SR1159 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR1159 LRB096 24799 GRL 44947 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, State Senator Michael Bond has represented the citizens of the State of Illinois and the families of the 31st Legislative District since 2006; and

WHEREAS, Senator Michael Bond has been at the forefront of efforts to modernize Illinois, from improving transportation and mass transit systems to supporting technological advances in education, crime prevention, and energy production; and

WHEREAS, Michael Bond began his elected service to his community as a member of the Board of Education for Woodland District 50 Consolidated Schools, which is the largest elementary school district in Lake County and the 7th largest elementary school district in the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, During his tenure in the Senate, Michael Bond has drawn on his background as the former director of corporate finance for Allstate Insurance Company, where his experience with strategic planning, forecasting, and advanced demographics and mapping technologies has assisted him in taking a more forward-thinking and formulaic approach to large-scale transportation initiatives and education reform; and

WHEREAS, Understanding the importance of adequate and safe transportation in Lake County, Senator Bond has been particularly involved in issues related to road construction and infrastructure improvements, both regionally and throughout the State; and

WHEREAS, Senator Bond has been a strong advocate for new road projects in Lake County and was an early supporter of the $30 billion capital construction plan that was signed into law in July of 2009, which was crafted to create jobs, restore the State's lagging economy, and, for the first time in a decade, provide significant dollars to rebuild Illinois' outdated schools, roads, bridges, and mass transit systems; and

WHEREAS, Senator Bond was selected as the Senate Chairman of a new statewide Strategic Infrastructure Task Force, which was organized to maximize the State's eligibility for infrastructure dollars in the federal 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; and

WHEREAS, Senator Bond has played an important role in improving transportation access in Lake County, including the extension of Atkinson Road in Grayslake to connect with Illinois Route 137, which will also feature substantial improvements where Route 137 intersects with Illinois Route 120 and Illinois Route 83, respectively; and

WHEREAS, A strong supporter of the environment and the local economy and understanding that the two issues can often work in concert, Senator Bond sponsored an initiative to assist the conservation efforts of the Fox Waterway by giving the Fox Waterway Agency the statutory authority to sell its dredging material as reclaimed topsoil, with the revenue to be used for projects designed to maintain and improve the waterway; and

WHEREAS, In an effort to make Illinois more energy-efficient, Senator Bond was the sponsor of legislation to address the amount of energy that buildings across the State consume by requiring the Capital Development Board, in conjunction with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, to initiate a study of building energy performance measures to create a simple label that indicates a building's energy use and to report those findings and recommendations to the General Assembly so that further action to improve efficiency and reduce consumption can be taken; and

WHEREAS, A loving father, Senator Bond sponsored "Jasmine's Law", which provides judges in Illinois the ability to use as an aggravating factor in sentencing the fact that a minor was offered or under the influence of alcohol at the time an offense was committed; and

WHEREAS, Understanding the need for greater protection for our families from sex offenders, Senator Bond sponsored a law which provided additional safeguards in the Sexually Violent Persons Act by allowing a local State's Attorney to petition for the commitment of a sexually violent person about to be released from prison who may still pose a threat to the community; and

WHEREAS, In 2009, Senator Bond was selected to chair the newly created Senate Telecommunications and Information Technology Committee, where he worked to improve services ranging from emergency 911 systems to public broadcast towers; and

WHEREAS, Senator Bond, as chairman of the Senate Telecommunications Committee and working in conjunction with the Citizens Utility Board and Attorney General Lisa Madigan, was the chief sponsor of a new law that protects consumers from telecommunications companies that post unauthorized charges on phone bills, a practice known as "cramming", by requiring that phone companies obtain a customer's consent before including new charges on telephone bills; and

WHEREAS, Senator Bond also sponsored measures to better incorporate technology in state operations, including an initiative to provide low-cost laptops in public schools, a successful campaign to allow Metra commuter rail passengers to purchase train fares with credit cards, and his work to study the feasibility of offering high-speed Internet access on passenger trains; and

WHEREAS, Senator Bond also supported the creation of new "innovation zones" to promote economic growth in fields such as biotechnology, alternative fuels, and advanced computing; and

WHEREAS, Despite his many responsibilities, Senator Bond has been active in his community; he is a member of St. Joseph's Church; he has participated in many youth sports activities, including t-ball coaching; he has served as an event coordinator and sponsor of the annual youth orienteer event; he also serves as a volunteer at area neighborhood highway clean-up days as a local Sierra Club member; and

WHEREAS, Senator Bond, who holds a Bachelor of Arts from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and a Master of Business Administration from Roosevelt University, will return to Grayslake where he lives with his wife, Jennifer, and their three children - Ethan, Georgia Kate, and Elliot; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we thank Michael Bond for his dedicated service to the people of Illinois and honor him with this resolution; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Michael Bond with our best wishes for his future endeavors.