Illinois House Floor Debate — February 3, 2000

"The House shall come to order. The Members shall be in their chairs. We shall be led in prayer today by Pastor John Morlan of the Grace Fellowship Church in Mokena. Pastor Morlan is the guest of Representative Kosel. The guests in the gallery may wish to rise and join us for both the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance."

"Let's pray. God, we're humbled at how much that You love us. Lord, and the fact that we can be here in this place is only because of Your goodwill, Lord, and the way that You love us in the way that You do. God, help us to be discerning, Lord. These Representatives, the decisions they make, Lord, impact the people of our community... specific will that You want to share with them, Lord. And I pray that You give them discernment to discuss these Bills and all the business that goes along with state work. I just pray that You give them wisdom. Lord, would help them to be people of character and integrity. What they do is difficult and hard and puts strain on them, God. So, I just pray that You bless them."

Speaker Madigan: "We'll be led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Representative Hassert."

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Speaker Madigan: "Roll Call for Attendance. Representative Currie."

"Thank you, Speaker. Please let the record show that Representative Morrow is excused today."

"Mr. Bost."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Republicans are all present today." 1  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000

"Mr. Clerk, take the record. There being 117 Members responding to the Attendance Roll Call, there is a quorum present. Mr. Black."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I rise for a point of personal privilege."

"State your point."

"Yes, if the Speaker might help us observe two and a half seconds of silence today. This is the 41st anniversary, Mr. Speaker, of the day the music died. When the late, great Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper went to that great rock and roll dance hall in the sky. Forty-one years ago, it doesn't seem possible. I know you weren't even born but I remember it well, Mr. Speaker. So, an appropriate two seconds of silence for those wondrous heroes of yesteryear."

"Committee Reports."

Clerk Rossi: "Committee Reports. Representative Feigenholtz, Chairperson from the Committee on Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Distribution, to which the following measure was referred, action taken on February 3, 2000, reported the same back with the following recommendation: 'do pass Short Debate' House Bill 2924. Representative McAuliffe, Chairperson from the Committee on Veterans Affairs, to which the following measures were referred, action taken on February 3, 2000, reported the same back with the following recommendation: 'do pass as amended Short Debate' House Bill 3312. Representative Calvin Giles, Chairperson from the Committee on Local Government, to which the following measures were referred, action taken on February 2, 2000, reported the same back with the following recommendation: 'do pass Short Debate' House Bill 3114, House Bill 3138, and House Bill 3424. Representative Lauren Beth Gash, 2  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 Chairperson from the Committee on Judiciary II-Criminal Law, to which the following measures were referred, action taken on February 3, 2000, reported the same back with the following recommendations: 'do pass Short Debate' House Bill 3180, House Bill 3538, and House Bill 3841. Representative Skip Saviano, Chairperson from the Committee on Registration and Regulation, to which the following measures were referred, action taken on February 2, 2000, reported the same back with the following recommendation: 'do pass as amended Short Debate' House Bill 3260. Representative Schoenberg, Chairperson from the Committee on State Procurement, to which the following measure was referred, action taken on February 3, 2000, reported the same back with the following recommendation: 'do pass as amended Short Debate' House Bill 3482."

"On page 2 of the Calendar, on the Order of House Bills-Second Reading, there appears House Bill 298. Representative Feigenholtz, do you wish to call your Bill? The Lady indicates she does not wish to call her Bill. House Bill 709, Representative Cowlishaw. The Lady indicates she does not wish to call her Bill. House Bill 1544, Representative Silva, 1544. Representative Silva. The Lady indicates she does not wish to call her Bill. House Bill 2904, Mr. Hoeft. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"House Bill 2904, a Bill for an Act amending the School Code. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendments 1 and 2 were adopted in committee. No Motions have been filed. No Floor Amendments approved for consideration."

"Third Reading. House Bill 2977, Representative Bassi. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"House Bill 2977, a Bill for an Act amending the 3  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 School Code. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

Speaker Madigan: "Third Reading. House Bill 3009, Mr. Novak. Mr. Novak, House Bill 3009. The Gentleman indicates he does not wish to call the Bill. Mr. Novak, the next Bill is 3027. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill. Recognize Mr. Novak. Mr. Novak."

"Mr. Speaker, has an Amendment been filed?"

Speaker Madigan: "Mr. Clerk, has an Amendment been filed to this Bill?"

"A Floor Amendment has not been filed to the Bill."

"Mr. Clerk, are there note requests on the Bill?"

Clerk Rossi: "A fiscal note has been requested on the Bill but has not been filed."

"So, the Bill shall remain on the Order of Second Reading. House Bill 3046, Mr. Saviano. Mr. Saviano. 3046, Collection Agency Act. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"House Bill 3046, a Bill for an Act amending the Collection Agency Act. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. House Bill 3053, Representative Kosel. Representative Kosel. Kosel, 3053, did you wish to call the Bill? The Lady indicates she does not with to call the Bill. House Bill 3117, Representative Silva, 3117. The Lady indicates she does not wish to call the Bill. House Bill 3201, Representative Mulligan. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"House Bill 3201, a Bill for an Act amending the 4  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 Sexual Assault Survivors Emergency Treatment Act. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

Speaker Madigan: "Third Reading. House Bill 3205, Mr. Delgado. The Bill shall remain on the Order of Second Reading. House Bill 3256, Mr. Novak. Mr. Novak, Momence Dam. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"House Bill 3256, a Bill for an Act to create the Momence Dam Transfer Act. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Motions have been filed. No Floor Amendments approved for consideration."

"Mr. Novak. Mr. Novak."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Bill's on Second Reading so, doesn't it have to be moved to Third before we deliberate? I don't believe there are any Amendments filed."

Speaker Madigan: "Mr. Novak, if you're prepared to move it to Third, we'll move it to Third."

"Yes, Sir. Yes, Sir."

"All right. So, the Bill shall be placed on the Order of Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, was this Bill read a second time, previously?"

"The Bill was read a second time."

"So, read the Bill for a third time. Mr. Novak, the Bill was read for a second time today. Therefore, we have to wait until next week to call the Bill on Third Reading."

"I understand, Mr. Speaker. Thank you."

Speaker Madigan: "So, the Bill shall be placed on the Order of Third Reading. House Bill 3271, Representative Klingler. Read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "House Bill 3271, a Bill for an Act amending the 5  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 Emergency Medical Services Systems Act. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Motions have been filed. No Floor Amendments approved for consideration."

Speaker Madigan: "Third Reading. House Bill 3315, Mr. Delgado. Okay. The Clerk informs me that there are many requests for notes on this Bill, so the Bill shall remain on the Order of Second Reading. House Bill 3355, Representative Lou Jones. Representative Lou Jones. Representative Lou Jones. Representative Lou Jones, you have a House Bill 3355 concerned with the Illinois Public Aid Code. Do you wish to move the Bill to Third Reading? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "House Bill 3355, a Bill for an Act amending the Illinois Public Aid Code. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. House Bill 3420 shall remain on the Order of Second Reading. House Bill 3431, Mr. Rutherford. Mr. Rutherford. Is Mr. Rutherford in the chamber? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"House Bill 3431, a Bill for an Act amending the Public Funds Investment Act. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."

"Third Reading. House Bill 3476, Representative Julie Curry. Leave the Bill on the Order of Second Reading. On the Order of House Bills-Third Reading, there appears House Bill 3051, Representative Bassi. Representative Bassi. Is Representative Bassi in the chamber? Did you wish to call your House Bill 3051? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill." 6  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000

Clerk Rossi: "House Bill 3051, a Bill for an Act amending the Criminal Code of 1961. Third Reading of this House Bill."

"Representative Bassi."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a Bill which has to do with the... with expansion of the Stalking Bill. Expands the definition of aggravated stalking and stalking itself, so that when one is purposely and repeatedly harassing another person or following that person with the intent to harass another person, it constitutes stalking. Passed out of committee by a 12 to 0 vote. There is no known opposition. In favor of it is also the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, AAUW, and the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault. I stand ready to answer any questions."

"The Lady moves for the passage of the Bill. There being no discussion, the question is... the Chair recognizes Mr. Hartke."

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

"The Sponsor yields."

"Representative Bassi, it's kind of noisy in here and I really failed to hear your explanation of what you're trying to do. Could you possibly repeat that?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, if you could please give your attention to Representative Bassi. If we could discontinue the conversations on the floor, this is a Third Reading Roll Call. Representative Bassi."

"Yes. Representative, this particular Bill provides that when an individual purposely and repeatedly harasses another person or follows another person with intent to harass that person, then it would also constitute stalking. So that..." 7  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000

"Okay, so you're making this Bill... law tougher, right?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Are you increasing the penalties any... "

"No."

"... or just adding more provisions what is included in the definition of stalking?"

"I'm sorry, Representative, would you..."

"You're adding more definitions to what would be included in the definition of stalking."

"Yes, we are expanding the definition of stalking to include, 'purposely and repeatedly harassing a person', so that any reasonable individual would have... would be in fear of a situation."

"Okay, thank you very much."

"The Lady moves for the passage of the Bill. Those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed by voting 'no'. This is a Third Reading Roll Call. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Kenner, did you wish to record yourself? Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 117 people voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 3054, Representative O'Brien. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"House Bill 3054, a Bill for an Act amending the Illinois Public Aid Code. Third Reading of this House Bill."

"Representative O'Brien."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 3054, as amended, would revoke the contract currently in place between the County of DuPage and the State of Illinois Department of Public Aid, open 8  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 that process for the collection and distribution of child support. Open it up to bid, allowing any public or private entity that wishes to participate in the bid process to do so. I'd be happy to answer any questions."

"Representative Eileen Lyons." Lyons, E.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"Sponsor yields." Lyons, E.: "Representative, in our last Child Support Committee meeting, the question was asked of both the Director of Public Aid and Joel Kagan, the contractor now, that if this contract was terminated and let to somebody else would that same entity have the exact same problems. And the answer was 'yes'. So I really fail to see... 'cause my major concern... and I understand what you're trying to do. Because I think we're all frustrated that this is not working. But I really do think that if we terminate this contract and let out the bid for someone else, we're gonna have the exact same problems. And my fear is probably worse problems because now we're gonna have to go through it... the same system over again."

"And I appreciate your statement, but I disagree. I don't think that we're gonna create anymore problems because, you know, perhaps that was an accurate answer that they gave you to your question. But many of the questions that were directed both to Ann Patla and to Joel Kagan, their answers were simply, 'I don't know' or when asked about the statistics and they're saying that their numbers are coming down, it's because they're leaving out thousands of checks into determining how, you know, what their percentage of loss is. And I just think that it's inappropriate. And they're asking... and she asked for an unlimited amount of money to proceed with this failed 9  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 system. I think it's unfair to every taxpayer in the State of Illinois and to every family that receives child support to say, this system has failed but let's just keep throwing money at it and someday we'll probably figure it out. I mean, there are no provisions in the current contract that's in place, that was a no bid contract, to allow for there to be any penalties if they don't get the money out the door. They admitted that they don't know what happened to 5000 checks that they just sent back to employers. It's ridiculous that we're saying, 'Well, we're gonna give you another five or six months, we're gonna give you more money.' We have a serious problem and the time for action, as the Governor said yesterday, is now." Lyons, E: "Well, again, I agree with you. They did not have answers to a lot of the questions to satisfy what we were asking them. But I also point out that those problems are going to exist whether we change the contractor or not. I think... and again, my major concern is, is that if we change... terminate the contract, and change to somebody else, we are going to have the exact same problems. They're not gonna go away. The answer is not... at this point, I think we have to wait for the results of the audit commission's audit. And we also, hopefully, will learn some information from the internal audit that's going on. And then maybe we can react. But at this point, I think it is a bad decision for us to terminate the contract, midstream, when we don't know exactly what the problems are and whether we're gonna have the same problems with another contractor."

"Thank you. I mean, you know, again I would just simply reiterate that I... they keep saying that their biggest problem is data and data entry. That's all they're doing. 10  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 They're no different than a bank. And if you went to a bank and you put your money in there on October 1st and you still hadn't been able to write a check on January 1st 'cause they didn't know where your money was at, you would be crazy to stay with the same bank and say, 'Oh, I'm going to continue to pay you a fee every month until you can find my money.' They are not conducting brain surgery. They are taking in child support payments and they are supposed to be transferring them back out to the people that get 'em. Banks do that every single day of the week. And we should expect no less from the vendor that we choose and I don't think that we're ever gonna get this system straightened out until we say, 'This is what we demand of you and if you don't do this, this is what's gonna happen.' But no, we just say if you don't do this we're gonna give you another $12 million." Lyons, E: "My response to that is this system does depend on information. That's the sole responsibility of this system is information. And if you put garbage in, you're gonna get garbage out. They are relying on the department for that information. You change vendors, that same vendor is gonna be relying on the department for information."

"I know that they have repeatedly said that one of the counties I represent, Grundy County, has not given them accurate information and yet I have the entire stack. It has been supplied to them in the manner that they requested it in September. And the manner that they requested it in October. And the manner that they requested it in November. And they still can't get it right. That's not the Department of Public Aid. They're givin' it straight to the contractor, to the State Disbursement Unit. And I don't see how... you know, they wouldn't do business with a 11  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 private entity if they couldn't get the job done. And we are yet continuing to say, 'Well, we're gonna continue on with this contract, even if you can't get the job done, we're gonna continue...' And I agree that we need to have provisions in that contract that place some responsibility on what the department needs to do. I'm not saying that this is all the fault of the State Disbursement Unit, but I say that no matter who is wrong, if we're the ones writing the check and paying somebody to do something, I think we have an obligation to make sure that they get the job done right." Lyons, E.: "Well, again, I would urge everyone to consider the fact that the department who is now, because of legislation, providing training for employees, training for clerks, and now doing what they call a scrubbing or cleansing of this data. When I asked, 'Shouldn't that have all been done before this program was put into place?' They responded, 'Yes, it should have been done, more should have been done.' And again, if that's done properly and the information is given to the vendor, then it might work properly. They didn't do that. We're still in the process of doing that. So whatever information or cleansing, training, whatever's being done has to be done... to be given that information to be given to the vendor. I would just urge everybody to consider that this is a complex problem. We're going through some real growing pains with this. But I urge you to consider changing vendors midstream. I don't think it's the answer. I think we have to wait for more information from audits to determine what we should do next and would urge a 'no' vote."

"Mr. Daniels."

"Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I've 12  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 listened to this discussion and remember the discussion in December when the Lady Sponsor of this Bill voted in favor of a very meaningless Bill that didn't do anything. I listened to Representative Lyons, who I think has some very understandable concern to improve this system. And I look at the pandering that's taking place by this Bill where the Sponsor is saying, 'Well, now that we don't like it, although I didn't have a lot to do with helping the problem, now I just want to terminate it and end it.' Now, we all know this Bill's gonna pass the House. In fact, I may vote for it too, because I just may go along with the Sponsor and engage in her folly. Because all this does is pander at its worst to people that need child support checks. All this does is say, 'I don't like it for political purposes, therefore I'm going to just terminate a contract', which by the way, everyone in this House knows by the terms of it, will... can terminate on June 30th, the year 2000. Now, if I were advising the DuPage County Circuit Clerk, I would tell them not to renew the contract and let it just go out for private bid. But you know, what we ought to wait for is the audit. The very audit that this chamber called for, we ought to wait to see what it says. But the nature of this business and the political aspects that'll take place by this Sponsor, we'll pass this out of the House. It won't go anywhere in the Senate and what have we accomplished? Once again, pandering to politics, pandering to public and saying to them, 'Oh, we're gonna make something better by passing this.' So, the Lady can do what she wants. It's not gonna improve the situation. What we need to do is listen to the audits and then act on behalf of people that need the child support payments and keep them in mind first and foremost before we 13  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 pass something like this."

"Representative Crotty. Crotty."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mary Kay, I have a few questions just..."

"The Sponsor yields."

"... Will the Sponsor yield?"

"Yes."

"Thank you, Mary Kay. Representative O'Brien, I've read the contract that we have now with the SDU unit and my under... this is not going... if this should pass and if it should be signed tomorrow by the Governor, would it take, according to the old contract, about 30 days in order to..."

"That's right."

"... go for bid?"

"And written in the contract is a provision that either party could terminate this contract with 30 days notice, with or without cause. So as a previous speaker mentioned that he would suggest that the DuPage County Circuit Clerk not renew the contract, he might make the suggestion that he notify the State of Illinois, that he wishes to get out of the contract and give us 30 days notice. And the Illinois Department of Public Aid could do that as well. They have chosen not to do that and I think that it's important that we step forward and say that it is prudent to do that at this time."

"Okay. And so this isn't something that we're just going to whip from the SDU unit and leave all of our constituents throughout the State of Illinois in a lurch."

"That's correct."

"Okay. The other thing that I might want to add is you have made it perfectly clear that anyone can bid on this 14  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 job. Correct?"

"That's correct, Representative."

"All right. And as a previous speaker had mentioned, I want to make sure that I go on the record and I know that the other Sponsors probably should stand up and say the same thing. We're not doing this for political purposes, we're doing it for the main purpose that we've been elected, and that is something is not working. It is hurting the people of the State of Illinois in trying to raise their families on their limited income and an income that's due them that somehow has been lost in this system. We have waited far too long. I feel that this Bill is necessary. It will allow everyone to come back to the bidding process and I urge a 'yes' vote to this Bill. And thank you Representative O'Brien."

"Thank you."

"Representative Bellock."

"Will the Speaker (sic-Sponsor) yield?"

"Sponsor yields."

"I respect Representative O'Brien and what she's trying to do here, but I emphatically urge all of you in this chamber to vote 'no' on this Bill at this time. We have listened to hour upon hour of testimony given by Public Aid and by the SDU. And one of the last issues that was pointed out at the last meeting by Director Patla was that the center of the failure of the SDU was because of data. The data was presented by the Circuit Courts and Public Aid. The checks alone were processed through the SDU. In response to that, my main concern at firing this contract at this time, is what will be the difference if the data is not correct and is being provided by the Circuit Clerks and Public Aid? I think the main thing we have to think of 15  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 here is the women and the children of the State of Illinois. That is the only thing that we should be concerned about at this time. And I think if we felt that this Bill was going to do something better for those women, we would vote for it at this time. I would ask you to hold off, to vote 'no' on this issue until we receive the report which Director Patla said would be coming on February 11th and then move forward from that. The statistics were we have gone from 11,000 deferred checks to 2,000 deferred checks. Now whether those statistics are accurate or not, I can't be assured. But it is a showing that it has improved. And I'm not saying it's right now. But in my opinion, I would encourage all of you to vote 'no' on this issue at this time for the benefit of the women and the children in the State of Illinois. Thank you."

"Representative Julie Curry."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House. I think it's very interesting that Members of this Body would stand up and say that we shouldn't vote for this contract now on behalf of the women and children of the State of Illinois. Well, I happen to be a single mom. I happen to be the custodial parent who receives her child support through the State Disbursement Unit. And on behalf of all of those women and all of those children, and fathers that may receive child support, we have to fix this system now. We can continue to talk about the problems and to talk about the issues but it comes down to one thing. It comes down to trust. Do we trust the individuals who have been managing this system for the last two years, negotiating this contract that we're dealing with right now or should we jump ship? Yeah, we should. Because we can't wait a single minute longer. You know, there are individuals at 16  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 the Illinois Department of Public Aid in DuPage County that have been negotiating a contract since 1997. They turned on the system last year in October. Yet, they didn't know we were gonna have all these data problems. I don't believe that. Because they have come to our committee hearings and they have told us, 'Representative Curry, we only had six counties with data in our computer system.' They had to know on October 1st of 1999 that this system wasn't going to work. Now, we can either keep throwing money at the problem. The Governor talked about $17.5 million to continue to fix something that isn't working. And we talk about a supplemental appropriations Bill of $10 million to fix something that isn't working. Or do we put this out to bid? Do we take an opportunity and change the process and open it up for bid? And find a vendor who can take care of the problem. I believe that there are entities out there that have the ability, that have the ability to manage and run this system properly. There are too many instances out there. We go through these contracts, we've gone through the problems. We know what the problems are. We don't have to wait for an outside consultant to tell us what's wrong with the SDU. We know what the problems are. We have a responsibility on behalf of all of the women and children of this state, the custodial parents of this state, to act now. It doesn't help them if we continue to push this issue off until a later time. Let's wait 'til we get a little more information. Let's wait 'til they tell us a little bit more about how bad this situation is. Well, I'm not willing to wait anymore and I'm tired of the women and the fathers who call my office on a daily basis and want to know why we haven't fixed the problem. It's not getting 17  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 any better. You know it and I know it. So it's time to do something about it. This is an aggressive piece of legislation that we have to act on today. And if we fail to support this legislation, we fail to pass it out of this House, then we're making a horrible, horrible mistake. We should not put the women and children of this state in any more financial or emotional distress. We have a responsibility to move forward. And that's what this legislation is all about. I'm not gonna wait one more week or one more month to hear what the Department of Public Aid or DuPage County has to say about this failed child support system. Let's act today. Let's support this legislation."

"Representative Jerry Mitchell." Mitchell, J.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"Sponsor yields." Mitchell, J.: "Representative O'Brien, I have sit with all of the meetings, sit through those meetings with you and listened to Bob Lyons, Director Patla, try to explain away the problems or explain why they have problems. But quite frankly, I don't think all the problems are data problems. If we have hired people in that area that have written checks to friends, we've had checks that went to prisoners that didn't even have kids, out of the emergency fund. So the problems are many. I notice that this has an 'effective immediately' date on it. In your mind, in your thinking, if this Bill is found favorably in this chamber, moves to the second chamber, moves out of that chamber and to the Governor's office, basically how quickly could we even get this Bill passed? I mean just a ball park guess. I know that you have to look into your crystal ball."

"You know, I would hope that the Senate would act as quickly as we have. I said I would hope that the Senate 18  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 would act as quickly as we're acting and perhaps could call the vote before the full Senate in about two weeks and then, you know, I don't think it probably takes very long to get it to go down to the Governor's office for his signature. So I would hope, you know, that they would be able to begin putting the provisions into the contract at the time that we get the audit finding back, which we will receive according to the Auditor General, on or about March 15." Mitchell, J.: "Okay."

"So I would hope that the Bill would become law about then and then we could begin the process of putting in their recommendations into this new contract on or about the 15th of March." Mitchell, J.: "Fifteenth of March, okay. And then at the 15th of March then, we're going to get all of the information back from the various parties that are doing audits and my understanding there's two. One by the Auditor General and one by Bank One."

"I don't know when their information will be returned at all." Mitchell, J.: "Whose information?"

"Bank One." Mitchell, J.: "Okay."

"I don't know when their information..." Mitchell, J.: "Well, and their suggestions, I guess. It's not a formal audit like the Auditor General. Anyway, we then have to sit down and prepare an RFP and try to put that RFP together in such a manner that we also, we let the private provider know that we understand what the problems have been and that we don't want them to reoccur. What do you suppose it will take to put that together in such a manner 19  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 that we have the specifics within the request for proposal that we're gonna need to insure that we avoid some of our problems?"

"Well, considering the fact that many states have done this and there are many private vendors out there that have been doing this. And even though it has been reported that we aren't experiencing any different problems than other states, the National Conference of State Legislators has reported this week that Illinois has unprecedented problems that no other state has. We are once again, ranked at the bottom, doing the worst job. So these private vendors and public vendors, you know, public entities would have... already have a lot of information. They already know maybe glitches that happened in other states. They've been monitoring this very closely. They can work with the Auditor General. And the Auditor General's findings will be very specific, because they always do a very good job of pinpointing, very detailed items. I don't think that it's going to be a very burdensome... I don't think we'll need to create a task force. I think that they can go in and within 30 to 45 days have a new transition... the contract and the transition can begin." Mitchell, J.: "Okay, so datewise we're talking about going out for bids maybe..."

"I would hope by the end of March, the beginning of April." Mitchell, J.: "The beginning of April. And that's about two months prior to the end of this contract. Is that right?"

"Correct." Mitchell, J.: "But that's two months of absolute misery for some of our single parents out there that have gone through a ridiculous situation, one that we have to take some 20  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 responsibility for because, in essence, we caused it when we began this. Not with any malice or not with any intent to cause it, but it did get caused. You know, one of the problems that I've had since I've been in the State Legislature is that we fail to plan. We wait until a crisis is upon us and then we sit back and we say, 'Well, we need more information before we can act.' Now I don't know whether this will work. I don't know whether we can find the right vendor out there. But I know if we don't try, we're still gonna be facing the problem and I'm gonna go home to my district and I'm still gonna have to answer to those people and I'm gonna say, 'Well, I voted against trying to do anything because I didn't know... I didn't have enough information.' Well, I've had enough phone calls and information in my district that I know that it's time for us to act. I don't care if it's political reasons or anything else. For the fact that this is the single parents' money, this is the child's money, not ours. It's not a welfare program. We messed it up. We have to take some of the responsibility and move in a direction and do some planning. If we can save two months of misery for those single moms out there, then I think we ought to do it. We're not saying that DuPage can't... if they want to they can rebid on this."

"Correct." Mitchell, J.: "But at the same time, we have done something to say, 'We're not satisfied with where it's at and we're gonna try to move in a different direction.' Representative O'Brien, I argued with you in the beginning on this Bill that I didn't think it was the right time. But you have convinced me, as you've convinced many others on the committee, that it is the right time. And I'm more 21  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 than happy to support your legislation. I hope everyone else does. Thank you."

"Thank you."

"Representative Joe Lyons." Lyons, J.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I, as chairman of the Child Support Enforcement Committee, stand in support of Mary Kay O'Brien's Bill for many of the reasons that you've already heard by those proponents who have endorsed this proposal, this Bill as well as the 9 of us out of 13 in committee on bipartisan basis who supported this thing from the very getgo. While another speaker previously alluded to the fact that there were political overtones to this, I think that the fact that it got bipartisan support in committee is reflective of the arguments that have been given previous to this that support this thing. It's not political. It's on behalf of, in the most case, single parents, moms, across this state. Not a few, not dozens, but hundreds and probably thousands of them who... a victim of a system that we created and problems that we've created that even got noncustodial parents who were doing the right thing in trouble with the situation that they had nothing to do with. So Mary Kay, for a lot of the reasons that we've supported, the point I wanted to bring up was the bipartisan support this did receive in committee with 9 voting for it, only 4 voting 'present', nobody voting against it. I think the time to move this Bill is now. I commended you in committee for bringing this forward and I think it would behoove all of us on behalf of the victims of a system that has failed thousands of custodial parents across this state to vote for this thing and send it to the Senate. I encourage an 'aye' vote from both sides of the 22  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 aisle. Thank you."

"Representative Mulligan."

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

"Sponsor yields."

"Representative, I don't understand if you let an RFP out in April and we're gonna be out of here supposedly April 15th, who's gonna have the authority to let a new contract? The department that you're criticizing?"

"It would still be, I mean, it would be under the Department of Public Aid."

"So you... "

"And to correct you, I haven't been that critical of the department. Although I think that they erred in not putting it out to bid in the first place and erred in not making very tight provisions in their specifications."

"Wouldn't a more appropriate solution be to require them or to seek a waiver so that we don't have this problem entirely? And also, you know, I represent Cook County and quite frankly, we've had very few complaints in our office. But I think that's because the Cook County Clerk was more prepared with rolling the data over, so therefore, we have less complaints. I don't think any entity that administers a contract like this can control the entities that are feeding them the information. And so how is this gonna solve the problem?"

"Well, it's my understanding that not all of Cook County was without problems and that many areas in some of my colleagues did experience problems in Cook County. Part of the reason that Cook County has assigned someone now to go to DuPage County and input data and they had a computer system that was very complimentary. They were one of the counties that were tested. I believe there were two 23  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 counties tested, DuPage and the County of Cook. But there are a hundred of other counties in this state and there are literally thousands of other families that are not so lucky as the residents in your district. And we have a lot of the information or at least, you know, the director and Joel Kagan have indicated what a lot of the problems have been. Those are problems that they should have known all along were gonna be there. Some of those, specifically, were questions that I asked when they came before our committee last spring. What do you do if you get a check and it doesn't have a case number on it, doesn't have anyone's name? And they said, 'Representative O'Brien, that wouldn't happen. How would you know where it went?' Well, my Circuit Clerk knows just about everybody that gets a child support check by name. So she did know that information. She provided exactly the information that she was required to and instructed to by both the State Disbursement Unit and the Department of Public Aid and it still never got put into the computer. You know, you might have some bad entry but if you don't ever put it into the computer, you're not gonna have any information at all. And I think, too..."

"But did the audit provide the information of why that did not happen? And if it hasn't already, how can you do a competent RFP as to ask how..."

"By the time they do the RFP we'll have the audit information back. Just in the time frame, simply being realistic. Because we're gonna have that on the 15th of March. And if it... "

"But what if the audit shows that the problems would not be solved by an RFP and you've already done that?"

"I don't know how... I mean certainly any 24  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 recommendations that they make could certainly be written into a new contract. And at that time it might be something that the County of DuPage decides they want to bid again. Maybe it's gonna come back that they're gonna say, 'You know what, you needed to have more than four employees the day you opened your doors.' Maybe it's gonna come back to say, 'You should've charged the state more money to provide this service.' Maybe it's gonna come back and actually show that they can actually reap a bigger benefit. Because they did start with four people processing the mail for the entire state when the circuit clerk staff for just his county child support was larger than that. I mean, there are some things that common sense would tell you. Unfortunately, we trusted people to have common sense and they chose not to. So I think that anything that the Auditor General provides as information for how things can be changed, can be incorporated into the RFP and into a new contract."

"Isn't it true, though, that most of the advocacy groups recommended that you not do this and that you wait?"

"None of them have contacted me, Representative Mulligan."

"Didn't they testify in committee? In the child... They wrote letters or they testified. Weren't they made available to you?" o'Brien: "I don't recall receiving any information from them prior to me moving forward with my Bill. I honestly did not have anything before that committee hearing. And I'm gonna tell you what, the biggest advocacy group in my district are the women and the men and the children that, you know. I have one instance last Friday, I received a phone call from somebody that was a client of mine and had 25  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 owed me some money and said, 'You know what Mary I'm sorry I can't send you this.' And she lives in Lemont. She said, 'I can't send you a payment on the bill that I owe you because I haven't gotten child support in 12 weeks.' Lo and behold, I make a phone call and on Saturday she saw 12 checks. There are all kinds of people who have not had their problems resolved or even addressed at all. And I think that's the real advocacy group that we need to be looking at. Is we need to be advocating on behalf of people for which this system isn't broken. It failed. It was defective from the beginning and those are the individuals that I'm advocating for."

"I'm just concerned as someone that sits and listens to the agencies when they come in and talk that the way we're going about this is not gonna solve the problem but it's gonna make it worse. And you know if you don't give it time... we're not in the General Assembly long enough this year to estimate what the RFP will look like, what's gonna happen or to hear how the audit's gonna be. So you have no force of the Legislature once we're out of here to change anything that you're trying to pass now, or what you do or to examine. The fact of the matter is it did not go smoothly. We're not 100% sure of the reasons, but we don't want to make it worse by doing something that's not gonna make it better and starting all over again from scratch. And it seems to me from what I understand from the minority spokesman of that committee and from what I've heard in general, that advocacy groups that have been looking at this say this is too soon to do something like this as a solution and that you should hold off on it. So therefore, why are we marching ahead with this which may cause the problem to happen all over again if you let a new 26  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 contract?"

"Well, I don't anticipate that this system could get any worse. And I don't think... the worst... actually, I think the worst thing that we could do is just sit here and do nothing. Representative Mulligan, if you didn't get your paycheck for 12 weeks would you not change banks? Would you just say, 'Oh, that's okay. I know you'll get it cleared up. Here I'll even give you some more money to try and clear up your system.'"

"When you've made a phone call from your office to try and assist someone which let's say that this was problem and that's what we're here for to try and assist people. When my aid... we had, I would say, five complaints, tops. When she made a phone call she was able to straighten them out within a day or two. Only one that was out of state caused a little additional problem. Because she picked up the phone and was able to do that. Now, I understand that many other counties, many other downstate people had more trouble with this. There was a larger group of people that had a problem and I certainly see that as something that we need to be aware of. My concern here is from what I understand of this that we're gonna... when it's starting to smooth out we're gonna then take the contract. We're not gonna be here when the report actually comes back because we'll be out of here too soon this year to figure out if you're making the right judgement or not. So we're going ahead and then you're gonna let a contract to a new entity that may start all over again from scratch to do this. And that's my chief concern with this. I know what you're doing is you're trying to solve your constituent problems. I just would like to see them really solved. I don't want to make it worse and I have a concern about 27  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 this."

"Thank you."

"Mr. Boland."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of this legislation. Probably the only thing wrong with this Bill is that we should have done it about a month or more ago or maybe after the first four weeks of mumbling and fumbling and jumbling by the SDU unit. We all know the horror stories. Some people say, 'Well, you know, we need to give it more time. We need to give it more time.' This is the problem that many voters, many citizens, see is wrong with government is the fact that we fumble the job, the job gets fumbled and we just keep on fumbling it instead of doing something about it. And we turn around and we're sort of rewarding those folks who messed up the job. Some people say they've had five calls at tops. Well, I can tell you just in my office we've solved 50 calls and there's probably dozens more waiting for us to get to. You know, we all know the horror stories, the people that are waiting still after 12, 13 weeks without getting anything. They've went through Christmas. Some of 'em have told us that they've lost their homes. They've lost their cars. We had a meeting in the Quad Cities where there were dozens of these women that were outraged and were talking about suing the state. Apparently, they have initiated a lawsuit. We know there's people who've gotten several checks, some of them don't belong to 'em. We know the stories of the prisoners getting checks. The thing is a mess. It was fumbled and bumbled from the beginning. They weren't prepared for it. They tested it out in one county out of 102. You know it's long past that we send a message here that it's time to end this thing. It's time 28  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 to stop rewarding those folks who have messed it up. Thank you very much. I urge a strong 'yes' vote."

"Representative Slone."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen I also rise in strong support of Representative O'Brien's initiative here. In addition to having at least 75 of these cases in our own office, I've had correspondence from constituents who say, among other things, 'I equate this child support situation to the most heinous of crimes.' They call it legislative child abuse. And I think it is time that we take action and send a message on this issue. Please vote 'yes'."

"Representative O'Brien to close."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I think it's real important here that we don't miss the real issue. It's not pointing fingers and it's not placing blame. It's a fact that, you know, when you make a mess, you don't sit around and wait 2 or 3 months until it just goes away and the milk dries up on the floor, you clean up your mess. And that's what we've got. We have a man-made disaster. No different than a fire or a flood or a tornado in terms of how it's impacted the lives of many of the citizens of this state and the children and unfortunately, those usually most unable to support themselves without these funds. And I think we have an absolute obligation to clean up our mess. To say, 'Well, the contract expires June 30', is ridiculous. This is... and one of the previous speakers spoke to this being folly. It's folly to continue to pay money to an entity that can't get the job done. It is folly to say that we can't do better. It is folly to let the State of Illinois once again be dead last. And here we are, we have a system... 29  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 we know there are private vendors, we know there are other states where circuit clerks have been able to get the job done. But we're saying, 'No'. Instead of making them do the job right, how about if we just give them another $12 million? That's wrong. And I understand the concern of Legislators on the other side of the aisle that have rose up and spoken because they either live in DuPage County or because they don't have any problems in their district. I understand that. But to ignore the reality and the fact that many people are having serious problems: being evicted, having their mortgage foreclosed upon, having their children go without what are basic necessities. It would be folly for us to let that continue and to sit idly by and do nothing. And I would urge your 'aye' vote."

"The question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' Those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed by voting 'no'. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? One person has not voted. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 97 'ayes' and 16 'noes'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Skinner."

"Mr. Speaker, I wonder if all the Democrats know they just voted for a major privatization Bill."

Speaker Madigan: "House Bill 3082, Mr. Reitz. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"House Bill 3082, a Bill for an Act amending the Criminal Code of 1961. Third Reading of this House Bill."

"Mr. Reitz."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 3082 would make the transportation of anhydrous ammonia, which is a fertilizer used by farmers, make the transportation of that illegally, 30  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 a Class IV felony. We have a problem mostly in Southern Illinois where people are using this to make methamphetamine and make different drugs out of this. And the transportation of this, presently, is allowing them to bail out and leave early and leave the state and we're not able to keep these people on these charges that we presently have. So, the intent of this is to allow us to stop the theft of anhydrous ammonia, protect the farmers, and also protect our youth and keep these drugs off the street."

Speaker Madigan: "The Gentleman moves for the passage of the Bill. Is there any discussion? There being no discussion, the question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' Those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed by voting 'no'. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 117 people voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 3119. Representative Coulson. The Lady indicates she does not wish to call her Bill. House Bill 3176. Mr. McGuire. Mr. McGuire. Mr. McGuire, did you wish to call House Bill 3176? Mr. McGuire."

"Speaker, not today. We may have an Amendment, so I'd ask that that be held."

"Thank you."

"Thank you."

"House Bill 3188. Representative Andrea Moore. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Clerk Rossi: "House Bill 3188, a Bill for an Act amending the Township Code. Third Reading of this House Bill."

"Representative Moore." 31  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 3188 amends the Township Code with respect to the open space article. It provides that the amount of bonds to be requested on the ballot will be requested in dollar amounts rather than just in the percentage of the assessed valuation. It's a very simple Bill that will clarify the issues for voters. There's virtually no opposition. The township officials, the home builders, the realtors are all for it, including the environmental council. So I would ask your support and be happy to answer any questions."

"The Lady moves for the passage of the Bill. Is there any discussion? There being no discussion, the question is, 'Shall the Bill pass?' Those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed by voting 'no'. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? One person has not voted. Mr. Hannig, did you wish to vote? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 117 people voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On the Order of Senate Bills-Second Reading, there appears Senate Bill 452, Mr. Capparelli. Is Mr. Capparelli in the chamber? The Gentleman does not wish to call the Bill. Senate Bill 1046, Representative Andrea Moore. The Lady indicates she does not wish to call the Bill. On the Order of Postponed Consideration, there appears House Bill 474, Mr. McKeon. Is Mr. McKeon in the chamber? Mr. McKeon. House Bill 992, Representative Sharp. The Lady indicates she does not wish to call her Bill. Agreed Resolutions."

"House Resolution 523 offered by... House Resolution 524, offered by Representative Daniels; House Resolution 32  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 555, offered by Representative Beaubien; House Resolution 559, offered by Representative Steve Davis; House Resolution 560, offered by Representative Monique Davis; House Resolution 562, offered by Representative Black; House Resolution 563, offered by Representative Black; House Resolution 565 offered by Representative Scully. And House Resolution 566, offered by Representative Hultgren."

"The Clerk has read the Agreed Resolutions. Representative Currie moves for the adoption of the Agreed Resolutions. Those in favor say 'aye'; those opposed say 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. The Agreed Resolutions are adopted. Mr. Clerk, Adjournment Resolution."

Clerk Rossi: "Senate Joint Resolution #54 offered by Representative Currie. Be it resolved by the Senate of the 91st General Assembly in the State of Illinois, the House of Representatives concurring herein, that when the Senate adjourns on Wednesday, February 2, 2000, it stands adjourned until Thursday, February 3, 2000, in Perfunctory Session; and when it adjourns on that day, it stands adjourned until Tuesday, February 8, 2000, at 12:00 noon; and when the House of Representatives adjourns on Thursday, February 3, 2000, it stands adjourned until Friday, February 4, 2000, in Perfunctory Session; and when it adjourns on that day, it stands adjourned until Monday, February 7, 2000, in Perfunctory Session; and when it adjourns on that day, it stands adjourned until Tuesday, February 8, 2000 at 1:00 p.m."

Speaker Madigan: "You've all heard the Adjournment Resolution. Representative Currie moves for the adoption of the Adjournment Resolution. Those in favor say 'aye'; those opposed say 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. The Resolution is adopted. The Chair is prepared to adjourn. Is there 33  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 anything further to come before the Body? Mr. Black, did you have any pearls of wisdom for us? Representative Currie moves that the House does stand adjourned until Tuesday, February 8, at 1:00 p.m. Those in favor say 'aye'; those opposed say 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. The House does stand adjourned until Tuesday, February 8, at 1 p.m., providing perfunctory time for the Clerk."

"The House Perfunctory Session will come to order. Committee Reports. Representative Barbara Flynn Currie, Chairperson from the Committee on Rules, to which the following measure/s was/were referred, action taken on February 2, 2000, reported the same back with the following recommendation/s: 'to the floor for consideration' House Resolution #93. Introduction and First Reading of House Bills. House Bill 4184, offered by Representative Ryder, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act. House Bill 4185, offered by Representative Moore, a Bill for an Act concerning taxes. House Bill 4186, offered by Speaker Madigan, a Bill for an Act in relation to public employee benefits. House Bill 4187, offered by Speaker Madigan, a Bill for an Act in relation to public employee benefits. House Bill 4188, offered by Speaker Madigan, a Bill for an Act in relation to public employee benefits. House Bill 4189, offered by Speaker Madigan, a Bill for an Act in relation to public employee benefits. House Bill 4190, offered by Speaker Madigan, a Bill for an Act to amend the Pension Code. House Bill 4191, offered by Speaker Madigan, a Bill for an Act in relation to public employee benefits. House Bill 4192, offered by Speaker Madigan, a Bill for an Act in relation to public employee benefits. House Bill 4193, offered by Speaker Madigan, a Bill for an Act in relation to public 34  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 employee benefits. House Bill 4194, offered by Speaker Madigan, a Bill for an Act in relation to public employee benefits. House Bill 4195, offered by Speaker Madigan, a Bill for an Act in relation to public employee benefits. House Bill 4196, offered by Representative Giglio, a Bill for an Act to amend the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. House Bill 4197, offered by Representative Art Turner, a Bill for an Act concerning mass transit. House Bill 4198, offered by Representative Stephens, a Bill for an Act making appropriation. House Bill 4199, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act concerning mental health. House Bill 4200, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code. House Bill 4201, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code. House Bill 4202, offered by Representative Daniels, A Bill for an Act in relation to executive agencies. House Bill 4203, offered by Representative Daniels, A Bill for an Act in relation to executive agencies. House Bill 4204, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to human services. House Bill 4205, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to mental health. House Bill 4206, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to health facilities. House Bill 4207, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act regarding health services. House Bill 4208, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act concerning tobacco settlement proceeds. House Bill 4209, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act concerning tobacco proceeds. House Bill 4210, offered by 35  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act concerning tobacco proceeds. House Bill 4211, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act concerning capital facilities. House Bill 4212, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to insurance. House Bill 4213, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the Children's Health Insurance Program Act. House Bill 4214, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act concerning public aid. House Bill 4215, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to public aid. House Bill 4216, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to public aid. House Bill 4217, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to public aid. House Bill 4218, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to public aid. House Bill 4219, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to public aid. House Bill 4220, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to insurance. House Bill 4221, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to insurance. House Bill 4222, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to insurance. House Bill 4223, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to insurance. House Bill 4224, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the Unemployment Insurance Act. House Bill 4225, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the Unemployment Insurance Act. House Bill 4226, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the Workers' Compensation Act. House Bill 4227, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the 36  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 Environmental Protection Act. House Bill 4228, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to county government. House Bill 4229, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to transportation. House Bill 4230, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act concerning state's attorneys. House Bill 4231, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to criminal law. House Bill 4232, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to criminal law. House Bill 4233, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to criminal law. House Bill 4234, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to criminal law. House Bill 4235, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to criminal law. House Bill 4236, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to criminal law. House Bill 4237, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to the Illinois Vehicle Code. House Bill 4238, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Vehicle Code. House Bill 4239, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Vehicle Code. House Bill 4240, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act concerning support payments. House Bill 4241, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act concerning support payments. House Bill 4242, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to family law. House Bill 4243, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the School Code. House Bill 4244, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the School Code. House Bill 4245, offered by 37  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the School Code. House Bill 4246, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the School Code. House Bill 4247, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to education. House Bill 4248, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to education. House Bill 4249, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the School Construction Law. House Bill 4250, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the School Code. House Bill 4251, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the School Code. House Bill 4252, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the School Code. House Bill 4253, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to transportation. House Bill 4254, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to transportation. House Bill 4255, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to transportation. House Bill 4256, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Vehicle Code. House Bill 4257, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Vehicle Code. House Bill 4258, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act concerning job training. House Bill 4259, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act in relation to employment. House Bill 4260, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the Toll Highway Act. House Bill 4261, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the Toll Highway Act. House Bill 4262, offered by Representative Daniels, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Procurement Code. House Bill 4263, offered by 38  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 Representative Silva, a Bill for an Act to amend the Day Labor Services Act. House Bill 4264, offered by Representative Cross, a Bill for an Act to amend the Election Code. House Bill 4265, offered by Representative Wirsing, a Bill for an Act concerning career scholarships. House Bill 4266, offered by Representative Ryder, a Bill for an Act in relation to adult education. House Bill 4267, offered by Representative Beaubien, a Bill for an Act to amend the Unified Code of Corrections. House Bill 4268, offered by Representative Mautino, a Bill for an Act to amend the School Construction Law. House Bill 4269, offered by Representative Pugh, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Public Aid Code. House Bill 4270, offered by Representative Howard, a Bill for an Act to eliminate the digital divide. First Reading of these House Bills."

Clerk Bolin: "House Bill 4271, offered by Representative Fritchey, a Bill for an Act in relation to land excavation. House Bill 4272, offered by Representative Fritchey, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Lottery Law. House Bill 4273, offered by Representative Fritchey, a Bill for an Act to amend the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. House Bill 4274, offered by Representative Fritchey, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Vehicle Code. House Bill 4275, offered by Representative Fowler, a Bill for an Act to amend the Alternative Health Care Delivery Act. House Bill 4276, offered by Representative Beaubien, a Bill for an Act concerning distribution of trust income and principal. House Bill 4277, offered by Representative Osterman, a Bill for an Act to amend the Criminal Code of 1961. House Bill 4278, offered by Representative Bradley, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Vehicle Code. House Bill 4279, offered by Representative John Turner, a Bill for an Act to 39  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 amend the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. House Bill 4280, offered by Representative Tenhouse, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Public Accounting Act. House Bill 4282 (sic-4281), offered by Representatives Woolard, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois State Auditing Act. House Bill 4282, offered by Representative Woolard, a Bill for an Act to amend the Property Tax Code. House Bill 4283, offered by Representative Joe Lyons, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution Act. House Bill 4284, offered by Representative Pankau, a Bill for an Act to amend the Real Estate Appraiser Licensing Act. House Bill 4285, offered by Representative Pankau, a Bill for an Act to amend the Motor Fuel Tax Law. House Bill 4286, offered by Representative John Turner, a Bill for an Act to amend the Health Facilities Planning Act. House Bill 4287, offered by Representative Holbrook, a Bill for an Act to amend the Public Community College Act. House Bill 4288, offered by Representative Feigenholtz, a Bill for an Act to amend the Alternate Fuels Act. House Bill 4289, offered by Representative Erwin, a Bill for an Act making appropriations. House Bill 4290, offered by Representative Erwin, a Bill for an Act making appropriations. House Bill 4291, offered by Representative Erwin, a Bill for an Act making appropriations. House Bill 4292, offered by Representative Erwin, a Bill for an Act making appropriations. House Bill 4293, offered by Representative Erwin, a Bill for an Act making appropriations. House Bill 4294, offered by Representative Erwin, a Bill for an Act making appropriations. House Bill 4295, offered by Representative Erwin, a Bill for an Act making appropriations. House Bill 4296, offered by Representative Erwin, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Procurement 40  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 Code. House Bill 4297, offered by Representative Hoffman, a Bill for an Act to amend the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act. House Bill 4298, offered by Representative Slone, a Bill for an Act in relation to consumer product safety. House Bill 4299, offered by Representative Woolard, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Income Tax Act. House Bill 4300, offered by Representative Hoffman, a Bill for an Act in relation to child custody. House Bill 4301, offered by Representative Steve Davis, a Bill for an Act to amend the Township Code. House Bill 4302, offered by Representative Garrett, a Bill for an Act to amend the Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act. House Bill 4303, offered by Representative Hoffman, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Human Rights Act. House Bill 4304, offered by Representative Scully, a Bill for an Act to amend the Managed Care Reform and Patient Rights Act. House Bill 4305, offered by Representative Scully, a Bill for an Act in relation to clean air and the creation of coal mining jobs in the State of Illinois. House Bill 4306, offered by Representative Scully, a Bill for an Act to amend the Environmental Protection Act. House Bill 4307, offered by Representative Scully, a Bill for an Act to amend the Seniors Citizens and Disabled Persons Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act. House Bill 4308, offered by Representative Bugielski, a Bill for an Act concerning currency exchanges. House Bill 4309, offered by Representative Wirsing, a Bill for an Act in relation to higher education. House Bill 4310, offered by Representative Wirsing, a Bill for an Act in relation to higher education. House Bill 4311, offered by Representative Wirsing, a Bill for an Act to amend the 41  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 Counties Code. House Bill 4312, offered by Representative Erwin, a Bill for an Act to amend the Higher Education Cooperation Act. House Bill 4313, offered by Representative Erwin, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Consortium for Educational Opportunity Act. House Bill 4314, offered by Representative Erwin, a Bill for an Act to amend the Board of Higher Education Act. House Bill 4315, offered by Representative Erwin, a Bill for an Act to amend the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. House Bill 4316, offered by Representative Julie Curry, a Bill for an Act to amend the School Code. House Bill 4317, offered by Representative Boland, a Bill for an Act concerning elections. House Bill 4318, offered by Representative Boland, a Bill for an Act in relation to elections. House Bill 4319, offered by Representative Boland, a Bill for an Act in relation to elections. House Bill 4320, offered by Representative Cowlishaw, a Bill for an Act in relation to administrative rules. House Bill 4321, offered by Representative Howard, a Bill for an Act concerning computer technology. House Bill 4322, offered by Representative Howard, a Bill for an Act in relation to education. House Bill 4323, offered by Representative Howard, a Bill for an Act in relation to education. House Bill 4324, offered by Representative Hamos, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Housing Development Act. House Bill 4325, offered by Representative Scully, a Bill for an Act to amend the School Code. House Bill 4326, offered by Representative Barbara Flynn Currie, a Bill for an Act to amend the Election Code. House Bill 4327, offered by Representative Holbrook, a Bill for an Act making appropriations. House Bill 4328, offered by Representative Art Turner, a Bill for an Act concerning Organ Donor Awareness license plates honoring Walter 42  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 Payton. House Bill 4329, offered by Representative Reitz, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Enterprise Zone Act. House Bill 4330, offered by Representative Kenner, a Bill for an Act to amend the Unified Code of Corrections. House Bill 4331, offered by Representative Mautino, a Bill for an Act to amend the Workers' Compensation Act. House Bill 4332, offered by Representative Schoenberg, a Bill for an Act to amend the School Construction Law. House Bill 4333, offered by Representative Schoenberg, a Bill for an Act to amend the School Construction Law. House Bill 4334, offered by Representative Scully, a Bill for an Act to amend the School Code. House Bill 4335, offered by Representative Scully, a Bill for an Act making appropriations. House Bill 4336, offered by Representative Howard, a Bill for an Act to amend the Children and Family Services Act. House Bill 4337, offered by Representative Mautino, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Municipal Code. House Bill 4338, offered by Representative Coulson, a Bill for an Act in relation to elections. House Bill 4339, offered by Representative Capparelli, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Pension Code and a State Mandates Act. House Bill 4340, offered by Representative Sommer, a Bill for an Act concerning military funeral honors. House Bill 4341, offered by Representative Barbara Flynn Currie, a Bill for an Act to amend the Freedom of Information Act. House Bill 4342, offered by Representative Garrett, a Bill for an Act concerning substance abuse and violence prevention programs. House Bill 4343, offered by Representative Stroger, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Vehicle Code. House Bill 4344, offered by Representative Cross, a Bill for an Act to establish a food service employee incentive program. House Bill 4345, offered by 43  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 Representative Hannig, a Bill for an Act making appropriations. House Bill 4346, offered by Representative Scully, a Bill for an Act to amend the Hospital Licensing Act. First Reading of these House Bills. House Bill 4347, offered by Representative Lou Jones, a Bill for an Act to amend the Illinois Pension Code. First Reading of House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendments. House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment #19 offered by Representative Scully. Resolved by the House of Representatives of the 91st General Assembly State of Illinois, the Senate concurring herein, that there shall be submitted to the electors of the state for adoption or rejection at the general election next occurring at least six months after the adoption of this Resolution a proposition to amend Section 1 of Article X of the Illinois Constitution as follows: Article X, Education, Section 1 - goal- free schools. A fundamental goal of the people of the state is the educational development of all persons to the limits of their capacities. The state shall provide for an efficient system of high quality public educational institutions and services. Education in public schools through the secondary level shall be free. There may be such other free education as the General Assembly provides by law. The state has the primary responsibility for financing the system of public education and shall provide no less than 50% of funding for the system of public education in order to reduce the reliance of education funding on real estate taxes. Schedule: This Constitutional Amendment takes effect upon being declared adopted in accordance with Section 7 of the Illinois Constitutional Amendment Act. First Reading of this Constitutional Amendment. First Reading of House Bills. 44  STATE OF ILLINOIS 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day February 3, 2000 House Bill 4348, offered by Representative Dart, a Bill for an Act in relation to child safety. House Bill 4349, offered by Representative Slone, a Bill for an Act to amend the Park District Code. First Reading of this House Bill. House Bill 4350, offered by Representative Schoenberg, a Bill for an Act to amend the Property Tax Code. First Reading of this House Bill. No further business, the House Perfunctory Session will stand adjourned. The House will reconvene in Perfunctory Session on Friday, February 4th." 45