Illinois House Floor Debate — April 8, 2003

“The House shall come to order. The Members shall be in their chairs. We shall be led in prayer today by Pastor Sylvester Weatherall of the Grace United Methodist Church in Springfield. Pastor Weatherall is the guest of Representative Arthur Turner. Members and guests are asked to turn off all cell phones and computers. And our guests in the gallery are requested to rise and stand for the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance.”

“We shall be led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Representative Lang.”

“Roll Call for Attendance. Representative Currie.”

“Thank you, Speaker. Please let the record reflect the excused absences of Representatives Feigenholtz, Molaro and Rita.”

“Mr. Bost.”

“The Clerk shall take the record. There being 109 people responding to the Attendance Roll Call, there is a quorum present. Mr. Clerk.”

“All right. Ladies and Gentlemen, on page 12 of the Calendar, on the Order of Postponed Consideration, there appears several Bills. I announced at the end of last week that we would call these Bills today under a procedure where there would be one proponent for the Bill, one person in opposition to the Bill and then we would go to Roll Call. The first Bill on this list is House Bill 198, Representative Monique Davis. Is Representative Davis 09300043.doc 5  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 43rd Legislative Day 4/8/2003 in the chamber? House Bill 374, Mr. Bill Mitchell. Gentleman indicates he does not wish to call the Bill. House Bill 485, Representative Mary Flowers. Bill is on the Order of Postponed Consideration. The Bill has been read three times, previously. House Bill 485.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 485 encompass a few things. One being the coverage of… the coverage for… it says that if an insurance company provide coverage for impotency, it should also provide coverage for birth control. And more importantly, there was some issues that was found from our Department of Insurance, also dealing with coverage, and that being that certain insurance companies was providing for the operation of someone who had a stomach problem, but would not provide for the supplemental nutritional… if the physician prescribe a nutritional supplement for that person who had had a stomach operation, the insurance company would not pay for that and if that patient does not have the nutritional supplement that’s needed after the operation on the stomach the patient will die. So, this Bill is merely saying for that reason that insurance policies should cover it. It’s nothing that’s given away for free, Ladies and Gentlemen, when you pay your insurance you are paying for this to be a part of the coverage. And it says that in case there is a finding of an AIDS vaccination, which we have in this newspaper dated February 24, if this… it says, firm to announce new AIDS vaccination. If this AIDS vaccination is found to be 09300043.doc 6  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 43rd Legislative Day 4/8/2003 workable that also that the insurance company would also provide coverage for that. Once again, it’s not free, these are lifesaving entities. And I’ll be more than happy to answer any questions you have in regards to the Bill.”

“The Lady has spoken in support of the Bill, there shall be one person on opposition to the Bill and then we shall go to Roll Call. Mr. Parke in opposition.”

“The question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ Those in favor signify by voting ‘yes’; those opposed by voting ‘no’. Has Mr. Fritchey voted? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 52 people voting ‘yes’, 52 people voting ‘no’. And the Bill fails. House Bill 1489, Mr. Novak. The Bill has been read three times, previously. Mr. Novak.”

“Yes, thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. As we spoke about this Bill last week, this is a… this is an initiative of the County Treasurers Association. And the purpose of this Bill is to focus on delinquent taxpayers, those people that are irresponsible, that fail to pay their taxes. One of the requirements under the law that treasurers have to do is they have to publish delinquent taxes in newspapers and they also have to send a certified 09300043.doc 8  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 43rd Legislative Day 4/8/2003 mailing to those delinquent taxpayers bef… prior to their taxes going to sale. Unfortunately, over the years, this fee has not been changed, costs have risen for publication purposes as well for postage purposes. So, the purpose behind this is to target those delinquent taxpayers that fail to pay their taxes, they would assume the extra cost here. I ask for your support. Be more than happy to answer any questions.”

“The Gentleman moves for the passage of the Bill. The Chair recognizes Mr. Parke.”

“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. Beaubien voted? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 63 ‘ayes’, and 43 ‘noes’. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House 09300043.doc 9  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 43rd Legislative Day 4/8/2003 Bill 1507, Representative Flowers. Representative Flowers.”

“Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, I bring to you again House Bill 1507 and it merely asks for due process. It merely says, if a parent is gonna have her parental… or a family is going to have their parental rights terminated at least it should be… they should have a choice. They should have a choice, Ladies and Gentlemen. If your parental rights are going to be terminated it’s not that you shall have a jury trial, if you want to you can have a choice to have a jury trial. I have received letters from numerous people in regards to this legislation. And I just want to say to you that we could not convic… convict criminals in this state on hearsay, we have to have evidence in order to convict people. These parents and DCFS by its own admission says that hearsay can be introduced as evidence in regards to a parent’s right to be terminated. And I just want to say to you that Justice Blackman was correct to observe that the fourth desolation of the relationship is punitive in nature and that the fourth desolation of parental rights is more substantial than a mere loss of monies. If you lose your money, Ladies and Gentlemen, you can have a right to a jury trial, but if someone has accused you without, as the law require DCFS to have, right now DCFS is in violation of the law, because they use indication. It’s been indicated by an anonymous person, by an anonymous telephone call that you have caused some harm. But our state statute call for the 09300043.doc 10  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 43rd Legislative Day 4/8/2003 preponderance, the preponderance of evidence, Ladies and Gentlemen. And I have to underst… I have to share with you that a lot of judges would love to have the right to a jury trial despite the fact there has been some to write in objection to this Bill. But I want to say to you, Ladies and Gentlemen, in regards to this issue, that if a judge is to hear everything, this is only being heard by one person, if there’s a jury trial involved, it is also heard by the community and the people that vote you and I into office. I think the parents of this state have a right and their children is more important than hearsay. And I would respectfully urge an ‘aye’ vote in regards to House Bill 1507. Thank you.”

“The procedure for these Bills on the Order of Consideration Postponed is that one person shall speak for the Bill, then one person will speak in opposition to the Bill and we shall go to Roll Call. Representative Hamos.”

“Thank you, Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. I reluctantly rise in strong opposition to this Bill. I think that if we were only thinking about parents and parents’ rights, as the Sponsor has indicated, we might support this Bill. And if we’re only thinking about legal rights, as we heard the last time around very eloquent speakers who spoke about legal rights, we might vote for this Bill. But actually, this Bill is about children’s issues and children’s rights and I would like to focus just on two issues that were raised for us, not by any judge, but by the presiding judge of the Cook County Child 09300043.doc 11  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 43rd Legislative Day 4/8/2003 Protection Unit. There are only two issues at stake here, one has to do with confidentiality. These are the most gut wrenching issues that are raised when we talk about the parental termination of rights or when we talk about even the original decision about child delinquent… child abuse. These are gut wrenching, personal, confidential issues that are coming out and that’s why these typically… these cases are not open to the public. By exposing them to the juries, we really make it very difficult for families and children to testify sometimes against their own parents in these cases. Confidentiality in these cases is a serious issue. The second issue is about the child’s need for permanency. As the… we heard from Pedi… the Pediatric Society, we heard from the State Bar Association, we heard from judges that in… at least in Cook County with 2,000 cases, cases in which many people will seek juries, these cases would swamp the system and make it very difficult to achieve permanency for children in an expeditious fashion. Since the last time we debated this, we have… I have done some research in Oklahoma, that’s one of the states that does have a jury trial. However, what they are doing right now is looking to repeal the right to jury in Oklahoma and the reason is that it… they say that these adjudications overwhelm court dockets and result in delays, delays, delays. They slow down the process for either of the unification, when children should go back to their parents, or for adoptions. For those two reasons, I think this is a very serious, important Bill, I think this is a Bill that 09300043.doc 12  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 43rd Legislative Day 4/8/2003 has asked us to look deep in our hearts and to… and to check our values. I commend the Sponsor for bringing it to us, but I reluctantly rise in opposition and I hope at this time we will not proceed quickly to do something that really will have major, serious implications for the children, the abused children of our state. Thank you.”

“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 54 ‘ayes’, and 49 ‘noes’. And the Bill fails. Relative to House Bill 2356 the Sponsor has indicated that he does not wish to call the Bill. House Bill 2818, Mr. Phelps. Gentleman indicates he does not wish to call the Bill. House Bill 3048, Mr. Flider. Mr. Flider.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 3048 establishes responsible bidder requirements for all bidders and their subcontractors on state construction projects covered under the Procurement Codes competitive bidding procedures. So, in order to considered a responsible bidder, a bidder must demonstrate to the appropriate construction agency that it complies with all applicable laws concerning the bidder’s entitlement to conduct business in Illinois and that also includes the Prevailing Wage Act, the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. In addition, the contractor must also possess a valid federal employer number and must also possess valid 09300043.doc 13  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 43rd Legislative Day 4/8/2003 certificates of insurance showing coverage of general liability, product liability, workers compensation, completed operations, hazardous occupation, and automobile operation. They must also participate in apprenticeship and training programs administered by the Bureau of Apprenticeship Training associated with the U.S. Department of Labor. The underlying purpose of this legislation is to insure that construction work for the state is performed by reputable companies that pay wages as required by law, that participate in apprenticeship training, and who do not illegally discriminate and demonstrate financial responsibility. And the contractors must certify this before the fact and that is the ultimate purpose of the Bill. The supporters of this legislation believe it’s good for the state and that all bidders will be on the same playing field and it also insures the safety of our workers. This is a Bill that has been sponsored by Representative Lyons in the past and during the past Session it has passed by more than 80 votes. I know of no business opposition or any other opposition. I would encourage your support. Thank you.”

“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? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 99 people voting ‘yes’, 10 people voting ‘no’. This Bill, having received a 09300043.doc 14  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 43rd Legislative Day 4/8/2003 Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Chair recognizes Representative Wyvetter Younge for the purpose of an announcement. Representative Wyvetter Younge. Representative Monique Davis, did you wish to call House Bill 198? Representative Davis on House Bill 198.” Davis, M.: “House Bill 198 is requiring construction companies to have 10 percent of their employees or trainees of minorities. Most of us know that when correction facilities are built the people that are in those facilities are African American, mostly and some Latinos. And I would urge an ‘aye’ vote.”

“The Lady moves for the passage of the Bill. The Chair recognizes Mr. Parke.”

“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 09300043.doc 15  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 43rd Legislative Day 4/8/2003 wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Coulson. The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 61 ‘yes’, 42 ‘no’. The Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Younge, for the purpose of an announcement.”

“Thank… thank you, Mr. Speaker. A matter of personal privilege. Visiting with us today is the Neely Elementary School, the fourth and fifth grade and their teachers are Mrs. Fitzgerald and Jacobs. Let us warmly welcome the students from Neely School.”

“Mr. Clerk, on the Order of Resolutions, read House Joint Resolution 31.”

“Representative Currie moves for the adoption of the Resolution. Those in favor say ‘yes’; those opposed say ‘no’. The ‘ayes’ have it. The Resolution is adopted. Ladies and Gentlemen, if I could have your attention just for a minute for the purpose of an announcement. Some of you may know that the statement that we all received from 09300043.doc 16  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 43rd Legislative Day 4/8/2003 the comptroller relative to our per diem and travel allowance for tax year 2002 were in error. The Comptroller’s Office is reproducing that notice and has represented to my office that they will hand deliver the corrected notice either tomorrow or Thursday. So, again, the previous notice that you received from the Comptroller’s Office concerning your per diem and travel allowance for purposes of federal income taxation and Illinois income taxation for tax year 2002 was in error. A corrected copy is being generated and will be hand delivered either tomorrow or Thursday. The Chair plans to adjourn. The Session tomorrow will start at 11:30. Our purpose is to receive a message from the Governor, so we would ask everyone to be prompt at 11:30 so we can begin the Session and be prepared to receive the Governor at 12 noon. Representative Currie moves that the House stand adjourned until Wednesday, April 9 at 11:30 a.m., providing perfunctory time for the Clerk. Those in favor say ‘yes’; those opposed say ‘no’. The ‘ayes’ have it. The House does stand adjourned until Wednesday, April 9 at 11:30 a.m., providing perfunctory time for the Clerk.”