“The House shall come to order. The Members shall be in their chairs. We shall be led in prayer today by the Reverend Melvin Grimes of the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Moline. Reverend Grimes is the guest of Representative Boland. The guests in the gallery may wish to rise and join us for the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance.”
“Shall we pray. Our God and our Father, the Creator of this universe, we come and pause in thanksgiving for all of the blessings of life that You have granted unto us. We thank You for showing us the pathway to form our legislative branches of government where we be… can be representated and laws of the lands might be passed that we might be protected and enjoy security. We pray for our House of Representatives and that they may be led and guide there by their own conscience to do all that will be pleasing in Thy sight. We also remember and pray for our troops who are in Iraq right now. We ask that You would bless them and keep them. We pray for the families of those who have lost loved ones and also those who have sons and daughters who are missing in action. We pray that Your hand will be upon us and guide us throughout this day. We pray in Jesus’ name, thank God. Amen.”
“We shall be led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Representative Boland.” Boland – et al: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, 09300037.doc 1 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
“Roll Call for Attendance. Representative Currie.”
“Thank you, Speaker. Please let the record show that Representative Acevedo is excused today.”
“Mr. Bost.”
“Hey, Mr. Speaker. Let the record reflect that all Republicans are present today.”
“The Clerk shall take the record. There being 117 Members responding to the Attendance Roll Call, there is a quorum present. Mr. Flider.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise for a point of personal privilege.”
“State your point.”
“Mr. Speaker, as we begin the day, my request to the Body is that we be reflective of the safety and welfare of our troops fighting in the name of freedom on behalf of the people of Iraq. One of our Illinois residents from Decatur, Illinois, is now counted among the missing in action in Iraq. His name is Jonathan Lee Gifford and he’s a U.S. Marine. And he’s been missing since Sunday following a battle in a sandstorm in southern Iraq. We are praying for him back home. I would ask you to join me, this body to join me, in a moment of silence to pray for his safe return as well as for the welfare of all the other troops in Iraq. Thank you.”
“Thank you. Mr. Sacia.” 09300037.doc 2 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Point of personal privilege.”
“State your point.”
“Sir, available in my office and in the House Post Office through Gail are order forms for yard signs for ‘Support Our Troops’. There’s been a big… strong indication that many of these have been desired and my secretary asked that I notify the Members of the House of Representatives that those signs can be ordered from them. Again, they’re yard signs that say, ‘Support Our Troops’. Again, they’re at the House Post Office with Gail or secretary Susan Lane at extension 8186. Thank you.”
“Mr. Daniels.”
“Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I would also like to offer a continuing prayer for Jim Sacia’s son who is in the midst of battle and Jim, as the mild man that he is, doesn’t mention it too frequently, but you should all know that Representative Sacia’s son is right in the midst of battle in the front lines. I believe, Representative Sacia, he flies Apache helicopters. Is that correct, Sir? Along with that, we also would like to remember our friend Jerry Clark who worked for the House for many, many years and he is on his way, obviously, we don’t know where he’s at, but he will be flying Apache helicopters, as well. So, if you would also join me in a continuous thoughts and prayers to keep them in safe way as they’ll be in harm’s way for a while. But to Representative Sacia, thank you, Sir. Thank you for the sacrifices your family is making and to all the people that 09300037.doc 3 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 their sons and daughters are in harm’s way. We offer our heartfelt prayers and continued safe passage for them and thanks for defending our country.”
“Mr. Phelps.”
“I also have a point of personal privilege.”
“State your point.”
“I would like for all my colleagues to welcome to Springfield the chairman of the Johnson County Commissioners, Jim Haney.”
“Mr. Clerk. Mr. Flider. Mr. Flider, you’re the Sponsor of House Bill 3048. We’ll come back to you. We’ll come back to you, Mr. Flider. Mr. Franks, you are the Sponsor of House Bill 209 on the Order of Second Reading. The Gentleman indicates he does not wish to call the Bill. Representative Kelly, 1415, House 1415. The Lady indicates she does not wish to call the Bill. Mr. McGuire, you’re the Sponsor of House Bill 2658. Do you wish to call the Bill? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 2658, a Bill for an Act concerning bonds. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Mr. McGuire.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Bill, 2658, is a bond Bill and it’s for the civic centers throughout the State of Illinois. There are at least 10 or 11 cities in the State of Illinois that have civic centers under the Civic Center Authority granted some years ago by a lot of former Members and some present Members in this House. The Bill asks for $20 million in bonding for those facilities for maintenance 09300037.doc 4 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 and repair. These facilities bring a lot of life and vitality to their communities in the way of entertainment, education and a variety of events. I would try to answer any questions you might have, but I would appreciate your vote. And as I would like to stress that there are at least 10 of these cities across the State of Illinois, Springfield being one, Joliet being another, Peoria, et cetera, et cetera. So, if there are any questions, I’ll try to answer ‘em. And I’d appreciate your ‘aye’ vote. Thank you.”
“Representative Chapa LaVia.”
“Thank you, Speaker and Members of the General Assembly. I rise in support of this Bill. My Aurora has a Paramount Theater that is very much to do with this Bill. So, I ask for an ‘aye’ vote on this.”
“Mr. Black.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor yields.”
“Representative, pardon me,’cause I could look in the file and get the answer, but what kind of bonds are these, General Obligation bonds, an obligation of the state?”
“Yes, Sir. General obligation bonds.”
“All right. And what would the… if I remember correctly, GO bonds are paid for out of General Revenue cash flow, correct? They don’t have a dedicated payment source, as I recall.”
“There was a… there was a revenue stream when this bonding authority first was initiated and then it was 09300037.doc 5 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 brought up in committee the other day by Representative… by Representative Mautino and I’m not sure if the Repre… the revenue stream is still there, but it was racetrack funds.”
“All right.”
“And you may have been here, Representative, when this was done and you may know more about it than I, but if not, why maybe someone else who was here at the time could enlighten us on that.”
“Yeah. It was done before I got here. Let me ask you, Jack, if… I assume that all of this is contingent upon the Governor’s willingness and the state’s financial ability to sell the bonds. It does not require that the bonds be sold, correctly… or correct?”
“I guess it doesn’t require it, but it sure encourages it. And my information on the economic and fiscal is that the authorization is limited to 200 million of new project bonds outstanding at one time. And as of June the 30th, 2002, approximately 56 million are outstanding. So, there’s a $200 million cap or limit, as you may say, and approximately 56 million is outstanding in the last year.”
“Well, Representative, I appreciate, as always, your forthright answers. This… this really points out a difficult situation that many of us are in and I think it shows what we do collectively as a Body. Now, I do have a civic center in my hometown and it is… it’s used and it’s useful. But as of… as is often the case, we sold these bonds, I believe, in the late ‘70s maybe the early ‘80s, and many communities certainly took advantage of that. But 09300037.doc 6 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 as we often do here, we forget it’s not that difficult to sell bonds for bricks and mortar. We forget that the community may not think this thing through on how to maintain it, how to pay the utilities, how to set aside money for a new roof. All of those things are what the civic center in Danville is faced with. It’s… it’s more than 20 years old and in need of maintenance, but it doesn’t generate enough revenue to have its own revenue stream to do that, so once again the state is called upon to issue bonds. This is not an easy decision. I intend to vote ‘yes’ simply because I have a civic center in my community that without some improvements the value of that building will begin to deteriorate rather quickly. But it’s not an easy task nor an easy vote for many of us in the fiscal crisis that we’re in. I would hope that we take a lesson from…from this that sometimes it’s easy to sell a bond to build something, but we need to think through about how they’re gonna be financed operationally, how they’re going to be… how their utility cost will be paid for and how the necessary maintenance and upkeep will be paid for. But having said that, Jack, again, I thank you for bringing the Bill to the floor. Mr. Speaker, if I might, an inquiry of the Chair. Yes.”
“State your…”
“This increases the state’s bond obligation. I assume it requires an extraordinary majority to pass.”
“Yes. On behalf of the Speaker, this requires a three-fifths requirement.” 09300037.doc 7 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Yes. Are you Mr. Uhe?”
“Today I am.”
“All right, I see. I… I read about Mr. Uhe in the paper and then I don’t see him. Evidently, he’s taken a vacation or something. But it’s good to have you with us and I appreciate your response on behalf of the Speaker. Thank you.”
“Thank you.”
“Representative Pankau.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor yields.”
“Representative, do you have a… a civic center or some other type building in your area, is that why you’re sponsoring this?”
“In my area, did you say?”
“In your district?”
“Yes.”
“Did it ever make money?”
“I don’t…”
“I mean, I’m assuming it was built by the bonds that were voted through years ago before I ever got here and many… some of the others ever got here.”
“Well…”
“But has your civic center or whatever the bonds were used to… to build it, has it every made money?”
“Well, I can’t say whether it ever made a profit. Of course, they’re not a profit-making organization, but in Joliet, it was a building that was built many, many years 09300037.doc 8 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 before most of us were even born in this room. And then the money from the bonds, 25 years ago or whenever this was initiated, was just to buy the building and revamp it for the purpose that it’s used for. But whether they turn a profit is questionable because, as I say, they’re not in the profit-making business and as the previous speaker said, these civic centers were created by this Body and then 20 years later or so they need repair and upkeep and that’s what we find ourselves in today.”
“Thank you.”
“So, it’s not a question of whether they make a profit or not, it’s the question they don’t have the money to repair and maintain the facilities.”
“Thank you. To the Bill, Mr. Speaker. I have a serious problem with this concept. Not in what the Representative is wanting to do, but my understanding and again, this was before I ever got here, was that these bonds were originally sold by the State of Illinois to help out with the bricks and mortar of the project and each of these communities, when they were awarded these bonds, were told that it is up to them now to make money. My understanding is that some of these civic centers and things that we used have never made money, that they continually run in the red and they continually come down here for our help. I might be the only one voting ‘no’, but I have a real problem with the State of Illinois when we’re in the shape that we’re in right now, to sell bonds for repairs. This should be a job of the civic center. 09300037.doc 9 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 This should be a duty of the money that they make and I have a real problem with it. I am voting ‘no’. I would urge others to think seriously about the precedent that you’re setting in this particular case.”
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this matter is on the Order of Standard Debate. Mr. McGuire and Representative Chapa LaVia stood in… as proponents, Mr. Black and Representative Pankau in response. There shall be two more; one proponent, one in response. The next person seeking recognition is Mr. Mautino.”
“Thank you, Speaker. I do rise in support of the Gentleman’s Bill and thank you for allowing me to join with you. And this does affect those… I think there’s either ten or eleven civic centers that were out there. When they were created, there was a two hundred and forty million dollar bond issue; a hundred and twenty million was structured for civic centers, the other hundred and twenty million were for park… park improvements and it had its own dedicated funding stream. What was created was the Parks and Conservation II Fund and that was a computer software tax. That’s revenue stream is still in existence and I think that what the Gentleman is trying to do is… is to provide for the needs of these centers and promote their use within our… within those communities that were structured under this… this issue. So, I do… I do support his initiative. I think that the revenue stream is still there. I don’t know where the… where the funds from PCII have been designated. They’re probably paying off some of 09300037.doc 10 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 the structure of that first bond issue, so they would have some ability within that… within the area of their original levy. So, I would hope those would be used towards this to the benefit of those communities. We still provide funding for other state facilities. We have bond issues on McCormick Place. Part of this money was actually used to build the Harold Washington Library in the City of Chicago. When Governor Edgar came in, he cut off the civic center portion of these, that’s why we have a limited number, a finite number, to be addressed. So, it has been a good program. I’d like to see it continue. And simply ask for your support for the Gentleman’s Bill.”
Speaker Madigan: “Again, this matter is on the Order of Standard Debate. Three people have stood as proponents, two in response. There shall be one more person in response until we go to Roll Call and the people seeking recognition are Mr. Leitch and Mr. Parke. Mr. Leitch and Mr. Parke in that order. Did… So, Mr. Leitch will be the last person, then we’ll go to Roll Call.”
“Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I rise in very strong support of this Bill. Two points, really, ought to be made. When the Civic Center Support Act was passed originally, the civic centers that were provided for went to communities that don’t have university systems. Throughout the state, if you’re in Bloomington or if you’re in Champaign or if you’re in many other localities in the state, you have the arenas, you have the theaters, you have the exhibition space, but it’s in the public-funded 09300037.doc 11 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 university system. And so, it was very important for state facilities… for communities in areas where those university settings were not available. To the point about the issue of making money. The Peoria Civic Center is one of the most extraordinary and successful facilities probably in the Midwest. It’s very financially successful, but beyond its own opportunity to bring cultural activities, theater activities and March Madness to Peoria, it has also spurred the development of hundreds of millions of dollars of development that has led to the restoration of the downtown community. Indeed, many will say they can’t imagine what downtown Peoria would be today without the Civic Center. So, now we come to a place where after 20 years some of these facilities need to have some rehabilitation, some renovation and it makes absolutely perfect sense to be able to enable these communities to restore these projects and to make those important capital improvements. And by the way, the City of Peoria, in the course of receiving its $20 million grant from the state at the time, taxed itself to provide and spend for a $64 million investment which reflects the very strong support of the community then and the very strong supporty… support of the community now. And indeed, this is a very important Bill and I salute my colleague for bringing it to this floor.”
“Mr. Parke. Mr. Parke, I incorrectly presumed that Mr. Leitch would be in response and he was not. Did you wish to speak in response?”
“I’m in the opposition to it.” 09300037.doc 12 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Yeah. Proceed, Mr. Parke.”
“Thank you. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, I think the arguments made for this legislation make sense to some degree, but may I respectfully point out to the Body that this is backed by General Obligation bonds. There comes a point in time when the bond houses are gonna tell the State of Illinois we’re not gonna issue anymore bonds. And every time we pass legislation to eat up that level of bonding authority or bonding ability, we’re gonna have a problem. The Governor wants to put $10 billion out that is going to further exacerbate the problem of having our bonding system backed by GO bonds. I respectfully rise in opposition to this and I ask the Body to start thinking about, how much more are you gonna pass to the Senate and ultimately to the Governor, when we don’t have any money to pay for these?”
“Question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ Those in favor signify by voting ‘yes’; those opposed by voting ‘no’. This Bill will require 71 votes. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Again, this Bill will require 71 votes. Has Mr. Wirsing voted? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 72 people voting ‘yes’, 35 people voting ‘no’. This Bill, having received a Super Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Daniels, did you wish to call 74? Mr. Clerk, House Bill 74, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 74, a Bill for an Act in relation to health. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Mr. Daniels.” 09300037.doc 13 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 74 is legislation that requires the Department of Human Services to redirect all cost savings received from the downsizing or closure of a developmental disability or mental health facility to other services within the DD or mental health service system. In other words, under this legislation no funding shall leave the DD and mental health systems until a certain level of services and supports are ensured for the individual with mental health needs or DD needs. A similar Bill of this nature passed the House last Session 114 to 0. And I seek your support.”
“The Gentleman moves for the passage of the Bill. 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? Has Mr. Granberg voted? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 114 people voting ‘yes’, 3 people voting ‘no’. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Sullivan. Is Mr. Sullivan in the chamber? Did you wish to call House Bill 2412? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 2412, a Bill for an Act in relation to criminal law. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Mr. Sullivan.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 2412 allows that a state’s attorney may 09300037.doc 14 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 create, within his or her office, a bad check diversion program for offenders that voluntarily participate in the program instead of undergoing prosecution. This program may be conducted by the state’s attorney or by a private entity in contract with the state’s attorney. The program will require the offender to do three things: pay for the cost of the program; pay a per-check administrative fee; and make full restitution for the offense to the victim. I wanna stress that this program will be voluntary. This Bill is supported by the Illinois State’s Attorneys Association and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association. Furthermore, this Bill passed out of the Senate earlier this week 58 to 0, with identical language. I’d be happy to answer any questions.”
“The Gentleman moves for the passage of the Bill. The Chair recognizes Mr. Franks.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor yields.”
“I’m looking. Where’s the Representative? Mr. Sullivan.”
“Good morning.”
“Morning. I… I appreciate you comin’ to talk to me about this Bill and we’ve had a lot of discussions on it. And I’d just like to ask you a few questions here.”
“I’ll be more than happy to answer them…”
“Thank you.”
“…if I can.” 09300037.doc 15 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“We’re dealing with people who have written bad checks, correct?”
“Yes, we are.”
“Okay. And what you’re trying to do with this Bill is to allow state’s attorneys to prosecute people for bad checks and to put them into a diversion program to unclog the criminal courtrooms. Is that correct?”
“Typically, a merchant would come to the state’s attorney because they could not get restitution. As a last resort, they ask the state’s attorney to… to prosecute, to try and receive the monies that are owed to them for services rendered or goods given to them. And so, yes, the state’s attorney would be allowed to do this and put them into a voluntary program.”
“But we’re talking about checks, like you had mentioned, to merchants, correct? That’s who you’re talking about or it could be anybody.”
“Typically, typically it’d be merchants.”
“But it’s always the private transaction between individuals.”
“Certainly, you’re gonna have private transactions whenever you sign a check over.”
“Okay. So, what we’re basically talking about here is a contract. If someone sells a good or a service and then they choose to pay via a check and then that check bounces, instead of remaining a civil contract action, you’re making this into a criminal action. Correct?” 09300037.doc 16 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“At the request of a retail merchant, when they go to the state’s attorney because they can’t receive restitution, then it becomes a criminal action.”
“But this is no different if someone would pay… If let’s say, I go to my store and I wanted to buy some good or service and instead of giving a check, I gave a credit card and then I didn’t pay that credit card and decided to file bankruptcy. You wouldn’t be able to sue me criminally, would you?”
“Well, there’s a couple ways, I believe, and my understanding is, yes, you can. But this… this in no ways takes away your civil cause to receive restitution. Specifically, in the Amendment, we put in language for you specifically that says we will not take away your civil cause of action. And so, you can still receive triple the damages. That’s one of the Amendments that we made so there would be no opposition to this Bill, as there is now until your opposition.”
“And I believe I’m right. I understand that the Senate passed it 58 to 0. I’m not sure they scrutinized this Bill. What you’re saying is you’re gonna treat one debtor as a criminal and another debtor as a civil action. That’s what this is coming down to. What you’re saying… We’re going back to medieval England. When they throw people in jail for not paying their debts, why is the state’s attorney prosecuting for someone who doesn’t pay a bill. Isn’t that a civil action?” 09300037.doc 17 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“At some… at some point it becomes a legal action and a criminal action. So, we would… we certainly… And the State’s Attorneys Office is not trying to be in the business… trying to be in this business. They would rather not clog the courts with all these cases. But unfortunately, there comes a time when certain actions have to be taken and that’s when they end up in the courts. That’s what the State’s Attorneys Office is trying to avoid through this program.”
“This…”
“Trying to give people a second chance to go into this program and not clog the courts up.”
“This st… To the Bill. The state’s attorney should not be in this business, first of all. This is a deal which is a contract action. And let me tell you something else, the penalties which the state’s attorney has under a criminal action are less when it comes to monetary penalties than one could have in a civil action. With the state’s attorney’s action, someone who isn’t paid would have to pay back the check and plus a small fine, typically $35. If this remained in a civil action, the plaintiff, should that plaintiff prevail, would be able to get the value of the check that was written and treble damages with the limit of up to $1500, plus attorney’s fees, plus court costs. There is no rational reason for the state’s attorney to be in the business of collecting bad checks when there already is a civil remedy. Now, if there is scienter here, if there’s a fraud committed, if the people 09300037.doc 18 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 are writing checks on closed accounts, well, then that would be a criminal action. But when you have someone who bounces a check, it is heavy-handed, it is wrong public policy to allow the full faith and force of a prosecutor to go after somebody, especially in these hard times. Let the civil courts deal with it and we… this should not be a criminal action. I would ask people to vote ‘no’.”
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this matter is on the Order of Standard Debate. We have had one proponent; we have one in response. And we have seven people seeking recognition. Let me repeat. There are seven people seeking recognition on this Bill which should provide for about a full hour of debate. There’ll be four more speakers. The first person seeking recognition is Mr. Parke. Mr. Parke.”
“Mr. Speaker, I do understand that you’re trying to expedite the process and I appreciate that. However, I believe this is the Sponsor’s first Bill and I just… he did say… And Mr. Speaker, may the Sponsor yield, please? Representative…”
“Sponsor yields.”
“…my understanding is that you said this same Bill has passed before. How can this same Bill pass before? This is the first time…”
“This Bill passed out of the Senate 58 to 0 earlier this week.”
“Oh, another Bill.” 09300037.doc 19 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“This Bill was identical… this type of Bill with the same language through the Senate, passed out 58-0.”
“And did the State’s Attorneys Office bring to you this to your attention or did you… have you dealt with this on a professional basis?”
“No, this was brought to my attention by the State’s Attorneys Office and Assistant Minority Leader Cross… Assistant Leader Cross.”
“And who supports this legislation?”
“This legislation is supported by Illinois Retail Merchants Association because they want this Bill to be able to receive their monies faster. They’re not necessarily worried about prosecuting someone other than receiving their money. The state’s attorneys want this Bill because this is clogging up the courts systems where they could be trying to prosecute more heinous crimes than someone writing a bad check. Certainly, the people, the offenders, would like to have a new beginning and that’s really the genesis of this Bill is giving someone a new beginning.”
“So, the… this is a needed… Illinois Retail Merchants Association Bill?”
“No, it is not. This is a… this is a Bill that’s been brought to me by the Illinois State’s Attorneys Association.”
“Okay. And they say that they need this tool? Is there a differential between checks of $500 and checks over $500?” 09300037.doc 20 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Certainly, some of the fines that can be assessed do go over five hundred dollars and there’s a scheduled amount of each check from a hundred dollars to two hundred dollars to five hundred dollars written into this.”
“Do you know if there’s any opposition with… as amended, now?”
“As amended, other then the Gentleman on the other side of the aisle, there is no Amendment and I believe his opposition is because of a business that he does in regard to check writing…”
“All right.”
“…collection of checks.”
“Oh, so he has a personal relationship to this legislation?”
“To my understanding, that’s… that’s the opposition.”
“All right. Well, then I will just simply say is that we… well, on the face of it, that this is your first Bill, but still it is a good Bill. I think it does solve some problem. Makes… seems like this makes it faster in which to process it. So I guess, in the long run, this looks like a not a bad Bill. That, in fact, and you’ve compromised with most of the people who were concerned about it, so I… I presume that I’ll be rising and… and voting for it.”
“Thank you very much.”
“Ladies and Gentlemen, three people have now spoken on this Bill and there are eight additional seeking 09300037.doc 21 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 recognition. We’ve had two in support, one in response. The next person will be Representative Mulligan.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor yields.”
“Representative, although I know this is your first Bill, I’m gonna ask you some questions that I feel are serious rather than more in the jovial mood that we do with first Bills. It’s my understanding that DuPage County has a more enlightened way, at least the judicial system, of dealing with problem and compulsive gambling and bad checks are a very big issue with me, right now, in that area of credit. Routinely, if you cash a check over $500, there’s different penalties and the face value of the check is what’s at stake. If you cash a check under $500, it’s…it’s the ability for the check-cashing agency who cashes the check and it’s a bad check to collect triple damages plus fees. And eventually, if the person, particularly at casinos where they normally use a check-cashing service who will cash checks that they would never cash at a furniture or appliance store, at the Jewel, will cash these checks, a certain percentage of ‘em, that they know are bad and then they mount up and eventually they are a criminal debt because it’s adds into a whole bunch of money that they could never possibly collect from the individual who then possibly goes to jail. Now, my interest is, is there a breakdown of where the money would lie and where you could go to this program? Is it betwe… you know, is there a certain amount that a check has to be for? And do you 09300037.doc 22 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 think it would eliminate the problem of casinos routinely cashing checks under that amount with check-cashing agencies, so they can go after people for excess of money which is almost like usury?”
“First off, this Bill, as amended, allows civil cause of action. So, if you wanted to go through the civil process, you still have that authority. This Bill also gives six points in regard to whether… or that a state’s attorney may look at as to whether they want to allow an offender to go into the program and the amount of the check, the circumstances of the check, whether you’ve been in the program before, the criminal… the offender’s history. These are reasons that are in the Bill, but are not limited to for whether the state’s attorney can put a per… an offender into the program.”
“Is there an amount, a dollar amount, that would either make them be included in the program or precluded from the program?”
“That’s gonna be an individual circumstance that the various state’s attorneys can address when they develop a program. And in this Bill, it does not specifically state whether if you’re a thousand dollars or below you can be part of the program or a thousand dollars and above you’re not part of the program.”
“I think that, from what I understand from people that I’ve worked with, the problem of compulsive gambling, DuPage County does have a more enlightened look at what happens to people as far as getting probation, putting them 09300037.doc 23 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 into programs that would help them with the addiction. I find it very manipulative of casinos not to directly cash checks and then use check-cashing agencies who then always make sure they cash the check for under $500 and it’s… in m y estimation, it’s really taking advantage of people so that these agencies go after them for triple damages, maybe for a $300 check, so if it was over $500, they might collect $500 and a percent and a small fee, where under $500 they’ll collect three times the face value of the check which pushes it up to $900 and they dun people and continue to cash checks for people who they know are bad risks. So, I think that this Bill would allow state’s attorneys to have a better look at that practice, maybe have more control over people who are using it as a business that takes advantage of people who haven’t got the means or have an addiction and I’m glad to support your Bill.”
“Thank you. And to your questioning and your response, the educational component of this Bill is another very good part of it because by going through the program these offenders are gonna get education on why they might have gotten into this problem and certainly, any time that we can have an offender go through an educational program to try and get them to not do this in the future is always a good thing. So, I appreciate your comments.”
“All right, Ladies and Gentlemen, we’ve now had two in support, two in response. There shall be two more speakers. And those people seeking recognition would 09300037.doc 24 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 be Representative Rose and Representative Washington. And then we’ll go to Roll Call. Mr. Rose.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield? Representative Sullivan, earlier in this process something was brought up that… that perhaps this isn’t already a criminal action, we’re turning people into criminals. In fact, Representative Sullivan, isn’t there already the offense of deceptive practices in this state?”
“Yes, it is.”
“And, in fact, don’t state’s attorneys all over this state already charge people, criminally, with writing bad checks. If it’s under a hundred and fifty dollars, isn’t it a misdemeanor; if it’s over a hundred and fifty dollars, isn’t it a Class 4 felony?”
“Yes, it is.”
“So, what you’re doing here is you’re actually helping people stay out of the criminal justice system.”
“That is the genesis of the Bill.”
“Is it…is it your intention to help educate people who may have taken a misstep, maybe don’t quite understand financial transactions, get them some education and at the same time spare them from having a criminal conviction on their record?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Thank you, Representative Sullivan. To the Bill, Mr. Speaker. For those of you who are a flaw… small business, this is a good Bill. In Champaign County, we had this… oh, well, I shouldn’t say this program, but a very similar 09300037.doc 25 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 program. What it allowed us to do was when we had a first- time offender, someone who’d written a bad check, come to us, instead of charging that person with a criminal offense, we could divert them out of the criminal justice system. They would get an educational class, they would make restitution to the small business or the business or the victim whoever it was that the bad check was written to, it would keep them out of the criminal justice system and it would get the victim their money back. For those of you who voted for the expungement Bill yesterday, you ought to vote for this Bill. This is a good Bill. Those of you who wanna keep our criminal justice system and our court system moving smoothly ought to vote for this Bill. If we didn’t have this program in Champaign County, we would have been puttin’ probably a hundred to a hundred and fifty bad- check writers into the criminal justice system every month. We didn’t have time for that as a prosecutor, we didn’t want to. Most of the time these are people who misstep, these are accidents. This isn’t nefarious. This isn’t malicious. Now, I’ll tell ya something, when you have somebody who’s a career bad-check writer, you better believe we charged ‘em. You better believe we took ‘em to the cleaners. But when somebody makes a mistake… when somebody makes a mistake, there’s no need for a criminal conviction. This is a good Bill. And I would urge this chamber to vote for it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.”
“The last speaker will be Mr. Washington.” 09300037.doc 26 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Does the Sponsor relinquish? Thank you. When I signed on to this Bill, and correct me if I’m wrong, there are a number of people who write checks sometime intentionally to defraud, sometime innocently, for whatever reason.”
“Yes.”
“My understanding, as a cosponsor, is that this Bill which shows some compassion in the system to not so quickly burden itself through the process of prosecution and to make an implication that that person is guilty or not guilty, but allow that person once it is brought to the attention that, hey, you’ve overstepped the money that you got, you take care of the face value of the check and you pay any penalty as it relates to the check or anything that the business would be out of in trying to retrieve what is normally due for them for the service or product.”
“Repre…”
“Correct so far?”
“Representative, you’re exactly right. This is a… this is a Bill…”
“And then…”
“…that does exactly that.”
“…as an added measure, the state prosecutor would not pursue this as a criminal matter because this step that you’re offering is a remedy and a buffer between an actual someone getting a criminal case associated with their name. So, it’s a resolution Bill to allow some other things to work out in the… in the favor of those who wrote the check, 09300037.doc 27 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 allow them to pay restitution to the satisfaction of the person or persons whom they’re doing business with, with no record involved. Am I correct?”
“Assuming that… assuming that the offender completes the program, which is an educational program, pays restitution, once all these conditions are met, yes, the… the state’s attorney signs a contract with this person, not to prosecute for those individual checks that are listed in the offense.”
“So, in other words, the state’s… the state attorney, as long as there’s a amenable agreement between both parties that this is a process of resolution to resolve this matter. It’s almost like there’s a referee that said I’m gonna let you hash it out, reach a resolve. We’ll monitor the process, make sure the rules are followed and once everybody’s satisfied, end of story. Correct?”
“Absolutely.”
“Now, a $300 check or over is a felonious… falls into the column… the category of felony, correct? Anything less than that is not.”
“That… that is correct.”
“So, we’re not… we’re not lookin’ at the amount, we’re looking at that this is a remedy regardless of the amount to give us a chance to not put burden on the court system, saving the taxpayers a lot of money, if an agreement can be reached and both parties meet those agreements.”
“You’re… you’re… you’re correct.” 09300037.doc 28 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“To the Bill, Mr. Speaker. I wanna thank my freshman colleague, Representative Sullivan, for a extraordinary, unusual compassion that is shown in the legal system when it comes to people of little means who write a lot of checks. And I think to have a implementation of something that offers a remedy prior to a conviction of any kind I think is to be noted and you are to be commended and I stand in support of your Bill. Thank you. Thank you, Mr…”
“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 110 people voting ‘yes’, 6 people voting ‘no’. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Cross, did you wish to call House 191? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 191, a Bill for an Act concerning corrections. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Mr. Cross.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And just for the record, Representative Sullivan’s a little upset that he didn’t get to give a closing on that last Bill. I… he thinks he could have gotten a few more votes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And House Bill 191 is a Bill that we’ve been working on for several weeks, if not the last, I’d say, month and a half and as you can see, it has bipartisan support with 09300037.doc 29 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 Representative Brosnahan. We have also worked on this Bill with the Speaker’s staff to make it a Bill… a better Bill and one now that I think should get support from all. It is a Bill that would outline the procedures that would need to be in place prior to the granting of a commutation or clemency by future Governors. And it simply says that in prior to the granting of pardons, clemencies, commutations that the Governor would need to seek or would need to have a written report from the Prisoner Review Board outlining their recommendations with respect to petitions for the clemency, commutation or pardon. Right now, those recommendations are private. This Bill would make them public. The other two or three significant portions of this Bill are that victims and/or their families and survivors would be allowed to participate in the clemency hearing. Second, the state’s attorneys assoc… or state’s attorneys would be a required by law to participate in the hearing and the Prisoner Review Board would outline the sentence that would be in place in the event of a commutation. I think it’s a Bill that makes some sense in light of what happened back in January. We’ve had a good bit of help from the law enforcement community. Representative Millner has been very helpful and I appreciate his help, as have the other cosponsors on the… that you see up on the board and others. And I’d be glad to answer any questions, Mr. Speaker.”
“The Gentleman has moved for the passage of the Bill. There being no discussion, the question is, 09300037.doc 30 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 ‘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? Has Mr… has Mr. Fritchey voted? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 95 people voting ‘yes’, 19 people voting ‘no’. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Chair recognizes Mr. Morrow for the purpose of an announcement.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I’m proud to announce one of my colleagues… I know Ken Dunkin claims her as his woman, but she’s my woman and today is my woman’s birthday, her 19th year birthday, Representative Lou Jones. Let’s wish her a happy birthday. Let’s… let’s wish her a happy 19th birthday. And we have some cake… we have some cake on the… on the… in front of… on the… on the Republican side of the aisle. Feel free to share in it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.”
“Mr. Clerk.”
Clerk Rossi: “Committee Reports. Representative Currie, Chairperson from the Committee on Rules, to which the following measure/s was/were referred, action taken on Friday, March 28, 2003, reported the same back with the following recommendation/s: 'to the floor for consideration' Amendments 3 and 4 to House Bill 40; Amendment #6 to House Bill 184; Amendment #1 to House Bill 464; Amendment #1 to House Bill 1482; Amendment #1 to House Bill 1604; Amendment #2 to House Bill 2203; Amendment #2 to 09300037.doc 31 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 House Bill 2486; Amendment #2 to House Bill 2549; Amendment #2 to House Bill 2772; Amendment #1 to House Bill 2880; Amendment #2 to House Bill 3088; Amendment #2 to House Bill 3493 and Amendment #2 to House Bill 3582; and recommends 'be adopted' House Resolution 69.”
Speaker Madigan: “Mr. Clerk, anything further? The Chair recognizes Mr. Morrow for an announcement. Mr. Morrow for an announcement.”
“Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I’ve just been informed that we have another Member whose birthday is today, Representative Marlow Colvin. Representative Marlow Colvin. Wish him a happy birthday.”
“Mr. Clerk, what is the status of House Bill 1518? 1-5-1-8.”
“House Bill 1518 is on the Order of House Bills. Third Reading.”
“Put that Bill on the Order of Second Reading. Mr. Clerk, what is the status of House Bill 2880? 2-8-8- 0.”
“House Bill 2880, a Bill for an Act in relation to human services. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. Floor Amendment #1, offered by Representative Daniels, has been approved for consideration.”
“Mr. Daniels on the Amendment.”
“Mr. La… Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, House Bill 2880, Floor Amendment #1, would set up a 09300037.doc 32 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 task force to investigate the operations of the Department of Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health. It is an Amendment that is patterned after current law and what we have done is just extended the deadline and added a few terms. I worked with the Speaker’s Office on this Bill. And I know of no opposition to it. And I would ask for the adoption of Amendment #1.”
“The Gentleman moves for the adoption of the Amendment. Those in favor say ‘aye’; those opposed say ‘no’. The ‘ayes’ have it. The Amendment is adopted. Are there any further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments.”
“Put the Bill on the Order of Third Reading. Representative Yarbrough, did you wish to call House Bill 1352? Mr. Clerk, what is the status of 1-3-5-2? 1-3-5-2.”
“House Bill 1352 has been read a second time, previously. Amendments 1 and 2 have been adopted to the Bill. No Motions have been filed. No further Floor Amendments approved for consideration.”
“Put the Bill on the Order of Third Reading. Representative Ryg. Representative Ryg. Representative Ryg, you don’t… on 3061, you do not wish to call the Bill? 3-0-6-1? Representative Flowers, House Bill 1507. The Lady does not wish to call the Bill. Mr. Dunkin. Mr. Ken Dunkin from Chicago, did you wish to call House Bill 3-4-2- 9? 3-4-2-9. The Gentleman indicates he does not wish to call the Bill. Mr. Wait, you are the Sponsor of House Bill 1548. Do you wish to call the Bill? The Gentleman 09300037.doc 33 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 indicates he does not wish to call the Bill. Mr. Turner, did you wish to call 2-1-3? 2-1-3. The Gentleman indicates he does not wish to call the Bill. Mr. Granberg, did you wish to call House Bill 1543? 1-5-4-3. You do? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill. Mr. Hartke in the Chair.”
“House Bill 1543, a Bill for an Act concerning higher education appropriations. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Is Representative Wirsing on the floor? I made a commitment to Representative Wirsing to hold the Bill until today. Is that acceptable, Representative? Thank you. House Bill 1-5-4-3 requires the State of Illinois and requires higher education to do line item appropriations. Currently, they do not. What they do is submit their budgets to the Board of Higher Education in line item form. This would just require them to do that formally through the appropriation process. I indicated to Representative Wirsing during the Higher Education Committee a few weeks ago that we would consult with various universities, which I have done, and consult with the Governor’s Office because at that point the Governor’s Office indicated they were in favor of doing the line item appropriation. At this point, negotiations are still ongoing with the universities. Most universities do not have a problem with this, they can accept this. They have various issues with using the income fund and others. So, in consultation with them, yesterday, the Governor’s Office indicated that we should 09300037.doc 34 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 move ahead with this legislation, give it to Senator Del Valle in the Senate, Senator Del Valle’s legislation will come to the House and we will put the… both Bills in concurrent form. So, with that, I would be more than happy to answer any questions.”
“Is there any discussion? The Chair recognizes Representative Parke.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“The Sponsor indicates he’ll yield.”
“Representative, this is a… this is different than what we’ve done in the past with higher education, isn’t that correct?”
“Representative Parke, actually, years ago we did line item appropriations, then they went to lump sum and so, now, this would take it back to line item.”
“Okay. Now, if it’s line item, are we going to have each university listed in the line item or is it… instead of saying one of our major universities gets ‘x’ amount of money as… Is that how it’s done currently?”
“I think, Representative Parke, what you’re saying is, should the University of Illinois, for example, have a line item appropriation for the entire university or should it be separate: University of Illinois, University of Illinois in Springfield? Is that what you’re indicating?”
“Yes. So, is that what you’re…”
“No. It’d be just the University of Illinois in total.” 09300037.doc 35 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“So, they’ll have a line item that says University of Illinois?”
“Yes.”
“Now, do we go any further? Will your line item include building and operations? Will it break out that way?”
“This’ll break it out like every state agency, personal service, contractual services. You…”
“So…okay.”
“Just as we do with every state…”
“So, it says U of I, but it’ll have subsections to it?”
“Right.”
“And then, each one of those subsections will be scrutinized by the Body, by the General Assembly…”
“Yes.”
“…through the appropriation process?”
“Yes. Yes. I believe, like you do, Representative Parke, that it provides a better accountability for this Body and the Senate to go over it line item, see how funds are expended during the course of the fiscal year. I think that provides us that accountability and oversight measure. It makes us… I think, it makes us utilize those funds in a more efficient manner.”
“Have the universities come out… are they neutral or in opposition or do they support this?”
“Illinois State University came out in favor of the Bill in committee. The other universities were neutral. In discussions with them, I… I really don’t wanna make a commitment, but they indicate that they really don’t have a 09300037.doc 36 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 problem with this Bill, but again, negotiations are ongoing with the administration.”
“And this will be brought up at the appropriation process where we will have Members and they will be sitting in and listening to the debate and making recommendations…”
“Absolutely.”
“…by virtue of their votes.”
“Absolutely.”
“Thank you.”
Speaker Hartke: “Further discussion? The Chair recognizes Representative Wirsing.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor will yield.”
“Just… I’m gonna reclarify some things here, Representative, relative to the Bill ‘cause I think it’s extremely important. First of all, the desire to go back to a…as your Bill is, it’s a line item, but is a…but it is a categorical line item accounting system. And the reason for this has been…there’s been discussions with universities, with the Bureau of the Budget, with the Governor, relative to some issues to higher education, but I wanna clarify and I hope you support me in my clarification here. This is not done because the universities have been mismanaging or been doing some bad things. Would you concur with that?”
“Well, I think, you know I agree with you, Representative. I just think it provides our Body with more accountability for the public because these are 09300037.doc 37 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 taxpayer dollars. And I think it provides us that accountability factor that we can do… actually have more detail on how those funds are expended.”
“’Cause it just simply, for some people, this seems to be an easier way for them to… to, if they want to, if they want to take the time to take a look at it, then the lump sum that we’ve been under.”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
“Correct.”
“I just wanted to clarify that.”
“Correct.”
“I don’t want anybody in this chambers to think, when we use the word ‘accountability’, it’s a buzz word, at least for me it is. And the assessment is that somebody’s done something wrong and we’re gonna say we’re gonna make you accountable, but it just, for some people, it’s a simple, better clarity of the process. And I…well, I thank you for that ‘cause I wanted to clear that up. Just let me mention a few things to the Bill itself, if I might. This is one of the issues that there… that the universities and we’ve been in conversation with universities over the last several weeks in dealing with this whole issue. This piece of legislation was acceptable as to the universities and to those of us who have universities in our districts that are… that have a concern about… about our entities. And so, those conversations went on, there’s been conversations with the Bureau of the Budget Director, with the Governor, 09300037.doc 38 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 as I stated earlier, and this is a… this is still somewhat of a product in discussion and debate, but this is a base of that discussion. And so, I just wanted to make everybody clear on what we’re trying to do here. And I will be supporting the Bill on… based on that purpose so.”
“Representative Wirsing, you’re actually… you’re absolutely correct. I thank you for your support because you deal with universities much more than I do. And again, they submit these budgets, as you indicated during committee, in a line item form. So, this just provides this Body and our appropriation committee the ability to have greater oversight and I think that’s good for everyone.”
“Well, I think the other thing this… this can do is it can create a clarity and an understanding from the Bureau of the Budget and from the Governor exactly what our university… public university systems are all about in this state and why we are… I think we’re #3 now in the nation as far as the best public university system nationwide.”
“Right.”
“And so, I think that’s… that this is helping, this process is helping to clarify and actually give the universities an opportunity to put what they do on the table and how well they do it. Thank you.”
“Representative Wirsing, thank you very much.”
Speaker Hartke: “Further discussion? The Chair recognizes Representative Daniels.” 09300037.doc 39 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. For years we did not have an accurate picture of the line items that are going into our higher education system. What this Bill will do is give the General Assembly further information so that we can make continued reasonable judgments in the budget. As a matter of fact, when the budget negotiators went into the Governor’s Office to talk about higher education budget, we only had a lump sum to work with, it was very difficult to get that information. The Sponsor of this Bill has done a great job in bringing a very important piece of legislation to our attention. I commend him for his work and I’m happily going to endorse this Bill. It’s about time. Thank you, Representative Granberg.”
Speaker Hartke: “Further discussion? The Chair recognizes Representative McCarthy.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor will yield.”
“Thank you, Representative Granberg, I also appreciate your work on this measure. I do have one question though and that is, basically, that according to the way it’s written today, it talks about just state-generated funds.”
“Yes.”
“So, as written in the piece of legislation that we’re gonna send out of here, that would not include the tuition fund. Is that correct?” 09300037.doc 40 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“That’s correct.”
“Thank you very much.”
“That’s correct. And Representative McCarthy as…I’ve learned a great deal from you as chairman of the Higher Education Committee and I appreciate your advice in this matter because it’s very… it’s been very, very insightful. In fact, the other night when we discussed this issue, you provided… you provided some… some issues that I had no idea about and…”
“Further discussion? Since no one is seeking recognition, Representative Granberg to close.”
“Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Representative Daniels, thank you, Representative Wirsing, and of course, the illustrious chairman, Representative McCarthy. This will provide, I think, more accountability and more of an oversight for us as a Legislative Body and again, negotiations are ongoing with the administration, but this Bill, intact, I think will help us serve a better… do a better job in conjunction with universities. And I would ask for your support.”
“The question is, ‘Shall the House pass House Bill 1543?’ 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? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 117 Members voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’, and 0 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 15 on the Calendar, on 09300037.doc 41 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 Second Reading appears House Bill 2598. Representative Younge. Representative Younge. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 2598, a Bill for an Act concerning guaranteed job opportunity projects. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. Floor Amendment #1, offered by Representative Younge, has been approved for consideration.”
“Representative Younge on Floor Amendment #1.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Floor Amendment #1 is the Amendment of the Department of Human Services to this Bill. This is a Bill that would set up a group of projects to improve the employability of did recipients. And the Amendment makes the Bill subject to appropriations and calls for a small project that may be selected by the department to begin this.”
“Is there any discussion of Floor Amendment #1? Seeing no one is seeking recognition, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Floor Amendment #1 to House Bill 2598?’ All in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments.”
“Third Reading. On page 10 on the Calendar, on the Order of Second Reading, appears House Bill 2515. Mr. Brosnahan. Out of the record. On page 2 on the Calendar appears House Bill 9. Mr. Capparelli. Mr. Capparelli. Out of the record. On page 12 of the Calendar appears House Bill 2376. Representative Flowers. Out of the 09300037.doc 42 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 record. On page 27, on Second Reading appears House Bill 3407. Mr. Forby. Out of the record. On page 6 on the Calendar, on the Order Second Reading, appears House Bill 1256. Representative Giles. Out of the record. On page 21, on the Order of Second Reading appears House Bill 2784. Mr. Hoffman. Out of the record. On page 27, on the Order of Second Reading appears House Bill 20… 3427. Representative Kelly. Out of the record. On page 4 on the Calendar, on the Order of Second Reading appears House Bill 520. Mr. Miller. Out of the record. On page 31 on the Calendar, on the Order of Third Reading, appears House Bill 339. Representative Kurtz. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 339, a Bill for an Act in relation to gambling. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Representative Kurtz.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Bill is known as the decriminalization of granny or greatgranny. It has to do with senior citizen organizations who have acquired a bingo license, a special one, and it is used in a special place. It would… this Bill was at the request of hundreds of senior citizens and specifically the supervisor of our largest township. The… the change is very minor. The cost of a… of a bingo card would be raised from five cents to up to one dollar. That doesn’t mean one dollar always, up to one dollar and the prize would be… the change would be from one dollar to up to $20. I hope that you would support this.” 09300037.doc 43 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Is there any discussion on House Bill 339? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition… Representative Franks.”
“Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor will yield.”
“Representative, what’s the genesis of this Bill?”
“The genesis of the Bill is what I just explained. That the supervisor and all of the members of the senior citizen clubs including senior citizens from Warren Township, when Sue Simpson was here representing Warren Township, they requested this kind of a Bill.”
“Can you tell us why the Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems are against… is against this Bill?”
“They are afraid that senior citizens, I think, just in general, people would become addicted. Now, people… I’ve been to a couple of those senior citizen ‘meet and eat’ and have an educational program and then play bingo and some of them are like 80 years old or 85 and there’s no way that they’re going to get addicted. Some of… I just think that this good organization, the Church Against Alcohol and Addiction should be going after video gambling and other kinds of gambling.”
“What this Bill does is it increases the amount that seniors can pay for a bingo card from a nickel to a dollar, so the se… so the seniors would be placing more of their money at risk.” 09300037.doc 44 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Yes. They would be… actually, we had an Amendment and the aggregate retail value of all prizes or merchandise awarded to a particular participant in a…is… may not exceed $20 in a 24-hour period. In this… this Bill was originally in the Code back in the ‘70s and as you know, five cents probably was a lot more than today and inflation…it really provides for inflation.”
“What… Now, you… you’ve put a limit on how much someone can win of $20 within a 24-hour period.”
“That’s correct.”
“But you haven’t put a limit on how much they can spend during that 24-hour period. Correct?”
“The… the way the compromise went with the lady from the church group was based… I mean, her concerns seem to be based on how much you would win and so, that’s why this Amendment was put in focusing on the prize itself.”
“How could you enforce a $20 limit on winnings within a 24-hour period? How is that gonna be enforced?”
“Well, I… the Department of Reveno… Revenue enforces the Bingo Act.”
“That’s… that doesn’t answer my question, though. You’re putting a limit of $20 during a 24-hour period. Is there someone who’s physically going to be there and to write down how much someone’s won? I don’t understand it.”
“Well, you know, senior citizens, these are people who have been in the Second World War, the First World War, they are very reputable people. They have given their lives for this country and if you can’t trust senior 09300037.doc 45 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 citizens when it comes to a simple thing like $20 prize, then you have to worry about yourself.”
“I’m not… I’m not disagreeing that our seniors are the salt of the earth. That’s not my question. My question is you’re changing the limits on how much people can spend, you’re increasing it by 20 times, from five cents to a dollar. You’re not limiting how much they can spend, but you are limiting how much they can win. It seems to me this is reversed. And then now when I ask you about enforcement, where is it? Why… why do we have this limit?”
“Because the church group objected to the prize limit. They didn’t object to the other part of it and I am just introducing this Bill in response to my constituents.”
“Okay. Well, to the Bill.”
“To the Bill.”
“I… I see what the…the Sponsor’s trying to do. I just think it’s misguided. You’re telling the seniors they should spend 20 times more on the cards and then limiting how much they can win and not having any enforcement. I’d urge a ‘no’ vote.”
“Is there any discussion or further discussion? Representative Steve Davis.” Davis, S.: “Thank you, Speacher… Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor will yield.” Davis, S.: “Yeah, Representative Kurtz, just for some clarification. This money… the increase in this money goes to pay for services such as the meals that are served in 09300037.doc 46 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 the senior services centers. It goes to subsidize some of the programs in the senior services centers. We’re not talking about increasing the prize levels to a thousand dollars per bingo game. This is… this is more or less to help them subsidize some of their services, isn’t it?”
“I’m not sure if that’s true, the subsidization, but I appreciate your attempt to help me out here.” Davis, S.: “Well, currently, they’re charging a nickel, now they’re charging a dollar. So, obviously, there’s going to be some added monies that are collected in the senior citizens serv… centers, so what I am trying to say is that this extra money is going to be stayed within the senior services organization to help out those organizations subsidize some of their programs.”
“Definitely, it will stay within the organization and so far I’ve never heard of anybody charging more than maybe a quarter a card, so it hasn’t gone up to a dollar. We just… we’re allowing for inflation by putting in the dollar maximum.” Davis, S.: “Right. So, actually, I’m in support of your Bill. So, I think it’s a good Bill and everybody should understand that this money is going to help out the senior service… senior citizens organizations. It’s not out there to turn anybody into an addicting… an addicted gambler.”
“Exactly.” Davis, S.: “Right. Okay. Thank you.”
“Further discussion? Since no one is seeking recognition, Representative Kurtz to close.” 09300037.doc 47 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Thank you very much for responding to this… this interesting Bill that I was requested to propose. I would urge an ‘aye’ vote.”
“The question is, ‘Shall the House pass House Bill 339?’ 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? Please vote your switches. Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 61 Members voting ‘yes’, 49 Members voting ‘no’, 5 Members voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 34 of the Calendar, on the Order of Third Reading, appears House Bill 3656. Representative Mautino. Representative Mautino. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 3656, a Bill for an Act relating to insurance. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Representative Mautino.”
“Thank you, Speaker. House Bill 3656…”
“Shhh.”
“…is in response to the audit on the Department of Insurance. It clears up an audit finding that’s been outstanding for a few years. I know of no opposition to the Bill. It regards safekeeping of deposits. Appreciate an ‘aye’ vote.”
“Is there any discussion on House Bill 3656? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, the question is, ‘Shall the House pass House Bill 3656?’ All those in favor 09300037.doc 48 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 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 this question, there are 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 34 on the Calendar, on the Order of Third Reading, appears House Bill 3396. Representative McKeon. Representative McKeon. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 3396, a Bill for an Act concerning labor relations. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Representative McKeon.”
“Mr. Speaker, could we take this out of the record for a moment?”
“Take this Bill out of the record. On page 31 of the Calendar, on the Order of Third Reading, appears House Bill 386. Representative Novak. Representative Novak. Out of the record. On page 31 of the Calendar, on the Order of Third Reading, appears House Bill 1182. Representative Collins. Representative Collins. 1182. Out of the record. On page 30 on the Calendar, on Third Reading appears House Bill 76. Representative Daniels. Out of the record. House Bill 40, Representative Lang. Mr. Lang, House Bill 40. You have two Amendments that were approved in Rules. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 40, a Bill for an Act in relation to state loans. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment 09300037.doc 49 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 #1 was adopted in committee. No Motions have been filed. Floor Amendment #3, offered by Representative Lang, has been approved for consideration.”
“Representative Lang.”
“Inquiry of the Clerk. What happened to Amendment 2?”
Clerk Rossi: “Floor Amendment #2 remains in the Rules Committee.”
“All right. Amendment #3 is a technical Amendment. I would move adoption.”
Speaker Hartke: “Is there any discussion? Seeing no discussion, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Floor Amendment #3 to House Bill 40?’ All those in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“Floor Amendment #4, offered by Representative Lang, has been approved for consideration.”
“Representative Lang.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is another technical Amendment. I would move adoption.”
Speaker Hartke: “Is there any discussion on the technical Amendment #4? Seeing no one is seeking recognition, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Floor Amendment #4 to House Bill 40?’ All those in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments.” 09300037.doc 50 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
Speaker Hartke: “Third Reading. Representative Saviano on Amendment #6 on House Bill 184. Out of the record. House Bill 140… 1482, Representative Schmitz. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 1482, a Bill for an Act in relation to fireworks. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. Floor Amendment #1, offered by Representative Schmitz, has been approved for consideration.”
“Representative Schmitz on Floor Amendment #1.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Floor Amendment #1 is a just slight Amendatory language that we worked on between the State Fire Marshal’s Office, the Chiefs Association and the various groups that are associated with the licensing of this Bill. Puts some effective dates in it. It also states some of the standards that would have to be followed should this Bill pass.”
“Is there any discussion on Floor Amendment #1. Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Floor Amendment #1 to House Bill 1482?’ All those in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments.”
“Third Reading. House Bill 184, Representative Saviano. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 184, a Bill for an Act in relation to animals. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 09300037.doc 51 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 was adopted in committee. No Motions have been filed. Floor Amendment #2, offered by Representative Saviano, has been approved for consideration.”
“Mr. Saviano.”
“Mr… Mr. Speaker, I have an inquiry of the Clerk.”
“Withdraw Amendment #2.”
“Ahh… I…”
“Further Amendments?”
Clerk Rossi: “Representative Saviano, there are Floor Amendments 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 have all been approved by the Rules Committee.”
“Floor Amendment 2… #2 withdraw, please.”
“Floor Amendment #3, offered by Representative Saviano, has been approved by… for consideration.”
Speaker Hartke: “The Sponsor requests that the Motion be removed… to withdraw Amendment #3.”
“Floor Amendment #4, offered by Representative Saviano, has been approved for consideration.”
“Withdraw Amendment #4. Further Amendments?”
“Floor Amendment #5, offered by Representative Saviano, has been approved for consideration.”
“Withdraw Amendment #5.”
“Floor Amendment #6, offered by Representative Saviano, has been approved for consideration.”
“Representative Saviano on Floor Amendment #6.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House. Floor Amendment #6 represents all the previous Amendments that we drew. We rolled ‘em all into this Amendment. This 09300037.doc 52 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 Amendment is a culmination of a lot of work by groups across the state including but not limited to the Cook County State’s Attorneys Office, who I wish to publicly thank for their hard work, all of the animal rights groups, the Illinois Veterinarian Association. Floor Amendment #6, which becomes the Bill, represents a effort to hold dog owners accountable for the actions of their vicious dogs. There was some increase… there was some increase up while we were negotiating this about the issue of micro-chipping. To let everybody know that we made that permissive by county. So we are not mandating micro-chipping in this Amendment and ultimately in this Bill. This has been a longtime coming. I’d like to thank my cosponsors on this Bill, also, especially Representative Brosnahan whose pediatrician’s nurse was the lady in the Dan Ryan woods who was attacked and alternately killed by the pit bull. So, this hits very close to home in this chamber. And I would ask for your support in approving and adopting Floor Amendment #6 to House Bill 184.”
“Is there any discussion? The Chair recognizes the Lady from Cook, Representative Feigenholtz.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor will yield.”
“Skip, there was a time when there was some discussion about making it mandatory for pet owners to have chips inserted under their… subcutaneously. ” --Feigenholtz: “Is that still… I mean, under their skin. Is that still in this Bill?” 09300037.doc 53 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Representative, I’ve… in my introduction, I made it clear that through the negotiation process we made that totally permissive by county. We are not mandating any micro-chipping. We’re gonna leave it up to the individual areas that tailor…could tailor a program if they wish to conduct something like that, but we are not making it mandatory and so, we took that out of the Bill.”
“I apologize. I didn’t hear you. Thank you very much.”
“Further discussion? Since no one’s seeking recognition, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Floor Amendment #6 to House Bill 184?’ All in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments.”
Speaker Hartke: “Third Reading. House Bill 64… 464, Representative Saviano. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 464, a Bill for an Act concerning professional regulation. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. Floor Amendment #1, offered by Representative Saviano, has been approved for consideration.”
“Representative Saviano.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is animal day on the Illinois House Floor. This is the… Floor Amendment #1 to House Bill 464 becomes the Bill. This is the Amendment which provides for the rewrite of the Veterinary Medicine 09300037.doc 54 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 Act of 2004. The previous Act sunsetted. We were able to bring this Act into the 21st century with the new technology offered in the veterinarian field. And… there was a lot of work put into this Bill. I wanna thank all the groups: the Illinois Farm Bureau, the Illinois Pork Producers, the Illinois Beef Producers and the Illinois Veterinarian Association for all their hard work in helping us come up with a Bill that we feel will serve us well for the next 10 years. And I would ask that you will adopt Floor Amendment #1 to House Bill 464.”
“Is there any discussion on Floor Amendment #1? The Chair recognizes Representative Wirsing.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor will yield.”
“Representative, I see that… you said you’re in negotiations and I hope that’s where it’s at. I see you’ve got a couple of ag organizations that are… are opposed. Is that… what I’m reading, is that correct?”
“No. Those… those associations are now either neutral or in supportive of the Bill.”
“So, the plan is to continue negotiations over what period of time? Or is this…”
“No. This…”
“…is this the final product?”
“Yes. This is the final product as it sits right now. The only other thing is, I have to change a word once I get it over to the Senate for the City of Chicago. They have 09300037.doc 55 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 some concerns, but we may or may not have to do that and we will take care of that once it gets into the Senate.”
“Okay.”
“But all the other groups, with this Amendment, everybody is supportive of this Amendment and ultimately, with the Bill.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
Speaker Hartke: “Further discussion? The Chair recognizes Representative Black, the Gentleman from Vermilion.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“The Sponsor will yield.”
“Representative, at one time there was a disagreement between the veterinarians and the owners of horses. Has that been worked out?”
“Yes, it has. That group met with me last week and that was the final group to come in before we drafted this Amendment. They are… they are now supportive of the Bill.”
“All right. So, there’s no changes in the testing rules and regulations, quarantine, et cetera, at Illinois racetracks or any of that sort of…”
“That’s true. That’s right.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“Further discussion? Since no one is seeking recognition, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Floor Amendment #1 to House Bill 464?’ All those in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. In the opinion of 09300037.doc 56 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 the Chair, the ‘aye’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments.”
Speaker Hartke: “Third Reading. House Bill 1604, Representative Mathias. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 1604, a Bill for an Act in relation to criminal law. No Committee Amendments. Floor Amendment #1, offered by Representative Mathias, has been approved for consideration.”
“Representative Mathias.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Floor Amendment 1604 adds to the Bill. It adds ‘coach’ to the definition of this Bill in addition to ‘official’. I ask for your ‘aye’ vote.”
“Is there any discussion? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Floor Amendment #1 to House Bill 1604?’ All those in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments.”
Speaker Hartke: “Third Reading. House Bill 2772, Representative Saviano. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 2772, a Bill for an Act concerning insurance. Second Reading of this House Bill. The Bill’s been read a second time, previously. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. Floor Amendment #2, offered by Representative Saviano, has been approved for consideration.” 09300037.doc 57 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Representative Saviano.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Floor Amendment #2 represents… what this Amendment does is it shells the Bill. To give everybody a little history on 2772, this is the fairness in health contracting vehicle that we plan to use and we…we are gonna have an agreement on this Bill. We’ll probably need a couple more weeks. All the insurance companies are sitting down with the health care providers and we’re developing the language as we speak. So, we felt at this point, let’s shell the Bill, send it over to the Senate, and we’ll have the Amendment ready for the Senate within the next two weeks. So, what I would ask that we adopt Floor Amendment #2 to House Bill 2772.”
“Is there any discussion on Floor Amendment #2? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Floor Amendment #2 to House Bill 2772?’ All those in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments.”
“Third Reading. House Bill 3582, Mr. Granberg. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 3582, a Bill for an Act concerning structured settlements. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. Floor Amendment #2, offered by Representative Granberg, has been approved for consideration.”
“Representative Granberg.” 09300037.doc 58 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Amendment #2 reflects an agreement bequire… between all of the parties involved in this legislation: insurance, trial lawyers and others. I would simply ask that we adopt the Amendment and then I’ll… and do questions on Third Reading.”
“There any discussion on Floor Amendment #2? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Floor Amendment #2 to House Bill 3582?’ All those in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments.”
Speaker Hartke: “Third Reading. House Bill 2486, Representative Nekritz. Representative Nekritz. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 2486, the Bill’s been read a second time, previously. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. Floor Amendment #2, offered by Representative Nekritz, has been approved for consideration.”
“Representative Nekritz.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. The Amendment #2 to House Bill 2486 amends the enforcement provisions of this particular legislation. It’s a pretty technical change. And I would ask for your support on the… on the Amendment.”
“Is there any discussion on Floor Amendment #2? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Floor Amendment #2 to House Bill 09300037.doc 59 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 2486?’ All in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. Opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments.”
Speaker Hartke: “Third Reading. House Bill 3088, Representative McCarthy. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 3088, a Bill for an Act relating to schools. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. Floor Amendment #2, offered by Representative McCarthy, has been approved for consideration.”
“Representative McCarthy.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Floor Amendment #2 basically shells House Bill 3088 so we can continue the discussions on this issue. But it basically is just a shell Amendment.”
“Is there any discussion? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Floor Amendment #2 to House Bill 3088?’ All those in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments.”
Speaker Hartke: “Third Reading. House Bill 2549, Representative Joyce. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 2549, a Bill for an Act concerning mosquito abatement. Second Reading of this House Bill. No 09300037.doc 60 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 Committee Amendments. Floor Amendment #2, offered by Representative Joyce, has been approved for consideration.”
“Representative Joyce on Floor Amendment #2.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Floor Amendment 2 essentially shells the Bill. This…purpose of this Bill is to deal with the Cook County Mosquito Abatement District. And the original Bill unintentionally abolished some of the parts of the Cook County Abatement District that would… that are actually doin’ a good job. So, with respon… this was… we wanna shell this Bill so we can move it over to the Senate. So, that Representative Krause and Representative Froehlich can talk to me about their areas would unintentionally be hurt. We’re workin’ on the language with Cook County to, in essence, abolish the Southwest District of the Cook County Abatement District and the North Shore. So, I’d appreciate it, the adoption of Floor Amendment #2 so we can move it to the Senate.”
“Is there any discussion on Floor Amendment #2? Representative Meyer, the Gentleman from Will.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Representative, if you would yield for a question.”
“He will yield.”
“Our analysis does not describe Floor Amendment #2 as shelling the Bill. Do we have a problem in terms of our Amendment or what?”
“It does shell the Bill. Floor Amendment #1 did not. Floor Amendment #2 does shell the Bill.” 09300037.doc 61 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Okay. Give me a second…”
“Sure.”
“…to take a look at the Amendment, if you would and… Okay, I see where it’s doing that. Thank you.”
“The question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Floor Amendment #2 to House Bill 2549?’ All in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. Opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments.”
Speaker Hartke: “Third Reading. House Bill 2203, Representative McKeon. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 2203, a Bill for an Act in relation to minors. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. Floor Amendment #2, offered by Representative Hamos, has been approved for consideration.”
“Representative Hamos on Floor Amendment #2. Representative Hamos.”
“Thank… thank you, Speaker. This is truly a technical Amendment that tinkers with a serious Bill that Representative McKeon is going to sponsor that has to do with a very small group of children who are immigrants in this country, do not have parents living here with them and this Bill will allow DCFS and the juvenile court to… to follow the INS rule and provide services. This Amendment by itself doesn’t say too much. It’s a technical Amendment that works on that law.” 09300037.doc 62 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Is there any discussion on Floor Amendment #2? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Floor Amendment #2 to House Bill 2203?’ All those in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments.”
“Third Reading. Is Representative Rose in the chamber? Representative Rose. Representative McKeon, are you ready on 3396? On page 34 on the Calendar, on the Order of Third Reading… Disregard that. Mr. Brauer in the chamber? Representative Brady, are you do… ready… Mr. Brady, are you ready to do House Resolution 172? House Resolution 172. Mr. Clerk, would you post House Bill… House Resolution 172. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Resolution.”
“House Resolution 172 offered by Representative Brady. WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the State of Illinois were saddened to learn of the death of eight British soldiers and four United States Marines when a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter crashed in Kuwait about nine miles away from the border with Iraq on March 20, 2003; and WHEREAS, The four Marines are Major Jay Thomas Aubin, 36, of Waterville, Maine; Captain Ryan Anthony Beaupre, 30, of St. Anne, Illinois; Corporal Brian Matthew Kennedy, 25, of 09300037.doc 63 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 Houston, Texas; and Staff Sergeant Kendall Damon Watersbey, 29, of Baltimore, Maryland; and WHEREAS, Captain Beaupre, attached to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton, California was the pilot of the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter and was born on December 10, 1972 in St. Anne, Illinois, a town of approximately 1,300 persons 60 miles south of Chicago; and WHEREAS, He graduated from Bishop McNamara High School in Kankakee in 1991 where he captained the track and cross country teams and ran the lead-off leg to win the 1991 state championship of the 1,600-meter relay; and WHEREAS, He majored in accounting at Illinois Wesleyan University, graduated in 1995 and took a job with State Farm Insurance; and WHEREAS, At Illinois Wesleyan, Captain Beaupre was on the Dean's List, was the recipient of the Growmark Outstanding Accounting Major Award in 1994, was a member and treasurer of Sigma Pi social fraternity, competed in cross country and track, was a recruitment peer at the University's Career Center for two years, was a member of the Accounting Society, and was a volunteer at "Home-Sweet-Home" mission, a homeless shelter and transitional housing program in Bloomington; and 09300037.doc 64 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 WHEREAS, He chose to serve his country as a Marine to pursue a life-long dream of becoming a pilot, and after officer candidates' school in Virginia, was stationed in Pensacola, Florida and in Corpus Christi, Texas before Camp Pendleton, where he lived near the ocean and surfed nearly every day; and WHEREAS, The passing of Captain Ryan Beaupre will be deeply felt by all who knew him, especially his father, Mark Beaupre; his mother, Nicky Beaupre; his brother, Christopher Beaupre; and his sisters, Alyse Beaupre and Kari Leisure; therefore, be it RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that together with his family, friends, educators, community, and fellow members of the United States armed forces, we mourn the death of Captain Ryan Beaupre, who will be remembered as bright, dependable, generous, and confident, and offer our deepest sympathy to all who knew and loved him; and be it further RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Captain Ryan Beaupre as an expression of our sincerest condolences.”
“Representative Brady on the Resolution.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. In regards to the Resolution that’s been 09300037.doc 65 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 read before you for Captain Ryan Beaupre who lived in St. Anne, Illinois, attended Illinois Wesleyan University and spent a part of his life in Bloomington, in my district. He is represented in his family by Representative Novak, who joins me in this Resolution, as well as a number of other Representatives on both sides of our aisle. And I just ask for a moment of silence for a Marine who paid the ultimate sacrifice in giving of his life for the service to his country.”
“The question is, ‘Shall the House adopt House Resolution 172?’ All those in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Resolution is adopted. Mr. Clerk, House Resolution 69. Mr. Brauer on Resolution 69.”
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. House Resolution 69 is a Resolution that supports Major Umbach and Major Schmidt of the Illinois National Guard. It’s identical to Senate Resolution 517 which passed out last year. This is an incident that happened on April 17, 2002, in Afghanistan with friendly fire incident and it was a situation of two highly-trained pilots in a situation where they reacted. I’d appreciate your support.”
Speaker Hartke: “All those in favor of adoption of House Resolution 69 say ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Resolution is adopted. Mr. Clerk, House Bill 3493. Representative Rose. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.” 09300037.doc 66 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“House Bill 3493, the Bill’s been read a second time, previously. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. Floor Amendment #2, offered by Representative Rose, has been approved for consideration.”
“Representative Rose on Floor Amendment #2.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The… House Bill 3493, as introduced, would create the crystal Methamphetamine Manufacturing Cleanup Fund. It would assess a $5 minimum fine to anyone convicted of meth or a meth related offense. This would go into the fund to which local units of government could apply for and ask for grants to help cover the cost of cleanup of these methamphetamine manufacturing laboratories. Floor Amendment #2, what it would do is it would put the purview of dispensing these funds to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to which they would then write rules and regulations for dispensing the funds. I would ask for its adoption.”
“Is there any discussion on Floor Amendment #2? Seeing there is no discussion, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Floor Amendment #2 to House Bill 3493?’ All those in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments.”
“Third Reading. On page 31 on the Calendar, on the Order of Third Reading, appears House Bill 386. Representative Novak. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.” 09300037.doc 67 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“House Bill 386, a Bill for an Act concerning public utilities. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Representative Novak.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 386 simply authorizes the Illinois Commerce Commission to require that every… every utility in every service territory in Illinois conduct a net metering pilot project program. And the Bill indicates there are three customer classes within each service territory that would be eligible: a residential class, a commercial class, and of course, an industrial class. Net metering is kind of a unique concept. It’s… it’s caught on in a lot of states around the country. It’s… it’s a means by which to augment and encourage the use of renewable energy sources instead of traditional fossil fuel. It works like this: if an eligible customer under the Bill, if you have a… some type of a wind generator or a solar power unit or an alternative energy unit on your facility, whether it’s your home, whether it’s your small business, let’s say, a drycleaners and let’s say it’s a medium-sized factory, you’d be eligible for this program. And net metering is that when you generate electricity and it’s used at your facility, all that new electricity that you generate through this alternative source flows back into the meter, back into the lines, to the utility. So, it’s… you’re generating electric power through an alternative energy source and whatever source is left over goes back to the line through to the utility and they have to give you 09300037.doc 68 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 credit for it. So, it’s kind of a unique concept. I know some states have mandate it, but we thought in this respect that we could get the ICC to promulgate the rules and regulations to require the utilities to provide for this pilot project in all service territories in the State of Illinois. And I’d be more than happy to answer any questions.”
“Is there any discussion? Chair recognizes Representative Meyer.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor will yield.”
“Representative, is there any opposition to this?”
“I know the utilities all support it. I think, according to my analysis, the Illinois Environmental Council has a little problem with an Amen… with an Amendment we put on it on how to pay for this. And if you’ll let me explain, Mr. Meyer, the… one of the trust funds that we created in the Deregulation Act that… one of those funds utilities pay into by themselves. COM ED pays about 90 percent of this money into this fund and it generates about $3 million a year. So, the Amendment we put in allowed the utilities to deduct what they put in to offset for the cost that would pay to develop, maintain and put this net metering plan together, including the installation of these meters themselves.”
“Well, that certainly seems fair to me. Ladies and Gentlemen, on this side of the aisle, when this appeared before our committee, and I am the spokesman on that 09300037.doc 69 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 committee, I don’t recall that there was anybody really that stood up and said this is a bad idea or could support that. I would recommend that we support this piece of legislation.”
“Further discussion? Since there’s no one else is seeking recognition, Representative Novak to close.”
“Yes, Mr. Speaker, thank you very much. I’d certainly ask my colleagues to support House Bill 386.”
“The question is, ‘Shall the House adopt House Bill 386?’ All 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 this question, there are 114 Members voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’, and 1 Member voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Novak, on page 33 on Third Reading appears House Bill 2779. Are you ready for that? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 2779, a Bill for an Act concerning the distribution of electricity. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Representative Novak.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is another idea that was born out of the historic electric deregulation Bill that former Governor Edgar signed in 1997. One of the… among the many things in that historic Act was to allow communities such as your hometowns, villages or cities to and individual… your individual constituents for that 09300037.doc 70 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 matter, to go out on the open market and shop for electric power and purchase that electric power from a marketer other than your traditional electric supplier. So, if you live in the northwestern suburbs of Illinois and Commonwealth Edison is your service territory, if a marketer co… came in and wanted to sell you power at say 20 percent less, you would be able to shop around for power and hopefully save on your energy costs. Well, when the electric deregulation Bill went into effect, there was quite a bit of competition in northeastern Illinois among commercial and industrial customer classes. In May of 2002, the law provided for all residential classes, meaning our constituents, to go on the open market and shop for power. Unfortunately, a lot of extraneous things have happened in the last 4 or 5 years: the California dereg… deregulation debacle, the Enron scandal, the glut in the energy markets, the depressed prices in the energy markets were external factors that had sort of an impact in Illinois. And one of those impacts is that there are no… there haven’t been any, what we call alternative retail electric suppliers that have signed up to sell people electric power to their individual homes within a service territory as competition. So, this is an idea that was born out of some… a couple summer workshops we had. The State of Ohio has adopted a program like this, the State of Rhode Island. It’s kind of unique. What it does is this: is that the mayor or the village president of your community can act as an aggregator and they can buy, on the 09300037.doc 71 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 open market, power for the community, everyone in… that lives within that community. Now, there’s some provisions in here that talks about opt-in and opt-out. They get kinda technical, but to make a long…a long story short, the most preferable way for citizens, if they wanna participate in this, and again, it’s all permissive, there’s no mandate here, is that there would be some type of a referendum within that community to allow the city council and the mayor’s office to go ahead and be the aggregator and to take all the load, how much power is used in, let’s say… let’s say, Rochelle, Illinois, or Elmhurst, Illinois, for them, how much… what the load is in that community, how much would it be, put it out on the open market and see how many bids you’d get to provide power in that community and let’s say, maybe save 10 or 15 percent. The Commerce Commission did a study, they said there’s promise in this idea. But unfortunately, this is a work in progress, there are meetings are still being continued as we speak. We wanna move this Bill. It’s gonna be changed in the Senate and most likely sent back here for hopeful, final consideration. So, I’d be more than happy to answer any questions about this issue. Thank you.”
“Is there any discussion on House Bill 2779? Representative Meyer, the Gentleman from Will.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor will yield.”
“Representative, you held task force hearings around the state during the summer months.” 09300037.doc 72 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Correct, you were there.”
“Well, some of this… some of this was discussed through that process, was it not?”
“Yes. Mr. Meyer also attended a imposition as the spokesperson on the E & E Committee, as well as the Deregulation Committee that was in effect last year. We held a number of workshops around the state: Springfield, Chicago, to discuss some of the issues, some of the problems with the Act itself because it’s… there’s been over 25 rulemakings that the Illinois Commerce Commission made alone just to implement this historic legislation. This is an idea, I think, we discussed that needs to be pursued as we look towards the end of the transition period, that’s when the rate freeze comes off on January 1, 2007.”
“Well, I would just reference those meetings. Certainly, I would thank you for holding them and they were very instructive and I believe it brought parties together from all sides of that issue: consumers, electric companies, those that contract the power and just a number of sources. And those meetings were, I think, extremely beneficial to deregulation of the state. This is an idea, I believe, that virtually all the parties in the room were willing to go along with and I think that we should move it forward having that consensus from all the different groups involved. I would recommend, on our side of the aisle, that we support this.”
“Thank you, Mr. Meyer.” 09300037.doc 73 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Further discussion? Since no one is seeking recognition, the question is, ‘Shall the House pass House Bill 2779?’ 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 this question, there are 115 Members voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’, 1 Member voting ‘present’. And this Bill having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 33 on the Calendar, on the Order of Third Reading, appears House Bill 2809. Representative Kosel. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 2809, a Bill for an Act in relation to nursing. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Representative Kosel.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. This Bill deals with setting up a nursing center that is taken from the Nurses Dedicated Fund. I wanna repeat. This is not General Revenue dollars that are expended in here, but the dedicated fund that the nurses pay in for their licensing. It sets up a center to help work with the nursing shortage that we have in the State of Illinois and provide them with resources. And I would ask for your favorable approval of this Bill. Thank you.”
“Is there any discussion on House Bill 2809? Representative Burke.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I rise in support of this initiative and I 09300037.doc 74 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 congratulate the Sponsor for bringing it forward. I think we do little enough for our nurses in the state and this is a very, very simple matter using their own resources for something that would indeed benefit and enhance the profession of nursing. And I would encourage all of my colleagues to support this initiative.”
Speaker Hartke: “Further discussion? The Chair recognizes Representative Parke.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor will yield.”
“Representative, I understand that… that a lot of money was taken out of that dedicated fund last year to help…”
“Shhh.”
“…to help balance the Governor’s budget. Is that true?”
“That is true.”
“So, how are you gonna come up with a million dollars for this program that you’d like to do?”
“As of five minutes ago, there was $3,900… 928,749.56 in that fund, more than enough to cover…”
“Oh…”
“…the million dollars that we’re asking for it.”
“…Representative, you should have never said that.”
“Further discussion?”
“Actually, I guess if they have a million dollars available to do this… Is this gonna be a freestanding building?” 09300037.doc 75 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“It’s going to be… it could be a freestanding building, it could be rentable space. It’s to establish some type of resource center.”
“Is… do they have anything now? I’m just curious.”
“No.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“Further discussion? Since no one is seeking recognition, the question is, ‘Shall the House pass House Bill 2809?’ 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 this question, there are 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 32 on the Calendar, on the Order of Third Reading, appears House Bill 1375. Mr. Burke. Out of the record. On page 31 on the Calendar, on the Order of Third Reading, appears House Bill 310. Representative Mendoza. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 310, a Bill for an Act in relation to labor. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Representative Mendoza.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 310 amends the Day Laborer and Temporary Staffing Services Act. That’s an Act that regulates hiring practices and employment conditions for day laborers. The Bill authorizes the Department of Labor to inspect 09300037.doc 76 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 employment contracts entered into by third-party employers if the Department of Labor has received a complaint indicating that the third-party employer may have contracted with a day and temporary labor service agency that is not registered under the Act. The purpose of this legislation is to allow the department to identify day laborer service agencies that have not complied with the Act’s registration requirement. I have amended the Bill to ensure that client list of a day and temporary labor service agency are not subject to subpoena, that would address any of the concerns that previously existed on the Bill. And at this time, I can say that I know of no known opposition and would ask for your favorable consideration. Thank you.”
“Is there any discussion? Chair recognizes Representative Parke.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor will yield.”
“With the Floor Amendment #2, is…has that removed the opposition from business groups?”
“Yes, it does, Representative Parke. Thank’s for asking.”
“And just one other question. This only applies to registered, day labor companies?”
“Yes. It… it encourages that those companies that are not currently registered with the Department of Labor make sure that they become registered. And so, if…if people want to contract day labor or temporary staff people, they 09300037.doc 77 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 would be encouraged to do so from agencies that are registered with our department so that we can ensure that they’re following the strict guidelines that we put in place last year.”
“What happens if they’re not registered?”
“Well, there are no penalties in this Bill, right now, but currently, what we’re doing is trying to identify if there is a need in the future to provide penalties for lack of registration.”
“Thank you.”
“Further discussion? Since no one is seeking recognition, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt… ‘Shall the House pass House Bill 310?’ 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 this question, there are 115 Members voting ‘yes’, 1 person voting ‘no’, 0 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 33 on the Calendar, on the Order of Third Reading, appear House Bill 2311. Representative Feigenholtz. Out of the record. On page 31 of the Calendar, on the Order of Third Reading, appears House Bill 528. Representative Franks. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 528, a Bill for an Act in relation to school impact fees. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Representative Franks.” 09300037.doc 78 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a Bill we moved from Second to Third yesterday. We talked about the Amendments. It’s now an agreed Bill with the school districts, as well as the realtors. And what we’re doing here with this is fixing a court decision that only allowed school districts to, when they got to develop their impact fees, to use it to acquire land. Now, the school districts will have the option of actually adding on to a school or building a new one. It’s very important for… for districts with… with increasing enrollment. I’d be glad to answer any questions.”
“Is there any discussion? Since no one is seeking recognition, the question is, ‘Shall the House pass House Bill 528?’ 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 this question, there 96 Members voting ‘yes’, 18 Members voting ‘no’, 1 Member voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 3113, Representative Boland. Are you prepared to call that Bill? Out of the record. House Bill 1272, Representative Hoffman. Out of the record. House Bill 343, Representative Jakobsson. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 343, a Bill for an Act concerning patient rights. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Representative Jakobsson.” 09300037.doc 79 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House. I appreciate the opportunity to bring this Bill to you, House Bill 343. It adds pharmaceutical companies to list of persons and entities that are prohibited from disclosing the nature of details and it would help protect the rights o f the people of Illinois, so that their privacy is not sold by pharmaceutical companies.”
“Is there any discussion on House Bill 343? Seeing that no one is seeking recognition, the question is, ‘Shall the House pass House Bill 343?’ 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 this question, there are 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 33 on the Calendar, on the Order of Third Reading, appears House Bill 2339. Representative McKeon. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 2339, a Bill for an Act concerning human resources. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Representative McKeon.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the summer months, last year, the House Labor Committee held hearings on… on workforce development and one of the outgrowths of those hearings was House Bill 2339 which, in conjunction, with the appropriate state agencies provides for a mechanism of benchmarking and measuring the success of various Workforce 09300037.doc 80 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 Investment Programs that the state currently funds. It has no fiscal impact in that the… the department is already evaluating these programs, but what it does is change the manner in which those programs are evaluated with the system that was developed at the University of Illinois. It provides a much better mechanism for demonstrating the success or failure of any individual client within a Workforce Investment Program. And I… I urge your support and will gladly answer any questions of the Members of this Body.”
“Is there any discussion on House Bill 2339? The Chair recognizes Representative Mulligan, the Lady from Cook.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor will yield.”
“Representative McKeon, do you feel that they’re not benchmarking? Part of what they did in their process was to benchmark and why would you feel that they’re not doing that, currently?”
“You’re gonna have to try that again, Rosemary. All I’m hearing is the background noise?”
“Do you believe they’re not doing that, currently? My feeling was that part of the process, over the time that we’ve been meeting, they have been benchmarking.”
“They…they have a system that they’ve been using and this legislation which was developed in conjunction with the department lays out the… it actually encompasses some of the existing procedures they’re using plus picks up some 09300037.doc 81 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 long-term benchmarks that can show the progress or success of a client using the existing unemployment insurance database and maintaining the confidentiality for the clients. One of the problems with the existing programs of evaluation that we’ve used, in fact, I used when I was the chief evaluator of the mayor’s office of employment and training was that it uses too short of a time frame, particularly for those people that are transitioning from welfare to work. In fact, you’ll find that people that have been unemployed or chronically unemployed for a period of time that they, over half of ‘em, fail at their first job.”
“But not all of that goes to workforce devenment… all of the people that are unemployed or part of welfare- to-work programs do not go through Workforce Investment Board. Of…”
“That’s true.”
“So, although we voted at the board to include TANF or welfare-to-work in one-stops, not all the programs that work with TANF or welfare-to-work go through there. So how could you benchmark adequately and how much is it gonna cost to do the benchmarking system and is the Governor even not going to change this although it’s a federal…”
“Well, in fact…”
“…federally-funded board.”
“Representative, in fact, there is probably the…the three major programs including Prairie State 2000 are going to be combined under IDES and into a single program like… 09300037.doc 82 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 continue discussions with the department on this legislation. Quite frankly…”
“Which department, Employment Security?”
“Right.”
“And is Employment Security feel that they should be benchmarking?”
“Yes.”
“That’s very interesting since they’re an integral part of the implementation of what goes on in all the one-stops. How…do they feel that they’re not doing an adequate job, that they oughta be monitored better?”
“There are alternative data sources including their own database that can give a longer time frame and show progress even if they’ve changed from one job to another over a period of time that their income level has increased, their benefit level has increased.”
“So, are they having a problem with the local councils?”
“Not that they’re having any problem, we’re just trying to standardize and come up with some… some benchmarks that we can use. It gives us a better picture of… of outcomes in the workforce.”
“Well, it would be interesting to see if this is going to slow the process down or increase it, if it’s gonna take money from… that actually should go into the one-stops and I’m just curious as to… It’s an interesting proponent that we have down here. Could you tell me who the proponents were in committee for this?” 09300037.doc 83 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“It was a recommendation of a number of people that we need some good… some better baseline data, including women employed, Chicago Jobs Council and others. And again, Representative, I don’t want to mislead you here. I’m not…”
“I’m having a hard time hearing you, Representative.”
“I’m not particularly concerned whether this Bill is codified as law. What we’re trying to do here is maintain the dialogue and come to an agreement between the various departments as to what those benchmarks ought to be, working both with the employer side and the worker’s side in min… with minimal cost or expense to the state. So, what I… what I’m asking you for is just help me keep this… this Bill in the process, move it over to the Senate who are going to continue the discussions with IDES and…and the other stakeholders in the project and hopefully, come up through the rulemaking process or executive order, some… an agreement as to how… what those benchmarks oughta be.”
“I noticed in our analysis there’s a reference to hearings that were held on the workforce development process. Who was part of those hearings and exactly where were they held?”
“They were… those hearings were hosted by the House Labor Committee. It was at my initiative and there were extensive hearings held in Chicago and here in Springfield during the late summer and early fall. I have a…”
“And who…” 09300037.doc 84 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“I have a report, it’s not a…not a set of recommendations, but a summary of the testimony that’s available which I can get you a copy of or it’s available on my website.”
“And so who was invited to testify at these hearings?”
“We had representatives of labor, the private sector, the Workforce Investment Boards, which had representatives there not only from the state board, Chicago board and some of the other area boards.”
“And did they all recommend that you should do this benchmarking?”
“We all… they all… I shouldn’t say they all. Those that were interested in how we measure and evaluate and judge these programs felt that we needed to look at those issues so that we could get a better understanding of how effective these programs are, what programs work and what programs do not work.”
“And so what is your goal in keeping this Bill alive and sending it to the Senate?”
“We send it over there and we’re gonna… it’ll be in the Labor Committee. Carol Ronen is gonna pick up the Bill. And we’re going to continue this dialogue, this discussion with the Work Investment Boards and the… the agencies that are going to be participating. There will be some restructuring and combining the programs that have some… demonstrated some viability into a single program including Prairie State 2000.” 09300037.doc 85 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Did anyone from business attend your hearings?”
“Yes. The state chamber was present. The… there were people representing manufacturing, retail merchants, the other work group organizations representing employment, as well as organized labor.”
“I would… would not… I personally would like to receive a copy of the report from the hearing.”
“I’ll get a copy for you or you can go to my website and print out a copy yourself.”
“Thank you.”
Speaker Hartke: “Further discussion? Chair recognizes Representative Hamos.”
“Thank you, Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. I’d like to commend the Sponsor for introducing this Bill. I did read the report and it was actually an excellent report that identified a lot of the problems that the previous speaker and I already know about, too, from our service on the Workforce Investment Board. And Representative McKeon, I would love to have you establish for legislative intent that when we’re talking about measuring the progress of the state’s workforce development system by using specified benchmarks that, in fact, it does include the community colleges, it includes the one-stop centers, it includes all of those programs out there that do the very important work of helping to provide job training. The community colleges are actually a very important part of that system, as well. And I think this is a good Bill and we do need to measure progress in this and all other things. We haven’t paid 09300037.doc 86 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 enough attention to that. And I would encourage everyone to vote ‘yes’.”
“Is there any discussion, further discussion? Since no one is seeking recognition, Representative McKeon to close.”
“I urge your ‘aye’ vote.”
“The question is, ‘Shall the House pass House Bill 2339?’ 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 this question, there are 116 Members voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’, and 0 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Black, for what reason do you seek recognition?”
“Yes, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there’s a young Page behind me here in a white T-shirt with a bottle of Mountain Dew and he can’t remember who ordered the bottle of Mountain Dew. If you’d raise your hand, he’ll… he’ll run it right over.”
“Right over there’s one and there’s one and there’s one.”
“Okay. All right.”
“You better go get a case, young man.”
“We’ve got several people. We’ll send him right over.”
“On page 14 on the Calendar, on the Order of Second Reading, appears House Bill 2573. Representative 09300037.doc 87 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 McAuliffe. Out of the record. On page 15 on the Calendar, on the Order of Second Reading, appears House Bill 2636. Representative McGuire. 2636. Would you like to move that Bill to Third Reading? Out of the record. Mr. Osterman on House Bill 2356. Out of the record. On page 21, House Bill 2866, Representative Reitz, from Second to Third. Out of the record. On page 4 on the Calendar, on the Order of Second Reading, appears House Bill 506. Representative Bailey. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 506, a Bill for an Act in relation to criminal law. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. Floor Amendment #1, offered by Representative Bailey, has been approved for consideration.”
“Representative Bailey on Floor Amendment #1.”
“House Bill… This is a shell Bill and it amends the Code of Criminal Procedure in the section pertaining to bail. It provides that as a condition of release, in a certain situations, the court may order a defendant no association contact with known gang members.”
“Is there any discussion? Chair recognizes Representative Parke.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Did you say this was a… Would the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor will yield.”
“Did you say this was a shell Bill?”
“A shell Bill. Yes, Sir.” 09300037.doc 88 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“So, that has no… it doesn’t deal with the issue that you mentioned, at this point in time. You wanna just send it to the Senate?”
“No.”
“Are you putting an Amendment on?”
“This is…Yes.”
“This Amendment will be…”
“A Bill.”
“Representative Bailey, you’re on Amendment #1, Floor Amendment #1.”
“Right.”
“Okay. So, therefore, it’s not a shell Bill any longer, Representative, if you’re putting an Amendment on this. Isn’t that correct? That’s what you’re trying to do.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Okay. Now, that Amendment does what again, please?”
“It… it provides that the conditions of release, in certain situations, that defendants who are arrested and have known gang affiliation, the court will order them to, during the time of their bail and the next court date, to refrain from associations with those gang members, pending the next court date.”
“What is the… define to… define ‘no association’?”
“No contact.”
“Say that again.”
“No contact, none.”
“So, if they…they’re not a member, then they can’t prove they have any contact with the gangs then…” 09300037.doc 89 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“It wouldn’t pertain to them.”
“Okay. Did anybody… when you… did you present this in a committee or was this a Floor Amendment?”
“No, I presented this in committee.”
“Did anybody oppose this in committee?”
“No, Sir.”
“Do you know of any known opposition?”
“The Bar Association had concern over the word ‘shall’ or ‘may’.”
“And you’ve done what?”
“And basically, it is up to the determination of the judge, so I didn’t change it.”
“So, it’s a ‘may’?”
“Yes. It’s a ‘shall’. No, it’s still ‘shall’.”
“Okay. All right. Well, I guess if there’s no opposition. Fine. I just didn’t know. I thought you had said it was a shell Bill.”
“Right.”
“But thank you.”
“The Chair recognizes Representative Fritchey. Further discussion?”
“Thank you, Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor will yield.”
“Representative, I’m looking at the analysis here. I’ve got a couple questions. I understand what you’re trying to do, but I guess I have a couple conceptual questions. What we’re looking to do here is limit somebody’s activity or interaction as a pretrial… as a 09300037.doc 90 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 condition of pretrial release. So, we have an individual who has not been convicted of a crime…”
“Right.”
“…they’ve been charged with a crime, but even without having a finding of guilt, we are still trying to put a limitation on who they can associate with. Are you… do you see a problem with that at all? I mean, I know you know where I’m going.”
“I’m just saying gang members.”
“I understand, but this isn’t… if it was a condition of probation or something once we have a convicted offender, it makes nothing but sense.”
“Right.”
“But this is an individual that has not been found guilty and if we are… when we look at our presumption of innocence, do we wanna… is this the right way for us to handle this?”
“Well, Representative, part of the problem, law enforcement when they make these arrests with… based upon the situation or circumstances, the individuals are released probably by the end of the day or the next day and they’re back associating with the same individuals that they were arrested with.”
“I’ll be candid with ya, I haven’t looked at the language of the Bill. But we talk about presenting evidence of the offense committed was related to or in furtherance of gang activities. How broad… how broad do we look at a crime being related to gang activities? If an 09300037.doc 91 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 individual commits a crime, let’s say he’s charged with robbery and he also happens to be in a gang. Is that robbery charge related to gang activities just by virtue of the fact that he’s in a gang?”
“If the individual is known as… has been identified as a gang member, yes.”
“So, then essentially, what we’re getting to is that any time a gang member is charged with a crime they would be prohibited from associating with other known gang members simply by being charged with that crime even if the crime isn’t related to gang activity.”
“Yes.”
“Okay. And I’m not trying to derail you, but I’ve got concerns here that we’re kinda pushing the constitutional threshold here. All right. You know what, I don’t want to belabor this anymore especially on the Amendment. I know what you’re trying to do and it’s well- intentioned and you’re off to a good start in your career down here. I’m just… I’m concerned… you know nobody down here wants to vote on or cast a vote that’s seen as being soft on crime or being soft on gangs. But we need to be careful that we don’t overreach and think we’re accomplishing something only to put a law on the books which will ultimately be struck down by a court of review. Thank you, Speaker.”
“Further discussion on this Amendment? There are six people seeking recognition on the Amendment. Representative Molaro.” 09300037.doc 92 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Thank you.”
“On the Amendment.”
“I know. I know, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.”
“On the Amendment.”
“I know it’s only the Amendment and I guess it’s coming back, but I… you know, I just wanna point out in the language that it says, ‘if the state presents evidence that the offense committed by the defendant’. Well, we wanna make sure that number one, it’s not offense he’s committed, it’s offense he’s accused of committing, so maybe we have to look at language there. That’s not really important. The other thing is, when we’re… does the Bill say that other gang members or is it gonna denunciate which gang members he’s supposed to stay away from? Only because when a judge usually says in an order and especially a bail, in an order it’s gonna say, we would like you to stay away from these known offenders or these known members or is it just gonna generally say stay away from gang members?”
“No, it’s from their own gang.”
“So, it’s not gonna say anybody specific?”
“No.”
“All right. Then does it say how he would know… you know, because a lot of times these kids or even if they’re adults, their brothers may be gang members and they live together. Does your Bill address that situation where his brother is a known gang member, what does he do then? Is he not allowed to go home?” 09300037.doc 93 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Well, Representative, at the time… this is a relationship and an establishment between the judge and the defendant. The defendant is well aware of the fact that if the members of his household are gang members that should be identified there and therefore, he won’t have… he won’t be released on bail.”
“Well, so in other words, if you’re arrested and now remember you didn’t do anything, you’re just arrested. You’re not convicted of anything. So, you’re arrested for shoplifting, the gang sent you there, the judge is gonna make a condition of your bail that you stay away from gang members. That makes sense. But the gang member’s your brother, the gang member is your father. Is… now we say, you’re gonna stay in jail for the next five months, then you can’t get bail and we’re not gonna set it at a hundred dollars and you can’t get bail because your brother’s a gang member?”
“Well, unless they have alternate living arrangements or other family members who are not gang related, I don’t see that being a problem. But it also say the state presents evidence that the offense is committed by the defendant is related to a criminal activity.”
“Well, there… there’s no question he’s accused of the crime, but we’re talkin’ about bail. Once you’re convicted, you can do whatever you want with these bad actors. We’re just talkin’ about someone who’s accused. There is a difference between being accused and convicted. Once you’re convicted, you can do anything to ‘em, I agree 09300037.doc 94 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 with that. But if you’re just accused, to say there’s two people accused, one has a brother who’s a gang member. You’re gonna say the one who doesn’t have a brother as a gang member could go home, the other one has to sit in jail for six months when they’re only accused. I… I… I think you should think about this. Thank you.”
Speaker Hartke: “Further discussion? The Chair recognizes Representative Collins. Representative Collins.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill.”
“To the Bill.”
“First of all, the Bill… this Amendment was…”
“To the Amendment.”
“To the Amendment. This Amendment was opposed in committee. There was 2 ‘no’ votes, 1 ‘present’ vote. And first of all, as Representative Molaro just stated, these people are just goin’ to trial. They have not been convicted. So, to tell a person that they have to stay in jail because they have no place else to go because maybe their family members or people in their community are associated with a gang is just absolutely wrong. So, I ask that a ‘no’ vote, if there is possible, to be voted on this Amendment. Thank you.”
“Chair recognizes Representative Aguilar.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Representative Bailey, most… most gangbang… most gang members that commit crimes whether it be drugs, burglary or otherwise, most big crimes affiliated with… in the gang membership is that, you know, correct and most gang members that are arrested, the police 09300037.doc 95 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 department has a record of the membership of the particular gang they’re from.”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.” Aguilar: Okay. So, what I’m saying is… this is… this is with this Bill, even though it’s a shell Bill, recognizes gang activity as a whole by one individual gang member.”
“Yes.”
“Okay. This is just to really a crackdown on gang activity whether it be committed by four individuals or one individual, but still related to a gang activity, ‘cause most gang… most gangs, from my experience, when they commit a crime, it is a collaboration of a… of the entire gang, whether it be initiating a new gang member into the gang or burglarizing or drug trafficking it still is a gang- affiliated crime and most police stations… most police have records of individual gang members have… that are members of the particular gangs.”
“Yes, they do.”
“So, this is just to restrict… restrict gang activity as a whole, whether it be done by four or five or one individual.”
“Yes. And it’s only until that court date is set.”
“Okay. And there’s still, you know, due process. You still have the right to… to an attorney. I mean, that…”
“Right.” 09300037.doc 96 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“…the pro… has…doesn’t change any process of their rights.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Thank you.”
Speaker Hartke: “Further discussion? The Chair recognizes Representative Delgado on the Amendment.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor will yield.”
“Representative, I chaired the Judicial Law Committee that day when we heard this Amendment and we did go back and forth a little bit about the gang member definition. We know that there’s a definition through the Omnibus Gang Act, if you will and that’s fine. But in terms of the Amendment itself and if a person who is known gang member goes and steals a loaf of bread, what you answered to Representative Fritchey, you indicated that that person would be brought up enhanced as a gangbanger and I don’t think that’s what you intend to do. Because if you are, I would be against this Amendment. So, if a gang member who has a tattoo on their arm and it says ‘Disciples’ on it and they go steal… and they steal a hamburger, then they’re gonna be charged as a gangbanger?”
“No, it has to be a inference of the… gang… being associated as a gang member.”
“So, the activity that…”
“Yes, right.”
“…they commit must be associated of that…of gang activity?” 09300037.doc 97 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Correct.”
“That is an initiation, that is a retaliation, a burning of a car or going after a human being.”
“Yes.”
“Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“Because, again, there is gonna be constitutional problems if and… in terms of if indeed your language reads and I do believe we… they may have to have some work done in the Senate on your… on this Bill as to particular language to a particular population which, in this case, are gang members. And again, for the General Assembly, the gangs are defined through an Act and they give you the criteria for what a gang member is. However, any little incident that is committed cannot be proven to be a gang affiliate.”
“Correct.”
“So, if this Amendment does get through, are you willing to make sure that this gets worked on in the Senate?”
“Yes.”
“And isn’t it true that this is only for one court date to the other court date?”
“That’s correct.”
“That is to encourage this young person to think. So, in a way, it’s gonna give him a little bit of orientation, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” 09300037.doc 98 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“I mean, a little strong hand, but…”
“And again, it still goes back at the time when he does get arraigned, that’s a relationship between the defendant and the judge. Those things should be discussed there.”
“Exactly.”
“And at that time, the judge has given this individual the opportunity to make a decision.”
“A decision. This is a pretrial. This is a PTI motion. This is a judge sayin’ to a child, a young person, do you want this… do you wanna go in this direction? I’m gonna let you go in this direction here. And your next trial… and your next time you come in here as long as you have no problem, I don’t get you back in front of me for being in a gang activity-related function, we’re gonna let you out on bail.”
“That’s right.”
“If not, I may hold you or I may put you in a constraint position and it’s only until the next court date which is usually 30 days.”
“Correct.”
“Is that correct?”
“That is correct.”
“So, please, at the same time, please keep in mind that this is from a short period of time and it is… it is a forcible motivator to help put another thought in that young person’s mind to say, hey guys, I’m… you know, I’m gonna think about this a little bit, until that next court date. Because, indeed, if that young person moves out on 09300037.doc 99 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 their own and does something wrong, they know that at the next court date they may be in bigger trouble and their goal is to do what, to get out of this trouble and try to be a candidate for pretrial intervention and diversion programs. Now, mind you, we’re not talkin’ about the categorization or classification of whatever crime. This is a generic approach to it. But we do need a commitment to have this looked at well if it does make it to the Senate for proportionality to the law and constitutional challenges and you’re with that. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“Based on that, to the Bill… to the Amendment, Mr. Speaker.”
“To the Amendment.”
“I would just suggest that we look at it well. I think this is a… a fine tool and I understand what the Representative is doing and it does have a very short, closed window. Thank you.”
“Further discussion? This is the Amendment. Representative Monique Davis.” Davis, M.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor will yield.” Davis, M.: “Representative Bailey, exactly what is the intent of your Amendment?”
“Basically, when law enforcement make their arrests on individuals who have been determined or involved in gang activities, they have gone in to trial and based upon the fact that it’s the leniency in the agreement… there is no 09300037.doc 100 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 agreement between the defendant and the judge. They’re released on bail probably that day and then the next day the individuals are back in association with gang members, the same people that brought ‘em to court.” Davis, M.: “To the Bill, Mr. Speaker.”
“To the Amendment.” Davis, M.: “In our Illinois State Constitution, Article I, Section 9, it states, ‘all persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties except for the following offenses’ and then they list those offenses. It also states that any cost accruing to a unit of local government as a result of the denial of bail causes them to be reimbursed by the State of Illinois. So, if we decide that this particular accused person cannot get bail, based upon his or her association, then the State of Illinois will be responsible for paying the cost to that local government. I also believe that is…it is significantly important, as we look at young people and their behaviors and their associations, if we are making sure that no one in their school is a gang member, if we are making sure that no one in their family is a gang member. Are… are we making sure that the grocery store they go into no one there is a gang member? You see, all gang members don’t commit serious, heinous crimes. But my major concern, Mr. Speaker, is the possible cost to the State of Illinois for us or allowing the deniable… the denial of bail for the offenses that the Section 8 of Article I of the Constitution mentions. If it is not one of those offenses and we decide this person’s bail should 09300037.doc 101 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 be denied, the state will pick up the cost. We should yell a loud ‘no’ for this Amendment to be accepted. It should be a very loud ‘no’.”
Speaker Hartke: “Further discussion? Chair recognizes Representative Rose.”
“Thank you. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor will yield.”
“Representative Bailey, is it my understanding that currently arraignment court judges in the state can place various conditions on bail already?”
“Yes.”
“Do we often place no-contact provisions on domestic battery defendants when they’re in arraignment court with their potential victim or their previous victim?”
“Yes, we do and it’s at no cost to the state.”
“And what really… what your Bill… what your Bill is doing is it is setting rules for bail.”
“Yes, it does.”
“Not denying bail. It’s saying that we’re going to allow bail, but here are the conditions under which you are going to receive bail.”
“Yes.”
“Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“To the Bill, Mr. Speaker.”
“To the Amendment.”
“Excuse me. Thank you. To the Amendment, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. This is a wonderful Amendment. As someone 09300037.doc 102 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 who’s sat through more than one arraignment court, in my time, we do things like this all the time. All this is saying is if someone’s going to be released we’re providing who and…who they can and cannot have contact with. I don’t understand why this is such a hard concept. If you have someone who is a gang member, the last person you want them to associate with on bail is another gang member. This should not be that hard. The penalty provision, what this does is it allows police officers, if they find someone violating their bail bond to pick them up for a violation of bail bond. I want to address specifically the concerns mentioned by several Members here today. This does not, in and of itself, deny bail to anyone. What it does is, is allows police officers on the street to do their jobs when they find people who aren’t supposed to be associating together, associating together. It also defines very specifically, as I understand it, from the StreetCrime, Antigang Act, I think it’s Section 10, exactly what is and what is not a gang member. This is a good Amendment. I would urge adoption. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.”
Speaker Hartke: “Further discussion? The Chair recognizes Representative Aguilar. You have already spoken in debate. For what reason do you seek recognition?”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. Basically…”
“Uh huh, sorry. Mr. Fritchey, for what reason do you seek recognition? You have already spoken in debate.”
“Thank you, Speaker. My name was used in debate.” 09300037.doc 103 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“In… in good ways.”
“It’s debatable.”
“Go ahead.”
“In and of itself. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a good Sponsor and a good intention, but frankly, a bad Bill. All… a bad Amendment, I apologize. All of us like to go home and tell our constituents that we made streets safer, we made kids smarter, we made neighborhoods cleaner. This Bill is not about that. This Bill is not about how you feel about gang members. At all times, but especially in times of war, you start to look at the things that make this country great. And you start to look at the foundation. You look at war protestors and you may not agree with those war protestors, but it’s the fabric of this country that gives them the right to protest. One of those other foundations of our country is the presumption of innocence. We will put restrictions on individuals in a domestic violence situation, as the previous said, because that’s somebody who was directly impacted by the crime. Here’s a situation where we are going to limit an individual who has not been found guilty of anything from associating with individuals that may have had no relation to the underlying charge and put that type of restriction on an innocent person. Cast your vote as you feel, but please don’t think that you’re voting about how you feel about gang members. This is much more about how you feel about a presumption of innocence. We cannot just by virtue of saying that all of us abhor gangs. None of us want to 09300037.doc 104 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 see that activities destroying the lives of our youths. This is not how you feel about gang members. This is how you feel about restricting the rights of an innocent person in a far-reaching way. It’s not tailored to association of… with other gang members that were related to the alleged crime, any individual, somebody’s brother, somebody’s father, who may be in that same gang who had nothing to do with that crime. They’re not gonna be able to be there for support. You talk about wanting somebody to get on the straight and narrow, as a condition of pretrial release, well, the people that they may need for support will be their… their relatives. They may not be able to access their relatives in this issue. Think hard. Not every Bill and not every vote is about your next election or about your next mail piece. This is much more about what our basic job is and I don’t wanna blow this out of proportion, but very sincerely, this is much more about the foundations of what this country is about and what it is we’re going to do with our presumption of innocence and how we treat people. If somebody’s convicted, they give up certain rights. Until that time, they maintain those rights and we have to do everything we can to protect them. I urge a ‘no’ vote. Thank you.”
Speaker Hartke: “Further discussion? Chair recognizes Representative Davis on the Amendment.” Davis, S.: “Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Inquiry of the Chair.”
“State your inquiry.” 09300037.doc 105 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 Davis, S.: “Yes. Has there been a request for a Roll Call vote on this Amendment?”
“There has not.” Davis, S.: “So, I request would be in order and I so request a Roll Call vote on… on the Amendment 1.”
“Your request will be honored. Representative McKeon, for what reason do you seek recognition?”
“Mr. Speaker, should this Amendment receive the requisite number of votes for adoption, I request a verification.”
Speaker Hartke: “The verification request will be granted. Representative Mendoza.”
“Thank… thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I wanted to rise in support of this Amendment. Basically, I think that we need to talk about that the fact that the presumption of innocence is not thrown out of the window here. That presumption applies at all stages, but we do deny bail all of the time based on evidence that’s presented at the pretrial proceedings. This is something that happens all of the time. It’s also the right of the judge to… to tell the people that come before them that, as a condition of their bail, they should not be associating with gang members. Something that they can say, but they don’t say for whatever reason they may not. So, I think that this Bill encourages it, that that is guaranteed to happen. And I think it… it only makes sense the intent of the Sponsor is, I think, to provide 09300037.doc 106 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 common sense in this regard and therefore, would ask for an ‘aye’ vote on this Amendment. Thank you.”
Speaker Hartke: “Further discussion? The Chair recognizes Representative Mathias, the last questioner.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, also… in reading the actual words in the Amendment and I think that’s what we need to do, I’m in strong support of this Bill. It basically, #1, gives the right… you have to have a hearing first. The state has to present evidence that the offen… that the offense committed by this defendant was related in some way to furtherance of an organized gang and it then says, if the court then determines that this evidence is substantiated, then it should prohibit the defendant from associating with other members of the organized gang. To me that means, because the used the word ‘the’ organized gang instead of ‘a’ or ‘an’… ‘a’ organized gang, means the same gang that he was in furtherance of the crime in the first place as a condition of release. It doesn’t say you can’t be released, if you’re a gang member. It says, that before… if there’s enough evidence that this person and I… committed a crime on behalf of this gang, then before we’re gonna release ‘em a condition is that he doesn’t associate with that same gang. And if he does, then, of course, it’s not any different than someone who has an order of protection and is told to stay away from his spouse or his other mate and he violates that, he can… that’s a condition of the bail and therefore, he can be incarcerated until a trial or whatever other condition the judge may set as a 09300037.doc 107 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 result of a violation. So, I urge your ‘aye’ vote on this Amendment.”
“The Chair recognizes Representative McCarthy. Representative McCarthy, do you wish to speak to this Bill?”
“Yes, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to move the previous question, please.”
“The Motion is that the previous question be put. All those in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the previous…question is put. The question is, ‘Shall the House pass Floor Amendment #1… adopt Floor Amendment #1 to House Bill 506?’ All those in favor will vote ‘yes’; those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is open. Vote your own switches. There has been a verification requested. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 83 Members voting ‘yes’, 14 Members voting ‘no’, 18 Members voting ‘present’. Mr. McKeon declines his request for a verification of the affirmative. Mr. Black.”
“Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. May I be excused for the verification? I wanted to leave the floor.”
Speaker Hartke: “There will be no verification. He has withdrawn his request for affirmakate… a verification of the affirmative vote.”
“There will be a verification of the affirmative vote?”
“There will not be a verification.” 09300037.doc 108 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“There will not be a affirmative of the ‘no’ vote?”
“That request has not been requested.”
“Mr. Speaker, I had a simple request and you’ve turned it into a very complicated issue. Might I address the parliamentarian for an answer?”
“You may.”
“All right. Mr. Parliamentarian, do I have to seek a leave to be excused, so I can go to my office so I don’t have to be verified?”
“No.”
“Oh.”
“This Amendment…is declared to pass. Adopted, excuse me. Third Reading. Will the staff please retire to the rear of the chamber, please. House Resolution 148. Mr. Clerk, please read the Resolution.”
“House Resolution 148. WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives would like to congratulate our long-time colleague Joel Brunsvold as he retires from his position as State Representative for the 72nd Representative District; and WHEREAS, Representative Brunsvold was born on February 26, 1942 in Mason City, Iowa; he married Barbara Bashaw in 1964 and has two sons, Timothy and Theodore; and WHEREAS, Joel Brunsvold graduated from Rock Island High School in 1960; he attended Blackhawk College, Western Illinois 09300037.doc 109 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 University, and Newton College; he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1964 from Augustana College; and WHEREAS, Joel Brunsvold taught in the Sherrard Community Unit District 200 from September 1969 until February 1983; and WHEREAS, He was first elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in November of 1982; he has held the positions of Assistant Majority Leader and Democratic Caucus Chairman; during his tenure in the House, he served as chairman of Elementary and Secondary Education committee and as chairman of the Cities and Villages, Constitutional Affairs, and Agricultural and Conservation committees; he also served on the House committees for Environment and Energy, Insurance, Judiciary II, and Registration and Regulation; and he was appointed Vice Chairman to the Governor's Council on Health and Physical Fitness and for the Illinois Prairie State Games; and WHEREAS, Prior to his legislative service, Joel Brunsvold served two terms as mayor of the Village of Milan and was a trustee for the Village; he was also appointed to the Bi- State Metropolitan Planning Commission; and WHEREAS, He is Chairman of the Illinois Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus and the Illinois Democratic Sportsmen's Alliance; in addition, he belongs to the Milan Rotary, Pheasants Forever, and Ducks Unlimited; and 09300037.doc 110 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 WHEREAS, Representative Brunsvold has received numerous awards including but not limited to being named Outstanding Legislator of the Year by the Illinois State Rifle Association, the Illinois Health Care Association, and the Safari Club International; he has received the Defender of Freedom Award from the National Rifle Association and has also been recognized for his outstanding efforts on behalf of education; he is an honorary member of the Fire Fighters Association; he has received a presidential citation from the Illinois Association of Health and Physical Education, and has the appreciation of the people of Rock Island County for his leadership in providing their enhanced 9-1-1 emergency phone system; and WHEREAS, It is with great pleasure this body has learned that Governor Rod Blagojevich announced the appointment of Joel Brunsvold as the new director of the Department of Natural Resources; therefore, be it RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we thank our good friend Joel Brunsvold for his hard work and dedication to the people of the 72nd Representative District and to the State and wish him well in his new position; and be it further 09300037.doc 111 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Representative Joel Brunsvold as an expression of our respect and esteem.”
“Representative Novak on the Resolution.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Well, I guess this guy had a few friends. Joel, I know a lot of… a lot of your friends wanna make some comments today. And I rise today with… with reluctance and happiness and joy. I rise with reluctance because you served this Legislature for twenty years and two months. Twenty years, Ladies and Gentlemen, and two months. And if we can just take a second, let’s… let’s think to ourselves, what was going on in our country and our state in January of 1983. Well, I was a newly-elected county treasurer in 1983, back home. Ronald Reagan was President. And wait for this one, there was a guy, you know, named Steve Davis who was driving a truck in Madison County as a township highway commissioner, plowing snow, when there wasn’t any snow. We can all think of what we did twenty years ago, but I remember when I came here in 1987 Joel was one of my first, new friends. And he’ll always be my friend, close friend, for the rest of my life. He’s with… he’s joined here today by his beautiful wife, Barbara and many other members of his family. You know, he has a son, Ted, who used to work on the Democratic staff and he’s kinda shines up the rail out there now, outside, representing interests. And his other son works for United Airlines. So, we’re gonna miss you very much, Joel. I’m very, very serious. 09300037.doc 112 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 You have been a great person. You can just tell how you’re loved by Members of both sides of the aisle. And I know your successor is gonna do a very good job, but he’s got some awful big shoes to fill, awful big shoes to fill. You served this Body ably. You represented your district well. You’re loved by your family. You’re loved by your friends. And you’re gonna do a fantastic job as the new director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. So, I just want… I’d like to say, I’d like to wish you the best. You know, this… this chamber here is like a family and when someone leaves a family, we have a lot of things to say and I know there’s gonna be a lot of things said. And I just want to offer my words of… I’m sorry to see you leave. I love sittin’ next to you all the time, havin’ fun and bein’ serious when the time was appropriate to do the peoples’ work. But, you know, you’ve gone through this passage in your life of twenty years serving your constituents in the State of Illinois and now, you’re off to this next… next passage. Usually, when people leave here, they retire. Joel is taking… assuming a position that has two thousand employees with a budget of… right now, as we speak, $750 million. So, you have a big job on your hands and I know you’re gonna do well because this guy, Joel Brunsvold, as I said to a reporter back home, he lives and breathes conservation, lives and breathes it. You’ll do a wonderful job, Joel. I’m gonna miss ya so much, but we’re all gonna come down there and visit you at the new building. So, make sure you have plenty of coffee and stuff. Thank you, 09300037.doc 113 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 Mr. O’Brien. So we can visit with you. Good luck, Joel. God love you and I love the hell out of you.”
Speaker Hartke: “Further discussion? Chair recognizes Representative O’Brien.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know coming here… it seems like 20 years ago, myself. But not too many years ago I had the wonderful opportunity to be sort of taken in by Members of the downstate caucus and that was no easy fete for a group that sort of liked to keep the women sort of outside of the box. But Joel and all the others really embraced me and made me feel welcome. And last year, as I took on a new endeavor in life, Joel was there to lend a hand when I would bring Mason and be a friend and give me a lot of tips and advice. And you’ve been such a dear friend, I am so thrilled for you, but sad for myself, being a little selfish. And Barb, you’ve all been so wonderful. My very best wishes to you, to your family and yes, you will be seeing plenty of us. And I love you, my friend.”
Speaker Hartke: “The Chair recognizes Representative Steve Davis.” Davis, S.: “Joel, I love you. I love you so much. I’d plowed snow for you, man. Ladies and Gentlemen, I rise, also, to congratulate Joel. He has been a tremendous friend to me since I came to Springfield. But I… I met Joel many years before I came down here, my good friend, Jim McPike, and I used to go up to his golf tournaments in the township truck. That was a joke to all the feds. I just want the feds to know that was a joke. But… but I come from a 09300037.doc 114 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 district that makes a lot of bullets and shotgun shells, the Olin Corporation is located in my district and Joel had made many trips down there as a Legislator to tour the plant and to see how the process worked. And I made a severe mistake when I first ran, I mentioned something about assault weapons and I almost got my tail kicked down there. But the first day I got to Springfield, I went to my good friend, as we call him, affectionately, ‘Gunsvold’ and said, ‘what do we have to do to get the NRA back online?’ He said, ‘Let me fill out your questionnaire next time.’ And he’s filled it out every year since and he’s done a wonderful job. But… but I can tell you, I am conflicted with him leaving this chamber. There’s not a nicer Gentleman in this entire chamber. He is friends to everybody. I’ve never heard him say a bad word about any of his colleagues in the entire time I have known him. I wish him nothing but well in his future job. I hope you have two thousand plus one jobs for whenever I get ready to leave this chamber, too, by the way. But I wanna wish Joel, his family, his wife, Barbara and his two sons and his grandchildren all the best. He’s… he’s a tremendous father, a tremendous grandfather. I remember how proud he was when he had his first grandchild and he had the grandchild on the floor and you couldn’t… you couldn’t wrestle that kid out of his arms if you were Jesse Ventura, I’ll tell ya. But Joel is a tremendous friend, a great colleague. I hate to see ya leave, but I wish you nothing 09300037.doc 115 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 but the best in the future, my friend. Thank you very much for being here.”
“Representative Giles.”
“Thank you, Mr… thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know a couple of my other colleagues who have served with you, Representative Brunsvold, for a number of years. They will have a few words, but on behalf of the Black Caucus I felt compelled to stand and to congratulate you. One of the things that you did for me is that you opened my eyes to something and that was dealing with sportsmen, sport hunting. When I came down here, naturally, many of us from very metropolitan areas we are against of any type of weapons and guns and rifles and what you did and I don’t know how you did it, you made me a member of the Sportsmen’s Caucus. And to this day, I still don’t know exactly what I do, I don’t know exactly what role I play, but nevertheless, you did so. But what that did was expose me and open my eyes to that a lot of people use rifle for sporting and I’ll never forget that and I have a picture in my district office in which I’m surrounded by pheasants and they’re all dead and with a shotgun in my hand. And so, oftentimes… oftentimes, constituents ask me, am I that violent. So… so, you left that impression on me. But truly you… you exposed me to some things that I’ve never had the opportunity to do: clay shooting, pheasant hunting and things like that and I’ll never forget you for that. And of course, when you go to your position, do not forget that you got Members, especially from the Black Caucus, 09300037.doc 116 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 that truly want to work with you and truly congratulate you and hope that you will have a good future ahead of you. Thank you.”
“Representative Jerry Mitchell.” Mitchell, J.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Joel, as a neighboring Representative, I know how badly that the Rock Island area will miss your wisdom and your leadership. Good friend of ours, John Gianvalis, never could pronounce that name, who’s the Rock Island County Chairman, has spoken very highly of you many times. I don’t know how many times that Senator Sieben and I have had needed to call on you and Denny and Mike to help out with projects in our area up in northwestern Illinois and you were always there. There is no center aisle for Joel Brunsvold. He’s got friends on both sides, close and I know that we, on this side, are really relieved to know that you’re gonna take over a department that’s very, very important to downstate, very important to tourism, very important to the economy that… that we need to survive. You’ll do a great job. If there’s anything that the Republican side of the aisle can ever do to help you and whenever you have jobs to fill, we’re always available. Six figures, we’re, you know, or better, we’re right there, right at your side, to the right side. The Sportsmen’s Caucus and the coach of the softball team are both something that will be big shoes to fill. I know you’ll do a great job. We’re gonna miss ya in my district and I know in Rock Island area, everything that they have goin’, I 09300037.doc 117 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 know you’ll still have a hand in, because that’s the kind of guy you are. We, on this side of the aisle, are relieved and appreciate the fact that you’re gonna be the new director because we know what a great job you’re gonna do. Thanks, Joel. God bless ya and God bless your family.”
“Representative Morrow.”
“Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I pulled out the handbook of the General Assembly, from the 92nd General Assembly, and I was countin’ what rank Joel Brunsvold was as among the Members of… of this side of the aisle. I’m the 10th ranking Democrat on this side of the aisle. Joel, as of today, I become the 9th ranking Member on this side of the aisle. But more importantly, that means Joel and I have survived and Joel has been a survivor. When we came down… when I first came down here back in 1987, then a Member counted for somethin’, more than it does now. We controlled this chamber back then. We controlled this chamber back then. And Joel Brunsvold has always been a staunch leader. You know, he is a hunter. I’ll never forget when he, not threatened me but, strongly advised that I come up to the DOC. They… they had this little clay video game where you could go up there and shoot the clay pigeons or the image of a clay pigeon and I hit every target because of Joel Brunsvold. He saw what I was doin’ wrong and he say, ‘you’re holdin’ the rifle wrong there, Charlie. And if you just put it right up in your shoulder pit, you’ll hit it 09300037.doc 118 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 every time.’ And I didn’t miss after that. Joel Brunsvold is a legend in his hometown. African Americans that I have met in his district speak highly of him. I ran into one not too long ago at an event and they asked me, did I know Representative Joel Brunsvold and what did I think about Representative Joel Brunsvold. And I said he was a man of honor, a man of distinction, and a man of his word. Not many people can have that thing… have those three things said about them in the course of their twenty years of serving in this General Assembly. Now, I’m gonna close on one thing, Joel. I understand that you gonna be out of your office by Monday, but I’m goin’ downstairs and take your crap out right now.”
“Further discussions? Representative Delgado.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Joel, I think we had lost the softball game for about seven years in a row and about five years ago we started winnin’ those games because you’re a man who listens to everybody, takes a little bit from everybody. I remember Jay Hoffman and Tom Dart and myself said to you after getting a shalacking that first year and said, can we help out, maybe put folks where they need to be? Well, Joel had so many players comin’ out on the field and Jay… and he’d say, ‘Jay, where ya playin’ at?’ Jay said, ‘Well, I can play center field.’ He’d go, ‘Great, catch.’ And you know, he’s out of position. So, you have a whole lot of folks over here and we came out with a scorebook, we put it together and got some people in right spots and the Senate has not beaten us since. So, we 09300037.doc 119 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 have a wonderful coach in that manner. But then I really bonded with them because I had a little incident on the highway with a State Trooper. And now, that incident, Joel Brunsvold stood up unbeknownst to me with the Tribune because I made that paper the next day, for a little funny incident on the highway. And Joel pointed out that we had a hero in the House of Representatives and his name was this freshman, Willie Delgado and I turned around surprised and then he pointed out the article. Well, I’m here to tell ya, Joel, that also on behalf of the Latino Caucus that the true hero is you. You bring people together of all walks of life, of all socio-economic backgrounds and then we kid’s around from being downstate or being from the south and I told him, you’re no further south than me and my people are from Puerto Rico and that’s way down in the Caribbean. And you bass fish and we bass fish, too. You grow corn and we grow corn, too. Our people are agrarian. And we really care about how you have served there, how you’ve influenced me. And I’m sure I’m speakin’ for my entire caucus here, you’ve influenced us all. And this is what Illinois is all about. And if anybody has brought it all to the center, in my estimation it’s been Joel Brunsvold. And so, sometimes when we don’t understand a region or we don’t understand a people, we shouldn’t try to change ‘em, we should just try to listen. God bless you, Joel and I hope to see you up in DNR.”
Speaker Hartke: “Further discussion? Representative Churchill.” 09300037.doc 120 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Representative Novak posed the question, can you remember what you were doing in January of 1983? I remember because I was a part of a class that came in after redistricting. In fact, it was a class that came in after a change in the House. We had the cutback Amendment and we ended up with single-Member districts. We were the first class to be in the single-Member districts, it was a historic class. Representative Ron Wait was in that class, Ron’s tenure here was interrupted, my tenure was interrupted, but Joel Brunsvold is the last person in our class of 29 people to have continuous service in this House. So, in the future when you look at our term, be it 11 terms, 12 terms, whatever it is, there’ll be no other Members left. So, Joel, we had a great class together, we used to have class dinners and class parties and I think, with Representative Wojcik, spent a few times imbibing a few glasses of wine. We had a great time together. We were very close. And at this point, Joel will be the last person to leave from our class, an argument against term limits, I might argue. But best of luck to you, Joel. Good wishes. I know with your relationship with the people in this House, that yours is one of the few budgets that might not ever have a problem around here. Good luck.”
“Further discussion? Representative Reitz.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve got… you know, we all… we’re losin’ a good friend. And I did wanna touch though on a couple other Reps. And it’s good to see Jerry 09300037.doc 121 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 Mitchell is helping the doorman out today with his jacket. We appreciate that. So, but the other and Steve Davis and Joel did mention that he doesn’t think he’ll have to worrying about hiring Steve because we think the Governor has plans as the director of Alcohol and Substance Abuse. We think that Steve will probably be… won’t be around to help that, so… No offense. It worked… You know, and Barb and the family, we’ve… you know, just good friends, good people. Everyone knows how good Joel is. He’s been a mentor of mine and helped… I met him years ago with another dear friend, former Rep. Terry Deering, a number of times and… and it’s just as well Terry’s not here to tell some stories. So, but he was, you know, a good friend of all of ours. We met Joel then and he’s, you know, he’s going to be a great director for all of us. He’s, you know, more than anything else, here in this Body, he’s a statesman. Does a good job representing his district, representing the interests of everyone especially sportsmen in the State of Illinois. So, let me tell you one story. The last time he was down at my house this summer we went to Pyramid State Park. We have 20 thousand acres that are in Pyramid State Park. And we’re driving around looking at different things and on every lake when you go in the different lakes they have it says like, you know, the Big Pond or whatever, you know, the different names for all the lakes. We drive into this one, didn’t see the sign, about a thousand ducks fly away. Joel looks out and just, you know, drops… his mouth drops open and he says, ‘what’s the name of this?’ I said, 09300037.doc 122 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 ‘I didn’t see the sign, but next year we’re callin’ it the Director’s Lake.’ So… so, and he liked that. So, that’s… he’s gonna do great. We know he’s got a great new office, great new building. We’ll be out to visit him a lot. The best thing about being director is there’s no limit. We’re really gonna miss ya, Joel.”
“Further discussion? Representative Black.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. We’re here to praise Joel Brunsvold not to bury him. January of 1983, I remember it well. I was entering the second semester of my freshman year at high school, Joel. I… and if you believe that, I have some open lands you can buy when you get to be director. Joel Brunsvold is the epitome of what a Legislator should be and I think, I hate to live in the past, but as some of these people who have served here for a number of years leave, the institutional memory suffers and I think the civility and collegiality that’s always been a hallmark of this Body suffers a little bit, too. We have our arguments, but one of the first arguments I had on this floor was with Joel Brunsvold. And he came over to me and afterwards and said, ‘let’s go out and get a cup of coffee’ and he said, ‘we don’t take these things personally.’ He said, ‘I’ll show you where you’re wrong.’ And he did and I ended up voting for the Bill the next time it was called. He’s very persuasive. And the doctor was able to reset the shoulder with a minimum of trouble. But he is… he’s a man of his word, he’s a man of tremendous 09300037.doc 123 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 integrity and credibility, was always free and available to give advice on how to pass Bills. You could go to talk to him about the impact of certain Bills on outdoor recreation, the sporting… I call it an industry and I think Joel knows more than anybody on this House Floor what outdoor recreation can do to this state in terms of generating revenue from tourists and people who like to fish and to hunt and to camp and that’s one of the things I’m very, very comfortable with in his tenure. His tenure at DNR will be marked with the same kind of openness that he had as a Legislator. He will see to it that all people in the state are encouraged to make use of our recreational lands, that everyone should be able to enjoy our outdoor heritage, not just one particular group, but all of those who want to get back to nature. It’s sounds so trite, but in this ever-urbanized society, it’s something we need to do, far often than many of us are able to do it. I remember, so well, many early-morning breakfast meetings at the Old Capitol Plaza or as my good friend, the late Senator Woodyard, used to call it, the ‘Stinkin’ Lincoln’, where we wood meet to… to formulate the Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus and many people said we couldn’t get that done and we not only did with your leadership, Joel, it’s a very vital part of not only the General Assembly, but of the State of Illinois. And I would be remiss if I didn’t share at least one hunting story. One winter Joel invited the late Senator Woodyard and I to hunt with him up in Kankakee County and it was a delightful day about 20 09300037.doc 124 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 below zero, as I recall, and not exaggerating one bit. So, we went forth to hunt pheasants, bundled up like Admiral Byrd and Nanook of the North. In fact, I have Joel’s hat that Senator Woodyard stole that day. I’ve… I’ve kept it all these years. But Joel, for those of you who don’t know, Joel is an excellent marksman. And even though on that cold day the pheasants didn’t want to get up and fly and the dogs didn’t really want to go out and hunt, Joel would kick the bushes or throw a rock to get the pheasant to fly so he could shoot. Senator Woodyard turned to me and he said, ‘you know, I think we can get Mr. Brunsvold if you’ll just bear with me.’ Babe was a left-handed shooter. He had the shotgun up at his left shoulder and the ejection port was on the left side of the… he had a very beautiful semi-automatic shotgun, so when Babe would shoot, the expended shell would go out to the left. A wild turkey flew up in front of us, sounded like a helicopter. The snow flew, the noise went crazy, Joel shot, the dogs barked, I ducked, Babe’s gun jammed, the turkey flew away and Joel turned to Senator Woodyard and said, ‘you had a perfect shot, what happened?’ And he said, ‘my gun jammed. I think it’s frozen.’ Joel said, ‘I don’t think a gun could be frozen. Give it to me.’ Joel shoots from the right shoulder and forgot that Senator Woodyard shot from the left shoulder. So, Joel put the gun to his shoulder, squeezed off a shot, of course, the spent shell ejected and got him in the chin and at 20 below zero, I recall Joel said something like, ‘Ouch.’ But there were many good 09300037.doc 125 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 days. Joel, your help on the field trial issue over the years, again, which was an issue that not everyone was in favor of and it had to go to the heart of outdoor recreation, are we going to accommodate multi-use concepts or are we gonna set aside land only for some people to do certain things? And Joel was able to work that out as he worked out so many things over the years. He’s a good friend. He’s someone we can emulate. And I… I would suggest that none of us pick up any Senate Bills until he is confirmed. I have a vested interest in doing so. Wojcik is gone, you’re leaving, I only need one more and I can be in a single digit license plate. Joel, I wish you the very best. Thank you for all your help and guidance over the years and you will continue the fine work done and even improve upon that work at the Department of Natural Resources and your many friends here look forward to working with you in the years to come.”
“Represent… Representative Granberg.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. A number of things have been said already, so I’ll be brief. But Representative Novak was right and Representative Davis, we are torn today. It’s a great occasion, but it’s a very sad one. We’re very happy for Joel and his family, but we don’t want him to leave this House. I remember when I first came in, Joel was one of the first people to come up to me and he said, ‘my name is Joel Brunsvold, I’m in my third term and if you ever need any advice, anything at all, please don’t hesitate to call 09300037.doc 126 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 me.’ And that’s something that I’ve never forgotten, I did it very often. And most of the time it was good advice and sometimes not good, but most of the time great. But Joel embodies everything that’s good about this institution. He came here for public service when he began and he’s leaving here with the goal of continued public service. He believes in what he’s doing and he has not changed that goal. He’s about integrity, he’s about camaraderie. He doesn’t care where you’re from. He puts aside political differences, geographic differences, any type of barrier. It does not matter to him ‘cause that’s the way he is. Some of us can count on a few good friends and we’re lucky at that. Joel Brunsvold can count on hundreds because he is there for any of us and he would be there for his friends, no matter what time, no matter what the need. And that’s why he is one of the luckiest people alive because he has that many friends. And Joel, I am just…and I tell the new Members, particularly, you don’t realize this yet, but when you serve in this Body and it is a unique institution, you’ll development relationships like you’ve never known before and I say that in a positive way. You’re friends, that you’ve known all your lives, will never understand nor appreciate the friendships that you will develop here because you’re gonna go through a lot of things, good and bad, that will bind you together. And I can just say, Joel is probably the luckiest person on earth, but I’m very close because Joel Brunsvold’s my friend.” 09300037.doc 127 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“The birthday girl, Representative Lou Jones.” Jones, L.: “Everybody probably knows that Joel and I share this unique suite down on the first floor along with my good friend up here in front of me Lou Lang, suite 109. And it’s been… we’ve been down there about eight years and it’s been… Joel has truly been a friend to me in a lot of ways, some ways you guys don’t even know. Barb, but not that kind. You know, Mike Madigan appointed me chairman of the… apors… the last appors… reapportionment committee and the other thre… two African Americans on there was Art Turner and Shirley Jones. Shirley Jones was scared to fly in the little, bitty planes ‘cause we had to go all around the state for these meetings. And I don’t know what happened this… that when we had to go to Joel’s home ‘cause Art didn’t fly with us that day, so I was on the plane by myself. But, you know, when you’re from Chicago and they say go south, you kinda feel kinda funny sometimes, okay. So, we were going to Joel’s hometown and we had the meeting the…and everything and I was kinda really kinda…didn’t feel to comfortable, but Joel had arranged a dinner that night, after the meeting, and I guess he felt that he… that I was kinda uncomfortable so at the dinner he set me between him and Barbara, as if to say, and ain’t none of y’all gonna bother her, okay. And I calmed down and met Barbara, a real good friend, and she’s just a wonderful person. And the second time that Joel helped me out was last summer. I have a grandson that’s in Morehouse College, in fact, Joel, he graduates May 15. And he worked this summer and he 09300037.doc 128 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 worked with Judy Topinka, Judy Barr Topinka, and they were going from different fairs all over the state. So, this time he call me, he left that morning, him and his friend, and they were assigned to some fair down there by where Joel lives at. And he got down there and called me back and he said, ‘Grandma.’ I said, ‘Tim… I said, ‘Tim, where you at?’ He said, ‘I’m in a little motel called the Broo… Blue Spruce Hotel.’ He said, ‘There’s no black people down here whatsoever.’ He was scared to death. Okay. Him and his partner from Atlanta, Georgia. And I said, ‘Well, Tim’, I said. He said, ‘Grandma, ain’t no black people down here at all.’ So, I said, ‘Don’t worry about it. I got somebody I’m gonna call and have him to come see about you.’ So, I got off the phone and I called Joel Brunsvold. And I said, ‘Joel, my grandson is down there. I don’t know where he’s at, but he’s down there and there’s no other folks down there, but your people.’ And he said… he said, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m going tomorrow. I’m going over there to that…’, he said, ‘Tomorrow I’m going over there to that state fair, to that little fair.’ I said, ‘Well, would you look up Timothy Walker, please?’ He said, ‘It won’t be hard to find ‘cause there ain’t gonna be nobody over there but them two boys, okay.’ So, anyhow, I called Tim back at the Blue Spruce Hotel… Motel and Tim wasn’t in. It was like 10:00 at night. The man that answered the… that finally answered the phone sounded like he was about 95 years old, he was an invalid and he said, ‘Oh, I seen them two little black boys.’ I said, ‘Well, where did you see 09300037.doc 129 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 ‘em at?’ He said, ‘I think they went to get something to eat’, he said, ‘but you know what, you gotta get off this phone ‘cause my switchboard closes at 9:00. I just… I just answered this phone ‘cause you just kept… you just wouldn’t… the phone just kept on ringin’.’ So, the next day Tim called me and he said, ‘Grandma, Joel Brunsvold came by and saw us and to see about me.’ he said. And him and his friends, from that point on, they stayed there for three and a half days and Joel went there and then Joel told me, ‘Well, Lou, I don’t think anything is gonna happen, but just in case, I know the police chief down here and I’ll alert him that they’re on the premises.’ Joel, I wanna thank you, I wanna thank you for taking care of my grandson. I’m gonna really miss you down there in 109. The one thing I’m not gonna miss is your stinkin’ cigar. Acevedo, do not come down there with a cigar. I am going to welcome Acevedo with open arms as long as he don’t have a cigar. But I love you and Barbara and I wish you all the luck in the world.”
“Further discussion? Representative Wait.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Yeah, you’ve already heard that Joel and I… we… we started out together, 20 years ago we started out together. There was 16 Democrats and 13 Republicans and as you heard, Joel’s the last of his breed on his side of the aisle and Bob Churchill and I are the last on our side, although we had a little… a little leave for a few years in there. Joel, I think, as you heard here today, he’s truly a 09300037.doc 130 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 classic act and a real professional. Another thing that a lot of people don’t realize that Joel and I have in common, you know he’s from the Rock Island area and when I worked for John Deere, I lived in the Rock Island-Moline area and so we were… got to know each other there. But before that, in high school, we had something else in common, we were both Belvidere Bucks. We went to Belvidere High School and Joel was a couple years ahead of us. Both of us played football together, he was probably better than I was in football. But anyway, he played for Belvidere and lived in Belvidere for a few years. And I just wanna say, Joel, it’s a been a real pleasure and an honor to getting to know you, work with you these past 20 years. And I just want… wish you the best of luck in your new job and remember, come back and see all of us. Thank you very much.”
“Representative Turner.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Joel probably doesn’t …well, I know he knows that I was here and I remember when… I can’t even say I remember when he walked in the door because in January of ’83 I was at home. I had a short stay for a couple months. I came back in April. So, for a while, Joel had actually thought he had more seniority than I did and I guess the license plate tells the story because he’s been watching… eyeing my number for a number of years and it’s… just it’s not happening and in fact, he told me today that he finally gave up and he’s not gonna get that number seven. But I can remember a few stories and one in particular because, 09300037.doc 131 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 as Calvin mentioned earlier, although I came in here with this antigun posture coming out of the City of Chicago, I wasn’t certain why because I grew up with a shotgun at the head of my grandparents bed and so, it was never, you know, I never viewed it as being anything dangerous or something wrong with it, but for some reason, I think, part of the questionnaire and Steve, this was another questionnaire that I filled out from some independent friends of mine had me believing that guns are just terrible things. And so, after a while Joel and I had started had started to talk and I recalled that I acquired an old antique shotgun and I needed some parts and Joel was able to tell me where to go, how to find it and in fact, said, ‘It’s no longer an antique, Art, it’s a pretty piece… nice piece of equipment to have.’ He then recommended that we go hunting together and I was on the same hunting trip that Calvin went to and when I go home I explain to my friends that this guy took me hunting and unlike the hunting that we used to do in the South, this… I called it Gucci-shoe hunting because my shoes never got dirty, it was a nice little hunting club and the dogs were all set, the birds seemed to be trained. Ya let these birds out and they run in the bushes and you know, this dog’s got a wire on his neck and it was very mechanical, but it was a great day and like Calvin, I went home with 25 pheasants and my wife says, ‘What are you gonna do with those things?’ She didn’t have any clue on how to cook ‘em, but so my first, I won’t say… gee, I have to say my first Gucci… Gucci-shoe hunting experience was 09300037.doc 132 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 with Joel Brunsvold and a few other Members here in the House. I’ve also shared dormitory rooms with Joel and Steve and a few others and I won’t… you know what college dorms are like, but I can tell ya this, Barbara, you’re a beautiful woman and I’m not saying you have separate bedrooms at home, but I know you let this guy get a few hours somewhere else before he joins you. But it’s an interesting experience and he’s just an all-around great guy and I could go on and on. He is truly a friend of mine. I think that the people of Rock Island have been served well. He has stood up, as they say, for the sportsmen, and we still disagree on some of the gun issues, so let me let the reporters know that tell the people back in Chicago we still agree on a lot of things regarding guns, but I don’t see ‘em as the most evil thing in the world. But he is certainly going to, I think, bring a new perspective to Natural Resources. We’ve already talked about what we can do to promote the relationship between the City of Chicago and exposing more of our kids and people to the beautiful things that this state has to offer in terms of our state parks. And he’s truly going to be missed. I, too, will visit that office and I will also be with the… the chairman with no limit. I look forward to fishing with him and being on that type of trip. Barbara and Joel, congratulations and thank you again.”
“Further discussion? Representative Stephens.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. Joel, you are a true gentleman and a great Legislator and we will 09300037.doc 133 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 miss you. The… I remember a couple of trips that you came down to Nylo Farms, Representative Turner would call that a Gucci farm. I learned very quick that I can’t hit a seven… a pe… pheasant that goes to my left, so I would al… you know, I never told you this, but when we hunted, I would always made sure that I was to your right. I… I believe that I’ve never seen Joel miss a pheasant. And I don’t know, maybe he does have ‘em trained to stop in midair, I don’t know. But Joel, we are gonna miss ya. I wished one of the na… add my name to the remarks and tell ya that I wished… I wish you well. The resources of this state are in good hands under… under your control. Thanks, Joel.”
“Further discussion? Representative Boland.”
“Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen, first of all, let me congratulate Joel and his wonderful wife, Barbara, who I’ve known for many, many years before I actually came down here and followed Joel’s career all the way along. Let me just sa…tell a few things that a lot of people might not know, that Joel and I both are former educators. I guess we’re still educators, we consider ourselves. And Joel Brunsvold has really been probably one of the state’s best leaders on education issues over his career, just fantastic. He was the Chairman of the Elementary & Secondary Committee, I can’t remember how many years, but for quite some time and led our state in trying to resolve those very tough educational issues that we have. All of us know, of course, about his great reputation as a… as a sportsman. You know, a lot of us, particularly 09300037.doc 134 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 downstaters, we like to think we’re sportsmen, but Joel actually is a sportsman. When he… when he handles a gun, he really knows how to do it. Expert marksman and hunter, fisherman, all the rest of the great things. I can’t imagine anybody who would be better qualified to head DNR than my friend, Joel Brunsvold. It’s been a wonderful pleasure for me being a district mate to ‘em. He’s done… a lot of you outside our region probably don’t know of all the wonderful things that he’s done for our particular area. He’s a guy who represents a very diverse district. Unlike what Lou says, there actually is a… a fairly good size African-American population in Joel and my’s district. He’s got a Hispanic population, got rural farm areas and he represents ‘em really excellent. Just as we know how he deals with all of us down here, that’s how he deals with all of his constituents and as really as much as we love and cherish Joel in our chamber, his… his district people are gonna really miss him. One of the wonderful monuments, you might say, to Joel Brunsvold back in our district is a place called The Mark. If ever you get a chance to come down, it’s one of those civic centers that we were debating and talking about earlier today. It’s one that makes money all the time. It’s a… a huge, beautiful structure that brings in tremendous big-name entertainers and so forth and Joel Brunsvold really was the moving force behind that. So, our region of the state is gonna miss him as a State Representative. I know his replacement. He’s a wonderful guy and is gonna do a great job and I know all of you will 09300037.doc 135 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 like Pat Verschoore, as well. But… but Joel is gonna leave a tremendous gulf. I’ve learned a tremendous amount from him, but on the other hand, he’s moving on to bigger and better places and will do as fabulous a job there as he does… has done here in the House. Joel, I’m gonna miss ya as my district mate. I congratulate you, Barb, Ted and all your wonderful family. You know, we talk about family values down here. And Joel Brunsvold is a guy who lives family values. He doesn’t have to just talk about ‘em, he actually lives ‘em. He’s a true epitome of what a great Representative should be, what a great family man should be, father, husband and grandfather and he and I share that, we’re both grandfathers this… recently. And so, he’s also, let me finish with just this. You know, we politicians have gotten a bad name sometimes over the last few decades, but really, Joel Brunsvold is the model politician. He’s what all politicians should be. You know, maybe we’re not all the time, but we’re… he is what we should be. So, Joel, I’m gonna miss ya. I know we’ll all miss you. Barbara, of course, we’ll see you back home and so forth. Again, congratulations on your years of service here, your years of service to the district and movin’ on to your new position. Thank you.”
“Representative Capparelli.”
“Yeah. Joel, I’d like to extend my congratulations to you, also. I remember 20 years ago when I was coaching the softball team, Joel came out for practice. I looked him over and I said, ‘Boy, this guy… I could really use 09300037.doc 136 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 this fella.’ That particular game, I put Joel out in left field. We beat the Senate 34 to 1. Do you remember that, Joel? Joel… Joel hit 2 homeruns that day and he’s been hittin’ homeruns on the ball field for all those years and he’s been hittin’ homeruns right here on the House Floor. Joel, so I wanna really congratulate you and I hope you invite me over some time to smoke a cigar with you.”
Speaker Hartke: “Representative Karen May. Representative May.”
“Joel and I have bonded over location and… and issues. Every time I had to go to the rail or to the ladies’ room, you know, Joel was there to talk and to say ‘hi’. And on the issues we bonded because he was… he and I are diametrically opposed on the issues. I have to share with you one of the first things he said to me as I got to know him was, ‘Karen, I like you, but you sure have funny legislation.’ So, I know that he is… he’s a large man, he’s large in physical stature and he’s also large in his honesty and his integrity, the way he’s made friends on both sides of the aisle. So, even in two years, although we’re diametrically opposed, I think that Joel and I have bonded on the issues. And he is a large man, he said during the transition period that he was becoming green from hanging around with all of the environmentalists. So, he’s a giant here on the floor and I hope he becomes a ‘green giant’ in DNR. And unlike Lou Jones, I enjoy smoking a cigar with you and I hope the fact that you’re 09300037.doc 137 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 leaving the House doesn’t mean that we can’t share a cigar in the future. Thank you. Best of luck, Joel.”
“The Chair recognizes Representative Monique Davis.” Davis, M.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I… when I arrived in the General Assembly, Joel Brunsvold was the chair of the Elementary & Secondary Education Committee. And I think the biggest issue was the Illinois High School whether they were gonna… how they were gonna play, whether they could play with Cs or how many Bs and Joel certainly helped to develop those rules that we operate under today. I think he had great fun in debating, I’m sorry, in refereeing the debates between Representative Cowlishaw and myself in that committee. But the Joel Brunsvold that I know is also the one who, when you go to his office and you punch a little button, there’s a singing fish. Once I arrived in the office that he shared with Lou Jones and they said, ‘open this box.’ And some big, furry thing jumped out, hit me in the face, my scream must have pierced both chambers. I still don’t know what that was today because they would never tell me. In reference to Joel’s stand on gun control, after viewing the war in Iraq I may consider changing my stance because if an invasion ever comes this way, I think maybe we should all be prepared. Joel… Joel and just because these people have said all these wonderful things about you, don’t think that Representative Biggins and I in the House General Assembly Appropriations Committee will be afraid to ask you how are you spendin’ 09300037.doc 138 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 that $750 million budget. Each of us should realize that in this Body the greatest achievement can be after serving so many years, making many, many friends, and being chosen by a great Governor. Congratulations.”
“Representative Mautino. Representative Frank Mautino.”
“Thank you, Speaker. And Joel, I just wanted to join with the rest of the Members in congratulating you on the new appointment and just to say that we’re gonna miss you and not only the people of your district. When a lot of the things throughout the state and throughout downstate came up, the name on the Bill was Joel Brunsvold. You created the civic centers that we talked about today. The bonding for parks and recreation that created a lot of the boat ramps and accesses and helped to clean up the waters and the recreational sites. You did a… you did some tremendous things from here and I look forward to seeing you do great things at DNR. I do also remember, Representative Novak said, ‘where were you in 1982?’ I actually met Joel on Route 51. I was… now, he’s a very talented man. I happen to be driving a beer truck at the… actually, I wasn’t driving, I was more or less on the side of the road in a beer truck talking to a member of the State Police and my father, who was then the Representative, was riding home with Joel and could have sworn as they passed by that was one of his beer trucks and possibly his son. And so, as he did the u-ee in the road there and came and discussed a little dilemma, we learned 09300037.doc 139 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 that Joel could actually drive a beer truck to the next town so, his son, whose license had expired by one day, could get a new picture taken. And that was how I met him and from that point, I have enjoyed going with my father and Joel on hunting trips throughout the State of Illinois and got a chance to see a true sportsman and caretaker of the lands of Illinois in action. So, one, thanks for the lift and I know that you aspire to the DNR the same way Davis here aspires to the grape council. And with that, we’re gonna miss ya, but we will see you over there in that beautiful, new building. And the Governor could not have made a better choice for all the people of the State of Illinois.”
“Representative Lou Lang.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. All the comments that have been made about Joel are true. He’s a great friend, a great Legislator, he’s gonna be a great leader at DNR. But I’ve got more practical things on my mind, Joel’s taking the refrigerator. As he goes to DNR, and he’s taking Roger with him that used to fill the refrigerator, so Lou Jones and I have a real problem. We’ll probably get Eddie Acevedo to buy the next refrigerator. Sorry, Eddie. The first friendship I made… I was appointed to my first term in the House in 1987. The very first friendship I made was with Joel Brunsvold. He sat down in that corner. His seatmates were John Daley and Cal Sutker and we went out to dinner a lot and we became very close friends, agreed on very little, but we became 09300037.doc 140 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 very close friends and are going to remain very close friends. I’ve heard some information on the floor today about what a principled man Joel is and it’s true. One day, I was giving one of my impassioned speeches that I do from time to time, one of those that Danny Burke will sometimes talk about how the vein throbs in my forehead and sweat comes off of me and I’m yelling and I’m screaming, and I was really impassioned and when I was finished Joel came up from wherever he was and he came over and he put his arm around me and he says, ‘you know, that was one of the great speeches I’ve ever heard on the House Floor.’ And I said, ‘well, thank you very much.’ And he said, ‘you know, that speech was so good you did something people very rarely can do on this House Floor, you actually changed my mind.’ And I said, ‘well, thank you very much.’ He said, ‘now you didn’t change my vote, but you changed my mind.’ That… that is Joel Brunsvold, my friend. And one more thing, Eddie Acevedo won the pool for the antlers, so they’re not going with you, Joel. Best of luck at DNR.”
“The Chair recognizes Representative Slone.”
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It’s been my special honor in the last few months, since the beginning of this term, to be Joel’s seatmate, an honor that the long history of that I think is… it’s really Representative Novak’s. But it’s been my honor for the last couple of months and Joel I did the best I could votin’ your switch. Not always the way I voted my switch. But I regret to say that I owe you a huge apology because I think in the very last matter to come 09300037.doc 141 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 before the chamber on your last day you may not have voted and I owe you a deep apology. And wish you many years of happiness and success at the DNR and if there’s any way we could take a record vote on this, maybe we can correct that error.”
Speaker Hartke: “Further discussion? The Chair recognizes Representative Schmitz.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Joel, the roast goes on, doesn’t it? ’83, actually, I gotta… I had to come back with it. I was in high school, so… Joel, we didn’t get to talk too much about your time as the coach and I’ve only been here five years, but you… you really, from the first day of practice, knew how to recognize pure talent. And your… in words of wisdom that you gave some of us new Members, even though I was a Augustana graduate you came over and put your around me and said, ‘way to go’. And I thought maybe I had a slight ‘in’ with the coach and your phrase, I had to write it down here. The first words of wisdom you gave me, it says, ‘you’re not very good are you?’ And… and to follow that up, this was back in ’99, and to follow that up, you got Geo over and challenged me to race Geo and if I beat her, you were gonna let me start the next game. I didn’t get to start. I do remember sitting there on the bench next to another star, Howard Kenner, who you placed next to me because he wasn’t very good either. We got to sit there and watch that great win with Representative Bradley hitting that shot and we took ‘em in the final inning. And listen to you intently yell 09300037.doc 142 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 words of encouragement, I had to keep coming up to the fence and saying, ‘Joel, there are kids here. You gotta slow this down a little bit.’ But your words of encouragement helped us. That trophy came over to this chamber and from then on we’ve been champions. And we’re gonna continue doing this and I’m lookin’ for the new coach and I’ve been practicing, whoever the new coach is gonna be, so hopefully I’ll be able to play next time. To the new Members of this chamber, standing over there in that corner right now is a statesman. I know I’m gonna miss him. We’ve heard great things about Joel today, but he’s a true statesman that sits here, evaluated the issue, look through it, voted his switch, may have changed his mind, as Lou said, but he still voted his switch. He voted his conscience and he’s able that night to go share a cocktail or a bite to eat with you. And for that, Joel, I appreciate your words of wisdom here. We’re gonna miss ya. I’ve got some grant applications in over at DNR I wanna talk to you about next week and look forward to working with ya in the future.”
“Representative Brady. Representative Brady.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Joel, all of us obviously are going to miss ya and you’re gonna do a wonderful job at DNR. But just a quick little story for a freshman Legislator that I was not to awfully long ago. I came up with a couple folks from Bloomington to the John Deere Golf Classic and Joel, at that time, was due to have his gallbladder out the next 09300037.doc 143 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 morning. I called Joel and asked, I didn’t know that that was going on, if he could come out and help us kinda get in the back way with the traffic and so on if he knew a road. He went out on the interstate to meet myself and my group. He got out of his truck. He… well, let’s just say, he looked sick. He… the whites of his eyes were yellow, his skin was jaundiced, he kinda looked like one of my rejection cases at the mortuary. I mean, you looked bad, Joel. But he got up off the couch, came out to make sure we got in safely, got us to the right gate and took off and I’ve always remembered that, Joel. You were very kind to us. I felt so bad about disrupting your relaxation part of surgery that I sent a card to the hospital. And then I called several days later and got a hold of Joel, I said, Joel, thanks again. Everything go all right? ‘Yep.’ I said, Did ya get my card? ‘Yep.’ I said, well, I just wanted you to know how much I really appreciate it. He said, ‘Well, I appreciate the card, could you knock off the get well and at the bottom, take off the name of your funeral home, will you, please, Dan?’ Joel, good luck, congratulations.”
“And Representative Molaro.”
“Thank you. We’ll be… I’ll be very brief. As a self- appointed dean of the freshmen having… been here years. You know, we’re… we’re certainly… certainly don’t have any stories to tell because we’re freshmen and we… however, after listening to what everybody has to say, we certainly are saddened by the fact that we haven’t been able to be 09300037.doc 144 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 part of the Brunsvold era, just a little piece of it, those two months. So, the only thing that we can say on behalf of the freshmen, God has, from what we’ve heard, God has given you many, many gifts. May he definitely give you the gift of good health as you move on. Thank you.”
“Representative Novak.”
“Yes, Mr. Speaker, thank you. With leave of the Body, may we have all Members added as cosponsors to this Resolution?”
“Yes.”
“And… and there will be cake available at the conclusion of this proceeding and then next week there will be a reception for the new director of the Department of Natural Resources at Remy’s, some time next week and we’ll get everybody the information, everyone’s invited. Thank you.”
“Speaker Madigan.”
“One more then we’ll go to Joel and he’ll be much better than me. Joel, we’ve had a wonderful demonstration of affection for you, for your service to the House of Representatives, for your caring and goodwill toward your family members and everybody else. You should be very, very happy today, you should be very, very proud of what you’ve done. My view of it, which Joel and I shared earlier today, is that today Joel is ending one part of a career of public service. It’s been a wonderful section of public service. He is now moving on to yet another part of his public service where he will continue to serve the people of the State of Illinois and the government of the 09300037.doc 145 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 State of Illinois. He has been a wonderful, dedicated, honest, straightforward Member of the Legislature, always participating to the process that makes this place great and generally, results in a real solid work product for the people of the State of Illinois. And so, Joel, thank you very, very much for what you’ve done for all of us and for this particular institution. Congratulations and good luck.”
“Chair recognizes the ‘great white hunter’, Representative Brunsvold.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You guys are gonna make this real hard. I’ve been sitting around all week thinking about this… this time. In fact, Phil commented, I was sitting at dinner last night and he said, ‘You’re kinda melancholy.’ You know, I’m thinking about this. As you can hear the stories that go around here, there’s a lot of stories, that’s probably a tenth of ‘em, that, you know, we probably can’t even tell ya the rest of ‘em. But building relationships on this House Floor is what this thing is about. Having good friends. Karen May and I, I mean, we smoke cigars together. She’s a hell of a woman, I’m gonna tell ya right now. What were you doing 20 years ago? Brendan was still in diapers, exactly. My son Ted was 13 years old, when we first took a picture on the House Floor here, in fact, right in this area. I wanted to speak back here because I don’t belong over there. I feel like I’m just not there and I’ve never been over there. And my voting record in the last two weeks, don’t take any meaning 09300037.doc 146 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 out of that at all, ‘cause it’s Ricca’s voting record, it’s not mine. One of my seatmates said, ‘well, you’re leaving Disneyland.’ Which is this place. This place as Mike Boland said a bigger and a bigger, better place. I don’t thi… and I don’t think so. I think this is probably the biggest and the best place you can be, right here. I do. We have so many tough issues. We work together. We work hard on the issues. We’re in a pressure cooker and it bonds us together regardless of… of whether we’re on one side of the issue or on the other side of the issue. Because you argue the issues and you go out and you have a cup of coffee or a… have a beer afterwards and you talk the issue and that’s how things get solved here. Regardless of whether you’re from upstate, downstate, Chicago, whatever. I’ve got just as many friends in Chicago as I have downstate ‘cause they’re good people everywhere in this state. I did’t know if I’d outlast Art Turner. Nah, he’s pretty young, you know, and I didn’t think I would outlast Hannig. He’s… he’s lookin’ pretty good over there. But I thought I would outlast Capparelli. I mean, I’ve got rocks in my office that are younger than he is. This guy goes on forever. And I agree with Mr. Black, if they don’t confirm me next Wednesday, don’t you guys vote for any Senate Bills, don’t pick up no Senate Bills, nothin’. Everyone here is in this arena. We… we get in the press. We get arguments going. We get attacked by someone. And usually, it kinda just flows off us. You know we don’t wanna worry about it, you know, we’re on to the next day. But it 09300037.doc 147 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 doesn’t flow off our husbands and wives and our children. My wife, Barbara, stand up, Barbara. When they attack me, she takes it personal. She gets so mad and Ted gets upset and I’m just thinkin’, well, let’s just go on to the next day. But they take it personal. And you guys are in this arena and you do this. You have your loved ones around you that take attacks… attacks on you personal and they live through this hurt. And we’re gone and we’re here working and we’re doing this and they suffer ‘cause we’re not there. And so families for us is very important, as for you it’s very important. So, you’re being congratulated on being here and serving the people of Illinois and actually, your families are suffering for that. And it’s just… it’s just a big thank you. We got… we have to give our husbands and wives and our children that are here, that come here and let us serve in these… in this great place. My district has been great. The people in Rock Island, Moline and Rock Island County and Mercer County, they have had confidence in me for 20 years now and let me serve here and let me have the greatest opportunity in the world to be in an arena like this, one that is very confrontational at times. Some of the lobbyists that have Midwestern states, say most General Assemblies are very ‘ya know’ quiet and reserved, this is the Shootout at the OK Corral in Illinois’. And it is sometimes. They say they love this because it’s exciting. This is an exciting place. And you need to get involved and do things and I just thank the Lord that I’ve had the chance to serve in this great Body 09300037.doc 148 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 with people like you ‘cause you are the greatest. You are the greatest. I’d like to thank Speaker Madigan. When I got here in 1983, he was… was elect… we elected him Speaker. And I didn’t know how to take this guy when I came in here. I voted for him 11 times for Speaker. Well, if… I came in here and I, as a freshman, you know, this place… I was in awe anyway ‘cause I just read the book by Mike Royko on the Boss. When I got here and Larry DiPrima sat over here and I said, ‘That’s Larry DiPrima out of the book?’ I said, ‘Dang, I’m in tall cotton now. He’s sittin’ right here.’ And ya meet people… when I first got here, like Senator Charlie Chew. You guys have never met characters like this. He parked his Bentley on the front… by the front steps of the Capitol Building. And one day I asked Charlie, I said, ‘What’s the difference between a Bentley and a Rolls Royce?’ He said, ‘About $15.’ That’s about right, too. So, Mr. Speaker, thank you for those… those great years, your leadership and your help on all the issues because I tell you we walked out of his office on the night we passed some of the gambling Bills and he’s lookin’ at me and says, ‘You got the votes?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I got the votes.’ Capparelli was with me and says, ‘You got the votes?’ I said, ‘Yeah, we got the votes.’ The closer to the chamber we get, ‘You sure you got the votes?’ I said, ‘Yeah, we got the votes. Don’t worry about it, Mr. Speaker.’ ‘Okay, we’ll call it.’ And it worked it out. So, thank you, Mr. Speaker, for all those… those helping hands you gave us on some of the really tough 09300037.doc 149 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 issues. And I’d just like to finish by saying that and this is such a great tribute for everybody to do this, it’s just totally unexpected. But, in closing, I’d just like to say that I hope in the 20 years I’ve done a little bit to make this place better. And thank you very much.”
“The question is, ‘Shall the House adopt House Resolution 148?’ All those in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed? The Resolution is adopted. Mr. Clerk, Agreed… the Adjournment Resolution.”
Clerk Rossi: “Senate Joint Resolution #29 offered by Representative Currie. BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that when the Senate adjourns on Thursday, March 27, 2003, it stands adjourned until Wednesday, April 2, 2003, at 1:00 p.m.; and when the House of Representatives adjourns, it stands adjourned until Friday, March 28, 2003, and when it adjourns on that day, it stands adjourned until Monday, March 31, 2003 at 4:00 p.m., and when it adjourns on that day, it stands adjourned until Tuesday, April 1, 2003, and when it adjourns on that day, it stands adjourned until Wednesday, April 2, 2003.”
“Representative Currie moves the Adjournment Resolution. All those in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Adjournment Resolution is adopted. Agreed Resolutions.” 09300037.doc 150 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003
“House Resolution 168, offered by Representative Brady. House Resolution 170, offered by Representative Osmond. House Resolution 174, offered by Representative Mendoza. House Resolution 177, offered by Representative Holbrook. House Resolution 178, offered by Representative Coulson. And House Resolution 179, offered by Representative Granberg.”
“You’ve heard 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. Representative Brunsvold now moves that the House stand adjourned until Monday, March 3 at the hour of 4 p.m.… March 31 at the hour of 4 p.m., allowing perfunctory time for the Clerk. All those in favor signify by saying ‘aye’; opposed ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the House stands adjourned. Members should be reminded there is cake up here in front on the Republican side in honor of Representative Brunsvold.”
“House Perfunctory Session will come to order. First Reading of Senate Bills. Senate Bill 356, offered by Representative Saviano, a Bill for an Act in relation to criminal law. Senate Bill 410, offered by Representative Mathias, a Bill for an Act in relation to alcohol. Senate Bill 505, offered by Representative Mathias, a Bill for an Act concerning taxes. Senate Bill 897, offered by Representative Jim Meyer, a Bill for an Act concerning technology development. Senate Bill 1047, offered by 09300037.doc 151 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 37th Legislative Day 3/28/2003 Representative Burke, a Bill for an Act concerning higher education. Senate Bill 1075, offered by Representative Rich Myers, a Bill for an Act concerning the Rural Bond Bank. Senate Bill 1204, offered by Representative Kelly, a Bill for an Act concerning public bodies. Senate Bill 1412, offered by Representative Wirsing, a Bill for an Act concerning anatomical gifts. Senate Bill 1542, offered by Representative Nekritz, a Bill for an Act in relation to public health. Senate Bill 1853, offered by Representative Rich Myers, a Bill for an Act concerning river conservancy districts. First Reading of these Senate Bills. There being no further business, the House Perfunctory Session will stand adjourned.” 09300037.doc 152