Illinois House Floor Debate — April 28, 1999

"The House shall come to order. We'll be led in prayer today by the Reverend Edward Alsup, of Spillerton Baptist Church, in Marion, Illinois. Reverend Alsup is the guest of Representative Fowler. Our guests in the gallery may wish to rise for the invocation and stay standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Reverend Alsup."

"Thank you. Our Father, we thank You Lord for the honor and the opportunity that You have afforded us, and we know Lord, that prayer is Your provision for us to know You, to know Your purpose, Your ways, and to experience Your mighty presence working in us, through us, to accomplish Your perfect will. But remember Lord, that one day Your apostles were nearing You and overheard You in prayer with the Father, and it was an awesome presence, and they said, 'Lord, would You teach us to pray?' And the Lord said to them, 'When you pray, say these words. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.' Lord, we come to You with praise and thanksgiving for all Your mercy and goodness. And, now precious Lord, I would ask that You bless this assembly of men and women that lead our state. Give them knowledge and the wisdom to use that knowledge for the betterment of all people in the State of Illinois. I pray that decisions will be made according to Your perfect will. In all ways, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, in the precious name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen."

Speaker Hartke: "We'll be led in the pledge today by Representative Silva."

"I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice 1  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 for all."

Speaker Hartke: "Roll Call for Attendance. Representative Poe, report on the Republican side."

"Yeah, let the record show that all the Republicans are present today."

"Representative Currie."

"Thank you, Speaker. Please let the record show, that except for Representative Turner, who is still on his African mission, all House Democrats are here."

Speaker Hartke: "Mr. Clerk, take the record. One hundred and seventeen Members answering the call, there is a quorum present. Mr. Clerk."

"Introduction of Resolutions. House Resolution 204, offered by Representative McKeon; House Res... Senate Joint Resolution #29, offered by Representative Hoffman; Senate Joint Resolution #28, offered by Representative Klingler; Senate Joint Resolution #21, offered by Representative Silva, are assigned to the Rules Committee. Introduction and First Reading of Senate Bills. Senate Bill 1022, offered by Representative Poe, a Bill for an Act to amend the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971. First Reading of this Senate Bill. Committee Reports. Representative Woolard, Chairperson from the Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education, to which the following measures were referred, action taken on April 28, 1999, reported the same back with the following recommendations: 'do pass as amended Short Debate' Senate Bill 648, Senate Bill 1054, Senate Bill 1168. 'Do pass Short Debate' Senate Bill 1192. Representative Mike Smith, Chairperson from the Committee on Agriculture and Conservation, to which the following measures were referred, action taken on April 27, 1999, reported the same back with the following 2  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 recommendations: 'do pass as amended Short Debate' Senate Bill 73 and Senate Bill 74. 'Do pass Short Debate' Senate Bill 163 and Senate Bill 1070. 'Do adopt Short Debate' House Resolution 87. 'Do adopt Standard Debate' House Resolution 168. Representative Carol Ronen, Chairperson from the Committee on Children and Youth, to which the following measures were referred, action taken on April 27, 1999, reported the same back with the following recommendations: 'do pass Short Debate' Senate Bill 323, Senate Bill 562, Senate Bill 949. 'Do pass as amended Short Debate' Senate Bill 82 and Senate Bill 1065. Representative Steve Davis, Chairperson from the Committee on Constitutional Officers, to which the following measures were referred, action taken on April 27, 1999, reported the same back with the following recommendations: 'do pass as amended Short Debate' Senate Bill 392. Representative Mike Boland, Chairperson from the Committee on Elections and Campaign Reform, to which the following measures were referred, action taken on April 27, 1999, reported the same back with the following recommendations: 'do pass Short Debate' Senate Bill 387, Senate Bill 933, Senate Bill 935, House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment #4. 'Do pass Standard Debate' Senate Bill 956. Representative Robert Bugielski, Chairperson from the Committee on Financial Institutions, to which the following measures were referred, action taken on April 27, 1999, reported the same back with the following recommendation: 'do pass Short Debate' Senate Bill 1026. Representative Tom Dart, Chairperson from the Committee on Judiciary I - Civil Law, to which the following measures were referred, action taken on April 28, 1999, reported the same back with the following recommendations: 'do pass as amended Short 3  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 Debate' Senate Bill 19, Senate Bill 48, Senate Bill 331, Senate Bill 349, Senate Bill 480, Senate Bill 567. 'Do pass as amended Standard Debate' Senate Bill 27. 'Do pass Standard... do pass Short Debate' Senate Bill 839 and Senate Bill 1085. 'Do pass as amended Short Debate' House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment #14. Representative Mary Flowers, Chairperson from the Committee on Health Care Availability and Access, to which the following measures were referred, action taken on April 27, 1999, reported the same back with the following recommendations: 'do pass Short Debate' Senate Bill 721. Representative Frank Mautino, Chairperson from the Committee on Insurance, to which the following measures were referred, action taken on April 27, 1999, reported the same back with the following recommendations: 'do pass as amended Short Debate' Senate Bill 778. Representative Shirley Jones, Chairperson from the Committee on Public Utilities, to which the following measures were referred, action taken on April 27, 1999, reported the same back with the following recommendations: 'do pass as amended Short Debate' Senate Bill 423. Representative Jay Hoffman, Chairperson from the Committee on Transportation of Motor Vehicles, to which the following measures were referred, action taken on April 27, 1999, reported the same back with the following recommendations: 'do pass Short Debate' Senate Bill 1042 and Senate Bill 1136. 'Do pass Standard Debate' Senate Bill 1155. 'Do pass as amended Short Debate' Senate Bill 989. 'Do adopt as amended Short Debate' House Joint Resolution #17. Representative Dan Burke, Chairperson from the Committee on Executive, to which the following measures were referred, action taken on April 28, 1999, reported the same back with the following 4  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 recommendations: 'do pass Short Debate' Senate Bill 235, Senate Bill 310, Senate Bill 355, Senate Bill 356, Senate Bill 384, Senate Bill 385, Senate Bill 507, Senate Bill 906, Senate Bill 962, Senate Bill 1011, Senate Bill 1017, Senate Bill 1104. 'Do pass as amended Short Debate' Senate Bill 147, Senate Bill 203, Senate Bill 427, Senate Bill 537, Senate Bill 946, Senate Bill 1009, Senate Bill 1015. 'Do pass Standard Debate' Senate Bill 980, Senate Bill 1002, Senate Bill 1003, Senate Bill 1007, Senate Bill 1008, Senate Bill 1014, Senate Bill 1018, Senate Bill 1019, Senate Bill 1028 and Senate Bill 1227. 'Do pass as amended Standard Debate' Senate Bill 736."

"The Chair would like to make an announcement. I have a list of about 32 Bills that are on Second Reading. We'll be moving them to Third Reading for the Agreed Bill Lists of Senate Bills. As far as we know, there are no Amendments on these Bills, so I'll be running through them very quickly. So, if you have a Bill that does have an Amendment on or plan on having an Amendment on it, please let the Chair know so we can take it out of the record. Senate Bill 94, Representative Novak. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 94, a Bill for an Act amending the Harassing and Obscene Communications Act. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 169, Representative Reitz. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 169, a Bill for an Act amending the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed." 5  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 188, Representative Dart. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 188, a Bill for an Act amending the Criminal Code of 1961. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

Speaker Hartke: "Third Reading. Senate Bill 206, Representative Lyons. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 206, a Bill for an Act concerning emergency energy plans. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

Speaker Hartke: "Third Reading. Senate Bill 223, Representative Scully. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 223, a Bill for an Act amending the Unified Code of Corrections. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 238, Representative Kenner. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 238, a Bill for an Act amending the Illinois Dental Practice Act. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 324, Representative Wirsing. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 324, a Bill for an Act amending the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

Speaker Hartke: "Third Reading. Senate Bill 367, Representative Saviano. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill." 6  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

"Senate Bill 367, a Bill for an Act amending the Illinois Optometric Practice Act of 1987. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

Speaker Hartke: "Third Reading. Senate Bill 395, Representative Schoenberg." Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 395, a Bill for an Act amending the Unified Code of Corrections. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 445, Representative Saviano. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 445, a Bill for an Act amending the Residential Mortgage License Act of 1987. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Motions have been filed. No Floor Amendments approved for consideration."

Speaker Hartke: "Third Reading. Senate Bill 462, Representative Howard. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 462, a Bill for an Act amending the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

Speaker Hartke: "Third Reading. Senate Bill 463, Representative Erwin. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 463, a Bill for an Act amending the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Motions have been filed. No Floor Amendments approved for consideration."

Speaker Hartke: "Third Reading. Senate 464, Representative Holbrook. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill." 7  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

"Senate Bill 464, a Bill for an Act concerning prepaid tuition. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

Speaker Hartke: "Third Reading. Senate Bill 503, Representative O'Connor. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 503, a Bill for an Act amending the Unified Code of Corrections. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 509, Representative Lyons. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 509, a Bill for an Act in relation to criminal law. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 672, Representative Lyons. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 672, a Bill for an Act amending the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 770, Representative Reitz. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 770, a Bill for an Act regarding Forestry Development and Assistance. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 815, Representative Persico. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 815, a Bill for an Act amending the Illinois Banking Act. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. 8  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 820, Representative Stephens. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 820, a Bill for an Act amending the Public Officers Prohibited Activities Act. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 844, Representative Stroger. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 844, a Bill for an Act amending the Illinois Municipal Code. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

Speaker Hartke: "Third Reading. Senate Bill 4... 845, Representative Turner. John Turner. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 845, a Bill for an Act in relation to laser devices. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

Speaker Hartke: "Third Reading. Senate Bill 881, Representative Fritchey. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 881, a Bill for an Act regarding safe and hygienic beds. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 967, Representative Lyons. Eileen Lyons. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 967, a Bill for an Act concerning products with recycled contents. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor 9  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 1064, Representative Black. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 1064, a Bill for an Act amending the Abused and Neglected Long-Term Care Facility Residents Reporting Act. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 1080... or 78, Representative Hassert. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 1078, a Bill for an Act amending the Radiation Protection Act of 1990. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 1113, Representative McGuire. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 1113, a Bill for an Act amending the Illinois Act on Aging. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 1115, Representative Brady. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 1115, a Bill for an Act amending the Illinois Insurance Code. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Motions have been filed. No Floor Amendments approved for consideration."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 1129, Representative Leitch."

"Senate Bill 1129, a Bill for an Act in relation to motor vehicle ignition interlock devices. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor 10  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 1170, Representative Giles. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 1170, a Bill for an Act regarding property. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 1174, Representative Turner. Art Turner. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 1174, a Bill for an Act amending the Illinois Human Rights Act. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 1201, Representative Hoffman. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 1201, a Bill for an Act amending the Illinois Vehicle Code. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 1202, Representative Mautino. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 1202, a Bill for an Act amending the Counties Code. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendment... Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Motions have been filed. No Floor Amendments approved for consideration."

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, what is the status of Senate Bill 1088? Representative Ryder."

"Senate Bill 1088, is on the Order of Senate Bills - Third Reading."

Speaker Hartke: "Place that Bill on the Order of Second Reading for the purpose of an Amendment at the request of the 11  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 Sponsor. What is the status of Senate Bill 460? Representative Lang."

"Senate Bill 460, is on the Order of Senate Bills - Third Reading."

Speaker Hartke: "Place that Bill on the Order of Second Reading for the purpose of an Amendment at the request of the Sponsor. The Chair's prepared to go to some Third Readings, some final reading Bills. On page... on page 2 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 178. Representative Brosnahan. Mr. Brosnahan in the chamber? Out of the record. On page 3 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 249. Representative Bugielski. Representative Bugielski, would you like to call your Bill? Out of the record. For what reason does the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Saviano seek recognition?"

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For purposes of an announcement. I'd like to announce that the Registration and Regulation Committee will be delayed for 15 minutes today. So, we'll be starting at 2:15. Thank you."

"On page 4 of the Cal... on page 3 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 377. Representative Mautino. Representative Mautino. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 377, a Bill for an Act amending the Motor Vehicle Franchise Act. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."

"Representative Mautino."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Senate Bill 377 amends the Motor Vehicle Franchise Act, and provides that a timely protest to a Motor Vehicle Review Board shall stay the effective date of a proposed additional franchise or selling agreement for a motorcycle dealership relocation or cancellation/termination. And, 12  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 basically what this does is, in the... under current law there's a provision for judicial stay. This automatically puts this in place so that they can go ahead and have the Hearing Board review this, so, it sets up an automatic stay. And there is no one opposed to this legislation."

Speaker Hartke: "Is there any discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Livingston, Representative Rutherford."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I... was... asked Representative Mautino on the side, he just announced that no one is opposed to this and I stand in strong support of the legislation."

"Representative Black."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"Sure."

"Representative, the Motor Vehicle Review Board, I assume, is housed in the Secretary of State's office, is that correct?"

"Yes, I believe that's correct."

"And do... and do they currently have the statutory authority to hear a case of a motorcycle dealer... a franchisee seeking some redress?"

"Yes, they do. As a matter of fact, what brought this about... it addresses a... a problem which showed up actually in Bloomington, where a dealership found out at the end of a contract, they were going to have to make a very extensive purchase, which was not previously in the contract. So, they had to rush to court to try and get injunctive relief. Even though the provision is already provided in current law, this automatically puts that stay in. The stay, so that the review board can look at it, and make the determination on whether there would be an 13  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 authorized change in that franchise."

"All right. Does this put a motorcycle dealer on the same ground as an automobile dealer? Do they have... does an automobile dealer have a recourse to go to this review board in the case of a franchise dispute?"

"That's not dealt with in this, so I apologize, I really don't know..."

"Okay."

"...whether... this only deals with the motorcycles..."

"All right."

"...Section of the Bill."

"I was just wondering if it just puts them on an even playing field, but I... whatever. And as far as you know, there's nothing this Bill that says a motorcyclist is prohibited from riding his or her motorcycle on Lake Shore Drive, is there?"

"You know, I've been checking this... I don't think so, but I think they would have to wear a certain color helmet. No, actually that is not in this Bill."

"Yeah, I... I think we did have something on that earlier as I recall. Seems to be some dispute in some municipalities as to where a motorcycle can and in fact, cannot be driven. I don't remember whether we've addressed that yet or not."

"That is true, but I did have the misfortune to find out that you cannot drive a beer truck down Lake Shore Drive in my younger days. So, appreciate those comments."

"Thank you very much, Representative. Thank you, Mr. Speaker."

"Further discussion? Seeing no one is seeking recognition, Representative Mautino to close."

"Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen. I'd appreciate an 14  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 'aye' vote on Senate Bill 377."

"The question is, 'Shall Senate Bill 377 pass?' This is final action. Those in favor of the Bill will vote 'yes'; those opposed will vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On Senate Bill 377, there were 116 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no', 0 voting 'present'. And this Bill having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 4 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 545. Representative Parke. Representative Parke. Out of the record. On page 5 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 753. Representative Durkin. Jim Durkin. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill. Mr. Durkin."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Senate Bill 753 is an initiative of the Illinois Attorney General Office and is an extension of what I did about two years ago, which is going to allow..."

"Mr. Durkin, out of the record. The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Burke for an announcement."

"Thank you, Speaker. For the Members information, there is a chiropractic physician that will be practicing and treating in the nurse's station for any Member that's interested in availing themselves of that service. There again, is a chiropractic physician in the nurse's station. Thank you."

Speaker Hartke: "Thank you for that announcement. On page 5 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 987. Representative Hoffman. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 987, a Bill for an Act amending the Illinois Vehicle Code. Third Reading of this Senate Bill." 15  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

"Mr. Hoffman."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Essentially, what this Bill would do is require that all school buses that are purchased after January 1st, 2000, be equipped with the... a strobe lamp, as well as require that... that all emergency exits of a school bus be outlined around the perimeter of the exit with the minimum of one inch wide yellow reflective tape or decal. The... the essence of this Bill is a safety measure. I know that many times it's difficult to see these buses and also, to assist in being able to locate the emergency exits if there is some type of a... of an accident. What it does is, it essentially is a compromise that... that indicates that only buses that are essentially purchased after January 1st, 2000, have to have the strobe lamp, so you won't have to go back and retrofit all existing buses with the strobe lamp. However, you will have to put the one inch wide yellow reflective tape for marking the emergency exits. All right, this is a safety measure that I would ask an 'aye' vote on."

Speaker Hartke: "Is there any discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"He indicates he will."

"Representative, I... I remember this Bill in committee. I... I don't recall, however, if any entity signed in in opposition to the Bill."

"I don't remember, either. I... I think there was a discussion. I don't know if there was a sign in and I don't want to mislead you. I don't think that there was any opposition per se. I think there was discussion as 16  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 to... from the school... either the school alliance or... or school groups regarding this, but it's my understanding that the... the representative in the Senate... Representative or Senator... the Senators worked out kind of a compromise that said 'only on buses that are purchased or made or purchased after the effective date of January 1st, 2000, would the strobe lamp affect'. So, in other words, they wouldn't have to go back and retrofit all buses that are currently in existence. So, I believe, that that was the compromise language and that was the agreement that was entered into. I don't want to say that they're in agreement, now, Representative. I don't remember if they put in a slip or not, but I think that there was some type of a testimony in committee."

"I... I assume... there wasn't any mandates note filed on the Bill, but I assume, this is a mandate and we have exempted ourselves from paying for it, correct? So the school district will bear the cost of the reflective tape and the strobe light?"

"Well, I guess, if they... if they own buses, otherwise the bus company would... would..."

"Sure. Okay."

"... which would, I guess, would essentially..."

"All right."

"... I guess, charge back to the school district, eventually."

"The... the... the question that has been posed to me by some people in... in school districts in my legislative district, they question the language that the strobe light, if we're reading the Bill correctly, the strobe light can only be operating when the bus is stopped, loading, or unloading. And I did have a superintendent inquire, he 17  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 thought current language, and there are some districts that do have strobe lights, he thought current language said that the strobe light can operate when the bus is, in fact, driving down the highway or a township road, in this case, and as he reads this Bill that would restrict it. That it could only be flashing if the bus was stopped and he... he wanted a clarification and I can see why, because in foggy conditions, on two lane roads where there are hills and valleys, obviously, he wants that strobe light operating all the time, not just when the bus is stopped."

"Yes. That... that is the intent of the legislation to allow it to be operating all the time. I don't see that. Any changes with regard to how or when it should... should... should be utilized in the Bill."

"Okay."

"The only... the only changes in the Bill are essentially saying that you have to have 'em if they are purchased after January 1st, 2000, which would be the effective date of the Bill."

"Okay. I... I just... he just wanted that clarified that, obviously then, when the bus leaves the garage and is on the route, the strobe light can be operating constantly."

"Yes, yes."

"Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Speaker."

Speaker Hartke: "Further discussion? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, Representative Hoffman to close."

"I would ask for a favorable 'aye' vote."

"The question is, 'Shall Senate Bill 987 pass?' All those in favor will signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. This is final action. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On 18  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 Senate Bill 987, there were 113 Members voting 'yes', 1 person voting 'no', and 2 Members voting 'present'. And this Bill having received a Constitutional Majority is hereby declared passed. On page 5 of the... on page 3 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 291. John O. Jones. Representative Jones. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 291, a Bill for an Act relating to education. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."

"Representative Jones." Jones, J.: "Speaker. You know, this is a... really just a cleanup Bill for the State Board of Education. They came and asked me if I would Sponsor for 'em. It amends the School Code and the State Finance Act; removes the requirements that the State Board of Education submit a report to the General Assembly, summarizing the projected number of secondary special education students that will be exiting public schools; and the gifted children and transportation articles changes how the Equalized Assessed Valuation for a school district is computed for reimbursement purposes, so that the Equalized Assessed Valuation for a school district is computed in the same manner as it is computed under certain provisions concerning the basis for apportionment of the state aid; provides that if the state board is the authorizing chartering entity for the charter school, the state board shall require this charter school to maintain accurate records of daily attendance that shall be deemed sufficient to file claims under provisions concerning the basis for the apportionment of the general state aid, notwithstanding any other requirements of those provisions regarding hours of instruction and teacher's certification; and repeals a section concerning impactation (sic-impaction) and makes a 19  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 few technical changes. And I'd be happy to answer any questions."

"Is there any discussion? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, the question is, 'Shall Senate Bill 291 pass?' All those in favor will signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On Senate Bill 291, there are 116 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no', 0 voting 'present'. And this Bill having received the Constitutional Majority is hereby declared passed. On page 5 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 794, Representative Parke. Representative Parke in the chamber? Out of the record. On page 4 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 549, Representative Delgado. Representative Delgado. Out of the record. On page 3 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 276, Representative Krause. Out of the record. On page 5 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 932, Representative Myers. Out of the record. On page 5 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 737, Representative Giglio. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 737, a Bill for an Act amending the Illinois Vehicle Code. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. What House Bill... excuse me, Senate Bill 737 as amended does, is it increases the penalties for speeding in a school zone where the buses are loading and unloading. We amended it in Transportation Committee to make a good Bill even better. And outside of philosophical opposition from a couple of groups, there is no other known opposition to the Bill, and no witness slips in opposition were submitted in committee. And I'd ask for your favorable support." 20  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

Speaker Hartke: "Is there any discussion? The Chair recognizes Representative Black."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"He indicates he will."

"Representative, in... in committee, I recall that the Trauma Network had a concern that they may not be included. Yeah, that's how we fund trauma centers, on traffic fines, et cetera. Did the Amendment address their concerns?"

"Yes, it did. It further clarified the language so that the... it's written expressly clear that their money cannot be touched and these are only for fines levied above, over and above $150."

"Okay. Fine. Thank you very much."

"Thank you."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker."

Speaker Hartke: "Further discussion? The Chair recognizes the Lady from Will, Representative Kosel."

"Thank you. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"He indicates he will."

"I want to thank the Sponsor for this fine piece of legislation and let the Members know that this will go towards furthering all fines that are collected under this Bill, will go towards furthering safety in school zones. It's an excellent Bill and I would ask for your 'yes' vote on it. Thank you."

Speaker Hartke: "Seeing that no one is seeking recognition or further discussion, Representative Giglio to close."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I'd simply ask for your favorable support. Thank you, Mr. Speaker."

"The question is, 'Shall Senate Bill 737 pass?' 21  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 All those in favor will signify by voting 'aye'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On Senate Bill 737, there were 115 Members voting 'yes', 1 person voting 'no', and 0 voting 'present'. And this Bill having received a Constitutional Majority is hereby declared passed. On page 2 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 125. Representative Saviano. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 125, a Bill for an Act in relation to landscape architecture. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."

"Representative Saviano."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House. Senate Bill 125 is the Landscape Architect Licensure Act. This is an Agreed Bill. We passed out the House version a few weeks ago. I know of no opponents. It's the rewrite, and I ask for a favorable vote. Thank you."

"Is there any discussion? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, the question is, 'Shall the House pass Senate Bill 125?' All those in favor will vote 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On Senate Bill 125, there were 116 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no', and 0 voting 'present'. And this Bill having received a Constitutional Majority is hereby declared passed. On page 4 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 549. Representative Delgado. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 549, a Bill for an Act to amend the School Code. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."

"Representative Delgado." 22  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. Senate Bill 549..."

Speaker Hartke: "Excuse me, Representative. Representative O'Connor, for what reason do you seek recognition?"

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On a point of personal privilege."

"State your point."

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, it is with great pleasure that I rise to recognize Brookfield Zoo for its outstanding contributions to educating people about nature and conserving the world's resources. Zoos are now conservation centers responsible for teaching about the importance of habitat conservation and how we humans affect our environment. Brookfield Zoo has offered an example of these efforts today during a kids day of discovery, teaching children the wonders of the natural world through fun and educational activities. I am especially proud that Brookfield Zoo is in my district and is the most attended, paid cultural attraction in the state with 2.2 million visitors annually. Nearly 50% of the zoo's visitors come from outside of Cook County, and volunteers from a 120 different communities give their time to help inspire people to care about wildlife and the environment. The zoo is celebrating its 65th anniversary this year, so, I hope you'll celebrate with BZ Bear who's there in the well and me, and visit the zoo sometime soon. Can we all welcome BZ Bear from the Brookfield Zoo? Thank you."

"BZ, welcome to the zoo here in Springfield. Representative Delgado."

"Thank you once again, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. Senate Bill 549 basically amends the School Code.... and under the... and basically, what this Bill 23  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 will do, is allow... to make a technical change to a section concerning the custody of school monies in a city having a population exceeding 500,000. This would just affect the Chicago School Board and how they pay their bills from checks and warrants and signed by all the parties necessary. This is just a technical change, and I would ask for an 'aye' vote."

"Is there any discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black. Before I do, Ladies and Gentlemen, could we have a little order in here? This is Third Reading. Shhhhhh. Please. Representative Black."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was just about to inquire. Are you aware there is a bear on the House Floor?"

"Yes, I am."

"Are you aware the bear does not have a pass?"

"He's the guest of Representative O'Connor."

"Well, actually, I just figured he was a Chicago bear since Chicagoans never seem to need a pass to get in here, it's only us downstaters that have to have passes, but whatever. As bears go, he's a fine looking bear."

"Yes, he will yield for questions."

"The bear will yield or Representative Delgado?"

"Representative Delgado will."

"Oh, okay, cause I didn't have any questions for the bear, but I do have a question for Representative Delgado. This Bill in no way weakens what has transpired with the Reform Law in the City of Chicago schools, does it?"

"Absolutely not. This is a Bill sponsored by the Chicago School Board, and I am carrying the Bill for CPS."

"The... did Paul Valla... I mean, this is something that the Vallas team feels is more conducive to a timely payment 24  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 of bills, et cetera?"

"That is correct, Sir. They want to be able to use checks, go through a little quicker than just warrants, and this is just a technical change and it is their Bill."

"I appreciate that, because when I read the Bill, it seems like even though you're changing current law, it seems like even the change is somewhat cumbersome with the number of people that have to sign off on these checks, but I guess that's part of the..."

"That is part..."

"...audit trail or whatever that..."

"That is correct."

"...that is deemed necessary."

"That is correct."

"Okay."

"Actually Representative, it allows them to move quicker actually..."

"Okay."

"...if they could include checks, too."

"All right, well..."

"It gives a nice check and balance system on how it's done, and it's not questioned so much by the public and all those who say, 'Well, hey, who's signing what?' It has a very good checks and balance as to who's going to put..."

"Okay."

"...their signature on it."

"Fine. Thank you very much, Representative. Appreciate your indulgence. Thank you, Mr. Speaker."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Further discussion? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, Representative Delgado to close."

"I would just ask for an 'aye' vote, Mr. Chair 25  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 (sic-Speaker)."

"The question is, 'Shall Senate Bill 549 pass?' All those in favor will signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On Senate Bill 549, there were 116 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no', and 0 voting 'present'. And this Bill having received a Constitutional Majority is hereby declared passed. On page 5 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 794. Representative Parke. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 794, a Bill for an Act amending the Illinois Vehicle Code. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."

"Representative Parke."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House. Senate Bill 794 provides that a statutory summary suspension due to a DUI, shall terminate at the conclusion of the period set out in the Vehicle Code, regardless of whether the reinstatement fee has been paid. They ultimately have to pay it, and it's $60, and what happens when somebody is finalized and done whatever the court has told them in terms of their punishment. They believe that they have paid all the fines and when they may be pulled over and found out that they, in fact, have not paid the fine to the Secretary of State's Office, the courts must then put them in jail for 7 days. The Illinois State Bar Association feels that that is way out of line for what they did, that the court can take action against them, but that this mandatory court sentencing is out of line after they've fulfilled all the obligations of the court."

"Is there any discussion? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, the question is, 'Shall Senate Bill 26  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 794 pass?' All those in favor will signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On Senate Bill 794, there were 107 Members voting 'yes', 6 Members voting 'no'. And this Bill having received a Constitutional Majority is hereby declared passed. On page 4 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 570. Representative O'Brien. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 570, a Bill for an Act amending the Counties Code. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."

"Representative O'Brien."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Senate Bill 570 is an initiative of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Illinois State's Attorneys Association. And what it would do is, it would allow for appointment of additional assistant state's attorneys for the prosecution of alcohol-related offenses, and that the compensation will come from General Revenue Funds. It gives counties between 30 and 100,000 residents, one additional state's attorney, counties between 100,000 and 300,000, two additional state's attorneys, and counties under 30,000, one additional state's attorney. And I'd be happy to answer any questions."

Speaker Hartke: "Is there any discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Kendall, Representative Cross. Shhhhhhh."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"Shhhhhhh."

"Thank you very, very much."

"She indicates she will."

"She'll yield?" 27  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

"Yes, she will."

"Thank you for that short brief period of quiet. Representative, isn't this primarily a budgetary issue?"

"Well, there is certainly state revenue dollars that are involved in implementing the program."

"And I don't know that anyone is going to object to this. I don't if you'd want to. But in the event this Bill passes, does this mandate... it looks like this is a cost of about $6,000,000 if our analysis is correct. Is that your understanding?"

"Yes, it is."

"And, the state... is all of the 6,000,000... does all of the 6,000,000 come from the state?"

"Yes. And it's not a mandate. This is voluntary. Any... any county that chooses not to participate would not be required to. It's just offering that and it's not competitive in nature. If ten counties request the assistants under this program, ten counties would get the assistants. If a 102 counties request, a 102 counties would receive."

"So, I guess my... the real question is as... as I said, I don't know that anyone argues with the concept at all or should. But do we... do you have in place, or will this Bill put in place, the money needed for this to be implemented? I mean, is this now... is there $6,000,000 in the budget... will there be $6,000,000 in the budget if this Bill passes?"

"It's my understanding with talking to Brad Follick with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, that this has been included in the Governor's budget, that this an initiative..."

"Is it in there now?"

"My understanding is, that yes, it is provided for in 28  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 the budget, that they had worked that out with them before they brought the Bill forward in the Senate. But, it is obviously, because it's year to year, it is subject to appropriation. So, it's not a continuing appropriation. If we ran into financial hard times in the state, then it would allow for the elimination of the financing of the program."

"Is there a way to... and I... I think... as I said generally, I think this is a good concept. Is there a way to monitor or are we gonna take a look at the State's Attorneys Offices to make sure that these particular assistants are only doing DUI-related cases? Is there a way to monitor that, Mary Kay?"

"Well, certainly, because any time that an assistant state's attorney handles a case, their initials are documented on the case file. They're certainly in the court docket. And because this is General Revenue Funds, the Auditor General would... would have the ability to go in and audit those records. And it does provide that, in... in circumstances, like in Grundy County, where you have all traffic on the same docket, that assistant could go in and do work on other traffic matters, as long it's in that same call, but they wouldn't be trying a felony murder case. And if they were, then they would have to... my belief is that they would have to reimburse the state."

"No, and I'm not suggesting... cause I support just about everything if not all what the state's attorneys want. I'm not suggesting that there's going to be any abuse. I just... I didn't know if we were... if there was a mechanism in place. And obviously, I know for instance, that Will County, an area that I represent, there are hundreds if not thousands of DUI-related cases. And I 29  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 think this will provide a good bit of help to that local... to that... to county, as well as the State's Attorneys office. I think this is a good concept and I hope that it will pass and I would urge an 'aye' vote from people on this side. Thank you."

Speaker Hartke: "Further discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Logan, Representative Turner. John Turner." Turner, J.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"He ind... she indicates she will." Turner, J.: "Representative, I'd raised some concerns in committee and I think indeed, in the committee... Where are you, Representative?"

"Here I am." Turner, J.: "I'd raised some concerns in the committee about... if we are to fund this, I just fear that a year from now, the Public Defenders Offices across the State of Illinois, are going to come back and say, 'Well now, you have funded state's attorneys with additional state's attorneys to do additional prosecutions for DUIs,' and public defenders obviously represent people charged with DUIs, which is a Class A misdemeanor. Is there any concern on your part that next year the public defenders will be coming to the General Assembly and asking for funding from the state?"

"Well, certainly, as any group, they can come and request those funds. I don't know that concern about whether or not they would do that, should outweigh the value in funding this program. And I think it's important for the Members to understand that you are not entitled to a public defender unless the state is seeking the imposition of a jail penalty. And so, for most first-time DUIs, that would not be the case. And so, I think that... you know, we may be thinking that we're going to have this 30  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 run from the public defenders office, when in fact, I am not sure that we will. But certainly, I mean they have the right to come to the State of Illinois just like every other group and ask for funds." Turner, J.: "Well, are you suggesting to the Body, that if someone is charged with a Class A misdemeanor, being a DUI, they're not entitled to a public defender?"

"The only time that they are required to... to be given a public defender, in my understanding is, when the state is seeking the imposition of a jail penalty." Turner, J.: "Well, is it not the case that if the imposition of a jail penalty is possible under the statute, they're entitled to the public defender?"

"Only if the State's Attorney's Office refuses to waive, and my experience in these matters is, is that as a general rule on a first time DUI, State's Attorney's Offices waive the imposition of a jail penalty. Now, should they change that position, and say, 'We're not going to waive anything', then certainly, there's going to be more of a burden on the criminal defense system." Turner, J.: "Well, I... I... from my experience, I don't frankly think that's accurate but perhaps that the way it's worked in some counties. But under that scenario then, if the state said that they're not going to request the imposition of a jail penalty, the person's placed on supervision or probation, whatever the case may be, and then there is a petition to revoke that supervision or probation, would the state not be precluded from subsequently seeking a jail penalty?"

"I don't know that they would be precluded or not, I believe that they probably would be. But that certainly... I mean... that really doesn't have anything to do with the 31  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 subject matter of this Bill. If they have waived it..." Turner, J.: "Well, I think it does..."

"...and they are precluded, then again, they would not need the services of the public defender." Turner, J.: "I think the reason it does is because, that if you are charged with a DUI, you're always entitled to a public defender, even if the state says up front that they're not going to seek a jail penalty. But regardless of that, I could not hear your response to Representative Cross with regard to the funding. Is the $6,000,000 that will be required to fund this piece of legislation, already in the budget?"

"It is my understanding that it has been negotiated with the Governor prior to them even bringing the Bill forward in the Senate, and that they constantly monitored it, and the money is still there." Turner, J.: "And the $6,000,000 that we're talking about, that will be $6,000,000 annually, correct?"

"Correct." Turner, J.: "I know that you were probably visited by some of the state's attorneys yesterday who were in the Capitol Building. One of them suggested to me, that while this was a good idea to provide additional monies to hire state's attorneys to handle DUI cases, that they thought also, it would be a good idea if we would provide additional funding to handle sex offender cases. And I'm wondering if they've approached you with that idea and if that is a concern, that if we pass this, our... the state's attorneys going to requesting additional assistants next year for sex offenders and perhaps the next year after that, for burglaries or whatever the case may be?"

"You must be a lot more important than I am, because I 32  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 didn't have any state's attorneys visit my office yesterday. So, no one made a request to fund a sex offender program, but I certainly would stand in support of that if the state has the resources available to do it. It's just as serious and I would certainly be willing to look into the matter." Turner, J.: "Well, Representative, certainly I don't believe myself to be more important than you, in fact, I'd say it's just the antithesis. But in any event, I met with the state's attorneys outside in the hallway yesterday, and obviously having been a former state's attorney, I'm very sympathetic that what they're doing here, but I'm also realistic, and I realize that if the state's attorneys get more money for this, they'll probably be back wanting more money for other things. And, I also think that the public defenders are gonna want more money, and as I said in committee, and I am gonna support your Bill. But I have some real reservations, grave reservations about doing this. I also think that if there were more prosecutions, that there would be more juries, more money to pay for juries, more money to pay for judges, more money to pay for public defenders, and I think that the state's attorneys will be back and they'll want additional monies for prosecution for sex offender cases and probably a myriad of other cases. And there is some responsibility of the counties to pay for some of these prosecutions as well. Hence, it's a nice segue into my next question. Is there any requirement of any county to match any of the funds that the state is gonna provide, the $6,000,000?"

"No." Turner, J.: "Did you consider doing that, and don't you think that that would be a more prudent way to address this so 33  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 that the state's attorneys will realize that, yes, you can tap into some state resources, but also the county's going to have some matching responsibilities?"

"Well, to tell you the truth, I didn't consider that. And one of the reasons that I didn't is that, it's the state and it's this chamber and the chamber across the hall that continues to... to change the law to increase penalties to make different classifications of penalties and we require the counties to prosecute those and when the prosecution rate dips, and people are back out on the street and we have a tragedy, what do we do? We come back here and pass more laws, but often we don't support them with the tools necessary to do the job that we mandate that they do. And that's why I think it's important that we need to put our money where our mouth is at. We've said this is crucial to the well-being of the citizens of the State of Illinois, we expect the counties and the municipalities and all local law enforcements to go out, to make those arrests, to be hard on DUI offenders, to put them in jail, to prosecute them to the full extent of the law. Well, if we expect them to do that, then we have an obligation to help them fund the programs that we say they are required by law to do." Turner, J.: "All right, what kind of other funding does the state give to counties to hire state's attorneys?"

"You know, there have been grant programs in the past that have gone through, some have been federal funds, some have been state funds that have passed through, through IDOT and others to hire specific DUI prosecutors. Some of the problems that I experienced with those, was that individual could not even set a court date on another matter. They were specifically a DUI prosecutor. So, even 34  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 in a smaller county where the caseload had other items on it that could have been handled as a matter of rou... you know, routine matter by that assistant, they could not because of the grant. There is a precedent. There have been grants throughout... I know for a fact, Kankakee County was a recipient because they had a low prosecution rate, because they had a low number of assistant state's attorneys." Turner, J.: "Right, and I'm familiar with some of those grant programs, but more specifically, is there not something in the statutes that requires the state to provide monies to counties to hire state's attorneys or assistant state's attorneys? Don't we already fund a significant portion of the cost of counties for state's attorneys?"

"I'm not aware that we do."" Turner, J.: "I was thinking it was a rather large percentage and certainly I know that in counties that have prisons..."

"Well..." Turner, J.: "...I believe..."

"...you know..." Turner, J.: "...it's at least 80% of any assistant that is funded. Also, didn't we, when we gave the state's attorneys a pay raise last year, raising state's attorneys salaries up to $121,000 per year...?"

"I... I didn't vote to give them a pay raise." Turner, J.: "Well, when we did that for counties of over $30,000, did we not being the State of Illinois, fund that entire pay raise?"

"Representative, again, because I did not vote for that measure, I don't know what the funding mechanism for that was. But I do believe you're right, that it... that it is state dollars but that goes only to the state's attorney 35  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 and is... to back up, because we have set a precedent and it is statutorily required that counties with a prison, get money for their circuit clerk and for their State's Attorneys Office. But, the sad reality is, is we put it in the statute but we don't fund it. The County of Will has never received a payment since that Bill was passed." Turner, J.: "Well, getting back to the pay raises, when the state's attorneys salary was $65,000 a year was raised to 80 and now raised to 121, hasn't the state funded the entire pay raise scheme for state's attorneys since it was set at $65,000 several years ago?"

"Like I said to you before, I don't know the answer to that question." Turner, J.: "Well, in any event, if I'm correct and that has been funded entirely by the state, this will just be additional monies going to the counties for state's attorneys by the state, in addition to all those that we're already giving."

"Correct." Turner, J.: "And you don't know whether we've ever made any commensurate funding to public defenders from the counties?"

"I do not know." Turner, J.: "All right, thank you for your responses."

"Further discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"She indicates she will."

"Representative, I never cease to be amazed at the process here. Ten minutes ago we pass a Bill that as I understood it, brought forward by the State Bar that says, 'A drunk driver no longer has to pay his or her reinstatement fee.' 36  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 Once the suspension is up, you can drive again, whether or not you paid the $60 reinstatement fee. That flew out of here with 90 some votes. Now, we come to a Bill that says we're going to put assistant state's attorneys into counties but they can only prosecute DUI cases. Now, what I need from you is, first of all, does the county have the ability to say, 'No, I do not want to participate in this program?'"

"Absolutely."

"Okay."

"It is 100% voluntary."

"Okay, now, if the county does choose to participate in the program, and maybe they only have... 6 DUI cases pending, that special state's attorney or assistant state's attorney, clears those cases, but they have a backlog of two dozen assault and batteries, several home invasions, some armed robberies, can this special state's attorney then prosecute some of the other cases pending in that county?"

"If those cases come before the same call. You talked about assault and battery, because those are typically misdemeanor cases, they're going to be on the same call in a small county with your DUIs and with all the other traffic offenses. Armed robbery would be a felony offense and would be on another call. So, for some of them that you have mentioned, those individuals can, in fact, work on those cases. For some, they cannot. But, I wanted to clear up something that... I mean and this is not only for DUI prosecution, it's for whatever is on that call in that... court at that time."

"But, then, as I understand it in talking with staff, that gives a great deal of discretion to the chief judge. And 37  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 if the chief judge decides that this is only going to be a DUI call, this person is only going to work on DUIs, would it not then be possible that it could be five days out of the month that maybe this special state's attorney really has no case to prosecute?"

"I guess that could be possible."

"And again, staff relates that in his experience as an assistant state's attorney, that the chief judge set up one courtroom and one call only for DUI cases."

"I believe that your staff person maybe perhaps was in Will County at the State's Attorneys Office, or Kankakee?"

"Champaign County."

"In a county that size, that is very typical. And what happens in most of the courthouses that I work in and where you live, is that they don't have the ability to set one call. And my feeling is, is that I think that you can trust most state's attorneys, if they're only going to have six cases a year, they're going to recognize that DUI is not a problem in their county and that they are going to choose not to participate in the program."

"Do we currently reimburse a county for all of their assistant state's attorneys? Do we pick up that salary or the salary under the formula?"

"Like I answered to... to Representative Turner, I don't know the answer to that question."

"Okay. Staff indicates to me from his experience as an assistant state's attorney, that the answer is, 'no'. That we do not reimburse them. So, I guess then my fear is, something... what Representative Turner was saying, most counties are gonna say, 'Hey, we'll take an assistant state's attorney if you're gonna send us the money.' Then I fear that some of the elected state's attorneys who often 38  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 have a backlog of cases are gonna say, 'Look, I know you're suppose to DUI, but you're gonna do a little bit of everything here.' Then wouldn't they... wouldn't they have a problem with the intent of your law if they tried to do that?"

"If it's not on the same call and they do that, when the Auditor General finds out, then they'll have to reimburse the state for those funds."

"Okay, and again, Representative, I... I have no inclination to be lenient or support and I hope my remarks aren't... aren't taken to say that I... I don't want to get tough on DUIs, I do, that's why I was one of the few 'no' votes on a previous Bill, because I feel very strongly if they don't pay the reinstatement fee, even though their suspension period is over, they have not fulfilled the terms of their case and they should not be driving, but the Bill flies out of here. So, I... I'm not soft on DUIs. My fear is, having spent ten years in county government on the county board, and the privilege of being a chairman of that county board, I think the state's attorney will then put pressure on the county board to come to the Legislature and say, 'Well, this worked out fairly well, but we... we really could use one, an assistant state's attorney for felony cases, and we could really use one for domestic abuse', which is probably the fastest growing caseload in my home county. I mean, at what point do we as a legislative Body say, 'Well, now wait a minute, we can't continue to create categories of special assistant attorneys that we're going to pay you for.' The only fear is that we maybe... that I have as a past county board chairman, don't you think we may be creating an appetite that we soon are gonna find we really can't afford to 39  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 fill?"

"Well, certainly, I mean, that would be a concern, and I think that we are going to have to address that issue, so long as we continue to create new categories of offenses to enhance penalties, and when cases are not prosecuted or there's a plea bargain, turn and point the finger at our local counties and say, 'You didn't do your job', when we are the ones mandating that they get tough on crime, that they go after every offender to the full extent of the law. And we have increased those penalties, we have an obligation to support them and to support the mandates that we place upon local government."

"And again, it's not a philosophical disagreement with what you're trying to do, but, I've watched the caseload in juvenile court just go through the ceiling. And I think it comes back to what Representative Tom Johnson is trying to do in telling us, we'd better rewrite the entire criminal code in this state, that we... we've just patched it together to the point where we're just simply reacting constantly. I... I appreciate what you're trying to do. I thank you for your honest and forthright answers. And I really don't know how I'm gonna vote on this Bill. I... I don't have any problem with what we're attempting to do, but having spent ten years on a county board, I do have some fear as to how this may be interpreted. And for a lack of a better word, even misused, a year or two down the road. But I... I thank you for your forthright answers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker."

"Thank you."

Speaker Hartke: "Further discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Du Page, Representative Johnson. Tom Johnson." 40  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 Johnson, Tom: "Will the Sponsor yield?"

"She indicates she will." Johnson, Tom: "Representative, you know, we had quite a discussion on this in committee. And... and I applaud what you're trying to do here. But I guess, you know, the points that have been raised have been very good. I want to raise one other point, and that is that, philosophically, we elect local state's attorneys in each of our counties. And if I'm not mistaken, it's their job to prioritize resources to deal with crime within a given county. And I guess I'm interested in your response to this overall position, that what we're doing here is setting a precedent now in the General Assembly of beginning to prioritize and dictating back by way of throwing the bait of money in front of our local elected state's attorneys, to begin to prioritize the prosecution of one crime over another crime. And I'm not sure that this is the approach that is a proper approach or one that we ought to be taking as a General Assembly. I guess I'm interested in your comments on that."

"Well and as I stated in committee, that it is because the State's Attorneys Association in this state, spoke to Mothers Against Drunk Driving and said, 'You know, you advocate for these Bills, but we cannot afford to prosecute all of them.' Mothers Against Drunk Driving said, 'What would you like for us to do? How can we help you?' And they said, 'You can find us funding for an additional state's attorney for alcohol-related offenses.' And this is where the genesis of this Bill came from. And regarding prioritization, we set the priority when we passed these Bills. And we say to local government, 'We find this to be the public policy of the state, that we will not tolerate 41  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 these offenses.' None are prioritized higher or lower. There is a high incidence of alcohol-related offenses in the State of Illinois. It's probably more common than nearly any other kind of offense. And the state's attorneys asked for the help from the State of Illinois and I'm trying to give it to them." Johnson, Tom: "Okay. To the Bill. I voted against this in committee and I had discussions with MADD and SADD and other groups concerning this. And this is certainly not in opposition to what they're trying to do. And in fact, I support what they're trying to do. But I cannot support the idea that, we in the General Assembly, will turn around and begin to fund a special assistant state's attorney in any given county to deal with just one crime over another crime, because I think it's going to skew the decision-making process of our local elected state's attorneys to prioritize their resources and deal with the crime as they see it developing within their individual counties. What this will do is set a precedent in my opinion, that next year we will have the child abuse groups in or domestic violence groups in, or we'll start forming coalitions against armed robbers, against murderers, et cetera. And we will begin to dictate from this chamber, looking at things from our vantage point and from what the media will be reporting from day to day, and saying, 'We want to prioritize this crime, this year. We'll do another crime next year.' I think that the key is, if we're gonna do anything, we ought to maybe increase funding for law enforcement, State's Attorneys Offices, counties in general, and still let the decision making take place at those local areas, where they know how they need to address the most pressing crimes that are taking place in their 42  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 individual counties. And it's for that reason, and not that I'm opposed to this particular thing, that I will be casting a 'no' vote."

Speaker Hartke: "Further discussion? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, Representative O'Brien to close."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just in response, I strongly urge an 'aye' vote. But I want to say that next year, if state's attorneys come to me and ask for help to prosecute sex offenses or to prosecute pedophiles, I'm going to try and help them, too. And I hope that you will vote 'aye' on this to help your state's attorneys."

"The question is, 'Shall Senate Bill 570 pass?' All those in favor will signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On Senate Bill 570, there are 101 Members voting 'yes', 15 Members voting 'no', and 0 voting 'present'. And this Bill having received a Constitutional Majority is hereby declared passed. For what reason does the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Harris, seek recognition?"

"Mr. Speaker, I have with us today, some future leaders in the State of Illinois. Sixth, seventh and eighth graders from Calumet and Burr Oak schools, in Calumet Park, which is located in the 29th District. They also have their sponsors with them. I'd like for them to stand, and I'd like for the House of Representatives to give them a warm welcome. Thank you."

Speaker Hartke: "Welcome to the General Assembly. On page 5 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 775. Representative Poe. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 775, a Bill for an Act amending the 43  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 State Parks Designation Act. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."

"Representative Poe."

"Yeah, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, Senate Bill 775 comes from the Senate, and this is a Bill that would rename Site M, which is in my... western part of my district, and we're gonna name it in honor of former Governor Jim Edgar, and the name of the park would be, Jim Edgar Panther Creek... let me find it... yeah, Fish and Wildlife (sic-Area). If there's any questions, I'll be glad to ask. I'd like to have a favorable vote. I think this is something that Governor Edgar was very good on conservation, worked very hard in the State of Illinois to promote that. And this is a way we could honor our former Governor."

Speaker Hartke: "The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"He indicates he will."

"Representative Poe, I just want to make sure of one thing on the record. Two or three years ago, when my Senator passed away, the late Senator Harry 'Babe' Woodyard, there was a movement underway, and I think some Senators wanted to name Site M after Senator Woodyard. And I got a lot of letters and mail from that area, indicating that they didn't know Senator Woodyard. They were sure he was a fine fellow, but they didn't want it named after him. Now, I just want some reassurance from you, that the people in the area, in the designated area, are they aware of this and are they supportive of the name?"

"Yes. The... Senator Bomke met with Mr. Brownback who's 44  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 Chairman of the Cass County Board, and they met and they agreed that this would be a good choice."

"Well, I... I certainly have no objection. And I think in the eight years that Governor Edgar served as Governor, I think his support for our outdoor space was unparalleled. I certainly will join with you in this, but I... after having gone through with one of these Site M designations a few years ago, I just wanted to make sure the folks over there were in... were in agreement. And I appreciate your indulgence."

"Thank you."

"Further discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from McHenry, Mr. Skinner."

"Representative, it's my opinion, that probably no one from my district will ever find Site M. Now, if we change the name from Site M to Jim Edgar, will there be directional signs pointing from Route 55, saying there's a really big park over there that hardly anybody uses?"

"Well, I think you're... you're... there's going to be signs off the interstate and it'll be the Williamsville Exit. They'll route'em through Petersburg or if you come from the south, you'll go out through Pleasant Plains. And yes, there will be signs. This is nearly a 16,000 acre conservation area. They're currently building a scenic drive around it. They've started on a 210 acre lake. And they will be building campsites and I think you'll probably see up anywhere... half a million plus people a year, will be using this facility."

"I think it's a ... it's a... it's wonderful, a wonderful sized park, it will be much better located if it were located in the Chicago Metropolitan Area. But, I think you're right." 45  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

"If you'll Sponsor a Bill to move it, we'll try."

"Jim Edgar deserves this honor as much as Jim Thompson deserved the honor of having the State of Illinois Building named after him."

Speaker Hartke: "The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Rock Island, Representative Brunsvold."

"Thank you. Will the Gentleman yield?"

"He indicates he will."

"Representative Poe, is this... I think you indicated, this is the whole 15 some thousand acres?"

"Yes."

"Because didn't we try to name this after Senator Woodyard?"

"Yes."

"So this evidently has been the plan all along, huh?"

"Yeah, it could have been. I think when we did that for Senator Woodyard. I think they found that there was a site in Vermilion County, which is his home area, and I think it suited him and fam... his family a lot better to have something there where his former constituents would have been aware of it and they appreciated that being named over there."

"Thank you."

"Further discussion? Seeing no one is seeking recognition, Representative Poe to close."

"Yeah, I just appreciate a 'yes' vote. And I think we... it'd be a good way for us to honor our former Governor and name the park, Jim Edgar (sic-Panther Creek Fish and Wildlife Area) State Park. Thank you."

"The question is, 'Shall Senate Bill 775 pass?' All those in favor will vote 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have 46  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk... Mr. Clerk, take the record. On Senate Bill 775, there were 116 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no' and 0 voting 'present'. And this Bill having received the Constitutional Majority is hereby declared passed. On page 4 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 545. Representative Parke. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Bolin: "Senate Bill 545, a Bill for an Act in relation to the disclosure of federal estate tax information to the Attorney General. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."

"Representative Parke."

"Mr. Speaker, Members of the House, Senate Bill 545 is a Bill that requires disclosure of certain federal estate tax information to the Attorney General Office to see if there's a possible Illinois Estate Tax liability. It's a very simple Bill. And it will clear up any ambi... any indecision on this... on this... ability to do this."

Speaker Hartke: "Is there any discussion? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, the question is, 'Shall Senate Bill 545 pass?' All those in favor will signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On Senate Bill 545, there were 115 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no', 0 voting 'present'. And this Bill having received the Constitutional Majority is hereby declared passed. On page 4 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 541. Representative Krause. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Bolin: "Senate Bill 541, a Bill for an Act to amend the Hospital Licensing Act. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."

"Representative Krause." 47  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

"Speaker. I present Senate Bill 541, that requires hospitals to maintain medical records for at least 10 years, and at the same time to protect the privacy of medical information that they obtain from all of their patients. The American Hospital Association recommends a ten year retention standard. Also, the legislation requires hospitals to protect the confidentiality of the records and all other information that they obtain from patients. Any individual who willfully and wantonly discloses hospital or medical records information, commits a Class A misdemeanor. I ask for your support, and would be pleased to answer any questions."

"Is there any discussion? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, the question is, 'Shall the House pass Senate Bill 541?' All those in favor will signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On Senate Bill 541, there were 116 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no', and 0 voting 'present'. And this Bill having received the Constitutional Majority is hereby declared passed. On page 6 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 1068. Representative Winters. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 1068, a Bill for an Act to amend the Wildlife Code. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."

"Representative Winters."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Senate Bill 1068, is an Agreed Bill with the Department of Natural Resources. It allows snow goose hunters to use hunting methods during that snow goose season that are currently prohibited, and would allow a study on removal of game birds and migratory game birds that are causing property damage. I'm not aware of any 48  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 opposition to the Bill."

Speaker Hartke: "Is there any discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Jackson, Representative Bost."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"He indicates he will."

"Representative, it's... it's my understanding that the reason for this is, is there's a massive quantity of snow geese and that there's a possibility of endangering the other geese species that are around if we don't thin them down?"

"That is exactly correct. Up in the Hudson Bay breeding grounds, the snow geese actually destroy much of the vegetation that Canada geese and other migratory waterfowl use to sustain themselves during the breeding season. The Federal Wildlife Service, is asked all of the states to try and increase the harvest of snow geese, to reduce the pressure on those breeding grounds. One of the ways to do that is, increase the bag limit and also increase the number of shells that a shotgun can hold during the snow goose season only."

"Thank you. Mr. Speaker, to the Bill."

"To the Bill."

"This is just a positive move by the department to try to manage the snow goose population and I stand in total support of the Bill."

Speaker Hartke: "The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Jo Daviess... he's declined. Further discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"He indicates he will." 49  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

"Representative, there's been some letters to the editor in many newspapers throughout the State of Illinois about this Bill. As I understand it, it allows the removal of what are called 'nuisance Canadian geese', though I think more and more of us are seeing they take up permanent residence on golf courses, in... in water retention ponds by factories, and they pretty much stay there the year round, and can become somewhat aggressive. I'm a terrible golfer but I remember slicing a ball over by a pond and I decided not to go get it because I didn't think the geese wanted me to go into that area. Well, now, how many of these nuisance Canadian geese could be removed from such a site? And, who would do the removal?"

"This... this would let DNR not only study the problem, but also set up... set up the rules and regulations that would allow a park district, I'm not sure that golfers would be allowed to go out with their clubs and remove the geese."

"I would certainly hope not."

"Well, I've heard many, many rumors of your golf game, and I understand how many times you come into conflict with the geese."

"Well, the only birdie I ever got was when I hit one off the tee, but that's another story. But, when they... when you say removal of Canadian geese or nuisance geese, I'm assuming that that does not mean that DNR would let someone go out and shoot them or otherwise eliminate them by some method of poison or trapping? Would that... surely that's not the intent here is it?"

"No, it would allow the DNR to set up the rules and regulations for removal. It would probably be during the molting season when the geese cannot fly. In our county, 50  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 Winnebago County, they have had a roundup at some of the very popular wildlife refuges where they are actually just rounding the geese up to band them and understand how many of them are year round residents and how many of them are going through. But they could use the same process of simply a number of employees of a park district or forest preserve district, to basically round them up with nets and trap them that way. The City of Minneapolis, I believe, has done this in Minnesota and then the birds are moved to a slaughter plant, processed and donated to the... to the hungry."

"Okay."

"That is a way of removing those nuisance geese, lowering the population so they cause less property damage."

"I... I appreciate the indulgence, because I... I think most of us have seen competing letters to the editor throughout the state, some indicating that this was a good idea, and some indicating that this was a terrible idea. But as you explain it, it seems to me to be the answer to an ever growing problem in some areas where these Canadian geese have just literally taken over some areas and you enter at your own risk, not to mention the fact that they seem to be very prolific at making a mess."

"Yes, there are... there are city parks in Loves Park and Rockford, along the Rock River, where you very, very rarely see anybody in the park because of the by-products of goose livelihoods..."

"Okay."

"...on the grass."

"Fine. Thank you very much Representative. Thank you, Mr. Speaker." 51  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

"Further discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Logan, Representative Turner. John Turner." Turner, J.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"He indicates he will." Turner, J.: "Representative, as you know, I join you as a cosponsor. I appreciate the chance to be a cosponsor with you and the fact that you allowed me to go on with you."

"I appreciated... I appreciated your begging on your knees to be on the Bill. Thank you, John." Turner, J.: "Right. And as I told you, I think when you added me, I have actually had a call from a constituent concerning this problem. Subsequent to adding my name as a cosponsor, I got another call, it was actually to my secretary. And the inquiry from my constituent was whether or not this would also cover ducks. Because apparently, it's not only geese that are coming in and destroying his crops, but ducks as well. And my understanding of the Bill, is that it would also cover those type of fowl."

"It will be up to DNR to exactly determine which species, but it would include not only waterfowl, but beavers, such as Washington, D.C. as seen on the mall, muskrats, other... other animals that are causing property damage." Turner, J.: "Thank you, Representative Winters."

"Further discussion? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, Representative Winters to close."

"Appreciate an 'aye' vote. Thank you."

Speaker Hartke: "The question is, 'Shall Senate Bill 1068 pass?' All those in favor will signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On Senate Bill 1068 there were 52  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 112 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no', and 3 Members voting 'present'. And this Bill having received a Constitutional Majority is hereby declared passed. On page 6 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 1072. Representative Ryder. Ryder. Tom Ryder. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 1072, a Bill for an Act in relation to certain land. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."

"Representative Ryder."

"Thank you very much. This Bill is the annual land conveyances of the Illinois Department of Transportation. It includes an Amendment adding some land here in Sangamon County. All of them have been listed. I would be happy to answer any specific questions if you have them. Would urge your passage."

Speaker Hartke: "Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, the question is, 'Shall Senate Bill 1072 pass?' All those in favor will signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On Senate Bill 1072, there were 115 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no', and 0 voting 'present'. And this Bill having received the Constitutional Majority is hereby declared passed. Senate Bill 177. Representative Durkin. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 177, a Bill for an Act to amend the Criminal Code of 1961. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."

"Representative Durkin."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Senate Bill 177 is an initiative of Governor George Ryan. This is his safe 53  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 storage Bill. This Bill states that a person who's a gun owner, if they are... have a loaded weapon with inside the premises, they must do one of three things... either keep it in a locked container; have a trigger lock; or place it in a location which a reasonable person would believe that a person under the age of 14, who is not a FOID card owner, to get access to. This is not a mandatory trigger lock. I think that's been some misconception of that over the past few weeks. First offense, if anybody is charged with this, is a Class E misdemeanor. There are defenses in here for a person under the age of 14 to defend his property, to defend his person. I'm ready to answer questions, Mr. Speaker."

"Is there any discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Champaign, Representative Winkel."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"He indicates he will."

"Representative, I... of course, I applaud your efforts to act on behalf of promoting child safety in this state. You know that. You and I have talked extensively about this Bill in committee and out, and today we resume our discussion. I congratulate you and the Governor working together on a Bill with the goal of protecting our children, but I do have some concerns about the Bill. One of the concerns that I have, Representative, and you and I again have talked about this at length, is that this seems to duplicate some preexisting..."

"Mr. Speaker, could I for just one moment, take this Bill out of the record?"

Speaker Hartke: "Out of the record. On page 7 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 1133. Representative Mitchell. Jerry Mitchell. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill." 54  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

Clerk Bolin: "Senate Bill 1133, a Bill for an Act to amend the School Code. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."

"Representative Mitchell."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Senate Bill 1133 is a very simple concept, and really all it is stating is that, if a student is not in a work or vocational program, then the school district nor the state board can... can say that they should be tested on those particular areas. I don't think it would happen, but there were some people that had a concern in this area, and I think this addresses that concern. I know of no opposition. It passed unanimously out of the Senate and unanimously out of committee. Be happy to answer any questions."

Speaker Hartke: "Is there any discussion? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, the question is, 'Shall the House pass Senate Bill 1133?' All those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk take the record. On Senate Bill 1133, there were 115 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no', and 0 voting 'present'. And this Bill having received a Constitutional Majority is hereby declared passed. Senate Bill 177. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill. Take that Bill out of the record. The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Saline, Representative Fowler. For what reason do you seek recognition?"

"Yes, Mr. Chairman (sic-Speaker). I could not get my button to operate properly on that, but let the record show I voted 'aye'."

Speaker Hartke: "The record will reflect your desire to vote 'yes' on Senate Bill 1133. On page 5 of... 6 of the 55  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 Calendar, appears Senate Bill 126. Representative Saviano. Representative Saviano. Mr. Clerk, take that Bill out of the record. Mr. Clerk, what is the status of Senate Bill 117?"

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 117 is on the Order of Senate Bills - Third Reading."

"Place that Bill on the Order of Second Reading for the purposes of an Amendment at the request of the Sponsor. Mr. Clerk, what is the status of Senate Bill 932? Representative Myers."

"Senate Bill 932 is on the Order of Senate Bills - Third Reading."

Speaker Hartke: "Place that Bill on the Order of Second Reading for the purposes of an Amendment at the request of the Sponsor. On page 13 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 1117. Representative Winters. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 1117..."

"Mr. Winters, you have an Amendment pending in Rules."

"Is the Amendment out of Rules?"

"No."

"No. Out of the record then, please."

Speaker Hartke: "Out of the record. On Second Reading, on page 13 on the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 1130. Representative Cowlishaw. Would you like to move that Bill to Third Reading? Out of the record. Senate Bill 1170. Representative Giles. Calvin Giles. Would you like to move that Bill to Third Reading? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill. Out of the record. Senate Bill 1172. Representative Cross. Would you like to move that Bill to Third Reading? Representative Cross."

"Which Bill number is it, Mr. Speaker?" 56  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

"Eleven seventy two."

"You had it a little hidden on me. Yeah, I'd like to move that, please. Thanks a lot."

"Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 1172, a Bill for an Act amending the Counties Code. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

Speaker Hartke: "Third Reading. Senate Bill 1207. Representative Bellock. Representative Bellock in the chamber? Out of the record. On Second Reading, on page 8 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 13. Representative Currie. Barb Currie. Out of the record. Senate Bill 39. Representative Turner. John Turner. Would you like to move that Bill to Third Reading? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 39, a Bill for an Act amending the Illinois Municipal Code. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 85. Representative Zickus. Out of the record. Senate Bill 10 or excuse me, 109. Representative Righter. Would you like to move that Bill to Third Reading? Representative Righter. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 109, a Bill for an Act amending the Criminal Code of 1961. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 145. Representative Mathias. Sid Mathias. Would you like to move that Bill? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill." 57  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

"Senate Bill 145, a Bill for an Act in relation to environmental protection. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

Speaker Hartke: "Third Reading. On page 8 of the Calendar, on Second Reading, appears Senate Bill 149. Representative Black. Out of the record. Senate Bill 167. Representative Hassert. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 167, a Bill for an Act concerning real property. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Motions have been filed. No Floor Amendments approved for consideration."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 215. Representative Gash. Would you like to move that Bill to Third Reading? Out of the record. Senate Bill 223. Representative Scully. Out of the record. Senate Bill 224. Representative Righter. Would you like to move that Bill to Third? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 224, a Bill for an Act in relation to sex offenses committed against persons under 18 years of age. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. On page 9 of the Calendar, on Second Readings, appears Senate Bill 242. Representative McKeon. Larry McKeon. Out of the record. Senate Bill 254. Representative Feigenholtz. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 254, a Bill for an Act amending the Condominium Property Act. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 258. Representative 58  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 Erwin. Judy Erwin. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 258, a Bill for an Act amending the Code of Civil Procedure. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 272. Representative Wait. Ron Wait. Would you like to move that Bill to Third? Out of the record. Senate Bill 315. Representative Reitz. Dan Reitz. Would you like... Out of the record. Senate Bill 321. Representative Hoeft. Out of the record. Senate Bill 338. Representative Andrea Moore. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 338, a Bill for an Act concerning refunds of insurance premium taxes. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Motions have been filed. No Floor Amendments approved for consideration."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 359. Representative Winters. Representative Winters. Out of the record. On page 10 of the Calendar, appears Senate Bill 448. Representative Schoenberg. Out of the record. Senate Bill 445. Representative Saviano. Out of the record. Senate Bill 435. Representative Saviano. Out of the record. For what reason does the Lady from Cook, Representative Monique Davis, seek recognition?" Davis, M.: "Mr. Speaker, I would like to announce Human Service Appropriation Hearing at 10 a. m. tomorrow morning in Room 114. Human Service Appropriation will meet at 10 a. m. tomorrow morning in 114."

"Thank you." Davis, M.: "Not usually 9:00. The schedule says nine, but we're going to meet at 10 a. m." 59  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

"Senate Bill 452. Representative Capparelli. Out of the record. Senate Bill 459. Representative Lang. Out of the record. On page 6 of the Calendar, on Third Reading, appears Senate Bill 126. Representative Saviano. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 126, a Bill for an Act concerning structural engineers. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."

"Representative Saviano."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House. Senate Bill 126 is the rewrite for the Act that sunsetted. There's... this is an Agreed Bill. We worked on this. The companion House Bill was sent out earlier in the Session, and I would ask for a favorable vote. Thank you."

"Is there any discussion? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, the question is, 'Shall the House pass Senate Bill 126?' All those in favor will signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On Senate Bill 126, there were 116 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no', and 0 voting 'present'. And this Bill having received the Constitutional Majority is hereby declared passed. Senate Bill 452, on Second Reading. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill..."

"Representative, that has fiscal notes still applying... applied to the Bill. Leave that Bill on Second. Senate Bill 288. Representative Saviano. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill. Leave that Bill on Second. Senate Bill 368. Representative Saviano. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 368, a Bill for an Act concerning 60  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 contact lenses. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, Agreed Resolutions."

"Agreed Resolutions. House Resolution 218, offered by Representative Bill Mitchell. House Resolution 219, offered by Representative Bill Mitchell. House Resolution 220, offered by Representative Bill Mitchell. House Resolution 221, offered by Representative Monique Davis. House Resolution 222, offered by Representative Andrea Moore. House Resolution 223, offered by Speaker Madigan. House Resolution 224, offered by Representative Julie Curry. House Resolution 225, offered by Representative Granberg. House Resolution 226, offered by Representative Hannig. House Resolution 227, offered by Representative Joe Lyons. House Resolution 231, offered by Representative Osmond. House Resolution 232, offered by Representative Osmond. House Resolution 233, offered by Representative Brady."

Speaker Hartke: "Representative Delgado now moves for the adoption of the Agreed Resolutions. All those in favor signify by saying 'aye'; opposed 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair the 'ayes' have it, and the Agreed Resolutions are adopted. Introduction of Resolutions."

"House Resolution 228, offered by Representative Eileen Lyons. House Resolution 229, offered by Representative Lawfer. House Resolution 230, offered by Representative Schmitz. House Resolution 234, offered by Representative Hamos. House Resolution 235, offered by... the House Resolution 235, offered by Representative Mitchell, are assigned to the Rules Committee."

"May I have your attention please! The Chair 61  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 would like to make an announcement. The Pages will be distributing the yellow sheets which have a list of the Agreed Bills that will be voted on tomorrow. So, it's for your review. All the Bills that are on that list, are put together on... on visuals for you to read, showing the description of the Bills and they will be up here by the well. Senate Bill 435. Representative Saviano. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Bill 435, a Bill for an Act concerning real estate time share interest. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Motions have been filed. No Floor Amendments approved for consideration."

"Third Reading. Senate Bill 445. Representative Saviano. That's on Third. It's out of the record. Senate Bill 759. Representative Schmitz. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Senate Bill 759, a Bill for an Act amending the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. Second Reading of this Senate Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

Speaker Hartke: "Third Reading. For what reason does the Gentleman from Kendall, Representative Cross, seek recognition?"

"Can I ask a couple of questions of the Chair or maybe the parliamentarian, with respect to the..."

"State your point."

"...committee schedule that you sent out here? Tuesday, May 4th, 1999, Session time 11:30 a. m., and it says 'time tentative'. How are we suppose to take that? Can I... are we going to get a tentative answer or...?"

Speaker Hartke: "We will have Session that day, but we may be 62  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 convening at 11:30 rather than..."

"When will... and I hate to get specific about times around here, but when would we know... I know..."

"We will know..."

"...so, we should just schedule... we should just come down here sometime that day and just hang around still you call us? Would that be the best way to handle it, Chuck?"

Speaker Hartke: "We will know before we leave Session this week, and an announcement will be made."

"Well, some time tomorrow?"

"Tentatively."

"Well, will you tentatively continue to use these green colored sheets or are we going to go back to those often used yellow sheets that we've grown accustomed to?"

"We will try to keep the Members informed on the schedule."

"We have a tendency to ignore the nonyellow sheets, Mr. Speaker. So, if you could... I don't know if it's more expensive to use the yellow, but if you could look into using that instead of the green."

"We'll have a study on that."

"All right, well, try not to be to tentative in that study."

Speaker Hartke: "Representative Black, for what reason do you seek recognition?"

"Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I have an inquiry of the Chair."

"State your inquiry."

"Yes, it's regarding the three-page yellow sheet that you handed out. Four pages, I'm sorry."

"Yes, Sir."

"I'm sorry, I only had three pages, but somebody just 63  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 handed me the fourth page."

"State your inquiry."

"Yes. In fact, I'm very pleased that somebody gave me the fourth page, because on the fourth page, I have a Bill on the Agreed Bill List. It's down toward the bottom, 1189, and it has to do with the Fram Development. Is that a... is that a filter Bill that somebody put in in my name? I... I don't think I sponsored a Fram Bill. Would that be Farm?"

"That'll be form, that's a type..."

"Form?"

"That's a typical graphical error of the Clerk."

"Well, the inquiry then is, since there is a typical typographical error on the sheet, would this not invalidate the sheet? Wouldn't we have to pass these back in, have this corrected and then pass the sheet back out? Because somebody might... might vote on this thinking this is a filter Bill whereas it's really a farmer Bill. Should we collect these and will you have this corrected or are we going to assume... see, I don't want to get into something where there's a legal challenge to my Bill because of a typical typographical error on behalf of the Clerk."

"The parliamentarian has informed me that it will not invalidate the vote."

"Well, I... I would like that opinion in writing and signed by somebody, because I voted for many Bills that have been invalidated by the Supreme Court, and therefore, I'm very leery. This is a very important Bill. As you know, I think you're a cosponsor, and I... I think it's very important that we... my fear is, that it might be an intentional slight to the farmers of the State of Illinois, by calling them 'framers' rather than 'farmers'." 64  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

Speaker Hartke: "We will get an official ruling from the parliamentarian, momentarily."

"If you would, and you would get back to us in a reasonable period of time?"

"Yes, we will."

"All right, now, the other question I have, now that we finally have this four page list, and by the way, very nicely done, the black border, very, very nice. If there's a Bill on here by mistake, perhaps one of the two chiefs of staff made an error, before we vote tomorrow, will we get a corrected copy in case something on here shouldn't be on here, or are we just supposed to then vote 'no'? There's a Bill on here that... that raises the salary of the House parliamentarian by a considerable amount of money, and I... this must be on here in error. So, if a Bill like that is on here, we would take that off before we're asked to vote tomorrow? Of course, that isn't spelled correctly either."

Speaker Hartke: "At the request of the Sponsor, Senate Bills 117 and Senate Bill 544, have been removed from that list already."

"So, you see, here it is just literally moments ago that it hit our desk and we're already changing it, and it was so neatly done. So, (sic-Senate Bill) 117 should be crossed off?"

"It was at the request of the Sponsor."

"And, what was that other one?"

"Five forty-four."

"Five forty-four. And was that at the request of the Sponsor, as well?"

"Yes, it was."

"Well, that's fair, because it was one Republican Bill and one Democrat Bill. So..." 65  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

"We try to be fair."

"Not very hard, but yes, you do try. So, it's my understanding now that tomorrow you shouldn't vote for either one of those Bills because the vote would be an invalid vote. So, you need to really cross this out throughout the entire sheet, don't you? Because if... if... if somebody votes 'no' on a Bill that isn't on the sheet, then the final tally could be incorrect."

"The tallies for those two Bills..."

"I see."

"...will not be taken."

"Okay, so, we need to cross those off the sheet and then..."

"You can or just not vote or..."

"All right, and then..." Speaker Hartke: ...or even if you do vote..."

"...and then..."

"...they will not be tallied."

"And then tomorrow, what... what time... how much time will we have to mark our sheets and turn them in? What's your time line? You know, if you two could sit closer together, we might have a ventriloquist act here. It could kind of be Edgar Bergen and Charley McCarthy there."

"They should be turned in by 4:00 today."

"Four o'clock today?"

"Want me to repeat that?"

"Well, Mr. Speaker, I'll be totally honest with you..."

"Would you rather it be at five, Representative Black?"

"Well, Mr. Speaker, I'll be very honest with you, I was asked to stretch things out by our news director, and I think I'm doing a very good job of doing that. But I might 66  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 add, that turning these in today by 4:00 do we even have a synopsis printed of these Bills? I mean..."

"Yes, the synopsis..."

"...normally we do have a synopsis."

"Yes, the synopsis are up here... at the well, and I announced that a few minutes ago."

"You mean they aren't going to be passed out, we actually have to come up and get them?"

"We'll send a Page to bring you one."

"Thank you. And John... Representative Turner would like one as well. And Tom Cross would like one."

"Our Page is delivering it to you."

"All right. And Mona Martin would like one. And why is Tony Rossi, if you'll excuse me, why is the Clerk turning in an Agreed Bill List? Did he vote? Mr. Clerk, did you just turn in a list? He just said you can't turn it in until 4:00. Five o'clock?"

"We moved it to five at your request."

"Well, I prefer it to be tomorrow, but excuse me one minute. Let me check with staff here just a second. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I have nothing further."

"The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Fritchey, for the purpose of a Motion."

"Thank you, Speaker. Pursuant to discussions and agreement with the Minority Spokesperson on the House Executive Committee, I'm moving to waive the posting requirements for House... for Bills 876 and 877."

"The agreement with the Republican side, the posting requirement is waived."

"Thank you, Speaker."

"Senate Bill 177. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Bolin: "Senate Bill 177, a Bill for an Act to amend the 67  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 Criminal Code of 1961. Third Reading of this Senate Bill."

"Excuse me, Mr. Durkin. Mr. Black, for what reason do you seek recognition?"

"Yes. An inquiry of the Chair. A Gentleman requested that the posting requirement be waived, but there was no action taken on his request. I..."

"Yes, there was."

"There was?"

"Yes."

"It didn't require a vote? Did you ask for leave of the House or take a voice vote or...?"

"What I stated was that with agreement of the other side of the aisle, the posting requirements will be waived."

"Who... who was that agreed with?"

"Excuse me, that was with leave of the House, and no one objected."

"I don't believe you said, with leave of the House, did you, Mr. Speaker, really?"

"I don't recall. With leave of the House..."

"I don't recall either."

Speaker Hartke: "...the posting requirements have been waived, how is that?"

"All right. Just an inquiry. We have two procurement Bills that we would like to waive the posting and shell and bring to the floor. Senate Bills 174 and 294, would that... would you consider that request to be in order?"

"I would if you clear it with the other side of the aisle."

"We'll do that. And then you'll get back to us?"

Speaker Hartke: "Well, you get to me when you get that agreement." 68  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

"We'll... we'll make an honest effort. Thank you."

"Okay. Representative Durkin."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the consideration of this chamber. Senate Bill 177, as I previously discussed, is an initiative of the... of Governor George Ryan and also it's part of Leader Daniels and Attorney General Jim Ryan's, 12 point Safe School Safe Childrens Program. There was a... in the midst of a question, and I am ready to entertain that question, at this point."

"Is there any discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Lang."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen, I rise in support of this legislation. I think the characterization of the Sponsor is slightly incorrect. It's simply not the idea of the Governor, this is an idea that's been in this chamber for many years. The idea is to save children from guns in their homes. To those that would depict this as a gun control Bill, to those who would respond to the NRA and say this is a gun control Bill, you should read the Bill. You would be wrong if you said that. This is a Bill that says to gun owners in their homes, if you have children, put your gun away. Put some sort of a lock on it. Put the gun in a locked container. Keep it away from your children. Now, there's another version of this Bill which is slightly different. But the important thing is, that we get to the Governor's Desk, a piece of legislation that protects children in their home. Not only children, but their playmates and other family members. All over this country, almost on a daily basis, we read about gun accidents in the home involving children. This Bill simply says to law-abiding gun owners, put your guns in a safe 69  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 place. Put your guns in a position where a reasonable person would suspect, or expect that a child would not get their hands on that gun and injure themself or others. That's all it says. So for anybody in this chamber who wants to not be for this, on the theory that it controls peoples' rights to own guns, it controls peoples' use of their own home, they would be wrong. Some of you will vote against this, for that very reason, and I tell you now, you would be wrong. This Bill is about one simple idea, and that is that children need to be protected in their home for as much as we can do that. Children deserve that protection. We should give them that protection. This does not make felons out of law-abiding citizens. In fact, 99% of gun owners in Illinois, who are legal gun owners, know that they need to keep their guns in a safe place so children don't get injured. That's clear, that's common sense. But to those few that do not recognize the dangers, we need Senate Bill 177 and other pieces of legislation like it to protect our children. So don't listen to the red herring arguments of others. Listen to your own mind. Listen to what's reasonable. Protect children in their homes. Keep them from the dangers of guns. This is very reasonable legislation and we should pass it today."

"Further discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Du Page, Representative Daniels."

"Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Today I have announced a 12 point program to address some of the issues that I spoke to as a result of the tragedy in Littleton, Colorado. I've given this tragedy a great deal of thought, and searched my soul for the answers. The answers are not simple. They are not easy. In fact, they go to the core of the culture of our society. They go to 70  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 our values. On our televisions we watched what can happen to innocent kids in school. These were seemingly safe schools. Now, in this chamber, it's time for us to act to help insure that it can't happen here in Illinois. You know government can only do so much. But I feel it is critical that we do our share. Parental responsibility and responsible use of firearms have to be a key component of any solution that we propose. We have an opportunity today to do just that by passing Senate Bill 177. Governor George Ryan's, Child Access Prevention Initiative. Ladies and Gentlemen, we must seize this opportunity. Now, I believe firmly that Senate Bill 177 does take a first step towards introducing parental responsibility and the appropriate use of firearms. This legislation requires gun owners and parents to be responsible in storing loaded guns in their homes and other property. It creates the offense of negligent storage of a firearm. And it offers greater protection for minors, and instills a sense of responsibility between the child and the parent, the minor and the adult. These are not drastic measures. They are common sense precautions to keep your children and mine, safe in our homes, safe in our communities, and safe in our schools. As children are visiting us today in Springfield, let the message go forth loud and clear, that this Assembly will stand tall when it comes to responsible ownership and use and storage of firearms and guns. Now, the Journal of the American Medical Association, conducted a study in California, and found that a safe storage law was enacted there. The number of tragic shootings involving minors dropped dramatically. Our children, here in Illinois, deserve no less. So I urge you to vote 'yes'. I urge you to step up to our responsibility, to do our part today, to 71  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 help protect our children, to address the problems that we have all agonized over the last few days since the tragedy in Littleton, Colorado. Join me in voting 'yes' to send Senate Bill 177 to the Governor for his immediate signature. And let me congratulate the Sponsor, Jim Durkin, for his excellent work, along with the cosponsors, Representative Lang, Representative Lyons, Representative Currie, and Representative Gash. It is time now to enact this Bill, Thank you."

"Further discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Champaign, Representative Winkel."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill."

"To the Bill."

"I... I congratulate the previous speakers and the Sponsor of this Bill in their efforts to make our schools safer and protect our children. Obviously, we all want to eliminate the senseless tragedies that we've heard all too much of in the past few years, and so tragically, so recently, in Colorado. But I do have some concerns about this legislation. Senate Bill 177, I think, is an effort that is worthwhile, but it's an effort that's already been made and done. We've already got on the statute books a Section in the criminal offenses in the Criminal Code, a Section on endangering the life or health of a child. That Section reads, 'It is unlawful for any person to willfully cause or permit the life or health of a child under the age of 18 to be endangered or to willfully cause or permit a child to be placed in circumstances that endanger the child's life, or health. A violation of this Section, is a Class A misdemeanor. A second or subsequent violation of this Section, is a Class III felony.' Ladies and Gentlemen, this is an important part of the Code to take 72  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 note of, in fact, we already did this Session. We already passed a Bill that would add to this Section. It was House Bill 1405. In fact, that Bill is in the Senate now. That Bill would create a Section that would go to the aggravated endangerment of life or health of a child. A person commits the offense of aggravated endangerment of the life or health of a child, when he or she commits an offense under this Section I just read, or any of the following factors are present at the time of the commission of the offenses. The child was under the age of 12, the offense constituted an immediate threat to the life of a child, or the offense was committed in conjunction with the commission of another offense. The sentence under this new proposal, which is now in the Senate, is a violation of... Section is a Class IV felony, a second or subsequent violation of this Section is a Class II felony. When you compare the penalties in Senate Bill 177, with what we already have on the books, and what's being proposed and is pending in the Senate, it pales by comparison. When faced with a prosecution... when faced with a prosecution, in Senate Bill 177 becomes a part of the Criminal Code, a prosecutor will go to the Section on reckless endangerment of a child, which is already there. I thought that the Body should know that we've already dealt with this, and it applies to guns. It applies to this problem that we're all trying to deal with. It's already on our books, and it's a duplication. I do want to briefly discuss another point. With all due respect to the previous speakers, the three of them, you will note that they are all from urban areas. That's fine. That's fine. If you dial 911, you have a reasonable degree of certainty that you'll have a response from the police within a reasonable amount of time to come 73  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 and save the day, in the event that you have a home invader, who is invading your home, endangering your life and the lives of your children. Help is at hand in an urban area. The problem is that we don't all represent highly urbanized areas. Many of us, and let's not forget our constituents who we're here to represent, live out in the country in rural areas, where if you dial the sheriff it can take literally, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, for the sheriff to get there. By then it could be too late if you have a home invader who's invading your home, endangering you and your children with a... with a gun. Especially, if we have a law that requires that you have your gun locked up, with a trigger lock, or locked up in a case, and while you're fumbling around for the key trying to get the trigger lock undone or trying to get that gun out of the case, it may be too late. And my point to you is this, why is the tragedy that you're trying to prevent with Senate Bill 177, any more tragic than the tragedy that could occur if we cannot respond in a timely fashion to a home invader who's armed? Let's not forget the people who live far from the sheriff's office, who have lived far from a response from 911, who are our constituents, who this Bill with all its great intentions, its good intentions, and I applaud those intentions, but it doesn't always work in every part of the state. So, I ask you, when you're looking at this Bill, when you're thinking over your vote on Senate Bill 177, keep in mind your own constituency. Bear in mind that there could be tragedies if you cannot unlock your gun in time to protect yourself and your children. I think it's somewhat ironic that we both have the same goals as Sponsors of Senate Bill 177, and I have the same desire that they do to prevent these sorts of 74  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 tragedies. There's two sorts of tragedies that we're talking about here, and one is no more tragic than the other. Please bear that in mind. We both want to come down on the safety of the children, but please remember that this Bill doesn't necessarily work in the rural areas, and I would urge you to vote either 'present' or vote 'no'."

"Further discussion? The Chair recognizes the Lady from Cook, Representative Mulligan."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"He indicates he will."

"Representative Durkin, in this Bill as I look at it, the staff analysis of this, is there still an exception for minors under 14 who have FOID cards?"

"That's correct."

"Do you have an idea, in Illinois, at what age you can receive a FOID card?"

"There is no age limit... if you're under the age of 21, you can get a FOID card with parental consent. You can be..."

"I know it used to be when my children were younger..."

"...5, 6, 7, if you had the consent of the parent, you can have a FOID card under Illinois law, theoretically."

"My children had to go to a special course, and then... when my children were younger they went to a special course, which you had to be 11 to go to at the time, I think. But now there's no age limit?"

"I don't believe that's a requirement under the Illinois law to get a FOID card to go through any specialized training."

"And there's also an exception..."

"Only hunting license only. I was..." 75  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999

"All right."

"...corrected."

"And there's also an exception in this Bill if you're in self defense?"

"That's correct."

"So, really, there's not much left in this Bill except for people to put away a weapon that could be loaded so that a small child can't hurt themselves."

"That's correct."

"I think there are plenty of exceptions on this, and I think that would be wise. For most reasons, I mean, as a woman in a house, if someone's going to break in, so that I have to race for them to get a gun that's loaded, I would be hesitant to do that for the fact that they might take it away from me. But if you hear someone breaking in, you would have more time to prepare yourself. I don't think you'd want to be in a race with someone. And I certainly think as a parent and hopefully a potential grandparent, that I would want to leave a gun laying around the house where small children can get it. There's practically nothing left in this Bill that would not be reasonable to any reasonable person, and I certainly think it deserves an 'aye' vote. I... I commend you for all the work you've done on this. I know it's a very controversial issue in Illinois to pass a Bill like this, but I don't think there's anything left in here that wouldn't allow a reasonable gun owner to still do what they needed to do if they felt they needed a gun for protection."

Speaker Hartke: "Seeing that no one else is seeking recognition, Representative Durkin to close."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the concerns and the debate which we've had in committee and 76  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 also on the floor. My friend behind me from Champaign County, we talked about that Bill. I did a little research about when that Bill was first enacted, and what the intent of that Bill was, and the Child Endangerment Law, and that was from Senator Petka. That was, and I'm reading off his floor debate, 'This Legislation is a direct response to a request from the State's Attorney of Kane County, who had a sensational case which attracted international notoriety, when a family known as the Shues, decided to go on vacation and leave behind a nine-year-old and a four-year-old.' I believe the intent of that statute was to cover the situations of ___________ home alone. But just to add a little bit more to the Bill, the ___________________________________ Journal of the American Medical ___________ Association, JAMA, which is a very reliable publication, did a study between 1990 and 1994 in which they... of all the states in the union, and of all the states in the union which had these Child Access Prevention Laws, they state that, 'Laws that make gun owners responsible for storing firearms in a manner that makes them inaccessible to children, were in effect in at least one... one in 12 states thru 1990 and 1994. Among children younger than 15 years, unintentional shooting deaths were reduced by 23% during the years covered by these laws'. The conclusions they state, under the Journal... under JAMA, is that the safe Safe Storage Law is intended to make firearms less accessible to children, appear to prevent unintentional shooting deaths among children younger than 15-years-old. I also want to read just one quick letter. This was sent to the California State Senator, Lock Lockeyer, L-O-C-K-E-Y-E-R, in 1991. The letter says that, 'This Bill is a deliberate attempt to go after those very... very few individuals who refuse to take precautions necessary to 77  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 protect young children around them, while allowing the responsible gun owner to decide, based on his particular situation, how to keep a loaded firearm within his premises. This Bill will in no way hurt California's responsible gun owners'. That was not from the California handgun control people. That was from the NRA lobbyist in 1991, who wrote that letter. Ladies and Gentlemen, right now there's 16 states in the United States that have a Child Access Prevention Law. Illinois should become the 17th. I would appreciate your 'aye' vote. Thank you very much."

Speaker Hartke: "The question is, 'Shall the House pass Senate Bill 177?' All those in favor will signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed, vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On Senate Bill 177, there are 75 Members voting 'yes', 34 Members voting 'no', 4 Members voting 'present'. And this Bill having received a Constitutional Majority is hereby declared passed. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a very distinguished guest. Will the staff please retire to the rear of the chamber? Could we have some order on the floor, please? Shhhhhhh. Representative Daniels in the Chair."

"Thank you very much. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, it is my pleasure to not only welcome back to our chamber as a former Member, but also to recognize our State Treasurer, Judy Barr Topinka, is here with us today. It's also my pleasure to introduce a very distinguished guest, and we are very proud to have join us today, Mr. Michael Hodge, who is the Consul General, and took up his appointment as the British Consul General at Chicago, on 78  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 the 8th of July, 1996. Born in 1994 (sic-1949?), he entered the British Diplomatic Service in 1962, and has served at various assignments throughout his career, including Belgrade and Paris, and several other areas. He was on loan to the Imperial Chemical Industries, Agri-Chemicals in 1987 and 1989, and he was head of the Services, Planning and Resource Department, at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, from 1992 to 1996, prior to joining us in Chicago. Throughout his career, Michael Hodge has focused on commercial trade, promotion, and economic work. From 1974 to 1977, he served in the Republic of Ireland, Department in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. He's married to Wilma Glober, and he was married then in 1966. They have a daughter born in 1967, and a son born in 1968. Michael Hodge was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1975. This is a distinguished visitor and we're very pleased, and ask him to address us, Mr. Michael Hodge, British Consulate General, stationed in Chicago."

"Mr. Republican Leader, Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you very much for that welcome and thank you for giving me the really honored privilege of addressing you this afternoon. I'm deeply honored and I'm most grateful. I am told that I should keep it light and brief. Now, I have to tell you, that neither of those things come easy to a diplomat, so, I hope you'll bear with me. I'll do my best. Actually, keeping it light should come about accidentally because I'm given to slips of the tongue. I was busy praising a well-known British airline the other day and I was saying, I was very grateful for what they did 'to' us. So that, of course, I meant what they did 'for' us. I hope I shan't fall into that kind of trap this 79  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 afternoon. This audience will actually well appreciate that to keep people interested when you're speaking, you have to be adventurous in your words. But rather than allowing your listeners to fall asleep, as a learned judge once put it, 'I do not mind when my audiences start looking at their watches, but I do object strenuously when they start shaking them to make sure that they're still going.' Diplomats tend to have many stories. I worked in Uganda in the early 1970's when Idi Amin-Dada was President and I was also accredited to Rwanda, where we had a nonresident mission. I visited it on one occasion from Kampala, went down to Kigali and walked straight into a coup. The coup meant that there was curfew and we were not allowed to exit our mission. We had nothing to eat and all we could do was look around for what was left in the house and we found a raw carrot, and I'm afraid the rest of our meal was half a bottle of whiskey each. My first post was Yugoslavia. You probably picked that up in my 'bio' just now that I worked in Tito's Yugoslavia. I was trained to speak and write Serbo-Croat. And I actually worked very closely with your own embassy there. I once had to interpret for the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Patriarch of the Serb Orthodox Church and I rapidly discovered that my knowledge of things ecclesiastical were somewhat wanting in English, as well as Serb. So, there's the first lesson for an interpreter. But of course, this reference to Yugoslavia, as you will rapidly recognize, is a lead-in to some rather more serious words that I wanted to put to you this afternoon. And I'm hope you will forgive me if I move from being light to slightly more serious, just for a minute or two. I realize that many Americans wonder why on earth the United States should be caught up in the conflict over 80  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 Kosovo. And I just wanted to offer you, very, very respectfully four reasons for that this afternoon. First, the two World Wars earlier this century suggest that the United States can never be secure if Europe's future is in doubt. Secondly, you increasingly depend on the efficient functioning of a global economy for your prosperity. If that proposition is not true, we should not have had such a major... row over bananas. Kosovo is a serious threat to European security and you've got a... an enormous investment in Europe. And I want to talk a little bit about that separately in a second. But that stake in Europe seems to me to be worth protecting. Thirdly, there are reasons of principle for NATO's stand. Ethnic cleansing is vile and it can't be allowed to go unchallenged. Fourthly, you are a rich and powerful nation. Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, was in Chicago last week and he gave a speech in which he said and I quote, 'Just as the parable of the individuals and the talents, so those nations which have the power, have the responsibility. We, that is to say, Europe, need you engaged. We need the dialogue with you. 'Europe', said Tony Blair, over time will become stronger and stronger, but its time is some way off.' And he added, and I'm... not quoting, I'm just... these are my own words, but the effect of what he said was, in the meantime you will find, in Britain, a reliable and steadfast ally. That's all I wanted to say on Kosovo. Perhaps you'll just indulge me a little bit more, if I say just a few words about another conflict which I know interests you, and that's Northern Ireland. My wife, who is here this afternoon, comes from Northern Ireland, so I declare an interest. Britain is enormously grateful to your President and to Senator 81  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 Mitchell, for the contribution they have made to the peace process. Without them, there would have been no fri... Good Friday Agreement. Nobody denies that the peace process is stalled on the issue of de-commissioning. All aspects of the peace agreement, which were in the gift of the British and Irish Governments, have been acted upon. De-commissioning, however, depends on the paramilitaries. And a way has to be found to persuade them to stop that process, and the British Government, and I know the Irish Government, are determined to find it. The overwhelming majority of people of Northern Ireland want peace. Now, finally, I'd like just to say a word about investments, which I alluded to just now. In terms of jobs, Britain is the biggest foreign investor in Illinois. Counting... accounting for 46,000 jobs, using your American figures. They are not British figures; 46,000 jobs. I saw 663 of them this afternoon, in Jacksonville, where I visited the EMI factory, and what an impressive operation that was. The United States is the biggest foreign investor in the UK. Your investments, and this is the stake, the kind of stake that I was talking about just now, your investments are worth nearly $140,000,000,000. Thirty percent of American investment in the European Union, goes to the United Kingdom. So, I should say perhaps, a few words about Britain's attitude to the new European currency, which is I know, another issue which has worried you here. We didn't adopt the Euro in the first phase this year because our economy is out of sync with our partners in Europe. A common monetary policy would be hard for Britain to accept right now. But the British Government have made clear that Britain will join the Euro Zone when it makes economic sense for us to do so, provided the British people 82  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 agree to it in a national referendum. Meanwhile, the government have put in place a national change-over plan, so that we are ready to join when we want to. American investments, let me assure you Ladies and Gentlemen, are safe in Britain. Our economy remains an open one, with few industrial disputes, a flexible work force and relatively low rates of corporate taxation. We still have a... to you, familiar legal system and we still speak English. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Republican Leader, Ladies and Gentlemen, I should like to end as I started, on a personal note. Wilma and I leave Chicago in June, after very nearly three years there. I should like you to know, and I say this very sincerely, that we shall forever remember the unfailing kindness and courtesy we have encountered throughout the Midwest. These days it's unfashionable to talk about a special relationship, but as Britons, we have never found it hard to relate to the many people we have met here. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to say that to such an esteemed audience this afternoon. Thank you."

Speaker Lopez: "Representative Lopez in the Chair. Just a few announcements. All Members, we have the Agreed Bill List out on the floor. We need those signed and returned as soon as possible. By 5:00 today, please... all Members return the Agreed Bill List, signed. Thank you. The Representative... the Representative from Cook, Representative Mulligan."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's nice to see you in the Chair. Congratulations. I rise on a point of personal privilege. I'd like to introduce one of the government classes from my home district, Main South, and their teacher, Sandy Dinas, who are up in the gallery today. They were lucky enough to here for some interesting debate 83  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 and some interesting guests. So, we're really pleased to have them. Really good group."

Speaker Lopez: "The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black, for what reason do you rise?"

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I have an inquiry of the Chair, if I could. And I... seriously, I'm joined by several people on my side of the aisle, I don't know, perhaps people on the other side of the aisle. I've been going through the Agreed Bill List and reading each Bill as I think most people would want to do, and I'm only about halfway down the first page. We're scheduled to adjourn in eight minutes, and yet you want these in by 5:00 and yet, many of us will go to committee at 2:00 and will still be in committees at 5:00. Is there some reason why we couldn't turn these in prior to adjournment tomorrow?"

Speaker Lopez: "Representative Black, with all due respect, the... we expect those by 5:00 today."

"Well, Mr. Speaker, I mean, if that's your ruling, fine, I'm not going to appeal that ruling of the Chair, but, I do think that these were handed out rather late, and I understand an Agreed Bill List and I know that both chiefs of staff have looked at it and I'm sure both sides of the aisle have had staff people look at it. But I think most of us would at least like the opportunity to go through the list, on our own, take a look and... I just don't know what the hurry is. I mean, if... if... if you tell me there's some reason why they absolutely have to be turned in today, I'll acquiesce and that's the end of it. But, I mean, most of us will have to just turn them in in seven minutes, having read maybe 20 of the Bills on the list or at least familiar with 20 Bills on the list, when we might be able tomorrow morning to really take a look at it and vote our 84  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 district, accordingly. There may be some Agreed Bills on this list that may... may not be good for all districts and all Legislators throughout the state. And I really fail to see why we can't have a little time. There are many of us on the floor who do take this job seriously and would like some time to read the list. And, we don't have time at the present."

"Representative, point well-taken. If it's okay with you, I think we can accept these at 9:00 tomorrow morning."

"I appreciate that. Thank you very much."

"Thank you."

"Thank you."

Speaker Lopez: "The Representative from Cook, Representative Acevedo."

"Rise on a point of personal privilege."

"State your point."

"I'd like to point out to my colleagues, this is the very first time Representative Lopez has sat in the Chair. He was once one of the youngest elected officials ever elected as a State Representative. I'd also like to point out he's the only second Hispanic to ever sit in that Chair, and I know this is an important part of your career. Congratulations, Representative Lopez."

Speaker Lopez: "Thank you Representative. Representative Johnson, from the County of Du Page." Johnson, Tom: "Just purposes of an announcement. Just to remind all Members of the Prison Management and Reform Committee. There will be a meeting tomorrow morning at 8:00. I hope that you'll all be there right on time. The Auditor General will begin at 8:00, and the Director of the Department of Corrections will be there. So, I would 85  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 appreciate you all trying to get there on time. Thank you."

"The Clerk with some further announcements."

"I'm going to announce the committee schedule for the remainder of the day. The following committees will meet a 2 p. m.: the Labor and Commerce Committee in 118; the Local Government Committee in D-1; the State Government Administration Committee in C-1; and the Tourism Committee in 122B. The Registration and Regulation Committee will meet at 2:15 in Room 114. At 3 p. m., the Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Committee will meet in Room 114. At 4 p. m., the Approp General Services Committee, will meet in 118. The Approp Public Safety Committee will meet in 114. The Child Support Enforcement Committee, will meet in 122B; and the Higher Education Committee will meet in C-1. At 5 p. m., the Computer Technology Committee will meet in Room D-1."

"Representative Acevedo moves that the House stand adjourned, allowing perfunctory time for the Clerk. The House now stands adjourned until tomorrow, Thursday, April 29th at 1:00; 1 p. m."

Clerk Rossi: "Committee Reports. Representative Sara Feigenholtz, Chairperson from the Committee on Human Services, to which the following measures were referred, action taken on April 28, 1999, reported the same back with the following recommendations: 'do pass Short Debate' Senate Bill 180, Senate Bill 466, Senate Bill 561, Senate Bill 668, Senate Bill 680, Senate Bill 782, Senate Bill 783, Senate Bill 1106, Senate Bill 1114, Senate Bill 1116. 'Do pass as amended Short Debate' Senate Bill 673, Senate Bill 965. 'Do pass as amended Standard Debate' Senate Bill 646. 'Be adopted as amended Short Debate' House Resolution 86  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 42nd Legislative Day April 28, 1999 160."

Clerk Bolin: "Having no further business, the House Perfunctory Session will stand adjourned. The House will reconvene in Regular Session on Thursday, April 29th at 1:00 p. m." 87