House Bill 9019

    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                HR 9019

        By Representative Turnbull






  1                         House Resolution

  2         A resolution recognizing Elaine Gordon for her

  3         many years of service to the State of Florida.

  4

  5         WHEREAS, Elaine Gordon served the citizens of

  6  Miami-Dade County and the State of Florida with honor and

  7  distinction as a member of the Florida House of

  8  Representatives from 1972 to 1994, and

  9         WHEREAS, Elaine Gordon was an acknowledged trailblazer

10  for women, spearheading the effort to pass the Equal Rights

11  Amendment, advocating numerous legislative initiatives to

12  preserve and advance rights for women, winning repeal of the

13  Disabilities of Marriage Act, promoting the protection of

14  women through child support enforcement and domestic violence

15  legislation, and being the first woman inducted into the

16  Florida Women's Hall of Fame and the first recipient of the

17  Florida United Way Humanitarian Award, and

18         WHEREAS, Elaine Gordon achieved major positions of

19  leadership in Florida, serving as the chair of the Committee

20  on Health and Rehabilitative Services (1976-1978, 1980-1982),

21  the scope of which included all human service programs and the

22  Department of Corrections; as Chair of the Committee on House

23  Administration (1978-1980); and as the first woman Speaker pro

24  tempore (1984-1986), while at the same time serving as chair

25  of the subcommittee on appropriations that considered the

26  budget of the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services

27  and related agencies (1982-1988, 1990-1992), and

28         WHEREAS, Elaine Gordon was a public servant with many

29  and diverse interests that included serving on the state's

30  first comprehensive water quality committee and on a joint

31  committee on prison overcrowding, and

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                HR 9019

    558-162A-00






  1         WHEREAS, Elaine Gordon was an outspoken and passionate

  2  voice for Florida's underrepresented, sponsoring and passing

  3  legislation to protect and serve children, the elderly,

  4  victims of crimes, and the mentally ill, and

  5         WHEREAS, Elaine Gordon was one of the champions of

  6  Florida's landmark 1989 hate crimes law which served as a

  7  model for the nation, and

  8         WHEREAS, Elaine Gordon was much beloved and respected

  9  by her colleagues and the staff of the Florida House of

10  Representatives, and has been described as loyal,

11  compassionate, and committed, attentive to those less

12  fortunate, a mentor to many, a devoted wife, loving mother,

13  and cherished friend, but, most of all, as selfless and

14  determined to do what was right and best for others, NOW,

15  THEREFORE,

16

17  Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of

18  Florida:

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20         That the House of Representatives hereby recognizes and

21  commemorates the life of Elaine Gordon for her many

22  contributions to the betterment of the State of Florida and

23  expresses its sincere condolences to her family, friends, and

24  admirers.

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