Illinois House Floor Debate — March 7, 2019

"The House will be in order. Members will be in their chairs. We shall be led in prayer today by Pastor Greg Linscott who is with Brown Street Baptist Church in Alton. Pastor Linscott is the guest of Representative Bristow. Members are… and guests are asked to refrain from starting their laptops, turn off all cell phones, and rise for the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance. Pastor Linscott."

"We will be led in the Pledge of Allegiance today by Representative McDermed." 10100024.docx 1  STATE OF ILLINOIS 101st GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 24th Legislative Day 3/7/2019

"Roll Call for Attendance. Representative Hoffman, do we have any absences on the Democratic side of aisle?"

"Yes, excused absences on the Democratic side of the aisle are Representative Buckner, Representative Cassidy, Representative Harris, Representative Jones, Representative Moeller, and Representative Thapedi."

"Speaker, let the record show… Representative Butler is recognized for any reported absences on the Republican side of the aisle."

"Have all recorded themselves who wish? Have all recorded themselves who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. There being 108 Members answering the roll call a quorum is present. Mr. Clerk, Committee Reports."

Speaker Davis: "The Gentleman from Winnebago, Representative Cabello, for what reason do you rise?"

"State your point."

"Representative West, for what reason do you rise?"

"Point of personal privilege, Sir."

"Please proceed."

"I stand in solidarity with my colleague, Representative Cabello, who happens to be a detective for the Rockford Police Department. As you can see, it is hard for him to get this out, ‘cause I can only imagine that something of this nature makes it hard for all officers… law enforcement officers and so my prayers and… for the Deputy from the United States Marshals. And I ask that you all keep the Deputy's family and friends, like Representative Cabello said, in our prayers. And I want to applaud our law enforcement officers, both local and state, who were able to come and handle the situation as quickly and swiftly as possible. I trust in the Rockford Police Department and the surrounding police departments are merrill deep and I am thankful for what they did. And as Cabello said, after anyone else who wants to speak on this, I'd ask also for a moment of silence. Thank you."

"Representative Costello."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen, I think it's very important and incumbent upon all of us to realize that these men and women are protecting us every day. They don’t care if we're Republicans, Democrats, Independents. They don’t care if we're liberal or conservative. They show up to protect us, our families. As we are sleeping at night, as our children are sleeping at night, they are trying to make sure that we're safe. In this particular scenario, as 10100024.docx 7  STATE OF ILLINOIS 101st GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 24th Legislative Day 3/7/2019 Representative Cabello said, this officer was trying to apprehend someone who was accused of committing numerous armed robberies. I don’t think… I don’t think people truly understand what it's like unless you have a first responder in your family, what it is to watch them walk out the door to start a shift and not know if they're coming back. And unfortunately, the profession of law enforcement over the last few years especially has received a lot of negative media attention. The vast, vast, vast majority of these men and women do a terrific job. They're very just people and they are there to protect us. And I ask that, just like any scenario, any profession, that we not think of the couple of bad apples shall we call them, but we think of those men and women who are there for the right reasons. And as Representative Cabello also said, I please ask that you keep this Deputy's family members in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you."

"Representative Reick."

"The Body will take a moment of silence. Thank you. The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Kalish, for what reason do you rise?"

"Point of personal privilege, Sir."

"Please proceed."

"Mr. Speaker, today is the first day of the Jewish month of Adar. As the Talmud teaches us, [m’sh’nichnas Adar marbim b’simcha]. When Adar is ushered in we usher in a time of joy and happiness. However, Mr. Speaker, with anti-Semitism on the rise nationally by 57 percent and anti-Semetic incidents in Illinois up a staggering 353 percent, according to the ADL, I believe it is important for this Body to stand united against hate. It is important for this Body to stand up against bigots of all kind and bigotry in all its form. Two weeks from today, Jews around the world will read about the evil Haman. A man who crafted a plan to wipe out our entire people from the face of this earth. Haman said to the King, if it pleases the King, [im al hamelech tov, yikasev labdam] let it be written that they, the Jewish people, be destroyed. Thankfully, God saved my people through the efforts of a woman named Esther and we revel in her memory and her victory. Yet the lesson of Haman is clearly elucidated at the Seder Table on Passover, [b’chol dor v’dor omdim alienu l’chaloseinu] in every generation they rise up to destroy us [v’hakadosh baruch huyatzileinu m’yadam] but Hashem our God continues to save us from their evil hands. God will save us from today's anti- Semites. God will save us from destruction as he always has, but I ask this Body of the Illinois State Legislature to 10100024.docx 9  STATE OF ILLINOIS 101st GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 24th Legislative Day 3/7/2019 please stand together against hate and anti-Semitism in all its forms. Thank you."

"Representative Carroll."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker and fellow Members of the House of Representatives. I want to follow up on the beautiful statement by my friend Rabbi Kalish. Our people are under attack around the world. Anti-Semitism is becoming more acceptable. I stand today to say it's not. And as long as I'm alive it will never be acceptable. Recently members of Congress have attacked the Jewish-American relationship and support of Israel. It is easy way to grab headlines. I stand here today to say that we need to support Israel. She is a great friend to America and these unwarranted attacks come from a place of anti-Semitism and ignorance. I expect our colleagues in Washington D.C. to condemn these comments the way that I am here today. Thank you."

"Representative Hurley, for what reason do you rise? Proceed to the Order of House Bills on Third Reading. On page 5 of the Calendar, under Third Readings, we have House Bill 246, offered by Representative Moeller. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Out of the record. House Bill 252, Representative Guzzardi. Out of the record. House Bill 834, Representative Moeller. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Out of the record. Representative Hurley, for what reason do you rise?"

"I am ready to speak now. Point of personal privilege."

"Please proceed."

"I am here today on a good note. Up in the Speakers' Gallery today I have some members of the Marist Volleyball Championship Team. Second year in a row. Marist is in my district. And the girls up there today are Katie Doah, Katie Canavan, Mattie McCabe, and Abby Callahan and then Assistant Coach Jenny Phelan. They were awesome. They won the championship 25-21 and 25-11 which, as any volleyball players know, is pretty gosh darn good. So if we'd give them a nice round of applause from the State of Illinois."

"Representative Costa Howard, for what reason do you rise?"

"Point of personal privilege, Mr. Speaker."

"Please proceed."

"Today, in honor of Women's History Month, we are here to celebrate the life of Ellen Martin. She is recognized as the first woman to vote in the State of Illinois, and Ellen Martin lived in my district in Lombard, Illinois. She was the first woman law student in Chautauqua County, New York. She was admitted to the Illinois Bar in January 1876. And, in fact, she and her law partner, Mary Perry, even had their law office at 143 LaSalle Street in Chicago. But despite being able to practice law at that time, female attorneys were restricted to bringing lawsuits or working in a law office. They could not argue a case in court and they were not officially recognized as lawyers because of their non-status 10100024.docx 11  STATE OF ILLINOIS 101st GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 24th Legislative Day 3/7/2019 as an elector. In other words, because these women could not vote, they were not allowed to practice law. However on April 6, 1891, Ellen Martin made history. Carrying a heavy log… excuse me… carrying a heavy book of law under one arm and a grip sack in the other, she, along with 14 other prominent Lombardian women, marched into the polling place in Lombard and demanded that as a citizen, she be allowed to vote. Miss Martin raised the point, like all good lawyers do, that the special charter of the incorporated town did not include the term male, but yet in Section 4 stated that all citizens above the age of 21 shall be entitled to vote at any corporation election. These women insisted upon exercising their right to vote. They claimed what was theirs under that Act. Ellen Martin and her sisters took a stand and demanded that all female citizens were allowed to vote. Three months later Illinois women were allowed to vote in school elections only and it took 22 years more before Illinois women of legal age could vote for all statutory offices. Ellen Martin died in 1916, just four years before the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution gave nationwide suffrage to women. Ellen Martin is an extraordinary example of leadership and justice for women in the state of Illinois and for all women across the country. Thank you."

"Representative Bryant, for what reason do you rise?"

"Representative Costello."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Representative Bryant mentioned, this was a female soldier. She unfortunately was I believe in a vehicle accident. She was deployed away from her family. She, I believe, has several children. The family was notified over the night. This is another scenario, like we talked about with the U.S. Marshal's situation, where someone who chose this profession volunteered to protect us. She unfortunately was taken at much too young an age, unfortunately leaves several children behind. But every day we stand here, we go about our daily lives, just as there are law enforcement personnel who are defending and protecting us, there are members of the U.S. Military who are deployed overseas, away from their families, for months and years at a time. I think it's extremely, extremely important for us to realize we don’t have a democracy, we don’t have a constitution, we're not able to have the discussions, the battles, the fights that we do here on the floor with free speech unless we have men and women who are protecting those rights. So I would also ask for a moment of silence. And I would ask everyone here, as you go through your daily lives, 10100024.docx 13  STATE OF ILLINOIS 101st GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 24th Legislative Day 3/7/2019 not just today, but next week, next month, next year, to at some point in time try to stop for a few seconds and just realize there are people such as this who are the reason we have this great county. Thank you."

"The Body will take a moment of silence. Thank you. Representative Stuart, for what reason do you rise?"

"Thank you. A point of personal privilege."

"Please proceed."

"I would just like to introduce to the Body, there are some great social work students from SIU Edwardsville. If you guys could stand up to be recognized. They’ve been around the Capitol. I've met with all of them in small groups in my office this morning and they're here advocating for causes that really matter to them. And I just think if this is our future in social work, things in Illinois are going to be really great. And I would like to give them a warm Springfield welcome."

Representative Bristow, for what reason do you rise?"

"Point of personal privilege."

"Please proceed."

"I'd like to add on to Katie, I've met with several students today as well and they are awesome. Secondly, we had Pastor Greg Linscott here today, his children, two of his children are my Pages for the day, Reggie and Dorrie Linscott. In addition, their family is up in the gallery and I'd like to give them a warm Springfield welcome."

"Representative McSweeney, for what reason do you rise?" 10100024.docx 14  STATE OF ILLINOIS 101st GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 24th Legislative Day 3/7/2019

"Please proceed."

"Representative Marron, for what reason do you rise?"

"Please proceed."

"Representative Bourne for what reason do you rise?"

“Please proceed.” 10100024.docx 15  STATE OF ILLINOIS 101st GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 24th Legislative Day 3/7/2019

"Would the Body please stand?"

"Representative Hammond, for what reason do you rise?"

"Please proceed."

"Representative Burke, for what reason do you rise?"

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Point of personal privilege."

"Please proceed."

"I would also like to echo the welcome of Representative Hurley for the athletes, volleyball players at Marist High School. Although Marist High School is not in my district, several of the players are. And several of the players I have also known since grammar school as they were volleyball players for Holy Redeemer and we are very proud of them. They're not only fantastic athletes, they're great students and they give back to their community. And in honor of Marist visiting, both Representative Hurley and I wore Marist colors. So we're happy to have you and congratulations ladies on a fantastic achievement."

"Representative Butler, for the purposes of an announcement."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, due to the situation that was spoke on earlier by Representative Costello as well as Representative Cabello, I-55 North remains closed near Lincoln. Affected Members please check for further updates or consider alternative routes heading back north. Thank you. And now, allowing perfunctory time for the Clerk, Leader Hoffman moves that the House stand adjourned until Tuesday, March 12 at the hour of noon. All those in favor say 'aye'; all those opposed say 'nay'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it and the House stands adjourned."