Monday, August 07, 2006
Dolly Hallstrom Obiturary
It was one of the first, if not the first, campaign against unfunded state mandates. (Local school districts were mandated to offer special education at a much higher to teacher-to-pupil ratio than for students in regular classrooms.)
Walker vetoed the bill and in what we used to call the “veto override session,” his rejection was rejected, making the bill law. That bill may have been one of the first to break the dam, because at the time a successful override was considered quite remarkable.
(Now, people probably would be surprised that a governor would have his vetoes regularly overridden. But when Walker was in office, it was a common occurrence, though never before him.)
Dolly was the instigator of the green carnation veto override campaign for the bill.
She recruited ISU School of Education students to lobby legislators the day of the vote. The young women went office to office pinning green carnations on those who agreed to vote for the override.
(I was “pre-sold.” I remember a mother’s educating me. Her son went to Summit School in East Dundee. She lived north of Huntley Road west of what is now Spring Hill Mall and east of Sleepy Hollow Road. She explained that her husband and she were going to have to subdivide their property to be able to finance her son’s education. I watched over the years as more houses appeared near theirs. I’m sure it was she who convinced me to vote for the bill and the override.)
There were so many Republicans wearing the green carnations in the Republican conference meeting before the floor session that those not wearing them were kidded, building even more momentum for an override vote.
Dolly was working with a volunteer group called “ICOULD,” the Illinois Council on Understanding Learning Disabilities, to promote special education.
“The filter through which Dolly looked at every piece of legislation was,
Dolly lost her husband shortly before filing for state representative in 1978. She had intended to run and knew that he would have wanted her to do so, even though it was emotionally very difficult her to follow through.
A couple of months after the primary, she suffered a stroke which affected her writing hand, so she learned to write with her other hand. She was unable to walk, so she used an electric scooter.
Still she won the general election, bringing a profile in courage to the Illinois House.
The sessions ran incredibly late while Bill Redmond was House Speaker. Several members made it a habit to leave the chambers at 8 to hit the bars or even left in the afternoon to play golf, but not Dolly.
She stayed at her desk, sometimes until 6 AM.
Her courage carried through after she was stricken with fast acting macular degeneration, losing her sight within about a week.
She was serving on the Illinois Human Rights Commission, traveling downtown and to Springfield for meetings. That continued after blindness further crippled her.
Dolly attended the Springfield reunion of state representatives, convened by Secretary of State George Ryan. Folks who had served from 1973-1981 – and who had not seen each other for over a decade – gathered.
Unable to navigate the room, Dolly held court on her wheeled throne. There were not many who missed the opportunity to come greet and kiss their now blind, dear colleague.
To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.
Walker vetoed the bill and in what we used to call the “veto override session,” his rejection was rejected, making the bill law. That bill may have been one of the first to break the dam, because at the time a successful override was considered quite remarkable.
(Now, people probably would be surprised that a governor would have his vetoes regularly overridden. But when Walker was in office, it was a common occurrence, though never before him.)
Dolly was the instigator of the green carnation veto override campaign for the bill.
She recruited ISU School of Education students to lobby legislators the day of the vote. The young women went office to office pinning green carnations on those who agreed to vote for the override.
(I was “pre-sold.” I remember a mother’s educating me. Her son went to Summit School in East Dundee. She lived north of Huntley Road west of what is now Spring Hill Mall and east of Sleepy Hollow Road. She explained that her husband and she were going to have to subdivide their property to be able to finance her son’s education. I watched over the years as more houses appeared near theirs. I’m sure it was she who convinced me to vote for the bill and the override.)
There were so many Republicans wearing the green carnations in the Republican conference meeting before the floor session that those not wearing them were kidded, building even more momentum for an override vote.
Dolly was working with a volunteer group called “ICOULD,” the Illinois Council on Understanding Learning Disabilities, to promote special education.“The filter through which Dolly looked at every piece of legislation was,
‘Was it good for kids?’"former colleague Penny Pullen remembered.
Dolly lost her husband shortly before filing for state representative in 1978. She had intended to run and knew that he would have wanted her to do so, even though it was emotionally very difficult her to follow through.
A couple of months after the primary, she suffered a stroke which affected her writing hand, so she learned to write with her other hand. She was unable to walk, so she used an electric scooter.
Still she won the general election, bringing a profile in courage to the Illinois House.
The sessions ran incredibly late while Bill Redmond was House Speaker. Several members made it a habit to leave the chambers at 8 to hit the bars or even left in the afternoon to play golf, but not Dolly.
She stayed at her desk, sometimes until 6 AM.
Her courage carried through after she was stricken with fast acting macular degeneration, losing her sight within about a week.
She was serving on the Illinois Human Rights Commission, traveling downtown and to Springfield for meetings. That continued after blindness further crippled her.
Dolly attended the Springfield reunion of state representatives, convened by Secretary of State George Ryan. Folks who had served from 1973-1981 – and who had not seen each other for over a decade – gathered.
Unable to navigate the room, Dolly held court on her wheeled throne. There were not many who missed the opportunity to come greet and kiss their now blind, dear colleague.
To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.
# posted by Cal Skinner : 2:10 PM
