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| Affiliation | Democratic |
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| <- |
1983-01-01 |
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| Name | Philip J. Rock |
| Address |
Oak Park, Illinois , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
May 04, 1937
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| Died | January 29, 2016
(78 years)
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| Contributor | Not in Public Domain |
| Last Modifed | David
Dec 03, 2020 03:52pm |
| Tags |
Catholic -
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| Info | Philip J. "Phil" Rock
Former State Senate President, Illinois 1979-1993
During his two decades as a lawmaker and as Senate president since 1979, Rock has earned deservedly the reputation of being loyal to his Democratic party but never blinded by irrational partisanship or political one-upsmanship. One old-time newspaperman claimed that Rock's main political problem was that "he was too interested in policy."
Philip J. Rock
Senate President 1979-1992
In 1983 Rock broke a legislative partisan logjam by advocating a temporary income tax surcharge to help state government weather a bitter recession. In other cases, Rock has been willing to risk the political fallout to support the passage of the state's Domestic Violence Act, the push for stronger child support enforcement laws and the need for a state gas tax increase and a subsidy to the Chicago Transit Authority. During the annual end-of-session, heated Senate debates, the most memorable scene usually came when Rock took the floor and spoke on a controversial piece of legislation. The chamber quieted down both in the gallery and on the floor as everyone listened. Rock almost always spoke as a knowledgeable, articulate and persuasive advocate and at times came close to eloquence. Unfortunately few of Rock's colleagues were able to match his intellect or force of argument.
Rock's retirement will remove a voice of reason when Illinois needs a rational sorting out of the rhetorical and pseudodemagogic messages currently considered as potential policy options. Consider the following:
� Property tax caps and freezes are needed to stop the wild spending of alien local government officials. What is not said is that many of these free-spending local government officials, especially in the collar counties, are the loyal precinct committeemen or partisan allies of their alleged severest critics in the state legislature. Note also that two-thirds to three-fourths of all property tax dollars go for local schools and city and village services.
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