Illinois House Floor Debate — March 25, 2004

"The House shall come to order. The Members shall be in their chairs. We ask the Members and our guests in the gallery to turn off their laptop computers, their cell phones and their pagers. And we ask our guests in the gallery to rise 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 Hassert.” Hassert – 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.” 09300109.doc 1  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Thank you, Speaker. Please let the record reflect that Representatives Brosnahan and Giles are excused today.”

"Mr. Bost.”

"The Clerk shall take the record. There being 115 Members responding to the Attendance Roll Call, there is a quorum present. Mr. Clerk.”

"Agreed Resolutions.”

Speaker Madigan: "Clerk has read the Agreed Resolutions. Representative Currie moves for the adoption of the Agreed Resolutions. Those in favor say ‘aye’; those opposed say ‘no’. The ‘ayes’ have it. The Agreed Resolutions are adopted. Mr. Clerk, anything further? Mr. Clerk, on page 19 of the Calendar appears House Bill 4847. Representative May, Representative Karen May. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.” 09300109.doc 3  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

"Representative May.”

“Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. This Bill amends the prompt payment section of the Illinois Insurance Code. It requires that the chosen health care professional leav… when they leave a network, the insurance company must notify the patient that the physician has left the network and provide notice of transitional services that are currently mandated under Illinois Law. This is a good consumer Bill that protects their rights and it passed unanimously out of committee.”

"The Lady 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’. Has anyone seen Mr. Parke? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 114 people voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 18 of the Calendar there appears House Bill 4458, Mr. Sacia. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

"Mr. Sacia.”

"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? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 114 people voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 19 of the Calendar there appears House Bill 5017, Mr. McCarthy. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

"Mr. McCarthy.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 5017 is an initiative of the Illinois Association of Fire Protection Districts and the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association. It, basically, allows our fire districts to require that a new hire and we did add an Amendment to make sure that the firefighters would say that it was a new hire, they would be allowed to… require them to be an EMT before they could be license… or licensed as an EMT before they could be hired as a firefighter for that district. It’s an important 09300109.doc 6  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 initiative for the fire protection districts and I’d ask for your favorable support.”

"The Gentleman moves for the passage of the Bill. The Chair recognizes Mr. Schmitz.”

"Sponsor yields.”

“The language says that ‘all firefighters hired by any fire department’. So, that would be at the time of hire.”

“Correct.”

“Thank you very much.”

"Mr. Bost.”

"Sponsor yields.”

“Are they registered as a fire protection district?”

“Okay. I… I’m sure that the Association of Fire Protection Districts would… would welcome that.”

“And it is permissive, too.”

“This allows them to make this a requirement or not depending on what the fire protection district believes.”

"Mr. Black.”

"Well, just… just rest assured, Mr. Black, that none of us have a difficult time hearing you. Okay.”

"Right. Right. And Mr. McCarthy…”

"…would be happy to respond.”

“Yes, it has. We added a Floor Amendment two days ago…”

“That was the new hire that the Associated Firefighters asked for us…”

“…in committee. So…”

“I really can’t answer that. The Office of the State Fire Marshal has never contacted me since this Bill was introduced, you know, a couple of months ago.”

“I do see them as no… they have no position…”

“…they say, but… but they really did not contact me.”

“You are absolutely correct.”

“It won’t because…”

“…in that instance they probably wouldn’t enforce this. So…”

"The question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ Those in favor signify by voting ‘yes’; those opposed by voting ‘no’. Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 114 people voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 17 of the Calendar there appears House Bill 4241, Mr. Saviano. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

"Mr. Clerk, put this Bill on the Order of Second Reading. On page 20 of the Calendar there appears House Bill 5061, Representative Mendoza. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 5061 is an initiative of the Illinois Coalition against sexual assault. The Bill adds the term ‘sexual exploitation of a child and ritualized abuse of a child’ to the definition of sexual assault. Under current law, courts impose a $100 fine upon any person who pleads guilty or is convicted of a sexual assault or of attempt of a sexual assault. Any person incarcerated on a bailable offense who does not supply bail and against whom this fine is levied, upon conviction is given a $5 credit for each day that they are in jail. So basically, we’re paying $5 towards their fine. Obviously, this seems quite unfair and I think that sex offender should have to pay for their entire fine not the taxpayers. So, House Bill 5061 will eliminate this $5 credit and place responsibility where it needs to be, which is with the guilty perpetrator. I would ask for any ‘aye’ vote.”

Speaker Madigan: "Lady 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 114 people voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Holbrook.”

“Thank you, Speaker. To all the Members, if you haven’t been down in the rotunda or in the wings downstairs, it’s museum day and I hope you go down and 09300109.doc 11  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 visit your local museum. But, we’re very honored today, we have the Belleville Labor and Industry Museum Auxiliary here in the gallery joining with us and with their President Pat Wright. Let’s hear a nice welcome from the legislature for her.”

"On page 20 of the Calendar there appears House Bill 6753. Mr. Schmitz. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

"Mr. Schmitz.”

"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? 09300109.doc 12  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 Have all voted who wish? Has Mr. Poe voted? Has Raymond Poe voted? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 114 people voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 18 of the Calendar there appears House Bill 4522, Mr. Miller. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

"Mr. Miller.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 4522 corrects a problem which was identified last year with a change… in which we changed poverty count. Last year this Body passed House Bill 430 and ultimately Senate Bill… Senate Bill 744 which fundamentally changed the way we count poverty from census count to DHS number. However, there was a shortfall in which the poverty grant was prorated in the Senate… House Bill 4522 addresses the problem and fix it. I would ask for a favorable vote.”

"The Gentleman moves for the passage of the Bill. The Chair recognizes Mr. Eddy.”

"Sponsor yields.”

“I don’t believe so. What… what’s happened is… what happened was the fact that in prior years the poverty grant wasn’t pro… prorated to offset the costs in general state aid. And what… what… with Senate Bill 744 passing the amount was prorated. So, a school district was deemed as having a certain amount of money indicated for… due to their poverty count. But however, this corrects the problem in which it will not be able to prorate it from that poverty grant.”

“Not… not that I know of. I know there are certain districts that have approached me already that have lost money based on… on this… on last year’s Bill, which was unfortunate. And so, this aims to correct that problem so that… and I think what you’re getting at is a hold harmless situation which was brought up to me. I think as we go along in the budget negotiations in addition to possible other legislation or a possible amendment in the Senate to add on a hold harmless clause to those school districts that have lost money. So, I would understand what you’re saying and would agree with you.”

“Yeah. I’ve heard… I’ve heard similar arguments, Representative. I think what… like I said, the legislation that passed last year did include a hold harmless, that part wasn’t implemented. And so, once again, I think this at least structurally corrects part of the problem but it does need to… be an additional hold harmless whether it’s through the Governor’s Office or whether it’s through legis… legislation and ultimately in the final budget.”

“Well, my intent is to move it over to the Senate. I have not spoken with the a… a potential Senate Sponsor yet. However, my intent is not to hurt those school districts. I 09300109.doc 15  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 do understand and the problem that this has created. In addition to other school districts, not just those, the way this is funded aren’t still fully funded even though this change in methodology in the way we count poverty has been done. So, I… you know, I believe in trying to work with them and then ultimately either working with the Governor’s Office or with the Senate Sponsor to see if we can add an Amendment to this or additional legislation in which a hold harmless clause can be introduced.”

"Mr. Mitchell.” Mitchell, J.: “Yeah, let me…”

"Mitchell.” Mitchell, J.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Sponsor yield?”

"Sponsor yields.” Mitchell, J.” “David, I… and I voted for this in committee and that was prior to a meeting I had in Representative Hannig’s office where we met with various school districts across the State of Illinois that brought our attention to the problem. And the problem being that when we changed to the DHS count versus the census count, we changed the formula, we tweaked the formula and the percentage of… of money that we get for the poverty level students was lower. Now, that assumption was that we would be able to fund EFAB at 5695 which is the level that would have raised those districts that were losing money through the poverty grant, they would have made it up on the other side of the formula. We weren’t able to that at 5695. And if I can get the f… we have a list of those school districts according to Senate districts that have lost money. Some of them being the poorest districts in the State of Illinois that actually lost money through this particular change in that part of the formula. No intention from any of us to do that. In fact, every superintendent in the 09300109.doc 17  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 State of Illinois agreed that it was a good idea. But, if we don’t have a hold harmless to go along with this or at least a 90 percent rather than a 66 percent hold harmless, some districts are going to go bankrupt. There’s no question about it. Now, I’m not… I’m not just telling you this, I’ve got it in front of me. We met with the superintendents yesterday and they had a real problem. Representative Hannig and I are working on a possible solution to this, every solution that we have costs money. But again, as my colleague, Representative Eddy, told you, I would be very, very cautious if we’re going to move this legislation without a hold harmless or a partial hold harmless to help out with this problem. I don’t think anybody in this Body wants to cause more harm to districts, that’s not our intent and I know that’s not Representative Miller’s intent. Without the knowledge that we had just a few days ago, I would certainly would still be a ‘yes’ vote. But because we don’t have a guarantee that the Senate will act in good faith to try to modify this Bill, we’ve either got to hold it here and continue to investigate the problem or rely on our colleagues in the Senate. And quite frankly, we haven’t been able to do that very well in the past few years to solve the problem. This is indeed a problem that will affect the entire State of Illinois, not just downstate, not just the suburbs, it’s spread all over. And the proof of that is in the printout, the proof of that was in the meeting we had in Representative Hannig’s office. Small districts in the 09300109.doc 18  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 suburbs were affected tremendously. The poorest school district in the State of Illinois would lose a tremendous amount of money because this whole thing doesn’t work. When you tweak the formula, every time we do that there are circumstances that happen that are unforeseen. And quite frankly, this is one of those things. If you remember a few years ago and it was even before me, we passed a wide load Bill in the State of Illinois that even the Farm Bureau agreed to and lo and behold we found out that farmers weren’t even able to move their combines across the road without paying an additional fee. This could have that same kind of affect and I have tremendous respect for the Sponsor of this legislation. I know his intent, it’s the same as mine when I voted for it out of committee. But, I think we should take this Bill out of the record, discuss it, discuss it with some of the superintendents and not have the faith that our colleagues in the Senate will do the work that we know needs to be done. I’d be happy to help anyway I can if we continue to move it forward. Ladies and Gentlemen, I suggest we vote ‘present’, not… not because we’re opposed to what the Bill should do, but because of what the consequences are going to be. And before you vote, you need to look at the printouts to make sure that your districts aren’t some of those that are going to be affected adversely. Representative Miller, I know… know your intent and I’m certainly not speaking against your legislation, I think I’m speaking against it 09300109.doc 19  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 because of the timing and because what I’ve learned in just the last few days. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.”

"Representative Will Davis.” Davis, W.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. Ladies and Gentlemen, simply what Representative Miller I think is trying to do, he’s just trying to draw some attention to a much larger problem that we have. What he’s proposing to do will simply be able to benefit numbers of children by the… simply the way we count them. And providing a more accurate account of children helps districts to gain more money and get additional resources. And I appreciate what my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have added to this debate. But simply, this is just illustrative of the problem that we have with education funding. And that’s the fact that we have a huge problem that we have to be able to stand up and fix. This is simply one way of trying to help some districts who are in peril, but as was mentioned yesterday and previous days, we have a number of districts that are in peril, they need help. As a Legislature we have to stand up and help those districts, we have to provide for those students. Education should be our first priority here in the Statehouse. This is one measure that will help to give some relief to some districts and you’ll hear of other measures in the future. But again, we have a funding problem in the State of Illinois that we must stand up and fix. That way we don’t have to worry about hold harmless agreements and some versus others, we need to fix the problem as a whole. And 09300109.doc 20  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 I hope that in the very near future my colleagues here in the House as well as across the way in the Senate, we will all stand up together and we will fix the problem in terms of education funding that we have here in the State of Illinois. Thank you.”

"Mr. Mautino.”

“Thank you, Speaker. Sponsor yield? Representative Miller, with this legisla… now, have you had any… any conversations with the Senate regarding the hold harmless? I mean, I… I took a look at the… some of the numbers and those aren’t final printouts there, but there is a tremendous prob… problem that’s been created not only downstate but in other districts with the change to DHS and the federal poverty counts. And it’s… it’s having an impact which is not Democrat, Republican, we have a concern about the hold harmless. Take for example, with the numbers as they came out the… the Bureau Junction School District, Leapertown, this shift here will cost them 20 percent of their operating budget and they will close by July 1st. I mean, without the hold harmless… and this has been followed locally for awhile and we’ve been working on a problem… on the problem, the numbers that I saw just bore that out. So, I think some of the Members may want to take a look at their budget. I respect what you’re trying to do and I just want relay to you that the concerns that we have are because without that hold harmless there are suburban schools, City of Chicago schools, downstate schools which will have, as in my case, I’ve got a 20 percent operating 09300109.doc 21  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 budget impact without that. So, I’m just looking for a commitment and a… before we allow for the money not to be prorated. So, will you work to get the hold harmless funding in? That’ll… that’ll be a tremendous ease of the burden on our districts. Cause as I said, I know I have a school that’ll close come the end of this year and we only have seven teachers there and of that, we’re going to have to get rid of two.”

“Well… thank you, Representative Mautino. First off, I have not seen any of the information that was… that the other side of the aisle has been presented with. It was brought to me yesterday in regards to even the fact that other school districts would be losing money. I think we might be looking at here… and in addition what I was told from the State Board of Education that the numbers are old, number one. Number two is, I represent part of the five poorest communities in Cook County in which one of my school districts, when the…”

“Okay.”

“…first formula came out would have lost money just to get based on the census count. So, I’m extremely sensitive to those districts losing money. I think what we have to remember with this… what happened was, was the fact that… that money from the general state aid is made up from foundational level and also the poverty grant. Long story short is that when there was a short… the money from the poverty grant was essentially moved over to help out with the foundation level. And before with… before… in the Veto 09300109.doc 22  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 Session, the General Assembly would approve additional funds to offset that. This year it did not the way the legislation was introduced and so… which was passed so it resulted in a $7.6 million shortfall. So, what we’re really talking about here dealing with the poverty level as far as I understand it. The legislation… the numbers that has been presented I have not seen nor has it been presented to me. So, to be able to really articulate whether that’s going to affect any particular school district in what way, I think is just kind of confusing as… confusing the issue.”

“Thank you. I… I appreciate… I appreciate the depth of the problem. I know that the answer to a lot of these are funding and dollars. The Governor has set aside $400,000,000 in the… in the upcoming budget for total education expenditures that we can choose where they go as far as increases. If we go with $250 per student that’s $396,000,000. Doesn’t leave a lot left there, so it makes us nervous that we need the additional dollars before we can be comfortable in voting for this. I… I look at my 28 school dis… now these numbers are not firmed up, they’re not solid. I’ve got 28 school districts, 23 lose. So, with that and I respect the Sponsor, if we can get some language in there towards hold harmless, I’d be proud to support your Bill. You’re on the right direction. If we can bring this back with an Amendment to look at that, I’d be happy to vote for it. At this time, I can’t.” 09300109.doc 23  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

"All right. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have had Mr. Miller speak for this Bill. We have had Mr. Eddy and Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Mautino speak in response. So, in terms of further people speaking in response, we have… we’ve had three which is provided under the provisions of Standard Debate. Is there anyone who wishes to speak for this Bill? Mr. Boland, are you rising to speak for the Bill? Mr. Black, are you rising to speak for the Bill?”

"Mr. Black.”

“Correct.”

“Yeah. Representative Black, I agree with you. What we’re seeing here is some misinformation on both sides of the aisle and some confusion. And so, Mr. Speaker, I’d like to take this Bill out of the record for now.”

"Does that mean that I won’t be able to vote ‘yes’ for your Bill? Is that what that means?”

“That means you can vote ‘yes’ later.”

"All right. Mr. Clerk, take this matter out of the record. The Chair recognizes Mr. Millner, John Millner. Is Mr. Millner in the chamber? Mr. Millner.”

"You’ve all heard the Gentleman’s Motion, is there leave? Leave is granted. The Motion is adopted and the Bill is tabled. Is Mr. Delgado in the chamber? Mr. Delgado. Mr. Millner.”

"All right. Mr. Millner. Mr. Millner, what was the first number?”

"Is that the number of the Bill that we just tabled?”

Speaker Madigan: "All right. Now, Mr. Millner, please understand, 5021 has now been tabled. And if that’s 09300109.doc 25  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 contrary to your intent, we’re going to have to take it from the table. Is that… is that what you want to do?”

"We can do it right now, but…”

"…is that what you want to do?”

"All right. All right. Mr. Clerk, what is the status of House Bill 5021?”

"All right. Mr. Millner moves to take House Bill 5021 from the table.”

"Is there leave? Leave is granted. The Motion is adopted and House Bill 5021 is taken from the table and placed on the Calendar. Mr. Millner, for the purpose of a Motion on 5020.”

"Fine. So, Mr. Millner moves to table House Bill 5020. Is there leave? Leave is granted. The Motion is adopted and House Bill 5020 is tabled. Mr. Clerk, what is the status of House Bill 4027? 4027.”

"Mr. Delgado.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. House Bill 4027 many of you are familiar with. House Bill 4027 amends Section 11-401 of the Illinois Vehicle Code 09300109.doc 26  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 pertaining to motor vehicle accidents involving death or personal injuries. At present, any person involved in a car accident that causes personal injury or death must stop and remain at the scene of the accident. This Bill changes such a violation from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class 4 felony. The current statute also accounts for those who fail to stop after being involved in a car accident resulting in a death or personal injury, requiring them to report the accident within one hour. This Bill changes the time requirements from one hour to one half hour after the accident or after being released from the hospital. The Bill changes the violation of the time required… or requirement from a Class 4 felony, which is one to three years, to a Class 3 felony, which it two to five years. In addition, this new… in addition, the current law prohibits the use of such reports for… as a basis for prosecution. House Bill 4027 will delete this provision… this prohibition allowing such reports to be used in court of law to prove a violation of this Section of the vehicle code. Let me help you understand that many of you, if you’ll recall, a wonderful family from Des Plaines named Limberopoulos lost a young man, 14 years old, to a hit and run accident where the person who hit this young man came back 57 minutes prior to one hour and at that point we realized that Illinois has a problem. I was able to work very well with many of you and I give special thanks to Representative Graham and to other legislators in this room, especially to Representative Deborah Graham, for her 09300109.doc 27  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 diligence and research. We talked… we researched California, I believe it was Michigan, as to trying to make the best comprehensive law to protect lives on our streets. At this point, we have to make sure that when a stand-up citizen, accountable citizen, is driving a car we know that they’re supposed to stop and address the accident as soon as possible. They should not be leaving the scene of that accident, not for one second. We know that if your moral turpitude is such, that you would do the right thing. Mr. Speaker, this Bill we have commonly called it ‘Louie’s Law’ and ‘Louie’s Law’ will live in the State of Illinois. I also want to say that this is a very bipartisan effort because I got to thank Representative Paul Froehlich. Paul… Representative Froehlich has been diligent in making sure the information is being disseminated, that everybody knew what was going on. And I for one had to bow out for a short time dealing with my own health problems and thanks to Representative Froehlich, he took the lead and made sure that this Bill continued to be in the eyes of all Illinoisans. Mr. Speaker, I would be open to any questions at this time.”

"The Bill is on the Order of Standard Debate. Mr. Delgado has spoken for the Bill. There are four people seeking recognition. Representative Lindner, do you rise for the Bill or in response?”

"So, you rise in response. Chair recognizes Representative Lindner and Mr. Delgado yields.”

“Um… Yes, thank you for asking that question. Your staff reviewed the transcripts and they did listen to the transcripts and of course, we did agree that any legislation to follow this would be a trailer Bill to do… but, as it pertains to rural, it was clearly stated in the transcripts also with prosecutors who were in the room, one being notably from the Cook County State’s Attorneys Office, and that was the most common comment asked, too. In a rural community if indeed you make an effort to do so because there’s not a phone or… or a police station nearby or anywhere to find out. We know that prosecutors will use discretion and not be a… and this is the kind of law that a reasonable person would assume would make sure that they’re not going to prosecute nor would a judge want to hear a case of that nature. But, yes, if indeed it needs tweaking we want to be able to do that in two forms. Either (a) it’s going to be done in the Senate or (b) it’s going to be 09300109.doc 29  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 an Amendatory Veto which I don’t want and three, I have committed to doing a trailer Bill because I believe we have to continue to shore up this piece of legislation. And Representative Lindner, I want to thank you because you’ve asked some tremendously important questions to me and I want to also add that this legislation must be effective immediately and the legislation at this stage still cont… has on there the effective date is not stated. So, these are technical issues and you have my word and I was very glad to see that staff and Representative… Representative Black confirmed with me this morning that they did go over the transcripts and heard that I was correct in my… in what I stated in committee that day.”

“Yes…”

“…yes, we are, Representative.”

“We’ll do a trailer Bill that will address this specifically and I would ask for your help for the language so that we can make sure that we do this together in the next coming year.”

“Representative Turner in the Chair. The Lady from Cook, Representative Graham, for what reason do you rise?” 09300109.doc 30  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just rise in total support of this Bill. And I’d like to thank Representative Delgado for allowing me the opportunity to work along with him and to… along with him in creating such a beautiful piece of legislation. And I thank the Representative from across the aisle for voicing the concern that if someone who makes an effort to go and seek help that they will not be harmed by this piece of legislation. So, I urge all of my colleagues for an ‘aye’ vote… an ‘aye’ vote is needed. And thank you all for your support. Thank you.” Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Morrow, for what reason do you rise?”

“Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise on a point of clarification. Would… would the Gentleman yield?”

"He indicates he will.”

“Representative Delgado, I have… I have one problem with your Bill. Right now, if you are in an accident and if you feel that your life is in danger, you as being the person that hit someone, if you go directly to the police station and report the accident that’s not considered a hit and run. I’m sure you’re aware… you saw the article in the paper today where a gentleman accidentally hit someone, he stopped came back to the scene of the accident and wa… and… and was beaten by a mob. I had a godbrother two years ago went through the same thing. They had a op… fire hydrant, a three-year-old ran out in front of him, he accidentally hit him, he stopped, had his jaw broken by a golf club. So, I’m concerned about this Bill from… raising it from a 09300109.doc 31  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 misdemeanor to a felony. I know that you’re trying to get at people who do actually hit and run, but I’m concerned about the safety of people who… who stop and are then viciously attacked.”

“Absolutely, Representative Morrow, and I appreciate you bringing that situation up. I read the articles this morning. Once again, the safeguards are in place as to prosecution discretion. At the same time, in the situation that you mentioned, those are very unique circumstances that will protect that person. Let me suggest to you that in the scenarios that you posed, the person has a fear for their life all… that’s going to all come out in court. There’s not a judge that’s going to prosecute that person in the case that they came back. They came back under that half hour. Because it’s… a half hour is what we’re trying to reduce this to and in both scenarios that you posed those two individuals returned before that half hour. So, they’re legal.”

“Representative, would you be amenable to put some language in that says that it’s an affirmative defense if you go to… directly to the police station?”

“That would be looked at as a trailer Bill, Representative, that I’m talking about from our Criminal Law Committee for this. ‘Louie’s Law’, we want to pass today to get it to the Senate. This will be part of a trailer Bill. Because at this point, the two that you mention would have an affirmative defense automatically just based on the fact that they report… they were there 09300109.doc 32  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 before the half hour occurred. So, they’re within the law.”

“Well, my concern…”

“I will… I will agree to that, Representative…”

“My… well, see my con…”

“…because that will be part of the trailer Bill.”

“…my… my concern is the half hour. If you… if you’re hit someone with a car and I unfortunately did that several years ago, I hit someone who had walked in front of my car. I did not leave… leave the scene of the accident, but if you were to hit someone you… you’re under a… Representative, you listening?”

“Yes.”

“You’re in a traumatized state yourself because you’ve hit someone and… and…”

“Right, but Representative…”

“…caused bodily harm.”

“…but, Representative, legally again, as a… as a citizen there’s no excuse for leaving the scene, period. Now, if there was… if there… if… they have to assess the situation. Now under the circumstances of someone getting attacked and we had that once when they hit a porch and they… and some guy with a truck and they wind up killing a man. Those are isolated incidents overall based on what happens on our highways and byways. In this case this is a 14 year old boy that gets hit by a driver, she leaves the scene of the accident and comes back 56 minutes later. See, in your situation there’s so many extenuating 09300109.doc 33  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 circumstances that will legally protect your driver in that case and make sure that they’re going to be okay. That will… within the checks and balances of the court systems, Representative Morrow, that is already protected under the current codes of the Criminal Justice Code. But, I am willing to work with you to make sure that you’re…”

“To the Bill, Mr. Speaker, to the Bill.”

"To the Bill.”

“I’m… I’m… I’m going to have to reluctantly not vote for this Bill. I… I know… I know that this Bill is needed, I wish we had the language that would protect those who… who want to be law-abiding citizens who… and who do stop and do not leave the scene of a crime. But to put yourself in a situation where a crime is going to be committed on top of a crime by being attacked by an irate mob, you don’t… you don’t know that… you don’t know what’s going to happen to you when you stop. You don’t know that… and being a good citizen when you stop and you are concerned for the welfare of the person that you hit and all of the sudden you… you have… you are attacked and you have no… no… no chance to escape and save your own life. I’m very concerned about this Bill. I’m concerned about taking it from an hour to an half hour. So, I have to re… reluctantly arise to oppose House Bill 4027.”

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

"He indicates he will.” 09300109.doc 34  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Representative Meyer, that’s a very good observation and we’ve discussed in this debate. Those are those options we have. I strongly anticipate with our Sponsor in the Senate that we anticipate, we have done as best as we can with the Bill in the House. We will encourage it to be amended in the Senate. We have the family here in the gallery. We will want this to have a smooth transition because the most important parts, the most substantive parts of this legislation is currently in the language of this Bill. And therefore, you’re absolutely right, our Sponsor in the Senate will have that option. If not, we have an amendatory option and if not, I have agreed that a trailer will be there. So, I have covered every aspect of a… of a safety net if you will, for this. And I agree with you and to make the Body even more comfortable I will encourage the Sponsor who I anticipate having the Bill in 09300109.doc 35  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 the Senate will do the same. And I will take that advice and move that forward, Representative.”

“Absolutely.”

“Absolutely.”

“And thank you…”

“…Representative. Actually, I would prefer the Amendments instead of waiting a year later for a trailer when I could… I’m sure I’m going to be working on many other projects back then, too. And we would like to bring closure to the family as soon as possible. And I do take your advice at heart.”

"The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Lang, for what reason do you rise?”

“Thank you. Will the Sponsor yield?”

"Indicates he will.”

“Thank you. Representative, let me say right up front, I’m going to support your Bill, but I see a constitutional issue with it that I would like you to address when the Bill’s in the Senate. This… this has to do with the 09300109.doc 36  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 notice. And so under the current law, when you call to report an accident, that cannot be used in prosecuting you for a violation of the Vehicle Code. But, under your Bill, once you report it you’ve taken off that prohibition and under this Bill a… the report itself can become part of the prosecution against you in an accident. And so, I think there may be an issue here that relates to Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination and I think you’re leading up to a possibility, if the Bill passes this way, of someone having a defense or someone claiming that this Bill violates the constitution. And so, really I would just like your comments as to whether you’re willing to address that issue in the Senate?”

“Yes, Representative Lang, it was brought up in committee and one thing we have found was that… I actually had a felony review look at this from the State’s Attorneys Office. We… we know that the charge will be aft… leaving the scene of the accident, that’s when that will come in. We took this language from a variety of states that already have this on the books and we were able to condense that into a piece of legislation and now Illinois has a… I believe, the most comprehensive. And yes, this matters will be addressed in the Senate, but from our legal eagles on our side of the aisle due diligence was done on this and at this stage any tweaking of this will be done in the Senate. We do not anticipate constitutional problems. We did not have any slips from the ACLU, we did not have any… the only objection was a separate situation that was 09300109.doc 37  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 brought up by the Illinois State Bar Association and in my… in my opinion the natural opposition from the Public Defender’s Office. Other than that, this is the first time it’s coming up and you know that I’m very concerned to make sure that… that we do not have a constitutional problem. This Bill is needed and at the same time there is a family attached to it and people who leave a scene of an accident should not be protected from prosecution.”

“Well, as I say, I’m voting for your Bill…”

“Thank you.”

“…but, I think the research should be done, legal constitutional research…”

“Absolutely.”

“…to determine whether we’re violating people’s constitutional rights just with this clause of your Bill.”

“I will do so, Representative Lang.”

“Thank you.”

“And, thank you for that guidance.”

"The Lady from Cook, Representative Davis, for what reason do you rise?” Davis, M.: “Will the Sponsor yield?”

"He indicates he will.” Davis, M.: “Thank you, Representative, I’m not sure if I’m reading this correctly. Are you changing the reporting time also from one hour to one half hour?”

“Yes. Representative Davis, that’s the whole gen… gist of this Bill. Right now, it was one hour and if you rep… and if you don’t report it’s a felony. In the case of 09300109.doc 38  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 the Limberopoulos, Louie Limberopoulos, who we commonly we call this law…” Davis, M.: “You know, I really don’t want to hear about that case…”

“Okay.” Davis, M.: “…because what happens is we become emotional about something that happened to one person and we…”

“Oh, I can assure you…” Davis, M.: “…wanna affect that whole state.”

“No, I agre…” Davis, M.: “And I don’t want to deal with that mentally.”

“Well, I’m not ask…” Davis, M.: “I… I really… I don’t want to deal with it.”

“Rep… Representative… Representative…” Davis, M.: “Don’t want to deal with it.”

“All right. We’ve got…” Davis, M.: “Don’t want to deal with it. Here’s my question to you, Representative. I was hit by a hit and run driver on 87th and Western. He didn’t stop until I chased him. I caught him and he stopped. The police station that I had to go to from 87th and Western was at 79th… or 78th and Halstead. And it took me 40 minutes to get there because traffic was awful, traffic going west on 79th. It takes longer than a half an hour to get over there from 87th. There’s no pol… the police district that I was in, you couldn’t go to 111th, that’s not their district. You had to go to 78th. So, my point is, in some areas it will take longer than a half an hour to get to the station.” 09300109.doc 39  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“No, we understand, Representative, but we have to clarify something here. It’s very important that you see… I want to help you understand that it… this only applies if they leave the scene of an accident. And in the case of leaving the scene of…” Davis, M.: “This was an accident and we were both leaving.”

“No, but he… but you caught the person. And so it doesn’t apply to this law.” Davis, M.: “It only applies to…”

“The person who creates bodily harm or death, leaves the scene and doesn’t come back.” Davis, M.: “But, I thought it also said personal injury? ‘Cause my…”

“Yeah, personal injury.” Davis, M.: “…my car… my car…”

“Yeah.” Davis, M.: “…was injured.

“No, no, Ma’am, your car is not a person.” Davis, M.: “Oh, personal, I see, okay. All right. And what are we increasing the penalty to?”

“We’re only taking it up to the next step, constitutionally speaking. It goes from a felony… let me be specific…” Davis, M.: “They’re leaving…”

“…from a…” Davis, M.: “…no hold on, they’re leaving a misdemeanor, going to a felony?”

“That is correct. From a misdemeanor to a felony.” 09300109.doc 40  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 Davis, M.: “Which means there will be jail time?”

“There possibly could be jai…” Davis, M.: “How much?”

“Not if you report within a half hour.” Davis, M.: “How much?”

“Not if… if it’s… it’s a misdemeanor if you report it within a half hour. If you don’t, then it’s a felony, two to… two to five years.” Davis, M.: “But you…”

“Now, keep in mind someone is injured, someone… you’re responsible as a citizen to stand there and report your accident. We learned in the basic rules of road… of the road, you have a crash, you stay there, exchange insurance, exchange your licenses and get it done, make sure no one’s injured. And this case, if my loved one is injured and… and… or dies, in the case of this young man, then you know what, if that person who left that scene is egregious behavior. Why did they leave? What were they thinking? Are they a responsible citizen? Shouldn’t they go to jail for two… to a prison for two to five years if they kill my son in a hit and run? I think so. I want to protect my family and I want to have some kind of penalty for that person, other than what happened to this driver, which was given a civil penalty, slapped on the wrist and we have a lost child. Now, this family must go and try to find restitution on a civil basis to sue this family so that they can get some kind of closure in their minds.” Davis, M.: “Can… can I ask you a question?” 09300109.doc 41  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Yes, Ma’am.” Davis, M.: “What was… what did the prosecutor charge that individual with?”

“With a Class A misdemeanor.” Davis, M.: “What did he… I mean he charged him with what leaving…”

“She came back in 56 minutes, so she beat the clock. It was an hour. If she had not come back in 44 more minutes and came back in 61 minutes, she would have had a Class 4 felony anyway.” Davis, M.: “So… so, what you want to say is, we want to just give you a half an hour because if it takes you 59 minutes then you deserve to go to jail…”

“And that…” Davis, M.: “…for that.”

“…and that person can be… and you can save a life. Why did you leave?” Davis, M.: “Thank you.”

“Thank you, Representative.”

"The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black, for what reason do you rise?”

"To the Bill.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Jackson, Representative Bost, for what reason do you rise?”

"He indicates he will.”

“Right. That’s actually a very wonderful observation, Representative Bost. This is the beginning of, I think, of a wonderful piece of legislation hearing the comments of all our colleagues that would be interested in writing it with me since you all received letters on this Bill. Obviously, I would intelligently assume that the de facto Chair of Criminal Law and having some work on that… on that basis is that (a) there’s charges on the DUI side, it still keeps the window in terms of the half hour. The distinction of this Bill is changing the window and adding a penalty so that families will have… feel like there’s some compensation at the end.”

“In future legislation we have to continue to develop this.”

“And we may even be seeing an Act. I think… I would love to work with you because it’s something very dear to me as I want to get DUI’s…” 09300109.doc 45  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“That’s correct.”

“Yeah. And that is true. And that’s why I would encourage you to bring legislation forward with me and I would love to support yours or… and work with me on that…”

“Thank you.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Lake, Representative Washington, for what reason do you rise?”

“I’d like to speak to the Bill. Will the Sponsor yield?”

"He indicates he will.”

“I want to thank the Sponsor for this legislation because I know of two families who were involved in hit and run and that is a pain in the gut that never goes away and is such a… any death is a… is a hard thing to take for anybody. But, I think when it’s involving metal against flesh and people run off for whatever reason, I think that there’s room for improvement. And, I thank you, Representative Delgado, for this Bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.”

“Thank you, Representative for those words.” 09300109.doc 46  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

"Representative Delgado to close.”

“Thank you for this spirited debate. I love it when you can put me to work and help me open up my mind more. My word is my bond and that’s all we have down here. I encourage my Members of my committee, I encourage other Legislators who have interests in creat… creating our byways and highways to be a safer place to be. We have to encourage our citizens to maintain their moral turpitude and character of the highest. We have to say, there’s never a reason to leave a scene of an accident. For heaven’s sakes, people have stopped to pick up a dog on the side once they’ve hit it. So,… to move a squirrel or a deer out of the way. Now we’re talking about a human life. And House Bill 4027, ‘Louie’s Law’, my fellow colleagues, many of you all have received numerous letters and petitions from the Limberopoulos family, Angie and her sister, Annette with their children who joined us in the gallery today. And they’re here, they worked day and night, they proved to be great lobbyists. Regular working moms whom with our help had access to their government. This Bill, if passed and when passed, illustrates that citizens can truly participate and see and feel democracy at work. ‘Louie’s Law’ today with your help, we could affirm what Angie believes, that government does work for the common citizen, the person down the street. When I drove in this morning it appeared that it was gloomy and rainy out today. However, I realized that symbolically the rain with all of the spirited debate are the true happy tears of Louie from 09300109.doc 47  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 above. Because Louie knows that mom took care of his needs. She’s here taking care of business and reached out to everyone of these Members in this chamber. And I want to thank her and her family for having the confidence in this Legislature to make Illinois a stronger state when it come to safety on our highways and byways. Please, use your heart, use your logic and understand that we have a process that we utilize and I understand how to use the legislative process to get important legislation passed. And for that, I would tremendously ask in your kindness for an ‘aye’ vote.”

"The question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4027 pass?’ All those in favor should vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 111 voting ‘yes’, 1 voting ‘no’, 2 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Lady from Cook, Rep… the Lady from Lake, Representative May, for what reason do you rise?”

“Point of personal privilege…”

"State your point.”

“…Mr. Speaker, yes. I would like to welcome to Springfield and the Illinois House, Katie Plonsker, 11 years old from Deerfield, was here to accept award from the Illinois Art Education Association. They’re in the gallery. 09300109.doc 48  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 Will the Plonskers’ stand so we can recognize them? And I’d like to show you, this is Katie’s…”

"Welcome to Springfield, Katie.”

“…this is Katie’s picture right here in the upper left- hand corner. So… on her new poster. Thank you.”

"Thank you. I’d like to remind the Members that the last Bill was on Short Debate. It is the intent of the Chair to adhere to the Rule of Short Debate. We will hear from one opponent and one proponent as we move through this Calendar today. So, those Bills that are on Short Debate, be prepared for a Short Debate. On page 18 of the Calendar we have… on Third Reading, page 18 of the Calendar, Representative Stephens on House Bill 4491. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Fayette, Representative Stephens.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Dunkin, I assume you’re a proponent?”

“I have a question.”

"State your purpose.”

“To the Bill. Representative, the question that I have is… active on a training assignment, is that generally in this country or is that overseas as well? I’m trying to figure out…”

“…what that is.”

“Okay. I’m… I’m just trying to get some clarification and, you know, I think it’s… it’s a great Bill. But, as a… a member of the National Guard active, you know, active training assignment, if they’re here in the State of Illinois, is that the same at least in this context of being on active duty overseas?”

“So, if they’re killed in the… in the State of Illinois…”

“…active training duty, you’re saying they should be eligible.”

“Okay.” 09300109.doc 51  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Okay.”

“Are other states doing this as well?”

“Thank you.”

"Seeing no further questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4491 pass?’ All those in favor should vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 113 voting ‘aye’, 0 voting ‘no’, 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the 09300109.doc 52  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 18 of the Calendar… page… we have House Bill 4522. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk. Take it out of the record. On page 19 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4989. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Adams, Representative Tenhouse.”

"Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4989 pass?’ All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 112 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On the Order of Third Reading, page 21 of the Calendar, we have Senate Bill 1921. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.” 09300109.doc 53  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Molaro.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Bill today, even though it’s… as… as we went around the chamber and it’s kinda hard not to make some remarks that’ll be a little comic about it, but I assure you and I wanna make this clear, that the people for and against this Bill, as you’ll hear in debate, certainly take this very seriously. And it is a very serious issue. For those who’ve said I don’t care or the people against it don’t care, actually, is not true. It’s a very serious Bill and I’ll tell ya a thirty-second or one-minute story or however long it takes and we’ll see if there’s opposition and where it stands and then I’ll close and tell you what the Bill does. Some years ago there was a plant in DeKalb, it was originally designed to slaughter cows. Sometime in the ‘80s it was changed to horses. And two or three years ago, the plant burned down. In the State of Illinois, so we’re clear, it’s illegal to sell horsemeat, it’s illegal to consume horse meat. We made a public policy decision many, many years ago and it’s been the public policy of the state that the horse is in a better or bigger or more revered stature than other animals that were bred for slaughter. Cattle, pigs, sheep are all bred for slaughter, horses weren’t, horses never were. Culturally and through public policy, the law of the State of Illinois is it’s illegal to sell and consume horse meat 09300109.doc 54  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 in Illinois, illegal to sell it. Well, what this plant in DeKalb wants to reopen and what they’re gonna do is they’re gonna slaughter horses. So, you say, how could they because it’s gonna be illegal for them to sell any in the State… in the State of Illinois. Well, they’re not gonna sell it in the State of Illinois, they’re gonna sell it overseas because in France and Belgium they eat horse meat. Well, either the horse is revered culturally and we have it in a special place and we consider it a companion not a food animal or we don’t. If it’s a food animal and we’re gonna breed ‘em to slaughter ‘em, then let’s make it legal to eat ‘em, slaughter ‘em, do whatever we want. A little dishonest to say, well, we’re gonna do it and ship it over there. If you believe that horses aren’t revered, that all these pictures of them serving us in battle and on… when we have infrastructure programs, you don’t believe they should be in revered status, then vote ‘no’ on the Bill. If you do and they belong with dogs and cats and other animals that are not bred for human consumption, there is something dishonest about it, not bred for human consumption, then you would vote ‘yes’ on the Bill. One thing I’ll say and then I’ll turn it over for questions. The one thing that we have to know is in 49 states, including Illinois today, there are no slaughter horses (sic-houses) that kill horses for human consumption, none, except Texas, no state. I checked with the State Police, in the two or three years this plant has been closed not one arrest was made for fly dumping of horses. Not one arrest was made because they 09300109.doc 55  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 didn’t know what to do with their horses. Forty-nine states including Illinois have done very well with rendering their horses and rendering means when they’re destroyed or they died or ya shoot ‘em or ya put ‘em with the needle or ya hit ‘em over the head, you call a rendering plant, they take ‘em away and dispose of the animal. There is no problem. Illinois has done just fine, thank you very much, without this plant. Now, there’s a couple other things that I’ll do, but we’ll wait ‘til closing. And I’ll certainly answer any questions, if there are any, so, thank you.”

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

“State your que…”

“The Gentleman asked leave to have it taken off Short Debate. The requisite number of hands have been raised. Leave is granted. Leave is granted. Proceed.”

“Well, I don’t wanna be facetious. I don’t know what you mean by that. I guess people eat a lot of things. Well, I mean, namely, I don’t… I don’t understand.”

“Well…”

“Peop… people can do whatever they want. That’s correct.”

“Well…”

“Well, I’m not… let’s make this clear in the Bill. I want everybody to read this Bill. I am not telling anybody what they can do with their horse. You can take your horse, even after this Bill… if it were to pass or become law, you can take your horse and you could have it slaughtered for human consumption. What you couldn’t do is have it done in Illinois. Right now, many horses are being sent from Illinois, going to Canada, going to Texas, going overseas. Cultural differences are there. You know, in 09300109.doc 57  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 India they don’t kill cows, but we do. I’m just saying this state has decided, by making it illegal to sell horse meat, this make… state has decided on cultural issues and public policy that it’s illegal to sell horse meat. We put ‘em in a different revered position. If you wanna go ahead, whatever you’ve been doing for the last two years with Cavel being closed, you can continue to do. I am not stopping anything. I’m for status quo. Leave it exactly like it is. Cavel has other plants in other places and there are places where you could go butcher a horse for human consumption. This Bill just says, you can’t do it in Illinois. That’s all it says. It’s not stopping anybody from doing anything.”

“Well… well, I would say this. If I was from DeKalb, I’d certainly be taking the same position you are. I can’t deny the fact that if this plant doesn’t open because of this Bill or some Federal Law, if they were gonna hire 20, 30, 40 employees, obviously, those employees, when you do open up, wouldn’t have a job. I cannot deny that. The only thing I would say as far as… the only thing I would say as far as economic recovery… let me… let me be clear on this subject, also. Right now, there are rendering plants 09300109.doc 58  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 in Illinois. Cavel, by their own press release says, they’re gonna… they’re gonna take up to 25,000 horses to be destroyed. We have about 28 rendering plants in Illinois. Many of them were opened in the last two years by Illinois owners to take the horses that Cavel wasn’t getting since they burned down. If Cavel reopens, yes, they will put 20 people to work, but six or eight of those rendering plants will go out of business. It will be a net job loss for Illinois. Will it be a plus for DeKalb? Yes. Are you up there…”

“…representing DeKalb? Sure. But the State of Illinois…”

“Right. It’ll be a loss for the State of Illinois.”

“Well, let me say this. First of all, Texas passed similar sta… California passed the exact same law and it has not been challenged and slaughter horses (sic-houses) are banned in the State of California. There’s lawsuits in the State of Texas as to whether or not it’s legal. Also, in the…in the Congress for the United States, there is HR857 which has over a hundred and ninety-one cosponsors. Of the 19 Congressmen in Illinois, 14 are cosponsors. Of the Congressmen who cosponsored the Bill, that’s identical to mine, is Judy Biggert, Danny Davis, Rahm Emanuel, Lane Evans…”

“…Jerry Costello.”

“I could go on.”

“And they spon… they’re cosponsoring the same Bill. So, what we think the Bill will eventually leave Congress, they’ll throw it back to the states and say that the states have the right to ban ‘em or not ban ‘em and that’s what this law does.”

“Could wait on… Yes, we could wait on any Bill, I guess.” 09300109.doc 60  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Well, as… as I said before, there is no problem now because you… nobody is slaughtering horses for human consumption in Illinois. What we’re trying to do is stop a problem from occurring. Now, there are some people who will say that, I don’t care about horses and whether we eat them, to me they’re just like cattle, they’re just like pigs. Okay, well, then vote ‘no’ on the Bill. I mean, I can’t argue with ya. If you believe like I do, that culturally, the State of Illinois has already decided that they’re not like cattle, they’re not like pigs. It’s illegal to sell horse meat in the State of Illinois. If you go right out this rotunda, you’ll see men on horseback, you’ll see horses all serving mankind. They are not bred to be killed for human consumption and it’s dishonest that we do that, in my opinion. If you don’t share that opinion, well, then you don’t share it.”

“I see that.”

“Well, I…”

“The Gentleman from Winnebago, Representative Sacia, for what reason do you rise?”

"The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black, for what reason do you rise?”

"To the Bill.”

"The Gentleman from McLean n, Representative Brady, for what reason do you rise?”

"He indicates he will.”

"I… I don’t know if they’ve been recertified. They were. I don’t know if… remember, they’re not up and running now. And this Bill is not plant specific. So I… I wouldn’t know… as far as today… if you asked me today do they have their proper licensing, I wouldn’t know.”

"Well, now that’s… I was gonna wait ‘til I close but since you brought it up. Representative Sacia talked about the human… never… when I talked to any Member in this chamber nor when I talked to any member of the press did I talk about humane or inhumane treatments. I mean, I’ve never been to the plant so…”

“…I mean, I hear stories from both sides. I don’t know what’s true or untrue. But that’s not the part of the Bill. The way the animals are treated, you know, it isn’t part of this Bill, nor never has been part of this Bill. So, when someone comes up and says humane treatment of this animal has anything to do with this Bill, I don’t know what they’re talking about because that has nothing to do with this Bill.”

"Right.”

“I… I’d go not but it’s not… they invited me but it’s not up and working so I wouldn’t know.”

"Yeah, I…”

"I’m told that’s… that’s not done a lot now… now, it used to be, just like we used to eat horse meat 50 years ago. Most of it’s for either medical research or… they do still make glue out of the hooves… hooves, or whatever that 09300109.doc 71  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 word is, goes to show you how much I know about that. And there are some other by-products that come from the horses, that’s correct.”

"Yeah. I mean, unless somebody steals the horse.”

“But no, most horses… most of them are there because either the owner sold them at auction and they don’t know they were going there or… but, yes, they were relinquished freely. That’s correct.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Lee, Representative Mitchell.” Mitchell, B.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I call for previous question.”

"The Gentleman moves the previous question. All those in favor say ‘aye’; those say ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the previous question is put. The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Molaro to close.”

"Well, I’ll do that but I… I gotta look at a ruling of the Chair. I don’t know how many… there was an… there was a… a request for a verification. And the problem is I’m just being told that some COWL Members went to the 09300109.doc 72  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 Governor’s Office. They haven’t left yet. Okay, good. Good. Then we’ll close.”

"They’re still here.”

"Great. Terrific. I do wanna… I do have to, unfortunately… only take a few minutes… want to talk about some of the things that were said real quick. Remember, this has nothing to do with how they were treated. Other Representatives came up and said that I don’t believe in this Bill or… I don’t know how it was put, deep down. Well, deep down I do believe in this Bill. But let me show you how simple the Bill is. In 49 states, including Illinois, today there are no slaughter houses for horses for human consumption. None. We have no problem getting rid of our horses by either injection or by hitting them over the head… however they get rid of them, we have no problem rendering plants. There are no problems, whatsoever, in 49 states. So that even to suggest that if this plant doesn’t open we don’t know what we’re gonna do with our horses, 49 states have been doing just very, very well without this plant opening. This is how simple this Bill is. It’s this simple, in the State of Illinois it’s illegal to slaughter a horse and sell the meat here. We revere horses. Horses, as we speak today, are in Afghanistan. We have Special Forces on the back of horses right now fighting in our wars. Murals out in this hallway speak of horses, on horseback. Every single major infrastructure project prior to 1950, horses helped build. Horses are pets, horses are human farming, horses are show 09300109.doc 73  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 horses, thoroughbreds are… are horses. We use horses… they are revered, just like cows are over in India. Now, all we did was, in Illinois, say we revere them, we hold them higher, and we’re not gonna sell their meat and we’re not gonna consume it in our state. And I think it’s ridiculous and I think it’s almost rude and unconscionable that what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna allow one foreign-owned plant to come in and say, ‘Here’s what we’ll do. We’re gonna chop ‘em up and we’re gonna slaughter ‘em.’ But Sir, you can’t do that, that’s illegal. Oh, no, we’re gonna send the meat over there. I don’t think we should stand for these horses serving us… born and bred to serve us and then at the end of their lives we’re gonna chop ‘em up and serve ‘em as food for the French and the Belgium. I just don’t think that makes any sense. The way we’ve done this state, they’re revered, they’re in a special category. Let’s keep ‘em in a special category. Real quickly, all those groups that were saying against it, I could read a hundred groups that are for it. You all know it. You all got the e-mail, you know how many groups are for this. There’s a… there’s a dishonesty and a disingenuousness to say I’m for keeping it illegal to eat meat… horse meat in this state because we revere horses. But you know what I believe in, let’s quietly chop ‘em up and send them overseas. That’s dishonest, it’s unconscionable, and it’s disingenuous. I don’t know if we… what we would say if someone said let’s open up a plant to butcher dogs so we could send it over to North Korea because they like it. I think that would be 09300109.doc 74  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 dishonest. So, we have to stop this now. Right now, in Illinois, if you’re not a food animal you don’t… you have to pay taxes. So, all the feed and everything that you buy for horses you pay sales tax. If this Bill doesn’t pass, the State of Illinois will lose money. This is to save jobs in Illinois and it’s to save… so, now that I see women are leaving… that’s the only reason I’m stopping. Otherwise, I could go on forever. I will… so, we’ll stop and I’ll urge an ‘aye’ vote. Thank you.”

Speaker Turner: "Would you… would you care to close, Representative? The question is, ‘Shall Senate Bill 1921 pass?’ All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Molaro.”

"I would move to put this Bill on Postponed Consideration.”

"The Gentleman asks leave to have the Bill post… put on Postponed Consideration. Leave is granted. On page 17 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4067. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Boone, Representative Wait.”

"Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4067 pass?’ All those in favor should vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 112 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 1 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Biggins, for what reason do you rise?”

"Do you own a horse?”

"Do you own a horse?”

"I… I think we’re…”

"On page 19 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4788. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

"Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4788 pass?’ All those in favor should vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 114 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On the 09300109.doc 77  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 Order of Third Reading, page 17, we have House Bill 3985. Representative Molaro. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Molaro.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is not a recall of the previous Bill, this is a brand new Bill. Basically, all this Bill is is… it needed codification. When you go to a tax sale what happens is people bid on what they want to pay for these taxes and they bid a current or a… an interest rate that they’re willing to pay and the lowest bid is accepted. In Cook County there was a question, that if two people yell out 12 percent at the same time, the auctioneer didn’t know whether or not they had authority to say, ‘Okay, I’m going to give it to you. Okay, I’m…’. So, simultaneous bids he would say, ‘Well, you know I don’t know what to do, so I’m not accepting either bid.’ This gives the auctioneer the authority to say, ‘I’m going to accept your bid and allow the other person to go lower.’ And the Bill passed out of committee 9-0, so I would ask for a favorable roll call.”

"The esteemed Majority Leader, Representative Currie.”

“Thank you, Speaker. Would the Sponsor yield to a question please?”

"He indicates he will.” 09300109.doc 78  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“My analysis says the Cook County Treasurer is in support of this Bill. It was my understanding that the Cook County Treasurer opposes this Bill. Can you help me out?”

“Well, I… I… well, I don’t want… now I know this isn’t recorded and nobody’s going to hear what I have to say so I’ll say it. I’m assuming they oppose it. However, the Cook County Treasurer from up in their office has never come to see me about this Bill or tell me that they were opposed to it and why. But, I keep hearing through the grapevine that they are. So…”

“Okay. That… just to the Bill. My understanding is the Cook County Treasurer does oppose the Bill. The concern on the part of the treasurer is the possibility of collusion among those who are buying taxes at these sales. And in fact, the company that is the chief proponent of this measure lost a lawsuit trying to make the same point that this Bill would make lost a lawsuit in court and I… it’s my understanding although I don’t have firsthand information, it’s my understanding that the Cook County Treasurer does indeed oppose the Bill on the grounds that it would make for less fairness, less openness in these tax sales. Thank you.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from McHenry, Representative Franks, for what reason do you rise?”

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

"He indicates he will.” 09300109.doc 79  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Representative Molaro, I’m reading the Bill and… I know, it’s always a scary thought. And what it says, it’s been very… the way you’ve changed the Bill doesn’t do much as I’m reading it. It says, ‘Property may be forfeited of the State of Illinois only if offered at public sale and not sold for want of bidders unless the property is released from sale by the withdrawal from collection of a special assessment levied thereon’. The only thing you took out is, ‘Shall be forfeited to the State of Illinois’. Now, I’m not sure that this language is accomplishing what you’re trying to do. It sounds to me that this is a… an interpretation by the treasurer in this… in the way the language is written, it has nothing to do with simultaneous… simultaneous bids or… in the way it’s written I don’t think it’s gonna accomplish the goal you’re trying to accomplish.”

“Is that a question?”

“Yeah, it is a question.”

“Okay. Here’s what I’m going to say to that. I think you make some sense. However…”

“Don’t tel… however… Yeah right, stop. Okay. Move the previous question.”

“What… no… no don’t move ‘em. There… this language does make sense and as I’m looking at it right now… I’m going through my notes. It has something to do with the rule that the treasurer enacted. And this language was brought to LRB and… by the proponents of all the guys who do all the tax sales and obviously they do serve a purpose. 09300109.doc 80  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 And they told me this language does in fact accomplish it. Now…”

“I… I just don’t see how it does. Because there’s no… there’s nothing here talking about the simultaneous bids. I mean, it sound to me like that’s an internal rule that the treasurer department may have. And I presume these are each county treasurer’s who have their own rules. I presume they’re not uniform.”

“So, and I… if you’re truly standing to say that you see a problem, I mean are you against the Bill?”

“No. No. I’m just saying clean…”

“I want…”

“…I’m not saying I’m against it, I’m saying this language might not do what you want it to do.”

“Mr… Mr. Speaker, we want to take the Bill out of the record ‘til I can check that out. Can I do that?”

"You certainly may.”

“Thank you.”

"That will be taken out of the record. On page 19 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4856. The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Morrow. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Morrow.” 09300109.doc 81  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 4856, as amended, requires that the statement… basically, what this Bill does… it amends the Tenant Utility Payment Disclosure Act that requires a landlord to provide to a prospective tenant a separate statement… a affidavit detailing that any utility service should be paid for by the landlord. What this… we’re trying to address is when a landlord is responsible for the utilities and the tenant signs the lease and then later finds out that the landlord’s utilities have been cut off or they’re in arrearage. This would allow a tenant before she sign… he or she signs the lease to know to find out if the landlord’s utilities are on and are they current. I’ll be glad to answer any questions on House Bill 4856.”

"Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4856 pass?’ All those in favor should vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 110 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 1 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 20 of the Calendar we have House Bill 6845. Representative McGuire. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen, I have House Bill 6845, the long term care Bill. 6845 was 09300109.doc 82  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 developed as a result of the Speaker’s summit on senior services long term care that held many meetings across the state. And some of the people who testified in some of these meetings were from the State of Minnesota and the State of Maine who have a very, very similar Bill and that’s the result. This Bill is… we hope become law in Illinois. What the Bill does it amends the Nursing Home Care Act to require that all screenings for nursing home admissions must include consultation on other care options that are available. It’s also consistent with the recommendation of the Illinois Department on Aging to enhance services available to seniors in the community. Including the establishment of a comprehensive care… comprehensive case coordination to cover all term… long term care option for elderly throughout the state. In the interest of brevity we have a lot of Bills. I would ask if there’s any questions and I’ll try to answer them. If not, I would appreciate your ‘aye’ vote.”

"Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 6845 pass?’ All those in favor should vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 112 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 17 of the Calendar we have House Bill 3989. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.” 09300109.doc 83  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Whiteside (sic–White), Representative Phelps.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 3989 is an initiative of the National Rifle Association. And all this Bill does is to… reduces the age of the person that can get a FOID card from the age of 21 to 18. This is more than anything than a common sense Bill. There’s a lot of people out there that maybe not vote for a lot of these Bills, but this is one that they could proud of in voting for because at 18 in today’s society you are considered an adult. You can get married, you can serve our country and fight for our freedoms. We can send out veterans over there to Iraq, to Afghanistan and they can operate multi-million dollar planes, tanks, assault rifles. But yet, when they come back to the states they can’t even sign for their own FOID card without a legal parental consent. When they get married they don’t need parental consent. When they go out and try to sign for their own contracts they don’t need parental consent. So, why should they need parental consent on a FOID card? So, with that, if you have any questions I’d be glad to answer them.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Fayette, Representative Stephens.”

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

“Will the Sponsor yield?”

"He indicates he will.”

“Representative Phelps, you and I have talked about this Bill previously and I appreciate you having answered some questions and having the… the proponents help me with some of this language. But, I have two simple questions. One is, currently under State Law 18 year olds, 19 year olds, 20 year olds are able to get a FOID card?”

“Correct.”

“Okay.”

“With parental consent.”

“With parental consent which means that the parent signs off on the FOID application.”

“Right.”

“Secondly, currently as well as in the future, this Bill would allow 18, 19, 20 year olds if it was passed to get a FOID card and purchase semiautomatic weapons?”

“And, Representative, yes, that’s true because me being a duck hunter and a goose hunter, we have shotguns that are semiautomatic cause that’s the only that you can use to hunt ducks and geese, semiautomatic shotguns, yes.”

“You hunt ducks and geese with semi-automatic weapons?”

“Semi-automatic shotguns, absolutely. Three and a half gauge…” 09300109.doc 86  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“I would hope your success rate at shooting those would be a lot better with the semiautomatic than it would with… with a rifle shot.”

“That’s… and that’s what mainly all your shotguns are today.”

“As the Sponsor and the two… the previous speakers talked about a lot of this is being couched in a way to say that, young men and women that go and serve in the military are not afforded an opportunity to purchase a gun or own a gun. The Sponsor just said that currently 18, 19, 20 year olds are able to get a gun with parental consent. If that is the issue to those people that come back from the military, why are we not lowering the drinking age? Which is something that we in the State of Illinois can choose to do if we want to. Would someone back prefer a beer or a shotgun? Additionally, Representative, handguns, someone who is under 21 is not allowed to own a handgun or possess a handgun, is that correct?”

“Right. You have to be 21 to buy a handgun in the State of Illinois, correct.”

“So, those men and women in the military that are off… that are… that are using side arms in the military that are there now, when they come back they’re not allowed to get a handgun?”

“That… that’s correct, but that might be my next Bill, I’m not for sure.”

“I was going to ask you if that was next year’s Bill? I would figure that. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, I 09300109.doc 87  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 have two objections to this. One is that currently 18 year olds, 19 year olds and 20 years olds are able to get a FOID card and purchase a firearm. A point that I want to make specific to everybody that is here, the few of us that are here, is that the number of people that get those authorizations from 18 to 19 year olds doubles. Now, I want to say that again. Those people whose parents chose to give them the authorization to get a FOID card and then to go out and buy a firearm doubles from 18 to 19 years old. Now, why is that? Is that because someone did well as a freshman and the parents think that now they’re able to get a gun? Possibly. I would argue that parents know best and parents might choose to say that my 19 year old or 20 year old is better suited to own a firearm. Each day up in the gallery we have kids from around that State of Illinois that come here and we don’t know who they are. We don’t know who’s best to own a firearm or not own a firearm. I would argue that it… under the system the way it is now, it’s not broken. Does it… you know, I don’t know that… if the Sponsor’s going to give me examples of people that have come to his office or if others are going to get up and say that. But, the system’s not broken so why do we need to do this? Secondly, semiautomatic weapons would be included. So, and 18 year old under this Bill would be able to walk in and purchase a semiautomatic weapon now, when the ban is lifted in September, which is very likely to do, will be able to go in and get a semiautomatic weapon with any… without any kind of 09300109.doc 88  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 authorization from the parents. I would argue that that is something that we should leave for 18, 19 year olds and have their parents who know them better than we do. I don’t think this is sound public policy and I would ask for a ‘no’ vote. And Mr. Speaker, if this Bill does get a requisite number I would regrettably ask for a verification.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Jackson, Representative Bost, for what reason do you rise?”

"The Gentleman from… excuse me, Representative Bost, the Gentleman from Whiteside (sic-White), Representative Phelps.”

“Mr. Speaker, can you take this Bill out of the record until we have everybody on the floor?”

"The Gentleman asks to take the Bill out of the record. On page 19 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4976. Representative Biggins. Read the… read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Biggins.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from McHenry, Representative Franks, for what reason do you rise?”

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

"He indicates he will.”

“Representative, why do we need this Bill? I’m not sure I understand it.”

“This was extended then to non-home rule communities?”

“It would extend it to non-home rule communities?”

“My analysis indicates that the Illinois Retail Merchants Association are against it. Could you please tell us why?”

“Did anyone testify in committee on behalf of the Bill?”

“Sure.” 09300109.doc 91  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Okay. Did… did anyone testify on behalf of this Bill in committee?”

“Okay. Thank you.”

"Seeing no further questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4976 pass?’ All those in favor should vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 113 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Lady from Cook, Representative… on page 19 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4887. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Biggins.” 09300109.doc 92  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

"The Lady from Cook, Representative Currie, for what reason do you rise?”

“Thank you, Speaker and Members of the House. As the only woman present I rise in order to oppose the Bill. This is a measure that would undo work we did last Spring in trying to finish this year’s current Illinois State Budget. We decided that the investment tax credit was not in fact bringing jobs into the State of Illinois, instead it was a… a tax that gave unfair business loophole to some corporations. We voted to do away with it. This measure, House Bill 4887, would return it to the tune of at least $10,000,000 in state revenues, revenues that were not included in the Governor’s budget that to the extent they are included. If you want to vote for this you’d better find some spending programs that you are prepared to cut. I know of no business in the State of Illinois that left town after we abolished this tax break, this corporate loophole last May. I don’t think there will be any. And I would advise the Members to vote against this measure so that we have a chance to adopt a budget that will enable us to meet our responsibilities to the citizens of Illinois in 09300109.doc 93  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 next year’s state budget. Please join me in voting ‘no’ or ‘present’.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Biggins to close.”

"The question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4887 pass?’ All those in favor should vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 97 voting ‘aye’, 13 voting ‘no’ and 2 voting ‘present’. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Osterman, for what reason do you rise?”

“Point of personal privilege, Mr. Speaker. I would ask that the House welcome today the North Park Elementary School that has joined us from Chicago. Give them… some applause.”

"Welcome to Springfield, North Park. On page 18 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4510. Representative Reitz. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 4510 amends the Property Tax Code. It essentially takes… makes two changes within the statute. It allows people that serve on elected board of reviews to hold outside employment or public… lucrative public employment except for boards that levy property taxes. The second portion allows people that… that hold other… basically federal employees to serve on university boards. And I’d be happy to answer any questions.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from McHenry, Representative Franks, for what reason do you rise?”

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

"He indicates he will.”

“Representative, could you define ‘lucrative’ for me?”

“Well, that’s… that’s what’s in the statute right now. So, basically, if they get paid.”

“If you get at paid at all.”

“Yeah.”

“Ok… So, in a nutshell, does this Bill allow people to have two state jobs at the same time?”

“No. No, it allows them to have… it would allow them to have a state job or… or any type of other job that… for any public body that doesn’t levy property taxes.”

“So, being pai… I guess, it wouldn’t have to be state, it could be a municipal employer as well or a county… it could…”

“No, it couldn’t be… it probably couldn’t be municipal because they levy property taxes. It couldn’t be… it 09300109.doc 95  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 couldn’t be a county because they levy… any… the state doesn’t levy property taxes so it could be a state job. Yeah, any taxing districts. So, it couldn’t be a road district, couldn’t be… anyone that levies property taxes and the direc… the difference is the correlation is between their job as Board of Review is tied to property taxes. So, essentially, this wou… the Bill… this defines, redefines the Bill so that they can’t hold lucrative employment or they basically can’t get paid from anyone that levies property taxes.”

“So, what is the salary on the Board of Review?”

“I guess it depends on which… there’s only basically two pay, I think there’s Cook, St. Clair and where’s the other one, there is three.”

“What do they make in Cook County for the Board of Review?”

“I don’t know. This is my… yes.”

“Is this the…”

“I don’t know.”

“I think it’s $100,000, but I’m not sure. I’m not sure if it’s the same one as… I know we saw some elections recently.”

“But, there’s nothing in this Bill says they, you know, they’re going to get paid more, just allows… it just… takes that out. It basically redefines the Bill to where it probably should have been to start with, you know, to prohibit them from working from someone that they have jurisdiction over.” 09300109.doc 96  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Okay. All right. I… I thank you for answering the questions. And I just would stand in opposition to the Bill. I’ve… I just want… I hear what you’re saying, but I think what it allows is public employees basically to double dip. And philosophically, I’ve got a problem with that. But, thank you.”

"The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black, for what reason do you rise?”

"He indicates he will.”

“The state.”

“The state. Or the Federal Government.”

“Well, that’s probably true.”

“But, there are… there are two that don’t levy property taxes, basically.”

“I would agree with the holding, you know, I don’t… I don’t know that as far as the specific of the Hatch Act, but I am at least under the assumption and staff hasn’t told us any different that they would be able to serve on a university board.”

“No, it’s not, no…”

“The elective office is… the elected office is the Board of Review. Board… this only… this only deals with Board of Reviews that are elected. It allows them to seek employment with… with anyone that doesn’t levy property tax, anyone that’s not related basically, a public body that’s not related to their job of reviewing the assessments for property taxes. This is specifically for… for Board of Reviews that are paid.”

“The elected Board of Review.”

“According to this, it’s an… basically they’re… it’s any counties over 150,000. So, it’s basically it’s… just Board of Reviews… actually it’s… population of 150,000 but less than 300,000. So basically, it’s St. Clair…”

“As did I.”

"The Gentleman from Randolph, Representative Reitz.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate Representative Black’s comments. I think there’s a misunderstanding on this Bill and I would ask that we pull this out of the record and I will discuss this with him and try to clarify any questions he might have.”

"The Gentleman asks leave to take the Bill out of the record. Take it out of the record, Mr. Clerk. On page 19 of the Calendar, we have House Bill 4621. Representative Reitz. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

"The Gentleman from Randolph, Represen…”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As with Representative Molaro, I’d hope this one’s a lot easier, the second one’s always a little easier. This one extends the limit from… right now we have a sunset on the amount that Capital Development 09300109.doc 101  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 Board is ab… the assessment fee that they put on projects up to 3 percent. This extends that from 2004 to 2008. And I… and this is on behalf of our… our good friend, the Director of the Capital Development Board. So, be happy to answer any questions.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Fayette, Representative Stephens, for what reason do you rise?”

"I… I think once the agenda’s complete there will be a meeting in the next…”

Speaker Turner: "Well, the officers of the fraternity are meeting to set the agenda.”

"I think once the agenda is set…”

"…the meeting…”

"…will be scheduled.”

"Well, Executive Committee, Rules Committee, some of the same. The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black, for what reason do you rise?”

"He indicates he will.” 09300109.doc 102  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“I guess… I don’t know the history of it, I’m not even exactly sure when, you know, when this was first initiated. My assumption is as with a lot of things, we like to put sunsets on them as a Legislature so they’ll come back every once in awhile…”

“…and… and we’ll… and we get to have our say if we want to change anything. But, this is, you know, this one’s pretty simple, it just… this is the fees that they use to run the Capital Development Board.”

“If that… if those duties go to the Capital Development Board, yes. The more projects, the more fees they’ll be able to collect.” 09300109.doc 103  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Well, whoever builds the project, basically. So, in this case most of it we’re paying ourselves as a state.”

“But it’s a fee that… that they collect. It’s paid… clarification, it is paid by the contractors, but essentially, if it’s a state project, we’re simply taking the fees and the Capital Development Board is taking that money.”

“Fif… 50 per… the answer to your quest… your immediate question is, 50 percent of the… of the monies that… that are collected go into operation of the CDB… 50… 50 percent of all the… this money goes in there, 50 percent of the total operating costs for Capital Development Board for all the duties they do come from these fees. And they’re paid by the contractor so, but essentially, I mean, if it’s a state project I guess we’re simply paying ourselves to do that. But… but if it’s other projects that CDB administers, they collect those funds. But, 50 percent of their funds… so th… at least half of their funds come from this to operate the agency.”

“Well it, it all… it all goes there. Fif… it… the 50 per… it all goes to operation of CDB, but the total that we collect through these fees is… makes up 50 percent of what it us… what we spend to… or what we basically use to run Capital Development Board.”

“So, hal… these fees… these fees are… are half of what we use to run the Capital Development Board, the other half, I assume, comes from GRF.”

“Not that I’m aware of, but…”

“…I don’t know.”

“I think that’s it…”

“…I think…”

“I think that’s what he… that’s what he would say and that’s what he said his… his tenure and his duties in trying to control the House Chambers have made him a very good negotiator.” 09300109.doc 105  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“They would have to go somewhere in order for Capital Development Board to exist.”

“This generates half of their fees.”

“No, they… they… all of the fees go…”

“…to that… and it… and that…”

“…that is…”

“…that is 50 percent…”

“…of their operating budget. All of the fees go, the other 50 percent comes up from bond fund money and things of that nature.”

“But, to answer…”

“…your question…”

“Yeah.”

“To the Capital Development Board, right.”

“Right. It… that generates about 50 percent of their costs.”

“And the other… well, and in answering your other quest… the… I don’t… there is no… I don’t believe… there’s no direct correlation between the Governor’s proposal on the School Construction Act. The reason this Bill’s up is that it expires June 30th of this year.” 09300109.doc 107  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“So.”

“Anthony, yeah.”

“I… I’ll see if I can arrange that.”

"The question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4621 pass?’ All those in favor should vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 86 voting ‘aye’, 27 voting ‘no’, 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 16 of the Calendar we have House Bill 3833. Representative Cultra. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.” 09300109.doc 108  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

"Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 3833 pass?’ All those in favor should vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 114 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Dunkin, for what reason do you rise?”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just have a question. I’m trying to figure out, why is it so quiet in here?”

"You were not talking. On page 20 of the Calendar, we have House… on page 17 of the Calendar, we have House Bill 4022. Representative Daniels. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk. Out of the record.”

"Out of the record.”

Speaker Turner: "Out of the record. On page 18 of the Calendar… on page 18 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4271. Representative Leitch. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

"Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4271 pass?’ All those in favor should vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 113 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 09300109.doc 110  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 17 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4232. Representative Burke. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Burke.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 4232 is a matter that all of us here are familiar with, it is the requirement that devices know as AED’s, automatic external defibrillators, be placed in certain locations throughout our society. The Governor at… in last Session offered an Amendatory Veto, made some changes and we had some difficulty with the Senate version in last Session. This… at this point the legislation would require that the device be placed in facilities that serve more than 100 members. It would more narrowly define physical fitness facilities and talking about focusing primarily on cardiovascular exertion. Makes the first offense under the Bill an administrative warning rather than a monetary penalty, extends the deadline for filing an emergency plan with the Department of Health by one year to January 1, 2003, clarifies that home rule units are affected, most notably Chicago, and would create the Physical Fitness Facility Medical Emergency Prepared… Preparedness Fund to place the monies collected from fines 09300109.doc 111  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 imposed under the Bill. And these monies would pay the administrative costs for the Department of Public Health administering the law. Be happy to answer any questions.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Kane, Representative Schmitz, for what reason do you rise?”

"He indicates he will.”

“That is something that when we were discussing the Governor’s Veto language I thought would probably be a practical way to handle it in view of the fire departments indeed checking on fire extinguishers and indicating their operability. I thought it would probably be a natural solution for them to include AED’s, but at this time they are not under any requirement to make those inspections.”

“The… the individual operator of the facility where the device is placed. And the manufacturers, each and every one of them have regular criteria for the maintenance and the inspection. And they are basically self-testing devices. So, pretty much there’s not… not as urgent a 09300109.doc 112  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 concern for these annual inspections as would be the case with fire extinguishers.”

Speaker Turner: "Seeing no fur… no questions… no further questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4232 pass?’ All those in favor should vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 114 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. We’d like to acknowledge the pres… the presence of the President of the Illinois Senate, Senator Emil Jones or President Jones. Welcome to this chamber. On page 17 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4135. Representative Parke. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

"Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4135 pass?’ All those in favor should vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 113 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 20 of the Calendar we have Representative Rita on House Bill 6567. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

"The Gentleman from Cook…”

“Thank…”

"…Representative Rita.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 6567 amends the Highway Code, providing recovery costs for replacement of damaged property. I’d like to add, in committee there was some concerns where IDOT stood, we talked with IDOT, they are neutral on it, they have no problems, it’s all been worked out. If there’s any questions.”

"Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 65…I’m sorry, Representative Black, the Gentleman from Vermilion.” 09300109.doc 114  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

"He indicates he will.”

“That’s correct.”

“I just talked to… to Bryce, yeah.”

“It’s… it’s initiative from the tollway, I don’t believe IDOT’s within the Bill. It’s just for a tollway initiative. The… they didn’t bring up any concerns about that also within our conversation.”

“It… it… tech… yes, it says ‘any state agency’.”

“With the state.” 09300109.doc 115  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Yes.”

“Replacement cost.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Knox, Representative Moffitt, for what reason do you rise?”

"Indicates he will.”

“Just the… just the state, state agencies.”

“No. Individual? What do you mean individual, like local governments or…”

“I can’t, you know, I can’t hear you.”

“If… if an individual causes the damage, yes.”

“Yes. Their insurance company and/or the person.”

“What… what currently is happening is they take depreciation on some and it’s… it’s main… it’s not on all insurance companies, it’s just on to some of the smaller 09300109.doc 116  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 ones. What they’re doing is depreciating the cost of stuff for instance, a light pole, a sign or other property caused… caused by accident and/or a fault of someone with on the roadways.”

“Yes.”

“No. All we’re doing is changing that they could have the replacement cost rather than depreciated cost.”

“Yeah.”

"Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Meyer, for what reason do you rise?”

"He indicates he will.”

“You know what, I brought… I brought this question up to… with the tollway and they said it was just currently to what… the claims that have been coming through. So, if they’ve been paying out on claims on terms of that 09300109.doc 117  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 condition I would imagine, yes, it would be replacement on that.”

“I would imagine they’d co-share that. I… I couldn’t answer that, how that would work. It would get into technicality on how… who caused it first and which damage was after that.”

“It would… it would probably just come into the damage that they had caused if there would be a second accident.”

“Well, that… that… that’s where it comes into… where this comes into effect. Most insurance companies are paying out the replacement of it. It’s just like if you had a home owner’s policy and you put on… replacement costs onto your home. And that’s with the tollways initiative so that they could replace it and take the burden off the state on… putting on so much state money on some of this stuff.” 09300109.doc 118  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Well, it says… within the thing it says, ‘roadway property including road safety equipment and emergency equipment’.”

“No. It just goes up to damage onto that.”

“I would… I would say…”

“…it’s just the… Yes.”

"Seeing no further questions, the question is, ‘Shall House bas… House Bill 6567 pass?’ All those in favor should vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 114 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Lady from Kane, Representative Chapa LaVia, what do you… what reason do you rise?” 09300109.doc 119  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Thank you, Speaker. You look pretty damn good up there. I need to be recorded… I need to be recorded as a ‘present’ vote for House Bill 4232. Please re… please adjust the records.”

"The record will so reflect your change in vote. The Gentleman from Fayette, Representative Stephens, for what reason do you rise?”

"On page 17 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4076. Representative Nekritz. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 4076 is a measure that will assist the Attorney General, the State’s Attorneys and the Department of Public Aid in pursuing child support cases on behalf of public aid recipients. It addresses the issue of accurately determining the income of a noncustodial parent. Currently, we rely almost completely on the non-custodial parent to fully and accurately disclose their income. In many cases the noncustodial parent is not quite so forthcoming and fails to provide an accurate picture of that income. This Bill requires the Department of Revenue to release tax returns to the noncust… for the noncustodial parent to the States Attorney or the AG’s Office solely for the purpose of the child enforcement… child support enforcement case. I think this is an important measure in 09300109.doc 120  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 addressing the child support enforcement and collections in this state. And I ask for your support.”

"Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4076 pass?’ All those in favor should vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 114 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 18 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4393. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk. Representative Bellock.”

"The Lady…”

"Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4393 pass?’ All those in favor should vote 09300109.doc 121  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 113 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 1 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 18 of the Calendar we have Rep… Representative Slone on House Bill 4269. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. This Bill is an initiative of Secretary of State, Jesse White. It is in response to the events of September 11, 2001 and its purpose is to insure that we are more careful about being certain that our citizens have taken the appropriate precautions in terms of fak… reducing the likelihood of there being fake ID’s. It makes it a violation of the Act to possess any materials, hardware or software that is used to make fake ID’s. It requires that people surrender foreign state identification cards, licenses or permits before receiving new ones from the State of Illinois. And it tightens the requirements in terms of identification prior to receiving an Illinois driver’s license or an Illinois identification card. I’d be happy to answer any questions. I know of no opposition to the Bill.”

"Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4269 pass?’ All those in favor vote ‘aye’; all 09300109.doc 122  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 113 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 16 of the Calendar we have Representative Edie on House Bill 3978. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk. It’s Eddy, I apologize.”

"The Gentleman from Champaign, Representative Rose, for what reason do you rise?”

"Thank God for the committee process. There any other questions? Seeing no further questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 3978 pass?’ All those in favor should vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 113 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 ‘presents.’ And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Page 19 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4567. Representative Slone. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. This Bill is a follow on to an initiative of Attorney General Madigan’s from last year. It really simply corrects and oversight in the original legislation. The original legislation had in it some language that would have limited the Attorney General’s power to enforce the Bill to a certain Section of the Environmental Protection Act. The… it… the intent of the legislation was to allow 09300109.doc 124  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 enforcement of any and all sections of the Environmental Protection Act. And all this Bill does is limit the reference to specific Sections of the Environmental Protection Act in order to enable enforcement of the entire Act. I’d be happy to answer any questions. I’d appreciate your ‘aye’ votes.”

"The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black, for what reason do you rise?”

"She indicates she will.”

“Mr. Black…”

“Mr. Black, this refers to the Procurement Code and it’s someone who’s found… been found by a court or by the Pollution Control Board of having been willfully violating the law. And that is defined in existing law. The elements that you’re referring to are part of the Bill that we passed last year. This Bill is… is much narrower. It does refer to the Bill that we passed last year, but this 09300109.doc 125  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 would be with respect to willful or knowing violations of the Procurement Code as defined in that Code.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Black, barred from the… under the Procurement Code from what? I couldn’t hear you.”

“I don’t think they would be prohibited from doing anything that they’re not already prohibited from doing under existing law. It certainly is a viol… would be a violation of the Clean Water Act for them to engage in the scenario that you described and they would be liable for penalties. But, this law has to do with doing business with the State of Illinois and I don’t think our sanitary districts would be seeking contracts with the state or anything of that nature. So, it wouldn’t apply to them under the Procurement Code.” 09300109.doc 126  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“To the best of my knowledge, I don’t think this piece of legislation would apply to those entities.”

“They would be barred from having a procurement contract with the State of Illinois. Again, this would be under the existing law as we passed it last year. The Amendment that we’re proposing right now would not address that point at all.”

“I’m not sure if I can answer that question for you, Mr. Black, in terms of having that definition. However, it is a legal standard that is widely recognized and widely known and I don’t think… I don’t think… either this statute… excuse me, either this Bill or the statute we adopted last year addressed that per se because the legal standard is… is known from pre-existing law.” 09300109.doc 127  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“I don’t think that’s correct, Mr. Black. I believe that the EPA is required to consider compliance history in terms of granting permits under the… under the legislation that we adopted last year. And they are allowed to consider mitigating factors such as the ones that you mentioned in your hypothetical. So, I don’t… I don’t think that under the circumstances that you described that Caterpillar would be barred from doing business with the State of Illinois for a five-year period. But, in any case, I should say, that this… that this Bill doesn’t really address that point. This is a much narrower one 09300109.doc 128  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 than the one we adopted which is now Public Act 93-575, which was adopted last year under Senate Bill 1379.”

“Mr. Speaker, could we take this Bill out of the record for a few minutes please?”

"Take the Bill out of the record. On page 18 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4263. Representative Smith. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Fulton, Representative Smith.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. This is an initiative on behalf of the City of Pekin, which would extend the life of the TIF District that 09300109.doc 129  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 they currently in the downtown Pekin area. Would extend that life for an additional 12 years. They are currently in the process of some major downtown redevelopment as well as… as extending a TIF district to cover the riverfront. And so many of the projects there will be in coordination with what’s already going on in their downtown area. There is no opposition to this. We have letters of support from all of the other taxing bodies who would be affected, most particularly, the two school districts who are in full support of this. I know of no opposition, I’d ask for a favorable roll call.”

"Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4263 pass?’ All those in favor should vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 112 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘no’, 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Gentleman from Fayette, Representative Stephens, for what reason do you rise?”

"Welcome… welcome to Springfield. Page 18 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4310. Representative Soto. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

“The Lady from…”

“Thank you…”

"…Cook, Representative Soto.”

“…thank you, Speaker and Members of the House. House Bill 4310 would allow persons who owe child support to have their child support payments automatically deducted from their bank account. In efforts to collected child support from persons who are self-employed or unemployed, therefore ineligible to have their wages… wages deducted. This is a 09300109.doc 131  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 form of a… of child support enforcement debit form. It’s a voluntary form. And I urge your support.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from McHenry, Representative Franks, for what reason do you rise?”

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

"She indicates she will.”

“Representative, I applaud what you’re trying to do here, I have a question, though. Is it… it’s my understanding that unemployment benefits are not garnishable? They can’t garnish an unemployment benefit? And that’s what… this would be an automatic debit?”

“Automatic… this is… this is a voluntary order. It’ll be… this voluntary order will be housed at the Illinois Department of Public Aid. So, if you’re a self-employed, noncustodial parent you can go there voluntarily and say, ‘I’m self-employed, but I have a savings and checking account. I would like to take this debit form to my bank and have my child support deducted out of my savings or my checking.’ It’s a simple, voluntary order.”

“It’s… it’s strictly voluntary.”

“Correct.”

“Okay. I wanted to make sure cause I know you couldn’t order it. Thank you.”

“Right.”

“That’s a good Bill.”

“Thank you.”

Speaker Turner: "Gentleman from Cook, Representative Davis, Will Davis.” 09300109.doc 132  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 Davis, W.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Sponsor yield?”

"Indicates she will.” Davis, W.: “Just one question. Is there any mechanism in place that would possibly ensure that the correct amount of money will be taken out of an account? I know it’s voluntary and that’s fine, but that means somebody on the other end is going to have to input that information. Is there anything to make sure that that’s done correctly? And if it’s incorrectly done, a relatively easier process for somebody to come and make that correction?”

“Yes, Representative. We have worked with some groups that were opposed to this at one time, which was the credit union, it was the bankers. So, what we did is we sat with IDPA, the Illinois of Department of Public Aid, with their attorney and they sat down and… that debit form will have the child support language, it will also indicate what amount of child support they’re supposed to deduct. And it’s going be authorized and it’ll… I mean, it’s gonna be very simple, it’s going to be very helpful. And it’ll be clear what they have to pay. I don’t… they will not be overcharged when they have to make that payment or undercharged.” Davis, W.: “Well, I’m sure they won’t be undercharged. But, I just want to make sure that, you know, if I was in that position and I agreed to participate in this, which would make it so much easier for me, not a problem, but that the correct amount in terms of what will be deducted will be put in the system so to speak. And make sure that, you 09300109.doc 133  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 know, instead of, you know, $250 it’s not $2,500 or something like that.”

“Right. Well, you know what there… there’s going to be lines that say $250 a month, you know… you know, to the order of the custodial parent.” Davis, W.: “Okay.”

“It’s really simple, I think it’s very clear. We… we did look at all that.” Davis, W.: “Okay.”

“And we have no opposition on this Bill.” Davis, W.: “Oh, I’m not… I’m not opposing the Bill in anyway. I’m just making sure that that’s done correctly.”

“Okay.” Davis, W.: “Thank you very much.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

"The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black, for what reason do you rise?”

"She indicates she will.”

“That’s correct.”

“Okay. Well, this is a voluntary order so if there’s a noncustodial parent who is married, it’ll be an agreement of the parties. Maybe the non-custodial parent…”

“Go ahead.”

“This is a voluntary… strictly voluntary. It is up to the noncustodial parent to pick up this form from the Illinois Department of Public Aid. It is a second choice because they can either have it deducted somehow or direct… or voluntarily taken out of their check. This is really simple, I don’t think this is a hard Bill. I really, truly don’t think that we’re going to have any problems with this Bill. This is a great Bill. I think custodial parents are waiting for something like this. This is a great idea. This is… this is an initiative of my 20 years with the child support enforcement division. I think it’s an important Bill… piece of legislation. It’s going to help a lot of people. And a lot of us here know somebody who needs child support, who needs… and you know what it… we have to continue to try to make child support enforcement easier. And if it… if somebody wants to be responsible and they… and they’re self-employed and they have an opportunity to get this debit form and they… like… I 09300109.doc 135  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 mention again, voluntary. They can go to IDPA, get that form, take it to their bank, have them deduct whatever the amount is out of their check. It’s way easier. Sometimes you’re self-employed and you’re running around trying to pay everything else to run your business. Sometimes you forget to pay… and this is how… I found… you know, this is how I got the idea. Some peo… it’s not that you don’t want to be responsible because not every noncustodial parent is a deadbeat person. What it is, is we’re trying to make something easier. If it makes it easier and there’s another mechanism to try to get child support enforcement, let’s do it. It is simple. If we have any problems, which I truly in my heart don’t feel that we will, I think this is going to make a lot of families and a lot of children’s lives much better.”

“Correct.”

“No, no, no, Representative Black. If I am the noncustodial parent and child support has been ordered by a judge, I have… I’m self-employed. If I want to go to the Illinois Department of Public Aid and choose to have my child support payment deducted out of my bank account or my checking account, I can do that. There’s nothing saying 09300109.doc 136  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 that you must, this is voluntary. This is a choice that you have.”

“They…”

“Right. That’s your choice. Absolutely. Nothing in this Bill says that… nothing in this Bill says that you have to do it.”

“Right.”

“I think that could’ve started when the new state disbursement unit came through.”

“Because I was at the child support enforcement division and I found cases where payments were going to a differ… a custodial parent. I handled those cases myself. Believe me, I think and I’m… and I’m very confident that I know child support inside and out. And this is a good Bill. This is a wonderful Bill.”

“I…”

“…I think that these children, I mean, you know, these women are waiting for this Bill.”

“But, it is time for this Bill.”

“The noncustodial parent is married, that noncustodial parent… okay… and this is not the custodial parent, okay. So, it’s the new spouse. You’re saying that she disagrees to have this account debited? What can she do?”

“Okay.”

“Okay. Representative, now if you have a party… okay… if you have a party that’s married, it’s both their accounts…”

“…he still has to pay child support… he still has to pay child support, it’s still a court order.”

“So, no matter what…”

“…they have to pay… they have to pay that child support. And I’m sure when somebody marries somebody, for the most part, they…”

“…know they have children out of another marriage. Or…”

“…a paternity case.”

“Okay.”

“I think you’re going to be able to use this Bill in your office.”

“I truly do.”

“Thi…”

“And it’s got your name on it, it’s a Bill.”

"The Lady from Cook, Representative Mulligan, for what reason do you rise? Seeing no further questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4310 pass?’ All those in favor should vote ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 111 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black, for what reason do you rise?”

Speaker Turner: "We’ll find him and the record will so reflect.”

"The electrician is on his way to your desk.”

"And the record will reflect your ‘yes’ vote. Page 17 of the Calendar we have House Bill 3959. Representative Phelps. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk. 89? It’s 3989, I’m sorry.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from White, Representative Phelps.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. We ju… I know I took this Bill out of the record, you’ve heard some debate already. All this Bill does is reduce the age of a person that can sign for their own FOID card from 21 years old to 18. For a lot of you that don’t vote for some of these Bills, this is a good one because our veterans are behind it. There’s a lot of people that 09300109.doc 141  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 want to keep everything consistent. If you’re 18 today… in today’s society, you’re considered an adult. You can vote, which we all know and understand. You can join our military and you can go in and sign your own contracts, such as a house mortgage and go live on your own. So, I don’t see anything wrong with an 18 year old coming back and coming here to the states after they serve our country and fly multimillion dollar aircraft, drive tanks, have assault rifles, protecting our freedoms and when they get back they can’t even sign their own FOID card. Now, that’s a shame. So, we’re wanting to do this. We think it’s a great Bill as Representative Black says. And I’d answer any questions that you have.”

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

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. I don’t want to beat a dead horse, this has been done already once today.”

"You don’t have to beat ‘em.”

“To the Bill, though. For those colleagues of mine that were not here earlier, I want to point out two facts. One is that semiautomatics… 18 year olds, 19 year olds, 20 year olds, would be able to buy semi-automatics in the State of Illinois without any kind of notification of their parents. You can each make your own policy decision about that. Also, that currently 18, 19, 20 years olds are able to purchase firearms if their parents sign off on that. They are best suited, I think, to make that decision, if 09300109.doc 142  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 their 18 year old is able to have a firearm or not. The Sponsor and some of the other proponents spoke about those individuals that serve in the military if they’re 18 years old. There are a number of other things you cannot do if you’re 18, 19, or 20 years old, enter a casino, drive a school bus, have a CDL in interstate driving, consume alcohol, purchase a handgun. And I would also add, get a elected to the House of Representatives. So, unless we’re going to start affording 18, 19, and 20 year olds a lot of these other opportunities I would say that we should defeat this legislation.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Fayette, Representative Stephens, for what reason do you rise?”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Jackson, Representative Bost, for what reason do you rise?”

"We could play the tape.”

"Including you.”

"Do you want to start from there?”

"The Lady from Cook, Representative Graham, for what reason do you rise?”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. This Bill is a very dangerous piece of legislation… this is a very dangerous piece of legislation. This average 18 year old cannot make decisions for themselves in terms of what they want to do in school. The drinking age in purchasing alcohol is higher than 18. Gangbangers in my community, if we allowed them to go out and purchase handguns… we let a Bill get out of here the other day, coupled with that Bill, this Bill and that Bill together is going to create a huge situation. It’s going to create a bigger… a dangerous situation for us. And… and… and I think that this is a bad piece of legislation. And we need to take in consideration that we leave in two different communities. I’m no trying to take away the rights or… or family tradition of people training their children on how to use handguns at the age of 7 and 8 years old as a family tradition. But, I’m also asking this Body to take in consideration the people who live in communities where this piece of legislation can do more harm than good. More harm than good. We have gangbangers selling drugs, all kinds of things out on the streets that we’re trying to create legislation for… to prevent them from doing this, stiffer penalties. And this piece of legislation will go against the grain of everything that we’ve tried to accomplish up until this point. And you tell us about creating stiffer penalties, but this is… this is just opening up the gate… the flood 09300109.doc 145  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 gate for other problems. I’m asking this Body, don’t just take your community in consideration, take my community in consideration, the communities that we live in in the City of Chicago where we have random gunfire now. We have drive-by shootings now, we have people dying in the street right now, we have children falling at the… at the hand of stray bullets. I’m asking this Body, I’m pleading with this Body, don’t just take your community and your family traditions and vote ‘yes’ on this Bill. Vote ‘no’ on this legislation. Take our communities in consideration as well. Please join me in voting ‘no’ on this piece of legislation. I’m not trying to change your traditions, I’m asking you to consider our communities as well. Please vote ‘no’ on this legislation.”

"The Lady from Cook, Representative Mulligan, for what reason do you rise?”

"He indicates he will.”

“No, Representative Mulligan, no.”

“Representative, I can get those, I do not have them with me, but I will get those for you.”

“Just by the… by the Legislature, that I’m aware of, Representative.”

“I believe Missouri… right around here, I believe it’s Missouri and Indiana to name two.”

“Actually, we’re about the only state that has the FOID card to be honest with ya.”

“As Representative Holbrook says, money, I assume. But, we’re the only state that really has the FOID card. And actually those 18 year olds are going to be… if they’re going to be able to get guns, which they already have been illegally, with now being 18 they’re going to have to go through a background check and it’s going to make them more legal.”

“Thank you.”

“Right.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you, Representative.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Lake, Representative Mathias.”

"She indicates she will.”

“Correct.”

“Correct.”

“The only way that you can purchase a gun in this state as an 18 year old is with parental consent. But also, too, Representative, you can get a shotgun or a rifle at 10 years old with your parental consent. I’m not raising it… lowering it to 10…”

“…I’m lowering it to 18.” 09300109.doc 150  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Correct.”

“Correct.”

“I’m just trying to keep… stay consistent, Representative, because 18 in today’s society you’re considered an adult. Our own government puts guns in our 18 year olds hands. As Representative Stephens says, you can get married, you can go into contract… sign contracts on your own. So, why not… serve our military. So, why not when you come back to the states be able to sign your own FOID card? It’s ridiculous.”

“Thank…”

“Thank you. Thank you, Representative.”

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Dunkin, for what reason do you rise? Representative Phelps to close.”

“Thank… thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. You’ve heard the debate. This is a very 09300109.doc 151  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 commonsense issue. Our own government puts guns in our hands when we’re 18 to serve our military and protects our freedoms. I urge an ‘aye’ vote and thank you so much.”

"The question is, ‘Shall House Bill 3989 pass?’ All those in favor vote ‘aye’; all those opposed vote ‘no’. The voting is now open. 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 65 voting ‘aye’, 38 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Osterman, for what reason do you rise?”

“When this Bill was previously debated the first go round, I asked for a… a verification. I’d… would ask that that would be extended. Bill was on the record the first time, I asked for a verification when I first spoke. I again would ask that that… the Chair would allow me to do the verification. Sponsor probably has the votes.”

"That’s not the policy, Representative. If you wanted a verification you… as… as… if we were to take that tactic… I mean, you spoke again in debate which would say technically those who spoke the first time…”

“There’s a lot of things I said the first time that I chose not to in the interest of time. So…”

"Representative, that… you’re out of order. Representative Hannig in the Chair.”

"Committee Reports.” 09300109.doc 152  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

"Representative Rose, for what reason do you rise?”

"State your point.” 09300109.doc 153  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

"Representative Colvin, for what reason do you rise?”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On House Bill 3989 I’m not sure if my vote was recorded on the board. But, I’d like the record to reflect that I intended to vote ‘no’ on the Bill.”

Speaker Hannig: "The record will reflect your intentions, Representative. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 4022? Excuse me, Representative Mitchell, for what reason do you rise?” Mitchell, J.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was just wondering, Representative Rose, made a good point, but many of us live quite far away and since he is the representative of the University of Illinois, I was wondering if… for the… for the benefit of the Body if he would bring us maybe like 118 Fighting Illini hats or jackets or t-shirts or something because it’s really a long way to travel home and get something orange. So, I think in all fairness to the Body that Chapin Rose should bring us something so that we can 09300109.doc 154  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 celebrate the Fighting Illini’s battle with Duke. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.”

"Representative Dunkin, for what reason do you rise?”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House. I’m just calling to remind you of the Illinois State Museum, they’re having a big… Where Animals Dance, the Art of Africa. It’s an annual exhibit, it’s going to be attended by all of the individuals in the museum community. Just come out and support your museums at the state museum tonight from 5 to 7 p.m. It’s at Spring and Edwards Street. Thank you.”

"Thank you. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill, House Bill 4022 please.”

Speaker Hannig: "The Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Daniels.”

“The Gentleman has moved for passage of House Bill 4022. Is there any discussion? The Lady from Cook, Representative Feigenholtz.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Representative Daniels, I was just talking on the phone about your Bill. I have a couple questions for you. You amended this Bill and you have some language in here about the intent of where the money should go if we do this trust fund. Is that correct?”

“And… and tell me… give me some of your ideas. What is… what is your intent on some of this… where this money is going?”

“Thank you. Ladies and Gentlemen, to the Bill. I stand in support of this Bill because I think that it’s time that we in the State of Illinois start looking at alternative settings for people who live with disabilities. I think that there are many, many options that the state because it is so invested in institutional care has… had not been able to fund, but creating this kind of a trust fund… this kind of a revenue stream is going to be an excellent opportunity for us. And I, you know, many of us were just upstairs in the Governor’s Office, Representative Daniels, and this was definitely an issue that we brought to the Governor about funding for more community-based support, for more home-based support. Especially, many, many of the issues that had been reported to us by Sheila Romano and the Getting’s Report that was delivered to all of our doorsteps. When we take a look at the amount of money that we can save… it only costs us $9,000 in General Revenue to serve so many people, 1500 people. And we all know that there are many people on the pre-application list who really want this opportunity. And to provide them these opportunities and to find a funding stream and a revenue stream to pay for them is a… a great idea and I applaud Representative Daniels for doing this. And encourage everybody in this chamber to support this effort. Thank you.” 09300109.doc 157  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

"The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black.”

"The Lady from Cook, Representative Hamos.”

“Will the Sponsor yield?”

"He indicates he’ll yield.”

“Representative Daniels, I have several questions about this Bill because I think we agree with the previous speaker. However, this Bill goes way beyond what the previous speaker was just indicating was a goal of all of ours which is to make sure that there are adequate services for people with disabilities, developmental disabilities, and to make sure that there’s a continuity of care. Now, in your main Bill, what monies would go into this fund?”

“Okay. You know, as I understand, the way that the funding works right now there are about $500,000,000 of 09300109.doc 159  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 monies that go into community-based DD services. About 300 are right now being claimed. Would you take all $300,000,000 that’s coming in for FFP right now and put that into the fund?”

“And then you would take an additional… now there’s an additional $200,000,000 which is not being claimed right now, that is the goal of the RFP’s and the… well, for the fee-for-service process that is the goal. So, you would take money coming in from the $200,000,000 also?”

“Okay. Ladies and Gentlemen, I mean this is a… a… an interesting plan, but the $300,000,000 that’s coming in right now, actually goes to support state government. That’s a very big hit on state government if we’re going to take $300,000,000 that’s being used to provide services across the board and put that into the fund. I think a more measured approach is to take the $200,000,000 not now being claimed and as the providers develop the fee-for- service program as monies come in there’s a strong incentive to put that money into this fund. Now, Representative Daniels, another question, please. Representative Daniels. Amendment #2, what does Amendment #2 mean? Can you explain that?”

“If I… if I’m… I’m looking at your Amendment and it says, ‘once the individual or legal guardian chooses the desired services, the services are approved and the provision of services is initiated, the department shall make payment.’ So, are we putting any limits on this at all or do people…”

“…just get to select whatever services they want?”

“Okay. Ladies and Gentlemen, currently in the State of Illinois, there’s a very important program for DD clients that has really gone unnoticed and underfunded. And it’s called the Home-based Support… Support Program. And that program works like this and I think it’s an excellent model. However, there’s a limit and every family who’s in that home-based support program knows that they are to receive three times the SSI amount, about $1800 a month. And then with… within the constraints of that they can go 09300109.doc 161  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 out and shop for services. But, would you be willing, Representative Daniels, to negotiate this so that if this is the model, which is a good model, that we would make sure that there are some limits put on this so it’s not just an open-ended new entitlement program that we are creating for the State of Illinois?”

“Well, Representative Daniels, I also work long and hard on these issues and I never saw this Amendment until a few days ago. And I’m just really trying to clarify that, you know, we all have… share your commitment toward these services, these programs and these people. But, I think the question I’m asking is, when you say in here that the… the services are approved by the Department of Human Services, do you… you do agree, don’t you, that the Department of Human Services in determining that approval… through that approval process could actually put limits on this program, could develop the kind of approach that we use in home-based care?”

“It doesn’t have to be that same amount.”

“But, that approach where there’s an overall package that has a price tag and everybody knows going into it that there’s some limit put on these kinds of programs.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

"Is there any further discussion? Then the question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 113 voting ‘yes’ and 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 4266?”

"Representative Davis.” Davis, W.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 4266 simply continues what the Governor started last year by adding an additional $250 to the foundation level per pupil spending for education purposes, which will raise it from 4,810 to $5,060. This is still yet just a band-aid to the ultimate fix in school funding that we must address at some point. But, this is indeed a help, particularly to schools in my district that benefited tremendously from the last $250. And they will certainly benefit from this $250 as will districts throughout the entire State of Illinois. I ask for an ‘aye’ vote.”

"The Gentleman has moved for passage of House Bill 4266. Is there any discussion? Then the question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have 09300109.doc 164  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 111 voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, could you read House Bill 4537? Excuse me, Representative Black, for what reason do you rise?”

"Yes, state your point.”

"We’re going to now move to the Order of Second Readings. So, we’re going to start with… with Bills that have Amendments that were approved by the Rules Committee or by a committee. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 4963? Okay. Out of the record. 40… Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4650.”

"Okay. Out of the record, Mr. Clerk. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 4280?”

"Representative Davis.” Davis, W.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Amendment #1 to House Bill 4280 addresses the concerns that were raised in committee by the… in Local Government Committee by the Realtors Association. And this Amendment absolutely removes their opposition to the Bill. The Amendment does two things. 09300109.doc 166  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 First of all, it clarifies that this measure will only apply to building code violations and not to other village ordinances. And second, it ensures that due process is and will be followed regarding the overdue fines before they can be applied as a special assessment to someone’s property taxes. Again, this Amendment addresses the concerns of the Realtors Association and… and it removes their opposition to this Bill. Thank you.”

"Is there any discussion? Then the question is, ‘Shall the Amendment be adopted?’ All in favor say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4688.”

"Representative Colvin.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 4688 is a Bill that was heard in committee earlier this year and it deals with hard to staff schools across the State of Illinois. It’s an incentive program to entice individuals from particular communities where there are hard to staff schools to encourage them to study elementary and secondary education to become highly skilled and qualified teachers 09300109.doc 167  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 who are worthy of certification if they make commitments to teach in those schools in those communities where there are… had a lot of hard to staff issues. This Floor Amendment simply changes a lot of technical language with respect to House Bill 4688. It does not change the intent of the Bill. Specifically speaking, it removes language regarding the program becoming a national model and it changes the administrator of this program from the Board of Higher Education to the State Board of Education. It requires that the consortium shall guarantee that support shall be available to an admitted cohort through the cohorts full period of training. This is mostly technical language, it doesn’t change what we’re trying to do with the Bill. It makes the Bill identical to Senate Bill 1550 which is currently working its way through the Senate. It had no opposition in committee. And we respectfully request that the Amendment be adopted to the Bill.”

"Is there any discussion? Then all in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it, and the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 4400?”

"Representative Brauer.”

Speaker Hannig: "All in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 5057.”

"Representative Feigenholtz.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Amendment #1 is actually just some cleanup language that we’ve been working on. House Bill 5057, the underlying Bill, is a Bill that the Conference of Women Legislators has been working on to reintegrate seniors who are in nursing homes back into the community if they are able to live there and if there is an appropriate setting. I’d be glad to answer any questions.”

"Is there any discussion? Then all in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have 09300109.doc 169  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 3996.”

"Representative Krause.”

"Is there any discussion? All in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. The Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4346.”

"Representative Flider.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The… Amendment #2 to House Bill 4346 is an Amendment that was recommended by the Illinois Farm Bureau. It’s noncontroversial in nature and it further tightens up the definition of… of where a vehicle can be parked on a roadway. And also the Amendment contains a technical clarification.”

"Is there any discussion? All in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it, and the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 3821.”

"Representative Kurtz.”

"Is there any discussion? Then all in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have 09300109.doc 171  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 5891.”

"Mr. Clerk, out of the record at the request of the Sponsor. Representative Jefferson, would you want us to read 4572? Mr. Clerk, would you read that Bill?”

"Representative Mautino, on the Amendment for Representative Jefferson’s Bill.”

“Thank you. This is the CMS administrative Bill, and I appreciate it coming to the floor. We had a definition of dependants that needed to be changed and clarified. Nothing in the substance of the Bill is changed by this Amendment as far as who would be impacted. And just appreciate the Bill being adopted so we can hear it on Third Reading.”

Speaker Hannig: "And on that question, the Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black.”

"He indicates he’ll yield.”

“Okay. No, I… at this time I haven’t had that conversation…”

“…with CMS.”

“No, I… I appreciate”

“…your bringing that up. As a matter of fact, the change in classification in the underlying Bill does have an impact of 12 children throughout the State of Illinois who have been reclassified now and are receiving the coverage in the title…”

“…change. So…”

“…and I’d be happy to discuss that with you and with CMS.”

Speaker Hannig: "All in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 4132?”

"Representative Leitch.”

"Mr. Clerk, what is the status of Amendment #1?”

Speaker Hannig: "Okay. So, #1 is… is remained in Rules Committee, Representative Leitch. And so #2…”

Speaker Hannig: "All in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 4914?”

"Representative Joyce.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Floor Amendment #1 to 49… House Bill 4914 simply clarifies the dates of effective… effect for the Bill, something that was addressed in committee. And I think 09300109.doc 175  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 we’ve addressed the concerns of both the other side of the aisle and the Treasurer’s Office. I’d move its adoption.”

"Is there any discussion? All in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4720.”

"Represen…”

"…Representative Leitch.”

"Representative Leitch, this is Amendment #1. Is that…”

"Okay. And you…”

“…and you wish this adopted?”

"Okay. All in favor say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it, and the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4036.”

"Representative Lang.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Floor Amendment… Floor Amendment #1 is an agreement with both sides of the aisle and staff as to what the limit should be for a felony in a property damage… criminal trespass to property. The original Bill had a… a $1500 threshold, this actually lowers it to 800. I would ask your support.”

"Is there any discussion? All in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4318.”

"Representative Lindner.”

Speaker Hannig: "All in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments.”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 5925. Excuse me, Representative Brauer, for what reason do you rise?”

"State your point.”

"Welcome to Springfield. And Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 5925?”

"Representative Mautino.” 09300109.doc 178  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Floor Amendment 2 was discussed in committee and the substance of that… of the change in here is to add back in Section 2007 of the Adminstra… of the Administrative Code. The LRB had left that out of the draft, so we’ve… we’ve discussed that and it’s required for individual policies in that section and we needed it for the regulatory functions. So, with this the Bill gets in its form for Third Reading.” Speaker Hannig: "Is there any…”

“And appreciate its adoption.”

Speaker Hannig: "…any discussion? All in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Okay. So, Representative Mautino, there’s been a request for some notes that you’ll need to comply with. So, that Bill will remain on the Order of Second Reading. Mr… Yes, Representative Mautino?”

“Yes, what was the note request?”

"Mr. Clerk.”

“Thank you.”

"Okay. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 4716?” 09300109.doc 179  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

"Representative Moffitt.”

"Is there any…”

"…is there any discussion? Then all in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4837.”

"Representative McGuire.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Representative Bassi and I are working on this Bill and I’d like to ask that you hold it. We have another Amendment coming and it might take a day or so.”

"Okay. So…”

“So, I’d like to hold onto 4837 temporarily.”

"Out of the record.”

“Thank you.”

"Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 4092?”

"Representative Ryg.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a technical Amendment that was requested by the Department of Human Services regarding the purpose of the Bill which addresses the collection of mental hat… mental health data for use in future decision making for mental health services.”

"Is there any discussion? All in favor say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 5067.”

"Representative Moffitt.”

"Is there any discussion? Then all in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4944.”

"Representative Smith.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. This is an Amendment that was requested in the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee after some questioning by Representative Kosel. I don’t see her on the floor. But, this would basically guarantee that the pilot program created by this legislation for laptech… laptop technology would be done in pilot school districts spread out throughout the state. There would be a third in Chicago, a third in the suburbs and a third downstate. And again, this is at the request of the committee and a promise I made at the committee hearing.”

"Is there any discussion? Then all in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 5165.”

"Representative Munson.”

Speaker Hannig: "All in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 5197.”

"Representative Smith.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, this is the result of discussion in the committee, Consumer Protection Committee. This Amendment basically is an agreement between the AARP for whom this legislation is an initiative and has been agreed to by the Illinois Bankers and by the Community Bankers. Basically, it… it removes the language that impose… imposes the $50… or $50,000 civil penalty and clarifies what is good faith on the part of a potential… or I’m sorry, of a… of the loan maker to a potential borrower.”

"Is there any discussion? All in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4265.” 09300109.doc 184  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

"Representative Poe.”

Speaker Hannig: "All in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4116.”

"Okay. Out of the record. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 5129.”

"Represen…”

"Is there any discussion? All in favor of the Amendment say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. The Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, what is the status of House Bill 5130?”

"Mr. Clerk, would you return that Bill to the Order of Second Reading at the request of the Sponsor. And Mr. Clerk, what is the status of House Bill 4057?”

"Return that to the Order of Second Reading at the request of the Sponsor. And Mr. Clerk, what is the status of House Bill 3980?”

"Return that to the Order of Second Reading at the request of the Sponsor. And Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 4424?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 5320?”

"That Bill shall remain on the Order of Second Reading. We’re going to continue with Bills that are on the Order of Second Reading that need to be moved to the Order of Third Reading. And we’ll start with House Bill 6739. Mr. Clerk, would you read that Bill?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 4410?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 3963, on page 2 of the Calendar?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 4703?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 4337? Out of the record, Mr. Clerk, at the request of the Sponsor. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 4498?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 2633.”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 4127?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 3850.” 09300109.doc 188  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

"Okay. Out of the record. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 3869.”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 6577.”

"Mr. Clerk, we’ll hold that on the Order of Second Reading pending a note. Could you read House Bill 4953?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 6906.”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4894.”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4975. Okay. Apparently, there’s note requests on that so we’ll hold it on the Order of Second Reading. Would you read, Mr. Clerk, 4351?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, could you read House Bill 4558? Okay. There’s a fiscal… or there’s a note request on that Bill so we’ll hold that. Mr. Clerk, could you read House Bill 5023?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 6583. Okay. Excuse me, Representative… or excuse me, Mr. Clerk, at the request of the Sponsor we’re going to hold House Bill 5023 on the Order of Second Reading. And now would you read House Bill 6583?”

"Out… out of the record, Mr. Clerk. Would you read House Bill 4015?”

"Okay. There’s been requests for some notes on that Bill, Representative Stephens. House Bill 6954. Read that Bill, Mr. Clerk. Out of the record at the request of the Sponsor. Could you read House Bill 5157, please Mr. Clerk? Out of the record at the request of the Sponsor. And could you read House Bill 4827, Mr. Clerk? Okay. Out of the record, as well, at the request of the Sponsor. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 50… 5014?”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 5320.”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4476.”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4374.”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4058.”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 6633.”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 6616.”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4782.”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 7038.” 09300109.doc 192  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 5175.”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 5070.”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4635.”

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4640.”

"Third Reading. On the Order of Third Reading, Mr. Clerk, could you read House Bill 6740?”

"Representative Verschoore.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. What this Bill does is amends the Office of Banks and Real Estate Act and requires the Commissioner of Banks and Real Estate to work in cooperation with the Director of Aging to ensure that all financial institutions regulated by the Office of Bank and Real Estate participate fully in… with the Department of Aging Financial Exploitations of the Elderly Intervention Program. Becomes effective immediately. I’d gladly take any questions.”

"Gentleman has moved for passage of House Bill 6740. Is there any discussion? Then the question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. 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 112 voting ‘yes’ and 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 5105? Mr. Washington.”

"Representative Washington.” 09300109.doc 194  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this particular legislation, House Bill 5105, it creates the Low Digit License Plates Act and it amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. And it provides for the insurance of license plates numbered 1 thru 999 with no letters and license plates containing a single two or three letters only. It establishes conditions for the insurance of these plates and it provides that the Secretary of State shall adopt rules for implementing the Act. It provides that the new Act does not affect the reassignment and transfer rights of holders of low digit plates under the Illinois Vehicle Code. The genesis of this particular legislation was a response in kind to the controversy and scandal directed to Mr. Scott Fawell on the past administration. As most of my colleagues would know, that was a very turbulent time and it weighted out the integrity of this honorable Body in terms of some, not all, who would participate in making low level license plates available at a cost to the taxpayer and to the integrity of this great Body. So, the wisdom of those who help put this legislation together which I quickly seized the opportunity to bring this to your attention, would close the loophole that was once taken advantage of by Scott Fawell and others to make money, political money, at the expense of the integrity of the State of Illinois. So, what this does, for an example, for those who already own low license plate… low digit plates, they would maintain those plates as usual, undisturbed, unfettered in any kind of form or fashion. If upon the 09300109.doc 195  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 death of individuals holding those plates, if they did not assign those plates to be passed down into the family tree, by right those plates would come back and become the property of the State of Illinois to be reissued out in a fair procedure that the everyday person would have access to those plates, and not being handed out as a political gift of some sort at a higher price and put it in to balance tegrity of this Body. I ask for a favorable vote for House Bill 5105. And I’m ready to try to answer any questions that comes about.”

"And on that question, Representative Parke.”

"He indicates he’ll yield.”

“Representative, I am aware that there is a price tag. But I’m also aware, Representative, that if you looked at it the Secretary of State under the auspice of the State of Illinois already have the website in place. We’re not talking about anything that needs anybody to be hired. We’re not talking about other than when those plates become available. And I could leave it up to your own imagination that those who are in possession of low digit plates already, the odds and chance of people not passing ‘em down may be one in a million. But if it does occur, the State of Illinois should be in the position as the sole authority over license plates of that kind, with such controversy 09300109.doc 196  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 behind them, to be able to put that on this website to let the general public know that that low digit plate is available, but not at the same process and procedure that was done to bring scandal and shame to the State of Illinois. Also, in addition to what you’re saying…”

“…let me just add one thing. It’s questionable whether the amount given… I tried to find the author, to find the formula and found neither. Thank you.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I think it may be… and I’m thinking, Representative, I can’t give you a direct answer ‘cause I haven’t gotten one. But it’s not that I haven’t sought out one.”

“But, I think that…”

“…because of the time and maybe just…”

“…a bump in the road…”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

"The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Lang.”

“Thank you. Will the Sponsor yield.”

"He indicates he’ll yield.”

“Representative, the previous speaker made some comments that I didn’t quite understand. Maybe I don’t understand the Bill, but I’m sure you can help us out. He talked about the transferring of these plates and if they’re in a family they should stay in the family and all that, but this… your Bill doesn’t take any license plates away from anybody that has them, does it?”

“No, Sir. The Representative got it all wrong.”

“That’s what I thought. So, it doesn’t take any plates away from anybody, it doesn’t cost us any fees because the people that have the plates still need to pay their fee to keep the vanity plate, correct?”

“That’s correct.”

“And so, who’s hurt by the Bill if it passes?” 09300109.doc 199  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Well, if we don’t close this loophole we may be hurt a second time. You know what they say, first time you may consider it an accident, second time, shame on you.”

“And so, it would be your position that the previous speaker didn’t really understand the Bill as well as we do? Would that be correct, Sir?”

“That’s correct.”

“That’s what I thought. It’s a good Bill, I’ll vote for it.”

Speaker Hannig: "The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Dunkin.”

“Will the speaker yier… yield?”

"He indicates he’ll yield.”

“Thank you. Mr. Sponsor…”

"He indicates he’ll yield.”

“…I… would be con… I’m going to go talk with him.”

Speaker Hannig: "Are you finished, Representative Dunkin? Okay. The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black.”

"He indicates he’ll yield.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Black?”

“The Secretary of State’s Office, Sir.” 09300109.doc 200  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Yes, Sir.”

“I believe so, yes, Sir.”

“Right.”

“Mr. Black, I don’t think he’s opposed to it. No, I don’t think he would be opposed to saving the integrity… I don’t think you can put a price on it.” Black: Well, I… I certainly don’t see him as a proponent of the Bill. I would never question Secretary White’s integrity. That’s your words, not mine. But I don’t see that he signed in or anyone representing his office signed in as a proponent of the Bill. I mean, I find it… I find it somewhat inconsistent that a Bill impacting a constitutionally elected officeholders office would not be a proponent of a Bill that has direct impact on his office. I… I’m just trying to understand that situation.”

“Well, Representative, I think that his objection in my understanding is the fact that we’re talking about maintaining an Internet listing. I don’t think he’s opposed to the premise of why this Bill is being enacted. 09300109.doc 201  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 I don’t… I don’t… I don’t dare see him opposing protecting the …tegrity of this state. I don’t think those are the issues. But once again, I remind you, if you would put your feet in my shoes right now, I did seek out the author who gave us the fiscal impact and is very questionable whether those numbers are very accurate because no one came forward to say that, ‘Hey, we wrote this, we gave this to you. Now, raise your question.’ I could not get a human face attached with a number. So, I want to remind you of that and I’m not saying that that means anything in and of itself.”

“Well…”

“Well, I don’t want it both ways. He is a man of integrity and I’ll be the first one to jump to the front of the line and say that and defend anybody who opposes that. But…”

“…in addition to that, Jesse White is not the issue. The integrity of this Body having to experience under Scott Fawell and George Ryan, chief of… who was the Chief Executive Officer, reveal under his administration 09300109.doc 202  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 and maybe things on the past administration that a discretion to issue plates was widely abused and it turned into an illegal quid pro that cost all of us, both Democrats and Republican, some… some humility, some damage to that integrity. And to avoid that from happening, this is an opportunity to close that. We already have a website in place. So, all you’re talking about doing is taking a plate if it becomes available. We’re not talking about robbing anybody to pay Peter or Paul, but to keep the plate in the family. But if the family no longer wants to keep that, we’re saying that plate should go where the average everyday citizen should have access to it and not at a cost to the integrity of this Body.”

“No, Sir, I don’t know, Representative.”

“Okay. Well, Representative, can I…”

“…can I raise a question to you in fairness of the subject matter?”

“What…”

“I don’t know, Mr. Black.”

“I… I really don’t know, Representative. But, I do know…”

“…but I do know… but I do know that low digit plates were viewed as a cash cow for political contributions. And more than 200 donors to Ryan’s 1994 campaign held low digit plates averaging more than one thousand per plate per donor. And the Fiscal Note is not on your analysis… on our analysis.”

“You raising a question to me?”

“Yes, Sir, I know that. And I’m sorry I’m not able to give you an answer on your question.”

“Representative, I’m sorry, I can’t answer you. But, I’m hoping… I’m hoping that I’m not wrong about the nature of this Honorable Body to protect itself and defend itself. And I’m hoping that we… whatever that we’re willing to pay more than 200 donors did when they paid an average of more than $1,000 per plate per donor.”

“I’m sorry?”

“ I think Mr. Scott Fawell was.”

“No, I don’t know. That was in 1973. I don’t know.”

“Repre…”

“Representative, I’m not trying to point the finger and I was hoping that this is a nonpartisan issue because all…”

“…all of our integrity has been… been weighted out on this.”

“I’m sorry…”

“…if that’s the party he was in, but I… I…”

“Hey, I inherited…”

“…that information. I didn’t…”

“…create it.”

“No, Sir, I wouldn’t dare…”

“I know you have and I wouldn’t…”

“…challenge you on that.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“No, no. Well, would it…”

“…well, would it… would it be better if I invoke the name of Dan Walker? Would that… would that make you a little happier?”

“To balance it out.”

“Well, I mean…”

“…I wasn’t saying it as a party thing.”

“Okay.”

“No, you didn’t bring…”

“…and neither did, I read it in the newspaper…”

“…like most people did.”

“Representative, I read it in the paper just like you did.”

"Could I… Representative…”

"Representative Black…”

“Representative…”

"Could I… could I ask…”

"Represen…”

“…Representative, my last comment…”

"No…”

“…my last…”

"Representative Black…”

"Representative Black…”

"Representative Black…”

“Representative Black, could I ask…”

"…could I ask all the Members… could I ask all the Members…”

"…of the House to talk to this Bill and the merits of this Bill?”

“Representative, I’m a Member…”

“…of the downstate caucus. I live in Waukegan…” 09300109.doc 210  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“…not Chicago.”

Speaker Hannig: "Representative, I think your time has expired.”

"Representative Black, could I… could I ask you…”

"Representative Black…”

"I understand, Representative, I said that in jest. But, I’m asking for you and the Sponsor of the Bill, please, and all other speakers, to please confine the remarks to the merits…”

"…of the Bill.”

"Representative…”

"Representative Black, could we ask that you and the Sponsor of the Bill, Representative Washington, 09300109.doc 211  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 confine your remarks, both of you and all other speakers, to the merits of this Bill?”

“I’m sorry you feel like that, Sir, that’s not my intent. I hope you accept my apology.”

“All right. And I…”

“…and you have a right to your opinion. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

"To the Bill.”

Speaker Hannig: "The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Colvin. Representative Colvin.”

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

"He indicates he’ll yield.” 09300109.doc 212  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“I’m just curious to know. Did the Secretary of State make any statements in committee opposing your Bill? Did the Secretary of State’s Office testify in committee against your Bill?”

“No.”

“So…”

“No.”

“…nobody came to committee and testified against the Bill?”

“No.”

“And the Bill passed out of committee…”

“Yes.”

“…unanimously? And, you know, we call thousands of Bills every year to the floor and whether or not someone is supporting it or opposing it, I don’t know if that’s the real issue. I guess the question is whether or not the Bill has merit to the individual Members to either vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’. And after sitting here listening to this debate and reading through the Bill, the Bill definitely has merit. Now, this is not to say that Jesse White has not done a tremendous job cleaning up the tarnished image of the Secretary of State’s Office. I think he has made tremendous strides in that office and he should be commended for that. But, I do believe still it is the job of the… Jesse White is not going to be the Secretary of State forever. And I think the rule of law is the only thing we can absolutely depend on to deal with problems, not today here in 2004, but in the year 2014 when we don’t 09300109.doc 213  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 know who will be the Secretary of State. And we have to use that tool, the law, right here in Springfield to make sure that we are, I think, promoting a system of government that’s open, fair and honest. That we correct mistakes and put in rules and stopgap measures that will prevent some of the things we’ve seen before. So, this Bill speaks to some of the problems that existed. And it addresses it the best way possible, I think, and that’s through law. Representative Washington, I commend you for supporting this Bill. I could see why some people would be upset with it. I don’t think it’s a personal attack on the current Secretary of State nor is it an attack on anyone who’s ever worked in the Secretary of State’s Office. There were things done there that were questionable and we’ll leave it at that. But, I think your Bill goes a very long way to making sure some of those questionable things won’t happen in the past. I commend you for your effort and I’ll support your Bill. Thank you.”

"The Lady from Cook, Representative Mulligan.”

"He indicates he will.”

“Yea, Ma’am.”

“No, Ma’am. Representative, like yourself, I just got it about the same time and when I got it I tried to seek out who was the person responsible for the numbers. And nobody from the Secretary of State’s Office and those who represent him would… would provide me with that information. What I was provided was what you were provided, nothing else.”

"The Gentleman from…”

“Would you like me to respond to you?”

“And I think you’ve already gave… given me my response to you in the form of this. The embarrassment has already taken place, that’s number one.”

“And on the committee that we share and I respect your leadership, I’ve heard you on more than one occasion be very cost conscience on anything. And I think I’ve adopted what I’ve saw you set into motion. And don’t… I don’t want you to think that I was not cost conscience. But, I want you to be fair in this regard, because I don’t accept your proposal as a workable proposal to pull this Bill. But, I want to tell you why. I owe you that. The reason that I don’t think it’s proper in this case and you’ve been here much longer than I. But, there was a 09300109.doc 217  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 proper time limit as the question from the other side of the aisle came up, the Secretary of State’s Office did not uphold nor had any one at any time during the initial deliberation of this piece of legislation. That’s number one. Almost 24… and I don’t want to lie about anything. If my memory serves me 24 to maybe 48 hours after we got it out of committee, I sought out on a number of occasions the legislative liaison for the Secretary of State’s Office to question why was there some resistance and what did it all mean? Because I’m still learning so I had to seek that information out. I was not given in a reasonable time for any legislation of any major concern any response whatsoever. At no time and period. And then when I questioned the amount, being that we already have a website in place, being that we’re talking about the number of families who are already in possession of low digit plates. How many realistically and fairly do you think of those families that would not want to carry on the tradition of whoever has those plates? And if there’s family that that is not a concern, return those plates so they can become available to others who might want them. That is a fair process. And even with limited knowledge as naïve as I am, it doesn’t take a lot to understand that you’re talking about entering in a small amount of information that could be years apart. And like my colleague said here, it raises the question, ‘Who would be the SOS down the line?’ And to close a loophole that I think… when I look at the hit that we took as a political family, irrespective of party, it 09300109.doc 218  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 dictates to me that this is the right thing to do, to close this chapter, go on with a new administration, a new Governor, hopefully, with some new ideas that’s going to make the state restore its integrity and feeling about us as leaders. So, I wouldn’t… I couldn’t accept the proposal. But, those are the reasons why.”

“Hold it, I can’t, Representative…”

“…can you get some order in the House? I can’t hear what she’s saying. Thank you.”

“Well, you know what, I thank you…”

"Representative Washington…”

“…but my last comment’s I…”

Speaker Hannig: "Representative Washington… Representative Washington, that was not a question, you’ll have a chance to close. Representative Dunkin.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of this House. The Secretary… the Secretary is going to roll this exact… a very similar plan or program like this out in June. It’s called the Pick A Plate Program and it won’t cost a dime. He’s going to do it via the website on a first come first serve basis. So, what I would ask the Sponsor of this Bill 09300109.doc 220  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 if he could wait until tomorrow, maybe next Tuesday or Wednesday when he sits down with the members of his office and they layout the Pick A… Pick A Plate Program, again, that won’t cost a red cent, that’s going to be administered on the website. They’ve thought this program through and it’s going to be cost… most cost effective. I’m… their working on a more fair and just way to make this uninhibited with any negative. So, I would ask the Sponsor if he could pull this out of the record and sit down with the Secretary of State and even become a part of the program, this exact same program that he’s going to roll out in less than a month and a half or two months that won’t cost the state a dime. So, if the Sponsor would yield or pull this out of the record until he sits down with the Secretary’s Office, I think the State of Illinois would save at least $900,000. And we would get the same results. Yes, I just got off the ph… I’m… thank you. Mr. Sponsor… did he hear what I said?”

Speaker Hannig: "Representative Washington. Representative Washington, could… could you…”

“In deference to what has been said, I will pull this Bill for further discussion until we get some further clarity. Thank you.”

"Out of the record. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 6841? Representative Black, for what reason do you rise?”

"Yes, state your point.” 09300109.doc 221  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

"Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill please.”

"Representative Bassi. Okay. Out of the record. Mr. Clerk, could you read House Bill 587… 5879.

"Representative Chapa LaVia.”

“Thank you, Speaker. This is a technical change just allowing the Physical Fitness Services Act to… instead of being capped at $2500 a year to charge on membership, now this allows the facilities to go up to $45,000 (sic-$4500) per year. And I would request an ‘aye’ vote.”

"The Lady has moved for passage of House Bill 5875. Is there any discussion? The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Parke. Excuse me…”

Speaker Hannig: "Okay. The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black.”

"She indicates she’ll yield.”

“Well, the last time the State Law was changed was back in 1983 and because the increases of… of living and things like that, what this does is allows clubs to put in amenities like the East Bank Club, which I’m not familiar with but it’s from Chicago. It allows them to put into their membership things like personal grooming as far as hair, pedicures, physical trainers that they can allow to have alongside with their membership of this.”

“No. Now, this allows a club to charge up to that amount. The members are already paying over what they’re paying their membership to get these services. Now, what it allows the club to do is give these services for the price of the membership. Like a… you get your back massaged and all the nice things that you… you go in to get 09300109.doc 223  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 a nice membership at a very nice club would fall under. Some of the clubs that are higher-end memberships can allow this, they have to say, ‘You’re my member here, yes you pay $2500 a year, but you still have to pay for this, this and this and this.’”

“No, no, this allows them to… I mean, they can stay at 2500 if they want. This allows them to increase the fee for membership if they… if it’s afforded in the sense of if they have the amenities. This doesn’t mean that they have to, this just gives them the ability to ask for a membership fee more than 2500 if they’re going to give all these other things and include it as a package. My membership at my health club in Aurora is, I think, 435. This doesn’t allow them… me to… to put into law that now they can raise it 4500. And it’s your choice as a consumer as it is, whether you want to go someplace that’s nice and now allows them to put it into the price of their membership.”

“You’re lucky.”

“You… you come to Aurora and I’ll work out with you.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you, Representative Black.”

“Shhh. Shhhh.”

“Yes, if they… if… if they have… well, no, not necessarily. It depends on… there’s different levels of membership and it depends on what you’re buying into. I mean, you have the ability to select whatever plan fits you. This really shouldn’t… it shouldn’t penalize people that want more services in a membership package. But, there are different levels.”

“No.”

Chapa LaVia: “No, that… it’s kind of confusing and I can understand where you get that. It depends on the membership itself and they’re not actually… now… this is not allowing them to raise the membership fees. This is allowing the higher-end boutique facilities to charge the appropriate amount of money to make a profit still.”

“All… it’s whatever they put into the contract, Representative. Because of the inflation factors and things that have happened since 1983, I mean, gas, look at 09300109.doc 226  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 gas. This just allows somebody to come into a club and pay for whatever package they want, what boutique package they want up… and the highest you can charge as a… a club is 4500.”

“So, it depends on the… and there… it’s not, ‘Oh we’re gonna… can charge this much now, so I’m going to… I’m going to go out there and take everybody for their money.’ It’s allowing people that are working hard that… especially in Chicago, to be able to pay people, you know, appropriately for the city costs.”

“I’m sorry?”

Chapa LaVia: “That was so there couldn’t be companies out there, fly-by-night companies, going in and taking advantage of the consumer.”

“Right. No, I think the market can control it. I mean, the… you’re not… it’s… it’s… there too much media nowadays, there’s too much television, there’s too many 09300109.doc 227  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 people that are aware of their rights and what have you. I… I would hope and I don’t have any specific examples, that we could actually put places like that out of business that are… are… are not practicing fair…”

“Well, it’s funny, ‘cause in committee some of our Members had said, ‘Well, why are we even putting a cap on it?’ ‘Cause… Okay. You know what, Representative Black, I agree with you. I’m going to pull it and I’m going to amend the Bill for you. Okay?”

“Thank you.”

"Any further discussion? There being none, then the… Oh, out of the rec… out of the record. Mr. Clerk, let’s return to the Order of House Bill 6841. And Representative Bassi’s recognized on that Bill.”

"Representative Bassi.”

Speaker Hannig: "Is there any discussion? Representative Lang.”

“Thank you. Will the Sponsor yield?”

“She indicates she’ll yield.”

“Representative, you went through that list of things you want teachers to teach?”

“Is there a curriculum for those things?”

“I mean…”

“…well, how does a… how does a 4th grade teacher in the Palatine School District teach trustworthiness? What… what curriculum? Where does she get… or she or he get that information?”

“And so is every teacher in Illinois going to have to get this book and read it?” 09300109.doc 229  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

“Don’t you think that’s enough?”

“There was no opposition to this Bill in committee?”

“Is there a Fiscal Note on this, Representative?”

“It doesn’t cost a penny, is that what you said?”

“I wish I had other questions to ask you. You… this isn’t going to take away from other classroom work?”

“Isn’t it going to take away from, you know, the No Child Left Behind Act? I mean, we’re not going to be able to teach kids how to pass these tests if we’re teaching them about all these other things, are we?”

“Never mind, I was just trying to be funny. Thank you, Representative.” 09300109.doc 230  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

"Any further discussion? Then the question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. 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 110 voting ‘yes’ and 1 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4176. Representative Sacia, for what reason do you rise?”

"And the record will reflect your intentions.”

"Representative Yarbrough.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the General Assembly. House Bill 4176 amends the Illinois Act on Aging by providing the Department of Aging vendors of homemaker chores and housekeeping services. Excuse me, Mr. Speaker, I can’t hear. My seatmate’s making a lot of noise over here. In addition, the Bill mandates that eighty-six cents of the rate increase must go directly towards the increase in homemaker and housekeepers hourly wages. The DHS PA Program and the Department of Aging Homemaker Program are two very similar programs. Homecare workers under both programs perform such tasks as cleaning, cooking, running 09300109.doc 231  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 errands and assisting with personal care. Homecare services allow a senior or a person with a disability to remain in their community. But, the wages are dramatically different. In August of 2004, personal assistants will earn $7.50 an hour and homemakers will average approximately $6.10 an hour. Illinois is under contract to pay PA’s a living wage of $9.35 in four years, but there is no plan in place for the homemakers. To ensure quality homecare for seniors there needs to be wage parity between the two programs. So, this Bill will create wage parity between the programs in two years by increasing homemakers wages by eighty-six cents a year. This Bill will cost $15.6 million in GRF and will generate 4,000,000 in federal matched Medicaid funds. Passage of this legislation is necessary to ensure Illinois seniors will have quality choices in their long term care options. This Bill is being supported bipartisanly with over 6 hundred… I mean 60 Sponsors and the Conference of Women Legislators has made this Bill also a member… not a member, but a part of their agenda. I’d be happy to answer any questions.”

"The Lady has moved for passage of House Bill 4176. Is there any discussion? There being none, then the question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. 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 111 voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared 09300109.doc 232  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 passed. Representative Black, for what reason do you rise?”

Speaker Hannig: "Thank you, Representative Black. They’re going to try to work with your switch. Mr. Clerk, could you read House Bill 4610? Representative Collins. 4610.”

"Representative Collins.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 4610, as you can remember, last year we had a combined Bill, but this year we took out… this Bill right here only deals with raising the age… the minimum age from 17 to 18. So, the Bill does exactly the same thing. It amends the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. It raises the age from juvenile court jurisdiction in Illinois by one year from the youth’s 17th birthday to 18. This merely brings Illinois in line with the rest of the nation. Thirty-eight other states already set 18 as the age of majority for juvenile court jurisdiction. This Bill does not change any other provisions for try… for trying youth in adult court. So, all we want to do is raise the age from 17 to 18 to bring it in line with the rest of the state… rest of the other states. And I ask for a favorable vote.” 09300109.doc 233  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

"The… and on that question, the Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black.”

"She indicates she’ll yield.”

“This Bill… the Amendment to the Bill deletes all of that.”

“Any changes for the automatic transfer. So, we’re not dealing with that. All we’re dealing with is the age, age of majority. So, we’re going to move it from 17 to 18. That’s it.”

“Right.”

“It doesn’t change that. It doesn’t change any of that.”

“I don’t know why they’re opposed to it, in committee they were not opposed. The only body that…”

“…put in opposition slip was the… the…”

"To the Bill.”

Speaker Hannig: "The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Delgado.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill.”

"To the Bill.”

“I, too, want to join the previous speaker in applauding this piece of legislation. I know that Representative Collins has worked diligently over the last two or three years shaping legislation to try to address juvenile justice. And as the previous speaker stated, I do want to interject and suggest that… the previous speaker said that juveniles… their crimes may be even more. I just like to point out that on the contrary. Juvenile crime… being tough on crime during the ‘80s was a popular thing 09300109.doc 236  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 and in the ‘90s. But, in the last 7 years juvenile crimes have gone down tremendously. We could enjoy ourselves and not worry about being perceived if you will over the next few years as being soft on juvenile crime. On the contrary, we only have a few high-profile, publicity-type cases that are heinous type crimes created by a family member or a dysfunctional type student. But, I would like to put an asterisk by juveniles and say that most are engaged in education, most are engaged in family practice. The morals and… and their churches and their park districts are all trying find ways to give ch… children a second chance because juveniles are not throw away children. They will come back to our society. They are the ones that we will eventually count on to take care of us as older adults. So, Representative Collins, please add me as a cosponsor. And for those Members who are not into criminal law, you… please, we need to inform you that we don’t have to be fearful on being soft on juvenile crime, study the legislation, read our papers. I know we have very intelligent people in this… in this chamber. And we have to continue to help our children move forward in positive steps. And I… we would look for any ‘aye’ vote on this legislation.”

"The Gentleman from Champaign, Representative Rose. The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Molaro.”

“I… sometimes when you read this analysis you tend to confuse yourself more than you should. When we passed some of these reforms years ago, I always thought it would come 09300109.doc 237  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 back to haunt us, especially this mandatory transfer, which I think is terrible. I think it’s not done its job. Now, where is that? I know it was in the original Bill, I don’t know if it’s in the Amendment. And, you know, I… could you tell us… maybe you took it out because maybe then we can pass the Bill, I don’t know. But… yeah, that’s what you had to do… I’m… that’s too bad. Well, it’s a good Bill. I… I… I think it could have been a great Bill. But, I guess they’re out for good? I guess that’s the question I’m asking?”

“Representative, we… I wanted to pass the whole package…”

“Yeah.”

“…but I just couldn’t get enough support. So, we’re going to constantly work on trying to get the support for the rest of the Bill. But, right now most of the Members seem to agree that this is a beginning step that we can start and at least raising the age from 17 to 18. And maybe next Session we can put in the transfer stuff again.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

"Representative Collins to close.”

“I want to thank the Members of the chamber for working with me on this Bill. I think it’s a very good Bill and it just changes the age from 17 to 18 and not a lot of juveniles are going to be affected at this. And it’s still… all the other things stay the same and so we just… I just ask for an ‘aye’ vote. Thank you.” 09300109.doc 238  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

"The question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 75 voting ‘yes’, 37 voting ‘no’ and 0 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4027. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4560.”

"Representative Delgado.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. House Bill 4560 amends the Poison Control System Act. Provides that to ensure the stability of funding for the Illinois Poison Control System the Department of Public Health and the Illinois Poison Advisory Board must conduct a study to determine the feasibility of establishing a formula that sets state goals for funding the system. And in addition, the department and the board must consider the adoption of a formula funding for that system that establishes a minimum threshold of funding set on a per capita basis. The department and the board must also consider feasibility of implementing a separate source of funding and the study must be completed by December 31st and submitted to the General Assembly. And this would be effective immediately. And I’m open for any questions.” 09300109.doc 239  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004

"The Gentleman has moved for passage of House Bill 4560. Is there any discussion? Then the question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. 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 111 voting ‘yes’ and 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 4086?”

"Representative Graham.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. We had very lengthy debate on this Bill yesterday. There was questions asked in regard to the responsibility of the Department of Children and Family Services and the task of the Illinois Child Death Review Team. I have here in my hand a manual which everyone in this Body should have received from the Illinois Child Death Review Team that explains… that was enacted into law… was signed into law September 7, 1994, enacted in 1995. It explains the job of the Department of Children and Family Services to receive the death certificates. It explains the flow charts of the procedure. So, if you have this manual you can read it and understand what the Department of Children and Family Services does and the role of the review team as well. And again, I stand behind every word that I said yesterday. That when I talked to the Department of Children and Family 09300109.doc 240  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 Services and the person who coordinates that program, again her name is Sherry Barr, who is listed in this manual as a person who is a coordinator of this process. Which would help do her job a little better would be for the reports on exactly how a child died to be accompanied by the death certificate when they receive them. I’ll be happy to answer any questions at this time.”

Speaker Hannig: "And on that question, the Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black.”

"She indicates she’ll yield.”

“Representative, I gave you my solemn word yesterday that I would clarify any of your questions. And today I have in my hand a manual that describes exactly what the Department of Children and Family Services does. I spoke with the director… the deputy director of the lobbyist, Randy Wells, who is on the side here, who can verify everything that has been said and what they do and what this protocol is for. I do respect you, Representative. I humbly at this point reject your offer to take this out of the record. I’ve did so… I’ve done so before. I have before me a manual which you should have received in your office that explains… there’s also a flow char… a floor 09300109.doc 242  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 char… a flow chart o f when a death occurs the coroner’s report sends the death certificate and how the process goes about. Now, if you’d like to review this after voting on this Bill, I have before me in my hand that each of you should have received a copy of this manual that already shows you how the process goes. The director you spoke with is new to the Department of Children and Family Services, I respect that he can… could not answer your question at that given time. But, again, Representative, I do respect you, I’ve taken the Bill out of the record once. But, I do have before me in my hand a manual that explains in great detail when the law was signed into play, September 7, 1994 and enacted in ‘95. That explains this exact process.”

"To the Bill.”

"The Gentlemen from Cook, Representative Lang.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With all due respect to the previous speaker, first, obviously, DCFS has seen the Bill because they gave us the Fiscal Note. So, to say DCFS hasn’t seen the Bill, doesn’t understand it, is… it can’t possibly be right. Secondly and more importantly, I have spoken to the legislative liaison from DCFS, Mr. Wells, who tells us that they’re fine on the Bill. So, I would recommend ‘aye’ votes.”

"Representative Brady. Representative Brady, the Gentleman from McLean, is recognized.”

"She indicates she’ll yield.”

“Okay. All right, Representative. For the whatever number of time it is, the intent that I ask for is that… in pursuit of trying to get some statistics on finding out how many children were backed over or killed by power windows, I did some research to find out how much… how many children had been killed. Okay. After I was in the process of 09300109.doc 246  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 doing the research I found out that the Department of Children and Family Services already gathers statistics on how children die in the State of Illinois. There are 9 Illinois… there are 9 Illinois chil… deaths which… Child Review Teams in the State of Illinois. As I said before, they were legislat… signed into law September 7th of 1994 and enacted in 95. When I spoke with Sherry Barr at the Department of Children and Family Services who is the coordinator of this program along with a young lady by the name of Yuette Reed, they coordinate this program. They said that one of the problems that they had in having the statistics documented clearly was that they had to go and find the death… the reports that were not accompanied by the death certificate. On the death certificate she said if it was stated that a child drowned it did not say how the child had drowned. So, then they would have to go and get police reports, emergency room reports to find out how the child died. So, then upon looking for the reports they would find out that the child either died in a swimming pool, a bathtub or a toilet. So, they said that it would help them find out how clearly… how much… a little clearly how a child died. So, in looking for two statistics that I was looking for, children who were backed up and children who would die… who died from power window incidents, I found out that a detailed report would help the Department of Children and Family Services in a broader range with just… more than just with the two statistics that I was looking for. So, this legislation was then redrafted 09300109.doc 247  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 because it initially looked like that I asked the department… at the time it was the Secretary of State that I initially asked to keep track of non-crash, non-collision accidents. So, then when the Secretary of State opposed the legislation, that’s how we went further to find out that the Department of Children and Family Services were the people who caught… kept track of how a child died. So, the report came about getting the report. The Department of Children and Family Services said to me that it would help them in great detail to have those reports that is already being done in the first place by the coroners and by the local authorities. These incidence reports are already being drawn up. Instead of them having to use man hours to go and fill out FOIAs to track down every death across that State of Illinois because they would not normally know when a child dies, the coroners have to report the deaths to the Department of Children and Family Services, otherwise, they would not know when a child did die someplace else in the state.”

“Representative, I’ll…”

“…Representative, I’ll say again, you’re right, it is available, but as you pointed out before it’s only available through a FOIA, Freedom of Information Act. The 09300109.doc 248  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 Department of Children and Family Services saying they don’t want to go throughout the state filling out Freedom of Information Acts to get these reports. They just simply want the reports to follow the death certificates to their office. The death certificates are already going to their office, they just want the reports that are already being generated to follow the death certificate to their office. They don’t want to have to go back and ask for it. It’s easier to already come to your door in the mail when you open it up, already there, versus you have to go to these individual counties, these individual ME’s office or coroner’s office to fill out those… that information.”

“The Child Death Review Team does not review every single death in the State of Illinois. They only review deaths…”

“…that look like there may have been foul play or something went wrong in the death. They do not review… at their discretion they can review any death that they would like to review.”

“The point is, Representative, that they have to go back and get them versus the records showing up automatically as a package. That’s the whole point. The information is available, you’re correcting in stating that. It’s available. But, what they have to do is go back to those various states… various counties and get the information when they… the information can be simply sent along versus them have to pick up the phone or send someone from their department out to those various counties or ME… the coroner’s office to get the information. So, I’m just saying it be automatically sent versus you have to go back and ask for the information.”

“No, it didn’t. Again, as I said, I initially… when I was looking for this, I was looking for statistics due to back over or power window incidents. But, when I spoke to the Department of Children and Family Services, again, they gave me the example of if they get a report and a child dies due to a drowning, they don’t know how a chi… they don’t know how he drowned. What they have to do is call and get that information. They have to call and get the 09300109.doc 250  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 reports because the reports did not show up with the death certificate. They have to then go out, use their man hours and their time to go and get the report versus when the death certificate shows up, it shows up with a package of having the report already included in it.”

“I’m not asking anyone else to any additional paperwork that doesn’t already exist.”

"To the Bill, Representative.”

"Representative Daniels.”

"Rep… Representative Churchill.”

"Representative Black, you’ve spoken in debate, for what reason do you rise?”

"Thank you, Representative Black. And if you… she should receive the requisite amount of votes we’ll certainly recognize you for that purpose. Representative Graham to close.”

“First of all, Mr. Speaker, I did say that I spoke to a staff member, but I spoke to the Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs, Randy Wells, as well and talked to him in great detail about this legislation. But, if it… if it pleases this Body for me to pull this out of the record once again… I would like a commitment from this Body, once they review this manual that all of them should have received, that the details is in this manual. This was released, you should have received it. The details are here. None of which what I have said has been exaggerated. I am a Representative of my word as well. I was not elected to shame this Body nor myself. So, I will pull this Bill out of the record once again. But, I would like a commitment from the Members of this Body to vote… vote the merits of this Bill. You have all received this documentation. This is all sent to your office. So, with all due respect, Mr. Speaker, I’ll pull the rec… the Bill from the record.”

"Okay. Out of the record at the request of the Sponsor. Mr… Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 3883 for Representative Lou Jones? Okay. Out of the record at the 09300109.doc 254  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 request of the Sponsor. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 4452 for Representative Kelly.”

"Representative Kelly.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 4452 amends the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District by enlarging the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District strictly in the Village of Madison. It also rectifies an oversight of property that the MWRD has been servicing for five years, but has received no fees because it was never annexed into the village. I ask for any ‘aye’ vote to correct this.”

"The Lady has moved for passage of House Bill 4452. Is there any discussion? Then the question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 65 voting ‘yes’, 45 voting ‘no’, 1 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, would you read House Bill 6574?”

"Representative Jakobsson.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 6574 is an initiative of the University of Illinois and I’m sure that 09300109.doc 255  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 all public universities and colleges stand to benefit from this Bill. What this Bill does is it exempts student e-mail addresses from our state’s Freedom of Information Act. The Act language specifically states it is not the intent of that law to provide personal information so that corporations and individuals can make a profit. FOIA already exempts students’ names, addresses and phone numbers for this purpose. This Bill is to keep FOIA current to include the modern tool of e-mail addresses. Right now, under FOIA, a corporate profiteer can request all of the e-mail addresses of an Illinois college. And that college would be required under this law to provide that list. Then this person can turn around and sell the list to any number of individuals or companies. A college that gets a request like this has to spend time and money putting a list together, then the school turns around and spends time and money on trying to prevent e-mail spams and viruses from getting into the system. During testimony before committee, the University of Illinois claimed that they spend between 1 and 5 million dollars on preventing e- mail spam every year. If we pass this Bill into law we can save our universities millions of dollars. And this is a time when that’s des… universities desperately need every penny that they can get.”

"Is there any discussion? Then the question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? 09300109.doc 256  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 112 voting ‘yes’ and 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, what is the status of House Bill 2633?”

"Would you return that to the Order of Second Reading at the request of the Sponsor? The Chair wishes to advise those who thought to the contrary that we will be here Monday. So, you need to make plans to be here Monday. Now at this time, Representative Currie the Majority Leader… Representative Wait, for what reason do you rise?”

"Okay. The record will reflect… will reflect your intentions. Representative McKeon, for what reason do you rise?”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Members of the Labor Committee may have noticed that we have 9 a.m. meeting. I’ve assured a couple of the Members that we will start promptly at 9 so they can get to other committees to present Bills. Please note the fact that we are not meeting at our regular room, but meeting in 122B at 9 a.m. sharp. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.”

"Yeah. And just… the Chair would like to make the Members aware that this memo has been passed around concerning the meetings of committees. So, now at this 09300109.doc 257  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 109th Legislative Day 3/25/2004 time, allowing perfunctory time for the Clerk, Representative Currie moves that the House stand adjourned until tomorrow, Friday the 26th at the hour of 10 a.m. All in favor say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it and the House stands adjourned.”