagoguery and mob rule; and
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8 | WHEREAS, Senator Haine's tenure in Springfield has been | ||||||
9 | marked by practical politics rather than political agendas; at | ||||||
10 | times, his focus has been big; and
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11 | WHEREAS, Senator Haine was the legislative architect of a | ||||||
12 | sweeping plan to modernize the levee system in the Metro East | ||||||
13 | region, an effort that has helped protect homes and businesses | ||||||
14 | from flood damage in recent years; and
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15 | WHEREAS, Senator Haine helped win state investment in | ||||||
16 | maintaining and expanding the growing Edwardsville campus of | ||||||
17 | Southern Illinois University and other key infrastructures, | ||||||
18 | including I-255; and
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19 | WHEREAS, Senator Haine worked to keep the Wood River | ||||||
20 | Refinery expansion on track and similarly led successful | ||||||
21 | efforts to approve a Constitutional Amendment protecting the | ||||||
22 | State's Road Fund from being raided for |
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1 | non-transportation-related spending; and
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2 | WHEREAS, Senator Haine drew upon his distinguished, | ||||||
3 | award-winning law enforcement background from his time as | ||||||
4 | Madison County State's Attorney to sponsor, negotiate, and win | ||||||
5 | approval of the state's medical marijuana law that balanced | ||||||
6 | compassionate use with stringent standards and regulations; | ||||||
7 | and
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8 | WHEREAS, At the same time, Senator Haine kept an eye out | ||||||
9 | for injustice at any level; in response to media reports of | ||||||
10 | motorists being forced to pay outrageous fees to have towed | ||||||
11 | vehicles released from impound lots, he sponsored and passed | ||||||
12 | consumer protections limiting those charges and ending abuse; | ||||||
13 | and
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14 | WHEREAS, To protect jobs at the US Steel plant in Granite | ||||||
15 | City, Senator Haine rallied the Illinois Senate to protest | ||||||
16 | China's dumping of low quality, cheap steel into the U.S. | ||||||
17 | market; and
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18 | WHEREAS, Despite Senator Haine's many awards and | ||||||
19 | accomplishments, he considers the crowning achievement of his | ||||||
20 | life to be his marriage to his wife, Anna, whom he met in | ||||||
21 | college, and the family they have built together; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Senator Haine and Anna have seven children, | ||||||
2 | Cecilia, Elizabeth, Mary, Margaret, Alice, Thomas, and Joseph; | ||||||
3 | at the time of this reading, they have 33 grandchildren, | ||||||
4 | Alexander, Madeleine, Eleanor, Gabriel, Xavier, Leo, Helen, | ||||||
5 | Emil, Karol, Mary, William, Margaret, Judith Anna, Rosaria, | ||||||
6 | James, Stella, Faith, Edward, John, Peter, Agnes, Joseph, Jude, | ||||||
7 | Mercea, Anna, Mary, James, Lucia, Peter, Cecilia, Anselm, | ||||||
8 | Joseph, and Gabriel; they have one great-grandchild, Julian; | ||||||
9 | and
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10 | WHEREAS, Senator Haine's future plans include spending | ||||||
11 | time with all of them; therefore, be it
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12 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL | ||||||
13 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we thank Senator Bill | ||||||
14 | Haine for his dedicated service to the people of Illinois and | ||||||
15 | honor him with this resolution; and be it further
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16 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
17 | presented to Senator Haine as an expression of our esteem and | ||||||
18 | respect, and we send our best wishes as he sets forth on his | ||||||
19 | next adventure.
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