Illinois House Floor Debate — November 21, 2003

“The House shall come to order. The Members shall be in their chairs. We ask the Members to turn off their laptop computers, their cell phones and their pagers. We ask our guests in the gallery to rise and join us for the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance. We shall be led in prayer today by Lee Crawford, the Assistant Pastor of the Victory Temple Church in Springfield.”

“We shall be led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Representative Washington.” Washington – et al: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

“Roll Call for Attendance. Representative Currie.” 09300077.doc 1  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003

“Thank you, Speaker. Please let the record show that Representatives Collins and Franks are excused today.”

“Mr. Bost.”

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

“Mr. Parke. Mr. Parke.”

“Well, the plan is to finish our work tonight and actually, the less talk the sooner we’ll get finished. You might wanna send that message a little to your right.”

“Thank you, Mr. Parke. Mr. Clerk.”

“Mr. Novak in the Chair.”

Speaker Novak: “Representative Novak’s in the Chair. Mr. Smith, for what reason do you rise, Sir?”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Point of personal privilege.”

“Please state your point.”

“It’s not the point I rose on, but is this your brother on these fans? Is that… younger brother?”

“No, it’s not my brother.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of personal privilege. This Sunday is an important day in the State of Illinois. My seatmate and our good friend Representative Tom Holbrook will turn a year older. And so in honor of that occasion we have a couple of birthday cakes down in front. So, please join me in wishing Tom Holbrook a happy birthday.”

Speaker Novak: “Happy birthday, Tom. On page 6 of the Calendar, under the Order of Resolutions, there is House Resolution 454. Speaker Madigan.”

“Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Resolution 454 is concerned with requests to the Legislature to grant quick-take authority. Over the years, there have been many Bills which have granted quick-take 09300077.doc 4  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 authority generally to local governments, but at times, other agencies of government. Many of us are familiar with instances where these requests before the Legislature became very contentious because the property which was the subject of the condemnation action was a property where the owner was not so anxious to sell the property and the fact that there was a request before the Legislature for quick- take authority was simply designed to give the condemning authority more leverage in negotiations. During the last Session of the General Assembly, the Senate Executive Committee established a set of guidelines and requirements that hadn’t met before that committee would consider any request for quick-take authority. This Resolution would establish the same, almost, the same type of guidelines or requirements as were followed before the Senate Executive Committee. In short, it would simply say that there had to be notice to local officials, action by the local government, notice to Members of the Legislature where the property is located so that there is a full set of notice given that this matter is pending before the Legislature. This was approved unanimously by the appropriate House Committee, and I would move for the adoption of the Resolution.”

“Thank you. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, ‘Shall… on that question, Mr. Black.” 09300077.doc 5  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003

“Sponsor’ll yield.”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“No. Committee Amendment #1 would apply the Resolution to the State of Illinois in terms of request for new quick-take authority. Questions were asked at the committee concerning the authority of the Department of Transportation. IDOT already has quick-take authority and therefore, they will continue to be able to use that quick- take authority. The Resolution is designed to be concerned with situations where there is a request for new authority.”

“Now, again, Mr. Black, if… if the state or an agency of local government already has enumerated quick-take authority, they will not be affected by this. This concerns a situation where someone comes before the Legislature with a Bill…”

“…asking for quick-take authority.”

“Correct. Correct.”

“Nothing…”

“Well, nothing new. Nothing in addition to what they already do.”

Speaker Novak: “Any further discussion? Seeing none, the question is, ‘Shall House Resolution 454 be adopted?’ This will be a Roll Call vote. All those in favor signify by voting ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. McKeon. Mr. Winters. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question there are 106 voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’, 2 voting ‘present’. And having reached the required Constitutional Majority, House Resolution 454 is hereby declared adopted. House Resolution 530, Speaker Madigan.” 09300077.doc 7  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003

“Mr. Speaker, this Resolution is concerned with adequate support for the Amtrak system. And after several whereas clauses, it resolves that we endorse Amtrak’s 2004 funding request for 1.8 billion and a 5-year plan as well as federal legislation that provides states with a dedicated source of funding to develop rail corridors. And we further urge the United States Congress to pass and the President of the United States to sign this legislation. I move for the adoption of the Resolution.”

“Thank you. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, ‘Shall House Resolution 530 be adopted?’ This will be a roll call vote. All those in favor signify by voting ‘aye’; those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 108 voting ‘yes’, 1 voting ‘no’, 0 voting ‘present’. And having reached the required Constitutional Majority, House Resolution 530 is hereby declared adopted. Speaker Madigan.”

“Mr. Speaker, on a point of personal privilege.”

“State your point, Sir.”

“During my remarks last night on the Ethics Bill, I gave great credit to counsel to the Governor, Susan Lichtenstien. I believe I gave credit to Representative Cross. I failed to give proper credit to counsel to the Speaker, Rob Uhe, who’s on the floor right here now and the Chief of Staff, Bill O’Connor for the Minority Leader. Both Mr. Uhe and Mr. Cross were exemplary in the work that 09300077.doc 8  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 they did and performed on that particular piece of legislation. They’re to be complimented and clearly we’re very privileged to have them working for the Illinois House of Representatives. Thank you.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Black, for what reason do you rise, Sir?”

“State your inquiry, Sir.”

“I don’t believe that’s in our rules.”

“I think… I think the Chair would overrule you… would overrule that Motion with reluctance, though.”

“Oh, I’ll be around, Mr. Black.”

“I know that. I remember that well.”

“Thank you, Mr. Black. I appreciate that very much.”

“Speaker Madigan in the Chair. On Page 5 of the Calendar, on the Order of Amendatory Veto Motions, there appears Senate Bill 196. Representative Pankau. Representative Pankau.”

Speaker Madigan: “The Lady moves to accept the Governor’s Amendments. There being no discussion, the question is, ‘Shall the House accept the Governor’s Amendment?’ Those in favor signify by voting ‘yes’; those opposed by voting ‘no’. Have all voted who wish? This will require 71 votes. Have all voted who wish? Record Mr. Novak. The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 67 ‘ayes’ and 42 ‘noes’. The Motion fails. Is Representative O’Brien in the chamber? Representative Pankau.”

“There’s an immediate effective date on the Bill, therefore it would require 71 votes.”

“Yeah.”

“I… I… I did announce it, but isn’t it… Is there a problem?”

“Sure.”

“So, I… I believe that I announced that the Motion failed, but with leave of the Body, we will rescind that declaration and put the matter on the Order of Postponed Consideration.”

“Okay. Now, is Representative O’Brien in the chamber? On Senate Bill 272, Representative O’Brien.”

“The Lady moves that the House override the Governor’s Amendatory Veto. Those in favor signify by voting ‘yes’; those opposed by voting ‘no’. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Has Mr. Mitchell voted? Mr. Jerry Mitchell, has he voted? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 109 people voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’. This Motion having received the required Three-fifths Majority, the Motion to Override prevails. And the Bill is declared passed, notwithstanding the Governor’s recommendations for change. Mr. Molaro, Senate Bill 640.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a Motion to accept the Amendatory Veto of the Governor. And I do hereby move that this Body accept the Amendatory Veto of the Governor.”

“The Gentleman moves to accept the Governor’s Amendatory Veto. Those in favor signify by voting ‘yes’; those opposed by voting ‘no’. This will require 71 votes. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Three people have not voted. The Clerk shall take the record.”

“Mr. Speaker.”

“On this question, there are 68 ‘yes’, 39 ‘no’. The Chair recognizes Mr. Molaro.”

“Can we put this Motion on Postponed Consideration?”

“Bill should be put on the Order of Postponed Consideration. Mr. Clerk, for an announcement.” 09300077.doc 12  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003

“On the Order of the Supplemental Calendar #1, there appears House Bill 648. Mr. Reitz.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 648, it just provides clarification to implement the Humane Euthanasia Animal Shelter Act. It’s a initiative of the Department of Professional Regulations to allow them to enact this legislation that was passed two years ago. I’d be happy to answer any questions.”

“The Gentleman moves that the House concur in Senate Amendment #1 to House Bill 648. Those in favor signify by voting ‘yes’; those opposed by voting ‘no’. The Chair recognizes Mr. Black. Hold the Roll Call, Mr. Clerk.”

Speaker Madigan: “Mr… Clerk, dump the Roll Call. Sponsor yields.”

“The… the proponents were DPR, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals. No position, Department of State Police. No one else weighed in on this.”

“And actually, Mr. Black, my understanding from the department is this was in discussion and it should be agreed on so that they could implement this… this Act. I’ve been advised from our staff that the veterans are in support of this. The veterinarians.”

“The veterans also that have dogs.”

“That… that part’s already current law. They’re not changing that. They’re just clarifying that for this Act.”

“It… it requires… it requires fingerprinting. The Amendment clarifies the process that the State Police… with the State Police and the FBI, it mirrors the requirements found in other licensing Acts on fingerprinting. It gives euthanasia technicians access to the drugs they need. It clarifies the grandfathering provision and it… that’s about it. And the other thing it clarifies… but clarifies they can be administered by a certified euthanasia technician and the other portion is that it says that shelters can… can transport across state lines as long as they comply with the same regulations that this Bill has.”

“Yeah. Nothing in… nothing in this legislation does it. It just clarifies it to have euthanasia… euthanasia technicians access the drugs and the tools that they need to their… that shouldn’t influence that whatsoever.”

“Right.”

“As long as they use the same methods for euthanasia that are used in Illinois, then that’s allowable.”

“Not at all.”

“Right. It… it actually… this Bill actually doesn’t even do that. That’s already current law.”

“It just… really just clarifies that euthanasia drugs can be administered by the technicians.”

“Back on the question, ‘Shall the House concur in Senate Amendment #1 to House Bill 648?’ Those in favor signify by voting ‘yes’; those opposed by voting ‘no’. This will require 71 votes. Have all voted who wish? Has Representative Berrios voted? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 101 people voting ‘yes’, 8 people voting ‘no’. The House does concur in Senate Amendment #1 to House Bill 648. And this Bill, having received an extraordinary Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Currie, House Bill 701.”

“Thank you, Speaker and Members of the House. I move the House concur with Senate Amendment 3 to House Bill 701. This is the… this is the hospital assessment program and there are four major components establishing a fund that will allow local units of government that provide services to Medicaid eligible people to access federal dollars and organizes a special fund. That means extra money that 09300077.doc 17  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 comes to the state from the… a bed tax would be available for health-related purposes. It would in… it would restore 3 percent of the 5.9 percent cut made to nursing homes in our current fiscal budget and as I say, establish the assessment program which would improve substantially the reimbursement level the state provides for hospitals that serve clients in our Medicaid program. The whole program is contingent upon federal acceptance. If the Federal Government says we can’t do this, the whole program will go away. I’d be happy to answer your questions and would appreciate your support for the Concurrence Motion.”

“Representative Bellock.”

“Sponsor yields.”

“Approximately, that’s right.”

“Technically, no. But, yes, this Bill does provide more dollars for long-term care. Conceptually, that money could well come out of this fund.”

“Absolutely. That would be a determination by the budget process.”

“Yes.”

“Right. It would be 460 million in reimbursements for the hospitals. The 300 million is the net gain…”

“…over the actual bed tax.”

“Representative Mulligan.”

“Sponsor yield.”

“That is correct.”

“That is right.”

“That’s right.”

“All right. The… the matter is on Standard Debate. The matter is on Standard Debate and we’ve had one proponent, two in response, two people seeking recognition. Mr. Mathias.”

“So, you’ll be in response.”

“Sponsor yields.”

“They… they’re hopeful that this will offset the need for a cost shift. I think that is why we did not have opposition to the Bill from the business or the insurance communities.”

“Again, Ladies and Gentlemen, the matter is on Standard Debate. The last person speaking will be Representative Feigenholtz. This is the last speaker.”

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

“Sponsor yields.”

“Representative Currie, in committee I asked you a question. I know that there’s two serious provisions to this… to this piece of legislation. One, of course, is… is how we’re getting this money, which is essentially a very clever way to garner more federal matching funds which, of 09300077.doc 20  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 course, a lot of our providers need. But… so, the two questions I have is, whe… if the Federal Government gives us this money, do we know if… if it’s gonna run out? I mean, is there a speculation on how many months we’re getting this money for, is it indefinite?”

“If the Federal Government approves, it will go on until such time as the Federal Government decides to end this whole approach to funding Medicaid.”

“And are other states doing this?”

“Seventeen.”

“Seventeen states. And how long have they been doing it?”

“The program’s been available since 1991.”

“So, for…”

“Twelve years.”

“That’s great. I see that… so… so… the… there’s a sunset in here and it is essentially the hospital provider side of it which essentially means that if we… if… if the Federal Government does no longer provides us with this match, that we stop taxing and we stop getting more money in our pot. Is that correct?”

“That’s right.”

“But also, in this Bill is a 3 percent increase from the 5.9 percent freeze on long-term care on nursing homes. Is that correct?”

“Correct.” 09300077.doc 21  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003

“Is there a fru… a sunset provision for the money that we’re giving to the nursing homes if the federal money stops…”

“No, but I think…”

“…also?”

“No, but the intention is that the two should ride together. So, should there be an end to the hospital bed program, then I anticipate that this Assembly would change the numbers with respect to nursing home reimbursement.”

“The next question that I have for you is the $130 million, as Representative Bellock stated earlier, it is unclear to us who will have the ability to spend this money. As you know, many of us have been trying to work on the system and try and get long-term care in Illinois a little bit more diversified and even the long-term care industry has acquiesced to the fact that this whole process needs to be re-ratcheted and right sided. Fifty-five million dollars of this $130 million is earmarked for nursing homes, if we get this federal money. Is that correct? So, the first $55 million will go automatically to nursing homes because we are restoring 3 percent. Right?”

“The 55 million is a gross number. State’s share of the 130 would be 27 or 28 million. If the money is matched, that 130 becomes 260. But the answer to the question, who decides how to spend it, the answer is ‘you’, ‘us’.” 09300077.doc 22  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003

“And none of that money, aside from the nursing home codification or the change that we’re making on their rate, has been committed at all?”

“That’s right.”

“So, that there… the balance of that money is essentially up to the Legislature and the administration?”

“Absolutely.”

“To the Bill. I’m assuming that the reason that these trust funds were set up is because I think there has been a clear… a clearer statement on the part of… especially after the speaker’s summits all summer where many of our constituents has stated that they want a more… many of them wanna age in place and although they realize that at some point in their lives they may need to be in a skilled nursing facility, that prior to that, they would really like to stay at home as long as possible. What are the intentions for the health care tr… Health and Human Services Trust Fund that you know of?”

“As far as I know, there is no earmarking except that they must be health-related and it would behoove us to spend that money on items that can be matched by federal dollars so as to turn the 130 million into 260. But the decision will be made by the General Assembly and the Governor and that decision will begin to be made next spring.”

“It’s not mandated that all of the money spent out of that trust fund has to all be Medicaid, though?”

“No, but it has to be health-related.” 09300077.doc 23  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003

“Okay.”

“No roads, no bridges, no highways.”

“Thank you.”

Speaker Madigan: “As previously announced, Representative Feigenholtz was the last speaker on the Bill. 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 80 people voting ‘yes’, 30 people voting ‘no’. The House does concur in Senate Amendment #3 to House Bill 701. And this Bill, having received an extraordinary Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 960, Representative Currie. Mr. Clerk, take this Bill out of the record. House Bill 2654, Mr. Hannig. 2654, Mr. Hannig.”

“Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. I would move that we concur in the Senate Amendment on House Bill 2654. This is a… a Budget Implementation Act and inadvertently last year when we put together the budget in the spring we… we failed to transfer $1.2 million from the General Revenue Fund to the Violence Prevention Fund. So, obviously, that money can’t be spent until we deposit the money there. It was an oversight. This is not new money. It… it came out of the Senate on an overwhelming vote and I’d move that we adopt the Senate Amendment… that we concur with the Senate Amendment. And I’d ask for your ‘yes’ vote.” 09300077.doc 24  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003

“The Gentleman moves that the House concur in Senate Amendment #1 to House Bill 2654. There being no discussion, the question is, ‘Shall the House concur in the Senate Amendment?’ Those in favor signify by voting ‘yes’; those opposed by voting ‘no’. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Has Representative Flowers voted? Has Representative Scully voted? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 109 people voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’. The House does concur in Senate Amendment #1 to House Bill 2654. And this Bill, having received a super… Supermajority Constitutional Vote, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Hannig, House Bill 2657.”

“Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. I would move that we concur in the Senate Amendment in House Bill 2657. This is a budget implementation Bill that also corrects an error. Last year, as many of you recall, we passed a 4 percent cost-of-living adjustment for our DD facilities. Unfortunately, with the freeze that was put on the nursing homes at that time, we found that a group of ICF DDs were caught in the middle. It was not our intention to freeze them. It was interpreted as that by the administration, but… but clearly they wanted to work with us and have worked with us to clarify it and so this Bill would provide that that 4 percent cost of doing business adjustment can now be available to the ICF DDs. And I’d be happy to answer any questions and ask that we concur in this Senate Amendment.” 09300077.doc 25  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003

“The Gentleman moves that we concur in the Senate Amendment. Those in favor signify by voting ‘yes’; those opposed by voting ‘no’. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Has Mr. Boland voted? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 110 people voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’. The House does concur in Senate Amendment #1 to House Bill 2657. And this Bill, having received a Super Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Hannig, House Bill 2659.”

“Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. I would move that we concur in the Senate Amendment #1 to House Bill 2659. This is a bond authority. We’re asking that we increase the antipollution bond authority by $19 million. This would then be available to the EPA for the purposes of making grants to our local governments for sewer and water projects. The EPA can use the $19 million to leverage $95 million worth of federal funds. If we would fail to enact this bonding authority, we stand to lose out of the federal match at the end of this calendar year. So, this is an important issue not only to EPA, but to our local communities as well and I’d ask that we concur in the Senate Amendment. I’d be happy to answer any questions.”

“Mr. Moffitt.”

“Sponsor yields.”

“This is to increase the bond authorization, the authority.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah.”

“Representative, this started out as a shell Bill which decreased the bond authority by a dollar or two, but…”

“But… but in its final form with the Senate Amendment it will authorize an additional borrowing.”

“The question is, ‘Shall the House concur in the Senate Amendment #1 to House Bill 2659?’ Those in favor signify by voting ‘yes’; those opposed by voting ‘no’. This will require 71 votes. 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’, 0 voting ‘no’. The House does concur in Senate Amendment #1 to House Bill 2659. And this Bill having received a Super Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Hannig on House Bill 2745.”

“Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. I would move that we concur in the Senate Amendment to House Bill 2745. This is a supplemental appropriation that is mostly federal money under the heading of Homeland 09300077.doc 27  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 Security. The Department of Transportation would receive $12.2 million for federal, civil preparedness. There’d be 86 million from the Transportation A Fund which would go to the Road Fund as well as 13.3 from transportation bond A’s to the State Construction Fund. CDB would have $3.1 million for the state match for the emergency operations center. IEMA would receive significant federal money. State Police 14.2 in federal dollars. There would be a change in revenue language. We would insert the words ‘payable from the Local Government Distributive Fund’ and that’s just to clarify a drafting error that was made in the Bill last year. We have one… we have $13 million from the Department of Public Health for Homeland Security as well as 2.1 for a IEMA match and $5.1 million in federal money for the Ryan White AIDS Initiative. So, those are the highlights of the supplemental. It came out of the Senate with an overwhelming vote. I’d be happy to answer any questions. And I’d ask for your ‘yes’ vote.”

“Mr. Parke.”

“Sponsor yields.”

“The total appropriation is 0 in GRF and $271,392,101 in other funds, mostly federal.” 09300077.doc 28  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003

“No new GRF, that’s correct. No new General Revenue Funds.”

“Representative Mulligan.”

“Sponsor yields.”

“Thank you, Representative.”

“The question is, ‘Shall the House concur in Senate Amendment #2?’ Those in favor signify by voting ‘yes’; those opposed by voting ‘no’. Have all voted who wish? This will require 71 votes. Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 110 people voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’. The House does concur in Senate Amendment #2 to House Bill 09300077.doc 29  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 2745. And this Bill having received a Super Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Currie on House Bill 810. Mr. Hoffman.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. The House… I move that we concur in House Bill 810 which is the agreed unemployment insurance long-term solution. Let me just give you a brief history and why this Bill is important. First of all, the state is currently facing a crisis in its Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. If we do nothing, if we do nothing, what’s going to happen is we’re going to see unprecedented increase in taxes on businesses, we will see benefits decrease for workers and we need to make sure that we do not face federal penalties and have to pay huge federal interest payments. This is an agreement between business and labor. The Agreed Bill process worked. We followed the Agreed Bill process. The Governor’s Office, led by ex- Representative Julie Curry as well as Catherine Shannon and myself as well as Brenda Russell of Unemployment Security, David Vipe from business, Margaret Blackshere from labor and Representatives from all four caucuses got together to come up with this Agreed Bill. This… this Agreed Bill will be for six years. Essentially, what it does is it provides that there will be no benefit freezes to labor. It provides that the state will save nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in federal interest payments. It also provides $1 billion savings in federal penalties that would impact Illinois businesses. It also ensures structural changes 09300077.doc 30  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 that will occur long-term so that we don’t face this kind of unprecedented deficit in the future. We also are addressing the imbalance that we see as a result of revenues being collected from employers not keeping up with the increase in benefits. This provides selvance… solvency and greater predictability to businesses… businesses. Employers are projected to pay an annual tax of $487 per employee in 2009, if we do nothing. By passing this legislation, the average tax per employee will be $362 per employee which is a savings of about a hundred and twenty- five dollars per employee. Labor, in the meantime, for the first time will join 18 other states in providing unemployment insurance benefits to individuals who are victims of domes… domestic violence. We also will allow more unemployed workers to qualify for benefits sooner by counting their most recent earnings in eligibility determinations. There will be no benefit freezes and we will utilize the historical low interest rates to provide for bonding of up to a limit of $1.4 billion which will protect employers from the more than $1 billion in federal penalties. Again, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank your staff for all their hard work. I would like to thank Republican Leader Cross’s staff, Brenda Russell of the Department of Employment Security, David Vipe and all the business leaders as well as the AFL-CIO and Margaret Blackshere. I ask for a favorable Roll Call.”

“Mr. Parke.”

“Sponsor yields.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Well, what would happen is if we do nothing, we would be required to borrow from the Federal Government and what would happen is the state would face nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in federal interest payments and this also would get rid of federal penalties in the financial impact on Illinois businesses which could be federal penalties of up to nearly $1 billion.”

“The question is, ‘Shall the House concur in Senate Amendment #1 to House Bill 810?’ 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 80 people voting ‘yes’, 30 people voting ‘no’. The House does concur in Senate Amendment #1 to House Bill 810. And this Bill having received a Super Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Chair recognizes Mr. Cross for the purpose of an announcement. Mr. Cross for the purpose of an announcement.”

“On page 2 of the Calendar, on the Order of House Bills-Third Reading, there appears House Bill 3828. Mr. Grunloh.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 3828 is the Bill that provides for the total elimination of the newly imposed fees on… that the EPA has for the NPDES discharge fee. I think we’ve talked about it several times, but I’m… I can give a quick explanation or I can open it up for questions. But basically, it completely eliminates it and the Amendment to it asks for a refund of the money that was paid in this year to it.”

“The Gentleman moves for the passage of the Bill. The Chair recognizes Representative Hamos.” 09300077.doc 34  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003

“Representative Grunloh, why are we eliminating… what is the purpose for taking back a fee on what is essentially a pro-environmental fee that would tax or impose some kind of responsibility or duty on the people who dump, I think, who dump toxics into the environment? Why should we now undo what is, ya know, we are one of the only sta… I think we’re the only state in this region that didn’t have this fee before. We passed it in the spring, why should we now undo this?”

“Representative, in most cases this fee does not deal, I don’t think, with people that are dumping hazardous materials into… into our streams. Most of this is dealing with municipalities, small villages that have… that in some cases are discharging things… water that is cleaner than the rivers that it’s being discharged into. There has been a permit out there for this for years. They have just decided recently, ya know, this past year to start charging this fee for it. About… the fee is expected to generate 15 to 20 million dollars a year, only 6.5 of that goes back to the EPA. I think it’s a… an unfair fee back on local government that are… that are struggling the same budget constraints that we are.”

“Wait, so, again, I’m not… since this is on Third Reading and I didn’t hear this in committee, so this does not eliminate the total fee, this is only a portion of it?”

“This eliminates the total discharge fee, yes, it does.” 09300077.doc 35  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003

“But when you said that it was supposed to generate 15 to 20 million, what did you mean by that?”

“This fee is estimated to raise somewhere between 15 to 20 million dollars a year annually. Out of that 15 to 20 million dollars, 6.8… 6.5 of that in round numbers is going back to the EPA, the rest of it is going to the General Fund.”

“Well, okay, I mean, I don’t know what relevance that exactly has. Is this… is this a fee that’s only paid by municipalities?”

“It’s paid by municipalities and some businesses, also.”

“Well, I think that, Ladies and Gentlemen, I think, ya know, we passed a… we passed a fee that at the time was really being billed as an important way to protect our environment and really to help clean it up by taxing exactly those people who discharge products into the environment. I thought that’s what this Bill was and I think that if we were really trying to help municipalities or small municipalities or try to… try to do it… I mean try to help… I mean… I guess you said small municipalities. If we wanted to do that we didn’t have to take a meat cleaver approach to this Bill by repealing all of it. Why didn’t you try to do it in a more narrow fashion so that the businesses that do pollute would continue to pay this fee?”

“Well, I guess if all this money was going back into the EPA it might be a different story, but it was intended to raise… to raise revenue. I don’t know that it was 09300077.doc 36  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 intended to be a environmental issue, I think it was intended as a Bill to raise revenue, which I’m sympathetic to, but I think we’re passing the burden down to local governments, which are struggling the same battles that we are. It’s also str… it’s also passing a burden onto our businesses that we are gonna rely on to get our economy going again and help solve some of our problems.”

“Ya know, I think, Ladies and Gentlemen, I think I would encourage you to vote ‘present’ or ‘no’ on a Bill that was really important not just to raise revenue, but I think also to make a statement to the businesses that do pollute. And I would ask you to think about the constituents back home that really do expect us to do something for the environment. We did do that with this Bill and now we are undoing what we did in the spring. If there was a concern for helping out some of the smaller municipalities this Bill could’ve been drafted very differently and it wasn’t. I would urge us to vote this down right now and ask the Sponsor to go back and redraft this in a way that it intends to have the consequences that… that he’s laying out here. But for us to undo something that was intended to help the environment is just the wrong public policy approach.”

“Thank you, Representative.”

“Ladies and Gentlemen, this matter is on the Order of Standard Debate. One person has spoken for the Motion, one has stood in response. For what… the Chair recognizes Representative Slone.” 09300077.doc 37  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also be speaking in opposition to the Bill. The Environmental Protection Agency has stated that they would lose over $20 million in revenue if the legislation is passed, that’s in state revenue. In addition, we would lose almost $5 million in federal matching funds that we get through the federal EPA for our Clean Water Act permitting and enforcement activities. The EPA would have to lay off a hundred and twenty people, would lose their jobs with benefits, because of the passage of this legislation. I understand that this has fallen hard on some of our smaller communities and I have a lot of sympathy for that. A little bit of history though, the National… the Clean Water Act was originally passed in the 1970s and the federal clean water permits that have been required since then in almost every state in the Union have had a perm… a fee associated with them. In Illinois we have never charged a dime for the work that’s required to make sure that these permits should be… can be safely issued and… and that people who… who pollute our water pay for that privilege. We have never made that be a requirement for over 20 years. I think it is only fair that… that polluters do pay something for the privilege of having these permits. Surely we can do something about this in the Spring Legislative Session that would cause it to fall a little less heavily on our small communities. But the basic premise behind this legislation is solid. It’s an important piece of the revenue generating part of 09300077.doc 38  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 the budget. And it needs to stay in place. And I would urge your ‘no’ votes.”

“All right. Again Ladies and Gentlemen, the matter is on the Order of Standard Debate. One person has spoken in support, two in response. The Chair recognizes Mr. Stephens.”

"The Sponsor yields."

"I was made aware… excuse me, I was made aware of that Bill sometime afterward. I guess… it’s my understanding that Bill was filed a week or so earlier. I filed my Bill, I think, on a Thursday and there was a press council on a… on a Friday where… where the other Bill was… was announced. So, I was not aware of the other Bill that was out there. In the middle of June… in the middle of June, a representative from a local city came into me and… and laid a…”

"Yes.”

"It’s… it’s the proper language, first of all. And another thing… another important distinction between the Bill you’re referring to and my Bill…”

"Okay, I…”

"I will do that.”

"There’s… there’s one… one distinction that you’re missing between your Bill and my Bill. My Bill did include business in my Bill, also. And I guess… you know, I’m happy to see that we’re…”

"I’m happy to see that we have a bipartisan effort to do this.” 09300077.doc 40  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003

"I did not see your Bill.”

"Great minds think alike.”

"I think legislative research uses the same language on a lot of these Bills and a lot of these issues. And I think that we should be more concerned about what we’re trying to undo here than who gets credit for it.”

"I am telling…”

"I am telling you on the record that I had no knowledge… and I never read your Bill before I introduced my Bill. I am telling you that.”

"I started working on this…”

"I started working on this Bill in the middle of June when a… when a representative from the city of my district walked in and laid down an $11,200 bill on my desk and asked me what I was gonna do about it. And at that point I started working with the research with legislative research on how we could reverse this thing and how we could work on it. That’s when I started working on it.”

"Again, Representative, I’m gonna tell you that… that I started working on this Bill in June. I gave the… I gave my thoughts of this to legislative research to draft a Bill.”

"Representative, I think…”

"I think you may…”

"I think you may… I think you may be overstating the similarities in the Bills.”

"Mr. Grunloh, Mr. Stephens. Could we bring Mr. Stephens to a close? Mr. Stephens.”

"I can’t answer for the Governor. I don’t know.”

"I have not talked to the Governor about this Bill, no.”

"I have no idea whether the Governor will sign this Bill.”

"Representative…”

"Ladies and Gent… We’re finished. Ladies and Gentlemen, we’ve had one proponent, three people in response. We’re finished with proponents… excuse me, we’re finished with people in response. We have room for two more proponents. Mr. Sacia.”

"The Sponsor yields."

"There will be one more speaker, Mr. Black. This is the last person to speak on the Bill. Mr. Black.”

"Question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ Those in favor signify by voting ‘yes’; those opposed by voting ‘no’. This will require 71 votes. Has Representative Coulson voted? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 90 people voting ‘yes’, 7 people voting ‘no’. This Bill, having received a Super Majority Constitutional… Superma… a Constitutional Super Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 5 of the Calendar there appears Senate Bill 196. Representative Pankau.”

Speaker Madigan: “The Lady moves to accept the Governor’s Amendatory Veto. Those in favor signify by voting ‘yes’; those opposed by voting ‘no’. Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question there are 81 people voting ‘yes’… could the news media people in the gallery please turn off the cameras and remove yourself from the gallery. Mr. Cross, could you be so kind as to advise the Members of Mr. Black’s condition. Turn on the…”

“Sure. Mr. Cross.”

“Back on the Order of B usiness. On the question, there are 81 people voting ‘yes’, 26 people voting ‘no’. The House… the Motion, having received the required Constitutional Majority, the House accepts the Governor’s specific recommendations for change 09300077.doc 50  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 regarding Senate Bill 196. Senate Bill 640, Mr. Molaro. Mr. Molaro.”

“Thank you. Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I… this… this was called earlier in the evening and it has to do with a quick-take… let me explain this as apparently I didn’t last time and maybe it wasn’t on the computer correctly. 640 was put together early last Session and this was supposed to be the quick-take strictly that was gonna be there for highway improvement. So, if you look through the list and I don’t know if the Republicans or the Democrats, I see it’s on our… our list. I don’t know if any of the Republicans could just give me a high sign of whether your computer has what it’s for, but I don’t… I don’t wanna read it all because… I don’t know, I don’t even feel like talking to be quite honest with ya, but we have to keep going on with this. Lee and Ogle Counties, it’s to… they’re gonna build an overpass. They… four or five of these are overpasses, four or five are to make a highway a little bigger near an intersection. As a matter of fact, none of these are in Cook County, none of them even look like they’re in DuPage, most of ‘em are in Lake and other downstate counties. They’re in full agreement, we went to committee, nobody was there worried about the land because they were gonna take 10 feet here, 20 feet here. If our Resolution that we passed earlier would have been… would have been law or Resolution, this followed out… every part of that Resolution. There was nothing controversial in it. There was… all the Governor did… so, we’re clear on this. 09300077.doc 51  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 There was a piece from Morton Grove and it couldn’t explain it was the only piece in Cook County that didn’t do with the highway improvement so the Governor took it out to make this the clean quick-take Bill. So, this affects many, many counties and all it is to lengthen their road… oh, I’m sorry, to widen their road or widen an intersection for safety reasons, everything listed here in a myriad of counties. So, I would suggest all the State Reps, who are in here, look at it ‘cause it does affect their counties and their villages, and their county highway authority came to us so they can do this safety feature for their highways. There is nothing else in this Bill. The only thing the Governor said was we take Morton Grove out ‘cause it didn’t do the highways. I concur in that, could keep this Bill clean and keep this Bill honest and it does exactly what the quick-take statute was put in to take. Nobody’s property was taken away that didn’t want to. Nobody came to committee and objected to this. This was all fine and well and that’s exactly what it does. And I’ll answer any questions if there are any.”

“The Gentleman moves that the House accept the Governor’s Amendatory Veto. The Chair recognizes Mr. Hassert.”

“The question is, ‘Shall the House accept the Governor’s Amendatory Veto?’ Those in favor signify by voting ‘yes’; those opposed by voting ‘no’. This will require 71 votes. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 77 people voting ‘yes’, 31 people voting ‘no’. This Motion having received the required Constitutional Majority, the House accepts the Governor’s specific recommendations for change regarding Senate Bill 640. Mr. Novak in the Chair.”

“We’re going to the Order of Resolutions and proceed as expeditiously as we can. House Joint Resolution #43, Mr. Osterman.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House (sic-Joint) Resolution 43 simply extends the deadline by which the task force on immigrant and refugees choose… has to comply in filing their report to the General Assembly to May 1st of this year. I’d ask for your support.”

“Is there any discussion? Hearing none, the question is, ‘Shall House Joint Resolution #43 be adopted?’ All those in favor say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. Excuse me. All those in favor vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is open. Have all voted who 09300077.doc 53  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk… Mr. Winters. Mr. Dunn. Take the record. On this question, there are 109 voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’, 0 voting ‘present’. Having reached the required Constitutional Majority, House Joint Resolution 43 is hereby adopted. Representative May on House Resolution 479.”

“Yes, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Resolution 479 proclaims this na… the American Art Therapy Association Week. They were meeting in Chicago. The trained professionals who work with the feet… the healing power of the arts.”

“Is there any discussion? The Gentleman from Cook, Mr. Joyce.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”

“Sponsor’ll yield.”

“Is this like… is this healing power of the art?”

“Yes.”

“Will you explain this to me?”

“They… they use art to… to work with people who have trauma or injuries or psychological problems. They’re trained professionals.”

“Oh, so they get a degree for this?”

“Yes. Yes, that’s absolutely correct. I think…”

“Is it a doctorate or is it a… are they MDs or…”

“No, they’re not. They’re not MDs. I think after this week we could all use a little healing power of the art. I hope you’ll support it.”

“Okay. Thank you.” 09300077.doc 54  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003

Speaker Novak: “Any further discussion? Seeing none, the question is, ‘Shall House Resolution 479 pass?’ All those in favor say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And House Resolution 479 is passed… is adopted. House Resolution 541, Representative Lang.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. There’s a… there’s a Bill in Congress to deal with the situation regarding veterans. Veterans in Illinois are losing $2.7 million a month in benefits due to the fact that veterans who are receiving benefits and also get disability benefits have to set one off against the other. There is a Bill in Congress where well over 300 Members have signed on as Sponsors and we’d like to support them in their efforts. I would ask your support on this Motion.”

“Thank you. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, ‘Shall House Resolution 541 pass?’ All those in favor say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And House Resolution 541 is passed. House Resolution 550, Representative Cross.”

“Mr. Clerk, take this out of the record. The House will stand at ease. Mr. Bost, for what reason do you rise?”

“I share that attitude. House Resolution 550. The House’ll come… the House’ll come back into Session. House Resolution 550, Mr. Cross.”

“Is there any discussion? Mr. Granberg.”

“Would the Gentleman yield?”

“He yields.”

“Mr. Cross, I just think… is this an omen? Does this have something to do with the Cubs and the curse of the Cubs? Is that what this is about?”

“Okay.”

“It all depends on where I am.”

“Mr. Lang.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would just move that all Members be named as cosponsors.”

Speaker Novak: “So, with leave of the Body, leave being granted, the request is granted. The question is, ‘Shall House Resolution 550 pass? All those in favor say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair the ‘ayes’ have it. And having reached the required 09300077.doc 57  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 Constitutional Majority, House Resolution 550 is hereby adopted. House Resolution 560, Representative Daniels.”

“Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, ‘Shall House Resolution 560 pass?’ All those in favor say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And House Resolution 560 is adopted. Senate Joint Resolution 39. Mr. Giles.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Senate Joint Resolution 39 will deny the request of Oaklawn School District 218 that they be allowed to waive the School Code and permit substitute teacher to serve as the primary teacher in classrooms for more than 90 days. This is a… 90 consecutive days. This is a common practice of the state board asking that we do not approve this request, and I urge that the Resolution is adopted.”

“Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, ‘Shall Senate Joint Resolution 39 be adopted?’ All those in favor vote ‘aye’; all 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 108 voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’, 0 09300077.doc 58  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 voting ‘present’. And Senate Joint Resolution 39 is adopted. Senate Joint Resolution 40. Mr. Madigan.”

“The Resolution would create the Illinois Commission on the 50th Anniversary of Brown v. the Board of Education. I move for the adoption of the Resolution.”

“Is there any discussion? Mr. Giles.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Just briefly, if you can bear with me. This is a very important Resolution to be adopted. This Resolution deals with the U.S. Supreme Court case of Brown v. the State… Brown v. the Board of Education. This… this case was eight years before my birth. This is a very important case as a proud African American. Ya know, we celebrate the significant contributions of individuals and organizations and institutions that strive for achieving equal justice under the law and as part of the Resolution reads, it states that the U.S. Supreme Court Rule, May 17, 1954, that public education is subject to the equal protection provisions of the United States and that the courts based on this decision on the premise that the… that… to that separate children according to their race was unfair… to separate children according to their race was unfair and it also diminished their hopes, their… and their futures aspiration. Today, we stand here continuing the fight of quality education all over the country, but moreover in the State of Illinois to have access for quality education. It’s the gateway and the key to opportunities in our nation, our society, of course, in our 09300077.doc 59  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 communities, homes and of course, to benefit our families. Also, we stand here to say that quality education is for every citizen regardless of their race, religion, ethnic background or economic circumstances is a fundamental goal under our form of government. So, as we… so, as a proud, young, African-American man here in this country, you know, I have taste the benefits and the fruits of this particular ruling on Brown v. the Board of Education and so I have benefited from this ruling. And so as a Member of… a Member and a Chair of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus and a Member and a Chair of the Elementary & Secondary Education, I stand to continue to push the work of many of my forefathers on this particular issue and of course, to continue to fight to raise the bar for quality education for all people of… especially African Americans, people of color, people that are poor, people that seek the opportunity for a fair and quality education. So, I am proud to stand here to hope that this Resolution is adopted so that we can celebrate and commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Brown v. the Board of Education and I support the creation of this commission. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.”

Speaker Novak: “Is there any further discussion? Representative Yarbrough.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Resolution. The struggle for equality and its long and storied past in America. While the 14th Amendment ended slavery, it still left many questions about the relations between blacks and 09300077.doc 60  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 whites in America. These questions were significant factors in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. In 1890, the State of Louisiana passed a statue providing ‘that all railway companies carrying passengers in their coaches in the State of Louisiana shall provide equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races, by providing two or more passenger coaches for each passenger train or by dividing the passenger coaches by a partition so as to secure separate accommodations.’ The penalty for sitting in the wrong compartment was either a fine of $25 or 20 days in jail. Homer Plessy, a 30-year-old shoemaker, was jailed for sitting in the ‘white’s’ car on the East Louisiana Railroad Line. Consider that Plessy was a mix of seven-eighths white and one-eighths black. The Louisiana law still considered him black and therefore, required him to sit in the ‘colored’ car. Plessy went to court and he argued that the Separate Car Act violated the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution. The judge in the case was a Massachusetts lawyer named John Howard Ferguson. He had previously declared that the Separate Car Act unconstitutional on trains that traveled through several states. However, in regards to the Plessy trial, he stated that Louisiana could regulate railroad companies that only operated within the State of Louisiana. Thus, Ferguson found Plessy guilty of refusing to leave the ‘white’ car. Plessy appealed this decision to the Supreme Court of Louisiana, but that court too upheld Ferguson's opinion. Plessy took his case to the United States Supreme Court. 09300077.doc 61  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 In 1896, the Supreme Court of the United States, by a vote of 8 to 1, found Homer Plessy guilty once again. Justice Henry Brown, the speaker for the majority, argued that the Separate Car Act does not conflict with the 13th Amendment, which simply and specifically abolished slavery. He went on to argue that a statute which implies merely a legal distinction between the white and colored races must always exist as long as a white man are distinguished from the other races by color and has no tendency to destroy the legal equality of the two races. And, that the object of the 14th Amendment was undoubtedly to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, but in the nature of things it could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color or to enforce social, as distinguished from political, equality. The one lone dissenter, who argued in favor of Plessy’s case and seemed to be the only one with a real understanding of equality, was Justice John Harlan who wrote in his dissenting opinion that our Constitution is color-blind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect to civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. It was this Supreme Court case in Plessy v. Ferguson that the ‘Separate but Equal Doctrine’ was born in America and acknowledged as the law of the land. It was the beginning of the Era of Jim Crow Law and it would be 58 years before this country would right its moral compass on the subject of equality. In 1954, a little black girl named Linda Brown was denied admission into a white public elementary school in Topeka, 09300077.doc 62  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 Kansas. The NAACP took up her case along with several other similar cases in states across the country. These causes were argued together in December of 1952 by a young black lawyer who worked for the NAACP by the name of Thurgood Marshall. It was a case that the entire nation watched and had the nation on its tiptoes as it await the court’s decision. You see, the decision didn't come quickly. For more than two years, the case was argued and reargued. In fact, many Supreme Court historians argue that only a few times prior had the Supreme Court scrutinized one Amendment, the 14th Amendment, so closely in its history. The members of the court were trying to find and establish the true and correct interpretations of the 14th Amendment and the impact of that Amendment on racial segregation in the public schools. They also considered that if they did decide in favor of desegregation and that segregation did in fact violate the laws on the 14th Amendment, what method should be introduced to bring about an end to segregation? The court's decision was finally handed down on the 17th of May in the year of 1954. It’s doubtful if the Supreme Court has ever in all its history made a decision of greater social and ideological significance than this one. This event was the turning point in the desegregation of public schools in this country and a beginning to equality amongst all races in America. In light of this historical event, we celebrate and commemorate one of our nation’s most significant moments in its struggle for equality, 09300077.doc 63  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 particularly in education as we recognize the 50th Anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. the Board of Education. Therefore, I humbly ask that the House of Representatives unanimously concurs with the Senate Joint Resolution 40 which recognizes Monday, May 17, 2004, as the 50th Anniversary of the Brown v. the Board of Education decision and establishes the Illinois Commission on the 50th Anniversary of Brown v. the Board of Education. Ladies and Gentlemen, Brown v. the Board of Education will now and forever serve as a turning point for all of us who share a deep and genuine concern and desire for the pursuit of equality in America. In 1896 Judge Harlan’s words proved to be prophetic in his dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson. And in the spirit of recognition and the promise that it holds, it is with great pride that I ask for the concurrence of Senate Joint Resolution 40 and humbly invite all of my colleagues to join with me in cosponsoring this important Resolution. Thank you.”

Speaker Novak: “Thank you. Any further discussion? Mr. Meyer.”

“The Sponsor will yield.”

“Speaker, Speaker Madigan. Mr. Meyer has asked a question of the Resolution.”

“The answer is ‘yes’.”

“From a planned appropriation.”

“Yes.”

“Well, in the future… earlier in the day and yesterday, there was a proposed Supplemental Appropriation Bill that would have contained an appropriation for this purpose, but after revision that plus other items were deleted from the Bill.”

“Correct. Those are directives to work cooperatively with those two universities.”

“Yeah. There’s… there’s a directive to work cooperatively with those two universities.”

“I… I believe it was a hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”

“Well, that’d be for the remainder of this fiscal year and then depending upon need, there might be an appropriation in the next fiscal year.”

“The Resolution provides for a report no later than June 30, 2005.”

“Well, that’d… that’d be the date that’s in the Resolution that’s established as the… the target and there’s further language that on that date the commission shall be dissolved after the filing of that report.”

“Sure.”

Speaker Novak: “Any further discussion? Seeing none, the question is, ‘Shall Senate Joint Resolution 40 be adopted?’ All those in favor vote ‘aye’; all 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 108 voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’, 0 voting ‘present’. And having reached the required Majority, Senate Joint Resolution 40 is hereby declared adopted. Representative Turner in the Chair.” 09300077.doc 66  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003

“The Gentleman from Cook, for Representative McCarthy, for what reason do you rise?”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was taken by surprise there, but for the purpose of an announcement, please.”

“State your cause.”

“Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, the… for those interested, the special committee on the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority will have its first meeting on Monday morning, December 8, at 10 a.m. Those who are on the committee I think have already been made aware of this. All of the committee Members will receive correspondence Monday or Tuesday morning at their district office reminding of them of this. But anyone else who is interested in this issue, we’re gonna be examining and reviewing some of the policies of the State Toll Highway Authority. We’d welcome your input. On our side of the aisle you can contact my office, on the Republican side of the aisle, please contact Representative Brent Hassert who is the Minority spokesperson on this special committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.”

“Mr. Clerk, the Adjournment Resolution. Agreed Resolutions.”

“Representative Currie moves the adoption of the Agreed Resolutions. All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Resolutions are adopted. Adjournment Resolution, Mr. Clerk.”

“Representative Currie moves for the adoption of the Adjournment Resolution. All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it, and the Adjournment Resolution is adopted. I’d like to remind the Members at 09300077.doc 68  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 this time that you are to leave your laptops on the desks. Please do not take your laptops with you. Each Member should leave his laptop on the desk. Mr. Clerk, House Resolution 571. Read the Resolution.”

Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Clinton, Representative Granberg.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. It’s… when you hear the Resolution… when I first got elected, I came down here and… and I ran into Phil Novak. And they were having a introduction party for him at a place across the street that we remember as Mr. B’s and was known as Sam’s. And Phil and I began talking and all of us worked very hard to get elected and we had to go out there and meet the people and we’re honored to be elected. And I congratulated Phil on being elected and he said, well, I appointed myself. And I thought, well, that’s kind of interesting and then I did some checking with the Senator Jerry Joyce and I found out that he has a career of doing this. When he was a county treasurer of 09300077.doc 72  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 Kankakee, there was a vacancy and he was county chairman so he appointed himself to that position. Then through hard work and on the merits and after a rigorous district-wide search for the best candidate available, he appointed himself State Rep. So, Phil has this history of doing everything on the merits and working his way up the old- fashioned away. And then with… and then, through Phil’s career we’ve had a lot of interesting times, some of which our friends will talk about tonight. We had the Session that we went to July 19 in 1993, and a reporter asked Phil because their… the reporters were worried about the per diem all of the Members were receiving for overtime and what a waste of money it was. And Phil said, well, I… I used mine for a couple cheeseburgers and a couple Miller Lites and that’s what I’ve used mine for and so that made the papers. And then a few years later, and the new Members should learn from this about how the media picks up on things, Phil had a Ginseng Bill. So, we’d do the normal repartee and Phil calls me the next morning and says, we’re on NPR. I said, great, that’s great. The one time we get on NPR and it’s over one of those issues. So, we have a history of doing these things. And when Phil was here, I got… really got to know him well and we were torn because we want to see him stay, he and his beautiful wife stay, but we want to see him advance to another level. And people don’t know a lot of things about Phil because years ago he borrowed a motor home and he borrowed it from a friend and it was an old motor home and… and the table 09300077.doc 73  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 broke and almost… he almost damaged some family jewelry. And then so what he’s wanted to do… what he’s wanted to do is when he retires is to buy a new motor home, travel around and watch one of his favorite movies Gigi. And none of us… a lot of people just don’t know him, they don’t appreciate this. So, we thought we’d just let people know for a couple reasons. But in… in all seriousness, ‘cause there are other people who wanna comment, this is a small club and we become so close because we experience a unique scenario. We go through things people don’t go through, normal people. The experience of campaigning, sometimes, hopefully bipartisanship, sometimes not, campaigns and everything else. So, you truly are blessed to meet Legislators here, but sometimes you become very, very close to some Legislators. Phil Novak has become one of my best friends and it’s… it’s really difficult to see him leave because we’ve been through so much together, but he needs to move on. And we’re proud that he’s done what he’s done. With his leadership in this Body and his bipartisanship and the respect he’s generated and the work he’s done, not only for his district, but the people of Illinois, all the people. It is truly with a great deal of pride that we say goodbye to him tonight. We won’t say goodbye to him forever ‘cause he’ll still be at the Sangamo Club, he’s moving to Springfield. But it really is sad and I just wanna say although Mr. Cross was not in charge of the campaign, there was some pink mailers I received during my last election. So, I don’t want to give any credence to 09300077.doc 74  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 that, but Phil I do love you. I do. Like a brother. Thank you, Representative McKeon. So, Phil, good luck and don’t wear out by tonight for a change.”

“The Gentleman… the Gentleman from Madison, Representative Davis, for what reason do you rise?” Davis, S.: “Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Now… now, listen… now, Mr. Speaker, I apologize for my voice because I… I spent the last four days trying to get as much out of lobbyists as I can over… at some of the establishments in town and before the… before the… before the $75 kicks in…”

“I under… I understand.” Davis, S.: “So… so, I hope I can get through this. But… but I… but… I don’t know if it’s gonna come. But I had the pleasure of meetin’ Phil Novak before he came to the Legislature and I had met him with one of my best friends, Jim McPike at an establishment that’s no longer here called Play It Again Sam’s. And from what I’d garnered before I got here, he was a superstar over there. …gave me vodka, I’ve got beer here, but they gave me vodka. But… so, I met… I met Phil before he married Becky and Phil was a bachelor for 15 years and he had quite the reputation in Springfield as, you know, being a good friend to his friends and he spent some nights out in Springfield and… and bachelors can do that. Right, Phil. So, anyway when I… when I got here my friend Jim McPike bought a house and… and I got to rent it with Phil Novak and Terry Deering, myself and Jim No… and Jim McPike. And unfortunately, 09300077.doc 75  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 Terry’s not here and he was a great and dear friend of both of ours. But I never seen anybody take an hour and a half in the morning to get ready to come to work like Phil Novak does. Phil has a heavy beard and… and he’s afraid of rashes, so the first thing… the first thing he does when he gets up and after he takes his shower, he puts his shaving cream on and walks around in his underwear and his T-shirt for about an hour and a half, soaking his beard. And I’m gonna tell ya, that’s an ugly sight, Ladies and Gentlemen, an ugly sight. And it freaked me out, believe me. But… but we have had a lot of good times together and Phil as you know is a prolific golfer and… and… and it broke his heart, Mr. Speaker, that you took that privilege away from us. His… his only problem is he hits from the wrong side of the ball, but… and I think he’d have a lower score if he bowled. But… if he took up bowling. But we’ve had a lot of good times together. We’ve golfed together. We’ve had dinners together. We’ve laughed together. And… I don’t… many of you may not know this but Phil he had a true… and his real name’s John by the way, it’s John Philip Novak. But John had a… as a little boy wanted to be a veterinarian. So, he’s always loved goin’ to the zoo and I had the opportunity to go to the zoo with him one time. And I found out that day that one of his favorite animals was the camel. And don’t ask me why, don’t ask me why, but he knows why and I’ll let him explain that if he would like. But to get… to get… but to get serious for a minute. Phil has had a great career here. He’s been good counsel 09300077.doc 76  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 to many of us. He served with dignity, honesty. He was a great chairman of the committees that he chaired. He’s been a great friend to me and I know he’s been a great friend to many people on this floor. I wish you nothing, Phil, but good luck in the future in your new endeavor. And I just wish that the sooner I can get a good gig like that the better.”

“The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Lyons, for what reason do you rise?” Lyons, J.: “Thank you, Speaker. I also rise to pay tribute to one of my dear friends down here. I’ve only been down here seven years, but as most of us, the experience that we have down here, know, occasionally somebody just instantly the camaraderie is right there for us and that was my experience with Phil Novak. We’ve had quite a few memorable… memorable nights like a lot of us have, a couple down in St. Louis, at Bears’ games and Cardinals’ games and Phil and I had the special privilege to travel to China together. We were a delegation of two Legislators along with a group of business people that went to China in the summer of 1999 and the two of us actually climbed that Great Wall and have T-shirts and pictures to prove it, an experience that was really tremendous. Visited three cities there in about seven days time, it was a lot of fun. I also, I think, I was the next… there’s a famous blue room that does exist down here at… at the McPike residence which is only a block or two away from the Capitol and I think I was the first occupant of that for a couple months after 09300077.doc 77  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 Phil left. Phil and Becky got married and I was the first one to fill the blue room for a couple of months anyways. This… the blue room is a part of a place referred to fondly down here as the ‘frat house’ and it has that reputation for a lot of reasons that we won’t get into, but one of ‘em is… I said, you know, I’m kind of an early riser. What I didn’t realize when I moved into the ‘frat house’ when Phil left that they were early risers too. When the bars would close, the parties would come over to the ‘frat house’ and I’d be gettin’ the cat calls to come on down and join the revelry, which of course I did. I just wanna say to you Phil, in a very serious note, I know how important this is to you to get a position like this. I guess there comes to a point after this many years that, you know, you look forward to what’s next in your life and you certainly earned that… earned the opportunity to work in another level of government and you’ve been a great friend and I know you aren’t going anywhere, but I wanna put on the record, all the best to ya. Thanks, Philip.”

Speaker Turner: “The Lady from Iroquois, Representative O’Brien, for what reason do you rise?”

“The Chair would like to recognize the presence of former Representative and the director of the Department of Agriculture, Chuck Hartke in the back. The Gentleman from Randolph, Representative Reitz, for what reason do you rise?”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve had the privilege at least to sit back here with Phil this year and since I’ve been here and had the opportunity to share an office with him or his officemates and he’s… Mary K.’s right. He’s a great worker. He’s done a great job as chairman of the E & E Committee when he had that and… and worked very hard for 09300077.doc 79  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 a few years trying to put the Deregulation Bill together and I wish he’d finish it one of these years, but he… maybe he’ll stick around and help us on that. But he… he’s a… he’s just a great person and he has a lovely wife and as I think we saw the other night that, at the dinner, how much they love each other. It’s a… I tell ya he’s a great person. The only thing I do have to add, when Steve was here, he said, ya know, Phil took an hour and a half to get ready. That meant he had his shaving cream on when Steve was getting in and then whenever… and then an hour and a half later Phil would go to work. But just a good friend, good person. We wish you all luck and the… the Governor did a great job making this selection. Phil’s gonna make us proud in his new endeavors and we’ll miss ya.”

Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Meyer, for what reason do you rise?”

Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Will, Representative Hassert, for what reason do you rise?”

“Ouuuuuuuu.”

Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Cook, Representative McCarthy, for what reason do you rise?”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d just like to say a few words about my wonderful friend, Phil Novak. I wanna thank him for the friendship and the leadership he’s shown to me in the seven years I’ve been here. He’s… many nights when you leave this place and you can’t understand what the heck went on, it’s good to have a good friend you can go and sit and talk to for a while at a library or someplace like that. And… and Phil always would give me a succinct explanation of what went on that day and make me understand the process a little bit better. But there’s been a couple of tributes to Phil’s fastidiousness and I wanna assure you that as his most recent roommate on his two fact-finding trips to southern Illinois this summer and fall, I wanna say that that’s still true. It does take him more than an hour and a half to get ready, but I wanna assure you that that at least 45 minutes of that is spent sitting down. So, thank you.”

“The Gentleman from Kankakee, Representative Novak, in defense.”

“Where… Well, where do I start? Well, first of all, it’s… I know we’ve had a pretty uneventful day today, right? And we certainly give our best wishes for a speedy recovery for Bill Black and he’s one hell of a guy and I wish he would have been here tonight and… and like he said earlier, we… we’ve crossed paths so many times in our campaigns ‘cause our districts were right next to each 09300077.doc 82  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 other and we bid against each other at county fairs for various items. But we just… we just wish him well. It’s… we’ve had some, ya know, some things happen in the chamber here that part of life, I guess, and we’re all such a… you become a family and when you leave, it’s… it’s kind of bittersweet. I’m very proud of the fact that the Governor has appointed me to this position and I’m proud that the Senate confirmed my nomination. I’m looking forward to this new chapter in my life and I’m gonna be… I’m gonna be here. I’m gonna be around. My wife and I, we intend to move to Springfield and be Springfield residents. We’re just tryin’ to figure what the best ward is to live in. First of all… I might… yeah… I may… maybe I might have an opportunity to move into the Mansion, but… but anyway, so what that means is that where our meetings are in Springfield, so I intend to pay a lot of visits to the Legislature and visit with everybody. I know I can’t get into the caucuses anymore, but I’m sure I’ll get my information from some conduits somewhere. But it’s just been a wonderful opportunity and I just wanna thank all of my constituents back home to help me get where I am today. Without them, you know, you know how important they are to us. They give us the opportunity to represent them and whether they’re a Democrat or a Republican or an Independent, you know that their… their issues matter the most to you and that’s why, I think, Illinois State Government is the best state in the entire country. And I think this, I think the… the General Assembly, the Senate 09300077.doc 83  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 and the House, it’s just a wonderful experience. Twelve million people in this state and there’s a hundred and eighteen of us representing those people. This is a unbelievable honor. So, I’m gonna really, really think about that for a long time. And I wanna thank Speaker Madigan for having the confidence in me and giving me some difficult tasks to work on the last couple years and they were very, very difficult and complex, but I learned a lot and met a lot of people that… that I probably would have never met before and I’ll continue to know those people and share those friendships. And in addition, being a Member of his Leadership team is… God, that’s… that’s the coup to sit up there and look out at the Body and actually run the deliberations of the House. It’s amazing. It is just an awesome experience and Speaker, I… I really appreciate that very much from the bottom of my heart that you had the confidence to put me on your Leadership team. So, with that, I wanna say good-bye, not forever. I’ll be back to see you again, but I do wanna make some comments about some comments that other people made. But I just love this experience down here, but this is another page in my life and I think we all go through it and for the rest of you, that page in your life will come later and then you’ll move on. And this is an experience I’ll never ever forget. And like I said the other night, I… if I wasn’t a Legislator, I would have never met my wife and she’s real important to me, so, I’m really looking forward to moving down here and living down here. Now, Representative Granberg, first of 09300077.doc 84  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 all for the record, Mr. Speaker, I think an Amendment needs to be filed to that Resolution. I never did appoint myself as county treasurer, I was elected and it was an open seat and I was reelected. On the other hand, I did appoint myself here and you know what, the Republicans never let my constituents forget about it either during the campaigns. But, you know, once I got over that hump, continued to work on the programs and represent the people, we were, you know, pretty successful for the Kankakee area. Yeah, Kurt, I know you were one of my first friends when we met and everybody brings up this Play It Again Sam’s thing. I know there’s a lot of people here never even heard of that. A lot of people still here that have heard about it and it was just a fun place to be and lot of… a lot of camaraderie. Probably more got done over there sometimes than it got done over here. But it… it was really an enjoyable experience and I really appreciate your comments, Kurt. I do love you, too, like a brother. Fester, I mean Representative Davis, yes, I did live in the ‘frat house’ for a short period, before I started going out with Becky, and we did have some good times with Representative Deering, that we all loved. And yeah, I do take a lot of time to get ready in the morning and I know and you know, didn’t we always go toe to toe at the ‘frat house’. We… we went toe to toe on a lot of issues, didn’t we, at the frat house? Okay. I just wanted you to agree with that. And one other thing, you complained about my shaving cream, you said that was an ugly sight. Ladies and Gentlemen, did you 09300077.doc 85  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 ever see underwear turned inside out? Steve Davis is a master at it. Now, to… and Dan, my seatmate for many years, my seatmate for many years, I really appreciate all those good comments about me. You’ve got a wonderful family and believe me, you’re going places in this Body down here and you’re a very, very and sharp and intelligent Legislator. And Kevin, my good friend Kevin, I would just like to say, I would just like to say thank you to you and your other two brothers. The ones that we don’t see until 1 and 2 a.m., Devon is at 1 a.m. and I think Evan is at 3 a.m. And they’re fine gentlemen too, and they really got a handle on things. But I… I just don’t know… I don’t know how to end this. I know we all wanna go home. It’s been a tiring Session, but I just wanna thank everyone from the bottom of my heart. I love you all. When you work down here, you… one person get… can’t get anything done themselves. You’ve gotta reach across the aisle and there’s the give and take and you work together to form consensus on issues. Sometimes they don’t work out, a lot of times they do, generally speaking, and that’s what you do and that’s what makes Illinois government work, is working in a bipartisan fashion. And I thought… I always tried to do that to the best of my ability and I wanna thank you very much.”

“Representative Granberg asks leave that all Members be added to the House Resolution 571. With that, we move for the… Representative moves for the adoption of House Resolution 571. All those in favor should say ‘aye’; 09300077.doc 86  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 77th Legislative Day 11/21/2003 all those opposed say ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Resolution is adopted. Allowing perfunctory time for the Clerk, Representative Currie now moves that the House stands adjourned ‘til Wednesday, June 14, 2004, the hour… January 14… January 14, 2004, at 12 noon. All those in favor say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the House stands adjourned.”