Full Text of SR1066 97th General Assembly
SR1066 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Illinois State Senator Chris Lauzen has | 3 | | represented the citizens of Kane, Kendall, and LaSalle counties | 4 | | and northeastern Illinois with distinction in the Illinois | 5 | | State Senate for 20 years; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen was first elected to the Senate in | 7 | | 1992, promising to "work hard, stay honest, and use common | 8 | | sense"; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen was one of a group of newly-elected | 10 | | conservative State senators known as the "Fab Five", including | 11 | | Senator Dave Syverson, Senator Steve Rauschenberger, Senator | 12 | | Patrick O'Malley, and Senator Peter Fitzgerald, who | 13 | | consistently voted to limit the size of government, protect | 14 | | individual freedoms, expose corruption in both parties, and | 15 | | introduce fair accounting rules to the State budget; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Throughout his two decades of service, Senator | 17 | | Lauzen has represented his constituents in Springfield with | 18 | | determination and distinction, fighting hard to make the State | 19 | | of Illinois a better place to live and work; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen personally responds to all | 21 | | correspondence, telephone calls or emails, he receives from |
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| 1 | | constituents; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen started "Illinois Porkbusters", | 3 | | which seeks to cut $5 million in wasteful spending each year | 4 | | from the State budget; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen sponsored a property tax | 6 | | assessment freeze for homeowners older than 65 with incomes | 7 | | less than $35,000, was the lead sponsor of the "5% Pay Cut for | 8 | | Politicians" legislation, and sponsored the largest employment | 9 | | tax decrease in the past 16 years; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen worked to reduce property taxes on | 11 | | VFW and American Legion veterans' posts by 85% and place a cap | 12 | | on future increases; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, As a supporter of effective public education, | 14 | | Senator Lauzen helped secure more than $48 million for school | 15 | | construction grants; he sponsored education license plates for | 16 | | future teachers' scholarships and was the only senator to speak | 17 | | out and vote against tuition discounts for illegal immigrants | 18 | | at public universities; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, To counter the rising costs of medical care, | 20 | | Senator Lauzen launched a prescription medication pilot | 21 | | program that saved participants an average of 50% on the cost |
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| 1 | | of drugs, at no expense to taxpayers; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen sponsored a ban on intact dilation | 3 | | and extraction abortion; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen was the original lead sponsor of | 5 | | the Breast Cancer Research voluntary check-off on the State | 6 | | personal income tax return, which has raised millions of | 7 | | dollars for breast cancer research; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen served as Republican Spokesman of | 9 | | the Senate Revenue Committee since 2003; he was a member of the | 10 | | Senate Pensions and Investments Committee, the Senate | 11 | | Appropriations I and II committees, and was co-chair of the | 12 | | Legislative Audit Commission; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, In recognition of his consistently pro-employment | 14 | | record, Senator Lauzen was honored by the Illinois Chamber of | 15 | | Commerce with the "Champion of Free Enterprise" award in 2002 | 16 | | and 2012, and by the NFIB with the "Guardian of Small Business" | 17 | | award in 1996; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen also received the John Ericcson | 19 | | Republican League of Illinois Award in 2011, the Illinois Farm | 20 | | Bureau Friend of Agriculture Activator Award in 2008 and 2010, | 21 | | the IATCD Legislator of the Year in 2009, the A.B.A.T.E. |
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| 1 | | Recognition of Support of Our Freedom Award in 2009, the | 2 | | Illinois Civil Justice League "Friends of Fairness" Award in | 3 | | 2007, the Army National Guard Certificate of Appreciation | 4 | | Support of the Illinois Army National Guard and Charlie Troop | 5 | | 2/106th Calvary in 2007, the Outstanding Senator Award from the | 6 | | DuPage County Farm Bureau, the Education Center Community | 7 | | Leadership Award in 2000, the Holy Angels School Alumnus of the | 8 | | Year in 1999, the Illinois Family Institute Leadership Award in | 9 | | 1997, the Marmion Academy Centurion Award in 1996, the Family | 10 | | PAC Legislator of the Year in 1996, and the Y-Me National | 11 | | Breast Cancer Organization Award in Excellence in 1994; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen is a nationally recognized expert | 13 | | on public pensions; he spoke at the American Legislative | 14 | | Exchange Council's 2009 Convention in New Orleans, at the | 15 | | National Conference of State Legislatures' 2009 Convention in | 16 | | Philadelphia, and at the 2010 U.S. Chamber of Commerce event | 17 | | broadcast on C-SPAN; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen was a member of the Illinois | 19 | | Economic and Fiscal Commission and the Illinois State Crime | 20 | | Commission; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen published an article about | 22 | | education reform with the Heartland Institute and was also a | 23 | | member of the Institute's Legislative Forum; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen was an elected delegate for the | 2 | | White House Conference on Small Business in Washington, D.C., | 3 | | in 1995; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen was appointed to the Economic | 5 | | Development Board by Sam Skinner; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen has been involved in the Lions | 7 | | Clubs in several communities, numerous local Chambers of | 8 | | Commerce, the Compassion Foundation Board of Directors, the Fox | 9 | | Valley Maoris Rugby team, the Heart of Illinois POW/MIA | 10 | | Association, the Sons of the American Legion, and the Illinois | 11 | | Republican National Hispanic Assembly; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen was born in Aurora, Illinois, and | 13 | | raised in the Pigeon Hill neighborhood; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen earned a bachelor of science degree | 15 | | with honors in management science and english in 1974 from Duke | 16 | | University; he received his Certified Public Accountant | 17 | | credentials in 1976 from the University of Illinois and a | 18 | | master's degree in business administration in 1978 from Harvard | 19 | | Business School; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen is a player/member of the Harvard |
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| 1 | | Old Boy Rugby Team; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen is currently pursuing a doctorate | 3 | | in education finance from Northern Illinois University; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen worked as the president of the | 5 | | Comprehensive Accounting Corporation, where he helped teach | 6 | | more than 300 accountants how to go into business for | 7 | | themselves; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, During his 5 years as president, the number of | 9 | | franchise offices tripled to 450 nationwide, pre-tax profit | 10 | | doubled, and the network of accountants served more than 22,000 | 11 | | small-business owners; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen and his wife later purchased a | 13 | | Comprehensive Accounting franchise, and in less than | 14 | | four-and-a-half years, he was managing the books and tax | 15 | | preparation for more than 200 small businesses in the local | 16 | | area; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen's grandparents emigrated from | 18 | | Romania to the United States in the early 20th century; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, On July 28, 2006, Romanian President Traian | 20 | | Basescu awarded him the Order of the Star of Romania Medal, |
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| 1 | | Commander Rank (the highest commendation granted to a foreign | 2 | | citizen by Romania), in recognition of his work to "build | 3 | | bridges of friendship and commerce between the people of | 4 | | Romania and the United States"; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Senator Lauzen and his wife, Sarah, are the proud | 6 | | parents of Ted (wife, Sarah), Elliot, Hans, and Robbie; | 7 | | therefore, be it
| 8 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL | 9 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Senator | 10 | | Lauzen on his retirement from the Illinois State Senate after | 11 | | 20 years of honorable and dedicated service; and be it further
| 12 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this preamble and | 13 | | resolution be presented to Senator Lauzen with our friendship, | 14 | | our gratitude for his hard work, and our best wishes for his | 15 | | future endeavors, including his service as chairman of the Kane | 16 | | County Board.
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