“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 the guests in the gallery to rise and join us for the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance. We shall be led in prayer today by Pastor Roy Davidson of the First Baptist Church of Cave-in-the-Rock in Elizabethtown, Illinois. Pastor Davidson is the guest of Representative Phelps.”
“Our heavenly Father, we come to Thee today in the name of Jesus thanking You, dear God, for this privilege. Lord, it’s just an honor to call upon Your name. And we thank You, dear God, for our Savior that died on the cross for us, for the Holy Spirit that involves us. It’s an honor, dear God, to stand here today in this House of Representatives. Dear God, I know we… and I thank the Lord that we have the Republicans and the Democrats, but help us all to realize, dear God, that their… help them to realize that they are here to represent the people of this great State of Illinois. And how we’re so thankful, dear God, that we have this opportunity to talk to Thee and on behalf of our state and what a privilege it is to know that Jesus is our Savior. We thank You, dear God, and we ask Thee, Lord, that as the laws are passed that You’ll be with each and every one of ‘em. Help us all, Lord and let Thy will be done in our lives. We pray for the Speaker of the House that You’ll continue to be with him. We pray for our Representative Phelps, dear God, Brandon and we ask Thee, 09300110.doc 1 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 Lord, to watch over him. Help us all to grow closer to Thee. Bless our state, Lord, as we join together in praising Jesus, our Savior. Thank You for this privilege. Watch over us now. Forgive us of our sins and let Thy will be done. For it’s in the name of Jesus we do pray, Lord, and ask it all. Amen.”
“We shall be led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Representative Grunloh.” Grunloh – 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.”
“Thank you, Speaker. Please let the record show that Representatives Lang, Giles, Osterman and Brosnahan are excused today. I’m sorry. Wait, wait, wait. Not Brosnahan, he is here. It’s Representative Burke who is excused.”
“All right. So, Representative, one more time.”
“Thank you, Speaker. Representatives Lang, Giles, Osterman and Burke.”
“Mr. Bost.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let the record reflect that Representative Renee Kosel is excused today.” 09300110.doc 2 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“The Clerk shall take the record. There being 112 Members responding to the Attendance Roll Call, there is a quorum present. The Chair recognizes Mr. Brauer.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In honor of Raymond Poe’s 60th birthday, I’m proud to announce that the Atkin Diet is dead. Carol Poe has made two sheet cakes. They are sitting down in front and for whoever hasn’t had the opportunity yet, I would suggest they run down there because it’s just about gone. I know Carol has received three proposals of marriage so far because they are so good. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.”
“Mr. Rose.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to say ‘thank you’ to all my colleagues who adorned… adorned their orange today in support of the Fighting Illini. I wanna… I wanna thank Representative Jakobsson for splitting the cost with me on these T-shirts and I also wanna thank the University of Illinois. These were screen printed at midnight last night at the DIA’s request. So if you see your University of Illinois officials today, please thank them and please thank Representative Jakobsson for splitting the cost and ‘Go Illini’.”
“Mr. Black.”
“Yes. Mr. Speaker, an inquiry of the Chair.”
“State your inquiry.”
“Yes. Mr. Speaker, are any of my Bills on the Calendar today?” 09300110.doc 3 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Well, Mr. Black, I have a list of Bills that we plan to call and the tears are starting to well up in my eyes because I don’t see your name on this list.”
“Well, in… in that case… in that case, Mr. Speaker and you know I don’t try to get any extra favors around here, but let me just say, in this sea of orange, I’m with you. ‘Go Notre Dame’.”
“Mr. Rose.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I neglected to thank Representative Joe Lyons who brought us a basketball here today, an Illinois basketball and I don’t know where it is, but there’s a basketball out here. So, thank you, Representative Lyons.”
“Committee Reports.”
“Representative Daniels, Chairperson from the Committee on Developmental Disabilities & Mental Illness, to which the following measure/s was/were referred, action taken on March 26, 2004, reported the same back with the following recommendation/s: ‘recommends be adopted' Floor Amendment #2 to House Bill 5000. Representative Bradley, Chairperson from the Committee on Executive, to which the following measure/s was/were referred, action taken on March 26, 2004, reported the same back with the following recommendation/s: ‘recommends be adopted' Floor Amendment #2 to House Bill 4003. Representative Hamos, Chairperson from the Committee on Housing & Urban Development, to which the following measure/s was/were referred, action taken on March 26, 2004, reported the same back with the following 09300110.doc 4 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 recommendation/s: ‘recommends be adopted' Floor Amendment #1 to House Bill 4439. Representative Mendoza, Chairperson from the Committee on Consumer Protection, to which the following measure/s was/were referred, action taken on March 26, 2004, reported the same back with the following recommendation/s: ‘recommends be adopted' Floor Amendment #2 to House Bill 4450. Representative McKeon, Chairperson from the Committee on Labor, to which the following measure/s was/were referred, action taken on March 26, 2004, reported the same back with the following recommendation/s: ‘recommends be adopted' Floor Amendment #1 to Senate Bill 1645.”
“Mr. Clerk, on page 18 of the Calendar there appears House Bill 5875. Representative Chapa LaVia, do you wish to call the Bill? 5875. The Lady indicates she does not wish to call the Bill. On page 15 of the Calendar there appears House Bill 4400. Mr. Brauer. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 4400, a Bill for an Act concerning taxes. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speak…”
“Mr. Brauer.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Bill takes into account our American Legion here in Springfield. And what it does is it puts them on the same level playing field that all of the other American Legions are because their parking lot is catty-cornered and not adjacent they’re pay a higher rate 09300110.doc 5 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 and that’s about $6 thousand. So, I’ll take any questions.”
“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? Has Mr. Colvin voted? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 112 people voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 16 of the Calendar there appears House Bill 4688. Mr. Colvin. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 4688, a Bill for an Act concerning education. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Mr. Colvin.”
“Thank you, Mr… excuse me. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 4688 is an initiative of a number of org… community organizations from across the state which came together to address a serious problem with finding quality teachers to accept teaching positions in hard-to-staff schools across the state. House Bill 4688 creates a program at which was concepted in concert with several universities around the State of Illinois, the Board of Higher Education and… Essentially, the program will… is designed to be an incentive program to recruit and attract teaching candidates from communities that come from… for candidates from communities where there are a number of hard-to-staff schools. It’s an incentive program that will 09300110.doc 6 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 offer training, support and in some cases, tuition grants to attract more individuals from these communities who would make a commitment to teaching schools in hard-to- staff communities. The Bill would be subject to appropriation. There’s an identical Bill in the Senate which passed yesterday which is coming to the House. It passed in committee unanimously. There was a Floor Amendment that made some technical changes to the Bill and I… I seek an ‘aye’ vote. And I’ll answer any questions.”
“The Gentleman moves for the passage of the Bill. The Chair recognizes Mr. Parke.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor yields.”
“Good. How’s your red SUV? Are you aware that this is a duplicate of the current scholarship program in Illinois… administered by the Illinois state, the ISAC? Are you aware…”
“Sir, I couldn’t hear you. Could you repeat that?”
“I said, are you aware this is a duplication of a scholarship program administered by the ISAC?”
“There is a program that’s similar, but this program is different in a number of ways. Principally, this program is… was put together in concert with the Board of Higher Ed and a number of community organizations which have monetary dealt with the fact of the problem, excuse me, with the problem of finding good, quality teachers for hard-to-staff schools. Now, the program, which I think, is the marked difference between the program that’s offered by ISAC is 09300110.doc 7 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 that it is community-based. There… and each of the consortiums and what happens, subject to approv… of finance, of course, is there will be a number of different consortiums set up around the state made up of community organizations partnered with a university in that community or close to that community to offer support and training, education, and financial incentives in the name of tuition and possibly transportation for those individuals who will make a commitment to teach in a hard-to-staff school for five or ten years.”
“Well, again, the overall program looks like it has merit, but if you’re putting this program on top of the other one that we already have in place… The fiscal price tag on this for fiscal year ’04, just for the IFTC program, is 7 million and other safe funds is 70 thousand. Then ’05 is 7 million and if it’s under the MTI, the Minority Teachers of Illinois Scholarship, it’s 3,100,000. It’s just a ton of money that’s involved. Is there a fiscal note on this? Are you aware of what your program actually costs the General Revenue Fund?”
“No, there is no fiscal note. In the Bill, we do make allowances for what the Bill may cost over the next several years. However, the Bill is totally subject to… to appropriation.”
“Appropriation.”
“There is no… We’re not asking for a dollar increment the first year of this at all.” 09300110.doc 8 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Well, if it’s subject to appropriation, what’s the effective date on this?”
“I’m sorry?”
“What’s the effective date?”
“July 1, 2004.”
“Okay. And they don’t have any money effective July 1, 2004 for this? They don’t appropriate, we don’t do it. Right? Actually, our… our staff, as sharp as they always are, says it’s January 1, 2005. Is that what you think it is, too, now? With the Amendment changes it to…”
“You’re right.”
“Okay.”
“I apologize.”
“So, if it’s… if there’s no money appropriated, how… This statute goes on the Bill… on… this goes on the statute. If we appropriate money five years from now, then it will go on place. What happens if the next couple years no money’s appropriated?”
“Quite frankly, Representative, it’s my intention that if we are not successful in securing appropriation this year, that perhaps next year, being so optimistic, that we’ll be able to fund this Bill next year. I believe in the merits, more so than anything of the Bill, and again, the big difference between this and ISAC programs is that this was borne out of the community, it’s community-based. And the support for those candidates will come from a number of community organizations and the university which will partner with those community organizations to help 09300110.doc 9 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 those teachers through the… the education process and the certification process.”
“Do you think the price tag on this starting January 1 might be 2 or 3 million dollars at a minimum? Our staff says it’s $13 million total. At this point in time, don’t you think $13 million could be spent on some other really, scaled back areas of our education budget or in other areas then putting it into the worthwhile program at this point. That maybe this is like the commercial says ‘this wine is time is not here yet.’”
“Well, I would… I would use exactly the words you used that this is a worthwhile program…”
“Yeah.”
“…and that when you talk about education and teaching and addressing it across the board, we have to think about those schools where there are a lot of problems keeping, attracting or retaining quality teachers. And a program with the price tag, and I’m not sure about the price tag of being 13 million, I think the number we have here is a little different.”
“Yeah. Well, thank you.”
“But…”
“Thank you, Representative. To the Bill. Ladies and Gentlemen, I reluctantly rise in opposition to this legislation. I would, although it has merit, it’s… it mirrors another program already in place. Even if it’s 10 million or 13 million, it’s a lot of money that we don’t have now that oughta be put somewhere else. I am going to 09300110.doc 10 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 vote ‘present’ to show that because we don’t have funding for this that we ought not to do it. And I would suggest that those that are interested in trying to maintain the money that we currently have for essential state programs might very well consider a ‘present’ vote also. Thank you.”
“Mr. Black.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor yields.”
“Representative, are you familiar with the… excuse me, the Golden Apple Scholarship Program?”
“Vaguely familiar.”
“All right. That’s the problem that I have with the Bill. The Governor has zeroed out funding for that program. And… and I have a Bill that I have filed, I’m not overly optimistic I’ll get to present it to an appropriations committee. But I am asking for $3½ million to be restored to that program and that would be the basis of my… my vote. Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, to the Bill. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, I… I was… I find it incredulous that the Governor zeroed out a very efficient and I think, if you’ve looked at it, a very popular and very well-known scholarship programmed targeted at minorities or other people who would go into teaching in schools that were having a hard time attracting teachers, keeping teachers, helping these teachers get into inner-city schools or schools that had a higher poverty 09300110.doc 11 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 count and it was a very good program. I have letters on my desk from three teachers who went through the Golden Apple Scholarship Program and are currently teaching in underserved schools, all of them writing me and I’m sure you all have received similar letters, to restore funding to the program. It’s in place, it works, it has had a very good, a very positive track record and I just find it incredulous that the Governor zeroed out funding for the Golden Apple Scholarship Program and here we are today being asked to create a new teacher scholarship program that is subject to appropriation, that may or may not be made and in the meantime, while we concentrate on this Bill and I think it’s a good Bill, while we concentrate on this Bill, we’re losing sight of the fact that for 3½ or 4 million dollars we could reinstate the Golden Apple Scholarship Program that is working, has worked well, has placed many teachers in underserved areas and I can’t, for the life of me, understand why that program would be zeroed out and then here we are today being asked to vote to create a new program that has no funding mechanism at this time. I have no problem with this program. If we had the money, if the Golden Apple hadn’t been eliminated, I would probably vote for it. I would just simply say, if you’re like me, trying to figure out how we’re going to fund existing programs that work and have a proven track record, I don’t know how you can vote to create a new program given the fiscal crisis. So, I… I would simply say, in all due respect to the Sponsor, I like this idea, but I am 09300110.doc 12 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 committed to trying to put funding back in the Golden Apple Scholarship Program that has worked and worked very well. And it’s for that reason and that reason alone that I would urge many of my colleagues to vote ‘present’ on this Bill.”
“All right. Ladies and Gentlemen, if I could have your attention. On this Bill, Mr. Colvin has spoken for the Bill, Mr. Parke and Mr. Black have spoken in response. There are three people seeking recognition. And under the rules, we will have one more in response and two as proponents of the Bill. The next person would be Mr. Hultgren.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. Again, I greatly respect the Sponsor on this, but I’m also concerned. I just had a… a wonderful, young woman in my office this morning who is a part of the Golden Apple Scholarship Program. A very, very sharp, very dedicated to serving as a teacher in a high-need area and I was told that approximately 900 people are already in process with the Golden Apple Program, either out teaching or in training to become teachers. As I read through the legislation here, in our summary, it sounds like the intent of this legislation is over the next 12 years or so that by 2016 to have a thousand people in this program. We already have 900 in the Golden Apple Program. It sounds like it’s doing very well, being very successful, very effective in how they use the money that they have. I also am extremely disappointed in the Governor zeroing out a program that is absolutely having a great impact and drawing people in, has 09300110.doc 13 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 been run well to the best of my knowledge. Everything I’ve seen, no one is opposed to the Golden Apple Program and how it’s doing. I think, again, nothing against this program, but to zero out one program that’s already working to start up something else that won’t have the impact that the one we have right now is doing for another 12 or 13 years seems like, again, how government works and how we lose the confidence of people out in the public and I think it’s the wrong way to go. Again, I… I… the program sounds like a good program, but I also will vote ‘present’ on this because I think we should first fund the program that’s already working. If we have extra and additional money, then maybe we could look at adding additional people or doing this other program if there’s areas that aren’t being served by the Golden Apple. But to zero that out, which is what the Governor, at my understanding, is proposing to create something else that, again, wouldn’t have the same impact that the program we’ve got right now is going to have for another 12 or 13 years seems disingenuous and is absolutely the wrong way to go. So, again, with all due respect to the Sponsor, I’m gonna vote ‘present’ on it until I know that we can first fund the Golden Apple and then maybe if we extra money, go back and address these issues, as well. Thank you.”
“All right. Ladies and Gentlemen, again, we have now has three in response, so we are finished with those in response. There are two people seeking 09300110.doc 14 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 recognition. Representative Howard, did you wish to speak for the Bill? Representative Howard.”
“Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker and my colleagues. Ya know, most of the news that we get about our schools is negative. In fact, I’m just wondering what is it that we can do to make certain that our young people are going to have bright futures. This is probably the first generation coming behind us that will not have things as good as we had them and I’m very concerned about that. Now, certainly, there have been many programs and each time they’re introduced that’s programs that are going to solve the problem. The problem appears not to have been solved and I’m very concerned about that. I am a cosponsor of this Bill and I commend my colleague for having sponsored it because I see it as a way that we can continue to address the problem. Now, maybe there is some similarity with some other program, but this is a program that we think is going to move closer to solution. I therefore hope that my colleagues will, in fact, give this program a chance. What a wonderful concept, to grow our own. Please, think about it, think about our children and ‘green’ votes on this legislation. Thank you.”
“The last speaker will be Mr. Delgado.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. I, too, rise in strong support of House Bill 4688 because as a state I know that we’re a very sophisticated state and one program should not suffer over another. I know that we can walk and chew gum at the same time. I know that we can be 09300110.doc 15 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 multitasked. I know that we can do many, many great things in this state because we have wonderful educators, we have wonderful people in this state, but just as important, growing our own. Actually, Mr. Speaker, will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor yields.”
“Because there are a couple questions before I do a closing, I started the closing.”
“Right. Good.”
“But Representative, wouldn’t this program, its aim, to continue to try to deal with a problem in our communities to find qualified teachers that can help us in primarily low-income areas? Representative, my question to you, Sir…”
“We couldn’t hear you back here. I’m sorry.”
“Isn’t it true that this particular Bill will also help pri… provide or retain qualified teachers in primarily low-income areas?”
“Yes, absolutely and…”
“And isn’t it true and it helps identify young people who are doin’ some quality work in education to help them become certified teachers and help them stay in their communities? Would that be also true?”
“Representative, yes. I would just like to remind you that the name of the Bill is ‘grow our own teachers.’”
“And I’m very proud of that title because I’m growing one at home myself. My son, Reuben, is 21 years old and will be a teacher next year as a secondary education 09300110.doc 16 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 teacher at a… with a second major in Spanish. So, to the Bill, Mr. Speaker. Just briefly, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have to find ways to be able to fund the Golden Apple. We have to find ways and we know that we can do many things in this Legislature over the next few years. As the economy grows, we know that we too can add and find out because I’m a big Sponsor, a big supporter of the Golden Apple. But to be able to throw out the baby with the bathwater, so to speak, I think we’re doing an injustice here to many people who wanna go into these schools and is so hard and are targeted to failure and yet, they’re gonna be able to go in and work with students who have many, many different situations at home and be able to get them to concentrate on doing one thing and that’s getting educated. So, I would ask for a lot of ‘green’ lights on this one and I know that let’s understand that this… our work here is protracted and that it’s gonna take us time to get everything back on our agenda as the state gets fiscally sound. However, let’s not cut off our nose in spite of our face and let’s give this an opportunity and let’s not put any fertilizer or rather let’s put some fertilizer on this plan to grow instead of trying to pull it like a weed and kill it. I would ask for an ‘aye’ vote.”
“The question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ Those in favor signify by voting ‘yes’; those opposed by voting ‘no’. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Has Mr. Granberg voted? Has Mr. Brauer voted? Has Mr. Brauer voted? The Clerk shall take the record. On 09300110.doc 17 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 this question, there are 84 people voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Chair recognizes Representative Eileen Lyons for the purpose of an announcement.” Lyons, E.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today we have with us Girl Scout Troop 278 from St. John of the Cross Parish School in Western Springs and I’d like you to all… to give them a very good, warm welcome. Will you please stand up? Thank you.”
“On page 15 of the Calendar there appears House Bill 4410. Mr. Brauer. Mr. Brauer, 4410.”
“Am I on? Okay. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. 4400 (sic- 4410) amends the Illinois Optometric Practice Act of 1987. It allows the department to prosecute both the business owner and the clerk for illegal sale of contacts. Currently, the department can only take action against the sales clerk for selling wild eyes or colored lenses to children which have become a fashion fad. This Bill would allow the department to focus the punishment on the responsible party. Ask for your favorable vote on this and I’ll defer all questions to Representative Saviano.”
“Mr. Clerk, read the Bill for a third time.”
“House Bill 4410, a Bill for an Act concerning professional regulations. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Mr. Saviano.” 09300110.doc 18 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House. House Bill 4410 simply puts in, provides the civil penalty language that we’ve been putting in all the licensure Acts. This is an initiative of the Illinois Optometric Association. It’s supported by the Illinois Association of Ophthalmology and in cooperation with the Department of Professional Regulation. There’s no known opponents to this. And I would ask for your favorable vote.”
“Mr. Franks.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor yields.”
“Skip, I’m reading the analysis and it shows that the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation is opposed. Is that an error?”
“No, no, no. They’re not opposed.”
“They’re not opposed. That’s what it shows in our analysis. All right, thank you.”
“The question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ Those in favor signify by voting ‘yes’; those opposed by voting ‘no’. Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, 112 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 6739. Mr. Colvin. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 6739, a Bill for an Act concerning human rights. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Mr. Colvin.” 09300110.doc 19 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 6739, it’s a Bill that would create or give the Department of Human Rights the ability to charge a fee for their training. Now, let me just explain what ‘fee’ means here. Now, this isn’t an ability they have right now. Now, the Department of Human Rights offers training to a number of private companies across the State of Illinois who may contact them and come in and teach about diversity issues, sensitivity training on the job, sensitivity and things of that nature, how to deal with a dispute between employees and what have you. Now, there a number of private companies in the State of Illinois and across the country that already offer this training and they offer it to groups from anywhere from the size of 10 to 10 thousand, depending on the size of the company. Now, the Department of Human Rights do the same thing. The fees will be modest, but what the fees will allow them to do is to continue to upgrade and improve their training capabilities and to expand their capacity to train. Now, it is totally up to a private employer whether or not they contract with the Department of Human Rights to offer this training. Currently, they can either call the Department of… Department of Human Rights to get this training for free. We’re asking to have… give them the ability to charge a fee which is extremely competitive. I believe the training fee that they’re proposing are between 500 and 1500 dollars per training class regardless of the number of people in the class. They bring all the equipment, the printed materials, so they’re already 09300110.doc 20 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 incurring a cost when they’re contacted to do this. In addition, the State of Illinois… any agency of the State of Illinois, any public university, any… any community college, any not-for-profit organization can still contact the Department of Human Rights and receive this training for free. This fee would only impact private industry companies who contract with all types of consulting firms already across the country to come in and do this type of training. The Department of Human Rights is only asking for the ability to charge a fee when they go out and have to spend their money and their resources. It allows them to recoup as well as train and upgrade their facilities and their capacities to do training. I’ll take any questions.”
“Representative Mulligan.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor yields.”
“Representative, I understand that the Governor is proposing to combine the Human Rights Commission and the Department of Human Rights which, in one instance, I feel would be a little bit of conflict and also, are you trying to tell me you don’t know what the fees are going to be for this law… ya know, training that the state wants people to comply with and we made the laws that said if you don’t comply with ‘em you’re gonna be in trouble and now we’re gonna charge companies, not individuals, for this training and you can’t tell me how much?”
“We do have that information. We had it in committee. I apologize for not having it here. But in committee, I 09300110.doc 21 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 believe, we testified that the fees would be between 500 and 1500 dollars, depending on the type of training and what materials would be needed to offer the training at a particular class and site.”
“Currently, do they offer this training for free?”
“To colleges, universities. They do do it to some private companies now. They have always done it to any state agency, any university, any community college, any not-for-profit organization. They have and will continue to do it for those entities for free. We’re speaking only of for profit companies who, right now, have the right to call up XYZ Consulting Firm and have another firm come in and charge anywhere from 100 to 10 thousand for a day or two of training on some of the issues that Human Rights can do. The only thing, the Human Rights is not looking to make a profit here. All they’re trying to do is to recoup when they’re asked to come out and offer this training to a company of say 200 employees, they have to have printed materials, they have to have a computer, perhaps, to do some type of display. They have to travel to that site, maybe someone from the Department of Human Rights have to stay over in some hotel somewhere. The fees would simply help them cover their costs as well as upgrade their training and to be able to expand their capacity to deal with larger companies that may want to offer this training. So, it’s not a profit motive here. It’s to cover their costs when they go out and offer this type of training.”
“So…” 09300110.doc 22 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“And believe… this is to…”
“I hope I heard you, but let me summarize. They currently do this for not-for-profit and universities for nothing. They currently do it for some companies for nothing. And do these companies come to them and ask for them to do this or do they do it because they’ve had a previous violation or how do they provide training to private entities now?”
“No. It is totally permissible for any company. They have the total option or right. I don’t believe that in any case they are compelled to contract with the State of Illinois. Most companies, in this day and age, who offer this type of training, do so for diversity purposes and dealin’ with diversity, conflict resolution, sensitivity training of these types of nature. And if they… and if they are required by some court action or whatever, they’re not required to do it with the State of Illinois. They can hire some private consulting firm and do it that way as well. No company, in the State of Illinois, is required to contract with the State of Illinois to do this training.”
“So, you’re carrying… are you carrying this Bill for the Department of Human Rights?”
“I am.”
“At the Governor’s request?”
“No. The director of Human Rights called my office and asked if I would call this up. I haven’t heard from the Governor’s Office on this Bill.” 09300110.doc 23 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Okay. Will this be in lieu to cutting their budget or what happens if they combine the two agencies?”
“I didn’t hear you.”
“Would it be in lieu to cutting their budget or would it be or what happens if they combine the two agencies?”
“Representative, you have to draw your own conclusions on that. They are asking and I…”
“Well, Representative, I heard a rumor that the Governor’s gonna install pay toilets in the legislative bathrooms. I mean, give me a break here. We’re charging for everything. I really don’t understand this. I don’t know. Are we gonna be in the business of providing…”
“Once again…”
“…training and are we gonna have liability insurance if we don’t do the training right or if the groups don’t have a violation after they’ve been trained by the State of Illinois and if we make money on this, is it gonna help with the budget? I mean, I don’t understand this. If we require people to do this, we require companies to do it, we’re already providing some of the training for free. I understand if they wanna pay, they can outsource and go somewhere else, but all of a sudden, we’re gonna be in the business of charging to provide this training from two agen… or one agency that may be combined with another agency.”
“I think you’re trying to overunderstand it, actually. This is real simple. The way it was explained to me, the way we articulated it in committee, this is simply… a 09300110.doc 24 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 simple fact they’re trying to cover their costs when they are contracted by organizations, to cover their costs for travel, for stay overnight, from their printed materials, the cost of computers or display mechanisms that they may have to use or rent to make these… to make these presentations. The fees are modest and highly compatible… competitive with what private companies charge for this type of training on a routine basis. As it relates to are we gonna have liability insurance, the Department of Human Rights are not gonna offer any different type of training that they have already done. All they’re asking for is the ability to charge a fee when they do offer this type of training to private companies.”
“Did they give you a list of what it currently is costing them to provide the training or their cost for traveling to provide the training…”
“They did not, but…”
“…and how many companies they actually do this for?”
“They did not, but I would imagine that if they’re asked to travel to some location and have to put two or several staff members in a hotel and to have printed materials, that they do incur some cost for that.”
“I just find this extremely interesting.”
“Mr. Black.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor yields.” 09300110.doc 25 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Representative, as far as you know, does the Governor still have a hiring freeze in effect?”
“Can you repeat that? Hiring freeze…”
“Does the Governor still have a hiring freeze in effect?”
“I’m not sure, Representative.”
“I’m not sure either. I… I thought he did. The reason I ask the question is that the fiscal note prepared by the Department of Human Rights says that they will have to add two PSA classification at an annual salary of $40 thousand, retirement, Social Security, fringe benefits, travel and commodities, et cetera, for a total of $102 thousand to put this program on. Now, I was under the impression, and I may be wrong, I was under the impression that we were still in a hiring freeze and yet, should your Bill become law, the Department of Human Rights says, in their fiscal note, that they will have to hire two new people whose total salary and benefits would come to a grand total of $94,440. And then you add travel, commodities and tele… telecommunications for another 7 thousand. That’s a lot of money for a state that doesn’t have any. How’s that gonna work?”
“The Department of Human Rights was designed, in part, to deal with specifically these types of issues, to offer a service to organizations as it relates to dealing with issues of human rights.” 09300110.doc 26 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Are there no companies or community colleges or community-based organizations that already offer these kinds of training seminars?”
“And if they… if there are, these companies totally have the option… No one is required to contract with the Department of Human Rights to offer this type of training.”
“No. That isn’t what I asked…”
“So, there’s no one who’ll have to pay the fee if they don’t…”
“No.”
“…contact the Department of Human Rights.”
“Representative, that isn’t what I asked you.”
“But your que… to answer your question, I’m not sure. I don’t know.”
“Well, I think, having spent ten years in the community college system, I feel somewhat qualified to tell you that there are a number of community education outreach programs in community colleges, the University of Illinois extension, some universities offer these programs, some religious-based organizations offer them and they put these programs on in communities all over the state. Now, since there are people already doing this training, why does the Department of Human Services feel it necessary to get into the training business?”
“They already do it. They already do it. If this Bill goes into law, they won’t be doin’ one thing different than they already do.”
“Well, this…” 09300110.doc 27 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“All they’re asking for is the ability to charge a fee…”
“Oh, okay.”
“…to private companies…”
“Okay.”
“…when they’re asked to do this to… to cover their expenses and costs for doing so.”
“So… so, there is one thing different, they already do the training. The one thing different is now they’re going to charge for it.”
“Well… And they’re only charging and their fees will only cover the cost of travel, the printed materials and any display mechanisms that they may have to rent or to…”
“All right. I…”
“…make their display or make their…”
“Sure.”
“…presentation.”
“No, I understand. You have to cover your overhead and a portion of your expanses. What… what would be the average charge to a private company that wanted to send employees to a Department of Human Services training program? Does… Has the department given you any idea what they would charge for a five-hour seminar?”
“Could you ask that que… You said what a private company charges?”
“No.”
“Or what the state would… what the state would charge?” 09300110.doc 28 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Has… has the Department of Human Services given you any indication as to what they would charge for a three-hour seminar, an all-day seminar, a five-hour seminar, however many of hours of training they offer?”
“In committee, they testified that their typical fees will be between 500 and 1500, keepin’ in mind that would be very competitive to the fees charged by private companies which range anywhere from 100 to 10 thousand dollars depending on the size and scope of the training.”
“Okay. How much money do they… are they anticipating raising from the training function that they would now get into for money?”
“Quite…”
“How much money do they think they can bring in?”
“Quite frankly, Representative Black, I don’t think they were approaching this as, you know, a profit making mechanism. So, they didn’t… I don’t think they argued this Bill or prepared this Bill to make a statement that we would make ‘x’ amount of dollars. The purpose and the motivation, again, for charging the fee is to recoap… recoup the costs that they have to expend to offer this training to some companies.”
“Well, Representative, that’s cross-pressure with your previous answer. They were gonna charge somewhere between 500 and some dollars an hour, whatever. But they’re not out to make money? Well, if…”
“I didn’t say that they would be charging that on a per hour basis.” 09300110.doc 29 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Well, you…”
“It would be a fee between 500 and 1500 dollars depending on the training.”
“This is what I’m trying to get at. If they travel to Danville and give an all day seminar, there are meals, there are travel expenses, they may have to stay over night. All those expenses plus a prorated portion of the people’s salary and fringe benefits, cell phones, would have to be charged against that seminar. I’m trying to get in my mind what the department thinks they would have to charge to do this new task.”
“Again, between 500 and 1500 dollars. I would imagine that fee and the difference between the fee would be, perhaps, distance traveled, how many days, how many employees, what materials, if you had to have… I imagine it’d be a difference of having printed materials for a company of 10 versus a company of 100.”
“So, in other words, their fee structure would have to be based on some formula that they put these on at no loss or they would very quickly have to be subsidized. So, it’s your intent that they either cover the entire cost of the operation or… or we’d have to reexamine… we’d have to reexamine the operation, in my opinion. Let… let me ask you another question. If a company was found in violation of various human rights rules and regulations and paid a fine and in the judgment there was a statement that you need to, as a company, you need to open dialogue and bring your employees and your managers and your staff up to speed 09300110.doc 30 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 on what you can do and what you can’t do in the area of human rights. And so, they’ve just paid a fine and now they’re being told you really need to sensitize your… your staff to the violation. Now, my… my fear is, under that scenario, someone from the Department of Human Services would call and say, you know we just happen to offer that training and we’d be glad to come over and offer it to your company for $500 a day, a thousand dollars a day, whatever the cost would be. Don’t you think that would put that company in a very difficult position?”
“There have been a number of companies that have probably been sued for some type of human, not human services, as you said, but human rights violations in their company and I would suspect that those companies, based on the materials the Department of Human Rights has given me, that in those cases those companies have to go out and contract with a qualified company to do that training. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the State of Illinois Human Rights Department. It can be XYZ Consulting Firm that will come out and offer that training.”
“And I agree with you completely. But I’m much older than you are and in my lifetime, I know the subtle pressure that government can put on a company. Here’s a government agency that just fined you, found you guilty of several violations and then within an hour or two, a representative of that government department calls and says, we put on training and I would suggest that you sign up today. The manager or the owner of that company is gonna say, oh, oh, 09300110.doc 31 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 if I don’t do this training, they may continue to find violations of human rights in my business. Government can put very subtle and sometimes not so subtle pressure on a business to take the government service rather than a private firm they may wish to contract with.”
“Representative, assuming that was true, I still don’t understand what that has to do with the Department of Human Rights trying to and currently they don’t market this on radio, on television and if you’re making some accusation that this is some attempt to coerce companies…”
“Representative…”
“…to contract with the State of Illinois to do training, I think that’s a little farfetched.”
“Oh, I don’t think it’s farfetched at all. Have you ever owned a bus…”
“You’re right, you’re older than me, so you might be right.”
“Oh, all… Have you ever owned a business?”
“No, Sir.”
“Have you ever worked in a private business?”
“No, Sir.”
“I have and let me tell you something, and I mean this sincerely, and you need to consider this. If you don’t think government coerces people into taking government services, you’re sadly mistaken.”
“I just don’t think that’s the motivation here.”
“Well, I don’t… I don’t know what the motivation is. This Bill is so open-ended I don’t think… I don’t think 09300110.doc 32 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 the… anyone can tell us what the motivation is. Mr. Speaker, to the Bill. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, here we have, once again, we’re in a budget crisis and yet almost every Bill we’ve talked about today adds money to the budget. Spend, spend, spend. I… I’m getting a very mixed signal from the Governor and the Office of Management and Budget and the House and the Senate. The Governor and the Office of Management and Budget say we’re broke, we have to reign in government spending and every Bill we’ve talked about today requires new government spending on new programs. I would just submit to you, having grown up in a family-owned business, if you don’t know the pressure that business can bring to bear for you to avail yourself of their service when they can regulate you and fine you literally out of business, you just simply haven’t been around the block as many times as I have. But the bottom line is this, there are hundreds of companies that offer this training, hundreds of them, there is no reason for the Department of Human Services to create a new branch that costs money to duplicate services that are already there and all of this at a time when we have no money. You know why we have no money, nobody will stand up and say, stop, stop the inexorable growth of government. Stop it. We can’t afford it. There are hundreds of companies that do this every day and they do it very well. It isn’t necessary for government to do it, we can’t afford it. For heaven’s sake, at some point, regardless of our philosophical differences if you wanna get out of debt and 09300110.doc 33 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 you refuse to raise taxes, then let’s just say, government’s growth must stop. And I thought I heard the Governor say a month ago, maybe I misunderstood him, that the growth in government spending must be curtailed. Vote ‘no’.”
“Representative Kelly.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. I stand in strong support of this Bill. IDHR has been doing this training for at least three to four years now and they typically do the training free, but when they are doing it for a private entity, they should have the right to charge. I do diversity trainings and I’m also a Cook County Human Rights Commissioner and when companies have been found in violation, they have the option of choosing whatever training they want to choose. They’re not… We don’t force ‘em to choose the government training. So, IDHR is just trying to reimburse themselves and also, there is extra money. They can enhance their training and give further free training to other governmental agencies and employees and to schools. So, I urge an ‘aye’ vote.”
“The question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ Those in favor signify by voting ‘yes’; those opposed by voting ‘no’. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Has Mr. Granberg voted? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 46 ‘ayes’ and 65 ‘noes’. Mr. Clerk, is the record open or closed? Okay. The record is closed. Mr. Colvin, you need 47 votes for Postponed Consideration. So, the 09300110.doc 34 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 declaration is that the Bill fails. The Chair recognizes Mr. McCarthy, Mr. Kevin McCarthy.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to, of course, call House Resolution 753, at this time.”
Speaker Madigan: “Mr. Clerk, House Resolution 753. Mr. McCarthy, what’s your pleasure on this matter?”
“Excuse me?”
“What is your pleasure on this, what did you propose to do?”
“Well, I think instead of reading the Resolution, I’m just gonna make a little… a couple statements here and…”
“Very good, proceed.”
“…I’d appreciate that. So, I’m proud to present House Resolution 753. It just disappeared from the board, but now it’s back up there. I was joined by Coach Noah Cannon. He’s in the middle there next to Representative Mary Flowers. Coach Noah Cannon is the, of course, the head coach of the Leo Lions basketball team, the Class A State Champions this year. And the coach did this in his first year as the head coach and also has the distinction of being the youngest head coach in the history of the State of Illinois to lead a team to a state championship. So, we’re real proud of ‘em. The coach is also joined by Tracy Robinson and Keelan Donald who are the two captains of the Leo Lions. And so, we’re really, really happy that they joined us today. I… I wanna thank everybody for wearing their orange and black shirts ‘cause that’s our team colors of the Leo High School. But they’ve… they’ve… 09300110.doc 35 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 it’s our first basketball state champion, Keelan’s putting on the thing right now and… and I think if… and I think if the Illini had Keelan in the starting lineup tonight, they might have a better chance than they do right now. But… so, I’m real proud of that. But I also wanna salute my good friend Representative Tenhouse for giving us the opposition in the semifinals, Quincy Notre Dame, they… they did a good job, but they just couldn’t stand up against the Lions might and… as our fight song goes. And of course, my good friend Jim Sacia here from the Winnebago Indians who fought all the way to the championship game, but of course, came up a little short so that my Lions could be the state champion. I wanna especially thank Representative Mary Flowers, my old high school is in her district and she was nice enough to allow me to be the Chief Sponsor of this Resolution. So I’m very, very proud of the young men from Leo. I’m proud of their basketball accomplishments, but I’m also proud of the fact that more than 95 percent of them go on to college every year. And that’s what’s the greatest thing about that little school on 79th Street. So, I… I will bring the Resolutions back to the high school. Every young man on the team will, of course, get a copy of the Resolution and I’d like Representative Mary Flowers just to say a word or two in congratulating the young men.”
“Thank you very much, Representative McCarthy and thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I’m very proud to say that these are the champions 09300110.doc 36 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 and they came from the great district of the 31st District in the State of Illinois. And I would like to compliment these young men because despite the fact it’s been a few years since Representative McCarthy left this school, but as you see the greatness still go on and this is an… in spite of his absence. So, once again, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the House of Representatives and please, keep up the good work. Thank you.”
“Mr. McCarthy.”
“Mr. Speaker, I also would like to announce that we’re really happy today to have Senator Ed Maloney who, like myself, is a proud alum of Leo High School and also Senator Jackie Collins who represents that area came over from the Senate to join us in this celebration, so thank you very much.”
“On page 14 of the Calendar there appears House Bill 3821. Representative Kurtz. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”
“House Bill 3821, a Bill for an Act in relation to vehicles. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Representative Kurtz. Representative Kurtz.”
“Thank… thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Bill, 3821, comes about because of a… a very bloody accident in my district last summer. The heart of the Bill is in its requirement that the operator of a waterborne vessel who has failed to stop and give assistance after an accident, as currently is required by the Act. They must report the accident within 09300110.doc 37 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 one hour after the accident or if hospitalized and incapacitated from reporting within one hour, after discharge from the hospital. They must report it to a police station or sheriff’s office near the scene of the accident. And I would be very happy to answer any questions that you have about the increase in penalties for this and also operating under the influence.”
“The Lady moves for the passage of the Bill. The Chair recognizes Mr. Franks.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor yields.”
“Representative, I applaud you for bringing this to the floor. I know we worked on this in McHenry County. We had meetings with the sheriff on this and I’m glad to see your Bill is so comprehensive. But I have a question when it comes to the DUI penalties.”
“Yes.”
“I know that was… What happened in this case, allegedly, the perpetrator was under the influence. And my question here, if there’s able to… if you’re able to prove that the driver of the boat is under the influence, what additional penalties does this Bill now provide?”
“It is a Class IV felony if the accident caused a very serious physical injur… injury or a Class II felony if there’s a loss of life.”
“I… I see here you’re talking… would the operator of the vehicle or of the boat lose his or her ability to operate a boat if they’re convicted of that DUI?” 09300110.doc 38 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“That’s correct. They are… Could you report… repeat…”
“Yeah.”
“…the rest of it.”
“Yeah.”
“I only heard part of it.”
“I’m wondering if the boat operator is convicted of DUI…”
“Mmm mmm.”
“…would that person then lose the ability to pilot a boat for some period of time?”
“Yes, for a year.”
“For one year?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“My question is, have we gone farther, because if they are found guilty of DUI while driving a boat, would they also then be prohibited from driving a motor vehicle, a car, for that same amount of time?”
“No, they’re not.”
“’Cause that’s… I… I think… I know we talked about that when we were talking about putting this Bill together. Is there some reason that it had been left out? Is that an oversight?”
“We’re only trying to bring up the lack of laws of operating under the influence, bring them up to the Vehicular Code, so we didn’t get into the…”
“What… I understand we’re trying to make the… the punishment as severe as if they were driving a car, but my point is, if they’re driving under the influence in one 09300110.doc 39 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 type of vehicle and they’re barred from driving, shouldn’t they be barred from driving a car as well as driving a boat?”
“At this time, while you get a DUI in the car you can still operate a boat. So, we were really getting into a great expansion of the law by going into the vehicular.”
“I think we should though. And I’m wondering if this is something we… would you be amenable to another Floor Amendment that would allow that if you lose your license for driving under the influence for a car or a boat, that you would not be able to drive either a car or a boat? I think that would put more teeth into the law.”
“The people of the area where I come from, the sheriff’s department of not only McHenry County but Lake County, the Marine Unit, are very anxious to get this into law and we’ve been waiting for a long time. People reacted after that operat… that horrible accident where a young man lost part of his leg and involved DUI. We think, also, with the hit and run aspect, they want the law right now and I’ve been working on it since June and have consulted with LRB… LB… LRB and the Coast Guard through the summer months and have lobbied with my colleagues. And so, I would like to see the… this Bill addressed and I would appreciate the vote on it, but I do think Representative Franks has a good point. And that I had hoped that he will introduce that Bill and work as hard on it as I have for the last eight months.” 09300110.doc 40 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Representative, I’m not trying to torpedo the Bill. I’m trying to make it better and I’m wondering if you’d be amenable to having this amended in the Senate to put more teeth into it? ‘Cause I think it’s a good Bill now, but I think it could be better ‘cause I just don’t think it goes far enough. And I’m wondering if we pass this here today, I think we will, I’m gonna ask everyone to vote for it, would you be willing to have this amended in the Senate and then sent back over with those extra provisions? Because the Bill that is run… that’s run through the Senate, that Senator Althoff had, does… doesn’t go as far as yours does. And I’d like to… I’d like to accomplish more with your Bill, if we could.”
“I know that you and Senator Althoff have a very good relationship and that if you talk to her, she will help promote that in the… in the Senate, but it is up to the Senators and I know that you have a good relationship and I go along with whatever, but I would like to see this pass out of the House today.”
“All right. So, you wouldn’t be opposed to an Amendment in the Senate then?”
“No, if it came back from the Senate…”
“Okay.”
“…with that on. That’s fine.”
“Well, thank you. I appreciate your work on this.”
“Mr. Black. Mr. Black.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?” 09300110.doc 41 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Sponsor yields.”
“Representative, I just… I just have two questions. One, that perplexes me. The owner/operator of a boat does not have a license that can be readily tracked, suspended, et cetera, do they? They have a boat registration, but you need no license to operate a boat. So, if, in fact, they have had their privileges suspended, how does that work? I mean, what… what database is used… If I get into trouble in the northern part of the state and I take my boat down to Lake Shelbyville, south of my home county, and I get pulled over by the lake patrol or the sheriff’s patrol or the Conservation Police, how are they going to know that I’ve been charged with a felony or that I have lost, supposedly lost, the ability to operate a watercraft?”
“The database of DNR and that is the principal agency that will be enforcing this, this will register their loss of license who register with these…”
“They don’t have a license.”
“That lost… excuse me, loss of privilege. I missed your point there. A loss of privilege and that is in the database.”
“They don’t have anything. I mean, you just get in and drive a boat. You don’t have a license, you don’t have a privilege, you don’t have a piece of paper.”
“A privilege is different than a license.”
“What license?” 09300110.doc 42 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“That… that’s what I said. There’s… I mean… I’m saying privilege is different and they have a privilege to drive the… the watercraft. Like when they…”
“Well, I’ll grant you that… I’ll grant you that…”
“…injure somebody or kill somebody then they lose the privilege. If it’s DUI, they lose the privilege.”
“And believe me, I’m all for your Bill and I… but I… I’m trying to figure out how a database will reflect that I am not supposed to be operating a watercraft when there is no driver’s license number. What… The arresting officer in the initial boat accident, what… what is that officer going to do? Is he going to enter the registration number of the boat, registration license or register you by name? I hope you’re not gonna ask for Social Security number because of identity theft.”
“I’ll be… in the Amendment, one of the Amendments that we, after consulting with the Coast Guard and the Federal Code speaks of and we include numbering of the boat and…”
“Yeah. You have to get a tax…”
“Right. What… what… but there’s only…”
“…what I call a tax stamp that goes on your boat.”
“…Social Security isn’t involved.”
“Oh, good. Well, and I didn’t think you’d go there. Oh, okay.”
“But when you do report your hit and run or I mean, if there’s an accident…”
“Okay. Well…”
“…and you go… you do have to…” 09300110.doc 43 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Sure.” Kurtz “…say your name and give some information.”
“But I assume that you’ve cleared this with DNR and they feel comfortable…”
“Yes, I have.”
“…that they can track that operator.”
“They’re… Yes. Yeah.”
“Okay, that’s fine. The second question is simply one and I’ll defer to your staff or to a lawyer. I don’t see in the Bill any language that says ‘knowingly’ or ‘willfully’ leaving the scene of an accident and when you… when you drive a boat, depending on the waterway that you’re on, you can hit, in a thousand yards, you can hit two or three logs, you can bump up against a sandbar. I mean, you can really get bounced around in a boat and unless you see something or hear something, you wouldn’t normally stop. You would just assume you hit a log or a buried object or something and if you later find out that you, in fact, hit someone who was fishing or swimming, surely there has to be some standard that you willing… knowingly and willfully left the scene of an accident.”
“Okay. What caused the outrage from all those who read about this accident was that the operator of one watercraft collided with another. The young man that was driving the other one was thrown or jumped into the water and had his leg cut off. He cried for help. There was a girlfriend with him and she called on a cell phone to the police. She 09300110.doc 44 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 was pretty hysterical, but finally the police were able to locate where…”
“Okay.”
“…but in the meantime, this man who… girl… woman, we don’t know sure… for sure who was driving the other boat, stopped and said, ‘Is there any… are you okay?’ And this man kept screaming and then they pulled away. So, it’s obvious to the person that pulled away that it was a… he was…”
“Okay.”
“…hit and run.”
“Well, I applaud you for addressing a problem that… that happened in your district. I certainly intend to vote for your Bill. You may want staff to check with the Senate. It… it just seems to me that you may want to add a section on ‘knowingly’ or ‘willfully’ leaving the scene of an accident because there are times at twilight or early morning that you could hit something and not know it was a human…”
“Well, that’s true.”
“…and just assuming it was a log. The second thing I think you really need to check on in the Senate is how this database will work, because I can go anywhere in the state and rent a boat. I can… I can operate my brother’s boat. He has a different license number. I’ve sold mine, but he has a different registration on his boat so I could go down and, if I had a drinking problem or something, then I… I could rent a boat or I could use somebody else’s boat and 09300110.doc 45 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 I’m just… I’m… I’m concerned that the DNR officer may not be able to track me just by name alone. But… if you’ve talked with them, I know it will be worked out. But those are two things that you might wanna look into before the… before the Bill gets out of the Senate. And again, I intend to vote for your Bill.”
“And thank you very much. And in the Bill throughout the Boat Safety Code why we’ve added in actual physical control. But I would be very happy to accept that and ask the Senate too. And you can give me those words again, willing fully and knowingly, I guess. I urge an ‘aye’ vote on this.”
Speaker Turner: “Representative Turner in the Chair. The question is, ‘Shall House Bill 3821 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 112 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 14 on the Calendar, on Third Reading, we have House Bill 3963. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 3963, a Bill for an Act concerning health. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“The Lady from Cook, Representative Davis.” Davis, M.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 3963, with Amendment #1, defines the minority group and the purpose is for clinical research in which women and minorities must be 09300110.doc 46 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 included when they carry out research on subjects in reference to medical trials. This Bill also asks that the researchers follow the guidelines of the National Institute for Health. And I’ll be happy to answer questions.”
“The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Parke, for what reason do you rise?”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“She indicates she will.”
“Is this… is this… why is this… why shouldn’t women and minority be a part of this anyway?” Davis, M.: “Well, sometimes, Representative, trials are made and women and minorities are not included and the result is that if a person becomes ill with something, a particular medicine doesn’t work very well with them which helps to extend their hospital stay or their need for medical service. However, had they been a part of the medical trials, the medical profession would know that this particular medicine works better than another particular medicine. So, we’re merely asking that the researchers follow the guideline of the National Institute for Health.”
“Okay. Thank you, Representative.”
“Seeing no further questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 3963 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 should take the record. On this question, there are 112 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the 09300110.doc 47 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, will you read the Rules Report?”
Clerk Mahoney: “Representative Barbara Flynn Currie, Chairperson from the Committee on Rules, to which the following legislative measure/s and/or joint action Motions was/were referred, action taken on March 26, 2004, reported the same back with the following recommendation/s: 'approved for floor consideration' Amendment #1 to House Bill 3890; Amendment #1 to House Bill 3980; Amendment #1 to House Bill 3981; Amendment #2 to House Bill 4012; Amendment #3 to House Bill 4059; Amendment #1 to House Bill 4154; Amendment #1 to House Bill 4241; Amendment #2 to House Bill 4566; Amendment #2 to House Bill 4712; Amendment #2 to House Bill 4735; Amendment #2 to House Bill 4825; Amendment #1 to House Bill 4851; Amendment #1 to House Bill 4962; Amendment #3 to House Bill 5180; Amendment #1 to House Bill 5889 and Amendment #1 to House Bill 6951.”
Speaker Turner: “Mr. Clerk, what’s the status of House Resolution 753?”
Clerk Mahoney: “House Resolution 753 is on the Order of Resolutions.”
Speaker Turner: “And that Resolution was read earlier… previously, am I correct? Representative, would you… Representative McCarthy moves for the adoption of House Resolution 753. All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Resolution is adopted. The Lady 09300110.doc 48 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 from Lake, Representative Ryg, for what reason do you rise?”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to table House Bill 3994.”
“The Lady moves to table House Bill 3… 399. All those in favor say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair… 3994. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And the table… Bill will be tabled. On the Order of Third Reading, on page 15, we have House Bill 4280. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4280, a Bill for an Act concerning special assessments. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Davis.” Davis, W.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, House Bill 4280, this is a Bill that would allow municipalities to collect overdue fines for building code violations as a special assessment on property taxes. This would streamline the collection process for municipalities by keeping the collection process out of the court system and allow municipal employees to focus on building code enforcement. Not only would this bring additional revenue for that particular municipality, which currently may be going uncollected, it would be an incentive for the landlords to correct their building code violations so their properties will be safer for their tenants. There was some opposition from the realtors which we took care of with an Amendment that was passed yesterday. So, there is 09300110.doc 49 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 currently no opposition on the Bill. City of Chicago, Illinois Municipal League, code enforcement officials, South Suburban building officials and several others are proponents on this Bill. This is a very good Bill to help municipalities to be able to collect some of their revenues. I’ll be more than happy to answer any questions. Hope for an ‘aye’ vote.”
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, I’m not sure how this is gonna help. What you are doing here is allowing a special assessment of the property.” Davis, W.: “Correct.”
“Is there some different collection mechanism you’d have for a special assessment, as opposed to, let’s say, a judgment or a lien that you could just put on the property?” Davis, W.: “Well, regarding… well, first of all, it’s a special assessment that goes onto their property taxes, so when the property taxes are paid, this assessment is a part of that and will paid along with it.”
“Okay. Well, you just… you just answered my question. Okay. That’s… I didn’t understand. This will go right on the tax bill and not be a lien on the property.” Davis, W.: “No.”
“Good, then it’s a great Bill. Thank you.” 09300110.doc 50 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 Davis, W.: “Thank you.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Lake, Representative Sullivan, for what reason do you rise?”
“Will the speaker yield?”
“He indicates he will.”
“Representative, what would happen… hang on a second. Can I… Representative Davis, should this property sell, does the special assessment stay with the property or is it taken off the property and paid off as a lien at the sale of property?” Davis, W.: “It’d be a lien at the sale.”
“Okay. So, say I get assessed because I had a building code violation. I’m paying this off over many years and then if I sell the property, it will not be transferred… the property tax will not be transferred to the future owner?” Davis, W.: “No, that’s not the… that’s not the intent.”
“Is there a mechanism inside here that it’ll go to a lien as opposed to a special assessment at sale of property?” Davis, W.: “Well, apparently it will become a lien on the property anyway, but it’s… if it’s not paid anyway. It’ll… it’ll be a part of the, I guess, when you… when you purchase a piece of property, there are a number of things that are identified as liens on that property. It should be covered when that property is sold.”
“Well, but a lien is much different than a special assessment. A special assessment is a separate tax rate 09300110.doc 51 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 applied to the assessed value on the property that stays for a predetermined amount of time and then it’s paid off. Now, that special assessment, as I know them, can be transferred to property owners… to property owners until the life of the special assessment has expired. So, what you’re trying to do is… which rightfully true, I mean, I agree with part of the legislation, but I fear there might be a problem with it because what you’re trying to do is have the person that had the code violation pay for the fine yet a special assessment might have the possibility of expe… extending into time and having someone else pay for it.” Davis, W.: “What I’m… I’m tryin’ to get an answer to your question. Hold on, Representative.”
“Maybe we can take it out of the record and look at that. It’s a good… I understand the Bill and if there’s some mechanism for the special assessment to come off at sale and turn into a lien, I think it’s a great Bill. But we don’t wanna penalize future owners of property for a code violation.” Davis, W.: “Well, Representative, according… according to what I’m being told, if the property is sold, that particular assessment is settled at the closing.”
“Well, that’s what I asked. Is there a mechanism in this Bill for that to happen?” Davis, W.: “Okay. I’m being told that… that if… that if the property is sold, that particular assessment is satisfied at the closing and then taken off. It does not transfer 09300110.doc 52 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 with the property. It’s satisfied at that particular time.”
“Okay. So, this legislation says that, that it is satisfied at the time. I haven’t read it. I’m just… this came up quickly on me and that’s why I’m askin’ the questions.” Davis, W.: “Well, the legislation does not specifically say that, but according to what I’m being told, if that property is indeed sold, it is indeed satisfied. It can’t be sold if this is… if this is… if this hasn’t been settled.”
“But that’s… that’s not how special assessments generally work. Generally, special assessments are for roads or for other improvements that are for a specified time, 20 years to pay off the bonds to do the improvements and so forth and so we know that this special assessment goes with the property to the future owner. I’m just afraid what you’re trying to do is take this fine, as a special assessment, over many years and it’s gonna be tied to the property. Therefore, you’re gonna penalize future owners for past actions of the present.” Davis, W.: “Well, it’s certainly not… we’re certainly not trying to fu… penalize future owners. At the… at the closing…”
“But… I know that’s not your intent, but as I read the Bill, that’s what it does.” Davis, W.: “At the closing, this… this issue has to be settled at the closing.” 09300110.doc 53 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Well, I…” Davis, W.: “Just like… just like if there is any other liens or any other assessments on that property, they’re all settled at the closing.”
“Special assessments do not work that way. They do not work that way. Special assessments are tied to the assessed value over specific time and are not closed like liens. What you’re talkin’ about is a lien that is… has to be settled at the closing. But a special assessment is tied to the assessed value, tied to the tax rate over time. Hang on, I think Representative Franks is gonna come talk to me about this.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Molaro, for what reason do you rise?”
“The Bill and what the last speaker just said. I think the Sponsor of the Bill is right. I think the last speaker may be incorrect. You’re right about a special assessment, it’s not like a lien, it stays there for the next 8, 10, 12 years. But the Sponsor, Representative Davis, the Sponsor is right in the sense that when you go to a closing, the special assessment shows up, it’s right there. The new buyer understands what’s there and what you’d ordinarily do, if I’m his attorney anyway, I go in and say, special assessment, 200 a year for the next five years, that’s a thousand dollars. Okay. You pay, give me the credit for the thousand. So, they take care of it right there, even though it stays on the property, the new buyer gets the thousand dollars from the old buyer, otherwise they don’t 09300110.doc 54 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 close. So, Representative Davis, is a hundred percent correct that it is taken care of at the closing. And it… so that makes this Bill a pretty good Bill. Now, yes, it’s not a lien like an ordinary lien because you don’t pay it and it comes off. Well, Mr. Speaker, I was trying to get Representative Franks and Representative Sullivan, but apparently they’re… I assume you were talking about the Bill, not the Duke-Illinois game.”
“Right. Yeah.”
“So… Well, anyway, it does stay on the property, so it’s not like a regular lien, you’re correct about that. Ya can’t just take it off like a regular lien, but you do do the credits at the closing and you just give a credit to the buyer so the buyer can pay it.”
“Right.”
“So, the buyer’s really not hurt, it’s his job to get it from the seller at the closing. Thank you.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Lake, Representative Sullivan.”
“I don’t think I ever withdrew my speaking. Representative, I just think, as this goes to the Senate if it gets out of here, you really need to clarify this because at this point, in my opinion, I’m gonna vote ‘present’ on this ‘cause I don’t think this does what you say it does. And I think this is something that you seriously have to look at because special assessments and a lot of ‘em are done for roads, typically, where it’s, say, a thousand dollars a year for 20 years, you’re not gonna 09300110.doc 55 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 have a property owner that pays that off in year two and have ‘x’ amount of thousands of dollars applied to their house as a lien. That is not gonna happen. You know that this is gonna go over time. It’s part of the process of the house. So, without having clear language that shows that this is gonna be paid off or turned into a lien at sale, I think, in my opinion, the way I know special assessments, this is gonna be a tax rate applied to this property over time to pay this off. That is my opinion. You know, short of seeing something in this Bill, I…” Davis, W.: “Okay, Representative. Well, I still think this is a good piece of legislation and I appreciate what you’re… what you’re… what you’re concerns are and certainly don’t have a problem that once it moves to the Senate that we clean it up, answer any questions that you have. I don’t have a problem with that.”
“Thank you, Representative. And if you agree to work with me to try and work on that specific issue, I think it’s a very good Bill, but just as long as this issue is cleaned up then I… I hope to work with you.” Davis, W.: “It’s not a problem. We can… we can work together on that.”
“Thank you.” Davis, W.: “Thank you.”
“Seeing no further questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4280 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? 09300110.doc 56 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take… the Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 96 voting ‘aye’, 15 voting ‘no’, 1 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 15 on the Calendar we have House Bill 4132. Representative Leitch. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4132, a Bill for an Act concerning property. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Peoria, Representative Leitch.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Bill reflects the agreement between the county recorders, the county boards and the homebuilders and the realtors that pertains to authorizing… clarifying the authority, I should say, of county planning departments to prevent building permits in the event a plat of property is illegally platted. I know of no opposition and I believe the Amendment cleans this up with a clarity that has been requested and I’d ask for your support.”
“Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4132 pass?’ All those in favor say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. In the opinion of the Ch… The voting is now open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take… 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 09300110.doc 57 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 page 17 of the Calendar we have House Bill 5057. Out of the record. On page 15 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4346. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4346, a Bill for an Act concerning vehicles. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Macon, Representative Flider.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 4346 amends the Illinois Vehicle Code and provides that a farm vehicle that is parked on any portion of a highway or a shoulder between sunrise and sunset should have a flashing or an oscillating light and that the light must be turned on. And this legislation has the support of the Illinois Farm Bureau and other agricultural organizations. And I would request the support of the Body.”
“Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4346 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 roll. 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 16 on the Calendar we have House Bill 4720. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4720, a Bill for an Act in relation to gambling. Third Reading of this House Bill.” 09300110.doc 58 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Peoria, Representative Leitch.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. When the OTB legislation was passed there was a allocation from the OTB parlors that went to a fund to park districts. In our community, for a period of five years, the OTB parlor went dark. All this Bill does is simply, now that we have another OTB parlor that’s been in operation for about the last six years, it just simply returns our community back to the formula. I would appreciate an ‘aye’ vote.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Molaro.”
“It’s a… This doesn’t call for slots at the OTBs, does it?”
“No, no, not at all. All it does is, we were out of the formula when our OTB parlor went dark. We’ve got the OTB parlor, now we just wanna be back in. And I don’t know of any opposition to the Bill.”
“Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4720 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 15 on the Calendar we have House Bill 4318. Representative Lindner. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.” 09300110.doc 59 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“House Bill 4318, a Bill for an Act concerning visitation. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“The Lady from Kane, Representative Lindner.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Bill amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution Act. It is the grandparents visitation Bill. The old standard was too lenient and was thrown out by the Supreme Court. This Bill has been drafted by the attorney who handled the case, Mike Goldberg and overthrew the Supreme Court case, so it is drafted with a much stricter standard and there is a presumption that fit parents make the best decisions for their children. I would ask passage of this Bill.”
“Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4318 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, 109 voting ‘yes’, 3 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 4502. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4502, a Bill for Act in relation to persons with disabilities. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Brosnahan.” 09300110.doc 60 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 4502 has been in front of this Legislative Body on numerous occasions. This Bill actually does two things. Number 1, it requires the Department of Human Services to include as part of a… the portion of its annual report to the General Assembly addressing the needs of persons with autism a plan to provide family support mechanisms to enable a person with auti… autism to remain in their homes. This is consistent with the goal of the American with Disabilities Act and also consistent with the Olmstead Decision. Also, what this Bill does, it amends the Public Aid Code. This deals with children with chronic health problems. We’re talking here about severely disabled children. Currently, the Public Aid Code provides benefits to these children who require a level of care provided by a hoscital… a hospital, a skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility, but disabled person is receiving this care at home. These benefits continue until the disabled person reaches the age of 21. This also is known as the Katy Beckett Medicaid waiver. Once they age out of the program, reach the age of 21, the status changes. The cost comparison becomes inpatient nursing home care rather than inpatient hospital care and as a result of this, the level of payment is drastically reduced. What’s happening to these families that have cared for so many years for the loved ones at home, they are forced to make a very difficult decision and that is many times is to place these disabled children into a 09300110.doc 61 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 nursing home because they no longer have the funds to care for them at home. What this Bill does it makes certain that once these children reach the age of 21 that they will not lose their benefits, they will stay the same, they’ll be able to stay in the… their home, the level of care will remain the same and they’ll be cared for in their familiar, loving environment. Again, these families have made so many sacrifices over the years to keep their disabled children at home, I believe the State of Illinois owes it to these families to continue this waiver and to continue to provide benefits at the same level. I’ll be happy to answer any questions.”
“Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4502 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? Representative Sommer. 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. The Lady from Cook, Representative Mulligan, for what reason do you rise?”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like the record to reflect that on House Bill 4318 I meant to vote ‘yes’, not ‘no’, on that Bill.”
“The record will so reflect. On page 19 of the Calendar we have House Bill 6906. Representative Jerry Mitchell. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.” 09300110.doc 62 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“House Bill 6906, a Bill for an Act concerning education. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Lee, Representative Mitchell.” Mitchell, J.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 6906 is an initiative of the Chicago Business Round Table and basically, it ensures that every district will have highly qualified teachers which is part of NCLB, NCLB. In order for us to make sure that we’re in compliance with NCLB, we must have highly qualified teachers in all school districts. In order to achieve that, those school districts that need highly qualified teachers or are short on that are obligated to use 40 percent of their Title II funds on professional development of highly qualified teachers. Amendment 1 states that as a district moves closer to having highly qualified teachers in all areas under NCLB, which is reading and math and sciences, then they can use the Title II funds in any way they deem necessary. The money’s usually used to lower class size if they have all the highly qualified teachers. I think it’s a good Bill. It’s an initiative that we will need to continue to stay in compliance with No Child Left Behind and I would request your ‘aye’ vote on House Bill 6906 as amended. Thank you.”
“Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 6906 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? 09300110.doc 63 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 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 4 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4179. Representative Lou Jones. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4179, a Bill for an Act concerning banking. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed.”
“Out of the record. On page 16 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4716. Representative Moffitt. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4716, a Bill for an Act concerning taxes. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 4716 is an initiative of the Illinois County Treasurers Association and it would provide that a notice of application for judgment and sale of property may, in the alternative, be mailed to the current owner of record or as now is the case to the person shown by the current collector’s books. The reason for this is if a property, the sale between two people, tax books are only printed once a year. The seller, several months ago, has already advanced the prorated portion of taxes, the new buyer is responsible for those taxes, but under current law, the notices still have to go to the old owner. This 09300110.doc 64 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 just makes it so that the treasurer can send it to the appropriate person. Be happy to entertain any questions.”
“Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4716 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 ‘aye’, 1 voting ‘no’ and 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 17 of the Calendar… I’m sorry. The Gentleman from Fayette, Representative Stephens, for what reason do you rise?”
“I want the record to reflect that I voted ‘yes’ on that last Bill. Well, the record does reflect that. Thank you.”
“On page 17 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4914. Representative Joyce. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4914, a Bill for an Act concerning college savings. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Joyce.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 4914 deals with a College Illinois and Bright Start. It allows participants to take up to $10 thousand a year in an income tax deduction, state income tax deduction. College Illinois… What this Bill does is bring… it brings parity between the College Illinois 09300110.doc 65 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 Program and the Bright Start Program. I’d be happy to answer any questions. It does take effect for the tax year 2005, so that people will not be… that participate in the program this year, they will not be able to take the tax benefit this year. Be happy to answer any questions.”
“Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4914 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 18 of the Calendar we have House Bill 5165. Representative Munson. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 5165, a Bill for an Act concerning public records. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“The Gentleman… I mean the Lady from Cook, Representative Munson.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 5165 creates a task force to examine procedures used by the state to protect individual’s Social Security numbers and to help address the growing problem of identity theft. Additionally, the task force will make recommendations that establish consistent procedures throughout the state that ensure individual’s Social Security numbers are secure from unauthorized disclosure. 09300110.doc 66 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 I’d be happy to answer any questions and move for the passage of the Bill.”
“Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 5165 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. Representative Jakobsson. 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 15 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4351. Representative Osmond. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4351, a Bill for an Act concerning taxes. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“The Lady from Lake, Representative Osmond.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 4351 amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that if a court finds that an overlapping taxing district overextended the tax levy in one district while underextending the tax levy in another taxing district that the cour… county clerks court… I’m sorry, county clerk shall proportionately increase the tax levy of the underextended taxing district. I know of no opposition.”
“Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4351 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? 09300110.doc 67 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 66 voting ‘aye’, 46 voting ‘no’, 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 17 on the Calendar we have House Bill 4894. Representative Joyce. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4894, a Bill for an Act concerning public health. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Joyce.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 4894, subject to appropriation, calls upon the Department of Public Health to create a program to allow people to get flu vaccination shots if they are not already provided for in one of their own health care… health care plans. We… we dealt with this Bill in the committee. We thought the Department of Public Health was gonna come back with some suggestions, they have not. They were worried about the financial considerations of this, but I have said to them and as other people have said to me, if you keep people from getting the flu, you’ll stop further things and… and cost the state a lot less money than the time that we’d spend in the hospital for other ailments. I’d be happy to answer any questions on this.”
“The Lady from Cook, Representative Mulligan, for what reason do you rise?”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?” 09300110.doc 68 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“He indicates he will.”
“Representative, there’s no appropriation Bill to accompany this, I presume?”
“Correct. This… it’s subject to appropriation.”
“And how much did the department say they thought this would cost?”
“They haven’t.”
“They haven’t.”
“They haven’t.”
“What are you estimating that…”
“Well, this… See this is an optional program. We don’t know how many people are gonna wish they had the flu vaccination shot.”
“Would they… Is there anything in your Bill that says they would have to sign a waiver for liability, so that the department would not be liable…”
“I’m sorry. Could you start… could you start…”
“…for getting the shot? Is there anything in your Bill that says the Department of Public Health would not be liable that a person would have to sign a waiver giving out, not only cost… what is… the shot cost, but there’s also liability associated with providing the shot. And I could see if you were saying we’re providing it to the elderly or high-risk population, but not everybody in general. And there’s liability involved, there’s a cost involved and the unknown number. It’s kind of like we can’t increase circuit breaker, we’re doin’ other things. And although this sounds like a good idea, the cost is 09300110.doc 69 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 going to be a lot and I’m surprised the department didn’t give you a number on that. Perhaps they assumed that cooler heads would prevail and you would not move forward?”
“No, I don’t think that’s the case at all, Representative and I don’t know what you think… if you’re, ya know, what you’re referring to as cooler heads, but I’m… I’m not worried. I think that we’re… we have a chance to provide flu vaccination shots to people who choose to have them, who don’t already have coverage on an existing health care plan. Now, those self same people that fall into that category, should they get sick, because they did not get a shot are gonna cost the people of the State of Illinois a heck of a lot more money than a flu vaccination shot would cost the people of the State of Illinois. Thank you.”
“Our staff is saying that the Department of Public Health’s fiscal note on this Bill is $14.6 million.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you personally writing the check today or have you got some other idea how we’re gonna cover it? I know my checkbook will be a little short.”
“Mine, too. Mine, too.”
“So, perhaps…”
“Perhaps the Department of Public Health wants to get involved in the legislative process then they should communicate with people that bring Bills. So, that’s the problem.”
“It looks to me that…” 09300110.doc 70 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“And if you wanna… if you wanna sit here and act as an employee of the Department of Public Health, Representative, be my guest. But I don’t think the Department of Public Health…”
“Sir, the Governor said in his speech, your Governor, my Governor, but your Governor said that if you’re gonna come up with this, you have to have an idea how to pay for it. Now, I might have been joking about if you’re gonna write a check for it, but 14… $14.6 million is a lot of money plus the liability involved plus the time the employee…”
“If you read the Bill, Representative, it says subject to appropriation and we can deal with that. And secondly, if our Governor and the people that work for our Governor, specifically, would participate in the legisla… legislative process like many of the other departments do, we wouldn’t be havin’ this discu… discussion right now. I would urge an ‘aye’ vote.”
“Sir, I am not done asking you questions and if you wanna urge an ‘aye’ vote, that’s perfectly fine, but I… if I were you, I would not get totally out of joint. Lots of us have very good ideas that we would like to put forward, but we know they cost money. And I don’t think it’s facetious to ask how we gonna pay for it, particularly in this fiscal crisis. Now, we’re not saying it’s not a great idea and that maybe what you wanna do is wonderful. I have a lot of good ideas too, but a lot of ‘em cost money. I just don’t put ‘em all forward or I expect to be knocked 09300110.doc 71 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 down on ‘em, if I do put ‘em forward. I think that department probably should have contacted you. Obviously, somebody asked for this because our staff has it and so if our staff has it, maybe your staff has it, too and that seems like a lot of money.”
“Thank you.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Molaro, for what reason do you rise?”
“Well, yes, I wanted to speak briefly on the Bill. Certainly not gonna defend Representative Joyce, I don’t think he needs anybody to defend him. However, you know, just to the previous speaker, ‘cause I heard what the Governor said too, but the Governor also said, he’s looking for ideas. Let me be clear, this is subject to appropriation. We’re gonna see the budget process is moving along. We don’t know where we’re headed. We don’t know if there’s gonna be some other revenue coming in, possibly from gaming, possibly from somewhere else. So, I don’t think we should shut down the good idea machine. This is a terrific idea. We move this thing forward. It’s subject to appropriation. We’ll see where we’re headed in the budget process. It’d be crazy to ask the Representative to wait ‘til the last week in May to see where we’re at moneywise and then come up with a good ideas. It’ll be too late. Let’s move this thing forward and we’ll see where we’re at. So, I urge an ‘aye’ vote.”
“The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black, for what reason do you rise?” 09300110.doc 72 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Just to ask a question of the Sponsor, if I might.”
“The Gentleman says he’ll yield.”
“Yes. Representative, how are you today? Did… did Elvis die from the flu?”
“Could you repeat that question, Sir?”
“Did Elvis… you know, Elvis is dead and I don’t feel so good myself, but did Elvis die of the flu?”
“He’s still with us.”
“In spirit, that’s true, in spirit. In spirit. Let me just ask you a question. I… I have no philosophical objections to your Bill. I do have some legitimate concerns that aren’t addressed in the Bill. Last year there was a flu shortage and the Department of Public Health…”
“A vaccination shortage.”
“…made every attempt to make sure that those most vulnerable to the flu received a shot, the elderly, those who have had pneumonia, those whose immune systems may be at risk or less than somebody… a lot less effective and efficient than someone in good health and I… My only fear with this Bill is if anybody not covered by an insurance program rushes to a clinic and gets a flu shot, what guarantee do we have that we won’t run out and then the elderly or the ill who might really need the flu shot because if they get the flu in an aged or ill condition, may very well die from it. I mean, it seems like there should be some priority system set up rather than let 50 thousand people between the ages of 30 and 45 get their 09300110.doc 73 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 shot, we need to set up some kind of system that the elderly and ill would have some kind of priority.”
“I… I agree, Representative, and there is… there is already that recommendation from the Center for Disease… Disease Control and they do prioritize for children that are ages 6 to 23 months, adults age 65 and older and pregnant women in their second or third trimester.”
“So, there’s nothing in the Bill… Those rules, I assume, then could be promulgated by the entity delivering the vaccine of the shot to make sure… Maybe, they would say, the first five days the priority list should come in then they’ll deal with the other people later, ya know.”
“And the Bill… the Bill… the Bill gives the authority to the department to…”
“Okay.”
“…prioritize like that.”
“So… so, it isn’t just first come first served, right?”
“No, it’s not.”
“Okay. I… Have you given any thought… The first… one of the things that crossed my mind when I read this synopsis was if… if we make it available, there’s no such thing as a free flu shot, you and I know that. I mean, we have to pay for it. The state taxpayers will pay for the vaccine and probably a… a fee for some agency to administer the shot. My only fear is, Representative, and it’s legitimate, if this program serves a million or a million and a half people, then I’m afraid that insurance companies will say, ah huh…” 09300110.doc 74 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“I’m not gonna cover it anymore.”
“…ah huh, here’s a way we can reduce our costs, there’s no need for us to cover a flu shot because the state is gonna make ‘em available at no cost, so we’ll just… we’ll just… when the new policies come due, we just won’t cover that because we don’t have to, the state’s gonna take care of it.”
“Well, Representative, that’s a great point and I’d love to have you join me in sponsoring another Bill that would mandate that the insurance companies cover the cost of a flu shot for people under their plan, if you wanted to. Just like they cover the cost of a birth control pill, now. I mean, this seems to be as…”
“Well…”
“…good a reason to do anything.”
“…it seems like I oughta cosponsor one Bill or the other, but not both. If… if the taxpayers are gonna make a flu vaccine available free, then I don’t see any reason to mandate insurance companies to cover it, because then… then we’re duplicating efforts, but…”
“That’s the question you just asked though.”
“Yeah. It’s… Again, I mean, we were lucky this year. A lot of people thought that the strain of flu would be…”
“Well…”
“…particularly dangerous and it didn’t turn out to be, it was a very mild flu season and…”
“And it’s not quite over yet.”
“Well, that’s… that’s true.” 09300110.doc 75 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“And we will… And the Center for Disease Control estimates that they will get rid of over a million doses of vaccinations, they will throw out this year.”
“All right. So…”
“So, I’m not worried about the shortage issue.”
“So, I understand… Well, now remember, this year the plant making that vaccine went into 24/7 operation because they were afraid that the flu was going to be particularly difficult and they cranked up production and then it didn’t really hit. There’s nothing in the Bill that would prohibit the Department of Public Health from promulgating rules to make sure that those most in need get the shot at the right time, correct?”
“That is correct.”
“Okay. Fine. Thank you very much.”
“Thank you.”
“The Lady from DuPage, Representative Bellock, for what reason do you rise?”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“He indicates he will.”
“Representative, we had a long discussion about this in the Human Service Committee and I wondered if the department had ever given you, I don’t think I ever received, the amount of vaccinations that were given last year by DPH?”
“No, they did not.” 09300110.doc 76 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Because our concern was that those that were a higher risk… When we talked about that you would work that out with them in an Amendment to see if the higher risk people could go first or maybe just higher risk people.”
“I… I believe that… that they’ve still have the ability to do that in rules, in their own rules in administrating this program. It gives them the authority to administer that program.”
“Okay. I just wanted to point out that a lot of us thought it was a good idea, what you’re proposing, but that we had serious concerns over the cost and how many vaccinations were given and how many would be needed if this program would be provided and that was why a lot of us voted it out of committee to see. So, I wanted to point that out to you.”
“And… and Representative, I agree and as you’ll recall, the department committed that they would work to get some sort of language together to address any concerns that anyone might have, specifically, the department. The first time they ever spoke to me about the Bill was when they came to testify against it in committee and have not gotten anything from them since.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“Thank you.”
“Seeing no further questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4894 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? 09300110.doc 77 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 Have all voted who wish? Hey, Bill… Black. The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 110 voting ‘aye’, 1 voting ‘no’, 1 voting ‘present’. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Page 17 of the Calendar we have House Bill 5014. Representative Lyons. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 5014, a Bill for an Act concerning taxes. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Lyons.” Lyons, J.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 5014 is a combined effort of the Cook County Assessor’s Office and the Illinois Press Association as a means to end some wasteful duplica… duplication provided… to provide a more meaningful way for Cook County taxpayers to access assessment information and save Cook County taxpayers over a hundred thousand dollars a year. State statute currently requires that Cook County publish the assessment roll at the end of the assessment. House Bill 5014 changes the state statute, first, to mirror the timing of the Cook County publication ordinance and then to provide that only revisions to the initial assessment shall be published at the end of the assessment. Again, this Bill spares the necessity of publishing the entire assessment roll for a second time, thereby saving Cook County over a hundred thousand dollars per year. I ask for 09300110.doc 78 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 your favorable consideration on this and be happy to answer any questions.”
“Seeing no question, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 5014 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. The Gentleman from Champaign, Representative Rose, for what reason do you rise?”
“Speaker, I would like sanctions against my seatmate who just ripped out my phone from the desk here.”
“Is he a Duke fan?”
“… fan.”
“If the electrician will check Representative Rose’s phone, we’d appreciate it. On page 17 of the Calendar we have House Bill 5129. Representative Sacia. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 5129, a Bill for an Act concerning environmental safety. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“The Gentleman from Winnebago, Representative Sacia.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, House Bill 5129 is a Bill that requires the Secretary of State to compile a database of flexible fuel vehicles by state and zip code. What this does, Ladies and 09300110.doc 79 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 Gentlemen, many of you are aware that you can pull into a gas station and purchase fuel that is 10 percent ethanol. Ten percent ethanol is a good thing because it’s Illinois corn. What this Bill does is it puts on notice anybody that wants to determine if their vehicle will run on 85 percent Illinois corn or ethanol. Many, many, in fact the vast majority of vehicles coming off the assembly line today, are capable of running on 85 percent Illinois corn. And what this Bill does, and it’s a very, very nominal expense to the Illinois Secretary of State, the cost to change their database is $11 thousand, not 11 million, 11 thousand so that any gas company or oil station that wanted to determine who has a vehicle capable of running on 85 percent ethanol can do so by querying a database. It’s the kind of Bill that I honestly would think that everybody, Democrat and Republican, would want to be a cosponsor because it is strictly for the benefit of Illinois. The more 85 percent pumps we get out there, the better it is for our Illinois’ farmers. Just so you are aware, Ladies and Gentlemen, a lead-free pump can be converted from lead- free gas to E85 ethanol for a cost of between 2 thousand and 2500 dollars. Might also interest you in knowing that… if might also interest you in knowing that ethanol, last week, was coming out of the Atkins Energy Plant, actually, it’s been about three weeks ago now, at $1.17 a gallon. You know what’s happening at the pump. It’s almost $2 a gallon now and this is something that would benefit all of us in Illinois. It’s a boon for the Illinois’ farmer. 09300110.doc 80 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 It’ll increase our corn prices and will be good for all of us. So, I would urge an ‘aye’ vote and I would answer any questions.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Macon, Representative Mitchell. For what reason do you rise?” Mitchell, B.: “Tha… thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“He indicates he will.” Mitchell, B.: “Mr. Sacia, I think this is an excellent Bill. I was privileged to vote for this in committee the other day. I… I have a couple questions for you, Representative. Just how many pumps, E85 pumps, do we have here in Illinois right now?”
“Embarrassingly, the last I knew, Representative Mitchell, was somewhere in the neighborhood of between 18 and 30 in the entire state. In… in my county, Winnebago County, Illinois, we have one ethanol pump, E85 pump, at this time.” Mitchell, B.: “And… and I presume and I used to work… when Governor Edgar was Governor, I worked for him and at CMS we had a E… E85 pumps at our garages. I presume that’s still the case?”
“Yes, it is. Many of the state-owned vehicles are running on 85 percent ethanol right now.” Mitchell, B.: “Great. Representative, what car… vehicles use the E85 right now? I…”
“Okay, the Ford Taurus is a good example. I think that’s the most popular vehicle in America today. That 09300110.doc 81 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 vehicle comes off the assembly line capable of E85. Your Chrysler minivans, the vast majority of them, are E85. Representative Mitchell, more and more of the automobile manufacturers are just bringing their vehicles off the assembly line capable of running on E85.” Mitchell, B.: “Hey, Representative, I think the House is busy today, but I think it’s very important for them to know, what actually is E85?”
“Thank you, Representative Mitchell. E85, again, is 85 percent Illinois corn. Rather than 10 percent ethanol, it is 85 percent ethanol. Obviously then, the vast majority or 85 percent of the fuel you’re putting in your tank will run or is Illinois corn and a benefit to Illinois farmers.” Mitchell, B.: “Yeah. Representative, I appreciate this. To the Bill. I support this Bill. I think… I think Representative Sacia raised a very good point. When you… when you go by the pumps today, at a gas station, as you see I went in Springfield it was $1.75. When we’re talking about our energy dependence on the Middle East, this is a very timely legislation, we need to go further in development of E85. I’m very proud to call Decatur my hometown which we… we are the ethanol producer of the world at ADM. This is a great Bill. This gives Illinois citizens jobs and it helps our farm economy. Representative Sacia, you should be commended.”
“The Gentleman from Lee, Representative Jerry Mitchell. For what reason do you rise?” Mitchell, J.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill.” 09300110.doc 82 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“To the Bill.” Mitchell, J.: “I rise in strong support of my colleague’s Bill. This is a time when we need to help not only the economy in Illinois but the environment. Everyone knows that MTB is really, really bad for the environment, especially the groundwater. There’s been many cases where accidental spills have happened. This stuff is highly poisonous. Ethanol, on the other hand, is environmentally friendly; therefore, we desperately need to support this Gentleman’s Bill. But one request I have from the back row, Representative Sacia, is when… when you talk to the Body and you turn your back to the camera, the light kinda blinds us here in the back, gleaming off a certain portion of your body. So, if you’d be real cautious of that, the back row has asked me to tell you that they would really appreciate that. Other than that, Mr. Speaker, we should all vote for the Gentleman’s Bill. Thank you.”
“The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Lyons. For what reason do you rise?” Lyons, J.: “Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“He indicates he will.” Lyons, J.: “Representative Sacia, this is an excellent Bill and I certainly plan to vote for it as will I think everybody in the House Floor today, but are you familiar with former Representative Skinner?”
“Skinner?” Lyons, J.: “Right, Cal Skinner from…” 09300110.doc 83 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Yes… yes, Sir, I am. Yes, Sir.” Lyons, J.: “Okay. He used to have the habit of always kind of speaking, he’d turn around from his desk and… and speak to… to the back of the chamber like that. And we were just… well, Representative Delgado and I thought, are you part of the witness victim protection or something that you choose to address us that… you speak elegantly as you always do, Representative, but we just had some questions about this new approach to presenting Bills.”
“Thank… thank you very much, Representative Lyons. And I had planned on addressing that because my colleague, Representative Howard, had been trying to get my attention and then Representative Mitchell so eloquently pointed out that a part of my… anatomy was glaring. And I understand that and I’m very… very proud of that and I think those of us that have that lack of hair do stick together and… But there’s a re… there’s a reason why I do this. The reason is when I stand at my desk here I can only turn to address the Democrat side of the Assembly and… and though I really appreciate that opportunity and think the world of each and every one of them, when I stand here I can actually look at the Republicans and the Democrats. And that just gives me a warm feeling and kind of a glow inside. And so for that reason…” Lyons, J.: “Fine, Representative, we appreciate that. You look as good from the front as you do from the back and you always sound good. It’s a good Bill.” 09300110.doc 84 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Delgado. For what reason do you rise?”
“Yes. Thank you Mr… Mr. Chair and Members of the Committee. I just thought that former FBI agent Sacia was just feeling a little melancholy from the agency and just wanted to have some memories of the old witness protection program and that’s why I got to see such a nice noggin’ all the way from this side. And thank you for that wonderful Bill.”
“Seeing no further questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 5129 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 16 on the Calendar we have House Bill 4476. Representative McGuire. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4476, a Bill for an Act concerning public aid. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Will, Representative McGuire.”
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. House Bill 4476 has an Amendment and the Amendment became the Bill. The Amendment specifically deals with the… deals with the Alzheimer’s and the minority centers. And… and the Bill basically sets up that there shall be a Center for Minority Health Services 09300110.doc 85 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 and the department shall establish a Center for Minority Health Services to advise the department on matters pertaining to the health needs of the minority populations within the state. This specifically, primarily, deals with Alzheimer’s but with all other types of health problems. And I would appreciate your ‘aye’ vote.”
“Seeing no further questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4476 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 15 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4265. The birthday boy, Representative Poe. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4265, a Bill for an Act concerning education. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
“Out of the record. He’s still celebrating. Mr. Clerk, what’s the status of House Bill 4953?”
Clerk Mahoney: “House Bill 4953 is on the Order of Third Reading.”
“At the respond… at the request of the Sponsor, move the Bill back to Second. What’s the status of House Bill 4374, Mr. Clerk?”
Clerk Mahoney: “House Bill 4374 is on the Order of Third Reading.” 09300110.doc 86 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“The Sponsor requests that Bill be brought back to Second Reading. And what’s the status of House Bill 4703, Mr. Clerk?”
Clerk Mahoney: “House Bill 4703 is on the Order of Third Reading.”
“Sponsor requests that Bill be brought back to Second Reading. With leave, all of those requests will be honored. We’re going to the Order of Second Readings. I’d like to advise the Membership, please be ready to let us know what your intention is with these Bills. We’re on the Order of Second Readings. Mr. Clerk, on page 6 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4566. Read the Bill.”
“House Bill 4566, a Bill for an Act concerning minors. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was approved in committee. Floor Amendment #2, offered by Representative Jones, has been approved for consideration.”
“Third Reading. No. Out of… Leave the Bill on Second Reading. Mr. Clerk, on page 9 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4962. Read the Bill.”
“House Bill 4962, a Bill for an Act concerning surrogacy. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. Floor Amendment #1, offered by Representative Currie, has been approved for consideration.”
“Representative Currie on Amendment #1.”
“Thank you, Speaker, Members of the House. These are technical clarifications, changes, some requested by the State Medical Society with respect to how we designate 09300110.doc 87 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 doctors who are involved in these gestational surrogacy programs. I’d be happy to try to answer your questions. And I’d appreciate your support for the Amendment.”
“Seeing no question, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Floor Amendment #1 to House Bill 4962?’ All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The opinion of the Chair is the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments. All notes have been filed.”
“Third Reading. On page 2 of the Calendar we have House Bill 3980. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 3980, a Bill for an Act concerning human rights. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. Floor Amendment #1, offered by Representative Bellock, has been approved for consideration.”
“The Lady from DuPage, Representative Bellock on Amendment #1.”
“Thank… thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. This is Amendment #1 to 3980 which just clarifies what we had in the Bill originally, but the Department of Human Rights objected to the way it was phrased so we have rephrased it but it does exactly the same thing.”
“Seeing no question, the question is, ‘Shall Amendment #1 be adopted to House Bill 3980?’ All those in favor say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The opinion 09300110.doc 88 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 of the Chair is the ‘ayes’ have it. And Amendment #1 is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments. All notes have been filed.”
“Third Reading. On page 3 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4012. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4012 has been read a second time, previously. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. Floor Amendment #2, offered by Representative Froehlich, has been approved for consideration.”
“Representative Froehlich, the Gentleman from Cook.”
“I move… move to endorse Amend… to adopt Amendment #2.”
“Seeing no question, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Amendment #2 to… to House Bill 4012?’ All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The opinion of the Chair is the ‘ayes’ have it. And Amendment #2 is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments. No Motions filed.”
“Third Reading. Page 7 on the Calendar we have House Bill 4712. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4712 has been read a second time, previously. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. Floor Amendment #2, offered by Representative Morrow… Morrow, has been approved for consideration.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Morrow.” 09300110.doc 89 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Floor Amendment #2 to House Bill 4712 adds that any entity that provides insurance cards must print a unique identification number on the card as prescribed by the Uniform Prescription Drug Information Act. And also Amendment #2 changed the effective date from July 1, ’05 to July 1, ’06. I’ll be glad to answer any questions.”
“Seeing no question, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Floor Amendment #2 to 4712?’ All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The opinion of the Chair is the ‘ayes’ have it. And Amendment #2 is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments. No Motions filed.”
“Third Reading. On page 6 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4505. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4505, a Bill for Act concerning criminal law. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed.”
“Third Reading. On page 10 on the Calendar we have House Bill 5011. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk. 5011.”
“House Bill 5011, a Bill for an Act in relation to alcoholic liquor. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. All notes have been filed.”
“Third Reading. On page 4 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4241. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.” 09300110.doc 90 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“House Bill 4241 has been read a second time, previously. No Committee Amendments. The sec… No Committee Amendments. Floor Amendment #1, offered by Representative Saviano, has been approved for consideration.”
“Third Reading. I’m sorry. Representative Saviano on Floor Amendment #1.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House. Floor Amendment #1 is an agreement between service employees union and the Illinois Hospital Association. The Amendment provides for the exemption for the Illinois Hospital Association. I ask that Floor Amendment #1 be adopted to House Bill 4241.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Clinton, Representative Granberg, for what reason do you rise?”
“Will the Gentleman yield?”
“He indicates he will.”
“Representative Saviano, I just… I’m in favor of your Amendment, obviously, but we’re not sure if the lang… Our staff read it wrong. It’s a superb Amendment. We just wanted to make sure the language actually fit in with the Bill. So, it’s a great Amendment and we will all support it.”
“Seeing no further questions, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Floor Amendment #1 to House Bill 4241?’ All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The opinion of the Chair is the ‘ayes’ 09300110.doc 91 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 have it. And Amendment #1 is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments. No Motions filed.”
“Third Reading. Page 3 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4154. Representative Coulson. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4154, a Bill for an Act concerning schools. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. Floor Amendment #1, offered by Representative Coulson, has been approved for consideration.”
“The Lady from Cook, Representative Coulson.”
“Thank you. I move for adoption of Amendment #1 to House Bill 4154. This Amendment shells the Bill, so that we can continue to work on the diabetes self-managements plan in schools in the Senate.”
“Seeing no question, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Amendment #1 to House Bill 4154?’ All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The opinion of the Chair is the ‘ayes’ have it. And Amendment #1 is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments. No Motions filed.”
“Third Reading. Page 11 on the Calendar we have House Bill 5076. Representative Moffitt. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 5076, a Bill for an Act concerning vehicles. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. All notes have been filed.” 09300110.doc 92 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Kane, Representative Moffitt.”
“Just a clarification, Mr. Speaker. I… I thought I heard you say, ‘the Gentleman from Kane.’ Did I misunderstand you?”
“You certainly did. The Gentleman from Knox.”
“Well, thank you. And the Bill that I was looking for is 5067 and this is 5076. I was wondering if we could… I don’t want Representative Grunloh’s Bill to count against my… my allotted number.”
“That’s 5067. Mr. Clerk, what’s the status of 5067? We’ll start this over again. What’s the status of House Bill 5067?”
Clerk Mahoney: “House Bill 5067 is on the Order of Third Reading.”
“The Sponsor requests that the Bill be brought back to Second Reading. Ho, ho. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk. This Bill is on Third Reading for the Membership.”
“House Bill 5067, a Bill for an Act concerning counties. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Knox, Representative Moffitt.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 5067 was a situation that occurred in my home county and could easily be in across the State of Illinois. We had an elderly lady who had a piece of property that had an 8-foot strip of 09300110.doc 93 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 property that was improperly recorded back in the 1800s. Thus, the taxes were never paid on this 8-foot strip even though physically it adjoined the rest of her lot. This went to tax sale. The taxes and fees would have been close to $500 even though she had paid her taxes all that time. Again, the problem was created by a recording error. This would provide that if a… conditions existed that it was caused by a recording error that upon the request of the adjoining owner and satisfactory proof that they’ve paid their tax and are not in violation of any county ordinance, that it shall be offered to them for a dollar and a quick- claim deed. It would have saved a lot of problems. This received a lot of attention in western Illinois. It was in the Galesburg paper, Peoria paper and some others, but an unusual situation. We know there are probably 24 such parcels just in Knox County and again, I would emphasize there are parcels like this around the State of Illinois.”
“Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 5067 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. There are 112 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 ‘presents’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 7 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4575. Representative Capparelli. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.” 09300110.doc 94 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“House Bill 4575, a Bill for an Act in relation to public employee benefits. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. All notes have been filed.”
“Third Reading. On page 10 on the Calendar we have House Bill 5000. Representative Daniels. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 5000 has been read a second time, previously. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. Floor Amendment #2, offered by Representative Daniels, has been approved for consideration.”
“Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Amendment #2 was adopted in committee and establishes guidelines for DHS fee-for-service contracting to ensure continuity of those services affected by the transition plan. Recommend your adoption.”
“Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall Amendment #2 to House Bill 5000 be adopted?’ All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. Amendment #2 is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments. But notes have been requested on this Bill.”
“The Bill shall remain on Second. On page 11 of the Calendar we have House Bill 5180. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 5180, a Bill for an Act concerning economic development. Second Reading of this House Bill. 09300110.doc 95 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. Floor Amendment #3, offered by Representative Dunkin, has been approved for consideration.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Dunkin.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of this distinguished House. This Bill simply extends the film tax credit beyond this year because it’s gonna be repealed at the end of the year. It was only for a year and we’re trying to extend it to five years. And I ask for an ‘aye’ vote. Thank you.”
“Seeing no further questions, the question is, ‘Shall the House adopt Amendment #3 to House Bill 5180?’ All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The opinion of the Chair is the ‘ayes’ have it. And Amendment #3 is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments. All notes have been filed.”
Speaker Turner: “Third Reading. The Gentleman from Cook, Representative McCarthy, for what reason do you rise? Out of the record. On page 7 on the Calendar we have Representative Hamos on House Bill 4735. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4735 has been read a second time, previously. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. Floor Amendment #2, offered by Representative Hamos, has been approved for consideration.”
“The Lady from Cook, Representative Hamos.” 09300110.doc 96 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Thank you, Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. This is the Nursing Home Conversion and Modernization Act. We haven’t had a chance to discuss this yet on Third Reading. What… what Amendment #2 does is… is to make some mostly technical changes at the request of the nursing home industry as well as AARP. We worked on this for the two-week period when we were on vacation and this an agreed to Amendment. And I’ll be happy to answer any questions.”
“Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall Amendment #2 to House Bill 4735 be adopted?’ All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The opinion of the Chair is the ‘ayes’ have it. And Amendment #2 is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments. All notes have been filed.”
“Third Reading. On page 6 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4566. Representative Lou Jones. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4566, a Bill for an Act concerning minors. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. Floor Amendment #2, offered by Representative Jones, has been approved for consideration.”
“The Lady from Cook, Representative Jones on Amendment #2.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. Amendment #2 makes several small technical changes that were asked of me by the State Police. And it also changes… it also changes the responsibility from the Department of 09300110.doc 97 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 Security… Employment Security to the Department of Labor to define… to develop a website to inform the employees of the restrictions for asking about juvenile expungement records.”
“The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Parke, for what reason do you rise?”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“She indicates she will.”
“Representative, why do you wanna switch it from one… from the current agency to this other agency? What… How does that help us with public policy? What does this solve…”
“You mean why is Unemployment Security to Department of Labor?”
“Yeah. How does that help you with what you’re trying to do?”
“Because the Unemployment Security does not send out notices and they asked me if I would ask the Department of Labor because they do send out notices and all they would have to do is to add this to what they send out. And they don’t have a problem doing that.”
“And that’s the only thing that Amendment #2 does?”
“No. And there were several changes that the State Police wanted… if you… wanted in this Bill. This is the expungement Bill that I had last year that everybody wasn’t onboard for and over the summer I had quite a few sessions with people on both sides of the aisle along with Dick Devine’s office, the… Dorothy Brown’s office and also Carla 09300110.doc 98 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 Bender and they came up with an agreed Bill. These are some changes that… two changes that the State Police wanted to make and I agreed to make. There was actually three. I did not… I did not make the other one and I informed the Members of the committee that I was not going to make the third change, but I did make the other two.”
“Okay. And… and this is expungement of… of police records or…”
“Juvenile.”
“…ju… these are for juveniles. Okay. Is that 17 and under for juveniles or is there a… a younger break?”
“No.”
“What is…”
“It’s just like it was last year.”
“Okay.”
“None of that was changed.”
“Okay. Thank you, Representative.”
“Um mmm.”
“Seeing no further questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Amendment #2 to 4566 be adopted?’ All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The opinion of the Chair is the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments. But a note has been requested.”
“The Bill shall remain on Second Reading. Page 15 on the Calendar we have House Bill 4374. Representative McKeon. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.” 09300110.doc 99 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“House Bill 4374, a Bill for an Act concerning labor relations. It is on the or… Second Reading of this House Bill.”
“The Bill shall remain on Second. On page 11 of the Calendar we have House Bill 5095. Read that Bill, Mr. Clerk. Rep… the Myers.”
“House Bill 5095, a Bill for an Act concerning environmental protection. Second Reading of this House Bill. No… Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed.”
“Third Reading. Page 4 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4224. Representative Eddy. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4224, a Bill for an Act concerning taxes. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments approved for consideration. No notes filed.”
“Third Reading. On page 4 of the Calendar we also have House Bill 4180. Representative Eddy. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4180, a Bill for an Act concerning state employee group insurance. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. Floor Amendment #1, offered by Representative Eddy, has been approved for consideration.”
“Third Reading. I should say, Representative Eddy on Third… on Amendment #1.” 09300110.doc 100 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Thank you very much. Amendment #1 simply better defines the term of ‘county-owned hospital’ to… to meet requests made by committee Members. And I would ask for the favorable consideration of that Amendment.”
“Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall Amendment #1 to House Bill 4180 be adopted?’ All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The opinion of the Chair is the ‘ayes’ have it. And Amendment #1 is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments. No Motions filed.”
“Third Reading. On page 8 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4825. Representative Mendoza. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4825, a Bill for an Act concerning criminal law. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. Floor Amendment #2, offered by Representative Mendoza, has been approved for consideration.”
“The Lady from Cook, Representative Mendoza on Amendment #2.”
“Thank you, Mr. Chair, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Floor Amendment #2 is an agreed upon Amendment to basically cover some of the changes that were brought up in committee and by some of the Members of this House regarding DNA analysis and the extraction and dealing with those samples. One of the issues that we are amending with this Amendment is the expungement law to make the DNA expungeable if current fingerprint law is expungeable. So, 09300110.doc 101 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 we just equated the two and that issue has been addressed. And the other important issue which is being addressed in this Amendment is putting a appropriations… pending appropriations line in there as well as a starting date for the Bill. So, again, these are agreed upon changes. Be happy to answer any questions. We do ask for adoption of the Amendment.”
“Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall Amendment #2 to House Bill 4825 be adopted?’ All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The opinion of the Chair is the ‘ayes’ have it. And Amendment #2 is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments. No Motions filed.”
“Third Reading. On page 8 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4851. Representative Boland. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4851, a Bill for an Act in relation to employment. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. Floor Amendment #1, offered by Representative Boland, has been approved for consideration.”
“The Gentleman from Rock Island, Representative Boland on Amendment #1.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Amendment #1 just adds the definition of ‘volunteer firefighter’. And then, also, puts a population limit on the Bill as to who it applies to.” 09300110.doc 102 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Seeing no questions, the question is, ‘Shall Amendment #1 to House Bill 4851 be adopted?’ All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The opinion of the Chair is the ‘ayes’ have it. And Amendment #1 is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments. All notes have been filed.”
“Third Reading. On page 2 of the Calendar we have House Bill 3890. Representative Franks. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 3890, a Bill for an Act concerning local government. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. Floor Amendment #1, offered by Representative Franks, has been approved for consideration.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from McHenry, Representative Franks on Amendment #1.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Amendment #1 makes the Bill agreed with the Illinois Retailers and we brought… I’m sorry, the Illinois Real Estate… When we brought this Bill, originally, we were trying to do what we did last year by a House Bill 528 to allow local school districts to be able to use developer impact fees for things other than land acquisitions such as construction. We’re trying to extend the same issue to libraries and that’s what this Bill does. We had the fire districts included in this Bill, previously, but to make it agreed we pulled the fire districts out and just have the libraries.” 09300110.doc 103 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Parke, for what reason do you rise?”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“He indicates he will.”
“Representative, it’s our understanding that there was an agreement not to move the Bill on Second Reading unless the Home Builders Association… was taken care of. Does this Amendment do that?”
“First of all, I don’t remember that agreement. I remember it wasn’t the Home Builders, it was the realtors. And yes, the realtors are the ones who drafted the Amendment.”
“Well, how about the… it says here, Home Builders, but it… does it remove it for the… you say, it removes the realtors’ objection.”
“Right.”
“But you don’t know if it removes the Home Builders’ objection to your legislation?”
“I believe it does because I believe that their objection…”
“Are you guessing?”
“Pardon me?”
“Are you guessing? You don’t know.”
“Well, I’m not sure, but I believe it does for this reason, because their objection in committee was that when we had the fire protection districts and it expanded it beyond the normal developer impact fee, which we weren’t trying to do. We were trying to just to sustain whatever 09300110.doc 104 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 impact fees are paid and received by the local governments. They should be able to be used how they want them to be.”
“Okay. Well, you were just gonna put the Amendment on? It’s not your intention to move it to… to Third and pass it this… today is it?”
“No. I’d like to move it to Third, but not pass it today. I’ll wait ‘til next week when I can talk to the Home Builders.”
“Okay. Well, this Amendment is fine, but I understand the Home Builders are still opposed to your legislation.”
“Well, please have ‘em talk to me.”
“Thank you. That would be a great idea. Thank you.”
“Thanks.”
“Seeing no further questions, the question is, ‘Shall Floor Amendment #1 to House Bill 3890 pass or should it be adopted?’ All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The opinion of the Chair is the ‘ayes’ have it. And Amendment #1 is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments. All notes have been filed.”
“Third Reading. On page 12 of the Calendar we have House Bill 5891. Representative Jefferson. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 5891, a Bill for an Act concerning professional regulation. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. Floor 09300110.doc 105 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 Amendment #2, offered by Representative Jefferson, has been approved for consideration.”
“The Gentleman from Winnebago, Representative Jefferson.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House. Floor Amendment #2 sets the time and date this is to go into effect immediately after the Governor signs the Bill is when that date would be established. Thank you.”
“Seeing no question, the question is, ‘Shall Floor Amendment #2 to House Bill 5891 be adopted?’ All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The opinion of the Chair is the ‘ayes’ have it. And Amendment #2 is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments. All notes have been filed.”
“Third Reading. Page 6 of the Calendar we have House Bill 4450. Representative Kelly. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4450, a Bill for an Act concerning business transactions. Third… Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. Floor Amendment #2, offered by Representative Kelly, has been approved for consideration.”
“Now…”
“The Gentleman… the Lady from Cook.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I wanted to move to adopt Floor Amendment #2. Floor Amendment #2 excludes some of the businesses that 09300110.doc 106 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 would have been subject to the new law, if it would have passed as amended before. It excludes banks and also, phone companies.”
“Seeing no further question, the question is, ‘Shall Amendment #2 to House Bill 4450 be adopted?’ All those in favor say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The opinion of the Chair is the ‘ayes’ have it. And Amendment #2 is adopted. Further Amendments?”
“No further Amendments. No Motions filed.”
“Third Reading. On page 19 of the Calendar we have Senate Bill 1645. Representative Phelps. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk. Out of the record. On page 2 of the Calendar we have House Bill 3893. Representative Franks. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 3893, a Bill for an Act in relation to criminal law. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Committee Amendments. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed.”
“Third Reading. On page 17 of the Calendar we have House Bill 5057. Representative Feigenholtz. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 5057, a Bill for an Act concerning seniors. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
Speaker Turner: “The Lady from Cook, Representative Feigenholtz.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This… House Bill 5057 is one of the Bills that the Conference of Women Legislators, again, has been working on to right size and 09300110.doc 107 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 reform long-term care. This one, in particular, is an effort to try and reintegrate people who have been in nursing homes and help… assist them in getting out and making sure that there is appropriate settings for them in the community. It is a work that the Department of Aging has been very involved with, Director Johnson very committed to it. And I would be glad to answer any questions.”
“The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black, for what reason do you rise?”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. An inquiry of the Chair.”
“State your inquiry.”
“Staff inform me that there was an agreement in committee to amend the Bill. I don’t see an Amendment on my laptop. It would… has… isn’t… Would you ask the Clerk if there’s been an Amendment adopted to the Bill?”
“Mr. Clerk, could you tell me the status of that Bill, 5057.”
“Floor Amendment #1 has been adopted to House Bill 5057.”
“All right. Thank you. Evidently, mine didn’t get updated. Will the Sponsor yield?”
“She indicates she will.”
“Thank you. Representative, first of all, thank you for amending the Bill. Does the Amendment remove the objection from the Illinois Health Care Association?”
“Yes, it does.” 09300110.doc 108 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Now, at onetime, staff has been very good about contacting a number of people on this. At onetime AARP had some very serious concerns about the Bill. Were their concerns addressed in the… in the Amendment?”
“Yes, they were.”
“And what did the Amendment do to ameliorate the concerns of AARP and the Illinois Health Care Association?”
“Well, I think a few things that were of concern to them were a balanced approach to reintegration and assuring that there is app… an appropriate setting for people. We… we don’t intend on shuttling people out of nursing homes if they have… don’t have a place to go and I think that what we did was we clarified that. And I think that that was both the concern of AARP and IHCA and this is an Amendment that we worked on with both of them.”
“So, the… the community reintegration assistance portion has been removed from the Bill?”
“I’m sorry?”
“The community… There was a section in the underlying Bill on community reintegration assistance that, I think, the staff is telling me that some people interpreted as perhaps a way that could be used to move people out. And in… from what I… from what they’re telling me the Amendment did, that section on community reintegration has been removed by your Amendment.”
“In Section 4.12, part b, there is still language about community integration; however, the language has been clarified and I’ve talked to people from AARP and from IHCA 09300110.doc 109 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 who understand the rulemaking process should be at the Department of Aging. But they also were very concerned about language that was not in the original version of the Bill which was the develop of a comprehensive service transition based on the best interest of the resident and there are already best interest standards in other parts of statute. Does that answer your question?”
“Closer than I was two minutes ago, yeah and no, I appreciate that. And… So, it appears that the Health Care Association’s concerns… were that they feel the legislation may be unnecessary if seniors were correctly placed in the first… in the first place.”
“Representative, I…”
“All right. I… I just… I just talked to our staff and with the leave of the Body she’s going to explain her objection to the underlying Bill and then explain the reason why the Amendment removes the objection. Is that all right with you?”
“I’m fine with that.”
“All right. Oh, I’m sorry, she declines. She declines. She didn’t wanna give Mr. DeWeese equal time, I’m afraid. Staff has informed me that I have done an excellent job of stalling long enough for them to get to the floor…”
“Fabulous.”
“…and assure me that your outstanding Amendment removed the objection to the Bill. So, as I’m getting close to the age of nursing home admission, I’m all for your Bill.”
“Thank you.” 09300110.doc 110 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“Thank you.”
“Seeing no further question, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 5057 pass?’ All those in favor say ‘aye’; all those… no. 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 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 16, we have House Bill 4525. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk. Out of the record. Mr. Clerk, is there messages from the Senate, would you like to read? First Reading of Senate Bills.”
“Senate Bill 2123, offered by Representative Cross, a Bill for an Act concerning elections. Senate Bill 2148, offered by Representative Nekritz, a Bill for an Act concerning tobacco. Senate Bill 2166, offered by Representative Colvin, a Bill for an Act concerning the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. Senate Bill 2236, offered by Representative Rita, a Bill for an Act in relation to gaming. Senate Bill 2250, offered by Representative Saviano, a Bill for an Act concerning professional regulation. Senate Bill 2251, offered by Representative Saviano, a Bill for an Act concerning professional regulation. Senate Bill 2252, offered by Representative Saviano, a Bill for an Act in relation to the regulation of professions. Senate Bill 2253, offered 09300110.doc 111 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 by Representative Saviano, a Bill for an Act concerning professional regulation. Senate Bill 2254, offered by Representative Saviano, a Bill for an Act concerning professional regulation. Senate Bill 2270, offered by Representative Mendoza, a Bill for an Act concerning the Department of Public Health. Senate Bill 2272, offered by Representative Black, a Bill for an Act concerning recreational trails. Senate Bill 2273, a Bill offered by Representative Froehlich, a Bill for an Act concerning recreational trails. Senate Bill 2290, offered by Representative Lyons, Joseph, a Bill for an Act in relation to alcohol. Senate Bill 2299, offered by Representative Capparelli, a Bill for an Act in relation to fireworks. Senate Bill 2327, offered by Representative Grunloh, a Bill for an Act concerning vehicles. Senate Bill 2360, offered by Representative Froehlich, a Bill for an Act concerning schools. Senate Bill 2367, offered by Representative Coulson, a Bill for an Act concerning Medicaid. Senate Bill 2370, offered by Representative Reitz, a Bill for an Act concerning taxation. Senate Bill 2395, offered by Representative Eddy, a Bill for an Act concerning professional regulation. Senate Bill 2407, offered by Representative Parke, a Bill for an Act concerning technology development. Senate Bill 2456, offered by Representative Bellock, a Bill for an Act concerning collections. Senate Bill 2457, offered by Representative Reitz, a Bill for an Act concerning wildlife. Senate Bill 2460, offered by Representative Pritchard, a Bill for an 09300110.doc 112 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 Act concerning gaming. Senate Bill 2466, offered by Representative Froehlich, a Bill for an Act concerning taxes. Senate Bill 2471, offered by Representative Morrow, a Bill for an Act concerning criminal law. Senate Bill 2480, offered by Representative Moffitt, a Bill for an Act concerning transportation. Senate Bill 2495, offered by Representative Osterman, a Bill for an Act concerning orders of protection. Senate Bill 2502, offered by Representative Froehlich, a Bill for an Act concerning vehicles. Senate Bill 2424, offered by Representative Feigenholtz, a Bill for an Act concerning health. Senate Bill 2530, offered by Representative Nekritz, a Bill for an Act concerning aging. Senate Bill 2545, offered by Representative Fritchey, a Bill for an Act concerning consumer protection. Senate Bill 2546, offered by Representative Slone, a Bill for an Act concerning sex offenders. Senate Bill 2547, offered by Representative Slone, a Bill for an Act concerning employment. Senate Bill 2551, offered by Representative May, a Bill for an Act in relation to public health and environmental protection. Senate Bill 2559, offered by Representative Hassert, a Bill for an Act concerning business transactions. Senate Bill 2583, offered by Representative Coulson, a Bill for an Act in relation to children. Senate Bill 2601, offered by Representative Davis, Steve, a Bill for an Act concerning telecommunications. Senate Bill 2602, offered by Representative Davis, Steve, a Bill for an Act relating to telecommunications. Senate Bill 2603, offered by 09300110.doc 113 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 Representative Davis, Steve, a Bill for an Act concerning telecommunications. Senate Bill 2605, offered by Representative Hoffman, a Bill for an Act concerning law enforcement training. Senate Bill 2626, offered by Representative Giles, a Bill for an Act in relation to veterans. Senate Bill 2634, offered by Representative Hultgren, a Bill for an Act concerning financial regulation. Senate Bill 2635, offered by Representative McCarthy, a Bill for an Act concerning taxes. Senate Bill 2682, offered by Representative Colvin, a Bill for an Act concerning finance. Senate Bill 2683, offered by Representative Pihos, a Bill for an Act concerning ethics. Senate Bill 2375, offered by Representative Franks, a Bill for an Act concerning procurement. Senate Bill 2726, offered by Representative Lyons, Joseph, a Bill for an Act concerning the Department on Aging. Senate Bill 2731, offered by Representative Delgado, a Bill for an Act concerning utilities. Senate Bill 2755, offered by Representative Chapa LaVia, a Bill for an Act concerning higher education. Senate Bill 2757, offered by Representative Hamos, a Bill for an Act concerning courts. Senate Bill 2788, offered by Representative Turner, a Bill for an Act in relation to public aid. Senate Bill 2794, offered by Representative Parke, a Bill for an Act in relation to health. Senate Bill 2839, offered by Representative Mitchell, Jerry, a Bill for an Act in relation to certain land. Senate Bill 2847, offered by Representative Turner, a Bill for an Act in relation to 09300110.doc 114 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 public aid. Senate Bill 2861, offered by Representative Hoffman, a Bill for an Act concerning finance. Senate Bill 2879, offered by Representative Parke, a Bill for an Act concerning mosquito abatement districts. Senate Bill 2918, offered by Representative Delgado, a Bill for an Act concerning education. Senate Bill 1006, offered by Representative Holbrook, a Bill for an Act in relation to environmental safety. Senate Bill 1576, offered by Representative Lindner, a Bill for an Act in relation to zoning. Senate Bill 2145, offered by Representative Tenhouse, a Bill for an Act concerning environmental protection. Senate Bill 2335, offered by Representative Feigenholtz, a Bill for an Act in relation to health. Senate Bill 2491, offered by Representative Parke, a Bill for an Act in relation to insurance. Senate Bill 2892, offered by Representative Colvin, a Bill for an Act concerning taxes. Senate Bill 2901, offered by Representative Ryg, a Bill for an Act concerning business transactions. Senate Bill 2944, offered by Representative Sommer, a Bill for an Act concerning public health. Senate Bill 2989, offered by Representative Mautino, a Bill for an Act in relation to business transactions. Senate Bill 2995, offered by Representative Eddy, a Bill for an Act concerning schools. Senate Bill 3004, offered by Representative Saviano, a Bill for an Act concerning criminal law. Senate Bill 3014, offered by Representative Bellock, a Bill for an Act concerning criminal law. Senate Bill 3026, offered by Representative Mendoza, a Bill for an 09300110.doc 115 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 Act concerning a youth service scholarship program. Senate Bill 3085, offered by Representative Nekritz, a Bill for an Act in relation to transportation. Senate Bill 3091, offered by Representative Flider, a Bill for an Act concerning education. Senate Bill 3109, offered by Representative Bradley, Richard, a Bill for an Act concerning education. Senate Bill 3129, offered by Representative Currie, a Bill for an Act concerning taxes.”
“On the Order of Third Reading we have House Bill 40… 4944. Representative Smith.”
“House Bill…”
“Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 4944, a Bill for an Act relating to schools. Third Reading of this House Bill.”
Speaker Turner: “The Gentleman from Fulton, Representative Smith.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. This, I think, is a very important initiative that we all know the… the increase of technology in all of our lives and particularly in our school system. This is an acknowledgement of the importance of technology and immersing school students in technology early in their school careers. Many other states have done similar programs where they provide laptop computers to school students as early as possible, either in kindergarten or first grade and they have those laptop computers throughout their school career. Some companies are actually developing software to… to extend curriculum for grade 09300110.doc 116 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 levels that they’re able to use on their laptops, they’re able to take ‘em home and do their homework. There’s much more that can be done and we’re finding that it’s a big help in improving student achievement, improving some of our accountability goals and it’s also helping… helping improve the achievement gap. This legislation would create a pilot program to provide laptops for school districts that can apply. They would be given out. The pilot school districts would be spread out between Chicago, the suburbs and downstate, evenly divided and that was through an Amendment that we did yesterday at Representative Kosel’s request. I think it’s a great program. This is not an appropriation. This is just simply authorizing the program. I’d be happy to answer any questions.”
“The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black, for what reason do you rise?”
“Mr. Speaker, in all due respect… an inquiry of the Chair.”
“State your inquiry.”
“When you went to the First Reading of Senate Bills, there were people who made an assumption and if you’ll look around the chamber, you’d better be able to ring that bell out in the parking lot and on the highway. I don’t think there’s even a… well, there’s probably a quorum, but I would say 15 to 18 Members are gone. Now, at some point, it’s my intent to request a verification on any Bill that’s is the least bit controversial. You should have made an announcement in my humble estimation that you were not 09300110.doc 117 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 adjourning. There are dozens of people who have… I saw ‘em take their orange T-shirts, put ‘em in their little bags that they got from the Museum Society and walk out. So, with that as a caveat, would the Sponsor yield?”
“Sponsor indicates he will.”
“Thank you. Representative, let the record reflect that at least you and I have stayed here to do the work of the people.”
“That’s right.”
“Representative, my only concern about this Bill is it costs $10 million, a three-year pilot program that gives laptops to people in underperforming schools and then it directs the State Board of Education to select and evaluate. Well, four of those schools will be upstate, three of those schools, I assume, will be somewhere downstate, but here are the problems I have with it. Ten million dollars that we don’t have, directing a State Board of Education, that the Governor has said will not exist at… by the end of this fiscal year, to evaluate the program. Now, at some point, I just want you and the Governor’s staff to get together so that one, we know where the money’s coming from and two, we know what state agency is going to evaluate the program. You say… your Bill says the State Board of Education, the Governor has said it won’t exist as of July 1. So, for that reason and I don’t have a problem with the Bill and it may work wonders, but I don’t know where we’re gonna get the 10 million. I’m not sure that laptops is… are the only answer to underperforming 09300110.doc 118 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 schools and underperforming students. I can show you excellent schools and excellent and good test scores in schools that have computers that are ten years old. Good teaching, good administration, good involvement with parents will make a successful school and a successful student. I think your Bill’s gonna pass overwhelmingly and I’m not about to seek a verification. I just want the record to reflect, I feel compelled to vote ‘no’ because, I think, we’re sending a very conflicting message and the School Management Alliance, the very entity that should be for the Bill, if they thought it would work, is… is in opposition. So, I don’t know what their opposition is, but for that reason I’m gonna vote ‘no’.”
“Well, thank you, Representative Black. I… You raise some good points as always, but I’m sure you’d agree that laptops have improved the quality of… of Legislators. We realize that this is not an appropriation. It’s simply authorizing the program. We intend to work with the administration to find a… the… the appropriation for this. They’re existing technology funds that we have already under the State Board of Education. There’s also a possibility of exist… of additional federal funds that could be captured for this, so there are lots of possibilities. And certainly this isn’t the only thing we need to do to improve student achievement, but that this is something that we think has… at least merits a pilot program to see what the success might be.” 09300110.doc 119 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“The Gentleman from Crawford, Representative Eddy, what reason do you rise?”
“Will the Sponsor yield?”
“He indicates he will.”
“Something… something that was just mentioned kind of concerned me and I support the idea of laptops. I think… I think it’s an excellent idea, an excellent program and I share Representative Black’s concern at this time whether funds are available. Now, I’m more concerned only because I heard you say existing federal or state technology dollars to support this program. At the present time, technology dollars that are available to schools are available to schools on a statewide basis. My concern is that if we take $10 million from technology money available either through federal technology funds or state technology funds and we dedicate $10 million to four or six or nine school districts, how much will that cost the 800 other school districts in the state in technology money? And I just want a clarification on that, Representative, that it would not reduce the amount of allocations that those districts are now receiving.”
“No, that… that’s not what I intended to say. I… I have been told that there might be additional federal funds through No Child Left Behind dollars if we see those at any time coming from Washington then there might be a possibility that we could access some of that money.”
“Okay. And… and I wouldn’t think it would be your intent to take those funds that might go to all school districts 09300110.doc 120 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 in some manner and reserve a certain amount for this program and then that would be my concern with this that we’re taking those funds. And I appreciate your answer to that, but for that reason I do have concerns and I definitely would like to see in a state appropriation line item where that did not affect all the other school districts before I can support this. Thank you.”
“Certainly, be happy to work with ya on that.”
“Seeing no further questions, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4944 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… take the record. On this question, there are 99 voting ‘aye’, 0 ‘noes’, 13 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Rita, for what reason do you rise?”
“Mr. Speaker, I’d like to table House Bill 4817.”
“Gentleman askes leave to table House Bill 4817. All those in favor say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The opinion of the Chair is the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Bill will be tabled. The Lady from Cook, Representative Bassi, for what reason do you rise?”
“Mr. Speaker, I’d like to table House Bill 4810, please?” 09300110.doc 121 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004
“The Lady asks leave to table House Bill 4810. All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’.”
“Thank you.”
“And the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it and the Lady’s Bill will be tabled. The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Froehlich, for what reason do you rise?”
“I’d like to table House Bill 4763.”
“The Gentleman asks leave to table House Bill 4763. All those in favor should say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. The opinion of the Chair is the ‘ayes’ have it. And the Bill will be so tabled, 4763. The Gentleman from… Representative Winnebago… The Gentleman from Winnebago, Representative Jefferson, for what reason do you rise?”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to table House Bill 4572.”
“The Gentleman asks leave to table House Bill 4572. All those in favor say ‘aye’; all those opposed say ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. And 4572 is tabled. Anybody else? On the Order of Second Reading we have House Bill 5925. Representative Mautino. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”
“House Bill 5925, a Bill for an Act concerning insurance. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. Floor Amendment #2 has been 09300110.doc 122 STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 110th Legislative Day 3/26/2004 adopted. Second Reading of this Senate… for this House Bill. All notes have been filed.”
“Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, for the Adjournment Resolution.”
Clerk Mahoney: “Senate Joint Resolution 68, offered by Representative Currie. RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that when the two Houses adjourn on Friday, March 26, 2004, the Senate stands adjourned until Tuesday, March 30, 2004 at 12:00 noon; and the House of Representatives stands adjourned until Monday, March 29, 2004 at 4:00 p.m.”
Speaker Turner: “Allowing perfunctory time for the Clerk, Representative Currie now moves that the House stands adjourned until Monday, March 29 at the hour of 4 p.m. Monday, March 29 at the hour of 4 p.m. And the Rules Committee will meet immediately in the Speaker’s Conference Room. With that, the House does stand adjourned until Monday, March 29 at 4 p.m. Be here Monday at 4:00.” 09300110.doc 123