"The House will be in order. Members will in their chairs. We shall be led in prayer today by Pastor Jonathan Rychener. Pastor Rychener is with Northwoods Community Church in Peoria, Illinois. Pastor Rychener is the guest of Representative Weaver. 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. Pastor Jonathan Rychener."
"Let's pray. So, Lord, we come before you today and we humbly acknowledge our dependence upon you. And, Lord, you say in your word, in Isaiah, Chapter 11, that Jesus came full of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear of the Lord. And so, Lord, we humbly ask today that you would manifest your wisdom in our lives, that you give us wisdom to make accurate, long-term decisions, that you give us understanding into your perfect will for this city, for our state, for our country, that you counsel us in your ways, that you fill us with might and strength to stand for the truth of your word. And, Father, we also ask for knowledge, knowledge of your ways, and fear of the Lord. That's integrity. Pray that you would empower us to be individuals of integrity, that we're the same people in private that we are in public. And so, Lord, again, we just humbly acknowledge our dependence upon you and we pray your blessing over the day. It's in Jesus' name we pray, Amen."
"We will be led in the Pledge of Allegiance today by Leader Barbara Hernandez." Hernandez, B. - et al: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it 10300035.docx 1 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/25/2023 stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Speaker Ortiz: "Roll Call for Attendance. Leader Evans is recognized to report any excused absences on the Democratic side of the aisle."
"Mr. Speaker, let the record show that Representatives Will Davis, Hirschauer, Jones, and Yang Rohr are excused today."
"Leader Keicher is recognized to report any excused absences on the Republican side of the aisle."
"Mr. Speaker, please let the record reflect that all Republicans are here and ready to do the people's work."
"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. Representative Morgan, for what reason do you seek recognition?"
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Point of personal privilege."
"Please proceed."
"Ladies and Gentlemen, happy to welcome one of my constituents here to Springfield. She's been here before, but this is her first time on the House Floor. If we could give a very warm Springfield welcome to the amazing Gali Goldenberg. Everyone, Ladies and Gentlemen, round of applause, please."
"Representative Fritts, for what reason do you seek recognition?"
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A point of personal privilege."
"Please proceed." 10300035.docx 2 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/25/2023
"Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I had with me today earlier seventh graders from Rock Falls Middle School. Because we run so on time around here, they had to get to their next engagement, but I told them that I would make sure to send this transcript to them. They were very excited to get to be here today because for the last three years, with COVID, all school trips had been canceled. When I asked them, I said, 'What do you want the Members of the House to know?' They said that they would like to see more education funding so that they could have better books in their libraries. On a funny note, though, they said that they would like a laser tag rink and a skating rink within their school. So, anyway… so, very excited to have welcomed them today. A special thank you to their teachers Ms. Kruger, Mr. Lauff, and Mr. Heald, as well as the moms, Ms. Tefiku, Mrs. Johnson, and Mrs. Finney. So, anyway, special thank you to them for coming and thank you to all of you."
"Representative Meier, for what reason do you seek recognition?"
"Point of personal privilege."
"Please proceed."
"Representative Swanson and myself would like to welcome the Illinois Beef Association's young leader group, is here today as a capstone to their year-long training and development. These men and women represent the family farms from across the state. Farmers in the program include Adam and Rachel Harms, Ben Lehman, Gage Hagen, Trevor Maiers, Sarah Dirks, and Austin and Sierra Walters. These beef producers have spent 12 months learning about all facets of leadership 10300035.docx 3 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/25/2023 and are here today to see how the House of Representatives works and to meet with their Legislators as they complete their beef leadership program. They're up here to my right. In honor of them being here today, everybody go out and get themselves a good hamburger or a steak tonight too. Thank you."
"On page 8 of the Calendar, under the Order of Resolutions, we have House Joint Resolution 7, offered by Representative Marron. Representative Marron is recognized."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Joint Resolution 7 simply creates the College Insurance Program Task Force. The College Insurance Program is important… is a very important program that funds health insurance for retirees from the community college organization, and it has been under financial distress for the last decade. So, we are going to have to come up with a plan to try to make that a healthy program for its viability into the future. And so, I think it makes sense that we create the task force so that Members of the General Assembly can get together with people representing the community college program in the state and try to come up with a solution to make the program viable. I know of no opposition, and I ask for an 'aye' vote."
"Representative Marron moves for the adoption of House Joint Resolution 7. All in favor vote 'aye'; all opposed vote 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 109 'yeas', and 0 'nays', 0 voting 'present'. And this Resolution, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby adopted. On 10300035.docx 4 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/25/2023 page 8 of the Calendar, under… under the Order of Resolutions, we have House Joint Resolution 25, offered by Representative Miller. Representative Miller is recognized."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The VFW Post 3637 in Oakland is making an effort to… to honor our Vietnam veterans, and they want to do this by designating part of Route 133 as it travels through Hindsboro as 'PFC Donnie J. Clough Memorial Highway'. PFC Clough paid the ultimate sacrifice while he was serving our country in Vietnam so that we might be free today. And I would ask for an 'aye' vote."
"Representative Miller moves for the adoption of House Joint Resolution 25. All in… all in favor vote 'aye'; all opposed vote 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 108 'yeas', 1 'nay', 0 voting 'present'. And this Resolution, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby adopted. On page 7, under the Order of Concurrences, appears House Bill 559. Representative Morgan is recognized."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 559 is, again, the Health Care Workforce Reinforcement Act. This was a Bill that we passed unanimously out of the House and moved over to the Senate, and we realized there was a redundancy in the charging of Medicaid. So, we deleted that code… reference to the Public Aid Code. That is the only change, and I move for concurrence."
"Mr. Clerk, please take this Bill out of the record. Representative Halbrook, for what reason do you seek recognition?" 10300035.docx 5 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/25/2023
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A point of personal privilege."
"Please proceed."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And if we could have a little order. Today, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, I rise to recognize and celebrate the 75th anniversary of Israel. In 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish… Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. U.S. President Harry S. Truman recognized the nation the same day. Israel continues to be many things to the United States. They are our partner in peace, prosperity, and trade. The people of Israel and the United States greatly benefit from nearly $50 billion in annual bilateral trade of goods and services. Some of our top imports from Israel include precious metals, pharmaceuticals, medical technology, and fuels. In 2017, President Trump recognized the rightful capital of Israel as Jerusalem, and it is our hope to continue this recognition and our support of the Holy Land and, once again, celebrate the 75th anniversary of the State of Israel. Thank you."
"Mr. Clerk, Rules Report."
Clerk Bolin: "Representative Gabel, Chairperson from the Committee on Rules reports the following committee action taken on April 25, 2023: recommends be adopted, referred to the floor is Floor Amendment(s) 3 for House Bill 579; recommends be adopted, Motion to Concur with Senate Amendment(s) 1 for House Bill 559; approved for consideration, referred to Second Reading is House Bill 1097, House Bill 2898, and House Bill 3222; and approved for consideration, referred to Consideration Postponed is House Bill 2347." 10300035.docx 6 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/25/2023
"Representative Andrade, for what reason do you seek recognition?"
"Speaker, first of all, that sounded good. That sounded real good, Mr. Speaker. Proud to see you up there. Well, Mr. Speaker, point of personal privilege."
"Thank you. Please proceed."
"Thank you very much. Thank you for your indulgence and your patience. I want you to, up in the Speaker's Gallery, we have my alma mater and we also have seventh grade class of St. Andrew's School coming down to learn about the Illinois Constitution. And there's a… there is a special guest right there. There she is. There's my… there's my daughter, Emily, right up there. I graduated class of 1986, just seems like yesterday. And… and actually they're all taller than me now, so I fit right in there. But I just wanted to say welcome to your home. This is your home. All these seats belong to you, not to us. We're just here just to deliver your message. So, I just want to say thank you and welcome to your home. Thank you very much."
"Leader Keicher. Leader Keicher's recognized."
"Mr. Speaker, the Republicans would request an immediate caucus in 118, please."
"Republicans will caucus immediately. Democrats will not caucus. Mr. Clerk, Agreed Resolutions."
"Agreed Resolutions. House Resolution 221 and 222, offered by Representative Flowers. House Resolution 225, offered by Representative Coffey. And House Resolution 227, offered by Representative Robinson." 10300035.docx 7 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/25/2023
"Leader Evans moves for the adoption of the Agreed Resolutions. All those in favor say 'aye'; all of those 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 Evans moves that the House stand adjourned until Wednesday, April 26, at the hour of noon. All those in favor say 'aye'; all of those opposed say 'nay'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the House stands adjourned."
"House Perfunctory Session will come to order. Introduction and First Reading of House Bills. House Bill 4041, offered by Representative Carroll, a Bill for an Act concerning gaming. House Bill 4042, offered by Representative Delgado, a Bill for an Act concerning gaming. House Bill 4043, offered by Representative Mayfield, a Bill for an Act concerning appropriations. House Bill 4044, offered by Representative Mayfield, a Bill for an Act concerning appropriations. House Bill 4045, offered by Representative Barbara Hernandez, a Bill for an Act concerning local government. First Reading of these House Bills. Introduction of Resolutions. House Resolution 219, offered by Representative Costa Howard; House Resolution 220, offered by Representative Spain; House Resolution 224, offered by Representative Spain; House Resolution 226, offered by Representative Spain; and House Joint Resolution 30, offered by Representative LaPointe, are referred to the Rules Committee. Second Reading of House Bills. House Bill 2911, a Bill for an Act concerning State government. This… Second Reading of this House Bill. This Bill will be held on the 10300035.docx 8 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/25/2023 Order of Second Reading. Committee Reports. Representative Gabel, Chairperson from the Committee on Rules reports the following committee action taken on April 25, 2023: recommends be adopted, referred to the floor is Floor Amendment(s) 1 to Senate Bill 2227; approved for consideration, referred to Second Reading is House Bill 300 and House Bill 476. There being no further business, the House Perfunctory Session will stand adjourned." 10300035.docx 9