Full Text of SR1611 101st General Assembly
SR1611 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, State Senator Andy Manar will step away from the | 3 | | Illinois Senate after eight years of dedicated service to the | 4 | | people of the 48th District and a vigorous record of fighting | 5 | | for children, working families, educators, small businesses, | 6 | | and senior citizens; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Senator Manar, a lifelong resident of Bunker Hill | 8 | | in southern Macoupin County, has served in elected public | 9 | | office for nearly 24 years; he was first elected to the Bunker | 10 | | Hill City Council at the age of 21 in 1997; he was elected | 11 | | mayor of Bunker Hill in 2001; he later chaired the Macoupin | 12 | | County Board until his election to the Illinois Senate in 2012; | 13 | | and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Senator Manar's influences include his family and | 15 | | his mentor, the late State Senator Vince Demuzio, who instilled | 16 | | in him the deeply held beliefs that hard work, a record of | 17 | | bipartisanship, and accountability to the people he represents | 18 | | are among his most important achievements as an elected | 19 | | official; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Senator Manar has been a champion for responsible | 21 | | State budgets, collective bargaining, access to affordable | 22 | | health care, teachers, and the LGBTQ community; he passed |
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| 1 | | numerous laws that will have a lasting impact on Illinois | 2 | | citizens for generations; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Arguably, Senator Manar's most defining | 4 | | accomplishments were born out of his passion for and commitment | 5 | | to public education in Illinois; in addition to taking steps to | 6 | | address a dire teacher shortage in schools throughout the | 7 | | State, he and a coalition of advocates succeeded in reshaping | 8 | | the way Illinois schools are funded after decades of | 9 | | worst-in-the-nation rankings for the State's contributions to | 10 | | school funding; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Senator Manar spent countless hours negotiating a | 12 | | plan to overhaul the school funding formula, holding town hall | 13 | | meetings, talking with school superintendents, explaining | 14 | | school funding to taxpayers, and making the case to newspaper | 15 | | editorial boards throughout Illinois for why the State should | 16 | | update its formula; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Senator Manar's efforts resulted in the | 18 | | Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act becoming law in | 19 | | 2017, which meant that Illinois would put the most underfunded | 20 | | school districts at the front of the line for State support and | 21 | | make equity the foundation of public school funding for the | 22 | | first time in a generation; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Senator Manar has also been an ardent proponent of | 2 | | affordable, accessible health care, particularly in rural and | 3 | | underserved communities; he was instrumental in creating the | 4 | | Critical Access Pharmacy program to help independent, | 5 | | locally-owned pharmacies keep their doors open in the wake of | 6 | | increasing financial pressure from corporations and pharmacy | 7 | | benefit managers; he also passed the State's first regulation | 8 | | of pharmacy benefit managers in Illinois; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Seeing that the exorbitant cost of insulin put | 10 | | this life-saving drug out of reach for many Illinoisans, | 11 | | Senator Manar built a statewide, grassroots campaign and | 12 | | contended with predatory pharmaceutical companies, passing a | 13 | | historic law to cap the out-of-pocket cost of insulin at $100 | 14 | | per month in Illinois; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Senator Manar made access to the ballot box | 16 | | another priority, and he succeeded in passing an automatic | 17 | | voter registration plan that has modernized State bureaucracy | 18 | | and made it easier for Illinois citizens to register to vote | 19 | | while also protecting the State from voter fraud; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Senator Manar served as chair of one of the | 21 | | Illinois Senate's two budget committees during a period of | 22 | | great political gridlock and financial uncertainty; he | 23 | | delivered millions of dollars in State investments for schools, |
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| 1 | | parks, libraries, and roads to communities in the 48th | 2 | | District; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Senator Manar directed State resources to | 4 | | programs to help develop the 48th District's workforce, | 5 | | including millions of dollars for the Work Skills Program at | 6 | | Richland Community College in Decatur, for the South Macoupin | 7 | | Consortium for Innovation and Career Pathways serving students | 8 | | in six high schools, in funding for a new South Central | 9 | | Illinois Regional Workforce Training and Innovation Center in | 10 | | Litchfield, and for the Golden Apple Teacher Accelerators | 11 | | program at Blackburn College in Carlinville; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Senator Manar has been recognized by numerous | 13 | | organizations for his work in the Illinois Senate, including | 14 | | receiving the Dawn Clark Netsch Straight Talk Award from the | 15 | | Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, the Common Cause | 16 | | Champion of Democracy, Rural Legislator of the Year from the | 17 | | Illinois Hospital Association, the President's Award from the | 18 | | Faith Coalition for the Common Good, the Vince Demuzio | 19 | | Legislator of the Year Award from the Illinois Association of | 20 | | Community Action Agencies, and the 2019 Illinois Education | 21 | | Association Friend of Education Award and being named a 2016 | 22 | | Wall of Honor inductee at Bunker Hill High School; and
| 23 | | WHEREAS, Senator Manar's proudest achievement is his |
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| 1 | | family, which includes his wife, Trista, and their three | 2 | | children, Abbie, Will, and Ben; they will continue to reside in | 3 | | Bunker Hill, three blocks from his childhood home; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, The Senate's loss is certainly the Governor's | 5 | | gain, as Senator Manar will join Governor JB Pritzker's | 6 | | administration; he will no doubt remain a champion for working | 7 | | families and downstate communities; therefore, be it
| 8 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL | 9 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we thank Senator Andy | 10 | | Manar for his years of service to the people of Illinois and | 11 | | wish him the best in his future endeavors; and be it further
| 12 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 13 | | presented to Senator Manar as a symbol of our gratitude and | 14 | | esteem.
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