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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, Rick Winkel has represented the citizens of east |
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| central Illinois with distinction in the General Assembly for |
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| 12 years; and |
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| WHEREAS, He was elected to the 52nd Senate District in |
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| 2002, having served with honor in the House of Representatives |
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| from 1995 to 2002; and |
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| WHEREAS, In the House, he served as a member on legislative |
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| committees dealing with agriculture and conservation, |
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| education, and judiciary issues; and |
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| WHEREAS, During that time, he sponsored bills that created |
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| and provided funds for alternative schooling, reformed |
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| campaign finance, and secured a student trustee vote on the |
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| University Board of Trustees; and |
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| WHEREAS, He helped school districts maintain a safe |
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| environment for students by sponsoring the 1995 Safe Schools |
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| Law to provide Illinois with the Regional Safe Schools Program, |
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| a system of alternative education programs for disruptive |
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| students in grades six through twelve; and |
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| WHEREAS, He also sponsored the 2001 Alternative |
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| Opportunities Learning Program, to provide at-risk students |
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| with the education and support services needed to meet Illinois |
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| Learning Standards and to complete their education in an |
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| orderly, safe and secure environment; and |
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| WHEREAS, Senator Winkel has been a leader in addressing |
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| education funding reform for elementary and secondary schools, |
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| and for public colleges and universities; and |
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| WHEREAS, In 2005, he sponsored education funding reform |
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| legislation that would provide more dollars for schools, a |
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| significant reduction in local property taxes, and a more |
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| equitable source of revenue for schools at all levels; and |
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| WHEREAS, A strong advocate for colleges and universities, |
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| Senator Winkel went to bat for universities when higher |
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| education funding was slashed by the current administration; |
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| and |
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| WHEREAS, He and several of his Senate Republican colleagues |
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| traveled throughout the State in 2003 to meet with university |
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| officials, faculty and students to determine the effects of |
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| those deep funding cuts; and |
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| WHEREAS, He has been proud to represent the University of |
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| Illinois and its tradition of academic, research and sports |
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| excellence; and |
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| WHEREAS, Rick became a lawmaker to make the State of |
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| Illinois a better place to live, he brought State government |
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| from the marble halls of the Capitol to the communities and |
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| citizens of east central Illinois; and |
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| WHEREAS, His priorities in Springfield have always been |
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| those of the people he represents; and |
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| WHEREAS, To keep in close contact and communication with |
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| his constituents, he maintained a daunting schedule of mobile |
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| office hours in communities of all sizes throughout east |
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| central Illinois; and |
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| WHEREAS, He sponsored legislation to give citizens more |
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| information about the effects that population growth, |
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| factories, businesses, and farms have on their water supplies; |
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| and |
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| WHEREAS, Rick effectively argued on behalf of his |
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| constituents when the administration tried unsuccessfully in |
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| April 2004 to drop Urbana-based Health Alliance as a managed |
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| care insurance provider for State workers; and |
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| WHEREAS, In 2005 he hosted public forums in Danville and |
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| Urbana to give public policy makers the opportunity to hear |
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| firsthand from local doctors and other medical professionals |
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| about the impact that skyrocketing medical malpractice |
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| insurance rates are having on physicians and patients in east |
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| central Illinois; and |
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| WHEREAS, He sponsored legislation making it possible for a |
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| group of local schools to form a cooperative high school with |
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| local voter approval; and |
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| WHEREAS, He helped create a State version of the federal |
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| AgrAbility Project, which helps older farmers and those with |
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| disabling injuries remain active and productive; and |
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| WHEREAS, He called the agriculture community to action in |
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| 2004 to fight the Administrations plans to increase taxes on |
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| agriculture products, gut the Department of Agriculture, |
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| eliminate the C-FAR agricultural research program, and |
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| threaten funding for the horse-racing industry; and |
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| WHEREAS, He sponsored legislation that would have |
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| reimbursed local governments and businesses for the |
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| approximately $18 million they paid in sharply increased sewer |
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| permit fees passed by the Democrat-controlled Legislature as |
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| part of the Fiscal Year 2004 budget; and |
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| WHEREAS, In the Senate, he served as Republican Spokesman |
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| for the Senate Higher Education Committee, was a member of the |
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| Senate Education Committee, Senate Judiciary Committee, and |
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| Senate Agriculture Committee; and |
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| WHEREAS, The Senator has received numerous awards and |
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| honors for his legislative work by groups as varied as the |
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| Illinois Farm Bureau, the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois, |
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| the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of |
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| Schools, National Federation of Independent Business, |
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| Champaign County Corn Growers, and other local organizations; |
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| and |
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| WHEREAS, He was a Champaign County Board Member from 1992 |
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| to 1994; and |
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| WHEREAS, Senator Winkel is a member of the Champaign County |
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| Chamber of Commerce, Champaign County and Vermilion County Farm |
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| Bureaus, Campaign County Illini Club, Champaign County |
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| Pheasants Forever, Grand Prairie Friends of Illinois, Kiwanis |
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| Club of Champaign-Urbana, Mahomet Aquifer Consortium, Rantoul |
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| Chamber of Commerce, St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce, Technology |
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| Entrepreneur Center, University of Illinois at |
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| Urbana-Champaign, and Vermilion Advantage; and |
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| WHEREAS, Rick Winkel was born Sept. 25, 1956, in Kankakee; |
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| and |
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| WHEREAS, He graduated from the DePaul University College of |
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| Law and earned a Bachelors degree in economics from the |
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| University of Illinois; and |
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| WHEREAS, He is a member of the Champaign County Bar |
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| Association and the Illinois State Bar Association; and |
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| WHEREAS, He is Of Counsel at Meyer, Capel, P.C. in |
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| Champaign; and |
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| WHEREAS, Rick and his wife, Debra, have two adult children, |
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| both who continue the tradition of public service; his son is |
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| an Army Staff Sergeant stationed in Fort Stewart, GA, and his |
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| daughter is a teacher at St. John's International High School |
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| in Waterloo, Belgium; therefore, be it |
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL |
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| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Rick |
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| Winkel on his retirement from the Illinois General Assembly |
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| after 12 years of dedicated service; and be it further |
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
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| presented to Rick Winkel with our gratitude for his hard work, |
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| and our best wishes for his future endeavors.
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