Bill
SR 344
A Senate memorial honoring Doris M. Lomax for public service; expresses mourning and offers condolences to her family, with no legal or regulatory effect.
Status: Resolution Adopted
Introduced: March 27, 2025
Final actions: Read & adopted (Mar 31, 2025); Filed with Secretary (May 27, 2025); Resolution Adopted (Jun 1, 2025)
Primary Sponsors: Nabilah Islam Parkes, Kim Jackson, Elena Parent, Nan Orrock, Harold Jones II
Classification: Senate resolution
SR 344 is a Senate resolution adopted in 2025. The officially adopted text is a memorial resolution honoring the life and public service of Doris M. Lomax of Chicago. Embedded in the bill file is an alternate "As Introduced" draft that proposes creation of a Senate Study Committee on a Single‑payer Healthcare Program; that draft outlines committee membership, duties, reporting requirements, funding, and an abolishment date of December 1, 2025. The enacted/adopted measure, however, is the memorial for Ms. Lomax.
Purpose: To mourn the passing of Doris M. Lomax and extend condolences.
Key points:
- Reports Ms. Lomax passed away March 19, 2025. Born June 26, 1934, in St. Louis, Missouri.
- Education: attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (one of five Black students at the time); earned a dual degree in art education (SAIC and University of Chicago) and a Master of Social Work (University of Illinois — text is fragmented but indicates advanced social work training).
- Career and service: lifelong commitment to serving underserved communities on Chicago’s South Side; teacher; federal government service; co‑founder (with Dr. C. Vincent Bakeman) of an organization that became the Human Resources Development Institute (HRDI) in 1974. She served as co‑executive director until 2004 and was a prolific grant writer who expanded HRDI’s programs (including a residential program in Mississippi) and fundraising efforts (HRDI Seeds of Africa).
- Civic engagement: participated in local and international conferences on counseling/treating people of color; involved with the Governor’s Council on Maternal and Fetal Medicine; wrote articles on mental health in communities of color; served on her condominium board.
- Personal life: world traveler, artist, collector; hosted longstanding holiday traditions; predeceased by husband Frank Juzang. Survivors noted include “bonus” children, grandchildren, great‑grandchildren, and many friends.
- Resolution action: the Senate expresses mourning and directs that a suitable copy of the resolution be presented to Ms. Lomax’s family.
Impact: Symbolic honorific resolution that recognizes public service and provides formal condolences; carries no statutory or regulatory effect.
Note: This committee text appears in the bill file as an “As Introduced” draft. It outlines a separate substantive resolution to study implementation of a single‑payer health care system for the state (references to the ACA, Medicaid expansion, and cost/health outcome studies).
Key provisions (from draft):
- Creates the Senate Study Committee on a Single‑payer Healthcare Program.
- Membership: five Senate members appointed by the President of the Senate; commissioners (or designees) of Public Health, Community Health, and Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities. The President designates the chair.
- Duties: study the conditions, needs, issues related to single‑payer implementation and recommend actions or legislation.
- Meetings: convened by the chair as needed.
- Allowances & funding: legislative member allowances per statute; state officials receive no committee compensation but may be reimbursed for expenses; funds from Senate appropriations and relevant agencies.
- Reporting: committee must file any adopted findings/recommendations (including proposed legislation) before abolishment; absent an approved report, minutes may be filed.
- Abolishment: committee would be abolished December 1, 2025.
Potential impact (if implemented): would direct a formal legislative study into state‑level single‑payer options, potentially informing future legislation on Medicaid expansion, state health financing, and health system redesign. Because this draft was separate from the adopted memorial text, readers should verify whether a committee was formally established by subsequent action.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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