"Good morning. The House will be in order. Members will be in their chairs. Roll Call for Attendance. Leader Gabel is recognized to report any excused absences on the Democratic side of the aisle."
"Speaker, let the record show that Representatives Will Davis and Jones are excused today."
"And Leader Keicher is recognized to report any excused absences on the Republican side of the aisle."
"Madam, let the record reflect that Representatives Ozinga and Elik are excused for today."
"Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. There being 111 Members present, we have a quorum. Representative Huynh is recognized."
"Thank you so much, Madam Speaker. Today, in honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month during the month of May, we are highlighting AAPIs whose contributions have often been overlooked. Tonight, Representative… this morning, Representative Kevin Olickal and I are honoring Dalip Singh Saund, a visionary leader, a tireless advocate, and a political trailblazer who was the first Sikh, the first Indian American, and first Asian American elected to the United States Congress. Born on September 20, 1899 in Chhajulwadi, India, as a child Dalip Singh Saund was inspired by two figures fighting for the struggles for freedom and equality, Mahatma Gandhi and Springfield's very own President Abraham Lincoln. He completed his bachelor's degree from the University of Punjab. And in 1920, Saund immigrated to the United States to pursue a master's degree from the University of California, Berkeley. However, due to discriminatory laws 10300055.docx 1 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 like the Asian Exclusion Act of 1924, which bar Asian Americans and Asian immigrants from owning land and becoming U.S. citizens, he faced numerous challenges. He wanted to be a teacher but couldn't find a job because he wasn't a naturalized U.S. citizen. Despite these obstacles, Saund remained determined to fight against injustices. He became actively involved and joined organizations working promoting the rights of Asian Americans. After 20 years, his tireless efforts ultimately led to the repeal of discriminatory laws in 1946, allowing Asian, Indians, and Filipino immigrants to become naturalized citizens. And now, I will turn it over to a Member of the Bow Tie Caucus, Representative Kevin Olickal."
"Chair recognizes Representative Olickal."
"Thank you, Madam Speaker. I also rise to honor Dalip Singh Saund in honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. In 1949, Saund made history by winning a seat in the United States Congress representing California's 29th Congressional District, representing Los Angeles. His election was a groundbreaking moment for civil rights, as he shattered stereotypes and paved the way for future Asian American leaders. During his three terms in Congress, Congressman Saund fought for equality, civil rights, and immigrant rights. He championed legislation to eradicate discriminatory practices and worked to improve the lives of marginalized communities, including the farmers of Southern California. Congressman Dalip Singh Saunds' legacy continues to inspire generations of individuals, including myself. In the United States Capitol, where his portrait hangs, his words remain true. 'There is no room in the United States of America 10300055.docx 2 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 for second-class citizenship.' The last thing I want to say here, it's been an honor to serve with the Members of the Asian American Caucus, Leader Theresa Mah, Senator Ram Villivalam, Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, Janet Yang Rohr, Nabeela Syed, Sharon Chung, Abdelnasser Rashid, Hoan Huynh, and honored to serve with everyone here. Thank you."
"Chair recognizes Leader Keicher. For what reason do you seek recognition?"
"If Room 118 is available, Ma'am, the Republicans would request immediate opportunity to proceed with business."
"Of course. On Supplemental Calendar #1, House Bill 3817. Chair recognizes Leader Gordon-Booth."
"Thank you, Madam Speaker. I move for the adoption of Amendments 1 and 3."
"Please proceed."
"House Bill 3817 is the Budget Implementation Bill. It contains the language that the Governor and the departments for the State of Illinois will need in order to implement the budget that we will vote on later on this evening. This Bill includes the typical transfers that are in Budget Implementation Bills. We will include an additional mechanical transfers to be able to do things like repair… create repairs for the state fairgrounds. We include language for the implementation of many of the much-needed rate increases that are going to be a part of our state's Fiscal Year '24 budget. And similar necessary implementation language is needed for any number of other issues that are part of our Budget Implementation Bill. There are about 127 items that are part of the state's Fiscal Year '24 Budget 10300055.docx 3 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 Implementation Bill. And what I'd like to do is just go over a handful of highlights for you. Two hundred million dollars from GRF to the Pension Stabilization Fund. This is in addition to the $200 million that we transferred in July of 2022. We also authorized DHS to establish a grant program for the child care centers as a part of the Governor's Smart Start initiative. We also provide for increases to the community- based DD facilities in order to support the higher wages for our direct care workers as a part of this Budget Implementation Bill. We increased the AIM HIGH Grant Pilot Program to create a greater income eligibility to be able to support more middle-class families, give their students and children the opportunity to be able to access higher education opportunities right here in the State of Illinois. We increased that threshold from six to eight times the poverty guidelines, which really opens it up and creates opportunities for many of our constituents to be able to have greater access to higher education opportunities. It also increases the Monetary Award Program grant from $8,508, where it is today, to $10,896 starting in Fiscal Year '24. As a part of this Budget Implementation Bill, it also increases the time frame by which our police officers, firefighters, and emergency care workers have the ability to be able to apply for line of duty compensation. This is a bipartisan measure that many of us in this room have all cosponsored, which is a part of this Budget Implementation Bill. We also established a Veterans Property Tax Relief Reimbursement Pilot Program. That, and many other measures, are a part of 10300055.docx 4 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 this Budget Implementation Bill. I'm happy to take your questions."
"If only. Chair recognizes Leader Windhorst."
"Thank you, Madam Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"She indicates that she will."
"Thank you. Leader, I have just a few questions on a few different points of… of the Bill, if we could just go through those. The first is the Teacher Vacancy Grant Pilot Program. Our analysis shows that this is subject to appropriation. It will be administered by the State Board of Education. And it is designed to support the reduction of unfulfilled teaching positions throughout the state. I guess the first question is, is there money appropriated in the budget for this? And then secondly, how will those grants be determined? Is there a criteria for the awarding of the grants?"
"It is… there is money appropriated for that program. It is to the tune of $45 million. Those decisions will be made by the Illinois State Board of Education."
"Is there any preference given to Tier 1 schools, Tier 2 schools? Is there any criteria that apply there to… for this?"
"Yes, Leader. It is based on need."
"Thank you. The other item deals with capital grants to units of local governments and substance abuse prevention providers to address opioid remediation in the state. It looks like that will come through DHS. First, it appears to me this is designed to provide potential treatment facilities 10300055.docx 5 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 throughout the state to deal with substance abuse disorder. Is that…"
"It does."
"…is that correct? Is that… do I have that correct?"
"It is."
"And that'll be administered by DHS?"
"It will be."
"It says in our analysis that subject to appropriation and approval. First question, there is an appropriation in the budget? Or if not, where is that money going to come from for the program?"
"I couldn't hear you. Could you repeat that, please?"
"Yes. If there is not an appropriation, where will the money come from for that program?"
"Oh, we intend to ensure that the resources are there the next opportunity that we come back to address some additional matters relative to this fiscal year."
"And I believe this also has rulemaking authority for DHS. Is that correct?"
"It does."
"And is it anticipated that any of the money the state's received from opioid settlements will be used in the funding of this program?"
"That is… is a part of the Attorney General's… the Attorney General Office's funds. It is something that could be a potential possibility, but those decisions have not been made yet." 10300055.docx 6 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023
"And we… the… well, yesterday, I guess now, passed some bonding authority. Will that be used in any way to fulfill this line item?"
"No, those are for infrastructure dollars. And this would be operational."
"Thank you. Next, there's a provision in the Bill that raises the lowest responsible bidder threshold for school boards from 25 thousand to 35 thousand. Is that correct?"
"Yes, it is."
"That kind of stuck out to me as something that didn't really seem to implement the FY24 budget. How does that relate to implementing the state's budget?"
"The goal was to create greater opportunity for equity specific to the way that school districts go about doing the business of each and every school district. And so, that was a procurement measure that was… that was asked and that we granted."
"And who was it asked… who asked for that?"
"Many school districts around the state."
"Another concerning item that I've asked you to address is the allowance for transfer among line items of appropriation. Previously, I believe, and traditionally, that has been a four percent cap in the transfer of line items. And… and this Bill moves that transfer up to eight percent. Do I have that correct?"
"Yes."
"Why was that increased?" 10300055.docx 7 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023
"It was done in an effort to ensure that agencies have the ability to… have the ability to manage the finite resources that we appropriate to them."
"I guess my concern is that is giving up some of this Body's authority and giving it to the Executive Branch, rather than us retaining that authority by giving them more ability to move money that wasn't within what we allocated."
"It's something that we would keep a close eye on. Certainly, each and every year, as you know, Leader, we engage in the appropriation process. And it's something that we intend to… something that we intend to continue to watch very closely. But what we thought… it was in partnership, quite frankly, with the administration relative to the implementation of many of the programs that we expect them to be able to implement with fidelity. So, we believe that it is the right thing to do in order for them to be able to have the appropriate implementation in the time frame that we expect."
"Well, I guess maybe to a larger point, we have, it seems to me anyway, over the last several years been giving up a lot of our authority as a… as a Legislative Body to the Executive Branch. And I think we should be exerted more of that authority where it's appropriate for us to do so. I appreciate your answers to my questions. I know there will be others who have questions."
"Thank you."
"Chair recognizes Representative Moeller."
"Thank you, Madam Chair. To the Bill."
"To the Bill." 10300055.docx 8 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023
"First off, I want to thank Leader Gordon-Booth for her hard work and… and diligent effort in bringing this budget and this Budget Implementation Bill to us this evening. One item that had been a particular focus for many in our caucus was increasing wages for our direct service providers who work with individuals who have developmental disabilities. And I know you worked along with Speaker Welch and others to make sure that that increase was made in this budget. And… and on behalf of everyone who worked on that, including Representative LaPointe and Representative Terra Costa Howard and others, Representative Michelle Mussman, very grateful for that. But for purposes of legislative intent, I'd… I'd like to read into the record language that the labor groups and those representing the agencies who provide the services have come to and how the increase will be distributed. So, in an effort to bring us closer to implementing the Department of Human Services Guidehouse Study, as well as to stabilize and grow the workforce, this budget provides for a two and a half… a $2.50 per hour wage increase for direct service personnel serving and supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in community-based and residential settings. It is our intent in passing this budget that this funding make it directly into the pockets of workers in the form of base wage increases. So, thank you for that. And again, thank you for all of the efforts that you put into bringing this budget forward tonight… today."
"Chair recognizes Representative Egofske."
"Thank you, Madam Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield, please?" 10300055.docx 9 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023
"She indicates she will."
"Okay. So, just so I understand. It looks like there is $112 million allocated to reestablish LGDF, at least a small step back to its 10 percent. However, there is a reduction in PPRT of $700 million. Can you please comment on the impact of this and also the impact of the municipalities that will see this $700 million hit?"
"Thank you, Representative. Many of our mayors, small rural towns, largest city in the State of Illinois, the City of Chicago, and cities that you represent, that I represent, and everything in between have been coming down here for the last couple of years indicating that they wanted to get to a much better place specific… relative to their share of the LGDF fund. Many… a few years ago, when we were dealing with some incredibly severe economic times, there was a cut to LGDF. And many of the folks that were here during that time, they certainly didn't forget it. And ever since that point in time, there has been a desire to do the fiscally… to make the fiscally sound decisions year over year to be able to put our state on strong fiscal footing. And in order to put our state on strong fiscal footing, we have to make the diligent decisions year over year to be able to ensure that the things that we do, we have the ability to sustain that. And so, in this year… I believe last year, the LGDF contribution from the State of Illinois above the statutory required amount was about $25 million. To your point, this year we're adding over $100 million to LGDF that will literally go into every municipality across the entire State of Illinois. We'll go from about 6.1 to 6.437 percent. 10300055.docx 10 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 And to the point that you made, it is not the 10 percent that many of our mayors and managers were looking for. But the reality of this budget is that no one in here, no one in… in communities is going to get everything that they ask for because we simply don't have the resources to do everything that everyone is asking. The things that we are engaging in, we believe that we can sustain over time. And so, we believe that when you talk to mayors and managers from around the State of Illinois that they are not only pleased but impressed with the work… with the work that we have been able to do relative to being able to go home and present a budget that increases the LGDF fund that our local communities will be able to feel very much so at that local level. As a matter of fact, I believe it was the Illinois Municipal League that put a quote out this morning indicating that this was a… that this Illinois General Assembly for FY24 was putting together one of the most significant packages in order to fund local communities that they had seen in many, many years. So, when you ask about the impact that we're going to be able to have on our local communities, if you just look no further than…"
"So… so, I'm sorry to interrupt. So, I think the question is, we're going up 100 million on LGDF, we're going down, down 700 million on Personal Property Replacement Tax. And it… my question is, is do you know what townships and cities this is impacting most? And if you don't, I could share with you. Ninety-eight million dollars, the Chicago Board of Education School District 299 is going to lose. Chicago city is going to lose $81 million. Chicago Park District, $23 million. Rockford Unit School District, $12 million. Now, we 10300055.docx 11 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 can go on and on. That's 700 million. We're going up 100. We're going down 700 million. Basically, this 100 thousand or 112 million… I'm sorry, $112 million increase is taking LGF funding… LGDF funding from 6.2 percent to 6.5 percent. We were at 10 percent for 40 years, 40 years, and it was established in 1969. And every single tax dollar collected, income tax dollar collected, 10 cents of it for 40 years went back to municipalities. Today, it is at six point… they call it 6.5 cents per dollar. So, do you know the amount of local funding that our communities have been shortchanged by not getting this 10 percent versus the current 6.5 percent? Do you know the total dollar amount?"
"Representative, I'm a downstate Legislator. I have very close relationships and ties with my local mayors, my local park districts. I believe many of other Members in here, rather they live in suburban communities, downstate communities, rural communities, urban communities, also have those same relationships. And frankly, we haven't heard that from any of our units of local government. We have not heard that complaint."
"Well, I'll tell you what… I'm sorry, Mrs. Representative, do you know that I'm a mayor?"
"Oh, you're a mayor and a State Representative?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
"So, trust me, you're hearing it from me then, that over $1 billion a year. And in this budget alone, this budget alone, our cities, mine included, all of ours, all of our cities have been shortchanged by 1.2 billion, with a b, 10300055.docx 12 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 billion dollars this year in this budget. So, can you share with me your understanding of what this $1.2 billion shortfall, do you know what our communities use this money for? Can you share that with me, please?"
"I cannot share what your community uses this money for."
"Just in general, all communities."
"But I know that… but I know the community that I live in is very pleased with the increase that they'll be receiving in LGDF. My mayors called me personally today to thank us for the work that we're doing down here."
"Interesting. Interesting. So, basically, just about every community, they will be shortchanged for their fire, their public safety, their streets, their sidewalks, public health, and utilities. That is what that 1.2 billion is not going towards. And I think all of us would agree, this is not a political issue and we should not make it… make one of it. However, I'm pretty confident just about everyone in this chamber would agree that getting back to that 10 percent in the coming years, I think everyone would be in agreement for us to take that path. And unfortunately, we're not doing that with this budget this year. So, my… my question to you is, do you think your side of the aisle supports increasing LGDF to 10 percent?"
"I'm going to read you a quote. Don't take my… don't take my word for it. Take the words of the Illinois Municipal League, representing cities, villages, and towns in your district. 'We are pleased that the General Assembly recognizes the importance of LGDF to Illinois communities and 10300055.docx 13 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 has chosen to increase LGDF from a rate of 6.16 percent to 6.4 percent.'"
"Okay. Representative, I was just given this. So, you said your Representatives are pleased with the LGDF?"
"I said mayors."
"Mayors, okay. Your mayors represent your residents, but… Peoria Unit School District 150 is going to lose $6 million. Peoria City is going to lose $3.7 million. Peoria County is going to lose $2.2 million. And you're saying that those representatives are satisfied with this budget and this LGDF allotment and this $700 million reduction in PPRT?"
"Representative, the individual that represents the superintendent for Peoria Public Schools, her name is Dr. Sharon Kherat. She's extremely pleased with this budget. She called last night to say so. The mayor of the City of Peoria, Dr. Rita Ali, texted about two hours ago to say, 'Go get 'em. You guys are doing a great job down there. Thank you so much.' Peoria County, who was represented… who was governed by their city manager, Scott Sorrel, called a day and a half ago when this budget was released, because we were doing this in a much more transparent way than we have in the last few years, which is why people have had the opportunity to take the time to see what's actually in this budget, called and said, 'Wow. You guys have really turned it around down there in the last couple of years.' So, the things that you speak of is not what I'm hearing."
"So, Representative, I… I find that somewhat very different from several weeks ago. In fact, in our city and villages we had over a hundred mayors and leaders from across 10300055.docx 14 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 this state. There was over a hundred elected officials, and they are 100 percent behind fully funding LDGF. There are Bills sponsored by Representative DeLuca and backed by mayors across this state. However, these Bills were never brought to this General Assembly floor. In fact, the only time it's ever been mentioned here was a request by Mayor Johnson. So, can you please explain to me why this unanimous support, outside of obviously the people that are in your district that support this, why were these Bills never brought out of committee or discussed on this floor?"
"Representative, we're having a conversation right now."
"Okay, to the Bill."
"To the Bill."
"As a local mayor and a former CFO executive responsible for budgets of billion-dollar companies, seeing firsthand for the first time the process, how this 50 billion state… 50 million… $50 billion state budget has been prepared, communicated, and discussed, or lack thereof, has been, frankly, enlightening and some would say frightening. LGDF is a rare issue, especially here. One that is supposedly supported by everyone in this chamber and by all mayors across this state. By not raising funding to its full amount, let alone creating a net $600 million reduction to local municipalities, this is frankly catastrophic. It is a slap in the face to one of our… to every one of our elected municipal leaders and, more importantly, to every one of our residents. Unfortunately, our constituents will never know. Dropping this budget with less than 24 hour… less than 24 hours ago 10300055.docx 15 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 with absolutely zero discussion on the amount of LGDF funding, it's just plain wrong, and it's plain wrong on many levels."
"Chair recognizes Representative McLaughlin."
"Thank you, Madam Speaker. To the Bill."
"To the Bill."
"After reviewing the budget and the BIMP, the conclusion that I've come to, which is very clear… and for the Representative, I also was a mayor for eight years, just so you understand I'm speaking from experience as it relates to LGDF. There's more hiding, shifting, obfuscation of stuff, I'll call it in this Bill, that would make a three-card monte dealer blush. For the younger Representatives, it's an unfair game that can't be won. That's what three-card monte dealing is. For the Representative, of course they're thankful. They're thankful for the scraps from the table that we're providing to them instead of giving them and making them whole, the mayors. Where's the help for these municipalities? Those dollars go to public safety retirees, the people that I hear from the other side they care about so much. Well, 6.16 to 6.4 is not going to make a difference, while billions… and just in my three years here have been increased to the budget… billions with a b, but not to our local communities. With the Governor's flowery forecast and declaration, I'm going to quote him, 'of our improving fiscal fortunes,' I can still hear it ringing in my ears in February, why is now not the time to go to 10 percent? Will it be a year and a half from now when we're behind by a billion and a half on our budget? Of course, it won't be. Mayors and village presidents can't take us seriously in this Body. They come to each of 10300055.docx 16 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 you, as I did 10 years ago, look you in the eye and ask you for help. And you all say we're working on it. What are you working on? You control 70 percent of this Body. You have the Governor's Office. You look at them and you say, yep, we're going to help you out. And then tonight, 6.4 percent. Once again, we let these people down. But who we really let down are who they represent, taxpayers and businesses in this state that have had enough. Not returning that reimbursement to 10 percent, as defined by prior state agreements, is what's causing significant strife to our local communities and making them and their taxpayers have higher burdens. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle claim a balanced budget. You congratulate each other, you pat yourselves on the back, all the while deferring significant cost in pensions and not recognizing the billions for noncitizens. We can't afford to finance the world's populations, although so many of us would like to, who want to come to Illinois. Don't take my word for it. Ask Mayor Lightfoot and Mayor Johnson. Eventually, this Body will run out of spending other people's monies. Unfortunately, sooner rather than later. Further, a budget can't identify as balanced when it isn't. For that reason, I cannot support this Bill in its current form. And I have to apologize to the many mayors and village presidents and trustees who came here. You looked them in the eye, you told them you'd help them, and you didn't. To those elected leaders that come here to this Body with your hat in hand, as I had to 10 years ago, you certainly deserve better. And for that reason, I can't support this. Thank you, Madam Speaker."
"Chair recognizes Representative Ammons." 10300055.docx 17 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023
"Thank you, Madam Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield for a couple of very brief questions?"
"She indicates she will."
"Thank you. First and foremost, Leader, thank you for all the work, time, dedication, and meetings that you have had to put this budget together. I just want to clarify a couple points that my colleagues made on this side of the aisle. Does this budget give money to local community-based organizations in these local communities?"
"Yes, Leader, it does."
"Does this budget fund higher education institutions in those same communities."
"Yes… the actual budget Bill? Yes, Leader, it does."
"Yes. And the LDGF question, are we trying to close the gap that was started certainly under a previous administration where we literally almost went over the fiscal cliff? Is that your intention with the increase you've included in the LGDF?"
"Leader, any Member of this Body that votes 'yes' on this Bill will have the ability to go home and tell their mayors, managers, towns, and villages that they voted in this year to not double, not triple, but quadruple the amount of LGDF funding given to their local communities over last year."
"Is it your belief that the additional resources that you just mentioned will provide fiscal stability and support for local governments?"
"Without question."
"Thank you for all of your work. And thank you to all of our staff for their support on these efforts. To the Bill." 10300055.docx 18 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023
"To the Bill."
"This… not only does the budget and the BIMP provide support throughout the State of Illinois, once the people awaken in the later hours of this morning and get an opportunity to look at all of the community-based support that is in this budget, that will go to local governments, that are in there for school districts, for pensions, for police, for training, all of those dollars are to local governments. I served on city council. And although we didn't get 10 percent… which I don't believe is constitutionally guaranteed. I don't know where it came from. But the reality is that every single piece of resources in this budget, from special water projects, to the bridges, to the capital developments in everyone's district, all of those are to help city councils, mayors, townships, villages throughout the State of Illinois. So, to suggest that this budget, because we didn't increase it to 10 percent, is not supportive of local government is a fallacy of the greatest proportion. And we stand absolutely not only with our Leader and our Speaker who worked diligently to do this budget, but every single community, every road project, every long line that we stay in on 64 or 72. All of these are to help local government. I urge a very loud and hopefully quickly 'yes' vote. Thank you, Madam Speaker."
"Chair recognizes Leader Marron."
"Thank you, Madam Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"She indicates she will."
"Just briefly, I wouldn't make mention that Champaign Unit 4 School District is losing $1.5 million in PPRT funding, 10300055.docx 19 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 to the prior speaker. But I was happy to see, Leader Gordon- Booth, that a shared priority of both sides of the aisle made it in to this Bill, and that is a reduction in the Franchise Tax. So, my question is, in subsequent years, is it your intention to continue with the phaseout and gradual elimination of the Franchise Tax?"
"We'll continue to address this year over year. Obviously, we… we reconvene each year in this Body to address issues that are important to the people of the State of Illinois. This is a path that we are taking in order to create more economic development opportunities. And so, we hope to be able to work in partnership, both sides of the aisle coming to table… coming to the table around issues like this."
"Well, I appreciate the fact that you're willing to at least look at it in future years. But one thing that makes me a little nervous, that in this Bill we are actually removing language in state statute that talks about the gradual phaseout and elimination of the Franchise Tax. So, is there a particular reason why that language would be eliminated?"
"We… as stated earlier, we believe that this Body will continue to convene and address issues of this matter. We believe that, as stated before in debate, that this Body and the… what this Body is allowed to do relative to the oversight that is needed is something that we intend to do with this program and many others."
"To the Bill."
"To the Bill."
"One thing that makes me very nervous is the fact that this language is being removed, and this is an important issue 10300055.docx 20 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 to me. See, back in 2019, I carried the Bill to eliminate the Franchise Tax. And that idea was included by the Governor in the deal that got Republican votes on the budget and the capital Bill that year. I know because I was one of them that put a vote on that deal. That was a promise. The gradual phaseout and elimination of the Franchise Tax was a promise made by the Governor and the Legislative Leaders at that time. And that promise was not followed through on. After the failure of the Constitutional Amendment for a progressive income tax, the Governor went back on his word and that was never followed through on. So, I don't know how anybody can put a 'yes' vote on this deal until the Governor proves that he can make his word good and stand by the things that he promised on this… this issue and other issues. Vote 'no'."
"Chair recognizes Representative Cabello."
"Thank you, Madam Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"She indicates she will."
"Morning, Gordon Leader Booth… or Leader Gordon-Booth, there we go. It's a little early this morning. I appreciate all the hard work that you've done. I know you've been working very, very difficult and hard. I will make sure and only ask you two questions that I asked in committee. The Fiscal Year '24 BIMP allows the Governor to transfer 1.5 billion… 1.5 billion from the GRF into the State CURE Fund, while also expanding the use of the State CURE Fund to include non- COVID-related costs. What is the plan with this transfer and these changes?"
"It will go to cash fund, existing Build Illinois appropriations. One, first out base is… so, there is not a 10300055.docx 21 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 specific list of projects. Illinois receives six significant state and local fiscal recovery funds under Section 9901 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for the COVID-19 response and recovery. The federal revenues were deposited in July of 2021 into the State CURE Fund and have been governed specifically for federal guidance as to how the money can be used for the COVID-19 response and recovery."
"Thank you very much for that answer. The second question is, the Fiscal Year '24 BIMP allows the Governor to transfer 424 million from the GRF to the Build Illinois Bond Fund, presumably for capital projects. Can you explain why this transfer is necessary, and if it is made, what specific projects will be funded?"
"To my knowledge, those projects have not been decided upon. Those decisions will be made by leadership."
"Thank you for getting back to me. I appreciate it immensely."
"Thank you."
"To the Bill."
"To the Bill."
"The Fiscal '24 budget, according to testimony in committee and in the Senate, has about 100 million surplus. In what world do we live in that we think we are going to have the available surplus funds to shift GRF into the State CURE Fund or the Build Illinois Bond Fund? We aren't even going to be able to afford the GRF lines in this budget. Never mind the transfer of GRF into the funds so they can hide the cost of this spending plan. This budget ignored the AFSCME contract and ignored the growth in Medicaid cost in this 10300055.docx 22 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 budget, using budget savings straight out of fantasy land, where we are pretending that this Governor is going to magically save the day by breaking the very health care promises that have been made over the past few years and signed into law. We can continue to put our heads into the sand and pretend like this budget isn't a problem or isn't setting the table for a tax increase, possibly another huge tax increase. But our side of the aisle is wide awake. And we will continue to hold the Majority Party accountable, for that is our job. The public must understand that the promises made by your party in this budget will continue to be broken until you can tell each other no. We know that that side of the aisle can say no, 'cause I've tried to pass a few Bills and they weren't called. They would've said no. We were told that this Speaker… or by this Speaker that this would be a gimmick-free budget. All that we can see are gimmicks. And everyone slated to receive funds under the budget better be prepared to see their projects on the chopping block because the only other option to fund this spending plan is that huge tax increase on the residents of the State of Illinois amidst a recession."
"Chair recognizes Leader McCombie."
"Thank you, Speaker. Couple questions for the Leader."
"Proceed."
"Thank you. Just for… just a follow up with this PPRT and the LGDF. Also, once a previous mayor. With this going from the 6.16 to the 6.47, you mentioned to a previous speaker that everybody's going to receive not double, but three times and four times as much. I wish that's how it worked. But with 10300055.docx 23 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 the rate going from 6.16 to 6.47, that's how the individual communities will be reflected on that change. But just for a few of the other speakers, with the PPRT slide, Winnebago County will see a loss of $2.6 million. One of my older areas, also now a new Representative in the House, Moline Unit Township… or Unit School 40 will lose 2.5. Rock Island Unit School 41 will lose almost 2.5. Previous speaker Marron, Leader Marron is in Danville, is going to be losing at his school district 1.8 million. The Speaker at Proviso Township, his school will be losing 1.8. Danville City be losing 900 thousand. So, this… this really is going to affect a lot of our communities. So, now to the question. The Smart… the Smart Start Illinois program is a program that I believe everybody in this chamber can support. It's a 250 million to fund the first year. Do we have an estimated value of what the second, third, and continuing years will be?"
"So, the… the goal of the program is to create capacity in an equitable way. And we know all communities don't have the same capacity, all communities don't have the same infrastructure. So, the goal would be to be able to increase capacity not only in facilities or buildings, but also to create, through the Smart Start initiative, to create home-based capacity as well. And so, the objective is to come back and revisit this year over year to identify the best path that is creating the most… the most equitable opportunities to be able to get many of our babies into opportunities to be able to receive a quality early childhood education." 10300055.docx 24 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023
"Right. But what is the estimate for the funding for the second year and the third year? And the reason I ask…"
"The objective is to come back and revisit it year over year."
"So, we have no idea?"
"The objective is to come back and revisit it year over year."
"Okay. Well, this is… this is where I'm a little concerned and also expressed my concern with the Governor. Like the program, want the program. Regardless of where you are in this state, we certainly have day care issues. It doesn't matter, every corner has issues. My… my question is, is how is it going to be sustainable? So, there's nothing worse than starting a new program and then having it not be sustainable. And I have to look at the Evidence-Based Funding model when we're talking about sustainable funding. So, every year… oh, well, this was started in 2017, and it was supposed to be… schools were supposed to be fully funded after 10 years. So, the program should be right around the corner to end in 2027. However, in one year, in FY21, we didn't… we didn't spend that extra $350 million. Now, we're looking at that we will never fully fund our schools because of the inflationary cost. So, that's where I'm concerned, is whether or not this program, as good as it is, is it going to be sustainable? It's subject to appropriations. So, is this going to be something that is just going to be pulled under the rug of everybody? Or… or what is the intent of the program overall?" 10300055.docx 25 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023
"So, first, we want to put the rug down, and we want to give everybody an opportunity to sit on it. Clearly, the goal for us isn't to create things and then take them away from people. We don't believe in that, right? We want to do things in a sustainable… in a sustainable way. Many of the conversations that have been had in this debate relative to the issue of LGDF, the question was why did we immediately go from 6.1 percent to 10 percent. We didn't do that because we didn't believe that was sustainable. And so, we were moving forward in the incremental manner, in a manner in which we believe that we will be able to sustain over an extended period of time. Our goal is no different with this program. We believe that in order for Illinois to be in its… to have the strongest opportunity to be able to move forward in the 21st century, we need to be making these really important investments in our young people, in our babies, and that is the direction that we are taking. And we hope that you will come along with us and invest in our babies having a strong future. Because the data shows us if we make those early childhood education investments on the front end, it saves us millions, if not billions, of dollars on the back end."
"And I… and I don't disagree. Is there a sunset in this program?"
"There is not."
"Okay. Well, I'm glad to hear your support and… for our youth and our babies and our young people and their education because there is a shared priority of folks on your side of the aisle, as well as mine, with the Invest in Kids. And that's not in the budget either. So, thank you." 10300055.docx 26 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023
"Thank you."
"Leader Davidsmeyer."
"Thank you, Madam Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"She will."
"I have a couple quick questions. And… so, my… my specific concern is for hospitals. And we kind of mentioned this a little bit in… in committee. But you know, we're looking at a 10 percent increase in the Medicaid reimbursement rate. Is that correct?"
"Yes. Hospitals are getting a 10 percent bump."
"And… and you know, the… when we talk about sustainability, I think I look at the Medicaid system and I say, look, we keep shoving more and more people into the Medicaid system, which is a system that, historically in the State of Illinois, has underfunded Medicaid. So, I appreciate that we're making a step in the right direction. But the reality on this is if we don't get to a point where we're making hospitals whole, as opposed to underfunding that portion of health care, which is a… a huge portion of health care in the State of Illinois, they're going to be coming back next year. I know this is something that you've said on other issues, we're going to review that on a year-by-year basis or whatever it is, and I'm not being facetious. My… my concern is, next year, are we going to be looking at getting them to the 20 percent that they… that they really need to make sure that… that their hospitals aren't just hemorrhaging dollars?"
"Leader Davidsmeyer, that's not what the hospitals requested. We worked very closely with the hospital system. 10300055.docx 27 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 As you may well know, I live in a community in downstate Illinois where hospitals are the number one employer in the entire region. So, having a strong hospital system is not only important for folks living in downstate Illinois, but rural Illinois, all of Illinois, quite frankly. And again, don't take my word for it, but the Illinois Hospital Association filed a witness slip to be a strong proponent towards the investments that we're making in the Illinois hospital system."
"I… I understand this. And I'm not… I'm not trying to rude and interrupt. I'm just trying to make sure we keep moving along. The… I believe even Capitol Fax reported that they're requesting a 20 percent increase. The reason why people slip as proponents is because they're getting something rather than getting cut or getting nothing. The reality is that we're going to have to continue to invest in this to the… to get closer to that 20 percent. The other reality is, we are not increasing that Medicaid reimbursement rate until January 1. So, essentially, for this coming year we are only giving them a five percent increase because it's starting halfway through the year. So, in order to get to that 20 percent, it's going to take at least 4 years. So, we're saying that hospitals are going to be hemorrhaging dollars for the next four years. I… I represent hospitals the same way you do. The city of… my wife's a nurse. We see it and we hear about it from all of hospital administrations… or administrators from throughout the State of Illinois. I… I really have a hard time believing that hospitals in your district are doing so much better than mine at… at that small 10300055.docx 28 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 five percent increase. So, I… I really think that this is a little bit disingenuous by pushing this off to January 1, calling it a 10 percent increase when it's really just a 5 percent increase on the year. It's really going to push that additional burden into… into future years. Fiscal Year '25 is going to be that much more difficult. I… I really hope that the economy does better. But I… I think that we can… we can do better by actually solving problems and not just kicking the can. Thank you."
"Leader Gordon-Booth to close."
"House Bill 3817 that is before you this evening is critical to not just those that represent Democrat districts… Democratic districts. It's critical to those that are elected in Republican districts. The reality is, is that if we look at the investments that we're making throughout the entire State of Illinois, what you will see is that these investments aren't Democrat or Republican. These investments are the investments that have been asked for by our mayors, by our managers, by our towns, by our villages, which is why the Illinois Municipal League is a proponent to what we are doing here tonight. The hospital systems across the State of Illinois have come down here. Many of you spoke about the meetings. There have been a lot of them. I had been in all of them. And I can tell you that nobody gets everything that they want. Nobody. But everybody, if we work together, can go home with wins, Ladies and Gentlemen. What you see here in front of you is the result of compromise. It's the result of working together. It's the result of identifying a path forward to be able to invest in our communities, to invest in 10300055.docx 29 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 our districts, to invest in the people and the towns and villages that are doing the work every day while we're down here shouldering that work by sending resources back home. These investments that we should be proud to make back in our districts, these are investments that, starting July 1 when that fiscal year starts, are going to be felt throughout all of our communities. So, whether you vote 'no' or your vote 'yes', your community will still be invested in. My hope and my prayer for you is that you will understand that incremental change, incremental growth that's actually sustainable is far greater than identifying a pathway that I don't know if some of the folks that even spoke to those issues plan to take that walk. So, what I would say to you is this. Is that if the goal today is to not pull the rug out from underneath people, vote 'aye'. If the goal today is to invest in your cities, to invest in your towns, to invest in your park districts, to invest in your hospitals, to invest in critical access care, vote 'aye'. I ask for an 'aye' vote."
"The question is, 'Shall the House concur with Senate Amendments 1 and 3 to House Bill 3817?' This is final action. All those in favor signify by voting 'aye'; opposed vote 'nay'. Voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Benton. Andrade. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 73 voting 'aye', 38 voting 'nay', 0 voting 'present'. The House does concur with Senate Amendments 1 and 3 to House Bill 3817. And the Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Leader Hoffman in the Chair." 10300055.docx 30 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023
"On Supplemental Calendar #1, Senate Bill 250, Leader Gordon-Booth. Please read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"Senate Bill 250, a Bill for an Act concerning appropriations. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."
"Leader Gordon-Booth."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, it is my privilege to present for your consideration this morning the Fiscal Year 2022… excuse me, woah. COVID did that… the Fiscal Year 2024 state appropriations Bill. Please allow me to begin my remarks with extreme gratitude. This has been a labor of love, but probably more labor than love. But certainly a deep appreciation for every single community throughout this entire state. I've always tried to fancy myself as someone who likes to go outside the box and visit other places and go to other folks' community. But really when you have an ability to engage in this process in this manner, you really identify the things that folks care about. Oftentimes, the Speaker talks about knowing your why. You find out people's why. And when you're able to identify somebody's why, it helps you to understand why we leave our families and come down here each and every week during that Legislative Session to be able to accomplish goals on behalf of our communities. The measure we are considering tonight is not, I want to be crystal clear, it is not the result of one person's labors or some small group. In the most immediate sense, it is the work of the elected Members of this Body. It is the work of the legislative staff. It is also… it bears witness to the hopes and the dreams of many of our constituents that we engage with when we go back 10300055.docx 31 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 to our districts. And we bring their stories, we bring their heartache, we bring their pain, we bring their sacrifice to this place with us and we carry it. We carry it in our hearts. We carry it on backs. We carry it on our shoulders. And it's the reason why we work so hard to be able to make an impact on those that we know, those that we love, and those that we may never meet. But we still carry them with us. All of them have contributed in ways. And whether you vote 'aye' or 'nay' on this legislation, we want you to know that, no matter what, we still see everyone in this state as worthy of the investments that Senate Bill 250 will bring forth throughout the entire State of Illinois. If I could take a moment, I would most especially, most especially like to thank the House chairpersons for our five appropriation silos. I'd like to start with none other than Chairwoman Camille Lilly to my right, who chairs House and Human Service-Appropriations. I'd like to thank Chairman Crespo, who chairs the General Services Committee. I'd like to thank Chairwoman Mayfield, who chairs the Public Safety-Appropriations Committee. I'd like to thank Chairman La Shawn Ford, who chairs the Higher Education- Appropriation Committee. And I'd also like to take a quick moment of silence for Chairman Will Davis. We're taking… we just took that moment for Chairman Davis because those of us that know and love our brother, Chairman Davis, if he was here, he'd be standing right down there. And at certain points when the engagement would go back and forth, the mic would be off, but he'd be yelling to the other side of the aisle about some issue that he's so incredibly passionate about. And I'm so proud of the investments that we're going to make in the 10300055.docx 32 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 Evidence-Based Funding formula that is the result of his hard work for literally 10 years. And so, in his stead, Vice- Chairman Leader Aaron Ortiz stepped in and filled in the gap and ensured that the work of the K-12 Appropriations Committee did not miss a beat. And so, these individuals put forth a lot of work in their chairman and chairwoman capacity, and I think it's important that we acknowledge that work. And before we move on to talk about staff for a second, I'd also like to take a moment to acknowledge and show love to our brother, Representative Thaddeus Jones, who, too, would be here tonight if it were not for the accident that he was involved in. And so, let's please continue to keep both of these Gentlemen in our prayers and keep them lifted up. Because oftentimes we come down here, we do these jobs on behalf of our communities, away from our families, and the toll is… the toll that it can take on our bodies is real. And we have to be steadfast about ensuring that, regardless of the politics, regardless of party, that we're keeping each other lifted up in prayer. We could not do this job without our staff. And those behind me, Kelly, who is the lead for our elementary K- 12 system. Thank you for all your work. Jason, who was the lead for Higher Education. Thank you for all your work, Jason. Taylor Howard, P Town, lead for our Health Care and Human Services. Thank you for all your hard work. Victor, who leads Public Safety. Thank you so much for all of your work, Victor. He has fans. Brady, who leads… who was the lead on General Services. Thank you so much, Brady, for all of your work. Sean McConnell, revenue extraordinaire, thank you so much for your work. Logan, Luke, Gabby, thank you for all the work 10300055.docx 33 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 that you do to support all of the Members of this Body to be able to express what we are expressing tonight through Senate Bill 250. And none other than Mark Jarmer, budget director like no other. I want to take… I wanted to take a moment… before we get into what we're about to get into, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge them. And I'd also like to… also acknowledge the entire Republican legislative staff because we could not do these jobs without our staffers. They are oftentimes here in this building before us, and they're here when we leave. And so, I just wanted to love on them for a moment, give them their flowers before we get into what we're about to get into. So, again, thank you all so much for your work. Great things are also in order to our new Majority Leader Robyn Gabel. My partner in helping to refine, reform, and strengthen the largest area of state expenditures, health care. Leader Gabel, her legislative colleagues and staff on the Medicaid work group, once again, Taylor Howard, throughout this Session put in a lot of early hours at 7 a.m. on those Thursday mornings. Many of you all were a part of that. Thank you so very much. We want to be sure that we are acknowledging all the folks. And so, I see a few other folks back there in the back. I want to ensure that we're acknowledging John and Sophia, Ben and Sudura because it is their work that allows us to be able to continue to move forward. We certainly can't forget the hot topic of the day, none other than Capital, which is led by my good girlfriend over here in pink, Miss Caitlin. While we are very blessed to be able to have a diverse Body that we all are able to represent, that diversity, it can be difficult. Because it 10300055.docx 34 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 isn't easy to come together when we have a diverse Body, but it certainly becomes the strength that moves us forward. And so, I want to thank the Members, those that belong to subcaucuses, those that don't belong to subcaucuses. I want to thank all of you because it is the work, it is the legislation that many of you have brought forward that has allowed us to be able to put together Senate Bill 250 that we will discuss this morning. It's also necessary to acknowledge our legislative partners across the rotunda who are there in spirit, but not literally because that Senate chamber is being renovated. We know that their contributions are also immeasurable to getting us to a place of being able to have a Fiscal Year '24 budget. And finally, I would like to thank Speaker Chris Welch for entrusting me with this awesome responsibility of leading the budget effort in the House of Representatives. While we pass many, many important Bills every spring, none of them are more important than those that enact a budget that literally touches every single person in the entire State of Illinois. It was certainly a humbling experience, and I learned a great deal. I found myself tested in many ways this year. Should I be so honored to be assigned this role in the future, I will be certain to apply the hard- won knowledge gained through this role and continue to hopefully work with all of you to try to craft an even better one. Because that, too, requires collaboration and listening. So, while we are concluding our spring Session today, the budget work will continue long after the Governor's ink is on that dotted line. So, now, let us briefly review some of the major provisions and priorities of the Fiscal Year 2024 10300055.docx 35 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 budget. The new state budget is balanced in every sense. Let me say that again. Fiscal Year '24 budget is balanced in every sense. We should not have to choose between being… from being a responsible state and being a compassionate one. We can do both. I dare say we have to do both. Our north star in this process has been passing a balanced budget. And that fiscal responsibility and that straightforward budget making guided all of the decisions that we have made. And it will continue to gird this state as we look through the lens, regardless of what comes our way. Whether it be national economic challenges, we have positioned ourselves in an incredibly strong way because we are continuing to rebuild the fiscal house of the State of Illinois for our future. Our Rainy Day Fund is stronger than it's been, literally, in decades. The additional $200 million in the Pension Stabilization Fund, on top of the $200 million that we put into that Pension Stabilization Fund last year, significantly reduces pension liabilities for all of our constituencies. The over $100 million that we're putting… the $180 million that we're putting into the Rainy Day Fund, Ladies and Gentlemen, 5 years ago that was unheard of. And now, here we are, hopefully on the precipice of not seven… we're at eight, but we're looking for that ninth credit upgrade. And the path that we are on with this balanced budget puts us in a strong position to get yet another credit upgrade. A stronger state enables us to get the work done of building a smart, compassionate state that we all want to live in, that we all want to be able to pass on to our children. And by going line by line through the budget and prioritizing our spending, we have been able 10300055.docx 36 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 to commit to services that expand opportunity, that creates a brighter future for all of our families, all of our children living in all of our neighborhoods. That's why it was so important that investing in safer communities be a priority in this budget. We are making Illinois safer by investing hundreds of millions of dollars to fund community-based violence prevention all over the State of Illinois and ensuring that those community-based providers have strong, quality after-school programs for our children. Youth summer jobs and enriching opportunities that broads the horizons of our children and show them not just who they could be, but who they should be. We are giving police the resources that they need to keep our communities safe with over $100 million in investments and training and resources to our first responders. Some of those resources look like having the ability to invest $13 million in law enforcement training, $33.6 million in law enforcement in camera grants, $5 million to law enforcement training retention programs. These are just some of the things that we're doing to ensure that law enforcement has the supports that they need in all of our communities all over the State of Illinois. We are getting police and prosecutors the financial support they need to implement the hard-fought criminal justice reforms right here in this… well, it wasn't in this chamber. It was at the BOS… but through this Body. Again, the work of the Health Care & Human Service-Appropriations Committee, along with the Medicaid work group, has done… has done a yeoman's job in terms of improving health care access for every Illinoisan. We are improving access to quality, affordable health care in 10300055.docx 37 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 underserved communities, rather that be rural Illinois or urban Illinois. We are increasing critical access all over the entire State of Illinois. We're committed to additional critical funding for safety net health providers in at-risk communities because we know that those critical access providers are oftentimes the only folks who can stand in the gap and be able to provide the health care needed in many of those communities. We are modernizing reimbursement rates for caregivers and for ambulance services in small towns to help keep providers in those often underserved areas. I stated it before. I stated it… I'll state it again. I live in downstate Illinois, and I know how important ambulance rates are. Those increases in those ambulance rates are in downstate communities, in particular those small towns. The investments that we're making in those budgets puts small towns across the entire State of Illinois in a position to be able… to be able to hire the EMTs that are needed, to be able to have a competitive wage so that an individual doesn't have to choose working at Chick-fil-A over working as an EMT. In my local community, the… the ambulance provider made it very clear that it wasn't just that community but literally across the state. And we heard that at 7 a.m. seven Fridays… seven Thursdays ago about how important this was. We're strengthening our commitments to behavioral health, mental health, and addiction treatment through the rate increases for community-based health. We know how important it is for colleges and universities to get that additional mental health support through the university mental health program. We know how important it is for those rate increases, for 10300055.docx 38 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 addiction services, for those community-based programs. These are the kinds of things and the kinds of wholistic strategies that we have to begin to take very seriously if we want to be able to combat many of the crises, rather it be addiction of alcohol, opioids, methamphetamines, et cetera. The strategies that we have to take with the knowledge that we have and the data that we have been able to compound requires us to have a much more forward outlook on how it is we build better and stronger communities by repairing the broken individuals in our community that, if we are able to wrap our arms around them, they can go back to their families and back to their communities and be the strong individuals that we know that they can be. We're actually building a true cradle to career path for all of our young people with the historic investments in education at all levels. So, whether we are talking about the Smart Start initiative that we have discussed significantly earlier; whether we are talking about the additional $350 million in the Evidence-Based Funding formula that will go to all of our K-12 students; whether we are talking about the $100 million in additional map funding that will go to every college, every… every university, every community college in this state that will create an opportunity so that when a middle-class child decides that they want to go to school… because you all know like I know, that if you have two working parents and you fill out that FAFSA form, oftentimes that child doesn't get any support. But because of the investments that we are making in this budget, we are putting a lot of middle-class families in a position where they're actually going to be able to begin 10300055.docx 39 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 their collegiate experience without the overburden debt of student loans. We're also investing an additional $100 million so those of you that live in communities that have universities, every one of those universities stands to benefit significantly from that $100 million investment in the operations of that university. Not to mention, the workforce training that is happening in many of these community colleges. Opportunities like the Workforce Equity Initiative, which is now a national leader in pulling people out of poverty and putting them in head-of-household jobs that is literally changing the lives of not just that individual, but the entire family. These are the kinds of investments that we're making cradle to career for every Illinoisan. These are the kinds of opportunities that we can go home and talk about to our constituents if we vote 'aye' on this legislation. Again, as we continue to ensure that every student has an access to a world-class education with the $350 million investment, I think it would be… I would be remised if I did not acknowledge the fact that, over the last four years, we've also committed 1.3 billion, let me say that again, $1.3 billion in new funding for classroom education. This isn't little money, Ladies and Gentlemen. The reason why we have the ability to continuously make those kinds of strategic investments is because we are doing it in a sustainable way. We're coming back year over year. We're looking at our resources. We're making the tough decisions. We're making the tough calls. We're making decisions about the resources that we have and the ones that we don't. We would love, we would absolutely love to be able to give even 10300055.docx 40 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 more. But what we know is we want to ensure that we're not pulling the rug out from anybody. We want to be able to go home year over year and be able to go home and tell our communities that they can rely on us for consistency, for reliability. I don't know about you, but I know I served on a school board. And really more than anything, what you wanted was you wanted the consistency and the predictability about what was going to come out of Springfield. And Ladies and Gentlemen, we're doing it, year over year. As we're looking to make the investments in middle-class families that many have talked about for so long, we also think that it's important to talk about the AIM HIGH program that we're investing in that creates greater opportunities for more of our young people to be able to get access to quality higher education opportunities right here in the State of Illinois by increasing the eligibility from six times to eight times the poverty limit. And that gives a significant amount of Illinoisans the opportunity to be able to access a quality education. Some of the other highlights in this budget. We talked about in the BIMP, but I'm going to talk about it again because I think it's significant enough and many of you are going to go home and talk to your mayors about it. But in case anybody missed the conversation before, the additional $112 million investment that the Illinois Municipal League said was moving us in a great direction is something that I think that we should all be proud of when we go back home to our communities. I think that the direct service provider rate increase, those that work with our most vulnerable, is something that we can be proud to go home and talk about. 10300055.docx 41 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 Because these are the individuals that, frankly, if it was about the money, they could go do something else, but their heart and their soul is with the individuals who they care for. And that love and that compassion keeps them in that line of work. So, being able to provide them an additional bump in their wages is something that I think that this Body should be incredibly, incredibly proud of, to be able to go home and tell your constituents that you're making the critical investments into people, quite frankly, that need it the most. We also think that it's important to talk about the fact that we have been able to bring law enforcement and community together around concepts called coresponder models that put police officers and social workers together to be able to address the needs in communities. Sometimes there is a police officer needed. Sometimes there's a social worker that's needed. That coresponder model that started in the FY23 budget, that will continue in the FY24 budget, is something that we are seeing in key cities around the State of Illinois that is bringing tremendous benefit to our communities by ensuring that we're bridging that gap between police and community that we all want to see. And again, we are seeing great benefits from that. I think that it's important to… I know that during… I spoke about the pandemic earlier. As a part of this budget, we are increasing funding to be able to ensure that the FOID card process moves to… the FOID card as well as the conceal and carry process moves more smoothly. That people are able to get that… people are able to get their FOID card and their conceal and carry card much quicker. We're investing in not one, but two cadet programs 10300055.docx 42 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 with the Illinois State Police. And I know that for many years, as a… as a family who has experienced a lot for sure, when you have a loved one who experiences great tragedy, it can bring great honor and a little bit of solace to that family to be able to put their loved one in a position to live on beyond their years on this earth. We are making an investment in Scott Law's awareness. I know that many of you on the other side of the aisle worked on that and talked about that, and we're making that investment in this budget. We also think that it's important that, as we are going home, many of those that live in our communities have to depend on home delivered meals, oftentimes called the Meals on Wheels programs. Those investments are seeing significant increases. The community care programs, the long-term care programs are programs that are seeing significant increases in this budget. Again, Ladies and Gentlemen, we are caring for the least of these in this budget. I want to say that again. We are caring for the least of these in this budget. When you think about why we're here, who we serve, why we serve them, look no further than those who cannot defend for themselves, those who could not hire people to stand on that rail and send cards in to talk to us, or to go to receptions, or to go to dinners. Those are the people who we have highlighted, who we have elevated, and who we have acknowledged in this budget. We hope that you will come on this journey with us and ensure that on July 1, when this budget… when this… when this fiscal year begins, we hope that you have the ability to go home and tell your communities that you were a part of these historic 10300055.docx 43 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 investments that were made in communities across the State of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I'm open for any questions."
"On this question, Leader Hammond."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"She indicates she'll yield."
"Leader Booth, earlier in committee you and I had a conversation where we talked a little bit about the walk down of this budget and the total for the revenues and the total for the expenditures. And I think at the end of that conversation we landed on about… according to your math, about $183 million cushion, if you will, in this budget. Would you agree with that?"
"My math or just math?"
"How about real math?"
"I didn't know there was another kind of math."
"Leader Booth, that was a question. Would you agree to that $183 million figure?"
"Leader, we didn't give a figure in committee."
"You didn't give a figure, but I can do math. I can… I can add, subtract, multiply, and divide, and when I do that, I get $183 million. If you're looking at your revenues and you're looking at your expenditures, and you subtract that, do you get $183 million cushion in this budget?"
"No, it's less than that."
"Okay. We'll go with less than that. So, we have about $317 million in a 6-month spending for Medicaid. We have increased pension costs. We have Smart Start. We have an AFSCME contract. We have costs for health care for undocumented. When Senator Sims presented the budget in the 10300055.docx 44 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 Senate, he did admit that there was a very real possibility that there would have to be a supplemental. Would you agree to that statement as well?"
"Supplementals are something that we often do around here. That could happen."
"That… your response is that could happen?"
"We typically… we often pass supplementals around here. So, yes, that absolutely could happen."
"I know we do. We passed a couple of them already this year. Going back to the PPRT and the $700 million cut, and you haven't heard anything from any of your communities, and… one of the reasons you probably haven't heard anything yet is those PPRT letters won't go out until August. So, the communities, the taxing bodies across the state, they don't even know what they won't be receiving this year until at least August. And maybe one of the reasons that your communities aren't concerned are because the City of Peoria, getting $3 million. This is over and above what other communities are getting. Village of Peoria Heights, $250 thousand. City of West Peoria, $250 thousand. And new spending is the Regional Office of Education 48, Peoria County, $5.5 million. By God, I would've called you and said thank you too. To the Bill, Mr. Speaker. The Sponsor talks about…"
"To the Bill."
"…a budget that includes priorities for Republicans and Democrats. I have no idea how the Sponsor could even begin to know what's important to the Republicans. As the chief Republican budgeteer, I was never invited to a meeting with Leader Booth. Never. I'm concerned with the lack of interest 10300055.docx 45 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 that our Democratic counterparts bring to this table. As a result, we have another partisan, one-sided budget. And from what we've seen and commented on so far, there are many reasons to be concerned for the future of our state and certainly our state's families. In our eyes, this isn't a budget that provides for the future of Illinois. There are numerous gimmicks, chief of which burying the true cost and timeline of the expanded health care for the undocumented migrants… immigrants, expansions in the Medicaid omnibus, and the lack of accounting for the AFSCME contract costs that will come due in '24. Ladies and Gentlemen, leaders lead by example. As the Illinois House Republicans, we are incredibly proud of our Leader Tony McCombie. Throughout this entire Session, she has been a fierce advocate for our shared, shared priorities, transparency, and to work together as Republicans and Democrats on the budget. Unfortunately, we were never invited to participate in the process that brough forth this budget. This is not what we had before us this evening. This is not a balanced budget. The revenues that are needed for this budget, they are not my money, it is not your money, it is not Republican money, it is not Democratic money. This money belongs to the taxpayers of the State of Illinois and they deserve better."
"Leader Meier."
"Will Sponsor yield?"
"She indicates she'll yield."
"The most vulnerable population in the state, those who have served development… those with severe developmental disabilities have to wait five to seven years to be on the 10300055.docx 46 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 PUNS list to get them support services they deserve. Part of the reason the wait list is so long is because we pay these workers peanuts. DHS commissioned the Guidehouse Study to get a path for us to follow the effort right… to right this wrong. The study is clear that a four dollar wage increase to DSPs in the bare minimum to give these workers a livable wage. I agree with you. Theirs is a labor of love. It's very dangerous for a lot of these workers. Many of them are injured taking care of people with disabilities when they're having their medical issues, protecting the other residents or keeping that resident from hurting themselves. This budget continues to ignore this population, giving them partly dollar fifty wage increase in Fiscal '24. You can't tell me you can't find the $60 million in a $50.5 billion budget to give these workers an increase and ensure that we are fostering an environment that leads to more people going into the profession, which will inevitably lower the wait on the PUNS list. When do you think our most vulnerable will receive the funds that they deserve as Illinois residents? Will it be next year or second half of this year's budget? But when will it be that we let them make an income that's a livable wage? Any idea?"
"We're making those investments in this budget. We hope that you will join us in voting 'aye' for them."
"I was on the Bill to get them to four dollars right away."
"Well, join us at…"
"But to vote on a budget that…"
"…join us at 250 and we'll walk to 4." 10300055.docx 47 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023
"It should be there right now. To vote on a budget that is a bunch of shining smoke… or smoking mirrors that truly isn’t balanced and it's not taking care of all of our Illinois residents is not a choice I'm going to make today. Thank you."
"Leader Gordon-Booth."
"For those who are new here, for those who are forgotten or deliberately ignoring the recent history that the Democratic Majorities in the House and Senate in 2020, 2021, 2022, and likely, based on the rhetoric today, 2023 as well, we have passed budgets that have resulted in historic funding in our Rainy Day Fund. We have funded the budgets that have brought not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven, but eight credit upgrades to this state. The backlog has been eliminated. And Ladies and Gentlemen, we took that walk alone. So, the reality is, if you want to talk about sustainability, take the walk with us. Don't create… if there is any smoke and mirrors, it's this design that it's either all or nothing. That if we don't do everything that everybody wants, then somehow we're doing nothing. You know that's a fallacy. You know that's not how this place works. Because the fact of the matter of it is, you know that the state can't afford that and still be compassionate and fiscally responsible. The reports based on the budget that was introduced multiple days ago is already getting positive signals across bond markets. So, what I would say to you… because I know you, Representative. I know that you care about the things that you espouse. What I would plead to you is take this walk with us. Invest in those people that you just talked about because I know that you care about them. 10300055.docx 48 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 And next year, let's come back and let's figure out how to do more. And let's do it together. Because what I know is that, although there's been a lot of talk about folks not working together, that's revisionist history because the chairmen and the chairwomen that I acknowledged at the beginning of this, I acknowledged them for a reason. I acknowledged them because they have put forth the work at the beginning of this process by bringing together Democrats and Republicans in a public- facing… in a public-facing fashion to be able to bring together the agencies, the advocates, folks from your community, mine, and everything in between to be able to speak to the issues of those respective silos. After those public- facing meetings, Democrats and Republicans then went privately to meet on these budgets. They went to look at each agency line by line. Democrats and Republicans. So, don't tell me there was no bipartisanship. If you decided you didn't want to take the walk, then don't take the walk. Like I told Representative… like I told the Leader before on April 21 of 2023, in a 42-minute phone call, when she made it clear that at the beginning of the year maybe they would put… you might put some votes on the budget, but at that point in time, probably wasn't going to happen. And what did I respond? I said, you do what you have to do and I'm going to do what I have to do. And we'll still be girlfriends and (unintelligible) after it."
"Leader Davidsmeyer."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"She indicates she'll yield." 10300055.docx 49 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023
"So, in… in committee I asked a number of questions. And I want to start by thanking you for getting me some answers to those questions, as well as an agreement that we had on how… how the bonding and capital funding came through. So, I… I appreciate you providing that… that note and that information and your staff helping out of that as well. The one thing I want to thank you that we agreed on was those 2019 projects that happened from the original capital Bill, we agreed that we should all fulfill our… our agreements, right? Stuff that we negotiated to, and we should continue to work together so that we can have that trust so we can move forward. And so, I do appreciate that. I have a… I have a question, and I'll probably come back to a little bit of the bonding, but I have a question on the Medicaid information for… I want to get a little bit of information, it… this may be a little bit BIMP related, but also budget related. So, we're giving the Governor emergency powers basically to cut $550 million from… from Medicaid? The health care… or free health care for illegal immigrants? Is that… no?"
"I see… I see where you're going. I would just characterize it in a different way."
"Okay."
"I would merely say that we are giving the Governor the ability to put pricing controls specific to this program. We are giving HFS the ability to control the cost of the program."
"To put spending limits. So, 550 million is half of that program. So, it was supposed to be $1.1 billion. So, 10300055.docx 50 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 you're going to give the Governor the emergency powers to cut $550 million from that program?"
"So, I wouldn't characterize it as…"
"And… and maybe… so…"
"…we're giving the Governor the ability to cut $550 million."
"…it may be efficiencies…"
"What I would dare say is the aggregate savings could certainly be around that amount. But what the Governor, I believe from the meetings that I've been in, it looks like what he is going to have the capacity to do is to be able to create some cost-containing measures, all the while attracting hundreds of millions of dollars of federal reimbursement that HFS had not been getting from the Federal Government that they now know are available that they're going to be pulling down. So, I wouldn't say that it's $150 million cut across the board, but the cost containment strategy would be a number of different levers that HFS will engage in. And I don't want to go too detailed because I don't work for HFS, but that's the way that it's been portrayed to me. So, I just wanted us to be on the same page."
"So… so, they believe that the Federal Government is going to provide some sort of match. Is that what you're saying?"
"They are… so, for example, they are matching… they are matching dollars specific to emergency department visits to the tune of like 130, 160 million dollars to be example, for one."
"Within the Medicaid line item, or outside of?" 10300055.docx 51 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023
"It's within Medicaid, Leader."
"So, that's all you're going to get is… is the emergency room visits."
"No, no, no. No, no. I said that was one."
"So…"
"I said that was one. I was giving one example. There are others, though, as well."
"I'm being told that's all they have available is that 150…"
"There's… there's a pharmacy rebate. There are other… I mean, there's a list of them. I don't have the list in front of me, but there's a list of things."
"Okay. So, here's… here's the deal, and this is why I point this out. The reality is the Governor either has to cut $550 million of spending… and I'm not going to say he's cutting the program 550 million. I'm saying he's cutting the cost of the program in half, or we're digging into that $100 million surplus. And if we don't… I mean, the $100 million is what, 20 percent of that basically? So, I… I don't think… if he doesn't accomplish this, then what happens? The… the budget will be out of balance just because of this one thing. If he doesn't magically come up with $550 million of efficiencies in this one program. We also have, as was mentioned earlier, the AFSCME contract, which they're saying maybe 200 to 300 million dollars. You know, in… I'm going to go to the Bill. When we talk about priorities…"
"To the Bill."
"…when we talk about priorities, talking about the previous speaker talked about $60 million to get DSPs the $4 10300055.docx 52 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 increase that they were asking for, which gets… gets them above the average high school fast food worker. When we talk about priorities, where are the priorities when we look at bonding and $150 million in new pork projects? Where are the priorities when hospitals are hemorrhaging dollars and we focus on $150 million of pork projects and another $719 million of bonding, borrowing? The reality is, the priorities are giving people just enough so you're not hurting them and then giving yourself stuff that helps you get reelected. And that's what disgusts me around here. Is it seems like people are willing to put 'yes' votes on things because they are personally going to get something out of it. I hope that we can think this through. And the process that you talked about, working together next year, I hope we can do that together next year. Because the appropriations process was not part of the budget process. The working groups that we talked about, where we brought departments in, they told us what they wanted, we asked a few questions and that was it, that was not part of the budget process. I want to be part of the budget process. I want to help make these decisions. I want to make difficult decisions, but we can't do that when we're not at the table. You can't expect our side to vote 'yes' on a budget where you all are getting pork projects and we weren't even sitting… we weren't even allowed to be at the table. So, I look forward to working with you on next year's budget. And I hope that all of the things that we're doing in this budget don't put additional pressures on next budget to make it that much worse. Thank you."
"Representative Weaver." 10300055.docx 53 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023
"To the Bill."
"To the Bill."
"The entire reason I ran for this seat is to make sure that Illinois is a place where my nieces and nephews, and hopefully my kids one day, can start a life for themselves in Illinois. Maybe it's the farm kid in me, but I love this land. And I care about it, and I care about its future. But our fiscal irresponsibility straps weights to the legs of our kids before they're even starting the race of life. This budget does the exact opposite of what it claims to do. It claims to pay down debt because we're paying $450 million on the tobacco bond, but it doesn't count for at least a billion dollars masked by gimmicks. If you pay off $450 on your Visa card but load up another thousand dollars on your Mastercard, that's not progress. That's going backwards. That is strapping weights onto our kids. On pensions, the Governor's taking a victory lap after putting $200 million towards our failing pensions. But it's a $300 billion problem. These numbers are too big for most people to wrap their heads around, so you've got off six zeros. It's like if your bank said to you, hey, you haven't been paying your mortgage; you're $300 thousand in the hole. And you said back to them, I can give you 200 bucks this year. It would take 1,500 years to pay that down, assuming no interest, and assuming the problem isn't getting worse, which it is. Strap on another weight. This budget claims to have cushion for unknown variables, but cushion accounts for less than .02 percent of the entire budget. And we're going into a recession. Revenue estimates are coming down, and we're counting on a .02 percent 10300055.docx 54 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 cushion to keep us from piling more debt onto our kids. Strap on another weight. We need to be investing in our kids, instead we're killing one of the best programs in the entire state, the Invest in Kids Act. Strap on another weight. Our kids need our help, and we're drowning them in our debt. They need us to throw them a life raft. Instead, we're throwing them a barbell that is this budget. Don't vote against our kids. Instead, let's put a budget together that helps our kids run their best race. I urge a 'no' vote."
"Leader Cabello."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill."
"To the Bill."
"Ladies and Gentlemen, oh, a couple weeks back, I talked about some bipartisanship where I told you that we want to work together. I told you that, you know, we have some pretty good ideas on this side of the aisle, but we have to be heard. And when we don't get heard, this is what happens. This is what happens. So, earlier today in committee we told… we were told that this budget is taking care of people from the cradle to the grave. We were told that this is fiscal restraint. We were told that everyone will see themselves in this budget. And we were told that this budget will get people out of poverty. These all sound like talking points from a Governor who is running for President. And I have to respond to this Governor because, I'm sorry, there is a lot that is going on here. Cradle to grave. The people in the district that I'm honored enough to serve do not, do not want to be taken care of from cradle to grave. They want to work hard. They want to do their share. They want to pay their fair share. Government 10300055.docx 55 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 is not supposed to be everything to everyone forever. Yes, we have to help the most needy. We have to be there, but not for generations at a time. Everyone in the district that I'm honored enough to serve can see themselves in this budget because they know what's coming, a huge tax increase. Because we can't afford to pay for everything in this budget. We can't. We don't have the revenue. We were told that it was taking people out of poverty, but I would submit to you that it is putting people in poverty because they can't afford to pay their property taxes. They can't afford to do anything because of all of the taxes that this Governor is putting on them. He can rain hell down on the taxpayers of this state, but I'll tell you what, they are a resilient bunch and they will stand fast against this. And it's time that we start thinking about these folks first. It's time that we start working together. I don't know how I can get it through people's heads that we want to work together. We start committees. Maybe… you know what? Let's… let's try something new. Let's start in January working on the budget together. Let's… let's actually meet. Let's actually make sure people aren't kicked out of these working groups. We've heard time and time again that it was a Democrat working group. That has to stop. There are other people in this state that are paying their fair share and their voices are not heard. When will you listen to the people in this state? They don't want more taxes. They don't want more government. They want to be able to raise their families in a state that isn't taking everything from them to try to give them everything. Thank you, Mr. Speaker." 10300055.docx 56 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023
"Leader Spain."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill."
"To the Bill."
"First, let me begin with thanks and recognition to the Sponsor. And Leader Gordon-Booth, this has not been an easy assignment. And let me share very genuinely my appreciation for you jumping into the fray and tackling something so difficult, so complicated, and so challenging. And let me also give thanks to something that came up in the Executive Committee earlier today. Because there was a discussion about something that's been on the minds of many of us for years now, and it was mentioned by Leader Davidsmeyer. But the notion of agreements that were made several years ago as part of the 2019 capital Bill are important and should be honored, and I appreciate you for agreeing with that. Because that's something that, whether it's been the Governor or the Speaker who have consistently pointed fingers at each other, I appreciate you saying that that was something that you agreed with. And I look forward to how we can work on that in the future because there are a lot of very worthy things of consideration that should move forward. And I appreciate you acknowledging that. To the budget. And for all of us in the House, that this will be the last… at least the last major vote that we'll be taking for this Legislative Session. And we'll soon be then at the end of our time tonight. And I know the hour's late, but we'll hear those congratulatory remarks from the Legislative Leaders. And if you're a new Member, you can look forward to that tradition where the Speaker will come out and the Republican Leader will make comments 10300055.docx 57 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 reflecting on the Session, and we'll hear things probably to remind us about our why or about how winners do the work. But I think that it's important to acknowledge the work that was not done here, either in this budget or in this Legislative Session. Major, big-time work that was not accomplished by this General Assembly. And whether it's the Invest in Kids Act that has been mentioned repeatedly, whether it's BIPA, whether it's the tax holidays and protections that have been implemented in previous years that are not included in this budget, there's a lot of things that we didn't get the work done, unfortunately, for this year. And one of the things that disappoints me within this budget is we as a Legislature, as a coequal branch of government, we are delegating such a large amount of our work to the administration and to the Governor specifically. And so, when I see things like a one and a half billion dollar transfer from GRF to an old COVID response program, it leaves me wondering what our intentions are to give so much discretionary authority to the administration. Same with one of the biggest issues that we've been talking about for many months here in the State Capitol within the Medicaid program. The massive cost overruns within the expansion of Medicaid for undocumented individuals, undocumented immigrants is a huge problem. And it should've been one where we could come together and think about how can you control cost and how can you think about services that are important to certain people. And that's the job of the Legislature, to come forward and develop solutions. Instead, we're ceding more control to the administration through emergency rulemaking authority. And I don't know if… many of 10300055.docx 58 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 us weren't here 10 or 12 years ago during the SMART Act. That's the last time we gave extraordinary powers to the Department of Health Care and Family Services to make cuts within the Medicaid program. There were many issues with doing that. And certainly, more recently, we can all remember, very vividly, the problems with emergency rulemaking that continued again and again throughout the pandemic under the Department of Public Health. And so, here we are as a Legislature, ceding more of the work that we should be doing ourselves to the administration. And that's not the work that we should be doing. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention one of the things that I… I just find it absolutely crazy that we are going to leave this capital city after one of the largest public corruption trials with four convictions all swirling around the person that presided at this rostrum, at this dais for 38 years, and we as a Legislature are adjourning without doing anything on the topic of ethics reforms. It is said that budgets reflect our priorities. And boy, I just cannot believe it that we don't, all of us, place a priority on cleaning up the corruption that has been such a deep stain on the State of Illinois. We leave a lot of work to do here as we adjourn tonight. I hope we will do better in the future. Thank you."
"On this question, Leader McCombie."
"Thank you, Speaker. To the Bill."
"To the Bill."
"SB250 has, as you are all aware, a automatic COLA. This year, it is 5.5 percent. This was a good history lesson for me because this is one of the first things I asked months 10300055.docx 59 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 ago, whether or not this would be in the budget. So, to give a little history, the annual COLA occurs every year because of action that was taken in the 86th General Assembly. It's 1990. In 1990, the now defunct Compensation Review Board recommended a raise for the General Assembly and that, for every fiscal year going forward, the General Assembly shall get the automatic COLA. The General Assembly that year did not accept the raise but did accept the COLA. This was memorialized in SJR192. This locked in the COLA every year without the GA having to take a direct vote on a pay raise. It became part of the salary. Included in the Compensation Review Board report that was made part of the SJR192 was language that stated what would be used to establish the COLA for each fiscal year. Let me read the way to establish the COLA, the language coming directly from the report. 'To adjust the salaries of public officials' positions, on July 1, 1991 and July 1 of each year thereafter, by the lesser of a cost of living index to be determined or five percent of the salary.' To remind you, the COLA is 5.5 percent. In my opinion, this is violating SJR192 that was generated in the 86th General Assembly. That Resolution, which is relied every year by this Body to grant automatic COLAs, states the automatic COLA is the lesser of the COLA, a number set by the Federal Government, or five percent of the current salary. The budget is giving 5.5 percent of the current salary, which is higher than the five percent. This budget is in direct violation of SJR192, which establishes the salary rate by the Compensation Review Board. In the FY23 budget, a raise in the salary was established starting the hundred… starting with 10300055.docx 60 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 the 103rd General Assembly. That salary of $85 thousand was set in statute in Article 35. It states, 'Beginning with the 103rd GA, each member of the GA shall get an annual salary of $85,000 or as set by the Compensation Review Board.' In this year's budget, in Section 45 of the budget, page 212, it sets the salary for Members of the General Assembly at $89,675. If you had followed the correct way to calculate the COLA, the new salary with the automatic COLA should be $89,250. As a result of the incorrect COLA calculation, you have provided a raise of $425 per Legislator over the amount added with the 5 percent COLA. By using the incorrect calculation, we have created a conflict between the statute establishing the new salary in FY23 and a new salary in FY24. I don't know what statute is in effect and which one controls it. Is it the GA Compensation Act, or is it this budget? The salaries set in this budget is $89,675, and it should be 89,250. You provided for a raise in this budget, which is not allowed under the Illinois Constitution. Under the Illinois Constitution, in Article 4, Section 11, 'A Member shall receive a salary and allowances provided by law, but changes in the salary of a Member shall not take effect during the term for which he has been elected.' This raise is in direct violation of the Illinois Constitution. A raise can only take effect the next General Assembly. You have created a constitutional problem with this budget. Vote 'no'."
"Leader Gordon-Booth to close."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The hour of 2:30 a.m. having come and gone, and this being my first budget, I've prepared a 15-minute Baptist closing that I will put on the 10300055.docx 61 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 back burner and try to wrap it up in 60 seconds. If you want to vote for credit upgrades for the State of Illinois, vote 'aye'. If you want to vote to fund the public school children in your district, vote 'aye'. If you want to vote to fund the cities, towns, and villages in your district, vote 'aye'. If you want to vote to give low-income and middle-income college students in your district the opportunity to go to college without being overburden with college debt, vote 'aye'. If you want to be able to give the children in your community, the black children, the brown children, the white children, the yellow children, all children the opportunity to have a quality education through the Smart Start initiative through the Governor, vote 'aye'. If you want to invest over $100 million in law enforcement, who bravely go out into our communities and defend our communities, vote 'aye'. If you want to vote to keep communities safe and from harm, to make communities strong, to ensure the violence prevention programs are in all of our communities, vote 'aye'. If you want to vote to ensure that seniors have the access to have a quality meal through the senior Meals on Wheels program, vote 'aye'. If you want to ensure that the veterans that we all love in our communities have the ability to participate in the property rebate tax program, vote 'aye'. If you want to vote for fiscal responsibility that will lead to the ninth straight credit upgrading in the State of Illinois, Ladies and Gentlemen, please vote 'aye'."
"The question is, 'Shall Senate Bill 12… or 250 pass?' All those in favor vote 'aye'; opposed vote 'nay'. The voting's open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who 10300055.docx 62 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 73 voting 'yes', 38 voting 'no', 0 voting 'present'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Moving to Supplemental Calendar #1, appears Senate Bill 424, Representative Olickal. Please read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"Senate Bill 424, a Bill for an Act concerning criminal law. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."
"Representative Olickal. Leader Manley in the Chair."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I present Senate Bill 424. I'll keep this brief. The Bill extends and expands the First Time Weapon Offense Program, a diversion program that allows judges with agreement from prosecutors the option to divert adults with a first-time nonviolent gun charge away from incarceration into a probation program. The law only applies to individuals who have no prior conviction for violent crime and are currently not charged with any crimes of violence, and it's completely voluntary. The program has been in effect for over 5 years and in 15 counties across the state. It has bipartisan support, including the state's attorneys association, the Association of Chiefs of Police. The Bill passed the Senate with bipartisan support and out of committee unanimously. I urge an 'aye' vote and happy to answer any questions."
"The question is, 'Shall Senate Bill 424 pass?' All in favor vote 'aye'; opposed vote 'nay'. The voting's open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On 10300055.docx 63 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 this question, there are 98 voting in 'favor', 6 voting 'opposed', 0 voting 'present'. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Leader McCombie is recognized."
"Thank you, Speaker. To all of my colleagues here, I am so honored to have been chosen to lead this caucus. I'm so proud of the hard work that you have put in into an effort to improve our state and fight to represent the voices of constituents not only in your districts, but across all of Illinois. Thank you. To our staff, thank you for what you have done to get us here and across the finish line. I know the time and effort you give into making each one of us look good every day. It is recognized, it's appreciated, and we can't do it without you. Thank you. I would also like to recognize the Speaker's staff. Thank you for your help with my leadership transition and working with our team. It is very much appreciated. I said it when I took office this year, Republic… Republicans are here to work and we're here to provide solutions. We established five Republican working groups to protect children in the state's care, make Illinois a place where families can thrive, improve Illinois business climate, address learning loss, and improve reading literacy, make our neighborhoods safe again while protecting law- abiding citizens and respecting our police. We pushed to enact the Republican-designed Blue Collar Jobs Act to support businesses around the state. We celebrated emerging women leaders from around the state. We brought new energy to committees and processes. We advocated and passed the nuclear power plant prohibition to provide sustainable energy. We 10300055.docx 64 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 passed fentanyl legislation to combat the rising opioid epidemic. We passed legislation to help cancer patients access groundbreaking treatment in proton beam therapy. And we fiercely continue to address the teachers, the nurses, and law enforcement shortages. We've heard it this evening, and we're often asked about our why. Why do we want the job? Why do we do the job? Being in the superminority is very challenging, but know that Republicans have hope. This hope gives us the strength to fight for Illinois families and businesses and to help them succeed. We reject any sentiment to deter us. We have worked despite broken promises and the unwillingness of some to work with us. We will continue to push to start conversations on our state's toughest issues. Regardless of our weekly meetings, Speaker Welch, you gave a false hope for a new day. The House Republicans were denied participation in many things, but most importantly, this year's budget process. But we will not be discouraged, and we will move forward with renewed purpose. We have met with the Governor and some of his team to express our desire to participate in building future budget framework. They are receptive. We will work to build trust with the Governor and, hopefully, with you, Speaker, to advocate for our shared priorities like the extension of the Invest in Kids and the R&D programs, a state tax reform, sustainable education funding… funding, economic development policies, structural reforms, building our population, and making Illinois a state where people want to work and raise their families. I've been open. I've been honest. And I've been present. Although we may not always agree, our caucus did not want you to go it 10300055.docx 65 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 alone. That was your choice. So, I extend again, over the summer and coming months as we approach a very busy Veto, bring us to the table. We are problem solvers. Use our knowledge and benefit from our talents. We are here to govern. Speaker, before it's too late, I ask you to put aside pollical agendas and do what's right. Bring forth our legislation for a vote. Protect our most vulnerable. Protect our state workers like Chris James, Deidre Silas, Pam Knight, who died while on the job. Make our neighborhood safer by lifting up law enforcement, building a sense of community, and penalizing those that commit crimes. Respect parental rights, and respect women who don't agree with you. Address our immense pension liability, high property taxes, and stop growing our government. And maybe most importantly, let us lead by example and end the scourge of corruption in Illinois with real ethics reform. Speaker, tomorrow is a new day. Let us start again and work to institute the changes that all, all of our constituents will be proud of. Speaker Welch, join me in being accessible, transparent, and let's bring our caucuses together to frame real solutions. It really is an honor to be in this position. And like I said, we don't always agree, but I respect all of you in this dome and know we are here to help. Have a great summer, and we'll see you all soon. Thank you."
"Chair recognizes Speaker Welch."
"Thank you, Madam Speaker. Thank you, Leader. Thank you, Members of this august Body. Thank you all for sticking through these final days of this Legislative Session. We've had some long days and some long nights, but we will still 10300055.docx 66 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 beat last year's adjournment by about 3 hours and 15 minutes or so. We've certainly had some passionate debates, and we've gotten a lot of great things done. We've gotten a lot of great things done for the people of Illinois. And when you look at those things, those great things have been done in blue districts, in red districts, Democratic districts, Republican districts. We've gotten great things done for everyone. And I'm proud of the work that we've accomplished, and I'm honored to do it alongside each and every one in this chamber. I don't just talk the talk. I walk the walk. Every single person who's asked for a meeting in this Body has gotten that meeting. Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican. Every time. I've listened. I've heard. We don't always agree, and you heard plenty of that tonight, but I know that passion is rooted in the love that we share for our communities and our state. People from those communities sent us here seven months ago thinking that maybe, just maybe, Illinois is starting to turn the corner. They also sent us knowing that, in the wake of one of the most contentious Supreme Court rulings in history, the decisions made in this room would have more impact than ever before. Ever before. And they sent us having just seen our most American of holidays forever scarred by the tragedy of gun violence in Highland Park. And then again on the West Side of Chicago. And then again on the South Side of Chicago. And then again, and again, and again in communities all across this country. Blue states and Republican states. More so in Republican states. Gun violence all across this country. So, when this House first convened in January, sent here by the people from different backgrounds and different beliefs, but 10300055.docx 67 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 still shaped by those same events, I asked each and every one of you, yes, to remember your why. I'm glad you were listening, Madam Leader. I'm glad the Gentleman from Peoria County was taking notes. Winners do the work. And the great 78 was sent here to do the work. And by the work you see here in this budget, we've done some pretty impressive work. I knew we weren't going to always agree, but I believe that everyone who was honest about their why is going to walk out of this chamber and head back home to our districts with wins for our communities and the people who have sent us here to represent them. I know when I head home to the 7th District, I'll be proud of all we've gotten done here. Because I told my community my why. I've listened to everyone in my district who would share their why. And I never, ever lose sight of that. Ever. I also know someone else who doesn't lose sight of her why and that's our Speaker Pro Temp, Leader Jehan Gordon-Booth. If you couldn't see it tonight, you must be blind. That dynamic black woman knows her why, and it showed up in that moral document. It showed up in a moral document. She has morals. She represented Democratic districts and Republican districts in that budget. It would take me all night to read the things that you're going to get to go home with and brag about, even though you voted 'no'. Because of the morals of our chief budgeteer. She showed us what strength and dignity is all about. Together, tonight, we showed that we would continue rebuilding Illinois' fiscal house with a budget that puts hardworking families first. Representative Cassidy and the Dobbs working group can say the same. Because we've defended the right to choose, and we're proud of that. 10300055.docx 68 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 And we've enacted landmark protections for patients and providers to ensure Illinois remains a safe haven for women and reproductive rights. You should run and tell that. We've done that. Representative Morgan and Representative Hirschauer can say the same. They know their why. Because now we're keeping weapons of war that never belonged on our street off our streets and getting guns out of dangerous hands. We've done that. Representative Syed and Representative Ladisch Douglass are going home after their first Session knowing they helped to lower the cost of prescription drugs and expand access to quality, affordable health care. Brand new to this place and making an impact for people in Democratic districts and your districts. That's what those Ladies did. And regardless of whether you agreed with them or not, I hope you're also leaving here tonight knowing that you were true to your why. Did everyone get everything they wanted? No. And you've never, ever heard me stand up and say anyone would get everything they wanted. Never. Everyone here is leaving here with us having made compromises. That's how democracy works. That's a sign of the process working. Every single time the Leader asked to meet, I met with her. But I'll tell you one of the last times I met with her, I asked, will Republicans put votes on the board? I'm still waiting for that answer. Well, I actually found out an hour or so ago. Never got back to me. I asked, will Republicans? Will at least you put the Leaders on a budget? Isn't that a fair question to ask? That's a fair question to ask. Work with us and put some votes on the board. Put it on the board. Put it on the board. Don't just talk, walk with us. Walk with us. I'm part of… I'm proud 10300055.docx 69 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 of the process that we put in place, and we're going to continue to make better. You've never had a budget this far in advance to go through and to wrap in a bow and to bring it out here as a prop. You've never had that much time. Rather than using it as a prop, read it. That's why we gave you the time to read it. Not to wrap it up like a present and bring it to the floor as a prop. We're committed to a process of working together and getting things done for the people. I am deeply honored, deeply, to be the Speaker of this House. Not just the first black Speaker. That's not the reason I'm proud. I'm proud to be the Speaker of the House, for Democrats and Republicans. I'm proud to have taken two oaths. And the meetings and the conversations that I have had reflect that. This budget reflects that. When you go home and brag about all the money going in your schools, your community colleges, your park districts, your universities that are in your districts, the seven percent increase to every university that's in districts you represent that you voted 'no' against, you should be proud. And tomorrow, I guarantee you'll be bragging about it. We represented everyone in this state, Democrats and Republicans. And despite what you just heard in that floor speech over there from the Leader, I am truly grateful to serve with the first woman ever to lead a caucus in this chamber. And I honor you, Madam Leader. I think we all should honor you and give her a round of applause, please. I'm proud of what we've accomplished together for our communities in every corner of the state. And I'm proud to be an Illinoisan, what we stand for and what we value. I want to thank all of my colleagues for your dedication and patience 10300055.docx 70 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 throughout this Session, as well as your commitment and contributions to moving our state forward. Leader McCombie, thank you for a shared commitment to civility and respect. On many issues, we're polar opposites. You've seen that here tonight. But every time we spoke in my office, in the hallways, or here on the floor, let me say this to be clear, I've never questioned your integrity or your intentions. I do believe the Republicans have made an excellent choice in choosing you as the Leader, but put some votes on the board, my friend. Put some votes on the board. I also want to thank our new Majority Leader, who I just think is just dynamic. She truly is not just my friend. She truly is Robyn 'Able' Gabel. Can we give the Majority Leader a round of applause, please? She's been a champion for our Democratic Caucus, and don’t let her size fool you. That Lady's a giant. She's fiercely passionate and cares deeply about all people in Democratic districts and Republican districts, and we're lucky to have had her guidance and wisdom this Session. I mentioned her earlier, but I got to mention her again. To our chief budgeteer and Speaker Pro Temp, Leader Jehan Gordon- Booth, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I got to honestly tell you I have never witnessed someone who works harder and who pours her soul into everything she does. I've seen it all. She pours her soul into everything she does. I am so proud to serve alongside the first woman to ever lead the budget process in this chamber. Can you all rise to your feet and give that woman a round of applause, please? A big thank you goes out… I know she's listening. She probably is going to kill me when I get back to the office. A big thank 10300055.docx 71 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 you also to my wonderful executive assistant, Mika. Mika, who so many of us know and love. I know she's back there at her desk listening as she does every night. She won't go home until I leave this place. Sometimes, I tell her I'm leaving and I don't, just so she'll go home. You know, she keeps me fed. She keeps me really well on task. I couldn't do half of what I do without Mika telling me where to go, where to be, and when to be there. So, thank you, Mika and Chris. You know, I know she couldn't do it without your support. And certainly, to my chief of staff, my right hand, Tiffany. Tiffany, isn't she awesome? Can we give Tiffany a round of applause? She really does keep the trains on the tracks. And usually, the first one here and the last one to leave. I mean, smart as a whip and always, always, always a true professional. I am grateful to have you leading our team. Thank you, Tiffany. And thank you to our staff, all of our staff, for putting up with us. You know, we're not easy to deal with. You know, we can be a little difficult sometimes, all of us Legislators, but our staff puts up with us. We wouldn't be able to do these jobs if it wasn't for them giving their time and their dedication, their patience and their commitment. They didn't choose these jobs because they're easy. They chose them because they know their why, and they don't make a lot of money to do it. They're doing it because of their why, and they're passionate about it. That's why they put up with us. Can we give our staff on both sides, Democrats and Republicans? Our staff is dynamic. I certainly can go on all night calling out those who make this place tick, but I know you guys want to go home. Let's conclude, then. Let's 10300055.docx 72 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 conclude, then, get back to our districts. Let's go back to work at home. Winners do the work. Let's keep on winning. Thank you all, again, for the honor of a lifetime. Thank you so much. Thank you, Madam Speaker."
"Mr. Clerk, Agreed Resolutions."
"Agreed Resolutions. House Resolution 334, offered by Representative Rashid. And House Resolutions 335, 336, 337, 338, and 339, offered by… offered by Representative Davidsmeyer."
"Leader Gabel 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. Mr. Clerk, please read the Adjournment Resolution."
Clerk Hollman: "Senate Joint Resolution #42, offered by Representative Gabel. RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that when the Senate adjourns on Friday, May 26, 2023, it stands adjourned until the call of the President; and when the House of Representatives adjourns on Saturday, May 27, 2023, it stands adjourned until the call of the Speaker."
"Leader Gabel moves for the adoption of the Adjourn Resolution. Excuse me, Adjournment Resolution. All those in favor say 'aye'; opposed say 'nay'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Adjournment Resolution is adopted. And now, allowing perfunctory time for the Clerk, Leader Gabel moves that the House stand adjourned 10300055.docx 73 STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 55th Legislative Day 5/27/2023 to the call of the Speaker. All those in favor say 'aye'; opposed say 'nay'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the House stands adjourned." 10300055.docx 74