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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to congratulate their colleague, David R.
4Leitch, on the occasion of his retirement as State
5Representative of the 73rd District after a long and
6distinguished career of public service; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Representative Leitch was born on August 2, 1948
8in Three Rivers, Michigan, the son of Duncan and Eunice Leitch,
9a county agricultural extension agent and a homemaker and
10teacher. The family included sister, Carol Fries, and brothers,
11Brian and Paul, now deceased; and
 
12    WHEREAS, On Representative Leitch's 16th birthday, his
13family moved to East Peoria; he attended East Peoria Community
14High School; he was elected class president his senior year,
15editor of the newspaper, and worked on the referendum to create
16Illinois Central College while still in high school; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Representative Leitch was selected for the
18Journal Star Regional Scholarship; he started working as a copy
19boy in May of 1966; and
 
20    WHEREAS, In 1970, Representative Leitch graduated from
21Kalamazoo College with a B.A. in History; he became a full-time

 

 

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1reporter for the Peoria Journal Star, covering city and State
2politics and general assignments, beginning in June of 1970;
3and
 
4    WHEREAS, In December 1974, Representative Leitch was asked
5to lead the Peoria Downtown Development Council as its new
6president, where he worked to implement the Downtown Peoria
7Plan intended to make Peoria a leading business and
8entertainment hub with the Peoria Civic Center, the University
9of Illinois Medical School relocation to downtown, and the
10restoration of the Peoria Hotel Pere Marquette; and
 
11    WHEREAS, In 1980, the Downtown Development Council was
12winding down and Representative Leitch joined the Commercial
13National Bank as Vice President of Area Development; and
 
14    WHEREAS, When State Senator Prescott Bloom died in January
151986, David Leitch was appointed to fill out his term in the
16Illinois State Senate; later in 1988, he succeeded State
17Representative Fred Tuerk in the Illinois House of
18Representatives; and
 
19    WHEREAS, In 1990, Representative Leitch passed a
20long-awaited bill to require insurance coverage of mammograms;
21he was one of only 5 legislators to vote "No" on increasing
22Cost-of-Living Adjustment's in the system to a 3 percent

 

 

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1compounded rate; and
 
2    WHEREAS, In addition to his diligent and dedicated work on
3issues of government reform, business climate, and
4agricultural issues, Representative Leitch focused on helping
5mentally ill and developmentally disabled citizens; and
 
6    WHEREAS, With the goal of improving services for mental
7health recovery, Representative Leitch created the Central
8Illinois Coalition for Mental Health Recovery, designed to
9bring together the community-based agencies and Methodist
10Medical Center to work on issues plaguing the mentally ill in
11the community, a group which he has regularly met with for over
1216 years; among their accomplishments are establishment of
13Peoria County Mental Health Court, creation of a psychiatric
14residency program at Methodist Medical Center, and creation of
15the Community Crisis Center, whose purpose is to keep the
16mentally ill out of emergency rooms and jail; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Representative Leitch passed landmark
18legislation, including first-in-the-nation cord blood stem
19cell donation legislation, Good Samaritan laws to allow doctors
20to donate their services to community clinics where doctors
21practice for free, and laws requiring improving health care
22delivery to the mentally ill and developmentally disabled; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Representative Leitch secured $18 million for the
2Illinois Central College East Peoria campus which enabled the
3college to build the mechanical and industrial building
4(Caterpillar diesel technology program), IT building, career
5center (later named in his honor) and a horticulture facility;
6and
 
7    WHEREAS, Representative Leitch later secured the Zeller
8Mental Health Center, a 64-acre, 225,000 square foot complex
9for the North campus of Illinois Central College in Peoria; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Representative Leitch led local legislators in
11securing a $10 million loan to prevent the bankruptcy of
12Keystone Steel & Wire; the effort saved over 1,200 jobs; the
13entire loan has been repaid, and the company is thriving; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Representative Leitch has always held a strong
15commitment to constituent service in public office and
16personally worked hard on problems brought to him by his
17constituents and communities he represented in the Illinois
18House; he instilled an environment in his office to work as
19hard as possible to help people with problems; serve
20communities and people he represented; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Representative Leitch's service to our State and
22the Illinois House of Representatives grew when he was asked to

 

 

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1serve as an Assistant Republican Leader from 1993-94,
21997-2001, 2009-2010; as an Assistant Majority Leader from
31995-1997; and as Deputy Republican Leader from 2011-2016; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Representative Leitch's service to his community
5went beyond his public service in Springfield, including: Heart
6of Illinois United Way, past President; 20 year member of the
7United Way of Illinois Board; United Way of America Government
8Relations Committee; Heartland Community Health Clinic Board;
9the Hemophilia Center of Central and Northern Illinois;
10Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; Founder of
11the Government Involvement & Leadership School Peoria Chamber
12of Commerce; Founder, and past Chair of the Peoria Convention
13and Visitor's Bureau; and Riverfront Business District
14Commission; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Representative Leitch is currently a member of the
16Illinois Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus, the Public Building
17Commission of Peoria (past Chair), Rotary Club of Downtown
18Peoria, and the Susan G. Komen Foundation Board; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Representative Leitch's service has been
20recognized with over 75 "Legislator of the Year" Awards or
21their equivalency, including the American Medical Association
22Dr. Nathan David State Legislator of the Year Award in the
23United States in 1998, the Dr. Joseph Solovy Award from the

 

 

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1University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria in 2007,
2the Tom Connor Community Service Award in 2011, the Community
3Behavioral Healthcare Association of Illinois' President's
4Award in 2015 and the Peoria Historical Society's de Tonti
5Award in 2016, among countless others; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Representative Leitch has 3 adult children Sarah
7(Todd) Stille, Ben Leitch, and Elizabeth (Matt) Kunz and 4
8grandchildren, Bennett Stille, Dallyn Stille, Reid Stille, and
9Kathryn Kunz; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Representative Leitch has shown great commitment,
11effectiveness, and vision in serving his constituents
12throughout his legislative career; therefore, be it
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
14NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
15honor and congratulate State Representative David R. Leitch for
16his work in the Illinois House of Representatives and wish him
17our best on his retirement; and be it further
 
18    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
19presented to Representative Leitch as an expression of our
20esteem and respect.