Illinois House Floor Debate — April 24, 2025

"Thank you, Madam Speaker. Please let the record reflect that Representatives Hammond, Schweizer, Stephens, Halbrook, and Niemerg are excused for the day."

"Point of personal privilege."

"Thank you, Madam Speaker. Today, I rise to give my condolences to the McMichael family. I know there are a couple of us who plan to speak, so I'll go ahead and get started. I'm deeply saddened by the loss of Steve 'Mongo' McMichael. Steve embodied the spirit of resilience, strength, and leadership, both on and off the football field. As a Chicago Bears icon, Super Bowl champion, and cornerstone of the Monsters of the Midway, he brought endless pride to our community and represented the very best of Homer Glen. It was an honor to recognize Steve last year with a House Resolution, 910, celebrating his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His remarkable career and courageous fight against ALS have left an indelible mark on all who admired him. Steve's legacy will continue to inspire us as we remember the incredible life he lived. My thoughts and prayers are with Steve's family and loved ones as we join together in mourning his passing and honoring his memory."

"Thank you, Madam Speaker. I want to say thank you to Representative La Ha for your kind words. I also want to express my condolences to the McMichael family. Representing Steve hometown of Homer Glen, I wanted to share a personal story about Mongo. I had the pleasure of meeting Mongo a while back while he was playing in the Chicago 6 band with fellow legends Dan Hampton and Otis Wilson. I was assigned to on- duty security, and you could feel Mongo's love and respect for law enforcement. He went out of his way to talk to every 10400035.docx 4  STATE OF ILLINOIS 104th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/24/2025 single police officer that day, take pictures, tell jokes, sign autographs, and just say thank you. When he spoke to me, he asked about my family, and I told him my sons played football too. And when he found out two of them played quarterback, his response was, 'You're raising a bunch of pretty boys and not football players.' But anyone that knows Mongo knows that that was the PG version of that quote. In that moment, you could still see his passion for the game and his pride for paying defense. I just wanted to say thank you for the memories, Mongo."

"Thank you, Speaker. I also would like to introduce my page for the day. Come a little closer, there you are. See the screen there? This is Amani Brown. She is the daughter of Britton Brown and Andre Brown. Britton, if you have not met 10400035.docx 5  STATE OF ILLINOIS 104th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/24/2025 her, is Deputy Leader Norine Hammond's assistant, so kindly we call the warden. All of us can recognize that. Amani is 9 years old, and she is in third grade and goes to Auburn Middle School. She currently plays volleyball, and in her free time, she enjoys being outside, like all of us, and making bracelets, which she has been making for her friends and family this morning. So, please give her a warm welcome to her Capitol."

"Thank you, Madam Speaker. A point of personal privilege."

"Once again, we're back in the Capitol to celebrate a state championship team from the 100th District. Today, I have the Calhoun High School girls, if you could stand up, the 2024-25 IHSA Class 1A girls volleyball champions. I'm going to… I'm going to list everybody. If you can just wave your hand when I say your name. We've got Kate Zipprich, who was also named State Final MVP, breaking the state record for most blocks in a state final game; Lacy Pohlman, named to the State Final All-Tournament team; Josie Hoagland; Joy Hurley; Audrey Gilman; Abby Johnes, who is apparently in Europe somewhere; Caydence Sievers; Stella Gress; Leila Schulte; Sadie Kiel; Mary Squier; Anabel Eilerman; Carly Pohlman; Emma Rose; Annie Wilson; Gabby Hurley; Lilly Pelletier; Lucy Hurley. We've got manager Grace Hurley, assistant coach Ann Gilman, and head coach Melissa Zipprich. I want to welcome you to your State Capitol and congratulate you on a wonderful 10400035.docx 6  STATE OF ILLINOIS 104th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/24/2025 year, and look forward to seeing what comes next. Congratulations on your state championship."

"Point of personal privilege."

"Last night, at 10:30, two young men became heroes down in my district. Andy and Daven were on their way home when they noticed smoke billowing from the second floor of the senior apartments in Nashville, Illinois. They called 911, but instead of waiting for them to arrive, they selfishly ran into the building and started evacuating the residents. When they entered, they could hear residents screaming for help. As they were heroically notifying and evacuating residents, seven volunteer fire departments joined together to respond to this emergency. Can we have it a little quieter, please? The Nashville Fire Department was on a mutual aid call to Pinckneyville when this fire broke out, so the mutual aid call went out to all other fire departments in the area. Working together, Nashville, Hoyleton, Addieville, Ashley, Okawville, Carlyle, and Coulterville fire departments extinguished the fire. We had four area ambulance services send help: Washington County, Pinckneyville, New Baden, Litton. We saw Southern Illinois band together with all hands on deck. Two residents were airlifted to the burn center in St. Louis, two others were admitted to the Washington County Hospital, where one was released this morning with minor injuries and one still remains. Some of the other residents have been moved into temporary emergency shelter while they 10400035.docx 7  STATE OF ILLINOIS 104th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/24/2025 rebuild while others will reside with family members for the time being. Without the great and quick heroic actions of Andy and Daven, God only knows how tragic this could have been. Please join me in a prayer for our victims here that are still recovering and a round of applause for Andy and Daven and all the volunteers and first responders. And, hopefully, you will all have the opportunity to meet these two young men in the Speaker's Gallery over the next couple of weeks. Thank you, and let's give them a round of applause."

"Point of personal privilege."

"Saw in the news yesterday that the governor has initiated an inquiry as to how much investment the State of Illinois has in El Salvador as a means of pressuring El Salvador to release somebody who was deported down there and is in jail. First of all, it's not the governor's job to engage in foreign policy. Second of all, virtue signaling is something that should wait till he's a little bit closer to running for higher office. I guess that a budget that is not going to be in balance, 140-some billion dollars in pension debt, and a transit agency fiscal cliff is a little bit too much to handle. But there is one problem in this state that he could work on right now, and let's get this done. Around the corner from me in my district is a… is a thing called Hempstock Pharms. It… the owners of them, they're making a really good business out of doing the responsible thing with hemp products. Now, say what you want. You could not like them, 10400035.docx 8  STATE OF ILLINOIS 104th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/24/2025 you could not use them, or you be in favor of them or whatever. But sitting here in this building are competing… is a… is a fight going on to allow legitimate businesses to sell legal products and, at the same time, regulate them in a way that gets products that are being sold in unregulated spots, like gas stations and things like that, get them off the street. These hemp businesses are more than happy to work with regulators to show that what their products are doing is not poisoning people. But we're being held… but these bills, this method, or this… this means of regulating and controlling an industry that is trying to get itself off the ground here in Illinois is being in effect held hostage by the political process. I think instead of swanning around the Sunday morning talk shows, the governor ought to convene the leaderships of both the House and the Senate and get this problem fixed. Thank you."