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| 1 | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 42
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 23 | negotiations of the Camp David Peace Accords; Penny
was in | ||||||
| 24 | attendance on the day the historic document was signed; and
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 31 | WHEREAS, Penny Severns spent the final months of her life | ||||||
| 32 | not only fighting cancer, but fighting for the people of | ||||||
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| 1 | Illinois as a candidate for Secretary of State; and
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| 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
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| 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 Expressway; and be it further
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| 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
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| 14 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
| 15 | presented to the
Secretary of U.S. Department of | ||||||
| 16 | Transportation; the Secretary of the Illinois
Department of | ||||||
| 17 | Transportation; and the family of
Senator Penny Severns.
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