Illinois House Floor Debate — April 7, 2005

“The hour of 12:00 having arrived, the House will be in order. The Members will please be in their seats. Members and guests are asked to refrain from starting their laptops, turn off their cell phones and pagers and rise for the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance. We’ll be led in prayer today by Pastor Kirk Alan Smith with the House… with House of Prayer in Albion, Illinois. Pastor Smith is the guest of Representative Reis.”

“Let’s pray together. We come to You today in Jesus’ name. Thank You for the opportunity and the privilege of blessing this day for these men and women as they conduct business for the great State of Illinois. And this day of partisan politics and personal agendas, may this group of people not be content with mediocrity of imitating what other State Legislatures are doing, but instead may they be on the cutting edge of creativity, courage, inspiration, and maturity. This state has fiscal challenges, educational challenges, employment challenges, and moral challenges, that when we seek Your face and work together there’s no challenge too big. This group of people yield great power, accomplishing more with one signature of their name than some folks accomplish in a lifetime. May they balance that power with a sense of responsibility, accountability, and humility. We also ask that You bless any spouses and/or children home today who sacrifice much so that these men and women can serve this state with clarity of vision and purpose. For each of them 09400035.doc 1  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 we thank You. Lay Your blessing upon them in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

“And we’ll be led in the Pledge today by, Representative Froehlich.”

Speaker Hannig: “Roll Call for Attendance. Representative Lang.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The excused Democratic absences today are, Representatives Currie, McKeon, Boland, and Dugan.”

“Representative Bost.”

“Thank you, Mr. Bost. Mr. Clerk, take the record. There are 114 Members answering the Roll Call, a quorum is present. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Committee Reports?”

“Representative Phelps, for what reason do you rise?”

“Point of personal privilege.”

“Yes, state your point.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentleman of the House. As you may or may not be aware, April 2005 was commemorated as Car Care Month by House Resolution 107. In keeping with that spirit of that Resolution, let me advise you that a battery care, even a maintenance-free battery needs a little extra TLC. In fact, some preset engine- controlled conditions such as idle may need to be reset if battery power is interrupted. You may also need to reset the clock and radio. Be certain to consult your vehicle owner’s guide for the correct procedure. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for allowing me to pass on these helpful tips to you and my colleagues. Thank you.”

“Representative Stephens.”

“Yes, state your inquiry.” 09400035.doc 4  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

Speaker Hannig: “We’ll have him go check the oil, okay? Representative Bailey. Representative Bailey. Representative Bailey, on page 26 of the Calendar, you have House Bill 1289. Would you like us to call that Bill? No. Okay. Out of the record. Representative Bellock has House Bill 3451 on page 28 of the Calendar. Mr. Clerk, would you read that Bill.”

“Representative Bellock.”

“This is on the Order of Short Debate. Does anyone stand in response? Then the question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' All in favor vote 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Flowers and Scully, would you 09400035.doc 5  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 like to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 114 voting ‘yes’ and 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative John Bradley has House Bill 1080 on page 8 of the Calendar. Okay. Out of the record at the request of the Sponsor. Representative Bradley, how about House Bill 2411? Mr. Clerk, would read the Bill. 2411.”

“Okay. Mr. Clerk, the board needs to reflect that we’re on House Bill 2411. Okay. Could you… could you read that Bill on Second Reading, Mr. Clerk.”

“Representative Bradley.”

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would ask for adoption of this Amendment. The only change to this Amendment from the previous Amendment is that we split the adult portion of the pilot program from the juvenile portion. Franklin County Detention Center and the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center are a… contig… or a contiguous with one 09400035.doc 6  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 another. And this is a… a minor and appropriate change to this very important piece of legislation for the state.”

“The Gentleman moves for the adoption of the Floor Amendment. All in favor say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

“Third Reading. Representative Rich Bradley, on page 25 of the Calendar, you have House Bill 805. Okay, that’s out of the record at the request of the Sponsor. Representative Black, on page 24 of the Calendar, you have House Bill 48. Mr. Clerk, would you read that Bill, please.”

“The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black.”

“This is on the Order of Short Debate. Does anyone stand in response? Then the question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative… okay. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 114 voting ‘yes’ and 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Black, you also have House Bill 325 on page 24 of the Calendar. Mr. Clerk, would you read that Bill.”

“The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black.”

“This is on the Order of Short Debate. And in response, Representative Franks is recognized.”

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

“He indicates he’ll yield.”

“Mr. Black, I just was handed a… an appraisal of the property and it indicates that the 14 acres that are in dispute here is worth approximately $15,500. Is that correct?”

“Okay. I guess my question… and… and you’ve been here a lot longer than me, maybe you can help me. Why do we 09400035.doc 9  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 need legislation at this time when the two parties are in active negotiations and if those active negotiations should fail, there’s also redress through the courts?”

“Correct.”

“I understand that the university is not subject to the adverse possession rules, but I’m thinking here that possibly the… I’m sorry, the Vandersta… the Vanderports are possibly barking up the wrong tree. Because if they purchased this property from a third-party seller, and I… what were they Millers? The Millers.”

“Pur… typically, when you purchase land you buy a title insurance. Have they not gone and made a claim against the title insurance to make them whole? Because typically, if you or I had a problem and had a question of who owned the land, the proper way to go would be a claim against the title insurance. Has that been done here?”

“Okay.”

“Right.”

“Well, it sounds like they got ripped off, these folks. And I understand that, but here’s… and my heart goes out to ‘em. I hate to see anybody get swindled, which is obviously what’s happened to these folks. But I think we’re setting a very dangerous precedent if we have to go to the General Assembly to get involved in problems between private parties first and now two… two different entities that are both claiming title. So for that reason, I’ve got a problem philosophically, because if we do it for this one, we have to do it for the next one and the next one and the next one. So I understand what you do. I respect that you’re fighting for your constituent. But for those reasons, I can’t stand with you. But thank you.”

“Representative Franks, your… your time has expired. So, Repre… Representative Black, you’re recognized to close.”

“The question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Hoffman and Representative Monique Davis, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 111 voting ‘yes’, 3 voting ‘no, and 0 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Phelps, for what reason do you rise?”

“Point of personal privilege.”

“State your point.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I would like for all my colleagues to help me welcome to Springfield two of my great friends and constituents of the 118th District and from Pope County, Chuck and Vicky Ailey.”

“Is Representative Brady prepared on… prepared for us to read on page 27, House Bill 2689? Representative Brauer, on page 27 of the Calendar, you have House Bill 2355. Okay, that’s out of the record at the request of the Sponsor. Representative Burke, on page 10 of the Calendar is House Bill 1362. Do you want us to read that Bill on Second Reading? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

“Third Reading. Representative Chavez, do you wish us to read House Bill 1469? Do you wish us to read on Second Reading? Okay. Mr. Clerk, on page 11 of the Calendar is House Bill 1469. Would you read the Bill, please.”

Speaker Hannig: “Do you wish us to move that to Third, Representative? Okay, Third Reading. Representative Cross has, on page 12 of the Calendar, House Bill 1541. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill.”

“Third Reading. On page 27 of the Calendar is House Bill 1971. Representative Jefferson, would you wish to handle this for Representative Currie? House Bill 1971. Mr. Clerk… Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill.”

“Representative Jefferson.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Legislature. All this Bill does is House Bill… is an election shell Bill and it modifies the Election Code to allow any person to view during normal business hours other than the 27 days 09400035.doc 15  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 prior to the election the centralized statewide voters registration list on the computer at the Springfield office and the State Board of Elections. The person viewing the list must provide his/her name, address, and telephone number so that such information, along with the time the person accessed the database, may be available to the public. The person viewing the list may not leave the office of the State Board of Elections with a copy of the list. Basically, this legislation stems from a concern raised by the Illinois Press Association that they should have access to the centralized statewide voters registration list. Under current law, members of the press may view registration cards but, pursuant to Bills been passed in ’93, they might not view electronic voter registration records. And what this Bill does is allow them to view the voters electronic registration records even though they might not have a copy of it after they view the Bill. And I would ask for a favorable vote and I would answer any questions. Thank you.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Representative Lyons in the Chair. Any questions from the Membership? The Chair recognizes Representative Giles.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield for a question or two?" Speaker Lyons, J.: "Indi… indicates he will.”

“Representative Jefferson, once again, I apologize. I don’t have the privy of serving on the Election Committee. But could you just help me understand once again because 09400035.doc 16  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 I’d like to understand these election issues to make sure that I can explain to my constituency. The Illinois Press Association right now, currently, they cannot view the voters registration list. Is that correct?”

“That’s exactly right. The… they cannot view the centralized statewide voters registration list.”

“Okay. So, I mean, as… as an association, they… they may not. But can an individual… just like if I were to go to the Board of Election and ask to view someone’s voters registration to make sure that they are registered to vote at a particular address, I can do it, and you’re saying that the association can’t do it.”

“The person cannot. But normally you have to be affiliated with an organization, i.e., the Democratic Party, Republican Party, an organization such as that nature.”

“And in this legislation you have that… I mean, but you know, any person can view the list. They can view the registration list, is that correct?”

“As long as we’ve got their name, address, and telephone number, yes.”

“Okay. So, if any person can view… I’m sure when that individual that may represent the Illinois Press Association, if that individual want to see someone’s registration they have access to do that. Is that correct?”

“That’s exactly right.”

“Okay.” 09400035.doc 17  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“All this refers… Mr. Speaker, I’m sorry. All this refers to is the electronic voters registration, that the press has not been able to view prior to this legislation. They would be unable to view the electronic voter registration.”

“Okay. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Any further questions? Seeing none, all those in favor signify… of adopting the Amendment signify by saying ‘aye’; those opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And so adopted. Third Reading. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the roll. On this Bill, there are 114 voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘nay’, 0 voting ‘present’. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Amendment(sic-Majority), is hereby declared passed. On page 26 of the Calendar is the Rep… is House Bill 1571. Representative Flider. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Bill is a McHenry County initiative. Representative Tryon and I were working on 09400035.doc 19  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 this together and we’re happy to have our cosponsors of Representative Beaubien and Mathias and Chapa LaVia. We’ve exempted the City of Chicago because they’re already doing what we want this Bill to do and it’s a very simple Bill. All we’re saying is that if notice of an ordinance violation requires a respondent to answer within a specifi… a specified period of time, then the county or municipality must also reply to the respondent within that same amount of time. We think it’s fundamental fairness and I’d be glad to answer any questions.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Are there any questions from the Members? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Terry Parke.”

“I’m… yes, they still are opposed.”

“Right. I believe that they’re… that they’re criticisms aren’t well-founded. Representative Tryon worked on it and Representative Tryon, as you know, is the former chairman of McHenry County Board. And we saw is a real issue there and I think they’re throwing a red herring 09400035.doc 20  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 on the question of definition. We’re not saying they have to come to an adjudication, we’re saying they have to respond. Because what’s been happening, quite frankly, is you’ll get an ordinance violation. And one will get an ordinance violation and the individual will have a specified time to reply, such as 10 days. And as a res…”

“And as a result, people will have to jump through a lot of hoops, get engineers, do everything they can, and then the county will sit on their respo… pay lawyers, which I know you don’t like that, and then the county will sit on it for 3 or 4 months. And that’s just not fair. If they’ve given you… if they’re giving the citizens a certain amount of time, then the county or municipality should be held at the same standard.”

“Thank you.”

“We did. We did and that’s why we exempted the City of Chicago. But going through… what they really wanted to do… the bottom line, Metro Counties said, ‘Well then, just do it for McHenry County and we’ll be okay with it.’ But we didn’t think that was fair to have special legislation. We thought if it’s good for us, it should be good for the other ones as well.” 09400035.doc 21  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“We tried but they… what they wanted as common ground was not to have this Bill.”

“And we see a real need for it and everyday we hear of constituents calling us and complaining about it. So, I know they don’t wanna do it, but sometimes, ya know, they’re wrong.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Unfortunately, there aren’t here. We treat our people in the court system a heck of a lot better.”

“That’s right. I wish there was.”

“No, I don’t blame ya.”

“That’s right. You got 113 votes on that. I was impressed.”

“We just wanna get back… ‘cause what happens is… and this is what happens in the real world. Someone… you get an ordinance violation, a red tag, and they say your septic system is wrong and you’ve gotta get it fixed within ten days. So then we hire the engineers, we do everything we think we need to do. We go and spend thousands of dollars and then the county sits on it for three months and you have no idea whether you’ve complied or not. If it’s important enough for them to tell you you have ten days to fix it, well then they should let us know within ten days whether it’s right. That’s all, it’s just common courtesy. And if they can’t get it done within ten days, well then at least give the citizen twenty days or however… however much time that the county believes that they need to check it out. Well then be fair to our citizens and give them that 09400035.doc 23  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 same amount of time. That’s all we’re saying. Don’t be heavy-handed. And we found our counties to be extremely heavy-handed to our citizens and I’m just trying to level the playing field.”

“It might be the same lobbyist.”

“Well, the time issue, they brought that up to me and I says, ‘Well, the time issue you guys set. Whatever you think you need, well then, you give it to the citizens as well.’ So that’s really not an issue. And they said, ‘Well, that’s not fair.’ I’m like, well how can it not be fair? You’re the ones who’re setting it. And I don’t understand their ar… their argument about the definition, we’re just saying respond back.”

“Well, what we’d say is, okay, we’re gonna get this done within five days. Then what we expect then is the city to come out and inspect it within the next five days. Because why would they ask you to go to all that additional expense, ya know, if you’ve gotta hire someone on an emergency basis, and then they don’t show up for three weeks?”

“That’s my point.”

“Right.”

“Right. You…”

“You articulated it much better than me, Representative.”

“My colleague from McHenry said it better than I could, as did the prior speaker. I’d ask for an ‘aye’ vote. This is good government. It’s… it’s requiring government to give the service in a reasonable manner in which all citizens should expect. I, please, would ask for an ‘aye’ vote.” 09400035.doc 26  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 Speaker Lyons, J.: "The question is, ‘Shall House Bill 655 pass?’ Those in favor vote ‘yes’; those opposed vote ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 106 voting ‘yes’, 7 voting ‘no’, 1 voting ‘present’. This Bill, having received the Constitutional requirement, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, on page 28 of the Calendar, we have House Bill 3095. Representative JoAnn Osmond. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Representative Jenisch does not want me to say this so what he doesn’t not want me to say was, so I won’t, what he does not want me to say is that was his first Bill that you just let him slide on his first Bill. Thank you.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "There’s always a second Bill. Representative Jenisch.”

“I was wondering if it would be too late to reconsider the vote we just took, Mr. Speaker? Do I need to make a formal Motion? I did vote on the prevailing side.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "There is always a second Bill, Representative Lang.”

“He may not get a second Bill. He may not have a second Bill. I’m joined by everyone on this side of the aisle.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "All right. The question is, ‘Should House Bill 3724 be reconsidered?’ All those in favor vote 'aye'; those opposed vote 'no'. By voice vote… this will require Roll Call vote, Representative Lang. Shall I pur… pursue?”

“Certainly.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "The question is, ‘Should we reconsider the vote on the previous Bill that was passed, House Bill 3724?’ If you want to have that Bill reconsidered vote ‘yes’, if you want to have the voting stand vote ‘no’. The voting is open. All those in favor of recalling the Bill vote ‘yes’; those opposed to let the Bill stand at its present status vote ‘no’. One second, hold on. Representative Lang.”

“Mr. Speaker, I don’t… I don’t wanna throw this place into any more turmoil than it is. I’ll make you a deal. I’ll make Representative Jenisch a deal. Where are you Representative? If… if you promise not to hide from us when your second Bill comes, like you did your first Bill, I’ll withdraw this Motion.” 09400035.doc 31  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 Speaker Lyons, J.: "Representative Jenisch, such a deal.”

“Excellent. I’ll withdrawal the Motion.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "The Motion is withdrawn. We’ll go back to the regular Order of Business here in the day. Thank you, Representative Lang. Thank you, Representative Jenisch. The Chair recognizes Representative Mitchell, for what purpose do you seek recognition?” Mitchell, J.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There… there is a rumor floating around that the reason we did not reconsider that vote is that since you are so no… new as the Speaker that you weren’t sure how to go about that procedure.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "That is absolutely correct, Representative Mitchell. The Chair recognizes Representative Black, for what purpose do you stand?”

“Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 2487 amends the General Assembly Organization Act and the Legislative Commission Reorganization Act of 1984. It would require an electronic copy of all reports filed with the General Assembly to be provided to the Legislative Research Unit. It requires that the unit then post reports on the General Assembly website. As well, the reporting entity would have to make a copy of the report available for a reasonable time on its Internet site or on the 09400035.doc 33  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 Internet site of the public entity that hosts the reporting entities World Wide Web page. I will accept questions.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Are there any questions, any discussion on House Bill 2487? Seeing none, the question is, ‘Should House Bill 2487 pass?’ All those in favor vote ‘aye’; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there’s 114 voting ‘yes’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 ‘presents’. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Kosel, we have House Bill 3080… 3048 on the Order of Second Reading. Do you wish to call that Bill… move that Bill? 3048. Do you have an Amendment? Mr. Clerk, what’s the status of House Bill 3048?”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Sorry about that, I thought we were moving it to Third Reading. House Bill 923 raises the penalty for certain offenses and limits the amount of… for certain offenses. The Bill raises the penalties for the conspiracy to commit treason, first degree murder, and aggravated kidnapping to a Class I felony from a Class II felony. The Bill also requires the conspirators to commit aggravated sexual assault and predatory sexual… criminal assault for a child to be Class I felonies. Currently, right now they are Class IV felonies. I ask for a favorable vote.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "You’ve heard the presentation on House Bill 923. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, ‘Should House Bill 923 pass?’ All those in favor vote 'aye'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there’s 113 voting ‘yes’, 1 voting ‘no’, 0 ‘present’. This 09400035.doc 37  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 vote, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, on page 29 of the Calendar is House Bill 3648. Representative Dunn. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

“Thank you… thank you, Mr. Speaker. The only part… and I… I… I thought we said we might do this in the Senate about possibly having to issue the ticket, so that gives you some reasonable grounds of probable cause to go ahead and do the test.”

“Are you still intending to talk to your Senator on that?”

“Okay.”

“Fine. And it… then I agree. It’s a great Bill. Thank you.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 448 simply amends the Raffles Act and provides that certain licensing requirements and certain restrictions on the conduct of raffles don’t apply to charitable institutions if the sole purpose of that institution is to raise funds for children’s research 09400035.doc 40  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 hospital. We passed this out overwhelmingly last year and it just never got called in the Senate. I would ask for a favorable Roll Call.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Are there any questions on House Bill 448? Seeing none, the question is… the Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Parke.”

“Yeah, I believe they would be. But all…”

“I don’t know why, all we do is allow for more money to go to children’s research hospitals. But I understand that they are just against any type of changes in the gaming laws. So, they’re… they are opposed.”

“No.”

“All this does is…”

“No. The Raffle Act already exists. All this does is it indicates that the amount that you can give away and raise for children’s research hospitals, basically there… the amount that you can give away is not limited. So, what’s happened is St. Jude’s Hospital, the children’s 09400035.doc 41  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 research hospital, it’s my understanding what they do for their fundraising for children’s research… for children’s research health problems, they give away… they give away large prizes like a house. Apparently, in certain areas of the state you can’t give that big of a prize away. This says if the sole purpose is for the research hospital and it’ll be proceeds of the raffle will be used for scientific or educational purposes for that children’s hospital, then that… that limit wouldn’t apply.”

“Thank… thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 1350 is a Bill that’s being… that’s being brought back from last year. It requires that hospital… hospital emergency rooms who treat children or kids under the age of 18 that have been injured in a back over incident or a power window accident to be reported to the trauma registry. And it also requires that death certificates be sent to the children… the Department of Children and Family Services to keep track of children who have died from re… a result of being backed over or a power window incident. And I encourage an ‘aye’ vote.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Thank you, Representative. The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from McLean, Representative Brady.”

“Yes.” 09400035.doc 44  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“Sure.”

“Thank you.”

“Power windows, yes. There have been a number of reported deaths of children…”

“There have been a num…” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Ladies and Gentlemen, if we could get a little silence in the chamber we’d appreciate it. To bring back what Chuck Hartke used to use to effectively, shhh… Thank you.”

“There was an incident in Grundy County where man backed over his daughter with his pickup truck. And when we went to go do some research on how many incidents had happened like this, there was no clear cut way of getting it. The state currently keeps track of motor vehicle accidents but they don’t tell you how the person died. If I just wanted to pick up some statistics that told me that, it would say motor vehicle. It wouldn’t say that the child was backed over or that they were killed in an automobile accident. So this piece of legislation is geared towards having that infor… collecting that information and having it available when we want to access it and know… we can keep track of how many accidents happen like this. There was also an accident that happened in… in Oak Park as well, 09400035.doc 46  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 a grandmother backed over her grandchild. And a incident where a child was decapitated in downstate Illinois being ran… being involved in a power window incident.”

“When we go to…”

“The point is… those reports do, but if you go to the source of where the national kind of database thing is kept, there are no statistics set aside to let you know how many that were backed over. This piece of legislation will allow just for an extra line in the annual report of the Child Death Review Team to give you those numbers plain and clear. Right now, they don’t. They just tell you motor vehicle accident.”

“Representative…”

“It’s a small number of children. At least, I think, 15… 8 to 15 children. So it’s not a dramatic change in… in the process. It’s not… when I met with the coroners, ‘cause I did meet with them last year, they did agree that they would send those medi… those accident… the death certificates directly to the Department of Children and Family Services so that they could keep these statistics. Right now, that they… right now, there is a line on it but we wanted to make sure out of all clarity. Some people are not aware of the system or how to navigate the system as well as you and I might be able to go to different sources. But again, there was no statistics kept anywhere that we could just access and pick up the number. We have to do research to find out that number of… number of children that have been killed in back over or power windows, when we simply now, if this legislation is passed, we’ll simply just go to one… ya know, one source and get that information.”

“Well, that… that has changed now since the garage door opener now… when it detects something beneath the door the garage automatically goes…”

“…back up. Yes.” 09400035.doc 48  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“We’re clarifying…”

“We’re not asking anybody to go out and do anything. We’re just asking that the regular process that takes place in a hospital emergency room, that they clearly mark or keep the statistics of children that were backed over or injured in a back over incident or power window incident and forward the death certificates on to the Department of Children of Family Services, who I met with by the way. And they’ll add this line into the annual report that’s already being produced by the Child Death Review Team and we’ll know how many children have suffered at the hands of this kind of accident.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?" Speaker Lyons, J.: "Indicates she will.”

“Representative Graham, this Bill looks familiar. Did you have a Bill like this last year?”

“Yes, this same piece of legislation passed out of the House last year. Yes.” 09400035.doc 49  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“And just so I understand, what you’re simply trying to do is to codify the reasons why kids who are killed in automobile accidents, what type of accidents there were.”

“Yes. Right now, you can go to the database that are… that are being kept only says motor vehicle accident, it doesn’t tell you how the child died. Some of the… the databases do not break that out, it just says vehicle accident.”

“And… and I’m just assuming here that… and my assumption is… is that you would want to know why those children died in that fashion…”

“Yes.”

“…so that if something needed to be done, we would know that by virtue of the statistics that would bear out…”

“Right, the… the issue that we’re concerned about. Yes, you’re right.”

“All right. Thank you, Representative Graham. To the Bill. Mr. Speaker…” Speaker Lyons, J.: "To the Bill.”

“…I rise in support of Representative Graham’s Bill. I think this is an excellent idea. I think it’s the same situation with teen suicide, which I think once it became apparent in that we codified the death as a result of suicide that they were able to get a grips on it. And it led to the treatment of depression and other things that would lead to an individual… a child who would want to take his own life. And I think that’s what we’re trying to do here in… in the same… very much the same fashion, and that 09400035.doc 50  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 is you don’t really realize that there’s a problem that needs to be fixed or cured, something that either auto manufacturers could do or something that parents or individuals who operate motor vehicles would have to do until you have credible research. And that research would bear out exactly if there was a phenomenon that we could be addressing through some public safety measure. So, I rise in strong support of her Bill. I think it’s an excellent idea and I urge all my colleagues to vote for it. Thank you.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Thank you, Representative. Representative Graham to close.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the committee. I just urge an ‘aye’ vote.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "The question is, Ladies and Gentlemen, ‘House Bill 1350, should it pass?’ In favor, vote ‘yes’; opposed, vote ‘no’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Kosel. Representative Reitz. Representative Mulligan. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 80 voting ‘yes’, 34 voting ‘no’, 0 voting ‘aye’(sic-‘present’). This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, on page 27 of the Calendar, Representative Mathias has House Bill 2690. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. As you know, I spent a considerable amount of time over the last several years on health care issues, particularly mental health. And we’ve passed some Bills in this Body to protect patients from abuse by staff. But over a period of years, we’ve had reports of and hearings about abuse on staff by patients and it’s become a serious problem, making it difficult to hire and keep good staff at various of our health care facilities around the state. After working very hard with the Illinois Nurses Association and Community Behavioral Healthcare Association and others, 09400035.doc 53  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 we’ve created this Health Care Workplace Violence Act. It would require by July 1, ’06 every health care workplace to implement a plan reasonably expected to prevent and protect employees from violence. These plans would be reviewed every 3 years. It also requires that by July 1, ’07 all health care workplaces must provide violence prevention training to all of its affected employees. And it also requires that by July 1, ’06 every health care setting must keep a record of every violent act against any employee, any patient, or any visitor at any health care setting. There are some exemption to this and some other things. It’s a very important piece of legislation if we’re gonna get our best and brightest to work at these facilities and I would urge you to vote for this.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Thank you, Representative. Is there any discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Terry Parke.”

“They helped write some of the substantive language in the Bill and I’m grateful for that and they’re opposed on fiscal grounds. The fiscal notes that they filed, if you add them all up, amount to one-point-something million dollars. I think those numbers are overblown, frankly, 09400035.doc 54  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 because they’re trying… they don’t want to spend any money. And so, I think we know that a lot of the fiscal notes prepared by the departments have been overblown this year. But even if that were the number, this is a very important piece of legislation to protect these health care workers.”

“I don’t have any specific funding source for this…”

“…but we have budget negotiations ongoing. It’s up to us to decide where and how we spend our money.”

“Please vote ‘aye’.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "The question is, ‘Should House Bill 399 pass?’ All those in favor vote 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 111 voting ‘yes’, 1 voting ‘no’, 2 voting ‘present’. This vote, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, on page 28 of the Calendar, Representative Mautino has House Bill 3577. Representative Mautino in the chamber? Yes, he is. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Representative Mautino, one moment, please.” 09400035.doc 56  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 3850 extends the life of the Oglesby TIF District which was put into existence in the mid-1980s. And this comes at the request of the Village of Oglesby. Agreements have been signed from all participating taxing units. They are in favor of this going forward and I simply ask for your support.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Thank you, Representative. And any discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Parke.”

“That’s correct but that was Amendment 2, it was never adapted… adopted to the Bill. This is the original Bill which deals only with the Village of Oglesby.”

“Appreciate your ‘aye’ vote.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "The question is, ‘Should House Bill 3850 pass?’ All those in favor vote 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have 09400035.doc 57  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Lindner. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 114 ‘yes’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 ‘presents’. This vote, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, what’s the status of Representative Bill Mitchell’s House Bill 27? I think it’s on page 2 of the Calendar.”

“…and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 1585 creates the Arsenic in School Playgrounds Act, so that as of July 1, 2006, no schools or local governments shall construct playgrounds for children using arsenic traded… treated wood. It’s progressive going forward, it was unanimous out of committee I think by 24 Sponsors.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Is there any discussion on the Bill? The Chair recognizes the Rep… the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Parke.”

“Yes. Arsenic is a known carcinogen.”

“This is not about woodchips, it’s about the wood from which the playground sets are built that are treated with chromated copper arsenate to prevent them from bug manifestation. It has nothing to do with the chips. I am told, because I talked to both the park districts and DNR, that there are federal rules that would apply to any woodchips, that they must be uniform and not have sharp edges. Therefore, no one would use woodchips made onsite for any of the chips for children’s playgrounds. But I really appreciate your concern.”

“I’m sorry, the question was…”

“Okay. If you…”

“You asked about woodchips. So, it doesn’t… woodchips were never used that were… that were treated with this chromium arsenate. It was the playground sets. And no group would grind up any former playground sets or any trees or anything because there are laws about equal size and sharp edges that they cannot use woodchips onsite. They wouldn’t grind them up onsite.”

“I’m not aware of any reports. That was not the genesis of this Bill.”

“It’s not about woodchips, Representative. It’s about the playground sets that were built with… with this arsenic- treated wood.”

“I’m not aware of any reports.”

“No, this is… this is going forward. This is going forward.”

“Yes.”

“Representative, yes.”

“Representative, the health of the child of the State of the Illinois is very important to me and I honestly think it’s important to you also. So…”

“I think a preventative measure is a very good assurance.”

“Yes, it’s hard to hear your question. The Floor… it was not adopted, no.”

“No. I said it came unanimously out of committee and no one testified it against it.”

“Thank you.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Representative May to close.”

“Yes, I think this is a very important concept to protect our children and I’d just ask for an ‘aye’ vote.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "The question is, ‘Should House Bill 1585 pass?’ All those in favor vote 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Gordon. Representative Gordon, you wanna be 09400035.doc 62  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 112 Members voting ‘yes’, 0 ‘noes’, 1 ‘present’. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Chapa LaVia, for what reason do you wish to be recognized?”

"A point of personal privilege, Speaker.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Proceed.”

"It’s not often that members… school kids from my area come all the way out three hours to Springfield, so I’d… I’d like to acknowledge a group that’s here. They’re from Archbishop Romero School in Aurora, the eighth grade students. If you could just welcome them, they’re up here in the gallery. Thank you.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Welcome to Springfield. Mr. Clerk, on page 16 of the Calendar, Representative Moffitt has House Bill 2550. I believe it’s on Second Reading. What’s the status of the Bill, Mr. Clerk?”

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have House Bill 2692 and what 2692 does, it amends the Illinois Water Well Construction Code. It provides that the one-time water well construction permit fee authorized by the Act shall not exceed $2 hundred, which now is $1 hundred. Further, it provides in counties with a population of more than 250 09400035.doc 64  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 thousand, with the approval of the county board, the fee may exceed 2 hundred but not 3 hundred dollars. This Bill was brought to me by some people with the water well construction company and I would try to answer any questions and I would appreciate your ‘aye’ vote. Thank you.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Is there any discu… discussion on House Bill 2692? Seeing none, the question is, ‘Should House Bill 2692 pass?’ All those in favor signify by saying 'aye'… voting ‘yes’; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative May. Representative McGuire.”

“Put the Bill on the Postponed Consideration, please. Not enough.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Sorry, Representative. This Bill… Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 43 ‘yes’, 70 ‘no’, 0 voting ‘present’. This Bill, failing to receive the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared lost. Representative May, for what purpose do you rise?”

“On the last Bill my vote was a ‘no’. Thank you.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "The Journal will so indicate. Mr. Clerk… Mr. Clerk, on page 27 of the Calendar, Representative Mulligan has House Bill 2536. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A point of personal privilege, please.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "State your point.”

“Just wanted to introduce some of my constituents from Rockford with the Rockford area Chamber of Commerce in the balcony here. Stand up and wave.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Welcome to Springfield. Mr. Clerk, on page 29 of the Calendar, Representative Molaro has House Bill 3740. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.” 09400035.doc 66  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Bill gives what other… a few other systems have, and it’s a very simple Bill. In the retirement system right now, if… in the teachers’ retirement system of Chicago, when they make an overpayment or somebody leaves and then comes back and wants to pay it and wants to do it through their retirement they’re not allowed to say, okay, you’ll get 2 thousand a month and we’ll take a hundred a month out and that pays for your refund or you were overpaid $8 hundred. Out of your 18 hundred a month, we’re gonna take a hundred dollars a month out of it. Right now, under their particular pension system, they’re not allowed to do this. And this allows them to do this when it comes to overpayment or errors and that’s all the Bill does.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Thank you, Representative. Are there any questions? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Parke.”

“Well, our… no one appeared in committee opposed to it and it’s not in our analysis.”

“Say… I… could you say one more time?”

“Well, I… I guess short answer would be ‘yes’, but it’s… it’s not that simple. The only way they could withhold is if that the required employee contributions are not made in whole or money was paid to the member annuitant through misrepresentation, fraud, or error. What this is trying to get to, Representative Parke, is that they’ll come there and they’ll issue a check for 18 hundred when it should’ve been 14 hundred.”

“Well…”

“Well, it’s probably… and not all… it’s Chicago teachers’ system, it’s not even for the other Chicago systems. Some already have it and the other reason is that, just like has been said on this floor probably 5 hundred times this Session, it is probably a good idea but no other system has brought it forward. And as I said before, other systems already have this… some. I don’t know which ones and I don’t know which ones don’t.”

“Well…”

“All right. Well, what… what we’ll do… what we’ll do is… the reason I’ll pull it out of the record is for one reason and one reason only, everything you said I agree to. It has nothing to do with what’s in this Bill. So obviously, either the analysis is wrong or the Bill that’s on your screen is not the same Bill on my screen. So, I’ll take it out of the record but I would… then when we come back, if you’re gonna paraphrase the Bill you gotta paraphrase it correctly. So… because it doesn’t talk about diminishing anybody’s benefits. I know the Constitution as well as anybody. All it talks about, it says here that if you were given money through misrepresentation and fraud and error… again, if you were paid $18 hundred and you know you were only supposed to get 16 hundred and you know that and you take the check and cash it, next week when you’re 09400035.doc 70  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 supposed to get your 16 instead of 18, they’re only gonna give you 14 hundred. But, we’re not gonna talk about this for 20 minutes. We’ll take it out of the record and we’ll talk privately. We’ll do that. We’ll do that.”

“Done. Okay.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Floor Amendment #2 broadens the definition of a ‘gun show’. The underlying Bill deals with requiring 09400035.doc 71  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 instant background checks at gun shows. This definition is consistent with another Bill that is on the floor and to Second Reading right now. The goal of this is to have… the goal of this legislation, the underlying legislation, is go after the large venues where these guns are sold. I think it’s consistent that this definition will not jeopardize the intent of the legislation but it’ll also take into consideration remarks and comments that have been by sportsmen’s advocates in the… over the last couple of years to me. This will exclude a number of… of venues like skeet shoots and trap shoots. And I would ask for support.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Is there any discussion on Floor Amendment #2 to House Bill 794? Seeing none, the question is, ‘Should House Bill 794… Floor Amendment #2 be adopted?’ All those in favor indicate by saying ‘aye’; those opposed ‘no’. In the opinion of the Chair, the ‘ayes’ have it. Amendment #2 is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Representative, with this legislation…” Speaker Lyons, J.: "The Sponsor yields.”

“…are you saying that if someone was to have information on myself or anybody that we didn’t authorize them to have and they would have it transmitted or posted where any… where any and everybody can get access to it, that that’s a criminal offense?”

“Okay. But do they have to give the information or do they have to just… just throw it out there where anybody 09400035.doc 74  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 could get access to it without any authorization from the person whose identity that they’re using?”

“Either one, right?”

“All right. Thank you, Representative.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Any further questions? Seeing none, the question is, ‘Should House Bill 2697 pass?’ All those in favor vote 'aye'; all those opposed vote 'no'. And the voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Art Turner. Yvetter. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 113 voting ‘yes’, 0 ‘noes’, 0 ‘presents’. This vote, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Pihos, you also have, on page 28 of the Calendar, House Bill 2700. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

"Mr. Speaker and House Members, Amendment #1 simply defines the num… the different methods that may be utilized to dispose of syringes, needles, and other sharps that may be used for home use.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "For the presentation, any questions on Amendment #1? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Parke.”

"Yes.”

"No, it’s not. It’s for those needles and syringes used for… or given to individuals for home use and for an educational program to properly define the method of disposal so… so that we do not put sanitation workers and the public at risk based upon these devices or sharps being disposed of inappropriately.”

"Well, it would be up to the Department of Public Health and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, just that it adds a four or five different methods but not excluded to those four or five different methods of disposing of these home-use needles, syringes, or other metal, sharp objects.”

"Well, the… the Bill does not particularly define that, we’re gonna leave that up to the Department of Public Health if, in fact, they can get an agreement of a local police station, hospital, or it could be a… a sanitary district proposal to use something in the… in a canister of some sort for their workers that pick up the garbage to dispose of it in.”

"So we’re gonna leave it open for the health care providers to determine which method may suit a particular municipality or city.” 09400035.doc 78  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

"It’s… it’s voluntary. It is not mandatory, Representative.”

"No, it is not an exchange program. It’s… the Amendment is only to give guidance in terms of how to safely dispose of these needles that a patient may use in his or her ho… her home.”

"Well, it… it… well, first of all, the Bill does not mandate a box. The health department and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency would determine the method of appro… appropriate disposal. So, the ter… the box that you’re referring to is not mandated by this particular Amendment.”

"Pardon me?”

"Well, I’m pretty sure that if the health department or the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency decides that a box is the answer then I would assume or guess that 09400035.doc 79  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 those administrators would look into their budgets to make sure that they have the ability to pay for it.”

"Or the individual would be required to, I’m not sure.”

"Well, I… I can envision a very simple solution would be a mail-back type envelope that’s inexpensive, that may be given to your for your child by the pharmacy. But that is something that the health de… health department would have experts and people that would have research and determine what type of disposal method that should be used by someone having a sharp or syringe-type needle used in their home.”

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

"Well, here’s… here’s the real issue, Representative. If the health department does not figure out how to make it work then what we’re doing, we’re putting at risk citizens of this state as well as those maintenance workers that pick up our… the garbage that we discard in the back of our homes or in front of our homes every day of the week.”

"Quite often in the large urban center that I reside in. It happens all the time, especially when they do recycling. These things are put into regular garbage bags, they’re attempted to recycle off the conveyers, they’re being stuck with these syringes and medical sharps that are not appropriately discarded.”

"Thank you, Representative.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "Thank you, Representative Parke. The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Jim Meyer.”

"Yes, Sir.” Speaker Lyons, J.: "He will.”

"No. At the present time, this Bill is targeting those needles or syringes or medical sharps that are used at home, not something that is administered by a hospital or a health care unit. At the present time, those needles or syringes that are in possession of someone in their home, there’s no provision for the appropriate dis… dis…”

"It’s… it’s thrown into the garbage, the little garbage container in the house. In many communities it has been carried or transmitted from the home to the garbage can on the exter… exterior in the alley or in the front of the home. The garbage or refuge(sic-refuse) collector comes along, they will pick those up in the refuge(sic- refuse) truck, deliver them to a dumping station in some communities. And where they have a program where they’re sorting the garbage collection into recyclables, those workers are being injured by the syringes, needles, and/or medical sharps.”

"Well, in my opinion, Representative, you… again, at the present time, pharmacies do not have a program by which they notify the users of these needles or syringes or medical sharps and human beings are creatures of habit, if 09400035.doc 82  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 there’s nothing that is actually informing them, training them, or teaching them what is needed to be done for proper disposal, it will be just be done in the most easiest fashion it is, and that is to dump it in the canister in the home. From the canister in the home it is transmitted or carried to the garbage disposal point in the back of the home or in front of the home, and then it is collected by the refuge(sic-refuse) collector…”

"…and he or she is injured.”

“Representative Hannig is in the Chair. On page 25 of the Calendar, Representative Rose has House Bill 738. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill, please?”

“Representative Rose.”

“The Bill is on the Order Short Debate. And in response, Representative Franks is recognized. Five minutes.” 09400035.doc 89  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

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

“He indicates he’ll yield.”

“Representative, I’m not sure I get it. Why are we doing this?”

“At the… up front it would be revenue neutral, but is there a difference between the different pension systems that they… that they could be in now versus the payments that they would get if they purchase… What I’m trying to figure out is whether they’d be getting a higher payment for doing a different pension system.”

“I will try. What I’m trying to figure is if someone’s trying to buy time and they’re already in a system, whatever the system might be…”

“But the way this Bill is written, would it allow people who are in different systems to be able to buy in to this system and enhance their pensions, even though they’d have a fixed cost, but it could cost the state much more money? What I’m trying to figure out is the real cost to the state down the road. Does that make sense?”

“I guess my question is, is there a potential here for an enhanced benefit that they wouldn’t have but for the ability to purchase in now? And I’m not talking about the person who is not in a system now, but for those that are already in. By the way this Bill is drafted, would it allow other individuals who are currently in a system to be able to buy in if they’ve spent any time at all under these parameters and then be able to enhance their pensions?”

“Well, there could be a cost to the system though, depending on the benefits in the… in the individual pension system. Because the pension systems that we have have different payouts, they have different… correct? Ya know what I’m saying? For instance, the General Assembly, if you’re in for a certain amount of time you have a certain percentage.”

“As long as there’s no additional cost, I don’t see a problem. That was my real concern.”

“Could… should we pass this out, could we have… when it goes to the Senate could they have them check that out before they move it ahead?”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“This is on the Order of Short Debate but, Representative Miller, do you have a brief comment you’d like to add or question?”

“Yeah, a question.”

“The Sponsor will yield.” 09400035.doc 92  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“Will the Sponsor yield? I missed the beginning of your comments in regards to this. Why are you doing this?”

“So, going back to Representative Franks’ question. Your… it does seem like there would at least be some sense of a cost, not now, ‘cause you’re basically saying that the… that the employee would pick up all… all of the cost up to today… up to the enactment of this legislation. But what about in the future, though? I mean, I don’t…”

“The… how many employ… how many people will this affect?”

“That was scientific.”

“Not too many. Not too many could be five.”

“But… but you’re saying they still don’t have an estimate… it’s not really… like I said, it’s not… as you know, and… and in recent comments by the Governor and administration and Speaker and others, there’s been a little crisis in our pension system, depending on who you ask. And I’m sure, ya know, 10, 15 years ago, ya know, if you’d have asked those individuals was it a crisis or a 09400035.doc 94  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 pending crisis on… on that dollar at that time, they’d say, no. But the concern is not of today, it is actually of the future. Because usually when you’re talking about pensions and things like that, there’s usually something that you get out and we don’t know what that total is. And that’s why I go back to at least how many people are we talking about? I mean… you said not that many. I don’t… I don’t have a clue. I personally don’t have a clue.”

“Yeah.”

“Representative, let me just… on our analysis, there is no Amendment #2. And… and, Clerk…”

“No, I unders… once again, I understand that you’re saying… My understanding of what you’re saying, I’m not gonna belabor this and… but… but you’re saying to join into this program they’re gonna… the employee would pay the cost and the interest as it is today, in today’s dollars. But once again, it doesn’t say what will happen in the future. And I guess that… that’s kind of really the concern that I have here in lieu of the situation that we’re in now. I mean, I don’t know. I wasn’t around 20 years ago. I don’t know, that argument might…”

“This same argument that you’re making is very logical, but it may have been made 20 years ago. Ya know?”

“Yeah, but once again, without… without… without not knowing the number of individuals who may sign up for this benefit, it just leads to some scrutiny without even giving an estimate of what our costs are gonna be. And you’re saying there will not be any costs in the future. And maybe I’m not quite understanding this, I’m not a pension expert. But to me, it would inherently say at some point 09400035.doc 96  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 there’s gonna be an additional cost, as our costs do tend to go up over the years. Ya know. Do you have…”

“Yeah, to… to the Bill. I’m gonna make my…”

“Could… yeah, to the Bill.”

“To the Bill. Yeah. I respect the Sponsor and what he’s trying to do and I understand… But once again, there is… there has to be concerns on if we’re not even knowing how many will sign up within this finite period of time, if we’re not really sure of what the numbers are gonna be, we’re not sure of what tomorrow may hold, we’re not sure what’s gonna happen, we don’t sure who’s gonna be alive, who’s gonna be dead to even receive these benefits. It just becomes… in a… in a crisis situation that we’re in now, it just becomes at least to some scrutiny. And I do respect the Sponsor and his commitment to Representative 09400035.doc 97  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 Franks to at least find some… a little bit more detail about this before we vote on this. Thank you.”

“So, let’s… Representative Rose, there’s some interest in the Bill. We’ll put it on the Order of Standard Debate. We’ve now had two speak in response, one more under the rules can speak in response. Representative Fritchey, would you like to speak in response or in favor?”

“I just don’t know. My guess is gonna be in response.”

“Okay. Okay. Five… five minutes to speak.”

“Thank you. Representative, this applies to somebody that is presently a member of another reciprocal system, correct?”

“But they did not have to be a member of a different system at the time. In fact, they could’ve been a member of no system at the time, correct?”

“I… my… my thoughts on this is, ya know, it’s kind of a… ya know, it’s a benefit of the bargain issue. Ya know, we can’t tinker with people’s pensions at the time because that was the deal going in. You knew what your pension was coming into it. These are people that were contractual employees that knew that they were not part of a pension system at the time and they were probably compensated as such. They may have received a higher payment than they 09400035.doc 98  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 would’ve gotten as part of their contract because they weren’t getting… receiving pension benefits. Correct?”

“Well, here, let… look at the… when somebody signs up for a job they look at their compensation package.”

“That compensation package may be salary, health insurance, pension, and that all factors into what the job is worth and what you’re will… whether or not you’re willing to take that job.”

“So, they were willing to take this job without a pension system. Now at a time… and it’s interesting, the juxtaposition here. But I find myself surprised to hear somebody on your side of the aisle, in tough economic times when we have a budget deficit, when we have issues as how we’re gonna fund schools, how we are gonna fund basic state services, coming in and adding pension sweeteners onto the system.”

“But again, ya know, an… and individual took a job at a specified rate of pay. Now we’re allowing them… for that individual there’s got to be a benefit. If it’s revenue neutral to that individual, they wouldn’t go and buy back into this system. Why are we letting them after the fact come in and basically renegotiate their salary package after they’ve left the job for up to 6 years of back time?”

“Conceptual…”

“But why would we…”

“And… I’m… and I’m not trying to ask you a legal question. Conceptually, why would we let somebody after they have left the job come back and be able to buy into 6 years of pension time that they were never entitled to, nor did they ever expect an entitlement to when they had that job, which they no longer have?”

“Correct. And they…”

“And they took the job anyway.”

“So why would we open up this benefit to this specific class of individuals?”

“It’s a matter of fairness if you’re one of the covered individuals. But… but where… where’s the… why…”

“There’s a lot of pension windows that have been opened before.”

“I… I think that it’s… Bills such as this that open the flood gates for other groups that want to come in a say, ya know, we’d like the window opened for us. I’ve been here long enough to see pension Bills come through that start out as a few pages long and wind up bigger than 09400035.doc 101  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 the Bible is, because every group wants to be able to come in and get the window open for them…”

“…to buy in more time.”

“Rep… Representative…”

Speaker Hannig: “Representative Fritchey, your five minutes have expired.”

“Thank you, Speaker.”

Speaker Hannig: “Representative Rose, why don’t you finish answering his question.”

“So now under the rules of Standard Debate, we’ve had three speak in response. Does anyone seek to rise in support? Representative Molaro.”

“Yes, I… I understand the concerns of people on my side of the aisle. I mean, I think it… ya know, and… and Representative Rose, you’re gonna… I think it’s important that they get this. It does make sense to me that if someone says, how many people would this affect, we probably should have that answer. Even if it’s just an estimate, ‘cause that… that is something that we should probably know. But wait… wait… however, that being said, remember, we’re talking about just contractual members of 09400035.doc 102  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 the… that work for contracts for the General Assembly. Many, many times… I’ve been doing this for a long time and people come to me and they would work for me but their husband had or their wife had insurance somewhere else. They didn’t want to be in the mandatory insurance so they were on contract and they thought they’d work for 3 or 4 years and leave. Then it turns out they did, but they went to work in other forms of government. And the 4 or 5 years that they spent working 40, 50 hours a week in my office, they now, because other people didn’t have a spouse and wanted a full-time position, they now know that they probably made a mistake not being in the system. So to come up here now and say they wanna be it makes sense to me. But if we come up and say that there’s not gonna be not one single dollar that it’s gonna cost the state… so, we answer Representative’s… the actuaries come up and they say, this is what it would cost the state. And they say, you gotta pay 100 percent of that money and you gotta pay all of it. I think that makes sense and I think it is a fairness issue for all those people who worked on contract that didn’t know better. Now we do and I think if it’s fully paid for and it’s paid for the bar… the participant, who’s now on a sister system, a reciprocal system, I think we should allow them to do it. But I also think we should tell ‘em… so I’d vote ‘yes’ on this Bill, but we should be able to tell when we bring a Bill like this we think it will affect 2 hundred people, 80 people, a thousand people. 09400035.doc 103  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 I think that’s an answer that we should have. So thank you.”

“So… so, now we’ve had one speak in favor and three in response. Do we have anyone else who rises in support? Representative Giles.”

“Mr. Speaker, I’m not sure what my position is but I would simply like to ask a question of the Sponsor.”

“Okay. So, we’ll let… we’ll give you 5 minutes and then we’re gonna go to the Roll Call.”

“Representative Rose, ya know, I think I understand what you’re trying to do here. I think we’ve done it before in this Body. You get constituency oftentimes ask are we gonna have another situation in which they can opt out or… or in this particular situation you want to have members to obtain certain credits in order to be able to opt out early. But how would you respond to this particular situation that I think that’s going on in the state currently. And that is, there’s a lot of vacancies that we have within the various departments, within the various agencies that because of our particular situation in the State of Illinois, there’s a budget crunch, we can’t fill those positions currently. There’s a lot of vacancies, there’s positions that we need to fill. Currently, we can’t do it because for the simple fact that the budget director simply said we cannot afford to do them. So there are some… whether through attrition, whether through individuals that leave on their own, or whether individual are deceased, we can’t fill those positions because of the 09400035.doc 104  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 current status of the budget. And we’re trying to consume those positions to be able to save on those positions, currently. And so, if we allow another opt out plan or a credit plan to be able to have individuals to… to opt out early, now we continuously have a more individuals leaving the area of providing services to needed constituencies in the State of Illinois. How would you respond to a situation like that when we have a very dire situation, currently?”

“Okay. I… I underst…”

“Representative, you know, I… and you know, I take your word for it and I think you’ve always been up front and honest.”

“And I believe that it may not cost the state anything financially, but I’m worried about the service side of it, providing services. The shortage of workers in the State of Illinois providing services to the… to this constituency. I’m worried about that. And… and currently, we cannot fill the positions that is vacant right now in the state because of the budget situation. So, I’m more concerned on the service… being able to provide good services so that individuals not be harmed or injured on the job or… or individuals would not be overburdened because there is a shortage in various department and agencies, currently. So, that’s more to my… and I…”

“And I agree with you, it may not cost the state any money. But… but, you know, just like you know, I know constituency comes to us often and they want us to introduce legislation because they want to opt out, they want to be able to retire early and…”

“…and reap full benefits.”

“Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.” 09400035.doc 106  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“Thank you. So, under the rules of Standard Debate we’ve had now three speak in response and… and three speak in favor. And Representative Rose is recognized to close.”

“The question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Cultra, would you like to be recorded? Representative Poe and Joyce, would you like to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. Representative Rose, would you like to put this on Postponed Consideration? Okay. We’ll put this on the Order of Postponed Consideration. On page 20… excuse me. Representative Dunkin, for what reason do you rise?”

"Point of personal privilege.”

“State your point.”

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, if you all could take the time to help me recognize and welcome a visiting school in my district, Ogden School. This is a fifth grade class of… a great bunch of bright students from the 5th District. Stand up Ogden School. Welcome to the House of Representatives.”

“Welcome to Springfield. Representative Sacia, you have, on page 27 of the Calendar, House Bill 2507. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill.”

“Representative Sacia.” 09400035.doc 108  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“This is on the Order of Short Debate. Does anyone stand in response? Then the question… excuse me, Representative Flowers in response.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Speaker. Will the Gentleman yield?”

“He indicates he’ll yield.”

“I didn’t hear… I didn’t hear your explanation of this legislation.”

“I think this is a very good piece of legislation.”

“Thank you very much.” 09400035.doc 109  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“Then the question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 113 voting ‘yes’ and 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Saviano, on page 26 of the Calendar is House Bill 1395. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill?”

“Representative Saviano.”

“This is on the Order of Short Debate. Does anyone stand in response? Then the question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take 09400035.doc 110  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 the record. On this question, there are 113 voting ‘yes’ and 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Saviano, on page 22 of the Calendar, you have House Bill 3785 on Second Reading. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill?”

“Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, what is the status of House Bill 3471?”

“Okay. Could we return that to the Order of Second Reading at the request of the Sponsor? And Mr. Clerk, what is the status of House Bill 1463?”

“Return that to the Order of Second Reading at the request of the Sponsor. And Mr. Clerk, what is the status of House Bill 1351?”

“Return that to the Order of Second Reading at the request of the Sponsor. And Mr. Clerk, what is the status of House Bill 2946?”

“And let’s return that to the Order of Second Reading at the request of the Sponsor. Representative Schmitz, on page 29 of the Calendar, you have House Bill 3593. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill, please.”

“Representative Schmitz.”

“And on that question, the Representative from Cook, Representative Lang.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just simply rise in support of the Gentleman’s Bill. It’s a good piece of legislation, will afford condominium owners the notice they need to be aware that there’s a lien against the building but will enable the lien to be perfected more quickly, enabling both sides to get the matter resolved. So, I support the Gentleman’s Bill.” 09400035.doc 112  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“Is there any further discussion? Then the question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 113 voting ‘yes’ and 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Schock, on page 12 of the Calendar is House Bill 1554. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill?”

“Third Reading. Representative Soto, on page 5 of the Calendar, you have House Bill 769. Okay. Mr. Clerk, would you read that Bill.”

“Third Reading. Representative Sullivan, you have House… on page 25 of the Calendar, you have House Bill 782. Okay, let’s take that out of the record. Representative Yarbrough, on page 25 of the Calendar, has House Bill 672. Okay, that’s out of the record. Representative Younge, on page 7 of the Calendar is House Bill 961. Do you want us to read that Bill on Second? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.” 09400035.doc 113  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“Third Reading. Representative Beiser, we have on page 5 of the Calendar House Bill 716. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

“Third Reading. Representative Brosnahan, on page 8 of the Calendar is House Bill 1039. Okay, out of the record. Representative Rita, on page 29 in the Calendar, you have House Bill 3738. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

“Representative Rita.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 3738 corrects an unanticipated problem with the waste haulers… with the recyclable haulers. Currently, solid waste haulers can carrier up to 54 thousand pounds and trucks carrying recyclables can only carrier 51 thousand pounds. What this does is puts it at the same level at 54 thousand pounds. Be happy to answer any questions.”

“Thi… this Bill’s on the Order of Short Debate. Standing in response is Representative Parke.” 09400035.doc 114  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“He indicates he’ll yield.”

“I’d have to check on that. Ya know, I just picked this thing up… I was under anticipa… that it came out of committee, what was it, 26 to 0, that there was no opposition to this. But I can check on that for ya.”

“No.”

“No.”

“This… this was so that it could be equal when… because a lot of these trucks are used… the same trucks could be used for as to hauling recyclables along with waste and waste haulers that, ya know, within the… it’s to encourage more recycling.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you.” 09400035.doc 115  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“Yes.”

Speaker Hannig: “This is on the Order of Short Debate. Representative Molaro, do you have a short question…”

“Yes.”

“…or comment?”

“Well, yes. I helped carry the… I carried the Bill in Transportation Committee, Representative Rita couldn’t make it. And actually, it’s just to have recycling trucks in the same position as regular garbage trucks. There was no opposition. Everybody was fine with the Bill and the National Solid Waste Management Association was for the Bill and there was no opposition whatsoever. I just wanted to make that clear to the Body. Thank you.”

“Representative Kosel.”

“He indicates he’ll yield.”

“I… I had no… as far as my concern, there is no opposition that I… that I know… aware of. As we said, it came out of committee unanimously and it was…” 09400035.doc 116  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“Well, nobody has… nobody has contacted me on that… on any of them. I’m a member…”

“And I’m also a member of the township officials and they have not contacted me.”

Speaker Hannig: “Is there any further discussion? Then Representative Rita’s recognized to close.”

“This… this Bill will just equal the… the weight limits. As far as my concern, there is none in opposition. No one has contacted me. As I said, I’m a member of the Township Officials of Illinois. Nobody, Bill Foster or anybody from that organization hasn’t contacted me. This Bill just creetes… creates parity within the waste hauling, with recyclables versus solid waste. Urge an ‘aye’ vote.”

“The question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 93 voting ‘yes’ and 20 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 7 of the Calendar, Representative Myers has House Bill 920. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill.”

“Third Reading. Representative Flowers, you have on page 16… 16 of the Calendar House Bill 2543, on Second Reading. Do you wish us to read that Bill? Representative Flowers, do you wish us to read this? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

Speaker Hannig: “On the… on the Amendment, Representative Flowers.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Amendment #1 just clarifies some language that DCFS added in regards to when a person can be brought in to testify and under what circumstances in regards to the child. Thank you.”

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

Speaker Hannig: “Third Reading. Representative Dunkin. Representative Flowers, you also have on page 25 of the Calendar House Bill 637. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill.”

“Representative Flowers.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I bring to you House Bill 637 and it came from our Department of Insurance back in 2001. When a person is institutionalized and they’re being fed solely by intravenous tube, some insurance companies are not paying for the nutritional supplement in which they need in order to stay alive. So, I’m merely asking for the coverage of the insurance of this type of medicine for these people, prescription nutritional supplement that’s prescribed by the doctor, and any other type of pain medication that is needed, once again, that is prescribed by the doctor. And I’ll be more than happy to answer any questions you have in regards to House Bill 637.”

“This is on the Order of Short Debate. And standing I response is Representative Parke.”

“She indicates she’ll yield.”

“Well, Representative, I’m surprised to hear you say that it’s controversial because no one has complained to me about the legislation.”

“And the controversy should be for the patient that’s laying in the bed that is in need of the nutritional 09400035.doc 119  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 supplement in which they need in order to stay alive, yet they have insurance. The insurance company has paid for the operation, has paid for the hospital stay, has paid for all the doctor services, but the very nutrition in which they need to stay alive they’re not covering because it is considered as food. And it is food for them, but they need it intravenously in order to stay alive because they cannot eat it orally.”

“Well, I’m glad you asked because it passed out of here last year, but it just didn’t go any place in the Senate.”

“I can’t recall, but I couldn’t imagine you voting against it.”

“Well, pain medication would be what would be prescribed by the doctor that he feels… or he or she feel that their patient may need in order to stay alive, because sometime the pain could be so bad that it could cause a person’s death.”

“Well, I don’t know. But according to the Department of Insurance, that information was found out and some insurance companies are not paying for it.”

“It…”

“I don’t know if it’s in the Bill, but it… let me just check. Because it does say for pain medication, Section 356z.10, pain medication coverage. It describes a group or individual policy, accident insurance, managed care. It says that provide coverage for prescription drug… must provide coverage for any pain medication prescribed or ordered by the insured treating physician.”

“Well, I would assume that we would…”

“It would re… if the doctor… I would assume that the HMOs or the insurance companies may being paying for aspirins, I’m not sure. But whatever it is that the doctor feel that that patient may need.”

“Well, once again, I would allow the hospitals or either the doctor to define what is ‘nutritional supplement’ in order that is needed for that patient to stay alive.”

“Representative Parke, your time is expired. Would you bring your remarks to a close, please.” 09400035.doc 122  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“There seems to be enough interest to move this Bill to Standard Debate. And Representative Stephens is… is recognized.”

“She indicates she’ll yield.”

“Yes.”

“Right.”

“Thank you.”

“Representative Flowers to close.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Again, this Bill came from our State Department of Insurance and they’re asking us to address a problem in which we asked them to look at. And we’re merely asking for the insurance companies to pay for the supplemental nutrition that patients need to stay alive. For those who may have had a stomach operation, they cannot eat any type of solid food. The nutritional supplement is what is needed. I would please ask for an ‘aye’ vote. Thank you.”

“The question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. 09400035.doc 124  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 60 voting ‘yes’ and 52 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 7 of the Calendar is House Bill 956. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill.”

“Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, on page 11 of the Calendar, Representative Daniels has House Bill 1447. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk.”

Speaker Hannig: “Third Reading. And also Representative Daniels has, on page 15 of the Calendar, House Bill 2512. So, Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

“Third Reading. On page 6 of the Calendar… Representative Saviano has House Bill 870 on page 25 of the Calendar. Okay, Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.” 09400035.doc 125  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

Speaker Hannig: “The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Saviano.”

Speaker Hannig: “Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? There… there being none, the question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 61 voting ‘yes’ and 52 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 28 of the Calendar, under the Order of House Bills-Third Reading, is House Bill 3520. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill. It’s House Bill 3420, Mr. Clerk.”

“Representative Delgado.” 09400035.doc 126  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“Thank you, Mr… Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. Actually, I’m carrying this Bill as the hyphenated chief cosponsor for Representative McKeon, who remains in my thoughts as I know he is resting at home, as I know all of us are thinking the same way. 3420 will do the following… It amends provisions of the AIDS Confidentiality Act prohibiting the disclosure of the identity of a test subject or the results of a test in a manner that permits identification of the test subject with specified exceptions: adds an exception permitting disclosure to local health authorities serving a population of over 1 million residents or other local health authorities designated by the Department of… of Public Health. Provides that a local health authority shall not disclose information and records held by it relating to known or suspected cases of AIDS or HIV inspec… infection. Amends the AIDS Registry Act, changes the short title of the Act to the HIV/AIDS Registry Act. Changes the names of the AIDS Registry Act and makes the reference accordingly. And I would ask for your ‘aye’ vote.”

“This is on the Order of Short Debate. Does anyone stand in response? Then the question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 113 voting ‘yes’ and 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. 09400035.doc 127  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 Representative Howard. Representative Howard, we have on page 6 of the Calendar House Bill 904. Representative Howard. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill.”

“The Lady from Cook, Representative Howard.”

“Thank you for you indulgence. Okay. I would like to be able to table… am I able to table Amendment #3?”

“I’m sorry, which Amendment?”

“Am I able to…”

“We’re on…”

“Oh, I’ll be working on Amendment #2. Okay. Amendment #2 just asks that rather than we limit our scope to hepatitis C, that we pay attention to all forms of hepatitis, including A, B, C, D, and E. I ask for you favorable consideration.”

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

Speaker Hannig: “Do you wish to move this to Third, Representative? Or are you waiting for additional…”

“I would like to move it to Third. Thank you.” 09400035.doc 128  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“Okay. Third Reading. On page 22 of the Calendar, Representative Beiser has House Bill 3770. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

“Third Reading. Representative Brady has, on page 28 of the Calendar, House Bill 3515. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

“Representative Brady.”

“This is on the Order of Short Debate. In response, Representative Monique Davis.” Davis, M.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just have a couple of questions.”

“The Sponsor will yield.” 09400035.doc 129  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 Davis, M.: “Representative, can you tell me why you wanna educate the judges on only one drug? Why would you want to educate them on the possession of only methamphetamines?”

“Representative Davis, your time has expired. Could you bring your remarks to a close please?” Davis, M.: “Yes. Thank you. You will attempt to have someone in the Senate add the crack cocaine? Because as you know, this is a drug that plagued the inner city and all we did was pass mandatory sentencing.”

“There seems to be enough interest in the Bill to put it on the Order of Standard Debate. So, Representative Fritchey is recognized for five minutes.”

“Thank you, Speaker. And with all deference to the prior speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation. Ladies and Gentlemen, last year I had the opportunity to go down to Edgar County, to go down and talk to them about farm issues, or so I thought. And I went to talk to an agricultural supply business down there and the first issue that they raised with me was the issues that meth was creating for them by having chemicals stolen. There is a difference between meth use and crack cocaine or cocaine or marijuana. The building that houses the crack dealer does not become a HAZMAT site as does that that houses the crystal meth dealer. Crystal meth is becoming a devastating problem to this state. It is now starting to show its head in the City of Chicago. For those Chicago Legislators that think that this is a downstate issue, 09400035.doc 133  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 you’re wrong. It is an Illinois issue, it is quickly becoming an urban issue. We have had some recent tragedies on the north side of Chicago, we are going to see more of them. The judges do not have the decades of experience in dealing with meth situations and the devastation created that they’ve seen with cocaine and heroin and other drugs. We need to give our prosecutors, we need to give our judges a better set of tools to meet with a worse kind of drug. This is one of those tools and I applaud the Sponsor. Thank you.”

“Representative Graham.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I rise in support of the Gentleman’s legislation. I would also like to see this Bill possibly expanded. Meth is a issue and we know that it is spreading across the State of Illinois. But I’d also like to see the drug courts in Cook County be funded so that there is an alternative, so we’re not locking up all the people who are addicted to various substance. If the drug courts can provide an outlet and treatment programs for people who are addicted to various substances, I’d like to see this Bill expanded to talk about other substances, not just methamphetamine. So, I rise in support of the Gentleman’s piece of legislation and I urge an ‘aye’ vote.”

“Representative Brady is recognized to close.”

“The question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Collins, would you like to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 113 voting ‘yes’ and 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 11 of the Calendar, on the Order of House Bills-Second Reading, Representative Chapa LaVia has House Bill 1525. Do you want us to read that Bill? Okay. Out of the record at the request of the Sponsor. Representative Colvin has, on page 22 of the Calendar, House Bill 3823. Do you wish us to read that Bill? Okay. Out of the record at the request of the Sponsor. Representative Delgado. On page 21 of the Calendar, Representative Delgado has House Bill 3678. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

“Third Reading. Representative D'Amico has, on page 12 of the Calendar, House Bill 1555. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.” 09400035.doc 135  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“Representative D'Amico.”

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What House Bill 1555 does is it reduce… it gives the municipalities a chance to reduce the speed limits around parks where children are present. I’ll be free to… and then what the Amendment does is it gives them… gives the police officers the right to use a radar gun also to enforce the law.”

“You’ve heard the Gentleman’s Motion to adopt Floor Amendment #2. Is there any discussion? Then all in favor say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

“Third Reading. Representative Dunkin has, on page 27 of the Calendar, House Bill 2598. Do you wish us to read that Bill, Mr. Dunkin? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

“Representative Dunkin.”

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of this distinguished Body. House Bill 2598 simply… it allows individuals who are a part… who have been called up for military duty to have their, for 30 days or more and they’re seeing active combat, to have their child support 09400035.doc 136  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 reduced and adjusted accordingly. I think a couple days ago, myself and a couple colleagues had some specific questions as relates to this Bill. This is actually… some of the questions that were… that were asked, it actually is already in the statute. So, I would encourage an ‘aye’ vote.”

Speaker Hannig: “This is on the Order of Short Debate. Representative Mulligan is recognized in response. Representative Mulligan, do you… do you wish to speak?”

“He indicates he’ll yield.”

"It does seem long, Representative. Well, the difference is we… I… we ended up getting to…”

"No, I hope I answered your questions, yours and Representative Lindner, as relates to a hearing for an individual to have it reduced or adjusted, however way it goes, up or down. And it’s actually in the statute and I believe, that you and Representative Lindner have a copy of it already.”

"Correct. And what that does simply is, if any one of us, as civilian, wants to make an adjustment in child support, either with more or less child support, you have to have a hearing first. And as relates to this piece of legislation, whether you’re in the military or not, what this would do is it also will allow you to have a hearing to make a lower adjustment or a higher adjustment. So actually, I think your questions should be answered with this.”

"You know what? There was no need to, after further investigation, Representative, to make an adjust… an Amendment because it’s already in the law. Hopefully, ya know, you can take the time and look at the legislation… the law that we passed out. It should bring some clarification.”

"No. That’s… what… when they return back to their place of employment… You know, right here in this Body we passed a law that says just because an individual is seeing 09400035.doc 138  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 active duty they cannot lose their job or their employer can’t fire them.”

“And so, they’re… so essentially, Representative, this Bill would… this… what would happen is they’ll be readjusted. They’ll be readjusted to… to what they were paying prior to.”

"You know, Representative, really… you know, in regards…”

"No. What I want to say is, Representative, ya know, this is… I happen to believe this is a pretty good… it’s a good… pretty decent law in terms of taking consi… in consideration that we do have military personnel who served 30 days or more and may be paying a particular rate of child support, which is… is a great indication to me that they really want to see to it that their children are provided for because that’s why they’re paying the child support in the first place, usually that’s the case. And we’re simply saying if they’re serving 30 days or more over 09400035.doc 139  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 in Iraq or Afghanistan or God knows where else that… you know, we…”

"You know, it’s getting a little noisy here.”

Speaker Hannig: “Representative Mulligan, your time has expired. Would you bring your remarks to a close, please?”

Speaker Hannig: “There’s enough interest, Representative Dunkin, to put this on Standard Debate. And so, the Chair will recognize now Representative Bost.”

“He indicates he’ll yield.”

"Mm hmm.”

"You know, it… it’s actually… it’s… they can do that. They definitely can do that but it’s not current law as it relates for military.”

"I’m sorry.”

"It’s a current practice, it’s not the law. They tend to do it anyway.”

"Ya know, Representative…”

"I just wanna… I just wanna make some clarification. It’s not an automatic. I mean, they have to apply or they have to go through a hearing, the military personnel… hopefully they can, if they’re not… unless they’re called to be there within a very short period of time and the… and there’s a short window there. If the President says, look, we need you over in Iraq right now, obviously, going through a hearing is gonna be a bit of a challenge. But we’re trying to do is… you know, for individuals who are serving 30 days or more, we’re simply trying to make sure that there’s no false arrearages for an individual who happens to be called for active duty, again, for 30 days or more, and them not being penalized just because they’re over serving this country. And I think there was another quest… you know, hopefully that ans… answers your question.”

"Yeah. All we’re doing here, Representatives, is we’re making this current law. I mean, it’s current practice, we’re just codifying this. They do it anyway. We’re simply trying to make sure that there is no… no in the loophole or there’s no gap or no one runs into a negative arrearage where they’re… next thing you know… ya know, if they serve 2 years, they come back and they’re woefully behind their child support payments because they were serving 30 days or more over in active duty over… ya know, at time of war, that they’re not falsely, really penalized just for not having… just… just because their salaries for the month have been slightly adjusted.”

"Okay. All we’re doing is we’re codifying the law because… and it’s current practice right now. I mean, 09400035.doc 143  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 we’re saying… we’re pretty much saying the same thing. It’s current practice right now. Now… but let’s say that there’s a new department head in Illinois Department of Public Aid and it’s not current practice there. What we’re simply trying to do with this piece of legislation is to see to it that we do not leave anyone, male or female, who’s serving this country overseas the benefit of the doubt in terms of them having their military pay reflect their child support payment.”

Speaker Hannig: “Representative Bost, your… your time is expired. And Representative Dunkin, you can finish answering the question.”

"Thank you. So, again, all this Bill does… simply, it’s not to harm any children. It’s not to make a dramatic financial change intentionally to negatively have a… have a not… a not so good impact on children. This legislation simply codifies the ability for an individual serving in the military, active duty, to adjust their child support payment according to their new payment… monthly payment. And it happens to be in the military. And I… I think, you know, that’s the least that we can do for individuals who are serving this country, who have been obviously taking… trying to take care of their kids with a particular amount of child support payment. And I think it’s a… it’s a good measure and it does not leave anyone vulnerable. As a matter of fact, just to… ya know, actually, in… couple days ago there was…” 09400035.doc 144  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“Representative Dunkin, I asked you to finish answering the question, but I think you’ve gone a bit beyond that. So why don’t we allow some other speakers to… to ask some questions. The debate will continue. So, we’ve had two now speak in response. Representative Lindner, do you rise in support or in response? Surprise me.”

“Okay.”

“He indicates he’ll yield.”

"It’s prac… yes. They practice it right now. It’s not… it’s not law.”

"Correct. That’s what the Bill would do.”

"Correct.”

"I mean, I would imagine it’s the same as any civilian going through a child support adjustment hearing.”

"Probably… maybe one.” 09400035.doc 145  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

"Two.”

"Ya know, Representative, it’s a… it’s a…”

"It’s really… all… all we’re doing with this is we’re simply codifying any adjustment to award child support payment for… and this just happened to be for individuals who are serving the country overseas, such as Iraq, such as Afghanistan. So… so, they do it already. We’re simply trying to put it into law and really make it stand for something as teeth.”

"It’s an administrative process our… with the Department of Public Aid.”

"The Federal Law requires they have administrative hearings. So what the state is doing is actually doing what the federal… codifying what the Federal Law is doing, quite frankly. So, I guess… you know, the concern is… is… ya know, if there’s a concern that children will be somehow be neglected, that’s not the case with this here. I mean, no one wants to be a part of neglecting any kids, especially when there’s individuals who are already paying 09400035.doc 146  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 child support. This is a slight codification and its adjusting the military pay in their… their child support payment.”

"What we’re doing is… we need this law because if there’s a change in executive leadership in the Department of Public Aid or in the Governor’s Office, this may not be standard practice. And so, what we want to do is to codify it so… but their… so…”

"You know, the federal… this is Federal Law, really. The federal… so the Federal Law already protects children from being neglected as it relates to child support payment. And all we’re doing is coming into compliance with that, more or less.”

"Is that a question?”

"I can’t hear you.” 09400035.doc 147  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

"Yes. According to the statute that I… I handed you… that was handed to you, yes.”

"The Bill sa… the Bill says you have to comply with the administrative hearing.”

"All right.”

“We’ve now had three speak in response. The rules of Standard Debate would provide that two additional speakers could speak in favor of the Bill. Does anyone rise in favor? Representative Stephens, would you like to say a good word about the Bill?”

“Yeah, state your inquiry. State your inquiry, Repre…”

“No, she counts as in response.”

Speaker Hannig: “You can be in favor or you can be in response.”

Speaker Hannig: “You have to be somewhere, you just can’t speak.”

Speaker Hannig: “Probably have to reprimand you, Representative.”

Speaker Hannig: “Well, Representative, in fairness, we’ve already had three speak against the Bill. So…”

“Does anyone wish to speak in favor of the Bill? Representative Hamos. Representative Collins, do you wish to speak in favor?”

“Thank you… thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to speak in response to the Bill.”

“We’ve already… No, Representative Collins, we’ve already had the three that are allowed by the rules speak in response. In fact, everyone speak in… in response, so… Representative Dunkin is recognized to close.”

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. This Bill… House Bill 2598 is a Bill that simply codifies an individual who serves 30 days or more over in the military and it sees to it that their bill… that their child support payments, when they shift from the civilian life into the military life, that they are not falsely penalized into an arrearage. And this Bill, also… whatever difference… and I 09400035.doc 149  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 hope the Representatives… I hope they hear this here, the Representatives who spoke against the Bill, this Bill here. There is a… there is a homefront… Operation Homefront Fund already set up for an individual… for individual families where they may have a slight decrease in child support payments. I would ask for an ‘aye’ vote. Thank you.”

“So the question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 20 voting ‘yes’, 91 voting ‘no’, and 2 voting ‘present’. And the Bill fails. On page 21 of the Calendar, Representative Howard has House Bill 3650. Mr… Okay. Out of the record. Representative Stephens, for what reason do you rise?”

“You can speak against the Bill now.”

“Yes, Representative.”

“Yes?”

“He gets to keep the trophy until one of us wins it away from him.”

“That’s an interesting question. We’ll have the parliamentarian research that. Representative Colvin, for what reason do you rise?”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve been informed that there is a loose pit bull on the floor… on the House Floor. But upon further inspection, it’s former State Representative Charles Morrow.”

Speaker Hannig: “Welcome back, Representative Morrow. Representative Giles, for what reason do you rise?”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. The previous Legislator, by the name of Representative Ken Dunkin, I think he have a good heart. I think he’s very true to the legislation that he’s trying to legislate in this Body and I hope we just don’t continue to hold anything ill against future legislation. I think he works hard at the legislation. And let’s truly give him a fair shot at trying to pass good legislation for the people of the State of Illinois. Thank you.”

Speaker Hannig: “Thank you, Representative Giles. Representative Winters, for what reason do you rise?”

Speaker Hannig: “On page 15 of the Calendar, Repre… Representative Jones… Representative Lou Jones has House Bill 2480. Okay. Then let’s take that out of the record. On page 8 of the Calendar, Representative Joyce has House Bill 1005. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.” 09400035.doc 151  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“Third Reading. Representative Mautino has, on page 23 of the Calendar, House Bill 4025. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill.”

“Third Reading. Representative Nekritz, you have on page 3 of the Calendar, House Bill 242. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

Speaker Hannig: “Representative Nekritz. Representative Nekritz, your Amendment is… is up.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Amendment to House Bill 242 actually replaces the Bill. And this piece of legislation has to do with the distribution of motor fuel taxes among townships. Right now, the motor fuel taxes are allocated to the counties and then the counties allocate them to the townships on the basis of tax effort but you have to in a minimum. This would prorate the motor fuel taxes on the basis of the tax effort. And I…” 09400035.doc 152  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

Speaker Hannig: “The Lady moves for the adoption of Floor Amendment #1. All in favor say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?”

“Third Reading. On… Representative Sacia has, on page 25 of the Calendar, House Bill 864. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill.”

“Representative Sacia.”

“Okay. This is on Short Debate, but there’s enough interest to already move it to Standard Debate. So, Representative Fritchey’s recognized for 5 minutes.”

“Thank you, Speaker. To the Bill, and actually to the Sponsor as well. When he brought this Bill up, I believe it was last week, Representative Molaro and I had some sincere questions about the legislation. He was gracious enough to take the Bill out of the record and he met with Representative Molaro and myself, as well as his staff. We got our questions addressed. We were actually in error. This Bill is not only correctly crafted, it’s an important piece of legislation that provides for appropriately stiff penalties for somebody that does commit great bodily harm to a peace officer. So I thank him for being a Gentleman. I thank him for bringing this Bill. Thank you.”

“So, Representative Froehlich is recognized for 5 minutes.”

“He indicates he’ll yield.”

“Representative Graham.”

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

“He indicates he’ll yield.”

“Representative Sac… Sacia, does this Bill take into account possibly someone who may have a mental illness that may attack a peace officer?”

“So this piece of legislation does not remove any judge’s discretion. So the judge would have an opportunity to rereiw… review the case and to determi… to determine whether this is an excessive crime or…”

“…whether this is intentionally done. So, you’re saying upon… after a proper review of a jury or whoever is looking at this, they will then determine whether this person knowingly committed bodily harm of a pe… poli… a peace officer and at that point they would, you know, then evaluate accordingly?” 09400035.doc 156  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“Thank you, Representative Sacia.”

“Representative Molaro.”

“Thank you. I just wanna point out what Representative Fritchey said earlier. I see your lawyer right behind you and I just wanna point out that I had read the Bill and I thought you were wrong. And the lawyer told me that, respectfully, that I should reread it. And believe me, I reread around 4… I don’t know, maybe for about 4, 6, 8 hours, ‘cause I wanted to be able to call him up and tell him he was wrong and I was right. Unfortunately, he was right and I was wrong. And it’s a good Bill and it reads correctly with the intention that you wanna do, and it’s good intentions also. So, thank you.”

“And now the last speaker before we go to close will be Representative Washington. Representative Washington, did you wish to speak? Okay. The… does not wish to speak. So, Representative Sacia to close.”

“The question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Younge, Yvetter Younge, would you like to be recorded? Representative Scully, would you like to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 113 voting ‘yes’ and 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Molaro, you have on page 27 of the Calendar, House Bill 2611. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

“Representative Molaro.”

“Yes, thank you. This is in… this happens in an unincorporated Cook County when they’re gonna have annexation agreements between two towns. All it just says if there’s… it’s mostly in… in places that are up in Cook County that don’t have a lot of population but there might be 20 or 30 homeowners that are in an unincorporated Cook County. And the two nearby towns enter into an annexation agreement that they just let the property owners know before they enter into the agreement but a lot of people in my district and the neighboring districts that don’t know about these agreements until they’re entered into. And this just gives them a notice. And there’s no known opposition to… to this Bill.” 09400035.doc 158  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“This is on the Order of Short Debate. Does anyone stand in response? Then the question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 113 voting ‘yes’ and 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 27, Representative Molaro, you also have House Bill 2613. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill.”

“Representative Molaro.”

“Thank you. This is somewhat similar. Whenever they’re gonna do open space they wind up where there’s… you have to file a petition to put it on the referendum. And a lot of times the… they’ll go there and they’ll question the signatures. All this says that within 5 business days that if the Clerk says that there’s a petition, if someone’s gonna go after it they would have a hearing within 30 days. So this way, these villages don’t have to go through all the trouble of putting it on the ballot and then it’s challenged. It’s just an easier way to get it done and a quicker way to get it done. And… then after it’s found to be valid then, of course, it goes on the ballot.”

“This is all… this is on the Order of Short Debate. Does anyone stand in response? Then the question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; 09400035.doc 159  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Yarbrough, would you like to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 113 voting ‘yes’ and 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Bill Mitchell, you have on page 24 of the Calendar House Bill 120. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill?”

“Representative Mitchell.” Mitchell, B.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 120 increases the criminal penny… penalties to damage to farm equipment, removable items of agriculture production, and property to a Class A misdemeanor. This is identical… a nearly identical Bill to House 126, which passed the General Assembly last year 116 but didn’t called in the State Senate.”

“This is on the Order of Short Debate. Does anyone stand in response? Representative Fritchey in response.”

“And really, more just a conceptual question than an objection. We… we’ve got quite the patchwork of laws in this state now that we have heightened penalties, if you commit a certain crime near one type of an institution but some place else, if you commit a battery in a stadium but not some place else, if you commit a battery against one 09400035.doc 160  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 type of individual but not somebody else. Now what we’re doing is elevating farm equipment to the same level as school property or religious property. And I guess, I’m trying to get at… I guess, (a) where does it come from, and I guess, (b) where does it stop? Is this an important Bill to the agricultural community? You bet it is. But…” Mitchell, B.: “Representative, I appreciate your question. Yes, it is. The genesis of the legislation was during harvesting season, which is a shortened period of time in the fall, farm trucks sit out in the field. In two separate instances in my legislative district, in McLean County and in Macon County, the farmers had their trucks out and we had a… an act of vandalism. They set the farm truck on fire. The farmer only has one truck and he cannot get the crops out of the field and, ya know, you have a rainy season. He’s at some financial peril.”

“And I… and I… and I understand that. And my problem isn’t so much with this piece of legislation as much as the next inevitable piece of legislation, which is, ya know, if a vehicle gets vandalized that happens to be used for that individual’s line of work, whatever it might be, it might be a construction worker that lives in Chicago and says…” Mitchell, B.: “Sure.”

“…if his pickup truck gets vandalized and he uses that in his means of employment then that should be a heightened penalty as opposed to just somebody’s recreational vehicle. Do you… do you get where I’m going?” 09400035.doc 161  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 Mitchell, B.: “Yeah, I… I understand your… your point of view. The difference, in my opinion, with this legislation is that it recognizes that agriculture, whether you live in Macon County or Cook County, is certainly very important to the economy of the State of Illinois. About one out of four jobs in Illinois is dependent on agriculture. This is just the recognition of that fact. You’re shaking your head and I…”

“And… and… and there is not a question in my mind as to the import of agriculture to this state. But ya know what? If you’re a butcher, then being a butcher’s important to the economy. If you’re a baker, whatever it may be. And I… you know… and I guess, you know, if we were… if we were saying that vandalism to a vehicle used in somebody’s occupation should be a heightened penalty, that’s one thing. And… and again, and I realize I’m giving you questions you can’t really answer. But when we start to do this by profession and say if you’re damaging farm vehicle, it’s a heightened penal… penalty. If you damage school equipment or religious equipment, it’s a heightened penalty. But, ya know, we’re gonna… we’re gonna start to break this out. The next Bill will be for the construction trades, then maybe for the railroads, then maybe for whoever it might be. And we’re just making this really, really complex.” Mitchell, B.: “It… it’s rather hard for me to hear you, Representative.”

“I… I… I…” 09400035.doc 162  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 Mitchell, B.: “And I apologize.”

“Ya know, that may be a blessing in disguise. I don’t know. Just to… to summarize, we really run the risk, as well-intentioned as I know you are…” Mitchell, B.: “Thank you.”

“…and as important as the issue is, of having a patchwork of legislation where we create certain heightened penalties for vehicles. But let me ask you a question. Is this solely for farm equipment wherever it may be? If it’s… if it’s farm equipment that happens to be parked in a driveway or on… in the barn as opposed to left out in the field?” Mitchell, B.: “The answer to your question is ‘yes’, any movable items. In addition, and I forgot to talk about it during my…”

“Well, here let me interrupt. Let…” Mitchell, B.: “…presentation. Let me finish, Representative.”

“No, let me interrupt you for one second. Let me tell you why.” Mitchell, B.: “Let me answer your question. Let me answer your question.”

“I wanna get my quest… let me get… let get the next question in before my time runs out, then you can answer them all at once.” Mitchell, B.: “Sure.”

“That’s… that’s the only reason why I’m interrupting you ‘cause…” Mitchell, B.: “Oh, okay.” 09400035.doc 163  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“…Spea… Speaker Hannig’s a tough guy. I know he’ll cut me off in a heartbeat.” Mitchell, B.: “I know he will.”

“The question will be this. Would it apply to farm equipment… wherever it’s left? Would it apply to farm equipment that no longer works? A broken down, abandoned trailer… tractor that’s sittin’ out there somewhere, somebody vandalizes it, technically it’s farm equipment. So, you… you see where I’m going? My time’s growing short. The Speaker’s growing agitated. I’ll wait for you answers. Thank you.” Mitchell, B.: “It… it’s… it’s about farm equipment being used, Representative. And one of the points I failed to make during my opening comments were in addition to the importance of ag… farm economy to the State of Illinois is we’ve had in recent years the methamphetamine problem. And in terms of damage to farm equipment because of the spread of the insidious drug, methamphetamines.”

“So, this is on the Order of Short Debate. We’ve now had one speak in favor, one speak in response. Representative Winters, we… maybe Representative Mitchell would like you to close for him. No. Okay. Representative Mitchell to close.” Mitchell, B.: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I would ask for an ‘aye’ vote. Thank you.”

“The question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have 09400035.doc 164  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 111 voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’, and 2 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 19 of the Calendar is House Bill 3457. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

“Third Reading. On page 20 of the Calendar is House Bill 3554. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

“Third Reading. On page 20 of the Calendar is House Bill 3606. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.”

Speaker Hannig: “Third Reading. Is that correct Mr… Representative Winters? You wanted to move that to Third? Okay. On page 27 of the Calendar is House Bill 2374. Representative Lou Jones. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill.” 09400035.doc 165  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“The Lady from Cook, Representative Jones.”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. House Bill 2374 is a Bill that was brought to me by a coalition of providers of family case management. And what the Bill does, it essentially codifies and strengthen the program that has been existence for more than 15 years in Illinois. As the Bill is amended, the Bill would provide that with appropriate funding it could save kids through the age of four. Right now, kids are saved through the age of one and moms are covered. Prior to 1993, these kids were covered but due to budget costs at that time they were taken out. I can ans… this measure has been worked on for quite some time and I wanna first thank people on both sides of the aisle for working me with… working with me to do this Bill and come up with a Bill that has no opposition at this time. And I ask for a favorable vote.”

“This is on the Order of Short Debate. And in response, Representative Parke is recognized.”

“She indicates she’ll yield.”

“No, I don’t have a funding source. But I do know that that increase that you’re talking about is… is depending on the availability of the funding.”

“I said the increase that you just talked about, from 44 to 69, it depends upon the availability of the funding. And that also was worked out with the Department of Human Services.”

“Representative Lou Jones to close.” 09400035.doc 167  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And as you… as you stated earlier, it’s… this here ca… case management now is costing $44 million. That will continue. This will come into play suppor… like I told you, upon the availability of the funding. Illinois low birth-rate babies are one of the highest in the nation and case management has worked hard, real hard, to reduce the number of low birth-rate babies and also the… the help for mom… to have healthy moms so we do… we do have healthy babies. So, I’m asking for a favorable vote.”

“Representative Parke, you’ve spoken in debate. For what reason do you rise?”

“Thank you, Representative. The question is, ‘Shall this Bill pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 113 voting ‘yes’ and 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, would you read the committees that will meet this evening.”

“If I could have your attention. Before we adjourn, the Chair would want to inform everyone that the Rules Committee will meet this evening before the Rules Committee goes home and sends some Amendments to committees. So, if you have Amendments that are pending in the Rules Committee, there’s a likelihood that those committees will be scheduled for 8:30 tomorrow. So you may want to come in and check the schedule about 8:30 tomorrow, you may have a Bill… an Amendment in a committee that you would to… to move forward on. So, I just wanna give everyone the… the heads up that we’re gonna move some Amendments in the Rules Committee today. Mr. Clerk, would you read the Agreed Resolutions?”

“Representative Turner moves for the adoption of the Agreed Resolutions. All in favor say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Agreed Resolutions are 09400035.doc 169  STATE OF ILLINOIS 94th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 35th Legislative Day 4/7/2005 adopted. Are there any announcements? Then allowing perfunctory time for the Clerk, Representative Turner moves that the House stand adjourned until tomorrow, Friday, April 8, at the hour of 9:30. All in favor say ‘aye’; opposed ‘nay’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the House stands adjourned.”