093_HR0571
LRB093 14499 HSS 20280 r
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives
3 would like to congratulate our long-time colleague J. Philip
4 Novak as he retires from his position as State Representative
5 for the 79th District; and
6 WHEREAS, Representative Novak was born on February 15,
7 1946 in Berwyn; he married Becky Fletcher in 1996 and has one
8 son, Todd; and
9 WHEREAS, Phil Novak graduated from the Chicago Public
10 School system; he received both a Bachelor of Science and a
11 Master's Degree from Eastern Illinois University; and
12 WHEREAS, Phil Novak served as Assistant Personnel
13 Director at the Manteno Mental Health Center from 1973 to
14 1976; and
15 WHEREAS, He was a Labor Relations Manager for Manville
16 Forest Products from 1976 to 1981; and
17 WHEREAS, He was also the Labor Relations Manager for
18 American Spring Wire in Kankakee from 1981 to 1983; and
19 WHEREAS, During the late 1960s he courageously served his
20 country by defending the Panama Canal from invasion - not a
21 single enemy got through and the canal was saved; and
22 WHEREAS, He served as a Bradley Trustee from 1975 to
23 1983; and
24 WHEREAS, In 1983, after conducting an extensive
25 county-wide search as the Democratic County Chairman of
26 Kankakee County, he finally appointed himself County
27 Treasurer; and
28 WHEREAS, In 1987, after once again vigorously scouring
29 the surrounding counties for the best qualified candidate, he
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1 used his weighted vote and appointed himself as State
2 Representative; and
3 WHEREAS, He was officially elected State Representative
4 in 1988; and
5 WHEREAS, His skills at handling the media are legendary,
6 including his suggestion to a reporter that all his per diem
7 was good for was "a couple of cheeseburgers and a
8 half-a-dozen Lites"; and
9 WHEREAS, He had the wherewithal to keep the Ginseng bill
10 up until he got the hard vote he needed; and
11 WHEREAS, He has always had a knack for finding abandoned
12 buildings or leaky apartments to house his campaign staff;
13 and
14 WHEREAS, He holds the position of Assistant Majority
15 Leader, and is a member of the Energy and Environment
16 Committee and is co-chairman of its special Electric Utility
17 Deregulation Committee, and is a member of the Public
18 Utilities Committee, the Registration and Regulation
19 Committee, and the Veterans Affairs Committee; and
20 WHEREAS, He was instrumental in drafting and helping to
21 pass Illinois' landmark electrical industry deregulation and
22 restructuring law in 1997; and
23 WHEREAS, Throughout his service in the legislature,
24 Representative Novak has focused his interests on
25 environmental and energy issues, chairing the House
26 Environment and Energy Committee for eight years; and
27 WHEREAS, His years of leadership on other issues that
28 affect veterans, the agriculture industry, education,
29 economic development, and the Kankakee River Valley region
30 has earned him the respect of his colleagues; and
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1 WHEREAS, It is with great pleasure this body has learned
2 that Governor Rod Blagojevich announced the appointment of J.
3 Philip Novak as the new Chairman of the Pollution Control
4 Board; therefore, be it
5 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
6 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
7 we thank our good friend Phil Novak for his hard work and
8 dedication to the people of the 79th Representative District
9 and to the State and wish him well in his new position; and
10 be it further
11 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
12 presented to Representative Phil Novak as an expression of
13 our respect and esteem.