|
|
|
|
HJ0042 |
|
LRB094 11125 CSA 44522 r |
|
|
| 1 |
| HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
|
| 2 |
| WHEREAS, Penny Lee Severns and her identical twin sister, |
| 3 |
| Patty, were born on
January 21, 1952 in Decatur, Illinois, the |
| 4 |
| daughters of Donald Severns, Sr.
and Helen Severns; and
|
| 5 |
| WHEREAS, In 1972, Penny Severns was an alternate at-large |
| 6 |
| delegate to
the Democratic National Convention, the |
| 7 |
| then-youngest delegate ever elected;
later in
the year Penny |
| 8 |
| was elected to one
of six spots from Illinois on the Democratic |
| 9 |
| National Committee; in 1974 she
graduated from Southern |
| 10 |
| Illinois University in Carbondale with a Bachelor of
Arts |
| 11 |
| degree in political science with a concentration in |
| 12 |
| international
relations; and
|
| 13 |
| WHEREAS, In 1977, Penny moved to Washington D.C. where she |
| 14 |
| was appointed to a
prominent post with the United States State |
| 15 |
| Department; Penny served for two
years as a
Special Assistant |
| 16 |
| to the Administrator of the Agency for International
|
| 17 |
| Development; Penny traveled to Thailand, Nepal,
and India, |
| 18 |
| where she evaluated and audited the United States' mission in |
| 19 |
| those
countries; and
|
| 20 |
| WHEREAS, While working for the Agency for International |
| 21 |
| Development, Penny
was given the opportunity to be a
part of |
| 22 |
| history when she served as the Agency's Representative during
|
| 23 |
| negotiations of the Camp David Peace Accords; Penny
was in |
| 24 |
| attendance on the day the historic document was signed; and
|
| 25 |
| WHEREAS, While in Washington, Penny Severns was a Resident |
| 26 |
| Associate at the
Smithsonian Institution, where she met and |
| 27 |
| talked with some of the world's great
architects and master |
| 28 |
| builders; Penny was fond of Frank Lloyd Wright and his
work, |
| 29 |
| and
is remembered as someone who helped in the preservation of |
| 30 |
| his work,
particularly with the Dana-Thomas House in |
| 31 |
| Springfield; and
|
|
|
|
HJ0042 |
- 2 - |
LRB094 11125 CSA 44522 r |
|
|
| 1 |
| WHEREAS, Penny Severns resigned from the State Department |
| 2 |
| in 1979; she
returned to Decatur and took a job with Archer |
| 3 |
| Daniels Midland; in 1980, Penny
ran an unsuccessful campaign |
| 4 |
| for United States Congress
against United States |
| 5 |
| Representative Edward Madigan; even though she lost the
|
| 6 |
| election, the campaign gave Penny the opportunity to meet many |
| 7 |
| of the citizens
of Central Illinois, and her increased |
| 8 |
| visibility helped her in future
elections; in 1981, she worked |
| 9 |
| as an Administrative Assistant to the State
Comptroller; in |
| 10 |
| 1983, Penny Severns won a seat on the Decatur City Council with
|
| 11 |
| the largest number of votes in the history of Decatur; and
|
| 12 |
| WHEREAS, Penny Severns won the 51st District Senate seat in |
| 13 |
| 1986; while
serving her District, Senator Severns held the |
| 14 |
| position of
Minority Caucus Whip, was a top budget negotiator, |
| 15 |
| and was minority
spokesperson of the Revenue Committee; she |
| 16 |
| also served on the Executive
Committee
and the Legislative |
| 17 |
| Audit Commission; as a State Senator, Penny worked tirelessly |
| 18 |
| on behalf of the constituents in her district and was known as |
| 19 |
| a champion for the rights of working families, women, and |
| 20 |
| children throughout all Illinois; and
|
| 21 |
| WHEREAS, In 1989, Senator Severns was selected from a |
| 22 |
| nationwide group of
state and local lawmakers to participate as |
| 23 |
| a Fellow at Harvard University's
Kennedy School of Government; |
| 24 |
| the intensive program focused on the study of
public policy; |
| 25 |
| her hard work earned her a position as a Toll
Fellow to study |
| 26 |
| public policy with the National Council of State Legislatures
|
| 27 |
| in
Lexington, Kentucky; she was also selected as a Delegate by |
| 28 |
| the German Marshall
Fund to study job training and vocational |
| 29 |
| education programs in Germany and
Denmark; in 1994, Penny was |
| 30 |
| the Democratic nominee
for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois; and
|
| 31 |
| WHEREAS, Penny Severns spent the final months of her life |
| 32 |
| not only fighting cancer, but fighting for the people of |
|
|
|
HJ0042 |
- 3 - |
LRB094 11125 CSA 44522 r |
|
|
| 1 |
| Illinois as a candidate for Secretary of State; and
|
| 2 |
| WHEREAS, Penny Severns is also remembered through the Penny |
| 3 |
| Severns Summer Family Literacy program and the Penny Severns |
| 4 |
| Breast and Cervical Cancer Research Fund; therefore, be it
|
| 5 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
| 6 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE |
| 7 |
| SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the portion of Interstate 72 |
| 8 |
| lying between Springfield and Decatur be designated as the |
| 9 |
| Penny Severns Memorial Highway; and be it further
|
| 10 |
| RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Transportation |
| 11 |
| is requested to
erect at suitable locations, consistent with |
| 12 |
| State and federal regulations, appropriate plaques or signs |
| 13 |
| giving notice of the name; and be it further
|
| 14 |
| RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented |
| 15 |
| to the
Secretary of U.S. Department of Transportation; the |
| 16 |
| Secretary of the Illinois
Department of Transportation; and the |
| 17 |
| family of
Senator Penny Severns.
|