HR1535 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1535 LRB099 24199 MRW 51913 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate their colleague, David R. Leitch, on the occasion of his retirement as State Representative of the 73rd District after a long and distinguished career of public service; and

WHEREAS, Representative Leitch was born on August 2, 1948 in Three Rivers, Michigan, the son of Duncan and Eunice Leitch, a county agricultural extension agent and a homemaker and teacher. The family included sister, Carol Fries, and brothers, Brian and Paul, now deceased; and

WHEREAS, On Representative Leitch's 16th birthday, his family moved to East Peoria; he attended East Peoria Community High School; he was elected class president his senior year, editor of the newspaper, and worked on the referendum to create Illinois Central College while still in high school; and

WHEREAS, Representative Leitch was selected for the Journal Star Regional Scholarship; he started working as a copy boy in May of 1966; and

WHEREAS, In 1970, Representative Leitch graduated from Kalamazoo College with a B.A. in History; he became a full-time reporter for the Peoria Journal Star, covering city and State politics and general assignments, beginning in June of 1970; and

WHEREAS, In December 1974, Representative Leitch was asked to lead the Peoria Downtown Development Council as its new president, where he worked to implement the Downtown Peoria Plan intended to make Peoria a leading business and entertainment hub with the Peoria Civic Center, the University of Illinois Medical School relocation to downtown, and the restoration of the Peoria Hotel Pere Marquette; and

WHEREAS, In 1980, the Downtown Development Council was winding down and Representative Leitch joined the Commercial National Bank as Vice President of Area Development; and

WHEREAS, When State Senator Prescott Bloom died in January 1986, David Leitch was appointed to fill out his term in the Illinois State Senate; later in 1988, he succeeded State Representative Fred Tuerk in the Illinois House of Representatives; and

WHEREAS, In 1990, Representative Leitch passed a long-awaited bill to require insurance coverage of mammograms; he was one of only 5 legislators to vote "No" on increasing Cost-of-Living Adjustment's in the system to a 3 percent compounded rate; and

WHEREAS, In addition to his diligent and dedicated work on issues of government reform, business climate, and agricultural issues, Representative Leitch focused on helping mentally ill and developmentally disabled citizens; and

WHEREAS, With the goal of improving services for mental health recovery, Representative Leitch created the Central Illinois Coalition for Mental Health Recovery, designed to bring together the community-based agencies and Methodist Medical Center to work on issues plaguing the mentally ill in the community, a group which he has regularly met with for over 16 years; among their accomplishments are establishment of Peoria County Mental Health Court, creation of a psychiatric residency program at Methodist Medical Center, and creation of the Community Crisis Center, whose purpose is to keep the mentally ill out of emergency rooms and jail; and

WHEREAS, Representative Leitch passed landmark legislation, including first-in-the-nation cord blood stem cell donation legislation, Good Samaritan laws to allow doctors to donate their services to community clinics where doctors practice for free, and laws requiring improving health care delivery to the mentally ill and developmentally disabled; and

WHEREAS, Representative Leitch secured $18 million for the Illinois Central College East Peoria campus which enabled the college to build the mechanical and industrial building (Caterpillar diesel technology program), IT building, career center (later named in his honor) and a horticulture facility; and

WHEREAS, Representative Leitch later secured the Zeller Mental Health Center, a 64-acre, 225,000 square foot complex for the North campus of Illinois Central College in Peoria; and

WHEREAS, Representative Leitch led local legislators in securing a $10 million loan to prevent the bankruptcy of Keystone Steel & Wire; the effort saved over 1,200 jobs; the entire loan has been repaid, and the company is thriving; and

WHEREAS, Representative Leitch has always held a strong commitment to constituent service in public office and personally worked hard on problems brought to him by his constituents and communities he represented in the Illinois House; he instilled an environment in his office to work as hard as possible to help people with problems; serve communities and people he represented; and

WHEREAS, Representative Leitch's service to our State and the Illinois House of Representatives grew when he was asked to serve as an Assistant Republican Leader from 1993-94, 1997-2001, 2009-2010; as an Assistant Majority Leader from 1995-1997; and as Deputy Republican Leader from 2011-2016; and

WHEREAS, Representative Leitch's service to his community went beyond his public service in Springfield, including: Heart of Illinois United Way, past President; 20 year member of the United Way of Illinois Board; United Way of America Government Relations Committee; Heartland Community Health Clinic Board; the Hemophilia Center of Central and Northern Illinois; Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; Founder of the Government Involvement & Leadership School Peoria Chamber of Commerce; Founder, and past Chair of the Peoria Convention and Visitor's Bureau; and Riverfront Business District Commission; and

WHEREAS, Representative Leitch is currently a member of the Illinois Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus, the Public Building Commission of Peoria (past Chair), Rotary Club of Downtown Peoria, and the Susan G. Komen Foundation Board; and

WHEREAS, Representative Leitch's service has been recognized with over 75 "Legislator of the Year" Awards or their equivalency, including the American Medical Association Dr. Nathan David State Legislator of the Year Award in the United States in 1998, the Dr. Joseph Solovy Award from the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria in 2007, the Tom Connor Community Service Award in 2011, the Community Behavioral Healthcare Association of Illinois' President's Award in 2015 and the Peoria Historical Society's de Tonti Award in 2016, among countless others; and

WHEREAS, Representative Leitch has 3 adult children Sarah (Todd) Stille, Ben Leitch, and Elizabeth (Matt) Kunz and 4 grandchildren, Bennett Stille, Dallyn Stille, Reid Stille, and Kathryn Kunz; and

WHEREAS, Representative Leitch has shown great commitment, effectiveness, and vision in serving his constituents throughout his legislative career; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we honor and congratulate State Representative David R. Leitch for his work in the Illinois House of Representatives and wish him our best on his retirement; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Representative Leitch as an expression of our esteem and respect.