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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Senator Dan Rutherford has represented the
3citizens of central Illinois with merit in the General Assembly
4for 18 years; and
 
5    WHEREAS, He has served with distinction in the Illinois
6Senate after 5 honorable terms in the Illinois House of
7Representatives; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Senator Rutherford's legislative priorities have
9been those with regard to protecting the taxpayers and their
10wallets, nursing home residents, agricultural interests,
11business development, and job creation; and
 
12    WHEREAS, His tireless devotion to nursing home issues has
13earned him numerous awards from health care and senior citizen
14advocacy groups from across Illinois; and
 
15    WHEREAS, He was the legislative author of a bill to convert
16the reimbursement rates for nursing homes to the "Minimum Date
17Set," based on the health condition of the resident; and
 
18    WHEREAS, He has sponsored legislation which curtailed
19onerous governmental intrusion such as the 2004 legislation to
20curb "infamous" public health department inspections of

 

 

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1non-commercial potlucks and the 2009 legislation to scale back
2regulatory burdens placed on contestants of amateur martial
3arts; and
 
4    WHEREAS, He has led efforts to ensure that the Department
5of Corrections is working in the best interest of those
6citizens whose lives are affected by the department and
7successfully worked against roving-prison closure policies on
8two occasions, which if enacted, would have jeopardized public
9safety and would have threatened the livelihood of thousands of
10Illinois citizens; and
 
11    WHEREAS, His steadfast opposition to the growing number of
12Illinois specialty license plates for vehicles has earned him
13the respect of the law enforcement community; and
 
14    WHEREAS, He has always recognized the need to work with
15legislators on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers
16regardless of their stance on public policy; and
 
17    WHEREAS, He and his legislative staff's constituent
18services have been a staple of the Senator's dedication to his
19District; and
 
20    WHEREAS, He was selected to serve as an Assistant Senate
21Republican Leader in 2009; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Senator Rutherford is currently the only member of
2the General Assembly to have served on a House of
3Representatives Investigative Impeachment Committee and Senate
4Impeachment Tribunal Committee as part of two separate
5impeachment processes; and
 
6    WHEREAS, He has served as the ranking Republican on the
7Senate Financial Institutions Committee during his entire
8tenure in the Illinois Senate, working to protect consumers
9from overbearing fees and predatory business practices; and
 
10    WHEREAS, He served on the General Assembly's Joint
11Committee on Administrative Rules while in the House of
12Representatives and the Senate and observes that "JCAR is the
13sharp end of the stick in making public policy"; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Dan Rutherford was the executive director of the
15Illinois for Ronald Reagan's 1980 Election to the Office of the
16President of the United States; and
 
17    WHEREAS, He served as President of the Student Body at
18Illinois State University; and
 
19    WHEREAS, He has traveled to all seven continents, including
20a stint in Antarctica and leading safaris in Africa, and has

 

 

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1logged more than 200 deep sea dives across the globe; and
 
2    WHEREAS, He has successfully worked with the ServiceMaster
3Company for 25 years; and
 
4    WHEREAS, He has planted more than 19,000 trees and shrubs
5on his personal property to promote reforestation and wildlife
6habitat; and
 
7    WHEREAS, He graduated from Pontiac Township High School;
8and
 
9    WHEREAS, He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business
10administration from Illinois State University, where he has
11been admitted into the Hall of Fame for both the College of
12Business and the College of Arts and Sciences; and
 
13    WHEREAS, In his 18 years as a lawmaker, Dan Rutherford has
14represented his constituents in Springfield with determination
15and class, earning the respect and admiration of his colleagues
16on both sides of the aisle; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Lawmakers and staff alike know and appreciate
18Senator Rutherford for his work ethic; therefore, be it
 
19    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL

 

 

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1ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Dan
2Rutherford on his retirement from the Illinois General Assembly
3after 18 years of honorable and dedicated service and on his
4election as Treasurer of the State of Illinois; and be it
5further
 
6    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
7presented to Dan Rutherford as a symbol of our friendship, our
8gratitude for his hard work, and our best wishes for his future
9service as the Treasurer of the State of Illinois.