"The House shall be in order. Members should be in their chairs. We will be led in prayer today by Wayne Padget, the Assistant Doorkeeper. Members 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."
"Let us pray. Bless this august Body and all who serve here. Amen."
"All right. We will be led in the Pledge of Allegiance today by Leader Greenwood." Greenwood – et al: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
"Roll Call for Attendance. Leader Greenwood is recognized to report any excused absences on the Democratic side of the aisle."
"Mr. Speaker, let the record show that Representatives Jones, Kifowit, and Mason are excused today."
"Leader Welter is recognized to report any excused absences on the Republican side of the aisle."
"Mr. Speaker, let the record reflect that Representatives Hammond, Miller, and Mazzochi are excused for the day."
"Have all recorded themselves who wish? Have all recorded themselves who wish? Have all recorded themselves who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. There being 111 Members answering the roll call, a quorum is present."
"Mr. Clerk."
Clerk Hollman: "Committee Reports. Representative Evans, Chairperson from the Committee on Labor & Commerce reports 10200110.docx 1 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 the following committee action taken on January 6, 2023: recommends be adopted is the Motion to Concur with Senate Amendment(s) 1 to House Bill 4245. Representative Rita, Chairperson from the Committee on the Executive reports the following committee action taken on January 6, 2023: recommends be adopted is the Motion to Concur with Senate Amendment(s) 1 to House Bill 45. Introduction of Resolutions. House Resolution 1041, offered by Representative Jimenez; and House Resolution 1043, offered by Representative Lilly, are referred to the Rules Committee."
"Leader Durkin is recognized on House Resolution 904."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And good morning to everyone. I'm glad that we're here. It was a long night and early morning. But if you look up in the Speaker's Gallery, you'll find a very distinguished group of men, women, and children. And they're friends of mine, and they are the family of our former Attorney General Jim Ryan. And I'm so glad that we've had the opportunity today in which we're going to pay tribute to Jim and have their family and their friends present here for this. I think this is the proper way for us to honor such a distinguished, outstanding man and a person who I called a personal friend. And if you see the picture of Jim in the front, you can see that he was a very distinguished, handsome man. And, Marie, you would agree with that. And… but he was just a wonderful person. So, I'm going to start and say a few words. But again, thank you so much for joining us, family and friends of the Ryans. On June 12 of this year, the State of Illinois lost one of its greatest statesmen. A true 10200110.docx 2 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 gentleman, former Attorney General Jim Ryan. He valiantly fought a deadly disease to the end because that is what a true boxer and fighter does. For those of you who don't know, Jim Ryan was a Golden Glove champion back in the day. Born in Chicago, raised in Villa Park, Jim Ryan graduated from, for old guys like me, St. Procopius College. Anybody here ever heard of that? No. It’s now Benedictine College. But octogenarians like me remember that. And he went on to attend Chicago-Kent Law School. In 1984, Jim became the State's Attorney of DuPage County, which prepared him to take on the role of Attorney General of Illinois in 1994, a post he would be re-elected to in 1998. The Attorney General is the state's chief legal officer and is responsible for protecting the public interest of the state and its people. Jim was perfect for this role. He was a true practitioner of law, a fearless advocate for crime victims, a fierce defender of the little guy. Jim fulfilled the greatest responsibilities of this office with class, dignity, and as I said earlier, a profound respect for the rule of law. As a state, we need more Jim Ryans. Jim was the last Republican to win that office, but he was not a partisan. He sought counsel and collaboration from both sides. At times Jim even upset other Republican lawmakers when he stood by decisions contrary to the desires of those in power within the Republican Party. I had this amazing privilege to know Jim both during and after his time as Attorney General. While I enjoyed every moment with him, what I find most amazing is that he never changed who he was. He did not let the celebrity or power of being in that office get to him. And that truly defines the statesman that Jim 10200110.docx 3 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 Ryan was. I'd like to share a personal story from 2005, which I don't even think the family knows. In early fall of that year, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I was stunned, frightened, not quite sure how I was going to manage this. And I was going to have to prepare myself for very serious brain surgery. I wondered to myself whether I was going to wake up from this surgery. If I did, whether the tumor was malignant or benign. At the time of this diagnosis, I kept this information about my condition very limited. However, as I got closer to my surgery date, I called on Jim, and I said, 'I'd like to meet you for breakfast.' Egg Harbor in Hinsdale, you all know it. I did this because he had already fought and won a horrible battle with cancer. I called him under the pretense of discussing a political issue, but in reality, it was a chance for me to talk about my predicament and to seek counsel as to how he survived his own battle. He told me to say a certain prayer every day, one that I had never heard before. So, I did, and I'm here today. I'll never forget the grace that Jim showed me in that meeting. And to his family, thank you. I came out of the surgery with a benign tumor, lots of physical therapy ahead of me. I called Jim, as he asked me to share the news that I was okay. And, once again, he offered kind words and helped me through my recovery. Support like this is the personal connection I shared with Jim that made me so thankful to have him as a friend. Jim leaves behind an amazing west suburban Irish-Catholic family. Now, it has been said about Irish-Catholics, if you're married to one, which I am, it has often been said that you sleep with one eye open. And that is still true to the day. But Jim 10200110.docx 4 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 leaves his family behind and his wife, Marie. But Jim and Marie lost two of their children, Annie and Patrick, way too early. But instead of closing down, as most parents probably do in these types of situations, in these tragedies, Marie and Jim founded two nonprofit organizations to help those who may have to walk that same path. The Annie Ryan fundraiser in Elmhurst is going strong on its 16th year as is Patrick's Main Event fundraiser. Jim has now joined Annie and Patrick in heaven. He is survived by his high school sweetheart and the love of his life, Marie, and there are three sons, John, Jim Jr., and Matthew. All successful but equally rambunctious boys, and you know what I'm talking about. And, Marie, you know what I’m talking about as well. Right, Jimmy? Yes. Along with 11 grandchildren. So, Marie, boys, spouses, grandchildren, and friends, thank you for sharing Jim with us, with DuPage County, and with the people of the State of Illinois. Jim will be forever part of the great history of this state. And may God continue to bless your family."
"Leader Brady is recognized."
"Thank you very much Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. It's said that from your date of birth to your date of death, the dash in between represents your life. The dash with respect to Attorney General Jim Ryan's life is a life full of great accomplishments, from his private life to his political career. It also represents a life that had great personal loss. But Jim Ryan was a man who had great faith, loves his family, and put trust in many of those whose life he touched or they touched his. I had the honor of working with Jim in helping on his campaigns for Attorney General and 10200110.docx 5 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 Governor. Jim, simply put, was a statesman. A man that his word was his bond. And he was the definition of dedication and mutual respect shown to others. There's a quote from President Teddy Roosevelt I think applies to Jim Ryan. And in part, it goes like this, 'The credit belongs to the man who's actually in the arena; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.' Jim loved his family, his God, and the law and stood for the principles of charity, justice, and brotherly love. Mrs. Ryan, to you and the entire Ryan family, thank you for sharing Jim with us and our state. And may his soul, and all the souls of the faithfully departed to the mercy of God, rest in peace, Amen. Thank you."
"Thank you. Representative Keicher is recognized."
"So, I hope it's okay that a non-Irishman speaks this morning. As a young college Republican at Northern Illinois University, I had the opportunity to meet Jim Ryan. And as a young college Republican, I never dreamed that I would be sitting in this chamber right here today doing the work of the people if it wasn't for people like Jim Ryan, like Jim Edgar, Jim Thompson, Judy Baar Topinka. They gave us hope that there are leaders in this state who seek to make this state a better place. A place for the ages, where our families can nest, be comfortable, and provide for the generations to come. His commitment was not only for his time here but for 10200110.docx 6 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 his family and his legacy that follows. He provided a light and a direction to all Republicans in the State of Illinois. And what I admired most about him is the public sharing of not only his deep faith but of his frail humanity and how he made it okay to talk about the struggles we all endure. Regardless of party, we are citizens of the State of Illinois. We are better citizens of the State of Illinois because of the work of Jim Thompson (sic-Ryan). Thank you, and God bless."
"Thank you. The Resolution has already been adopted. Please join Leader Durkin and all of us for a moment of silence for a life well lived. A moment of silence. Thank you. Mr. Clerk, Rules Report."
"Rules Report. Representative Harris, Chairperson from the Committee on Rules reports the following committee action taken on January 6, 2023: approved for consideration, referred to Second Reading is Senate Bill 4020; recommends be adopted is the Motion to Concur with Senate Amendment(s) 1 and 3 to House Bill 3878."
"The Clerk is in receipt of a Motion in Writing to waive the posting requirements for several bills. Representative Rita on the Motion."
"Mr. Speaker, I move that the posting requirements be waived on the following Bills so they can be heard in committee today: House Resolution 1021 in Human Services; Senate Joint Resolution 39 in Transportation: Regulation, Roads & Bridges; and House Resolution 1043 in Executive."
"Representative Rita has moved to waive the posting requirements. All those in favor say 'aye'; all those opposed 10200110.docx 7 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 say 'nay'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the posting requirements are waived. Representative DeLuca is recognized."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Please wish my seatmate, Representative Martin Moylan, a happy birthday."
"Leader Demmer is recognized."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A point of personal privilege."
"Please speak your point."
"Folks, I'd like to give a warm Springfield welcome today. I've got a Page for a day with me. My nephew, Daniel Demmer, is down here visiting on my second to last day. I just wanted to say welcome to him in the Capitol. And my… my brother Brian, his dad, is upstairs here. So, welcome… welcome to Springfield."
"On page 2 of the Calendar, under Senate Bills- Third Reading, we have Senate Bill 1001, Representative Zalewski. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."
"Senate Bill 1001, a Bill for an Act concerning liquor. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."
"Representative Zalewski is recognized."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Senate Bill 1001 simply lowers some fees for the wine growers in Illinois. It's an agreed to Bill. I would ask for an 'aye' vote."
"Representative Batinick is recognized."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Quickly to the Bill. Just as… just 'cause we're getting settled down, I'm going to clarify this lowers fees, for my side of the aisle, and prohibits non-Home Rule entities from adding their own fees to delivery. Liquor delivery." 10200110.docx 8 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023
"Representative Zalewski to close."
"I ask for an 'aye' vote."
"Seeing no further discussion, the question is, 'Shall Senate Bill 1001 pass?' All those in favor vote 'aye'; all those opposed vote 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 108 voting 'yes', 0 voting 'nay', 0 voting 'present'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Continuing on page 2 of the Calendar. Under the Order of Concurrences, we have House Bill 9, Representative Gong-Gershowitz. Representative Gong- Gershowitz is recognized."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move to concur with the Senate Amendment to House Bill 9, which is literally just to update the effective date. There were no substantive changes, just needed to change the effective date. And I am asking for an 'aye' vote."
"Representative Batinick is recognized."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to go straight to the Bill. I believe this was 66-45 in its previous vote. The only thing that the Concurrence does, if I'm correct, is change the effective date. So, I would just recommend keeping your votes the same. Once again, the vote was 66-45."
"Representative Gong-Gershowitz to close."
"Yeah, this is a Bill to conform our practice with respect to gender marker changes on the birth certificate with Federal Law as well as what we do for driver's licenses here in the State of Illinois. Ask for an 'aye' vote. Thanks." 10200110.docx 9 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023
"The question is, 'Shall the House concur in Senate Amendment #1 to House Bill 9?' This is final action. All those in favor signify by voting 'aye'; all those opposed signify by voting 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 66 voting 'aye', 40 voting 'nay', and 0 voting 'present'. The House does concur in Senate Amendment #1 to House Bill 9. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. We're going to return to the Calendar on page 3. Under the Order of Concurrences, we have House Bill 4245. Leader Hoffman's recognized."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I move that the House concur in Amendment #1 to House 4245. This simply extends the sunset of the… of the Act that we passed years ago regarding landscaping and licensing landscapers and indicates that they will be extended from January 1, 2024 to January 1, 2029. The Amendment indicates that licensed plumbers would be used for this purpose. I ask for a favorable roll call."
"Any debate? Representative Reick is recognized."
"Thank you… thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to go straight to the Bill. Imagine my surprise this morning, or yesterday, when I saw this Amendment come up, and I see that, you know, a plumber… a licensed plumber is subject to all sorts of drastic penalties and things like that if in fact he doesn’t do the proper job of inspecting the installation of a sprinkler system. And I thought, my goodness, the plumbers have got to be up in arms about that because it really puts 10200110.docx 10 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 the onus on them to do something that, you know, probably is justifiable in their minds. So, this morning I walk into the… into the hearing room, and who do I see but the representative of the plumbers' union and a representative of the sprinkler installers. Both standing there laughing and scratching and saying, 'Well, yeah. We both agree with this Bill.' I think what we have here… and this is for people who haven't paid much attention to this so that I'm not going to tell you how to vote on this issue, but I am going to try to fill you in on what I think we see go on here. This is another… I believe this is another instance where government is being brought into the… brought into the mix by people who are what could commonly be referred to as rent seekers. I think what we got is a little cabal of people who have theirs and don't want anybody else to come in and play on their playing field. That may be good. That may be bad. The plumbers are saying, 'Well, you know, there are a lot of chemicals that go through these sprinkler systems and we want to make sure there are proper backflush safeguards and things like that.' And that's all good. That's as it should be. But I think that somebody as technically adept as our Floor Leader could put in a sprinkler system that would adequately safeguard against backflushes and stuff like that without having to have a licensed plumber come in and give his opinion on his work. Now this applies of course only to people who are actually professional sprinkler system installers, but you get my point. So, I just wanted to kind of give you some depth as to what is going on in this Bill. What, I think, I see as government getting itself involved in something that, you know, I don't think government 10200110.docx 11 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 should be involved in this to be honest with you. The Bill went out of… out of committee on leave. But having thought about it, I… I'm not so… quite so sure anymore. So, if you see the vote being… going out on leave, it doesn’t mean that I'm necessarily telling you that I think you should vote for the Bill. I think you should vote your switch. Vote your own conception of what you think business should be all about and what you think your conception of what state regulation should be. Are we actually regulating something that deals with safety? Or are we protecting rent seekers? That's… that's my point. Thank you, Mr. Speaker."
"Thank you. Leader Batinick for questions."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"He indicates that he will."
"Leader, I'm going to be incredibly quick. I do not want to tangle with you on this particular Bill. But I just want to make sure… you're doing two things. It's just a sunset extension, number one. That was the main thing, right?"
"Yes."
"And… okay. I'm being told that there isn't a sunset extension, that the Amendment took over the Bill."
"I apologize. We took that out. I do apologize. That was… that was part of the previous analysis of the underlying Bill."
"Was the underlying Bill the tractor Bill?"
"Yes, yes. This is… this is the trailer."
"Okay."
"Yeah." 10200110.docx 12 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023
"So, what the Bill does then basically is it requires you to be a licensed plumber to do the hookup for lawn sprinklers?"
"That… we already require that under current law. What this simply does is it clarifies that an inspecting licensed plumber must inspect every aspect of the sprinkler system. But under current law, a licensed plumber must only… must also inspect the sprinkler system. We're just clarifying what needs to happen."
"Okay. And the purpose for the law? I… to be serious… here's my issue, if this is the main part. If we already require a licensed plumber to do the water hookup, and I have installed my own sprinkler system before, are we… have there been deaths due to lawn sprinkler improper installation? I mean, is there… what is the issue for why we think we need… we need a certified plumber that's already doing the hookup part, which would deal with the backflow issue, why we need them to look at the little… I mean, I know neighbors all the time, they just replace their own heads all the time. When one breaks, they… you know, kids are playing in the yard, lawn mower hits it. I'm just wondering why we're doing this level of regulation."
"Well, it's my understanding… and I'm certainly not a licensed plumber, but I do play one on TV. I'm kidding. Anyway, I'm certainly not a licensed plumber, but my understanding is these systems could backflow into a sewer system, which could cause some problems. So, we, as a Legislature, years ago already indicated that we would, in an agreement with the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association 10200110.docx 13 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 as well as the plumbers' locals, indicated that we were going to require, as a Legislature, a licensed plumber to inspect these systems. This simply clarifies the aspects of the inspections."
"Okay. Thank you for… for indulging me. To the Bill. Just for Members on my side of the aisle, Members on both sides of the aisle, basically the gist of this is, is increased regulation. It also increases the barriers to entry. I'm not sure we need regulation where we have a certified or licensed plumber that needs to look at lawn sprinkler heads. Vote accordingly. Thank you."
"Representative Keicher, for what reason do you seek recognition?"
"I apologize. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"He indicates that he will."
"All right. Leader Hoffman, I just have a couple quick questions. So, I had a… specifically in the insurance business, I had a horrible claim where underground utilities were severed by an unlicensed contractor. Caused many thousands of dollars of damage, and we couldn't get the contractor located again after they'd left. So, I support the premise. This wouldn't impact, you know, Mark Batinick doing it on a weekend, installing it in his yard, correct?"
"It would not."
"Okay. And so, this would largely require an inspection process. If any severed lines are there, we would have a bond on file with the county or municipality to be able to help with restitution to that homeowner for the damage, correct?" 10200110.docx 14 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023
"And it would also… there would be some civil penalties that would be attached as well, if what you indicated happened."
"Okay. Thank you, Sir."
"Representative McLaughlin is recognized."
"Will the Sponsor yield?"
"He indicates that he will."
"Representative… Leader Hoffman, quick question. I got a number of calls on this Bill. As it relates to penalties for plumbers who do… don't comply, what's the increase and what's the current status?"
"Under the current law, it… it actually would be, I guess, the organization that didn't comply with the licensure of the Act and didn’t comply with the Act and the inspections itself. Currently, the civil penalty is 5 thousand. This would increase it… the civil penalty to 10."
"Thank you. And then my next question, not being a plumber, as you mentioned you are not either. I received a number of calls from engineering firms and plumber who said this was prior negotiated to go to the hookup box and that's where the plumbers would stop in the past. Going beyond the hookup box is what is presented here. Is that correct?"
"Yes. We would clarify that the inspected licensed plumber must inspect every aspect of the sprinkler system."
"And today how is that being handled?"
"I think under current law a licensed plumber must only inspect every sprinkler system installed by an irrigation contractor and make physical connection between a lawn sprinkler system and the backflow prevention device." 10200110.docx 15 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023
"And…"
"So, this would say that they… they would need… they would inspect every aspect of the system."
"Thank you. And have there been any incidences of backflow, backwash, anything that any municipalities have reported as a negative consequence of the current way that it's operated through an inspection?"
"I don't know other than an incident like the previous Representative discussed."
"Okay. Thank you. I appreciate it."
"I don’t know of anything specific."
"Leader Hoffman to close."
"Once again, this is an agreement between business and labor. It's an agreement between the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association as well as the… the UA, the plumbers and pipefitters throughout Illinois. I think it is a safety issue. I think it's important to make sure that there's reliability in the sprinkler systems and make sure that licensed plumbers are actually doing the work. I ask for an 'aye' vote."
"The question is, 'Shall the House concur in Senate Amendment #1 to House Bill 4245?' This is final action. All those in favor signify by voting 'yes'… 'aye'; all those opposed signify by voting 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question there are 79 voting 'aye', 30 voting 'nay', and 0 voting 'present.' And the House does concur in Senate Amendment #1 to House Bill 4245. And this Bill, having received a 10200110.docx 16 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Ammons, for what reason do you seek recognition?
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A point of personal privilege, please."
"Please speak your point."
"Thank you. I just want to take a moment and recognize a young man who is here in our chamber from Champaign-Urbana. His name is Lundin Harris. He has come here today to speak to you all about the importance of looking at the pay broker loophole. But he's also a military veteran who served on active-duty status, and he has served an aviation electrician for the Navy. We wanted to welcome him to his Capitol. Thank you."
"Leader Hoffman, for what reason do you seek recognition?"
"Point of personal privilege."
"Please speak your point."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. If I could have your attention real quickly, real briefly. Thank you. It is with a heavy heart that I talk today about my good friend, Erik Lowder. Erik is leaving. It is his last day on staff today. He has worked so hard for all of us, whether it's been capital Bills, substantive Bills. But more than being a great staffer, Erik Lowder is a good and dear friend. And I want to wish him well, and wish him good luck, and Godspeed. Erik Lowder."
"Leader Manley, for what reason do you seek recognition?" 10200110.docx 17 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023
"Well, I don't know how to follow up with… after a standing ovation. You must have really been great. He is a good man. I wanted to say kid 'cause I think of him that way. But talented… we are very… can we all just admit that our staff are second to none? Both sides of the aisle, they are so good. They put up with so much. This is one of the top staffers I've ever worked with. He's a good person, and I'm going to miss him a lot."
"Representative Hurley, for what reason do you seek recognition?"
"Point of personal privilege."
"Please speak you point."
"So, I have to follow the standing O and Leader Manley. So, another tough thing to follow. But Erik Lowder is the most unassuming individual too. He is so smart. He answers my calls all the time, which everybody doesn't do. And he's just a… he's just a kind human being. He's always answered my calls for capital, which we still have to talk about. And he's just a… he's just a good, kindhearted, unassuming individual. So, he will be missed. So, thanks, Erik, for everything."
"Representative Stuart, for what reason do you seek recognition?
"Point of personal privilege."
"Please speak your point."
"Sorry, it's a little busy back here. Yes, there's a lot of love right here. This is really, really rough. And I don't know if I'm going to keep it together, but it's going to be really, really hard to say goodbye to this guy, not have him around anymore. I just want to say, I have a great staffer 10200110.docx 18 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 back home named Brenda who runs everything in my district office. And she chases down everything she can and, like, solves every problem she can, but even she hits a wall. And she'll call me and she'll say, 'I don't know what to do about this constituent that's having a problem with unemployment. We've hit this wall. I don't know what to do. The school district has asked me this question, and I'm not sure how to answer it. And I don't always have all those answers.' And I just say, 'Just give a minute. I'll call Erik.' And… and Erik, you know, he always answers. If he doesn't answer, he calls me back in five minutes and then he miraculously has the answer and he solves all the problems. And Brenda always says, like, 'Who is this magical, mythical creature Erik that solves all your problems?' And… and this is him, and this is Erik Lowder. And we couldn't do this job without people like Erik. I'm going to miss him tremendously. I'm glad he's still going to be somewhat around. I expect you to show up in my office frequently for our, you know, downloading sessions that we have to talk about things. But this is going to be really rough, and it's going to be a big change. Thank you for the hard work you've always given. And you're going to be really, really missed. Thank you, Erik."
"Representative Ammons, for what reason do you seek recognition?"
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Point of personal privilege."
"Please speak your point."
"It would be neglectful on my part to not recognize Erik. Everyone in here knows how responsive Erik has been. But Erik knows something that a lot of people don't. He understands 10200110.docx 19 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 the budget. The budget is what drives the communities. And when I was in… every single time I needed to know, 'Where's my capital? How do I fix this?' I call Erik. Erik finds the answer. He sends it back in a timely manner. He's responsive. I mean, we've just been so blessed to have him and so many others on our staff. I know he's trained someone great under him 'cause he's trained great people before. And I'm looking forward to what he does next. Let me just take this moment as well, Mr. Speaker, just to include my friend, my homegirl from East St. Louis. We are going to miss our Leader Greenwood, but I don't think it’ll be very long. She has just been the heart of our chamber. She's a great person. And I love her because I'm from East St. Louis and my family is in East St. Louis. And so, I will see her when I come home. But I want her to know publicly that she will be missed from this chamber. Her spirit and her love for everyone is going to be missed. And so, with that, please also just give a round of applause to our Leader, Leader Greenwood."
"Representative Didech, for what reason do you seek recognition?"
"Point of personal privilege."
"Please speak your point."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I… I have to take the opportunity to pile on the lovefest for Erik Lowder. As a former staffer myself, you know, one of the hallmarks, I think, of a talented staffer is someone who is able to make the Members look good. And there's… I don't think anyone else in this building who made me look better than Erik Lowder in my district. The support that he gave me on the capital projects, making sure 10200110.docx 20 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 I had accurate information and being able to communicate that to my constituents is something I will always appreciate. And wherever he goes next, whoever is fortunate enough to get him will be very pleased with his talents and his abilities. So, let's hear it one more time for Erik Lowder."
"Leader Harris, for what reason do you seek recognition?"
"I wanted to say something about Erik Lowder too. And he's probably really tired of hearing my voice 'cause, like, I call him a lot. And every time it's 'cause I or somebody else is unhappy. But Erik is a guy who you can call, and you can call unhappy, and you can call thumping the table because somebody's just come in your office and thumped you. And by the time you're done talking to Erik, you not only have the information, but you usually go away happy. And you're able to get things done for your constituents, which makes all the difference in the world. Whether it's trying to put an addition on your hospital or add housing for homeless women, a project we've been working on in my district. You know, this is a hard process. And the House has been successful in what we've been able to get done just because of the hard work of guys like Erik. And so, you… you will be missed greatly. And I think I join everyone else here in wishing you just all the best. So, thank you very much, Erik."
"Returning to the Calendar on page 2. Under the Order of Concurrences, we have House Bill 45, Representative Tarver. Representative Tarver is recognized." 10200110.docx 21 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just grab my notes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move to concur on Senate Amendment #1 to House Bill 45.
"A quick explanation on the Amendment."
"The Amendment does two things. One, it amends the Election Code to… excuse me. It… it amends the Election Code to clarify an issue related to voting by mail. And then it also makes some correct… it corrects some drafting errors as it relates to the Judicial Circuit Districting Act of 2022."
"Thank you, Representative. Any debate? We have Representative Elik for questions."
"I… yes. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"He indicates that he will."
"Rep. Tarver, we went over this quite in detail in Exec. Committee this morning, and I appreciate your coming back to us afterwards with some information. And I just wanted to go over with the Body what the issues are that we see in the election part of the Bill. On page 2 of the Bill, there is language crossed out that states that the election authority is going to compare the signature of someone on a mail-in ballot with the official registration card on file with the county clerk. We discussed in length too, that if you have mail-in ballot that comes in and you have a signature on that ballot verification, the election judge can't just compare that to the ballot application because that's not the source document. That's still not an official record of the signature that's… official signature that's on file on someone's voter registration card. So, that's in… on page 2 of the Bill where the language is struck out in this Bill. And then I know we 10200110.docx 22 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 discussed too, on page 9 of the Bill… let me go to it. That it makes it okay to… to compare that signature with the… the voter's mail-in ballot application. So, I know that there's a case in DuPage County that has probably led to this language. Can you please describe what your thoughts are on is this a proper fix? Or what… what are we going to be doing next on this?"
"So, I think there's a couple of things. And thank you for the question. One, as it relates to the… the case is in court is in court. So, I don't believe this is going to affect that. That's being litigated. But the intent is to clarify, as it relates to vote by mail, that the original voter registration signature or the signature on the application could be reviewed. So, it's… I'm sorry. Let me take a step back. It was two parts, right? You're referring to page 2 and also page 9. As it relates to page 2, the language that you're talking about that was stricken, I believe the intent was to allow for the verification of the signature that's on file. Where you and I, and I think Representative Davidsmeyer and Representative Wheeler, were kind of missing each other, I have additional information. The purpose of that was to allow for the very thing we talked about in committee, which was at times there may be a digitized version of the original voter registration. And so, instead of the language which was probably more limiting than we need in 2023, our thought in the language that it would allow for both that digitized as well as the original placard voter registration. Does that make sense?" 10200110.docx 23 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023
"It does make sense. And I think that then the language that's crossed out in this Bill should not be crossed out but… but maybe a little bit more specific so that… because the way we're reading this now is that it is okay to compare a mail-in ballot certification signature with the application. And as we've discussed and I think was probably on the record in the Circuit Court case in DuPage County, that's an obvious avenue for voter fraud. That if someone receives the, 'Hey, do you want to… do you want to do a mail- in ballot at their home?' They could fill that in for a family member, request the ballot, sign it themselves, get the ballot, sign the… vote the ballot, sign the ballot certification, send it back. And if that ballot comes back and all they're comparing it to is the application, that's… that's not a comparison at all. So, I want to make that clear. That this has… this is not going to… this is causing the opportunity for more voter fraud. To the Bill. I… I think I kind of stated what I was discussing before. As an auditor, we are trained to look at a source document. It is very important to look at that source document because the opportunities for fraud increase the further you get away from that source document. So, I would like to… I appreciate that you're willing to work on this. And I think it's very, very important that we do. And I look forward to… to doing that with you as soon as possible because we need to make sure that the original… you know, the… the scanned copy of the original voter registration card is what is the source document that need to be compared to any ballot certification signature. Thank you." 10200110.docx 24 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023
Speaker Evans: "Is that a statement or a… a statement. Representative Davidsmeyer is recognized."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"He indicates that he will."
"Representative, I… I appreciate you coming back and talking to us after… after committee and… and certainly look forward to working with you on other Bills in to the future. I… I think the concern and the best way that I had to describe it was… it’s like if the bank has your signature on record, but they compare a fraudulent check to a fraudulent check, right? That's a possibility in this situation. They could be comparing a fraudulent request for a mail-in ballot to a mail- in ballot as opposed to the actual registration signature. And that's… that's what we're looking to fix. Is making sure that we're comparing it to the original signature, right, correct? After… after this Bill we're looking to… to follow up with comparing it to the actual original signature, correct?"
"So, a couple of things, and thank you for the question."
"Yes."
"One, I just want to clarify that it… it's our position that at this point, to the best of my knowledge, let me say, people are verifying voter registration… voter registration cards, excuse me. When you make the point about the bank, I think it's more synonymous with the bank looking at a digitized version of the original signature. Not that they won’t look at the original signature. But, more specifically to respond to your question, yes, I'm committed, as I mentioned to you and Representative Elik as well, to looking 10200110.docx 25 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 at additional language that would make people more comfortable, I guess. But overall, I think we have to remember that what we're talking about is voter integrity and election integrity. We share that concern. And so, whether it's forgery, whether it’s the example that Representative Elik proposed, it's illegal, right? And I'm certainly not here looking to encourage someone to do something that's illegal. So, you have my commitment to work with you, work with Representative Elik as well. But I do want to be clear that it's our position that a) individuals are already checking those cards and then b) we want to make sure, as it relates to vote by mail, we're not talking the application at this point, but vote by mail, that people understand that they can look at either the application or the original voter registration card. I hope that's clear."
"Certainly, yeah. And… and I think, at the end of the day, we just want to make sure that one of those signatures, either the application or the ballot, was compared with the original signature. And I… I appreciate you coming back and I take you on your word that we're going to come back and look at future language to make sure that we can get rid of fraud in any elections. Because at the end of the day, we want to make sure that the general public is… is comfortable with the outcomes of the election. Whether they like it or not, they're comfortable with the process. Thank you."
"Agreed."
"Representative Mayfield for questions."
"Thank you so much. Will the Sponsor yield?" 10200110.docx 26 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023
"He indicates that he will."
"Representative, can you explain to me how this Bill is going to affect those individuals who were elected into the 19th Subcircuit?"
"Are you… and help me with this. Are you referring to two judges that were elected?"
"I'm referring to two African American males and one African American female. All of which made history in this last election. And it is my understanding that the Senate has been trying to rescind those judgeships ever since we passed that."
"My… no. So, well… wise counsel has just told me it does not rescind either of those judgeships. And if you'll allow me, I'd like to make an additional point. Which is, you know, the benefit of these maps is that you… I believe the district went from zero to two or three black judges, which is important and was the intent. I'm not going to say the specific intent was black judges, that's not my point. But more diversity in the judicial branch was certainly part of the intent of the judicial subcircuit Bill."
"Right. We elected two African American judges and one Asian female judge, and we want to keep them."
"Even better."
"Yes. And that was the intent of the maps was to open it up to more minority representation and we believe that we have that. So, I just want to make sure that those individuals will have the opportunity to run again and not be downsized out of those positions." 10200110.docx 27 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023
"That… that is my understanding. Give me one second. I wanted to make sure I wasn't misspeaking. I… I stand by my original statement."
"Okay. So, for legislative intent, and I want to be very clear and make sure this is on the record, that anyone elected in the 19th Judicial Subcircuit will have the opportunity to go up for retention in the next election cycle? There is nothing within this Bill that will prohibit those individuals who were recently elected for going for retention in the next judicial cycle? And that any… and it would only be through attrition that the reductions will occur?"
"Okay. It's not the next election cycle. It's when a term comes up in accordance with the Constitution."
"Okay."
"Yes. But the answer is, yes, they are eligible for retention."
"They are eligible for retention, and that there is nothing in this language that will prohibit them from going up for retention or that will downsize them?"
"Just like any other judge, my understanding is they are eligible for retention."
"Okay. I'm going to ask the question a different way. There is nothing in the language of this Bill that will negatively affect the minority judges that we just elected?"
"Correct."
"Thank you."
"Representative Spain is recognized."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. I appreciate the comments from the Sponsor and certainly look forward to the 10200110.docx 28 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 opportunity to work together on this topic. It seems like a good item for future discussion in the Ethics & Elections Committee that we created during this General Assembly. But regardless, there are two problems within this Bill that need to be addressed. Number one, and when we do this, it… it is a huge flaw. This Bill is being brought forward because in this past election a county clerk in the County of DuPage was not following the law. And rather than instead following the law and curing that deficiency, we're going to change the law to allow that practice to become acceptable in the future. And I have a fundamental disagreement with that type of retroactive changing that we would do for something that's very important because the second problem is that, in our state, we have made the voter signature the most important component of how we protect the integrity of our elections. And now by diluting it, by weakening it, by eliminating a requirement to follow that source document, as another Member mentioned just moments ago, we are weakening the protections of our elections. And folks, it doesn't have to be this way. I would love to be in a situation where the State of Illinois, for voting, is not relying on election judges and their signature matchup expertise to make sure that we have done all that we can to reduce voter fraud. There's a way to do it. We should not be relying on signatures in the State of Illinois. What we should be doing is what most states in our country do. Red states, blue states, swing states, the vast majority of states in the United States have a simple fix. And it's voter ID. You show an ID when you go to vote."
"Representative Didech is recognized." 10200110.docx 29 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023
"Will the Sponsor yield?"
"He indicates that he will."
"Thank you. I have just a few questions related to the 19th Judicial Circuit provisions in this Bill. In the spring of 2022, the Seventh Judicial Circuit heard the case Drobinski v. Illinois State Board of Elections, Case Number: 22-CH-27. The court in that case issued a series of rulings that resulted in five judges standing for election in Lake County in the 2022 General Election. There is a provision on page 35 which adds legislative intent regarding not wanting to create new judgeships. Is it the intent that this language to overrule the judge's decision in Drobinski?"
"No, it is not."
"Thank you. Yes, I… I agree that we are not seeking to overrule the decision in the Drobinski case. So, given that, is it accurate that our intent is that all Lake County judges, including the five elected in 2022, will be eligible to stand for retention at the end of their terms in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Illinois Constitution and our general election laws?"
"That is correct. The Bill does not negatively impact any judge's ability to seek retention, which I believe was also Leader Mayfield's question as well."
"Yeah. Thank so much. To the Bill. Given those answers, I will be voting 'yes'. I encourage an 'aye' vote on this Bill, and I do want to echo the comments made by Representative Mayfield. In the most recent election, we elected the first three minority judges in Lake County history. It is a significant accomplishment that myself and 10200110.docx 30 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 the rest of the Lake County delegation is very proud of. And I appreciate Representative Tarver's leadership to making sure that we protect those gains. Thank you."
"Leader Batinick is recognized."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"He indicates that he will."
"Representative, I'm reading from the press this morning that this Bill is literally being called the Mazzochi cleanup. And you're saying this has nothing to do with that situation?"
"I don't read the press. But I'm saying this Bill is to clarify what we believe is already in practice and to ensure that it's in statute so there's no ambiguity or confusion."
"Well, it seems like there's added ambiguity and confusion because our staffers and the press are saying that this clarifies that you can compare the signature on the application to the signature on the ballot and you don't have to go to the original… to the original registration."
"So, I… I guess we're having a fundamental disagreement between me and yourself, your staff, and the press. Is that we believe that this was already allowed. And so, again, to eliminate any ambiguity, because with the branch of government that is entitled and supposed to do this, we want to clarify into statute exactly what the intent is."
"Okay. So, I'm… now this is different than the way I was interpreting it before. I thought you said it didn't address this. What you're saying, you believe it was already allowed that the signature on the ballot could match the application. It didn't have to match the original voter registration. That's what you're saying is already allowed? 10200110.docx 31 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023
"I… I think you're maybe conflating things between the application and then the actual vote by mail…"
"Ballot."
"…ballot. And what I believe was unclear, and this would refer to page 9 when I talked to Representative Elik and Davidsmeyer about, is clarifying that you can use either the voter registration or the signature on the application."
"Okay. I don’t believe the…"
"But the application… I'm sorry. If… if you don't mind. But… but the intent has always been, and I believe this has been the practice, that at the time of the application it's already been checked. The voter registration."
"Okay. So, you're clarifying your intent is that it's… it clarifies that you can compare the… it's kind of a copy of a copy. That you can compare the ballot to the vote by mail application because you're saying that the vote by mail application is required to match the original registration at time of application?"
"My understanding is election authorities are verifying at the time of the application. And whether or not that is a physical card coming from a file cabinet or a digitized signature, they're verifying is my understanding. The election authority, at the time of the application."
"Right. So, what you're saying is that the verifications happens at application, not necessarily at the ballot signature. Versus the original registration, whether it be the card… and I know it's not going be the card. It's going to be digitized. But you're saying that the protection is at application time, not at when the ballot comes back in?" 10200110.docx 32 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023
"I'm… I'm not defining protection. I'm saying that there is a multi-step process. And one step of the process is to verify at the time of application. And then additionally, with vote by mail, there's an opportunity… which we believe has always been the opportunity for this, we're clarifying it now… to check the voter registration or the signature on the application as it relates to the ballot for vote by mail."
"Okay. I'll just quickly to the Bill. I don't want to continue belaboring the point. I think we got where the Sponsor is and what they're trying to do with this. It's called Mazzochi cleanup for a reason. We need better protections than what we're going because… if people don't have confidence in the election process, they don't have confidence… it's imperative to democracy that we have confidence in the electoral process. And little things like this are small when they put together, they may not seem like much initially on their own. But things like this, when they’re put together, add up, and… and sow those seeds… seeds of doubt. And I think we can be… I think it's pretty clear that there's a lot of ambiguity and people seeing this different ways. And we can be clear about this particular piece of legislation. Thank you."
"Representative Caulkins is recognized."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield for a question?"
"He indicated he will."
"Representative Tarver, must the voter application for a absentee ballot be compared to an original signature? Is that current law? 10200110.docx 33 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023
"Will you say that one more time? I apologize."
"Sure."
"I… I missed it."
"So, the voter… the voter makes an application for an absentee ballot. Is that signature on the application required by law to be compared to the original signature that is on file for that voter?"
"At the time of the application for the absentee ballot? No."
"So, it's not… so we don't require that the signature for an absentee ballot must be compared to an original signature before the absentee ballot…"
"I… I apologize. And sorry to cut you off. The answer is yes. I apologize."
"Okay. So, we have in law, it is the law that the… that the clerk must compare the signature for an absentee ballot with the original signature of that voter before the absentee ballot is sent out?"
"I think the language is official signature, and I think the language is election authority."
"Right. I'm sorry. I didn't hear the response, Sir."
"I believe that the language is the original signature, and I believe the language is also the election authority is required to do so."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"Representative Tarver to close."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I think… you know, the overall intent of this Bill is to eliminate some ambiguity. 10200110.docx 34 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 I've committed to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle at this point that if there's better language that we can work on, that I'm happy to do so. Voter integrity and election integrity is important to all of us. In addition, the other part of the Bill obviously has been helpful in Lake County and other places as well. So, I urge an 'aye' vote."
"The question is, 'Shall the House concur in Senate Amendment #1 to House Bill 45?' This is final action. All those in favor signify by voting 'aye'; all those opposed signify by voting 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 69 voting 'yes', 40 voting 'nay', and 0 voting 'present'. And the House does concur in Senate Amendment #1 to House Bill 45. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On Supplemental Calendar #1, we have House Bill 3878, Representative Tarver."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move to concur with Senate Amendment #1 and Senate Amendment #2 to House Bill 3878."
"For clarification, which Amendment's would you want, Representative Tarver?"
"Senate Amendment 1 and 2."
"We have 3 on the board. Do you want 3?"
"Hold on a second. 1 and 3."
"Thank you, Sir. Please speak to the Amendments."
"One of the Amendments changes the date that the task force provides its finding. Additionally, the date that the section repeals. And then also an Amendment adds additional members from the organization representing the Illinois 10200110.docx 35 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 county clerks and recorders to be appointed by the Governor to the task force."
Speaker Evans: "All right. Thank you. Any questions? Representative Batinick."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. We had 67 'yes' votes on this last time, 42 'no' votes, 0 'present'. I believe the 42 'no' votes were on our side of the aisle. I think just a date change is on this, correct? Everything else… however you did on the underlying Bill, I would keep it the same for my side. Thank you."
"Representative Tarver to close."
"One, I want to thank Representative Stoneback who had a very similar Bill and has been incredibly instrumental in getting this passed last spring and even today. It's an issue that's important to all of us, which is affordable housing. And I just want to say thank you publicly, Denyse, for all of your help. Other than that, I'm excited about the fact that we will be doubling the amount that we're about to provide for affordable housing through this program. Also want to thank Chair Guzzardi for all of his work in ushering it through his committee and his support on it. I urge an 'aye' vote.
"The question is, 'Shall the House concur in Senate Amendment #1 and 3 to House Bill 3878?' This is final action. All those in favor signify by voting 'aye'; all those opposed signify by voting 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 72 voting 'aye', 36 voting 'nay', and 1 voting 'present'. 10200110.docx 36 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 And the House does concur in Senate Amendment #1 and 3 to House Bill 3878. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Chair recognizes Leader Hernandez for an announcement." Hernandez, L.: "Yes, Speaker. We will be meeting… Democratic Caucus will be meeting in Room 114."
"Attention, Democrats. We will be meeting in Room 114 for an immediate Democratic caucus. Leader Batinick, you have a question?"
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Inquiry of the Chair. Do you guys know how long you're going to caucus for?"
"A reasonable amount of time."
"Okay. We will not be caucusing for a reasonable amount of time. Thank you."
"Thank you. Republicans will not caucus. The Democrats will immediately caucus in 114. Thank you. The House will stand in recess until the call of the Chair."
"Leader Andrade in the Chair. Mr. Clerk."
"Rules Report. Representative Harris, Chairperson from the Committee on Rules reports the following committee action taken January 6, 2023: approved for consideration, recommends be adopted, referred to the Floor is Floor Amendment(s) 3 to Senate Bill 1720."
"Leader Batinick, for what reason… Leader Andrade in the Chair. Leader Batinick, for what reason do you want to be recognized?"
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Republicans request a caucus that will end by 8:26. In Room 118."
"Can you make it 8:25?" 10200110.docx 37 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023
"8:25, deal."
"Thank you."
"Leader Manley in the Chair. Leader Andrade is recognized."
"Thank you, Madam Speaker. On the Democratic side, may I please excuse Representative Stoneback, Representative Moylan, and Leader Evans."
"On page 2, Senate Bills under Second Reading, Senate Bill… I'm sorry, Leader Batinick. I was just toying with your emotions. Chair recognizes Leader Batinick."
"Thank you, Madam Speaker. Let the record reflect that Representatives Bos, Severin, Hamilton, Sosnowski, Chesney, Welter, and Dan Brady are excused for the remainder of the evening."
"Page 2 of the Calendar, Senate Bills on Second Reading. Senate Bill 1720, offered by Leader Harris. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."
"Senate Bill 1720, a Bill for an Act concerning State government. This Bill was read a second time previously. No Committee Amendments. Floor Amendments #2 and 3 have been approved for consideration. Floor Amendment #2 is offered by Leader Harris."
"Leader Harris."
"Mr. Speaker, I'd like to withdraw Floor Amendment #2."
"Mr. Clerk, please withdraw Floor Amendment 2. Anything further?"
"Senate Bill 1720… Floor Amendment #3 is offered by Representative Harris."
"Representative Harris." 10200110.docx 38 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Senate Bill (sic-Floor Amendment) 3 becomes the Bill. I'd like to adopt the Amendment and then discuss it on Third Reading."
"Leader Harris moves for the adoption of Floor Amendment 3 to Senate Bill 1720. All those in favor say 'aye'; opposed say 'nay'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments, Mr. Clerk?"
"No further Amendments. No Motions are filed."
"Third Reading. Please read the Bill."
"Senate Bill 1720, a Bill for an Act concerning State government. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."
"Leader Harris."
"Thank you, Madam Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Senate Bill 1720 deals with several budget implementation matters. And I'll summarize them very quickly here. There are, as in other Budget Implementation Bills, several fund transfers and technical corrections. There's some corrections to audit findings. Very significantly though, the major items in this Bill are, there is a transfer of $850 million from GRF to the Budget Stabilization Fund, which is also referred to by some as the rainy-day fund. And it also raises the cap on the Budget Stabilization Fund balance as a share of General Funds from 5 to 7.5 percent. This Bill would transfer $400 million from the General Revenue Fund to the Large Business Attraction Fund. It replenishes $72 million from GRF into the Disaster Recovery Fund. It makes several changes LETSB to implement law enforcement training and law enforcement mental health grants. It addresses an 10200110.docx 39 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 audit finding for tollways and colleges and universities regarding their contributions to the Health… Health Insurance Reserve Fund. It modifies some provisions of the Procurement Code. It also creates a hospital stability program for… to transfer, on a one-time basis, $460 million to all the hospitals of Illinois to help to account for the rising cost of nursing and the shortfalls that many hospitals are experiencing right now in being able to, you know, fund their needs. This is a one-time only item. It funds every hospital in Illinois. It's agreed to by the Illinois Hospital Association, the rural critical access safety… critical access hospitals, and the safety net hospitals. It changes our child support laws so that the state will no longer be taking a portion out of the child support it collects. But the entire child support it collects will go to the child and not to the state. There are salary increases for agency directors in the Executive Branch, Legislators, the constitutional officers. And those are the different items in the Bill."
"Chair recognizes Leader Batinick."
"Thank you Madam Speaker. I'm going to go directly to the Bill."
"To the Bill."
"For the record, many, if not all, of the Members on my side of the aisle wanted to speak against this Bill. We decided that that might be too much. I want to thank the Members on my side of the aisle for allowing me to be the only one to speak on the Bill and represent them. We felt that this would be the best path forward in keeping our points 10200110.docx 40 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 succinct and what's important. I do need to say that Amy Grant is excused. So, please add that. A hundred and seventy-four pages on a Friday night. The audacity of what we're doing. I don't see any press in the press box. Where we got one? Two, two press in the press box. This isn't the time of day where we have… I see… I don't see any members of the public up in the gallery. Pay increase, Christmas in January for Legislators. I got a email from Ben Stortz from Cornerstone who said that funding for his… his agency, which deals with people with disabled… disabled individuals, and they're dealing with not having the ability to keep up with market pay to keep employees. And they do important… important work over at Cornerstone. That's not in this Bill or any other Bill that we know about at this point. Hundred and seventy- four pages for a Bill that just got dropped an hour ago that literally has not seen the light of day. What's in this Bill has not seen the light of day. This is a Springfield setup. There's not going to be any pictures with the Governor here afterwards cheering and celebrating. He's not in the front row today. You may think that the public isn't going to notice. It seems like we're doing our best to make it happen that way. But they will notice. Vote 'no'."
"Leader Harris to close."
"Thank you, Madam Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I'm very happy to present this Bill tonight as a companion to a budget that all of us, I think, can be proud of for the fact that we have retired our state debt. Yesterday in Executive Committee, we passed a Bill that will completely eliminate our Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund debt that 10200110.docx 41 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 appropriates $1.8 billion from our state to help out our small businesses and labor. In this Bill alone that we have in front of us tonight, we are putting aside $400 million to be competitive with other states in attracting high-tech jobs and employers to our state. We are paying $460 million to keep our hospital systems afloat. And we're putting $850 million into a rainy-day fund. At this point in time, Illinois has more in its rainy-day fund than we have had in the last quarter-century. This is the first time in the last quarter- century that we have wiped out all our backlog of bills. This is the first time in a quarter-century where Illinois has not only made its required pension payment but put half a billion dollars more into our pensions. And not only that, we're going about the business of helping the families of Illinois by making sure that the state takes its hand out of families' pocket and sending all child support payments directly to the children. And my colleague before… and you can applaud that, being sure that, you know, all of child support goes to families I think is a very important thing. And the Gentleman opposite who talked about the agency in his district, he should be aware… and maybe if you recall in the last budget we passed in FY23, which we're currently in, the State of Illinois gave the single-largest increase to mental health and substance use providers in state history. And also, entities like the one he mentioned, which provide crisis intervention services, will see, when our appropriation Bill comes over here, that we are also putting substantial increases, about $40 million, into supporting them in this year's budget. And I hope the Gentleman and his colleagues 10200110.docx 42 STATE OF ILLINOIS 102nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 1/6/2023 opposite will join us in voting for House Bill 969 when we return, which will provide funds to the type of agencies he mentioned. So, Ladies and Gentlemen, for this and a lot of other reasons, I would ask you to vote for a fiscally responsible budget. Keeps our budget balanced, that we hope will help every citizen in the State of Illinois, that will help support our hospital systems. Please vote 'yes'."
"The question is, 'Shall Senate Bill 1720 pass?' All in favor vote 'aye'; opposed vote 'nay'. And the voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 63 voting in 'favor', 35 voting 'against', and this Bill… 0 voting 'present.' And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, Agreed Resolutions."
"Agreed Resolutions. House Resolution 1042, offered by Representative Robinson."
"Leader Greenwood moves for the adoption of the Agreed Resolutions. All those in favor say 'aye'; opposed say 'nay'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Agreed Resolutions are adopted. And now, allowing perfunctory time for the Clerk, Leader Greenwood moves that the House stand adjourned until Tuesday, January 10. All those in favor say 'aye'; opposed say 'nay'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the House stands adjourned." 10200110.docx 43