Illinois House Floor Debate — May 2, 2007

"The hour of 10:00 having arrived, the House will be in order. The Members will be in their seats. Members and guests are asked to refrain from starting their laptops, turn off all cell phones and pagers and rise for the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance. We shall be led in prayer today by Reverend Dr. LaRue Franklin Kidd who is the Pastor of the True Light Church Baptist in Chicago. Reverend Kidd is the guest of Representative Jefferies."

"Representative Dunkin, would you lead us in the Pledge?"

Speaker Hannig: "Roll Call for Attendance. Representative Currie."

"Thank you, Speaker. Please let the record reflect that Representative Patterson is excused today."

"And Representative Bost."

"Mr. Clerk, take the record. There are 117 Members answering the Roll Call, a quorum is present. Mr. Clerk, read the Committee Reports."

"On page 41 of the Calendar under the Order of Resolutions, Mr. Clerk, is House Bill… House Resolution 342. Would you… would you read the Resolution, please?"

"Representative Pihos."

"Representative Franks."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd… I'd like to thank Representative Pihos for bringing this forward. And Representative Tryon and myself as well as Representative Beaubien have the pleasure of having Centegra Health System in our district. And we have with us the CEO, Mike Eesley, and along with him, I think it's the CFO, Aaron Shepley, as well. And we welcome you here. And they are the predominate and preeminent leader of health care services in our county. They've got hospitals in both McHenry and in Woodstock. They serve over three hundred thousand (300,000) people and they have over thirty two (32) locations. Centegra started in 1914 in Woodstock and they 09500046.doc 5  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 also have a facility in McHenry in 195… was started in '56. My oldest son was born at the Woodstock facility and my youngest son was born in the McHenry facility. Today, Centegra is comprised of over thirty-two hundred (3200) associates and then two (2) medical staffs of over four hundred and fifty (450) physicians. They provide care to over twenty thousand (20,000) inpatients, fifty-five thousand (55,000) emergency room patients and over three hundred thousand (300,000) outpatients and ambulatory patients. Very proud that they've been chosen to be recognized as a recipient of the 2006 Lincoln Silver Award for progress towards excellence. And we wish them much continued success in all their endeavors."

"Representative Jakobsson."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to thank Representative Pihos for bringing this Resolution forward. And I'm very pleased to stand and welcome and recognize Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana. The Carle Foundation Hospital is a two hundred and ninety-five (295) bed regional care hospital and it offers a higher level of clinical service and technology than other hospitals in that area and it serves the area's only Level 1 Trauma Center and Co-Perinatal Center. The hospital places an emphasis on education and medical research with a goal of translating laboratory research into breakthroughs in patient care. A good example of that is that they now have a cancer center that's in cooperation with the U of I and Carle. The Carle Foundation's Hospital Nursing Division is also on a journey to obtaining the mark Magnet Status from 09500046.doc 6  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 the American Nurses Credentialing Center. And as many of you know, that's the highest level of recognition that the… that the center extends to health care organizations. So, please welcome Carle Foundation Hospital and congratulate them."

"Representative Leitch."

"Representative Fortner."

"Representative Ryg."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I join my colleagues in congratulating the Lincoln Foundation for Performance Excellence winners, but it is with great pride that I tell you about ZF Sales and Service North America from my hometown of Vernon Hills, Illinois. ZF Sales and Service strives for excellence through ongoing learning, innovation, and technological breakthroughs. And in a world of escalating costs for raw materials and external factors such as health care, ZF Sales implemented lean 09500046.doc 8  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 manufacturing principles to increase productivity, a best practice well deserving of the Lincoln Silver Award for progress towards excellence. So, we thank them for the model that they've set for our entire state."

"Representative Rose."

Speaker Hannig: "Representative Feigenholtz. Representative Pihos to close."

"All in favor of the Resolution say 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The 'ayes' have it. And the Resolution is adopted. Representative Feigenholtz, for what reason do you rise?"

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise on a point of personal privilege. I would like to introduce to the Body the 7th grade class of (sic-Bernard Zell) Anshe Emet Day School from my district. They've been here for a few days cleaning up and working on the environment in our… and would love to meet other Legislators interested in the environment, but I would love to welcome them. It's great to have them here."

"Mr. Clerk, read the Committee Reports."

"Representative Osterman."

"Point of personal privilege, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, wish we could all extend a warm happy birthday to 39-year-old Deborah Graham." 09500046.doc 10  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"We're going to start out on the Order of House Bills-Third Reading. And Representative Black, you have House Bill 632. Okay. Well, we'll… we'll come back to that one. Representative Boland you have House Bill 2284. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"The Gentleman from Rock Island, Representative Boland."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill… let me see here… 2284 deals with independent transportation networks. These are a relatively new thing for Illinois. The first one in Illinois will be in the Quad City area with both Iowa and Illinois cooperating and it's already in five (5) states including California, Maine, Florida, New Jersey. There is an article in today's USA Today about this type of program which is volunteers that help senior citizens get their doctor's appointments and run errands when they… they can't drive or they're willing to give up their driving privileges to take part in this program. And… so what this Bill does is, this says that an insurer… insurers cannot refuse… cannot impose a surcharge or otherwise increase the rate for a vehicle policy solely… solely on the basis of the named insurer being a volunteer driver. And there's no… no opposition in committee."

"This is on the Order of Short Debate. And in response, the Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Meyer."

"He indicates he'll yield." 09500046.doc 11  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Well, Representative, I… I don't know for sure because only in committee there was no opposition and no… no opponents have contacted me."

"Well, they… just… just because of their being a volunteer driver. I'm sure if they have a bad driving record or something that might make a difference, but just as being a volunteer for this network; that would prohibit any additional charge."

"Well, there may or may not be. I suppose, in… in my eyes anyway, but obviously, the insurance industry would probably look at it differently." 09500046.doc 12  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Right."

"Well, for your purposes I'll… I'll agree, I'm not sure myself."

"Representative Osmond."

"He indicates he’ll yield."

"Yes."

"That's correct, as I understand it." 09500046.doc 13  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"No. That… that's not the case. It… they can be assessed due to their record and so forth. This is only dealing with the fact that they are a volunteer. Their rate can be set by, you know, if they've had… whatever kind of record they've had."

"I… I didn't hear your question?"

"They…"

"They can drive… they can charge more for additional miles. This only deals strictly with the volunteer status."

"No, it doesn't say that."

"Yes."

"Yes, very easily. Just solely… they can't refuse them solely because of their being a volunteer driver. They can refuse them if they've had a bad driving record or something. Obviously, the network wouldn't even want them."

"We don't think there are right now, but they… they probably want to prevent is the additional charge just because of the status of being a volunteer driver."

"We've had one in favor and two in opposition. Representative Black, you're recognized for 5 minutes."

"We've had one (1) in support and three (3) in opposition. The Rules would provide two (2) additional speakers in support. Representative Dugan, would you like to rise in support? You have 5 minutes."

"Yes, Speaker, will the Sponsor yield?"

"He indicates he'll yield."

"Thank you. Representative, I… have you had any constituents that have actually called you about this particular issue where they have had possibly an increase in an insurance premium?" 09500046.doc 17  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"There has been instances in other states where this has happened. We're just getting it started in Illinois. So, it's a brand new thing, but it has… these independent transportation networks are now in five (5) other states."

"Okay. And… and thank you for that. Just to the Bill. I… I just want to say this is a particular issue that actually has been brought to me by a constituent. In fact, it's just been in the last couple of weeks where we found that with agencies in the state… many of my volunteers that drive people that are disabled, they bring them to the doctor, they bring them to the store to get things. We just found out that there's an agency through the state that is no longer able to provide that transportation for these people because they're volunteers that do it on their own time unfortunately, are no longer allowed to do it because the agency has been told by the insurance that their rates would have to go up to cover these agent… these people that work for the agency but then on their own time volunteer to bring them to the doctor. So, I think it is happening. I've heard it just in the last couple of weeks. So, whether or not it's to the extent yet that it's going to start to bother our Meals on Wheels and the other things that we do throughout the district and many volunteers do, I think it is starting because I know of a particular incident that just happened where ten (10) of my volunteers in my community have been told they can no longer help and bring these disabled people to the doctor and those kinds of things. So, I… I certainly encourage an 'aye' vote. It is something that is happening, even though it may not be 09500046.doc 18  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 happening in all districts, but I know for a fact that one agency has told volunteers they can no longer drive the people because it is affecting the insurance rates and that should not be. Volunteers and the help that they provide to people all over this state should not be penalized and it leaves not only the person not being able to do it, but certainly the people… the people that need the help then can no longer get it from a volunteer. So, I certainly encourage an 'aye' vote and thank you for bringing it."

"Representative Boland to close."

"Thank you very much, Speaker. And thank all of you who have been listening. This is a very important issue. As we know, as our population is aging, as those of us who get up in age we have more disabilities and problems and a little harder getting around, particularly in downstate and non-metropolitan areas where public transportation may not be as available or as reliable. And so we are coming to depend more and more upon volunteers who are willing to help their fellow neighbors, take them to the doctor, take them to the store, take them to the pharmacy. And we often hear complaints sometimes from younger drivers that, oh you know, some of these real old drivers just aren't safe drivers anymore. And some of us as we get up in age begin to realize that we're not the drivers maybe we once were and so, we're more willing to give up maybe even our own driving privileges to let someone else help us out. Hopefully, that's family, but in many cases it may not be and you and I all know those folks who volunteer to help their elderly neighbors, their disabled neighbors. This is 09500046.doc 19  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 one way that we can help them by making sure that they're not penalized for doing this volunteer work, for giving up their time and maybe even their… their vehicle use for this wonderful purpose. So, 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 all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 64 voting 'yes' and 52 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Cross, for what reason do you rise?"

Speaker Hannig: "Mr. Clerk, what is the status of House Resolution 344?"

Speaker Hannig: "So, the Bill is in the Rules Committee, Representative."

Speaker Hannig: "Representative, that's a decision for the Rules Committee to actually make. So…"

Speaker Hannig: "Representative, that's… that's up to the chairman of the Rules Committee and the Members of the… pardon me, and the Members."

"Representative Barbara Currie."

"Well, Representative…"

"I understand what you're… what you're… you're saying, Representative, but the Rules would provide that… when an Amendment… when a Resolution is introduced it's assigned to the Rules Committee and those five (5) individuals will make a decision to send it off to some committee or… or not, but that's their choice."

"Representative, it's… it's a matter for the Rules Committee to… to decide. That's… that's all I guess I can tell you from here at the podium."

"We certainly will make an effort to at least… we'll certainly convey the message I suspect, Representative. I mean, I can't speak for the chairman of the Rules Committee. You're…"

"You're asking the wrong person."

"Representative Will Davis." Davis, W.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just an announcement. My roommate, Representative Osterman, announced earlier that we're celebrating the birthday of my seatmate, Representative Deborah Graham. In furtherance of that celebration there is cake in the back office, Representative Skip Saviano's office area that was brought to us by former Representative and now chief of staff of the Treasurer's Office, Robin Kelly. Thank you."

"Representative Franks, for what reason do you rise?"

"Thank you. A point of personal privilege."

"State your point."

"I wanted to follow-up with Representative Cross's comments. Representative Cross indicated that we now have sixty (60) Members who have signed on to the Resolution, House Resolution 344, with our opposition to the Gross Receipts Tax. I submit that it doesn't matter anymore whether… if that Resolution is called or not. It does not matter because we have made our will known, which I think is the most important issue. There is a loud and clear message now that the Governor has to hear, that the GRT proposal is unacceptable. With twenty-nine (29) days to go until our scheduled adjournment we are letting the Governor know that his proposal will not fly. We are absolutely doing him a favor by not letting him hang his budget on the GRT. He now knows that it will not pass in the House of Representatives. He needs now to get off of his position and engage the Legislature in a real dialog to achieve our 09500046.doc 25  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 mutual goals. He cannot continue to govern by press release. He knows this is not going to happen now, he's got to deal with us. I don't… he cannot save this GRT proposal. The time now… is now to engage in serious discussions. The Governor is also laying out a large part of his proposed budget on the sale of the lottery. Again, we don't have consensus here that that is going to be acceptable. With twenty-nine (29) days to go the Governor now knows that the Gross Revenue (sic-receipts) Tax will not work. So, I appreciate the help from our colleagues who signed onto this to let the Governor know of our intentions. So, now he can go forward and craft a budget within those parameters without the Gross Receipt Tax. He also needs to understand that we know that there has been growth of approximately eight hundred million dollars ($800,000,000) this year in revenue that we have that we can use to fill expenses that need to be filled, to fully fund the hundred and forty-nine dol… the hundred and forty- nine million dollars ($149,000,000) that the schools who have already built those schools should be getting right now. We also will have some money to pay our Medicaid providers; we'll have money to put into the schools to increase the categoricals as well as the base foundation levels. There's money there. The seven or eight billion dollars ($7,000,000,000 or $8,000,000,000) he's trying to raise through the Gross Revenue (sic-Receipts) Tax has now been rejected, let's work within those parameters."

"Representative Stephens, for what reason do you rise?" 09500046.doc 26  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Representative, um… the only thing I would ask is could we put the timer on if we're going to sort of make…"

"…speeches?"

"Half hour. We'll start… how about if we start out with 5 minutes, Representative?"

"Representative Mendoza."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I also rise to support this Resolution. And just would like to draw attention to the fact that I believe there's what, sixty (60) names, from what I heard the last time we checked here on the Resolution itself cosponsoring it, but I would venture to say that it's… it's certainly no realm of disbelief that the actual number of people who are opposed to the GRT and the way that it's put together today is far larger and far exceeds this sixty (60) votes or sixty (60) names that are cosponsoring this legislation today. I think it's important that we actually get the work of the people done. We get it done responsibly; we get it… get it done as quickly as possible and I think it's… it's important to make a statement as a Legislature that we do care about the people of this state, that we do believe in better education; we do believe in better health care but that we also need to believe in responsible legislation that looks out for everyone. It's not going to do us much good if businesses in our state are closing up and moving across the border because they're seen as fat cats, when in reality they're not. A business like Representative Sacia's is a perfect example of what we're talking about here and how this GRT, the way it's been marketed, is absolutely wrong for this state. I would like to just say that I certainly, along with I would say every 09500046.doc 28  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 Member in this Body, believes that we represent, you know, the people in this state to the best of our ability every single day that we come down here. And having that responsibility is a large responsibility and one that I would… I would assume all of us take very closely to heart. And… and, you know, are privileged and honored to have that responsibility. But, we do have responsibility to get, you know, roll our sleeves up, to stay here as long as it takes and get this done right the first time. As Representative Franks said, to govern by governing and not by press release. And it's important that we… we tackle these issues, that we get serious about it with our leadership and that leadership as well being from that Executive Office. And so, I look forward to working with the other Members of this House of Representatives in getting the job done, getting it done right and looking out for the interests of every citizen and every resident in this state. Thank you."

"Representative Bost."

"Representative Miller."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's easy for us as Legislators to talk about what we don't want to support; it's easy for us to talk about one plan versus another, it's very easy. In fact, what has been penalized is the children in the State of Illinois. This is the political rhetoric that I'm hearing today. It's the political quagmire that we've been caught in over these years. There's another Bill out there, House Bill 750… Senate Bill 750 that is on Second Reading that is still being worked on that still provides an opportunity to fund our schools. The problem I have with it, if you're not for GRT, if you're not for 750, then what are you for Members of the General Assembly? So, we can sit here and keep going and let's go onto other more pieces of leg… important pieces of legislation, but until we get to the point of what are we going to vote for? What are we going to support? How are we going to fund a fair system for educating our children? Then we're going to continue having children who are subject to a second tier system. The disparity of those who have a quality education and those who don't are… is going to widen and we're going to continue to fund our schools based on our zip code, not on the ability of the children." 09500046.doc 31  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Representative Eddy."

"Representative Fritchey. The Gentleman does not wish to speak. Representative Black."

"Representative Lang."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. I'm not a very big supporter of the Gross Receipts Tax, as written, but I did not sign onto the Resolution and I did not sign onto it for a very good reason. I don't think that we should be about the business in this House of preparing Resolutions in advance to announce how we're going to vote on a piece of legislation we don't even have yet. Imagine, if you will, that you have a Bill, whether it's a large Bill or a small Bill, something critical to Illinois or something just for your district, and sixty (60) Legislators decide to put a Resolution forth to say, well, whenever that Bill comes up we're not going to vote for it. I just don't think that's the appropriate thing to do. To have a Resolution that says we're not going to vote for a Bill that isn't even in our chamber yet seems to me a bit premature. And it seems that we could have five thousand (5,000) Resolutions discussing in advance how we're going to vote on the five thousand (5,000) Bills on the House Calendar, that seems to be a… be a waste of our time and a waste of our effort. We ought to take Bills as they come and vote on them, up or down. Having said that, I'm not a supporter of the Gross Receipts Tax, certainly not as written. I'm pleased that we're having this part of 09500046.doc 35  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 the debate; I think the House Floor is a good place for debate on important issues. I just objected to the notion that we decide in advance by way of a Resolution what we're going to vote for later or what we're not going to vote for later. Having said that, we should not leave Springfield without resolving some of the issues that the Governor boldly put forward. While I don't think I agree with his direction of how he wanted to get to the finish line, I think we would all agree that we've been waiting a very, very long time to properly fund education in Illinois and we must do that. We've been waiting a very, very long time to fund health care in Illinois and we must do that. We've been waiting a very, very long time to deal with property tax issues and we must do that. And there are any number of issues that the Governor talked about, boldly and creatively, but with a plan that was probably flawed. We have to deal with our pension debt. We have to find a way to pay for capital projects this year and I may have a plan for you on that, but we have to do these things. And instead of talking at each other, and that includes all of us in this chamber and all of those in the other chamber, and it includes the Governor and the Constitutional Officers, we ought to me talking with each other. Seems to me that the success we had in this chamber when we had a Committee of the Whole on electric rates, although we haven't gotten to the finish line there, is a good model for coming out to the House Floor and really debating issues about education funding, really debating issues about health care, really debating issues about pensions, 09500046.doc 36  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 really debating issues regarding how we're going to find the revenue to run the State of Illinois in the way we all want to run it. So, Ladies and Gentlemen, I don't think the Resolution was the right thing to do, but I sure agree with those that say we have to do something about these issues. Let's not find ways not to move forward, let's all work together to find ways to move forward and let's pledge that we're going to stay right here 'til we get this job done this spring. Thank you, Mr. Speaker."

"Representative Rose."

Speaker Hannig: "Representative… excuse me… Representative Hoffman."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. If I… if I might, I would like to just… if we can just take a step back and lay out the context under which… and the timing under which we're debating this issue and this Resolution that isn't even before the Body at this time. First of all, I do agree with many of the comments of my good colleague Representative Lang. Let's think about the process and where we're standing. We're here at the beginning of May, I understand the end of May is fastly approaching, but to stand here and talk about what we're against, what we're for, to debate a Resolution without it being before the Body… it's introduced over in the Senate, here's the question that we have to ask ourselves. It's a question that each of you on both sides of the aisle have to answer, because every time I've ran for office, here's what I've said and I think you have too. You've said the same thing: number 1) my #1 priority is funding education here in the State of Illinois, making sure our kids have a chance to make it forward, to move forward, to have good schools, quality education. We've also, many on this side of the aisle and many on that side of the aisle, have said we want to ensure that our people have access to affordable health care. Now, we may disagree on the plans, but we've said it over and over and over again. We've said we want 09500046.doc 38  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 to have good infrastructure and I know that the Leader on the other side of the aisle has come out and said, I want to be for a capital improvement plan to provide infrastructure improvements to move our economy forward. We've all said it. We've all said it. Education, health care, infrastructure improvement and God knows… God knows, you've all said it ‘cause I read it in the mailers, God knows you all said, oh, my goodness gracious, the unfunded liability of our pension system is a crime and we got to take care of it, forty one-billion dollars ($41,000,000) in unfunded liability. Well, I'm sitting here two (2) years later after we passed a budget, two (2) years later making some very difficult and tough decisions on a pension plan. We're sitting here, and we're still for your plan, we're still waiting for your plan. What are you for? Are you for an income tax increase? Is that what you want to do? Do you want to increase income taxes on the hardworking people of this state? Some people do, I understand their position. But don't stand here and say, fix the pensions. Don't stand here and say, money for education. Don't stand here and say, health care for everybody without having a plan on how to pay for it. Now, you may disagree with what's been put out by the Governor. You may disagree with the Gross Receipts Tax but, I got to tell you… I got to tell you, if you want to truly have an honest debate on the issue put forward a plan on how you're going to fund the necessary functions of the state: infrastructure, education, health care. Now, I want to just make one final point… one final point. Fundamental fairness in the tax 09500046.doc 39  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 system is very difficult to disagree that there is some fundamental unfairness in our tax system. Absolutely fundamentally unfair that twelve thousand five hundred (12,500) of the largest corporations in Illinois pay an average of a hundred fifty one dollars ($151) in state income taxes. Fundamentally unfair that thirty four (34) of the largest Fortune 100 companies in Illinois pay zero (0) in Illinois income taxes. I'm not… I'm not making it up. It's fundamentally unfair. Do you agree with the proposal? Maybe not, but come back with a plan. Look, in the last two (2) years here's what's happened. My goodness, the White Sox have won the World Series, we still don’t have a plan from you. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have gotten together, for God's sakes, we still don't have a plan from you. The Cardinals won the World Series, we're still waiting for your plan. So, you can call all the Resolutions in the world, you can do all the speeches and talk about all the rhetoric, but somebody eventually has to govern and it's time we do it and stop the speeches. Let's work together and get this done by May 31."

Speaker Hannig: "Just… just to clarify, we're actually on points of personal privilege. There's some… there's some other Gentlemen and Ladies who liked to speak, but Representative Cross as Leader, I'd certainly… I respect your position and give you a chance to respond."

"We can proceed on this order, I guess, as long as the Members wish to speak. Representative Bost asked when we're going to call his Bill and I advised him as soon as we finish this order of business and others are probably in the same place. So, perhaps out of some courtesy to your fellow Members who would like to call Bills I'd ask the Members to be brief. Representative Fritchey, you're recognized."

"Thank you, Speaker. I didn't speak the first time 'cause I thought I was going to hold thoughts, but some things have been said. We all represent a hundred and five thousand (105,000) give or take, among my constituents are the Governor. What he has done is he's the one that's put us in this position. I don't care if the Resolution gets called or not, but I was one of the first Democrats to sign up in favor of it. Why? Because I'm tired of us being demonized. We are all out here trying to work for the men and the women and the children and the families and the businesses that we represent in our district. None of us have come forward and said, take our way or leave it. The 09500046.doc 43  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 Governor put us in the position when he was back looking at a primary, selling the lottery off was going to the answer to all the problems. That fell by the wayside. It fell by the wayside like a number of his large proposals have. They come, they get a big news storm and then they fall by the wayside. The Governor is the one that wants to be the leader here, he has not come and said, I want to work with the 177 Members of the Legislature. He said, 'It's my way or no way. I'm on God's side, I'm on the side of the kids, I'm on the side of the families and we're going to stay here until it gets done.' That is not how you lead. The Gentleman from Collinsville talked about having another plan. I've been one of the lead Sponsors of House Bill 750, there is another plan. Debate the merits of that. If you don't want to debate the merits of that, debate the merits of something else, but sit at the table. We have a Legislature in this state; we are coequal partners. We are not going to be bullied and cowed into doing the will of one man simply because he says that's how it's going to be done. The threats of keeping us here all summer… listen, like many of you, I was here through most of July two (2) years ago. I did it then because we had to do it, I'll do it again. What I don't want to do is go home with nothing but rhetoric and empty promises and telling the kids and telling the families and telling the workers that we care about them, but we didn't do a damn thing again. If he's serious about getting jobs back into this state and if he's serious about getting health care for the uninsured, if he's serious about fixing education, sit at the table with 09500046.doc 44  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 us and get it done. It's not going to get done by threats. It's not going to get done by demonizing the Legislature. It's not going to be done by media headlines. It's going to be done by showing some leadership and working with us. Ladies and Gentlemen, you may see a story soon… I don't want to be cryptic. One of the best known employers in this state has recently closed this week on five hundred (500) acres of property in Wisconsin. They've closed on that property to keep their options open. Every business that can… if the GRT were to pass and I'm really not worried about it 'cause it's not going to, but if the GRT were to pass every business that could pass it on to consumers will pass it on to consumers. The businesses that cannot pass it on to consumers will simply leave the state. Is it wrong that you and I pay more in income tax than some of the state's largest employers? Of course it's wrong. Then let's fix it. Let's not put the farmers out of business. Let's not put the small businesses out of business. Let's not keep other companies from coming to this state. Let's not do all of the those things and still not get anything done. What does it tell you that the more details that come out about this plan, the more opposition that you get? All I know is the people that I have heard from in my district and from around the state, when I hear from individuals, when I hear from family members, when I hear from business owners, they are against the GRT. The only e-mails that I have received from GRT have been form generated e-mails that are coming from one state agency or another, from vendors with the state, whatever it may be. 09500046.doc 45  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 Governor, if you want to lead I want to help you lead. You are going to have to sit down and deal with the Members of the House and deal with the Members of the Senate. If you want to dig your heels in, we can dig our heels in too and we'll stay here all summer. Thank you."

"Representative Mulligan."

"Representative Monique Davis." Davis, M.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to say that I know that there are a number of issues that we will have to settle before the end of this Session. I want to commend the Leaders of our House, the House of Representatives, Emil Jones as President of the Senate and Governor Blagojevich and even you, Representative Hannig, as these issues are hammered out. People want new schools, but they don't want to pay for them. People want increased foundation levels for education, but they don't want to pay for it. I am truly saddened when I hear people say that the GRT will cause price increases. Have you been to the store lately? Have you purchased gas for your car? 09500046.doc 47  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 Everything continues to increase in cost without the GRT. Businesses are adding dollars on a daily basis for school supplies, shoes, clothing for children, furniture. It is an astronomical increase in every consumer product that we're using in this state and in this country. People are becoming trillionaires, no longer millionaires. No longer billionaires, but trillionaires. As a State Representative who's been here for twenty (20) years, I will continue to support the consumer. I do not believe… I do not believe that my role here should be to continue and allow businesses to gouge the citizens in the State of Illinois and not pay their fair share. Whether we will pass the GRT or whether we'll pass some other taxing solution, one thing should be perfectly clear and that is that prices are continuing to rise without the GRT. So, let's not blame a proposed GRT on rising prices. Have you priced milk today? Are there any mothers in here? Do you know what a gallon of milk costs today? Well, it won't cost that on Monday. It'll be up a little bit more on Monday. Orange juice, how much is it? Used to four dollars ($4), five dollars ($5), now it's six dollars ($6). Six dollars ($6) for a quart of orange juice for your family. Come on, guys. Come on. It has to stop. Because as, you know, salaries are not rising to this degree. I am not in this Body to continue to make trillionaires with consumer dollars of the poor people of the State of Illinois. You want a new school, you got to pay for it. You want an increased foundation level on education, you got to pay for it. You want to make sure people… believe me they're not going to leave Illinois, 09500046.doc 48  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 they're not going to run from Illinois because they know they've still got some pockets left here. Again, I commend our Leaders for working this issue out. And Mr. Speaker, I urge you to help us get back to our Third Reading Bills. Friday or Thursday is the deadline for Third Reading and I've got a Bill I want out of here. Let's move on."

"Representative Biggins."

"Okay. And now on the Order of House Bills- Third Reading, is House Bill 3567. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Speaker Hannig: "The Gentleman from Jackson, Representative Bost."

"This is on the Order of Short Debate. Does anyone stand in response? The Gentleman from Cook, Representative McCarthy."

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

"He indicates he'll yield."

"Representative, it says plate on the board. Is this a… a new license plate? Or is this…"

"…clarification?"

"So, it just changes the distribution of the money?"

"Okay. And this plate is like one of the regular plates? Goes on front and back?" 09500046.doc 50  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Okay. Thank you."

"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? Representative Bradley, D'Amico, Lyons, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 114 voting 'yes', and 1 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Bradley, you have House Bill 1956. Out of the record. Representative Brauer, you have House Bill 635. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Representative Brauer."

"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 09500046.doc 51  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 the record. On this question, there are 117 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Burke, you have House Bill 1455. Out of the record. Representative Monique Davis, you have House Bill 1890. Do you wish us to read that Bill? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"The Lady from Cook, Representative Monique Davis." Davis, M.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 1890 is a Bill that is an agreement between the Chicago Public Schools and the union and it states that the evaluation of teachers will be done by their peers as well as their superiors; that if there's a cause for remediation there will recommendations in reference to that remediation. And that this performance evaluation plan will be the procedure that's followed. This agreement between these two (2) bodies will help to make it more, let's say, fair for the evaluation of teachers. And I would just ask for a 'yes' vote."

"This is on Short Debate. And in response the Lady from Cook, Representative Mulligan."

"She indicates she'll yield."

"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 117 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Dunn you have House Bill 3388. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"The Gentleman from Will, Representative Dunn."

"This is on 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 117 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Eddy, you have House Bill 1651. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Representative Eddy."

"This is on 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 Osterman and Acevedo. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 117 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Flider, you have House Bill 1786. Out of the record. Representative Flowers, you have House Bill 1338. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Representative Flowers."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 1338 would require the Chicago Board to post in the school buildings the date of the last fire alarm inspection as well as the capacity of the building. 09500046.doc 54  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 And I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you may have."

"This is on Short Debate. Does anyone speak 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 Bassi, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 117 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Ford, you have House Bill 3602. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Representative Ford."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. I'd like to offer House Bill 3602. House Bill 3602 requires that the election of commissioners of the ICC happens at the general election. Under the current law there are five (5) Commissioners appointed by the Governor. And in light of all of the incidents with the ComEd and… and Ameren, I propose this legislation today for passage so that the people of the State of Illinois will have accountability for those making the decisions about rates. Thank you."

"This is on the Order of Short Debate. In response… and in response the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Durkin."

"He indicates he'll yield." 09500046.doc 55  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"From the judicial district circuit."

"Yes. Appellate."

"From the five (5) appellate judicial districts."

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you."

"That's… that's right."

"No. It's a state election."

"Well… it depends. If that person that we're going to be holding accountable at the time will devote full-time obligations."

"Yes. Certain… certain lawyers as it states is… they're not prohibited from running."

"Oh, no. No. No. That's a problem for you that they would not be prohibited from holding any other positions?"

"You know, you bring up a good suggestion, if it's a suggestion or if you're just making a point; that we may want to include some language to state that they can't hold any other positions. But, it is an elected position. And right now it does not exclude them from holding any other position."

"That's right."

"That is… that is something that we must make sure that we work with the Senate Sponsor to make sure that it's included in the legislation."

"Yeah… no…"

"…no."

"Representative, your… your time has expired. Yeah, you can bring your remarks to a close, if you want to ask one more question."

"They're neutral."

"Thank you."

"The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black."

"He indicates he'll yield."

"Currently, it's ninety-nine thousand, four hundred and fourteen dollars ($99,414), Mr. Black." 09500046.doc 59  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Right… right now that's what it would… and it would have to be reestablished according to what we… what I was speaking with the former… or the previous speaker saying that we have to make sure that we establish the salary."

"We would like for the… no… we would like for one… if this passes out of the House, that the Senate will establish this with me."

"The Amendment."

"No, not at all."

"I think…"

"Yes."

"Well… An absolute conflict?" 09500046.doc 60  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Absolute… I don't know if it's absolutely… because you know what happens, in this case, the public still can see that this person is a member and they don't have to elect them."

"Well…"

"Well, Mr. Durkin, I think that you…"

"I mean… I'm sorry… oh…"

"I think our… I think you raise a… a important point because I spoke… as I said previously, the previous speaker already addressed that. And we said that we really want to work with that, so that it'd be full-time position and no longer will the person that works for ComEd or any utilities would be able to serve on this board."

"Someone that's retired from the board?"

"Well… well the people will have a choice to see if that person that they're about to elect or considering to elect 09500046.doc 61  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 really has the best interests of the people of Illinois or if they have a special interest in the utility companies."

"Have I heard it somewhere?"

"It's… it's my idea and it's all… yes."

Speaker Hannig: "Pardon me, Representative, your time has expired. Could you bring your remarks to a close?"

"Representative Hamos."

"Thank you, Speaker. I would like to rise on a point of personal privilege to introduce to you some of the students and faculty from the Howard Area Alternative High School back there. Please stand up and give them a round of applause everybody. And may I speak on the Bill? Thank you so much."

"Proceed."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I rise in opposition to this Bill. I worry about this Bill; it's kind of a sleeper. But really… well, I… I would ask just a couple of questions. First of all, what is the campaign plank on which an ICC Commissioner would run? They would say, I will… I will never increase your rates. I promise to have 09500046.doc 63  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 a rate freeze for every single issue which I'm regulating for the rest of my life. That is not… I mean, that's populist, it might be popular it might get you elected, but it might not be the most responsible way to have an Illinois Commerce Commission in Illinois, as piqued as we are with them right now. Secondly, following up on the previous speaker's position, I worry about who would fund these campaigns. I mean, these are still big campaigns, will be statewide and there's only really one group that has a really strong vested interest in funding something of this magnitude and those are, in fact, the regulated industries. So, it's a kind… it's a funny conflict for… on the one hand they would have to have this populist message, on the other hand, they would be funded by the regulated industry. I think this is not the way to go. We're mad at them, but I think we need to work to make them and improve… to make them better and to improve them. Thank you."

"Representative Lang."

"Thank you. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"Indicates he'll yield."

"Thank you. Representative, I strongly support your Bill. In fact, I had a similar Bill some years ago. I don't think we'd be in the mess we are with electric rates if the members of the Commerce Commission were beholden to the voters of the State of Illinois rather than to the Governor of the State of Illinois. But having said that, I think Mr. Black raised some very interesting points. And I just want to ask you straight out, if this Bill passes and goes to the Senate, will you work with the Senate Sponsor 09500046.doc 64  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 to amend the Bill to make sure that those who have a vested interest in utility companies, either employees, retired employees, family members, pensioners, stockholders, whatever it might be, you make sure that none of those folks with vested interests have… would be allowed to run for the Commerce Commission?"

"Yes… yes, I commit to that."

"All right. Thank you. I think that… with that commitment we have a very solid Bill here. We… we have been unhappy as a chamber with what's come out of the Commerce Commission for a very long time. You can say it's fate, but I think there are other things at play here. Seems to me that if the Commerce Commission has a broader group of people that it's responsible to, beholden to, committed to, which would be all of the people of the State of Illinois, we might get a better product out of the Commerce Commission. You can argue that they don't know what they'd be campaigning on, but I would argue that there's plenty of offices where that takes place anyway, people running for certain local boards or commissions. In fact, even judges, what are they supposed to run on; that they're always going to be on your side? They can't always been on your side; they have to be for truth and justice. And therefore, the members of the Commerce Commission should be that as well. This is a very important piece of legislation which certainly deserves more vetting in the Senate, but we should move it along and let the Senate take a look at this. And maybe we can make some differences 09500046.doc 65  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 that would be good for our constituents and for consumers in the State of Illinois. I would urge 'aye' votes."

"We've had three (3) in support and two (2) in response, and the rules would provide for one additional speaker in response. Representative Winters, would you like to speak in response?"

"Indicates he'll yield."

"Appointment."

"The Governor."

"Of the Senate, yes."

"Well, you know, that was part of my closing and I… I don't think… I don't think that…"

"…I'm not going to take a jab at anyone. I'm not going to take a jab at the Governor saying that what's that it's not working, but what we are here to do is to do what's best and what will work the best and I believe that if the people have a choice then that would probably be the best 09500046.doc 66  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 way to yield the best decisions for the people of Illinois, if they have a choice."

"We've now had three (3) in support and three (3) in opposition, and the rules provide that Representative Ford is recognized to close."

"Thank you. I just want to say that I think that today's debate has yielded ways to address some of the concerns that some of the other Representatives spoke of. And I… I really believe that the position is still political and it's still has a… some sort of mechanism in it that 09500046.doc 68  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 influence people in the way they are appointed and the way they vote on these decisions. I also believe that now if this position is an elected position the campaign disclosure will report and tell us who's receiving campaign donations from what organizations. So, I look forward to working with the Senate Sponsor in order to make this a more perfect legislation for the people of Illinois. And I 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 all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Saviano, McAuliffe and Leitch, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 74 voting 'yes' and 41 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 2672."

"Representative Fritchey."

"Thank you. Thank you, Speaker, Members of the Body. A couple of weeks ago I came to you and with your assistance passed legislation that would prohibit individuals convicted of a felony relating to their duties in public office from running for public office again. At that time, I told you that there was going to be a companion piece of legislation and this is it. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have an inconsistency in our Election Code 09500046.doc 69  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 and a inequitable policy that needs to be addressed and should have been addressed quite some time ago. Now more than ever we have had a policy of trying to promote reentry into society. People do stupid things, people break laws, people get convicted of felonies oftentimes as young adults or teenagers. And they can go on and turn their lives around and be not only productive members of society, but leaders in society. If you were convicted of car theft as a seventeen (17)-year-old and you turned your life around and you go run for office, you can run for State Representative, you can run for Senator, you can run for Governor, but you can't run for a municipal office because there's a prohibition in the Municipal Code that doesn't allow felons to run for office. I believe that if we are going to be consistent in our ideas of rehabilitation, if we're going to be in consistent in our ideas of having open access to the electoral process, probably the most fundamental piece of our democracy, that we should have a consistent standard saying if you are able to run for the State Legislature you should be able to run for city clerk, for alderman, for a local municipal office, but you can't do that today. Please don't be fooled into thinking that this is a soft on crime Bill; it's no such thing. This simply says that if you committed a felony that you are still able to run for office. We have some individuals that have served in this chamber, we have some individuals that are on the Chicago City Council who committed crimes as young adults. They turned their lives around and became productive members of society involved with their family, 09500046.doc 70  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 their community, their church and they have been great leaders in an elected office. We had to take steps to pardon one of them several years ago because we realized that we did not want to deprive either that mem… that individual or his constituents from his ability to serve. All we're looking for now is a consistent policy that says whether you are running for State Legislature or alderman or any municipal office that we're going to have the same policy up and down the ballot and that is one that is not going to punish you for something that you may have done in your youth and you're going to let the voters decide. The voters are more than capable of making a decision and weighing the good and the bad in any candidate. That's all this does. It's overdue and I appreciate an 'aye' vote."

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

"A point of personal privilege, Mr. Speaker."

"State your point."

"I'd like to first to give a warm welcome of… round of applause for our Phillips High School students who are visiting here from Chicago, Illinois. Can you stand up and welcome them? Thank you. Welcome to Springfield, Illinois."

"Representative Durkin."

"He indicates he'll yield."

"Oh, I… I can think of many situations where there are people with prior felony convictions that would not be suitable elected officials. This is not saying that having a felony makes you qualified for holding office, it says that once you have served your time, once you are back in as a member of society, that you should be able to exercise one of the most fundamental democratic rights, which is the right to run for office. As we discussed and as you are well aware, you know, a felon can run for the Legislature. A felon cannot run for a municipal office. I think we should have a consistent policy."

"They're not precluded for running for the State Legislature."

"Representative Bost."

"Indicates he'll yield."

"Oh, it… it… excellent… excellent question. Let me address that in two (2) fronts. As I said, the Bill that I passed a couple of weeks ago makes clear that I believe there are certain felonies for which you should forfeit your right to even run again and that is a violation of your duties… a felony related to your duties as an elected official. Essentially, that Bill said that if you violated the public trust, you don't get a second chance to go it again. What this Bill is saying, though, is that if you committed… if you stole a car when you were seventeen (17) years old, you spent the next twenty (20) years of your life turning your life around, being a productive leader, a member of society, let the voters decide if you're qualified to hold office. And… and again, Representative, at the risk of being redundant as I have a tendency to do, none of those prohibitions exist for any of the chairs in… in this Body. You can run for State Representative, you can run for State Senator, you can run for constitutional office with a felony conviction. And I think that part of 09500046.doc 73  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 that… part of what's underlying that is the belief that we have faith in the voters and the process to weigh a person in their totality and say, you know what, they embezzled from their former employer, I don't trust this man, I don't trust this woman, I'm not going to vote for them. But let the voters make that determination. It's… it's contradictory in my mind and illogical in my mind for us to have two (2) standards for municipal office or legislative…"

"…or statewide."

"The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black."

"Indicates he'll yield."

"That… that was a separate Bill that was…"

"…being passed a couple of weeks ago. I divided the two (2) Bills because I realized that they were two (2) unique issues; related obviously, but unique. And I wanted 09500046.doc 75  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 to make that distinction that, yes, there are certain things that…"

"…you know what, we're sorry you just don't get a second chance. You violate the public trust, you lose your pension. You violate the public trust, if the Senate passes the Bill that we passed, you lose your right to try to do it again."

"I… I'll… I'll tell you what. Let me… let me be wholly unequivocal. If I can get the assistance here… if people can get past the boogeyman and the specters of all this, I will commit that that Bill will not come out of the Senate without that addition to the Bill. I get it, I understand it, it makes sense. It is through the laws of unintended consequences. It is not something I had contemplated. It makes nothing but sense." 09500046.doc 76  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"I'll tell you right now… you know my word… I'll tell you right now that I will have it put on the Senate or… on the Senate side or it will not come out of there."

"It makes sense. My concern, Bill… Representative, people do stupid things. People commit crimes, some of them go into a life of crime. Other of them go on and really see the light and I can name some individuals that have really gone on to lead stellar lives. And all I'm saying is, give them a chance. We're always talking about giving felons a chance to get back into society. What more fundamental way is there to do that than allow them to run for office. We're not saying they get a free ticket into office, I'm saying allow them to run and again, they're allowed to run here. And I'll tell you, you and I have both served with people here that probably had greater infirmities than a felony conviction that should have precluded them from being elected. But without making light of that, it doesn't make sense for us to have a standard where the car thief can run for State Representative, but not for county board and not for alderman."

"Let them… let them run, let the voters decide. The issue of the sex offenders, it's a valid one, it's one that I will address. It's one that I hope will allay any fears that may exist on both sides of the aisle, actually and hopefully, we can go forward from there." 09500046.doc 77  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"We've had three (3) in opposition or response and… and one (1) in support. So, the rules would provide two (2) additional speakers in support. Representative Molaro, would you like to speak in support? Are you in support?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Don't be fooling the Chair anymore. You're in support?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"All right. Well, here's… I'm in support of the Bill, but I'm actually rising to sort of chastise the Sponsor so he can get mad at me later. You know, this Bill… I like the idea of what you said. You know, you got someone twenty (20) years, he goes out there and he committed a crime and now he should be able to run for office. I think that's what you said, similar language. So, therefore, if 09500046.doc 78  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 you're a convicted felon and you're a rapist and then you've tried to bribe people and you stole five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), five million dollars ($5,000,000) from some charity, you're going to able to run for Chicago alderman under this Bill?"

"The same as you can run for State Representative today."

"Oh, same… but yet, if you get somebody who maybe gave out a political job when he shouldn't have and he happened to be an officeholder and he's now twenty (20) years later… does it make… you just passed a Bill that says, but he can't run for office."

"Because I think that there is a differentiation that is valid for somebody…"

"Right, right."

"…that has violated the public's trust."

"That's the point. That's the point, Representative. That you…"

"Is this the part where you're still in support or…?"

"Yeah, well, yeah. That's the point. In other words, what… what makes the argument difficult for me is that you came up and decided that that particular crime you shouldn't run for public office. And the problem is, there are Members who say, well, we think there are particular crimes that you should not run for office. Right? So, the point I'm trying to get at would be, once you start taking political crimes and saying, in my mind that crime should stop you from office, in my mind that crime you should be rehabilitated, that's a… that's a terrible road to go on. 09500046.doc 79  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 Now, this in and of itself is a good Bill. I guess what I'm asking you to do and I'm doing it in public so to speak, I'm asking you that this Bill is okay because I think you deserve a second chance, but I also think that twenty (20) years down the road some guy who was an alderman who helped his friend get a political job and had to go… and had six (6) months probation for some mail fraud statute should also have that. So, all I'm asking is that, let's vote 'yes' on this Bill, but talk to whatever Senate Sponsor passed your Bill and maybe have second thoughts about it. So, thank you for allowing me to do that in public."

Speaker Hannig: "So, the rules provide for one additional speaker in support. Representative Mulligan are you in support? You like to make a nice speech in support?"

"We'll… we'll give you five (5) minutes."

"Representative Fritchey to close."

"Yeah, I appreciate the strong support from Representative Mulligan. Again, and with all due respect to her and the others that made the similar line of argument, Ladies and Gentlemen, you can run for any of our seats today. Please don’t be scared about this Bill. Don't be scared about the arguments. This Bill makes logical sense. The Bill makes equitable sense. The Bill makes moral sense. It is doing nothing other than putting municipal offices and municipal candidacies on the same footing as yours and mine and the constitutional officers. The point about the sex offenders is an excellent point. Should the Bill pass out, that language will be put on in the Senate. It makes sense, I missed it plain and simple. But the one thing I did not miss is that it's wrong, arguably unconstitutional, wholly indefensible, to say that 09500046.doc 81  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 the individual that committed a crime as a kid can run for State Representative, can run for Governor, can run for any other office, but can't run for local office. Let's give them the incentive, give the voters the opportunity to make the decision. I've seen mailers… I saw mailers in the last aldermanic cycle, people bringing up past DUI convictions, people bring up, you know, possession of marijuana convictions and sometimes those candidates win, sometimes those candidates lose, but we trust the voters to decide. If you're going to be intellectually consistent and intellectually honest, simply acknowledge that the standards that apply to us should be the same standards that apply to local office. Vote 'aye'. Let me get this Bill to the Senate, let me fix it and tighten it up so it comes back here. 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 all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 30 voting 'yes', and 85 voting 'no'. And the Bill fails. Representative Turner in the Chair."

"All right, gang. The Gentleman from Menard, Representative Brauer, for what reason do you rise?"

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we're going to do a death Resolution for a former Member, Representative 09500046.doc 82  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 Brauer? If the Clerk will read House Joint Resolution 12. If our guests in the gallery will rise."

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Menard, Representative Brauer."

Speaker Turner: "Representative Brauer moves that we adopt House Joint Resolution 12. All those in favor should say 'aye'; all those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Resolution is adopted. On page 34 of the Calendar, on the Order of Third Readings, we have House Bill 1294. Representative Howard. Connie Howard. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Lady from Cook, Representative Howard."

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 1294 amends the Code of Corrections to expand the ability of the Prisoner Review Board to grant certificates of good conduct to eligible offenders. It expands the reach of certificates of good conduct to relieve offenders of employment-related disabilities such as prohibitions on receiving professional licenses. This Bill changes the definition of an 'eligible offender' from those convicted of two (2) or fewer felonies to include anyone who has been convicted of a crime that does not subject them to registration under the Sex Offender Registration Act or the Child Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registration Act. This Bill would not serve to relieve any offender of any employment-related disability that would prevent the offender's employment by the Department of Corrections. The Bill provides employers 09500046.doc 86  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 with an exception for cases of willful and wanton misconduct."

"Seeing no questions, the question is, 'Shall the House pass House Bill 12… I'm sorry? The Gentleman from Winnebago, Representative Sacia, for what reason do you rise?"

"Indicates she will."

"I… I… said this before that employers are immune except when it comes to willful and wanton misconduct."

"So, they would be immune to any liability unless the conduct is willful and wanton."

"It is… it is not my intent that an employer could be sued. In fact, we're attempting to relieve them of that liability." 09500046.doc 87  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"If the Prisoner Review Board did see fit to hire one of those individuals… or to give that person, that is, a certificate, then the school board could hire that person. They… they would have the ability to hire that person, but only if they got the certificate of good conduct. And obviously, they would have to granted that."

"Yes, they would have full knowledge. This is only saying that a person has taken the time, exerted the effort to indicate that they are now a good person, that they are to be considered for employment, that they no longer are involved in the same kind of behavior that resulted in the conviction in the first place."

"All right. Those… it is… it is quite confusing because there are so many Acts that are talked about."

"Bring your remarks to a close."

"The Lady from Kane, Representative Lindner, for what reason do you rise?"

"Indicates she will."

"That is correct."

"Yes."

"The… the specifics Acts that are being cited are those under which a person who is applying would not be able to get any kind of relief based on this legislation."

"As we were attempting to assist more individuals, we have asked that the Prisoner Review Board have more discretion in making those kinds of decisions."

"Well, you must go to the Prisoner Review Board and… and there is a hearing and they decide whether or not they think you have adequately become a good citizen and productive citizen now, based on the things that you have 09500046.doc 90  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 done between the time that your conviction… you were convicted and that point in time. So, that if the… your activities have not demonstrated that you are worthy of this kind of consideration then you will not get it."

"Representative Lindner, the… the term disabilities is not being used. Now, we're talking about employment barriers, which was a little bit more self explanatory and that, of course, means those things that would hamper a person from being able to be employed and to become a productive citizen. Not exactly gotten rid of disabilities, but we're using the terminology a little differently. The employment barriers are… would sort of be synonymous to that."

"What page are you referring to? Oh, page three (3). Okay."

"I do not have an answer for you for that one."

"We've heard… this Bill is on Standard Debate. We've heard two (2) in opposition. Is there anyone that supports the Bill, other than Connie? Reboletti, are you an opponent or a supporter of the Bill?"

"Opponent. Representative Black, an opponent? Representative Eddy, an opponent? I think at this point we'll just go ahead and let her close and go for the vote. Representative Howard to close."

"Yes. I know it is difficult sometimes for people to understand what some individuals who've had a problem are going through. In many instances they have for years, ten (10), twenty (20) years, not done anything on the wrong side of the law, but each time that they attempt to get a job to support their families, to become productive citizens, they are faced with the same kind of barriers. It is my hope that we as a state will begin to move more toward attempting to let people earn their way back into society. To help them to… to demonstrate that they, in fact, are sorry. Give them an opportunity to be redeemed, to show that they, in fact, do not plan to act in the same way that resulted in their having the problem in the first place. I am hopeful that my colleagues will have some kind of compassion and sensitivity for more of those individuals and will vote 'yes' for this legislation. Thank you." 09500046.doc 92  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"The question is, 'Shall the House pass House Bill 1294?' All those in favor should vote 'aye'; all those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is now open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 40 voting 'aye', 76 voting 'no', 1 voting 'present'. And this Bill fails. On the Order of Third Readings, we'll do House Bill 632. Representative Black."

"What's your inquiry?"

"Mr. Clerk, what Amendments are on this Bill?"

"Seeing no questions, the question is, 'Shall the House pass House Bill 632?' All those in favor should vote 'aye'; all those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is now open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Feigenholtz. The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 117 voting 'aye', 0 'noes', 0 'presents'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On the Order of Third Readings, we have House Bill 313. Representative Jakobsson. Out of the record. We have Representative Joyce on House Bill 1727. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Joyce."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 1727 would create the Internet Screening Libraries… and Libraries Act. Much has been… I know many of the Members of our entire chamber have been lobbying on this Bill. I have met and talked with numerous librarians from all corners of this state. We have amended the Bill. And basically, what the Bill says is, creates a mandate for 09500046.doc 94  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 filters to block out pornographic material on their computers in a public library. And the penalty provisions that were once in the Bill are now out. The only thing that is required besides the filters is certification of attestation to the Secretary of State, the Chief… the State's Chief Librarian in order to insure that each library board… or library district have filters. And the… if they don't sign that attestation, then they would not receive… be eligible to receive state grants. I'm sure there are a lot of questions, I'd be happy to answer any of them."

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

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

"He indicates he will."

"Representative, have… can you tell me a little bit how the filters work and how… whether they are… whether it's… they're able to be broken into and got… you know, whether we can break around them?"

"Well, they can be lifted and the Bill calls for them to be lifted for research purposes."

"No, I mean can… can… is it… is it easy for someone who wants to circumvent the purpose of the filter to… to do that?"

"If you're trained in that, sure… I'm sure."

"I'm not even sure it's that, Representative…"

"I'm not…"

"…cause in the… in… in one of the local districts that I represent someone was… someone goes around every couple 09500046.doc 95  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 of years to see in the neighboring districts what filters are there, how they work and how effective they are. And all she has to do is know a little bit of a foreign language and she goes in and types a Spanish word and boom, the pornography comes up. Types in a Polish word, the pornography comes up. And so, if that's all that the filter… if it's that easy to get around the filter, then I'm not sure what we're accomplishing with this 'cause this is not a person who has expertise. This is a person who speaks a second language which is something we would…"

"So, you… you have…"

"…be encouraging people to do."

"Have you done this yourself?"

"I… this is a survey that was done by a librarian in the… in a school dis… in a district that I represent."

"Oh. Well… in a school, you said?"

"No, in a library, in a public library. The kind of thing… the kind of thing we're seeking to…"

"Well, I wonder why that librarian has filters in the first place."

"Well, I… and that… that, I guess that's my… would be my next point. Is that, I think… we have… we do… I have filters in many of the libraries' districts that I represent."

"As do I."

"But it's a decision that they made locally as to what kind of filter they want, what information they want to be filtering because I… I think what's… what's right in… in someone else's district may… may not be right for the 09500046.doc 96  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 sensibilities of the voters in the district that I represent and so, to impose a one-size-fits-all on every library across this state I think is really not good public policy. That's what we have library boards for. And… and we… they should be empowered to do their job, represent their constituents and if… and if those constituents want a filter then there can be a public debate about what that filter should include, what it should not include and that library can… can… can use that filter. But I just think a one-size-fits-all approach is a really… is not good policy for the State of Illinois when we have such a diverse state. So, I… I just believe this is not the right policy for the State of Illinois. The filters are not effective in the way that we think that they… that I think the Sponsor would think that they are. And that this one-size- fits-all approach is… is really not the way to go. Thank you."

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

"Indicates he will."

"That's correct."

"It has." 09500046.doc 97  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Sure. We… we've removed the perjury provision as you mentioned. We've removed the fines that would apply to libraries themselves for not having the filters. We've removed the ability for individual librarians or library district boards to be… have a cause of action brought against them."

"That's correct."

"Absolutely not."

"That is correct."

"They would not be able to receive state grants from the Chief Librarian from the State of Illinois." 09500046.doc 98  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"In compliance with… with the filter."

"Depending on the number of computers you have, I mean it ranges somewhere between three thousand (3,000) up to ten thousand ($10,000) dollars per library."

"It can be operated on a separate server."

"Correct."

"Thank you."

"Thank you." 09500046.doc 99  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"If we're going to move this from Short Debate to Standard Debate, as a result, we have one opponent and one… one proponent and one opponent. Representative May."

"Yes, will the Sponsor yield? He indicates he will."

"He indicates he will."

"Thank you. Representative, how do these filters work with networks? You know, a lot of libraries or school or university libraries are networked. Can you take just one computer off and turn it off the filter for an hour?"

"Well, I think it depends on how the filter's applied."

"Okay."

"Is it on an individual computer, is it on a bunch of them? How many?"

"Okay."

"You know, I think that's more of a specific question for technology. I wouldn't say that I'm an expert on that."

"Okay."

"And wouldn't want to answer your question with any sort of authority on that."

"And is it true this would affect any library that gets funding… federal funding… state funding?"

"Actually, any of the library that gets federal funding right now is… has to have filters. This pretty much mirrors the federal legislation."

"Yeah. What… what I would… I'd like to share with you and Members of this General Assembly. When the librarians were down recently, the school librarians from Judson College an evangelical college, that certainly has concerns over I'm 09500046.doc 100  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 sure concerns of why you brought this legislation. They made it very clear that this would be catastrophic. They already have the basic filter and this is trying to go beyond a basic filter to filter out everything. And at their network system, this impact would be profound. They cannot turn off one computer in one professor's libr… library or office. All of them are networked, not only in the library, but also in individual office. So, imagine a university professor having to go and ask to lift the whole system for one hour or half an hour, not knowing how long they'd need, they would have to change the filtering on the whole system for them to do research on breast cancer or anything that they might be trying to filter out. This is a huge burden on our libraries. I don't like the idea at all of adults needing to go to a librarian and asking to lift some sort of a filter so that they can do research. Our libraries put the basic filters in. This is onerous for our good libraries. And I would very strongly urge a 'no' vote. Thank you."

"Thank… thank you. You know, Representative, I should respond. What people should understand, that case that you just stated about Judson College, universities and colleges are exempt from this Bill. So, their… their point on that is… is quite moot."

"Thank you for that clarification. I guess that the part about adults needing to go and asking a librarian to lift a filter so that they can do some sort of research in any other library, I think absolutely still stands and also my concern about networks. Although you've exempted colleges 09500046.doc 101  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 now, I think that the networks in other institutions would still stand. Thank you."

"The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black. Opponent or proponent?"

"The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Lang, a supporter or opponent?"

"I'm opposed to the Bill, Mr. Speaker." 09500046.doc 103  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"We've heard from three (3) opponents. Is there a supporter amongst those that are still willing to speak? Representative Reis, the Gentleman from Jasper."

"Representative Joyce to close."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. You know, I have called back every single librarian that has called me. I have spoken to them individually. I have ad… amended this legislation. They are not going to 09500046.doc 105  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 be held responsible or liable for what this filter can filter or not filter. It is their choice on the local control of what filter they're going to use. Many of the library districts within many of our districts have filters, they have them for a reason. It's common sense. Are they perfect? No, they're not perfect, but it's better, it's better than nothing. And it's common sense for us to absolute… absolutely say, in a public building paid for by taxpayers on a computer paid for by taxpayers we ought to protect children. We ought to protect children from having to walk into a library and see graphic, pornographic images on a computer. Now, I talked to lobbyists, but in addition to that I went to all the libraries in my district. And I walked through those libraries and I asked those patrons of those libraries, does this make sense to you or am I too out there? Is this a right wing nut job… plan that I'm bringing out here? And they said, no, this is common sense. We should filter… we shouldn't have these type of images available on the taxpayer's dime for the benefit of sex offenders or whoever wants to do that. If they want to look at pornography, fine, do it in your own house. Nobody's going into your own house. You hear about mandates all the time. We pass mandates down here every single day. This is a mandate that would protect children, make our libraries the educational places that their supposed to be. And if you have any questions about it, go ask someone who uses the library. Tell me how many times librarians have been put in that uncomfortable position of asking someone to get off 09500046.doc 106  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 the computer because the things that they have on that computer are not something that belongs in a public library on the taxpayer's dime. I appreciate an 'aye' vote, I appreciate everybody's comments."

"The question is, 'Shall the House pass House Bill 1727?' All those in favor should vote 'aye'; all those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is now open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Molaro, Hassert? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 63 voting 'aye', 51 voting 'no', 1 voting 'present'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On the Order of Third Readings we have House Bill 1331. Representative Hamos. Representative Hamos. Out of the record. Representative Gordon on House Bill 20… 2002. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 2002 would require the Department of Human Services, subject to appropriation, to provide for three (3) separate children's group homes for adolescents who've diagnosed with autism and are at least fifteen (15) years of age and not more than eighteen (18) years of ago. Right now in Illinois we do not have any of these homes. There's a specific instance in my district where the… a family's son had… had… they were unable to care for him anymore and he did… he has autism and because of the problems with the State of Illinois there was no place that they were able to place him so that he could get the care that he needed. And he was required 09500046.doc 107  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 to go out of state, which the family was happy with because he'll be getting the care that he needs, but that also makes it very, very difficult for them to be a very large part of his life. This is subject to appropriation. It would also be available for federal matching funds. And because we now know so much more about autism, this is an absolute necessity for the State of Illinois. And I would ask for your 'aye' vote."

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

"She indicates she will."

"They… DCFS is… there was a question between who was in charge of these things, DCFS or DHS? And we worked it out with the Amendment."

"Representative Gordon to close."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I would ask for your 'aye' vote."

"The question is, 'Shall the House pass House Bill 2002?' All those in favor should vote 'aye'; all those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is now open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 116 voting 'aye', 0 'noes', 0 'presents'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared 09500046.doc 108  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 passed. The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Molaro, for what reason do you rise?"

"Thank you. Mr. Speaker, if the record could reflect, I was out trying to solve the budget crisis out in the hall and I missed House Bill 1727. I'd like the record to reflect that, if I had been in my seat, I would have voted 'yes' on 1727."

Speaker Turner: "The record will so reflect that. The Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Reboletti, what for… reason do you rise?"

"State your point."

Speaker Turner: "Welcome to Springfield. The Lady from Champaign, Representative Jakobsson, for what reason do you rise? The Gentleman from Lee, Representative Mitchell, for what reason do you rise?" Mitchell, J.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I… I had the same problem that Representative Molaro had. I was out talking to my constituents and I was inadvertently voted 'no' on 1727. I'd like to be recorded as a 'yes'." 09500046.doc 109  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"The… the record will so reflect your wishes. The Lady from Cook, Representative Feigenholtz, for what reason do you rise?"

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise for purposes of an announcement. Last night at 6:30 a daughter was born to Anne Marie Murphy, Isabelle Camille. So, let's welcome her to the world."

"Welcome to the world. The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Riley, for what reason do you rise?"

"Mr. Speaker, a point of personal privilege."

"State your point."

"I'd like for everyone in the House to recognize and give a good House of Representatives' welcome to someone who's really near and dear to me. And these are teachers who are down here from Rich Township School District 227, one of the greatest districts in the state. Please give them a round of applause. There they are right there."

"Welcome to Springfield. On the Order of Third Readings we have House Bill 226. Representative Lindner. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

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

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

"Indicates she will."

"Representative, I'm looking here at the… at our analysis. Is there a Floor Amendment that has been adopted?"

"Okay. And you've got the agreed Amendment now?"

"Okay. And what… and I appreciate you carrying this Bill. We worked on something very similar last year. And I think the difference with your Bill is that we're not requiring a certain type of calling device, correct?"

"So, what we're doing here is we're requiring the service station to post a sign indicating that there will be someone there able to help?"

"And right now is it Federal Law that they have to be doing something similar?"

"Good. So, we're recodifying that in our State Law so we'll have state enforcement of those measures?"

"Thank… I think it's a great Bill and I appreciate you carrying it."

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

"Sponsor yield."

"She indicates she will."

"To the Bill. I just want to commend Representative Lindner for her efforts on this legislation. She brought together all the interested parties that care about those with disabilities in our state. And the legislation is one that's been worked on over the last couple of months. And I think it is something that will help those individuals that need assistance at the gas stations. And I would simply ask everyone's support of this legislation."

"Representative Lindner to close."

"The question is, 'Shall the House pass House Bill 226?' All those in favor vote 'aye'; all those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is now open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 115 voting 'aye', 0 'nays', 1 'present'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On the Order of Third Readings, Representative Moffitt, we have House Bill 3667. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk." 09500046.doc 112  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Knox, Representative Moffitt."

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

"Indicates he will."

"Representative Moffitt to close."

"The question is, 'Shall the House pass House Bill 3667?' All those in favor should vote 'aye'; all those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is now open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Saviano? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 114 voting 'aye', 2 voting 'no', 0 'presents'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Gentleman from Winnebago, Representative Sacia, for what reason do you rise?"

"State your point."

"Welcome to Springfield, Mayor. On the Order of Third Readings, Representative Mendoza, we have House Bill 1635. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Lady from Cook, Representative Mendoza." 09500046.doc 117  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 1635 creates the Illegally Logged Wood Act. The Bill would outlaw the sale, importation or dispensing of illegally logged wood. Illegally logged wood refers to any whole logs or timber that are harvested, transported, bought, or sold in violation of national laws. This Bill would establish a principle that Illinois businesses and consumers would not contribute to or act as willing participants or accomplices in the global illegal logging problem. And I think that in terms of Illinois businesses it's a good marketing benefit and that's a competitive advantage in being able to demonstrate that our wood products are not derived from illegal sources. I would be happy to answer any questions. And would ask for an 'aye' vote."

"Seeing no questions, the question is, 'Shall the House pass House Bill 1635?' All those in favor should vote 'aye'; those oppose vote 'no'. The voting is now open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted… Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 113 voting 'aye', 2 voting 'no', 1 voting 'present'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Molaro on House Bill 858. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's a pretty straightforward Bill. What this does is… we call it the national agreement 09500046.doc 118  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 among the states to elect a President by national popular vote. Basically, what this Bill does is this, it's a compact between… we think there are thirty-nine (39) other states have… have introduced the exact same language. And the Constitution calls for states to make these agreements. And basically, what the agreement says, if there are enough states that pass this law that allows for the electoral college in that particular state to vote for whoever wins the national popular vote. So in other words, if there's enough states that pass this that equal two hundred and seventy (270) electoral college votes then what would happen is here in Illinois that no matter who wins the popular vote, instead of voting for who wins Illinois we would actually vote for… our electoral college would vote for the person who winds up winning the national popular vote. Now, about 75 percent of Americans would like it that way, but let me tell you why I think it's a great idea to do this. Right now in a National Election… we're going to have a national election coming up… there are about thirteen (13) states if you go to any presidential candidate's war room, you'll see a big map of the United States and there'll be thirteen (13) states that they have circles around. The other thirty-seven (37) states don't come even into play because they're either red or blue. So, they spend no money in Illinois 'cause we're a blue state. They'll come and visit Illinois. They don't go to Kansas 'cause Kansas is a red state. I don't know if anybody knows this, but in Ohio and in Florida you had George Bush and John Kerry going to the homes of State Reps 09500046.doc 119  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 and State Senators for their supports, calling up alderman to get their support. Millions and millions of campaign dollars were spent in those states. There is a big economic boon for those states during the presidential campaign. You know what they spend in Illinois and Kansas, the blue states? Nothing. Zero. Because it doesn't matter here in Illinois if the… if the presidential team or candidate say, Illinois is… we're going to win by fifty thousand (50,000) votes. Doesn't matter if the win by twenty (20) or eighty (80), doesn't matter how many votes they win by, they get the electoral college. Same with Kansas. So, it absolutely gets to the point where everybody's disenfranchised. Nobody knows what's going on with the presidential election. If you ever visited Ohio or Florida while this election was going on you would see some of the most amazing commercials, signs. Every sign company in Illinois, every mailing house in Illinois should be glad that you're voting for this Bill 'cause it now puts us on the map. For those of you who were around in 1960 where there was a great torch light parade, we can't get a presidential candidate to stop in Illinois. Well, maybe we can get him for ten (10) minutes to pick up seven hundred thousand dollars ($700,000) at some millionaire's home and then they're right out the door. This would make Party Leaders on the Republican side and on the Democratic side players in national politics. It makes us players in national politics. Now, I've had many Democrats say to me, why are you doing this because we've been a blue state? Why are you now saying that if a Republican wins a national 09500046.doc 120  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 popular vote even though the Democrat almost assuredly is going to win Illinois, we would be voting for the… why? I'm going to tell my Democratic colleagues who are afraid of this Bill ‘cause obviously Republicans should be 100 percent for it. My Democratic colleagues that… this is a great Bill to put Illinois back into presidential politics. Again, the national popular vote comes there. Not one thing in this Bill changes the Constitution. So, anybody who's going to get up on any side and start talking about we better not mess with the electoral college, I'm not. I'm not changing anything. The Constitution speaks for itself. What happens is, and make this clear to everybody before you jump up, the electoral college cannot be changed and the way we do it cannot be changed 'cause we can't change the United States Constitution. In Maine and Nebraska the Constitution says each state decides what they do with their electors. So, let me tell you what Maine did and what Nebraska did. Maine says and Nebraska that, and they have like nine (9) electors, the reason you have nine (9) because you have two (2) U.S. Senators, here in Illinois we have nineteen (19), two (2) U.S. Senators, seventeen (17) representative districts, so you have nineteen (19). In Maine, whoever wins the popular vote in Maine gets two (2) votes and then every Congressional District whatever candidate wins that Congressional District that's who gets that electoral vote. So, there are states that do it differently. I'm saying that our state should consider saying that we're going to tell our electors, instead of doing it by congressional votes, it 09500046.doc 121  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 should be whoever wins the… the presidential popular vote should get the electors vote. So, there's no change in the United States Constitution. We're keeping the electoral college. We're just looking at changing the way our electors vote so we once again can get a presidential candidate to stop in Illinois and we once again can create jobs, can spend money in Illinois and… and make Illinois an economic hub when a presidential race comes to town. And I'll… will answer any questions."

"This Bill was on the Order of Standard Debate. We will listen to three (3) proponents and two (2) opponents… three (3) opponents and two (2) proponents. Representative Fritchey."

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

"Indicates he will."

"See, by difference here, when I actually get up in support of your Bill, I'm actually in support of your Bill. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a Bill that makes a lot of sense. We are not tinkering with the Constitution. I'll… I want to assure you that I don't think the founding fathers ever envisioned a electoral college that never met. Electoral college that never got together to debate these issues. This is not something that is tinkering the system, it is something which is resurrecting the very essence of democracy here and that is the will of the people and the popular majority dictating where the votes go for our electoral college. A number of states have seen the wisdom of this. There's been a lot of work in getting this to a form where it can work in all these states and 09500046.doc 122  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 really get back to fundamental democracy. We're going to have a lot of heated debate over a lot of different Bills and a lot of different issues down here. And we all know what the hot button issues are. And this is not one that falls in… in that range. This is one, though, that may be one of the more important votes that we cast, because it really can set our democracy back on the right path and back on establishing power to the people in electing the president of this country. Thank you."

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

"Yes."

"Oh yeah. There's… there's a lot of countries where the president could win with 20 percent of the vote. They have prime ministers that win that their Party got 15 percent of the votes. So, yeah, it happens all the time." 09500046.doc 123  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Right. But the people have nothing to say about it. It's strictly the members of parliament."

"Oh, okay."

"Right. I thought you asked me about the pop… about the vote of the people?"

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"That's… that's a fact."

Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Jasper, Representative Reis, for what reason do you rise?"

"Indicates he will." 09500046.doc 126  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Yeah, I said it doesn't change the United States Constitution or any of the… or any of the matters that the Constitution talks about."

"That's… that's cor… that's what it does."

"Right."

"Right."

"If… if… if this passed in all those states, yes."

"Well, it flat out doesn't. No, I mean, I…"

"…we, you know, I don't want to take your five (5)…"

"I don’t want to take…"

"No, not at all."

"That's correct. If all fifty (50) states went into the compact, he would have got all their votes."

"Well, what did they… what did they say about Nebraska and Maine? 'Cause they do it differently. In Nebraska and Maine, you can wind up in Nebraska, there can be a presidential candidate carries that, but he doesn't get the electoral college 'cause he didn't carry the… the… the congressional districts. Every state could do it any way they want."

"That's what the Constitution… but that's what the Constitution envisioned. They envisioned debates like this ‘cause each state could do it anyway they want. That's why Nebraska…"

"Right."

"Right."

"Yeah, but not to… not to the popular… not to the… who wins in that state."

"Right."

"That's correct."

"I can't…"

"No, no, no. That… that's in the Constitution, I can't change that."

"No, no, no. I said… what he asked me is that if the national popular elector gets a third of the votes, right? So therefore, he wins the popular vote. By this compact those electoral college… twelve (12) voters from those states that equal 270 would vote for that person who got 33 percent. That's correct, I can't deny that. But… but it still doesn't change that they need 270. I mean…"

"Well, no. There would… no, but they're having… John Kerry, of course not. And if… and if…"

"…it would have been Bush…"

"…But no it doesn't. Each individual voter decides who they want to vote for, right?"

"But they…"

"Right. But if John Kerry got 51 percent in Illinois and fort… and Bush got 49 percent, all the electoral votes go to Kerry. It's the same deal."

"In other words, they didn't carry… Kerry didn't carry every… every town. He didn't carry every Representative district. Why should he get all our electoral votes? Because he won the popular vote in Illinois. I'm just doing… exactly what we're doing here in Illinois, I'm saying we should do in the country. Why should your district that voted for George Bush, that carried George Bush, why should that Representative District and electoral college from Illinois all vote for John Kerry when John Kerry only got 51 percent of the vote?"

"Oh, and by the way… by the way…"

"It doesn’t…"

"No, I'm making an argument."

"No, I'm going to your argument that if John Kerry carried 38 percent of this state and George Bush had 20 percent and a McCarthy had 15 percent, John Kerry would get all of our electoral votes even though he only got 38 percent of the vote. So, it's the same thing here. The guy that wins 38 percent of the national vote… or woman, they would get all the electoral votes, same theory."

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

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Sponsor yield?"

"Yes."

"Indicates he will."

"Representative, let's… let's just review this a little bit. Does your Bill eliminate the electoral college?"

"No."

"Does your Bill eliminate electoral votes?"

"No."

"Does the Constitution permit… currently permit states to decide how to award electoral votes?"

"Absolutely. It has for two hundred (200) years."

"Okay. Are you aware that… that the electoral college was in fact a last minute compromise at the Constitutional Convention, 1787?"

"Yeah. That's what I read. I think Black was there, but I wasn't there. But I read that, yes."

"Okay. Isn't it true that currently presidents are elected with less than 50 percent of the popular vote?" 09500046.doc 132  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"It has happened."

"And there's no runoff election?"

"No."

"When they… when Bill Clinton gets 42 percent in 1992, there's no runoff election?"

"He got 42 percent and he won the election."

"Right. I know some would… would make this a, you know, a purely partisan issue, but I understand Senator Kirk Dillard, who was until recently chairman of the DuPage Republican Party, favors this Bill."

"He… he's in support."

"In addition, are moderately prominent Republicans that say they're not just changing how you award electoral votes, but favored abolishing the electoral college, Gerald Ford, George Bush 41, Robert Dole, Congressman Ray LaHood and one of my favorite Congresswoman, Charlotte Reid who is the mother of Pat Lindner, one of our colleagues. So, just want to get in the record that… that prominent Republicans over the years have not considered the electoral college some sacrosanct sacred thing that could never be changed."

"Correct."

"Thank you."

"And our last speaker will be Representative Black, the Gentleman from Vermilion."

"There's been a request to take this Bill off of Standard Debate and move it to Extended Debate. And leave will be granted. Representative Watson, from Morgan."

"He indicates he will."

"Yes."

"A hundred… oh, you mean… 100 percent."

"That's a… that's a way of doing it and it's a probably better way than we do now. I think this might be a little better. But I like that way too."

"Because it… it reflects what the people of the United States… just like 50.1 if… if… if there's 50.1 percent or the majority of Americans vote for a certain presidential candidate then it wouldn't be a bad idea just like we do in Illinois. Now, remember use 50.1 percent and I don't want to use up your time, but I might point out that if there's four (4)… if there's a third party here, if the… if 38 percent is the biggest vote getter they get 100 percent of electoral…"

"Right. So, all I'm saying is…"

"…maybe… maybe it's time that if there's… whoever wins the popular vote in the United States gets the two hundred and seventy (270) electoral votes. Maybe it's time for that and that's what we're asking this Body here. This is… this isn't left handed or behind anybody's back…"

"…it's straightforward. You know what I'm asking for. If you don't agree with it, then I suggest maybe you put another Bill or you vote 'no' on this Bill."

"There we go."

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

"Thank you. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"Indicates he will."

"Representative, I support your Bill. I've been listening to the debate. I… I want to give you an opportunity through my time to respond to some of these comments that have been made in a way that you haven't had a chance to just speak your mind. So, you've heard all these negative comments about your Bill, I think they're well-intentioned. I don't think anybody's using this for 09500046.doc 138  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 improper reasons, but you should tell us in your own words why you think they're all wrong."

"Is that a trick question or something?"

"I don't… I don't do that, Sir. You're not a freshman, right?"

"No."

"All right."

"Thank you. Well, the only thing that I want to make sure that I point out and if they listened to the Gentleman from Vermilion, we… you know… I just hope and… and I wish the person from Jasper County heard him and he was kind enough to say that this doesn't change the Constitution. It does nothing to the United States Constitution. As a matter of fact, it does what the founding fathers thought of and the founding fathers said, we're going to leave it to the states. Now, if you're worried about the fact that someone might get 38 percent of the vote and get all the Electoral College votes here in Illinois, well, you're correct. Somebody could get… just like the last speaker, someone could get 25 percent of the vote if there's four parties running and get all our electoral college, that's the system. It would be the same with the national election. Now, the… the… the professor there talked about runoff elections. I don't know, maybe we should put a Bill in that says that there should be runoff election for Governor or President, if that's what we're looking for. There have been many times in many elections throughout this state and this nation that someone did not receive 50 percent and still was elected to office. It happens all 09500046.doc 139  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 the time, it's happen in the past and it'll happen in the future. I'm just pointing out that there's different ways to do the electoral college. Nebraska and Maine has done it. And this is a way. The former Representative… I mean the Representative that just spoke before Representative Lang said that he had a Bill in to change it. So, there are ways of changing electoral college, this is one and I think it's a fine idea."

"Well, thank you, Representative. Have you had interaction with some of our colleagues in other State Legislatures regarding their view as to whether their states are going to go ahead and join the compact?"

"Well, you know, obviously they're having their same debate here. And when the speaker said it's important, he was absolutely right. This is an important debate. And they're having their debates right now. Maryland has already passed it and it's signed by the Governor I’m told. And thirty-eight (38) other states are debating it just like we are. I don't know what the outcome going to be, but according to the Bill unless you have enough states that come up to two seventy (270) it really doesn't matter what we do."

"Have any states rejected this?"

"Yeah. There have been one… there is one that has rejected it. It happened to be a blue state; I don't know which state it was."

"It was a blue state?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that's unfortunate, isn't it?" 09500046.doc 140  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"I know."

"Well, maybe we should go down there and talk some sense into them."

"I'd like to."

"And so, I… would it be fair to say that if the majority of those thirty-eight (38) states would approve this it would hit the magic number of two seventy (270)?"

"Yes."

"Are some of those larger states New York, Michigan, California and Texas?"

"Yeah, most… they're… they're… of the thirty-eight (38) states they're the thirty-eight (38) nonbattleground states. The twelve (12) states that are the battlegrounds, they don't like this 'cause they want all of the money from all the campaigns to be spent in their cities and their towns. So…"

"All right. To… to the Bill. I think we all have a concern with the fact that someone could win the popular vote for president and not become president. I think we all have a concern that perhaps in this way the electoral college hasn't worked exactly the way the founding fathers of our country had… had thought out. They thought out a lot of great things, the United States Constitution's a great document. This doesn't amend the Constitution, but it does put us in a posture where we're saying to the people of Illinois, we want to make sure that the person that you want to become President of the United States actually becomes President of the United States. I urge support of this Bill." 09500046.doc 141  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"The Gentleman from Crawford, Representative Eddy, for what reason do you rise?"

"Gentleman asks leave for previous question. Previous question is granted. Representative Molaro to close."

"Thank you. I'm not going to repeat myself. I just want to make sure 'cause it was said, it was said… we're just not changing…"

"Representative, you don't get a chance to close, you've already closed. I called the question. The question is, 'Shall House Bill 858 pass?' All those in favor should vote 'aye'; all those opposed vote 'no'. Remember vote your own switches, there has been a call for verification. The question is, again, 'Will House Bill 858 pass?' All those in favor vote 'aye'; all those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is now open. Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 66 voting 'aye', 50 voting 'no'. And the Gentleman with the verification, Representative Black."

"We'll proceed with the verification. Mr. Clerk, read the affirmative."

"Representative Black."

"Representative Flowers is in the rear of the chamber."

"Representative Collins? She's in the annex."

"There she is."

"Thank you, Bill."

"Representative Acevedo? Is the Gentleman in the chamber? Remove him."

Speaker Turner: "Representative Smith asks leave to be verified?"

"Mendoza's in the center, right." 09500046.doc 143  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Yeah. He's in the annex."

"There he is."

"Yeah."

Speaker Turner: "Representative Mautino? Gentleman in the chamber? Remove him."

"Representative Golar? She's in the annex."

"You're absolutely right, Representative. The Members should be in their seats during a verification. Staff should be in the rear."

"Representative Will Davis? Is the Gentleman in the chamber? Remove him."

"Closing?" 09500046.doc 144  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Right."

"Your… your… your point… your…"

"Your point is well-taken, we want to return Representative Acevedo, put him back on the Roll Call. Representative Davis, put him back on the Roll Call. And 09500046.doc 145  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 Representative Black, just for your edification, it was your side of the aisle that asked that this Bill be moved to Extended Debate. We were pretty much through with the debate, but it was your side of the aisle that made that request and trying to honor the Member's request. So, this Bill, having received 65 'yea'… This Bill, having received 65 'yeses', 50 'noes' and 0 'presents', is declared passed. The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Ford, for what reason do you rise?"

"I rise, Mr. Speaker, for a point of personal interest. Some people that you may be aware of, some people that Deborah Graham and Karen Yarbrough may be aware of. They represent organizations in the City of Chicago fighting for better education. And they've taken a bus down to Springfield to join A Plus Education on Funding. And I would like to introduce the organizations. We have Parents United for a Responsible Education, they're to the right. We have Westside Health Authority. We have the South Austin Coalition, Wings of Hope Resource Center. We have a group of schools also that… or parents from Douglas Elementary School, May Elementary School, Spencer, Leland, Lewis and Ella Flag Young. We also have Every Block a Village Organization; Euro Afrocentric Youth Group. All these people… organizations have come down to support education, to show how important it is in our area to improve it. And I would like for everyone to give them a round of applause for taking the trip. Thank you."

"Welcome to Springfield. The Lady from Cook, Representative Howard, for what reason do you rise?" 09500046.doc 146  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Point of personal privilege."

"State your point."

"We've been joined today by students and their chaperones from Hirsch High School in my district. Please give them a warm Springfield welcome."

"Welcome to Springfield. On the Order of Third Readings, we have House Bill 3416. Representative Munson. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Okay. So, Representative Hannig in the Chair. This is on the Order… we'll put it on the Order of Standard Debate. And Representative Fritchey's recognized."

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

"Indicates she'll yield."

"I'm not even sure where to start with this one. What's the genesis of this Bill?"

"But this Bill doesn't curtail gang activity, Representative. Here's the problem. You… you and I have worked together on a lot of stuff. I… I… I think I know where this was trying to come from. Let's talk about what the Bill really does. It's not a long Bill. I mean 09500046.doc 147  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 everybody here can read this Bill in about thirty (30) seconds. If a individual commits any felony via the Internet and they happen to be a street gang member their penalty would be enhanced by one classification category, correct?"

"Nowhere in this Bill does it say that the felony has to be related to gang activity, correct? The… the… the answer's correct."

"But that's not in here. You're… you're better than that, I'm better than that. That… intent comes into play where there's ambiguity, there's no ambiguity in this Bill. The Bill says if a street gang member is con… is convicted of a felony and uses the Internet to commit that felony, there now is going to be an enhancement of the penalty. Any felony whatsoever. Correct?"

"How… how does that… how does that… and listen. It's like shooting fish in a barrel down here for us to crack down on street gang members, for us to crack down on sex offenders, for us to crack down on deadbeat dads. All reprehensible crimes, all of them, but we've got to have a nexus to what we're doing. Nothing in this legislation is a deterrent to gang activity. This is the same as saying, if you get arrested for jaywalking and you happen to be a street gang member we're going to give you an enhanced penalty."

"What?"

"No, no, no. But the analogy is a correct one and it's an unfortunate one. This Bill does not have to do… if… if it said, if they are convicted of a felony in furtherance of their gang membership or in furtherance of their gang activity the Bill probably goes from being a bad Bill to being a no-brainer, but that's not what it does. It says, if you commit a felony and you use the Internet to commit a felony the fact that you are a street gang member gives you a penalty enhancement, correct? Now, the Bill doesn't provide for a evidentiary hearing, does it? Here… here… here… it's a gang membership. Here… here's the issue. If you… if they commit a felony… let's say they commit wire fraud and they use the Internet to do that. There's a trial on the wire fraud hearing. There has to be a separate evidentiary… He… he can answer if you want. There has to… there's going to be a separate evidentiary hearing on their gang membership status, correct?"

"The answer is, yes. And the Bill doesn't provide for that. What happens if they were a gang member and they renounced affiliation with the gang in February, they used the Internet to commit a crime in March, there's going to have to be an evidentiary hearing as far as when they were a member of the gang or when they got out of gang membership."

"Not under this Bill it wouldn't. The Bill does not provide for that type of hearing. It… it… this Bill… the Bill… I get what you're trying to do, it doesn't do it here. Folks, again, there's some Bills that are just easy, easy Bills to vote for on their faith. And I mean no disrespect to the Sponsor, to staff, the Bill is drafted poorly, the Bill is drafted improperly, the Bill does not achieve the goal she says she wants to achieve or any other goal. Mr. Speaker, should this get the requisite votes I will ask for a verification, please."

"And you'll be acknowledged at the appropriate time, Representative Fritchey, for that purpose. Representative Monique Davis. Representative Davis. Okay. So, Representative Munson, you're recognized to close."

"The question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' All in favor vote 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The voting is open. There's been a request for a verification, so please vote your own switch. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Last call. Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On… excuse me, Representative Fritchey, do you withdraw your request? It's your call. Representative Fritchey?"

"I'll… I'll let people have to answer to this vote on this one down the future. I'll withdraw the request." 09500046.doc 150  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

Speaker Hannig: "Okay. So, the Gentleman withdraws his request. And on this question, there are 87 voting 'yes' and 23 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Nekritz, you have House Bill 1421. Representative Nekritz, do you wish us to read 1421? Okay. Out of the record. Representative Poe, you have… excuse me, Representative Phelps, you have House Bill 988. Out of the record. Representative Poe, you have House Bill 2194. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"The Gentleman from Sangamon, Representative Poe."

"This is on 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 116 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Reitz you have House Bill 2306. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill." 09500046.doc 151  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"The Gentleman from Randolph, Representative Reitz."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 2306 deals with false alarms, allows county boards and municipalities to implement a series of fines if they have a… false alarms that are unaccounted for or basically the fault of the person and… that is making the alarm. If it's avoidable in any way, then it allows the towns to set up a fee schedule for that. And I'd be happy to answer any questions."

"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 Schock, Ramey, Pritchard, May, Granberg, Acevedo. Last chance to be recorded. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 71 voting… Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 69 voting 'yes' and 45 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Rita on House Bill 559. Out of the record. Representative Rose on House Bill 620. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"The Gentleman from Champaign, Representative Rose." 09500046.doc 152  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"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 Granberg, Flowers, and Acevedo, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 115 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Sacia, you have House Bill 3135. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"The Gentleman from Winnebago, Representative Sacia."

"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 Davis and Acevedo, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 116 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Saviano you have House Bill 126. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Saviano."

"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 116 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Saviano on House Bill 128. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Representative…"

"Rep… Representative Saviano, excuse me, the Clerk advises me there's an Amendment that's pending. Did you intend to go forward without it or do we need to go back and pick it up?"

"Why don't we… Mr. Clerk, what is the status of the Amendments?"

"So, do you wish to go back to Second and adopt it? So, Mr. Clerk, let's return this to the Order of Second Reading. And on Amendment number… which Amendments… which Amendments are pending, Mr. Clerk?"

Speaker Hannig: "Amendment #1, Representative Saviano is recognized."

"Is there any discussion? Then all in favor of the Amendment… excuse me, Representative Leitch on the Amendment."

"Indicates he'll yield."

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

"Third Reading. So, we'll just go to this tomorrow, okay, Representative? Representative Smith you have House Bill 1026. Do you wish us to read that Bill? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Hannig: "The Gentleman from Fulton, Representative Smith."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. This is an initiative of the Fire Service Caucus. And this would allow local fire departments, fire protection districts, township fire departments and local communities the authority to charge reasonable fees for specialized rescue services. Now, that would include any type of tactical response that the department might be involved in, any type of special rescue or structural collapse. And I know of no opposition to the legislation. Again, it's an initiative of the Fire Service Caucus."

Speaker Hannig: "This is… we'll put this on the Order of Standard Debate. And Representative Black, you're recognized."

"He indicates he'll yield." 09500046.doc 157  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Yeah, Representative Black, it's my understanding that… that there is no provision for townships or fire protection districts to charge a nonresident for their services. And that's really what this is… that's really what this is getting at."

"Yeah, it… it gives the flexibility to the local authority to determine what the fee would be."

"Representative Black, I think the… the intent here was to allow for some recovery of the costs. As you know, many of our fire departments and local fire districts may have to provide… that are not going to people who pay taxes to that fire department, to that municipality or to that fire protection district. So, the intent here is for them to recover some of their costs basically from nonresidents, sort of a user fee, I guess, if you would. This is not to provide an additional fee on people who are already providing tax revenue to these fire departments."

"Representative, your… your time has expired."

"Could you bring your remarks to a close?"

"Representative Schmitz."

"He indicates he'll yield."

"No… no, they would not."

"The Bill doesn't provide for that, but of course, that would be… you know they'd always have that… that right under law."

"Representative Moffitt."

Speaker Hannig: "Excuse me, Representative Smith, for what reason did you rise… are you requesting…"

"Mr… Mr. Speaker, I'd like to pull this Bill out of the record at this time, if we could."

"Okay. All right. So, we'll take this out of the record at the request of the Sponsor. Representative Rita… Rita, you have House Bill 559. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Okay. Out of the record. Representative Rose, are you seeking recognition? No? Okay. Representative Sullivan you have House Bill 134. Representative Sullivan, shall we read this Bill? 134? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"This is on 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 Granberg, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 116 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Verschoore, you have House Bill 1716. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Representative Verschoore."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What this Bill does is… every year the… IDOT has some properties that they get their bids on and they… and they sell to people and/or they acquire property. And this year it… it includes sixteen (16) parcels. And I'd be glad to answer any questions."

"Is there any discussion? The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black."

"He indicates he'll yield." 09500046.doc 164  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"They got their appraisals, they got at least two (2) appraisals."

"Yes."

"Right."

"Thank you."

"Representative McCarthy."

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

"Indicates he'll yield."

"Representative, there are two (2) parcels in Cook County, could you tell me where they're located?"

"Okay. There's a parcels in St. Clair County, there's… in Champaign County…"

"I'm asking about Cook County."

"…Cook County, DeWitt, Effingham, Grundy, Lake, McLean, Rock Island, Sangamon, Tazewell and Woodford Counties."

"Thank you. But I asked… there's… House Amendment #5 added two (2) parcels in Cook County. Do you know where they're located in Cook County?"

"It doesn't say. Well, let me look, hold on a second."

"Representative?" 09500046.doc 165  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Yes, I'm looking."

"Oh, okay. It seems like you just have parcel numbers. Is that true, Representative?"

"Yes, but… and I… I know it's here somewhere."

"Could you pretty well ensure for me that my home is not included in any of those parcels in Cook County?"

"Yes. If it is I'll… I'll come up and… well, here they are right here. Parcel #0ZZ0737 in Cook and o…"

"What is it?"

"What… what parcel number is your house? I'll see if it's in here."

"Parcel #0ZZ0737."

"Yes, it's in there."

"It's what?"

"That number is in there."

"That was the parcel I was worried about. Thank you for your answer. So, all of these parcels are willing buyers and willing sellers?"

"Yes."

"But in reality we have no idea where they're at in Cook County?"

"Just… I don't know."

"Who would know?"

"The… IDOT. They have a map of all these."

"Are they behind you? Is Representative Phelps brother anywhere in the vicinity that could help us out with that?"

"I'm sure he could." 09500046.doc 166  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Okay. Because of the thorough explanation of the Bill, I'll be very supportive when it comes for a Roll Call. Thank you."

"Thank… thank you very much, Representative."

"Representative Rose."

"Indicates he'll yield."

"That's fine."

"Sure."

“Sure."

"We'll take the Bill out of the record. Representative Wait, you have House Bill 1234. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Speaker Hannig: "The Gentleman from Boone, Representative Wait."

"This is on Short Debate. Does anyone stand in response? The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Riley."

"The speaker please yield?"

"Indicates he'll yield."

"Representative, where… where is this with regard to other, for lack of a better term, set-aside programs in terms of the percentage that you're talking about?"

"But I'm saying… you know, how does that square with other percentages for other programs? You know, there are some programs that have set-asides or goals that say that, you know, a certain percentage of contracts will be reserved for, you know, whoever. I'm just saying, you know, how did you arrive at 12 percent?"

"Well, I just wanted to know how you arrived at it. Thank you."

"Is there any further discussion? Then the question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' All in favor vote 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted 09500046.doc 168  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 116 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Joyce, for what reason do you rise?"

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise on a point of personal privilege."

"State your point."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, today at the Executive Mansion of the Governor the Illinois Law Enforcement Medal of Hon… Honor ceremony took place. And one of those honorees is with us today, he's a neighbor of mine and a Chicago police officer. He's actually a captain on the Chicago Police Department and his name is Jerry Carroll. And the reason he was honored, was in our alley by my house, across the street from my house, a girl unfortunately was stabbed last summer and she was killed. And this gentleman, this person that killed her, was running away and Jerry happened to be coming home from the ceremony making him a captain on the Chicago Police Department. He apprehended him, removed the weapon from him and captured him… he captured him. At the same time, it was a beautiful afternoon and there were many children out on the block playing with this person, now a murderer, running around with a weapon. And that's why he was honored and I would just like to welcome him, his wife Sue, his children, Tim, Mary Kate to the chamber. They're on the Republican chamber. If you'd please stand up, Jer?" 09500046.doc 169  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"On the Order of House Bills-Third Reading, on page 38, Representative Watson you have House Bill 3014. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

Speaker Hannig: "The Gentleman from Morgan, Representative Watson."

"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 116 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, read House Bill 31."

"Representative Winters." 09500046.doc 170  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"This is on 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 115 voting 'yes' and 1 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Yarbrough you have House Bill 315. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"The Lady from Cook, Representative Yarbrough."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. I have for your consideration today House Bill 315 which re… which requires the Department of Revenue to establish a new scratch-off instant lottery ticket with the title 'Quality 09500046.doc 171  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 of Life' to commence on July 1, 2007 and to be discontinued on December 2012. It provides that the net revenue from the game shall be deposited into the Quality of Life Endowment Fund for appropriation by the General Assembly solely to the Department of Public Health in consultation with the Quality of Life Board for the purposes of HIV and AIDS prevention education and for making grants to public or private entities in Illinois services to the highest at- risk population for contracting HIV and developing AIDS. Among the United States, Illinois ranks sixth in the nation in the severity of HIV and AIDS epidemic. Since the epidemic began in 1981, eighteen thousand (18,000) Illinoisans have died of HIV and AIDS. An estimated forty- two thousand (42,000) Illinoisans are currently living with AIDS and HIV. And an estimated sixteen hundred (1,600) new HIV infections occur each year. African Americans who comprise 14 percent of the state's population account for half of all of the people living with the disease in Illinois. The fiscal impact of the Quality of Life scratch-off game would have an insignificant impact on the Common School Fund as indicated by the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. I'd be happy to answer any questions."

"This is on the Order of Short Debate. And in response the Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black. Representative Black, you're up."

"Yeah." 09500046.doc 172  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

Speaker Hannig: "Is there any further discussion? Representative Feigenholtz."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of this measure. Contrary to the previous speaker, whose name will not go… I will not mention, I will speak to this Bill because I chair the Appropriations Committee-Human Services and have watched the… the lines for AIDS treatment grow. But one of the things that we have not seen grow because resources are often so scarce, is money for prevention because that is typically what will fall off the table when we're making tough decisions about what we should fund in the AIDS budget. I encourage everyone to support this measure. This is not going to divert money from… from anything. I… I believe the previous speaker often can create his own set of mythology. And I would appreciate an 'aye' vote. This is a great Bill that is very… that is supported by a lot of AIDS advocacy groups who all day, every day work in the trenches on prevention 09500046.doc 175  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 and treatment and for cures. So, please support the Sponsor and vote 'aye'."

"Representative Cross."

"Representative Black."

"Representative Howard."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill."

"To the Bill."

"I am very, very pleased that Representative Yarbrough is bringing this idea to us. The fact of the matter is the problem regarding HIV/AIDS in this state and across this country and the world is still very, very serious. It is… it is wonderful that we have been able to determine another method of funding some of those programs that are very 09500046.doc 177  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 important. I have been a part of the 'Ticket for the Cure' and I have not noticed that people have made a decision to not support the regular lotto… or the lottery. They have, in fact, made decisions to help this cause as well. I think that there are enough people who are spending enough money on the games for there to be enough money for us to put a significant dent in the problem of HIV/AIDS. I would urge all of my colleagues to please support this legislation, our state needs it. Thank you."

"Representative Yarbrough to close."

"Thank you so much to all of the previous speakers for your input on this very important measure that I've brought forward today. I want to reiterate that the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability says that House Bill 315 could decrease the amount transferred to the Common School Fund by the lottery, though this amount is expected to be insignificant. I want to make sure that you understand that, but more than that, this is an important… important matter. Last year we had a 'Ticket for the Cure' and it raised about four million dollars ($4,000,000) for a worthy cause. I think this, too, is a worthy cause. And I ask for your '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 66 voting 'yes' and 49 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, 09500046.doc 178  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 is hereby declared passed. Representative Gordon, for what reason do you rise?"

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A point of personal privilege."

"State your point."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a very special group of people in the House today, visitors from my district as well as House Minority Leader Representative Tom Cross's district, the Jeff White family from Morris, the Lloyd Bents family from Mazon, Elizabeth Ordoneas family from Morris, Guy Connor family from Lisbon, Joe and Deb Warning, my very good friends from Minooka and their family, Curt and Dee Halford family from Yorkville and Scott Latino family from Plainfield. They are a group of home schoolers who have come down to lobby us on Legislative Day, bring us wonderful cherry pies. And I'd like to give them a great big Springfield welcome. Thank you."

"Representative Moffitt, you have House Bill 827. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill. Mr. Clerk, what is the… let's get this straight. Mr. Clerk, what is the status of the Amendments?"

Speaker Hannig: "So, would you prefer to take it back to Second, adopt the Amendment? Okay. So, Mr. Clerk let's return the Order… the Bill to the Order of Second Reading. And are there any Amendments?" 09500046.doc 179  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Representative Moffitt on the Amendment."

"Any discussion? Then all of in favor of the Gentleman's Amendment say 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments?"

"Third Reading. So, we'll… we'll call this tomorrow, Representative. Representative Flider, you have House Bill 1786. Do you wish us to read that Bill? Do you wish us to read that Bill? No? Out of the record. Representative Bradley, John Bradley, you have House Bill 1956. Representative Bradley. Do you wish us to read this? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Representative Bradley." Bradley, J.: "This is a meth precursor Bill. It will help develop a monumental program to monitor people that try to acquire pseudoephedrine in multiple areas. And I ask for an 'aye' vote."

"This is on Short Debate. Does anyone stand in response? The Lady from Kane, Representative Lindner."

"He indicates he'll yield."

"Representative Eddy."

"Indicates he'll yield." 09500046.doc 181  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

Speaker Hannig: "Any further discussion? Representative Bradley, you're recognized to close." Bradley, J.: "Ask for 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? Representative Rita, do you wish to be 09500046.doc 182  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 116 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Mulligan, you have House Bill 2982. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"The Lady from Cook, Representative Mulligan."

"Is there any discussion? Then the question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' All in favor vote 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Rita, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 116 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. And Representative Mulligan, you also have House Bill 1533. So, Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"The Lady from Cook, Representative Mulligan."

"Is there any discussion? Then the question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' All in favor vote 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? 09500046.doc 184  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 116 voting 'yes', and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Verschoore. Representative, did you… did you get the Bill squared away? Did you want to go back to House Bill 1760 or is there still considerations? Okay. Okay. We'll wait. Representative Graham, I'm advised you'd like us to… you'd like us to call House Bill 318? Okay. This is on the Order of Postponed Consideration on page… well, it's in Postponed Consideration. So, Representative Graham."

"Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Speaker."

Speaker Hannig: "Could… could you pause a second here? Representative Graham, we've got to get a parliamentary inquiry on your Bill, the status of it. So, while we're doing that we're going to go… take that out of the record and go to House Bill 1455 for Representative Burke. Representative Burke, do you wish us to read 1455? Okay. So, read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Hannig: "The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Burke."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 1455 very simply would prohibit the use of a false or forged identification card and the transfer, alteration or defacement of an identification card to enable a minor to obtain a cigar, cigarette, smokeless tobacco, or tobacco in any form. It also would prohibit 09500046.doc 185  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 the sale of tobacco in vending machines with other food items or any other items. And it would prohibit the sale or distribution of tobacco products, including but not limited to, single or loose cigarettes. And I'd be happy to answer any questions."

"This is on the Order of Short Debate. Does anyone stand in response? Then the question is… 'Shall… excuse me… The Lady from Kane, Representative Lindner."

"He indicates he'll yield."

"No. Representative Lindner, this is… that was the original Bill. This is a Amendment…"

"…gut and replace. So, it's entirely different than it was originally."

"Any further discussion? Then Representative Burke to close."

"Thank you again, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. It's a very simple matter. I would ask for the Body's favorable consideration."

"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 116 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. 09500046.doc 186  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. We're going to return to House Bill 1716. And Representative Verschoore is recognized."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Republican staff and the Democratic staff got together and there are no… no concerns with that. And I checked with IDOT and Representative McCarthy's house and sandbox are safe. So, I'd ask for an 'aye' vote."

"Is there any discussion? The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black."

"Well, they must be selling it by the square foot. I don't know."

"But all I have is a parcel number, Representative. I don't know. We can get that answer. I…"

"Yeah."

"My legal counsel said that your staff should have that."

"Pardon me?"

"Well…"

"Hold on, we're looking."

"Representative Black, they say… they believe it's the City of Chicago is the seller."

"The… the state is selling this to Chicago."

"The state owns the property."

"It was a highway improvement and they… and it's completed. They don't need the parcel anymore and that's why they're selling it."

"Thank you."

"Any further discussion? Then Representative Verschoore to close. Excuse me, Representative. We're 09500046.doc 188  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 going to have the Clerk read this a third time and be certain that it's official. So, Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Okay. We thought we did that the first time we recognized you, but the record didn't show that. So, now we're all official and Representative Verschoore to close."

"Thank you very much. I just ask for 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 94 voting 'yes' and 20 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 45 of the Calendar, under the Order of Motions in writing, is House Bill 318. Representative Joyce, you're recognized for your Motion to reconsider."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I move to reconsider the vote on House Bill 318."

"The Gentleman makes a Motion to reconsider the Bill. And Represent… the Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black is recognized. Okay. Anyone else seeking recognition? There's Representative Black. We're giving you a workout today, Representative. Representative Sullivan, did you wish to speak while Representative Black 09500046.doc 189  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 composed his thoughts? Okay. He's going to go to Representative Black."

"State your inquiry."

"Yes, Representative, the… the Motion is dated the twentieth that Representative Joyce filed. And the LIS system says that it was filed on the twentieth. So…" 09500046.doc 190  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Representative…"

"Representative, we're…"

"But Representative, the…"

"Representative, the rule doesn't require that it appear on the Calendar. So…"

"…it only has to be filed."

Speaker Hannig: "We're… we're simply trying to follow the rules."

"Representative Joyce." 09500046.doc 191  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I don't know about the rule of appearing on the Calendar, but I will tell you I filed that Motion on Friday the twentieth around 3:30 in the afternoon. And if someone wants to challenge me to the other… to the contrary, then I suggest they challenge me and not speak to the Chair. But I filed that paperwork on Friday the twentieth. If you got something else to say about it come and talk to me not to the Chair."

"So, Representative, the rule says a Member who voted on the prevailing side of a record vote on a legislative measure, still within control of the House, may on the same or the following legislative day move to reconsider the vote. That's what it says. It doesn't say it has to be on the Calendar."

"Representative, the Motion merely needs to be filed within the two legislative days."

"The Motion is to reconsider the vote. And it's the Chair's ruling that that Motion is in order and it was filed on a timely basis. So…"

Speaker Hannig: "So, the question is, 'Shall the House reconsider the vote by which House Bill 318 failed?' And on that question, Representative Stephens."

"On the Motion to reconsider, Representative Sullivan."

"State your inquiry."

"Sixty (60) votes."

Speaker Hannig: "And… and you'll be recognized for that purpose, Representative Sullivan. Representative Fritchey."

"Thank you, Speaker. A point of personal privilege and to… and to the underlying Motion. I… I'm going to hope that the Gentleman from Vermilion spoke out of passion and not with intention, because he stopped dangerously short of accusing a colleague of falsifying a document before this Body. When you said that the document could have been backdated, you're alleging that something improper was done. The Gentleman said that he filed the Motion the next day. The reading of the rule by the Speaker is exactly correct. Ladies and Gentlemen, a Motion to reconsider must be made, not voted upon. The Motion to reconsider must be made the same or the next legislative day. The Bill was heard on a Thursday, the Gentleman from Cook stated that he filed the Motion on a Friday. The only way to reconcile that that was not the case is to say that the Gentleman was lying. If anybody wants to say that, shame on them. You should never make that accusation of a Member here. The rule reads very, very clearly. The Motion to reconsider must be made, not acted upon. It must be made the same or the following legislative day. If you have a copy of the rulebook you can go to House Rule sixty-five (65), it's on page thirty-seven (37) of the Rules. It states very clearly. This is important not… forget about how you feel about this Bill. This is important because of the process and the integrity of this chamber. The rule is the rule. And I'll you what, the Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black, has been right much more often than 09500046.doc 196  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 not when he talks about process and abuse of process. He is wholly incorrect on this matter. The rules were followed, the rule is being properly applied and the Motion's proper and should be voted upon. Thank you."

"On the Motion to reconsider, Representative Mulligan."

"Representative Black."

Speaker Hannig: "Representative Joyce, you're recognized to close on the Motion."

"I just request an 'aye' vote."

"The question is, 'Shall the House reconsider the vote by which House Bill 318 failed?' 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. Okay. So, there's been a request for a verification by Representative Sullivan. And does the Gentleman persist?"

"Okay. So, Mr. Clerk… Well, first, let me ask the staff to retire to the rear of the chamber. Would the Members please be in their seats. And now Mr. Clerk, read… read the names of those voting in the affirmative."

Speaker Hannig: "Representative Sullivan, do you have any questions?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Representative Arroyo is in his seat."

"Representative McCarthy is right here in the… in the front."

"Representative Joe Lyons? Is the Gentleman in the chamber? Mr. Clerk, how is he recorded?"

"Remove him."

"Representative Dugan? Is the Lady in the chamber? Mr. Clerk, how is she recorded?"

"Remove her."

"Mautino? Is Representative Mautino in the chamber?"

"Is Representative Mautino in the chamber? Mr. Clerk, how is he recorded?"

"Remove him. And Representative Joe Lyons has returned, Mr. Clerk. So, restore him to the Roll Call. And Representative Mautino is now in the rear of the chamber. Mr. Clerk…"

"…return him."

"I'm sorry, who did you say?"

"Representative Jay Hoffman? Is the Gentleman in the chamber? Okay. Representative… and remove Representative Hoffman. Representative Feigenholtz is asking… Representative Sullivan…"

"…Representative Feigenholtz is asking to be recognized. Do you have any further?"

"So, on the Motion there are 64 voting 'yes' and 50 voting 'no'. And the Motion prevails. Representative Molaro, for what reason do you rise?" 09500046.doc 201  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"I… I just… have just an inquiry if we're going to have more verifications. I want to know if Representative Black would consider… he said he's never going to verify the Speaker or the Majority Leader and since Jay Hoffman has become such a icon and such a big guy in this building, I think it's only fair that they would not verify Jay Hoffman off. I mean, I just think that's fair. And I hope that Bill Black would consider that 'cause Jay's pretty big nowadays."

"Representative Watson, for what reason do you rise?"

"State your inquiry."

"Certainly hope so, Representative."

"I hope the answer's 'yes'."

"There at the appropriate time we'll… we'll pass the Bill. But I don't know… I'm not sure when that is, Representative. On Supplemental Calendar #1, under the Order of House Bills-Third Reading, is House Bill 318. The Lady from Cook, Representative Graham. Representative Graham." 09500046.doc 202  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I have before you, again, House Bill 318 which allows the utility companies to continue to report to your credit how well you're paying your utility bills, but it would not be used as a determinant to your score. I'll try to answer any questions at this time."

"The Lady moves for the passage of House Bill 318. And on that question, the Gentleman from Lake, Representative Sullivan."

"Indicates she'll yield."

"Thanks for asking, Representative Sullivan. It is my understanding that our Representative did not pass one that exactly addressed… addressed that. I think the ability to pay your utility bill with a credit card opened up the door for the utility companies to report to your credit, is my understanding. We did do some research on that and there was not a Bill on record like that. But the ability to pay by way of credit card would just… would open up the door for this." 09500046.doc 203  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"God bless…"

"The colleague did not foresee… at… at this point in time that utility rates would go up and people not be able to really afford their utility bills. So, at this time, it's not a good move and seeing that income is limited to be able to pay the utility bills as they are rolling out now."

"Representative, they still will be able to use these utility bills because it will affect… in effect, be on your credit. If they apply for something it is visible on their credit record where a person can see how way… how well they've been paying their utility bills. That won't stop. It will be on their credit report. When I initially was working on the Bill, my colleagues told me that, Deborah, 09500046.doc 204  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 we would like know whether or not people are paying their bills. So, in effect, I searched and talked to some of my colleagues and we came up with this initiative where the utility companies could continue to report to their credit, but it not be used as a determinant to your score because it is nontraditional credit. When you apply for a car loan, an auto loan, a home loan, you know what the payments are going to be before you leave there, but because this is nontraditional credit, it's based on the usage of a utility service, the bills are what they are. You don't get a chance to negotiate that."

"Prior…"

"…prior to that piece of legislation being passed a couple of years ago, the utility companies were not able to report monthly on your credit bill. However, they were able to put on your bill whether a collection's on your bill, much like medical records are used. If you have a medical bill from an emergency room that you can't pay, it's on your credit report in the FYI section that you did 09500046.doc 205  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 not pay that medical bill. That's where that information used to be some time ago."

"But we opened up the door for them to do monthly reporting."

"Thank you."

"Representative, could you bring your remarks to a close?"

"Representative Molaro."

"Thank you. Real quickly. First thing I want to say, I if you look at the analysis, which I'm going to get up here in a second, it basically says that no position is taken by Ameren, ComEd, Nicor, AT&T, Illinois Energy Association, Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas. So, that means that the people who are the utility companies that we're talking about here… the people that are accepting the payment… come up and say, as far as we're concerned we provide service they pay us a bill. This has nothing to do with someone's credit. What we're… what the Bill says, and thank the previous speaker for pointing it out. The Bill says, doesn't stop any credit reporting agency, none whatsoever, from putting it on whatever piece of papers. All this Bill says is credit bureaus that receive the personal computer information, so the credit bureau gets it, may not use the information to determine the credit score. And the reason you do that is this. Is the information… does it have some value? Sure it does. It's saying if someone pays a utility bill or not. What it doesn't show and why it should not be on a credit score and why these companies have no position is because you cannot 09500046.doc 207  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 change the definition of credit. No matter how hard anybody who is against this Bill talks, you cannot change the definition of credit. We all know what credit is. You go there, you borrow money and you say, I'm going to make these payments on this type of time for the money you lent me. Whether it comes from a credit card, get it, credit card that gives you credit or a loan. So, here's what your credit score should be. How do you pay your credit? My credit score when I borrow money or I use a credit card, how do I pay it back? When you're thirty (30) days late on loan payments, thirty (30) days late on credit card payments, that should show up on your score, not your utility bills. That's not credit. They're giving you a utility, I gave your utility, pay the bill. You pay it, you pay it two (2) days late, four (4) days late that's how you pay a bill. It has nothing to do with credit. That's why none of the utility companies are opposed to this Bill. They know they are providing service that you should pay for. They do not provide credit. They should not be on your credit score because they do not provide credit. How simple can it be? And the Lady says, it shouldn't be there. Well, there may be ten (10), fifteen (15) years ago where someone said, let's report it to the bureau. Yes, because ten (10), fifteen (15) years ago they didn't have this credit score stuff. They didn't… that's a recent phenomenon. So, now this Lady is saying, you report it, that's fine. They pick it up from the computer, terrific. But you cannot use it for credit score 'cause it isn't credit. Now, everybody could get up and say they're for 09500046.doc 208  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 the Bill or against the Bill and give all their reasons. All the utility companies knows it's not credit. It's not credit. It shouldn't be considered in your credit score and should not be held against people who pay their credit on time. So, if there's a person out there who has borrowed money from ten (10) different places, have five (5) different credit cards and have paid it on time and has always paid their credit on time, should not have this held against them. This is a very good Bill and the Lady should be rewarded, not vilified, with a 'yes' vote."

"Representative Black. Representative Gordon."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of this legislation. Representative Graham has gone out of her way to make this a good Bill. And what we know, as Representative Molaro has just said, is that this has nothing to do with credit. The utilities are not providing loans. But what I do know is that with the changes that the utilities in this state have currently made, specific the electric utilities, people should not be held accountable for the lies and the treachery that they have engaged in with the consumers of this state. If people have trouble keeping afloat as one of the previous speakers has said, then they are… are not to be held responsible for that. It is up to the two (2) electric utilities, that is their trouble. They're not providing better service, they're not providing better reliability and they're not providing better treatment to their employees. This is a great piece of legislation. It is time for it to be passed. And once again, the Lady should be commended for 09500046.doc 209  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 bringing it before this House. People, at this time, need this legislation to make sure that they are protected from the lies that the utility companies have told the consumers of this state. And I urge a 'yes' vote."

"We've had three (3) speak in favor and one (1) in opposition. The rules provide two (2) additional in opposition. Representative Mulligan, do you… would you like… No? Okay. So, Representative Graham to close."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I actually brought this legislation forward to… forward to help the constituents who were having a hard time paying their utility bills in an effort to help them maintain some stability. So, I would urge 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 all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 68 voting 'yes' and 46 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 40 of the Calendar, under the Order of Consideration Postponed, is House Bill 1332. Representative… Representative Ford."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I… I'm back with House Bill 1332 after talking and communicating with different agencies. I spoke with Department of Children and Family Service and… and I spoke with the SURS and I spoke with a lot of different agencies that seem to be concerned about this legislation. And if 09500046.doc 210  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 you see, they moved to no position and they feel that this Bill has no threat to society. So, today I move to pass House Bill 1332 for the people of Illinois. And I urge everyone to vote 'yes'."

"This is on Standard Debate. And in response, the Gentleman from Bond, Representative Stephens."

"He indicates he'll yield."

"Are you… you want those desks flat?"

"I'm going to work on that right now."

"In fact, my partner here…"

"Oh, wait, wait… Now, that's not fair."

"Okay. Let's see…"

"…I think, hold on, I got… I got the Democrat Leader over there on the phone right now. Let me just wait and see if he's… if he's going to give us an answer."

"All right."

"It… it helps the people of Illinois…"

"It helps Illinoisans determine who they're really hiring for jobs. Let me ask you, Representative, did you hear…"

"Let me… let me… let me ask you… it does…"

"I'm getting ready to give you exactly what the Bill does."

"The Bill eliminates the possibilities of agencies hiring people that may be not telling the truth about their application. Recently, there was a dean of students that lied on her…"

"You… you want a short… I was told that you only want a…"

"…I was told you only want…"

"…a short answer and the… and the answer…"

"Okay."

"Okay. It's coming now."

"It removes the question as to whether or not a person has ever been convicted of a nonviolent offense. That's what it does. Just from the application."

"I do want them to know. And I want them to know when they get to the interview and I want them to know when they do a criminal background check. I want them to know the facts and not a person's… whether or not a person is telling the truth about an application."

"No. My… my Bill… what did you say?"

"It does not prohibit…"

"No."

"No." 09500046.doc 213  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"This Bill does not…"

"It does not prohibit a decision to refuse to hire on the basis of the application."

"What do you need… Well, this is only for state agencies. So, it's not for the…"

"I think that if the government hires you to… the department should make a new application and only include whether or not a person has been convicted of a violent offense."

"You can ask the question at the point of the interview, Sir."

"I… right."

"It would just simply allow…"

"…an interview."

"This Bill does not guarantee…"

"Does it… Repeat that question, please."

"No. It could possibly add more applicants, but it does not say that you have to accept those applications. No, it doesn't."

"You can… you must take that application. You don't have to. You can reject it."

"You can reject the application. And that's what this Bill does. It allows you as the agency to reject a applicant."

"You can reject their application and applicant."

"You reject both of them by not accepting them."

"Representative, your… your time has expired. Could you bring your remarks to a close, please?"

"Representative Black."

"He indicates he'll yield."

"It's been amended twice, Sir."

"I said it's been amended twice."

"Oh, no. No. I…"

"…but I went into negotiations with all…"

"…agencies and none of them are in opposition at this point."

"Yeah, you know, they're concern is… let me just… and I can't tell you their job because you know. They're not responsible for hiring anyone. Their job is simply to intake the application and also to do the test and send the results back to the agencies. So, the only reason why they would be opposed to this is because they don't want to 09500046.doc 216  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 spend money new applications. But I know that applications can be printed off and… and filled out online. So, for them to be opposed to it because of… of the financial burden that they say that it may be and that's… has nothing to do with safety. And I think that's what other people may be concerned about."

"Can you repeat that, please?"

"Yes."

"Representative Molaro."

"Well, you know, I just wish we'd take a minute and take a look at the Bill and what it does and then we'll be clear. First and foremost, the Bill doesn't say that the Department of Revenue should hire someone who's been convicted of some crime. I mean, the Gentleman who just spoke is absolutely right. They… no way they should be hired. And I don't think this Representative will want any of those people hired. What we're talking about is 09500046.doc 218  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 sometimes there are people who are convicted of a minor nonviolent crime somewhere in their background, that they should still be considered for employment. Now, when you go for employment let's remember what you do. You fill out the application, the application goes down to CMS. My friends that fill out the application winds up in some wastebasket in CMS. But eventually it goes down to CMS, then they look at it, they send it on to somebody else and then you get interviewed for the job. When they go further, then there's a background check. When they see the background check, when they're going to hire you then and they look at what it is and they ask you about it, then they can disqualify you and in most cases they should. All he's talking about is at step one, that there shouldn't be a question that says whether or not you've been arrested or convicted for a nonviolent crime, if you've gotten supervision. And the reason that is is they want the person who looks at that to get past step one. Otherwise, if it's right on the application none of these people will ever be given a chance. So, it makes sense to me you get past step one. All he's asking for is that it gets past step one before you're eliminated. So, the person who hires could look and say, twenty-four (24) years ago you were convicted… or fifteen (15) years ago you were put on supervision for shoplifting a pair of nylons or something. So, now they can look at it and say, you know what, we still think you could go to work for the tollway or we still think you could go to work for IDOT. If it says in there that you were convicted of embezzling a hundred 09500046.doc 219  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 thousand dollars ($100,000) from some charity, well then, you can't… we're not going to hire you. This doesn't stop IDOT or any agency from saying no to any criminal. If they don't want to, they don't have to. As a matter of fact, the Amendments the Gentleman put on, two different Amendments, was to make that abundantly clear. And the reason he did it for some of the Republicans who were in committee to make the Bill better. So, it's crystal, crystal clear that the state is never under any circumstances going to be forced to hire somebody who has a criminal record. When you look at it, you don't like their criminal record, you say no. All this does is say, let it get to first base for nonviolent crimes. Let the person who's hiring them take a look at it and decide. Don't eliminate them in the first… at the first part of the process. Give them that chance. I think that makes a world of sense and I think we should vote 'aye'."

"We've now had two (2) in support and two (2) in opposition. Representative Lindner, which side would you like to speak on?"

Speaker Hannig: "Okay. You're recognized for five (5) minutes."

"He indicates he'll yield."

"No, no, there isn't."

"Yes."

"Yes."

"This applies… this applies to nonviolent offense."

"Right."

"Thank you."

"We've had three (3) in support and two (2) in opposition. The Rules would provide one more opponent. So, Representative Leitch, did you wish to speak in opposition?"

"Indicates he'll yield."

"All right. You know, you've raised a perfect question. And that's why I have Amendment #2 for you. And it says that… it says, 'Add a new section providing that if a Federal or State Law disqualifies a person convicted of a certain offense from holding a position, an application for this position may inquire as to whether the applicant has been convicted of a disqualifying offense.' Which means, all of those that you named."

"You… you know… you… you… you're raising… they can always ask that question. Let me ask you, is it possible… have you ever heard that someone was hired for a job and then weeks later or months later they had to be fired because they lied on their application? And if they didn't lie…"

"Sir, I said, in the past I've heard and I've read of people that's been hired for jobs and later fired because they lied on their application. Let… this not confuse anyone. This Bill protects everyone in the State of 09500046.doc 222  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 Illinois because I know for a fact that if I was an embezzler and I went into fill out a job application for the State Treasurer Office with the full intent to embezzle money and I said, 'no', that I've never been convicted and I get the job because the department decided not to do a background check, my job is done and now I can embezzle. I'm saying, do the background check before you hire people. That's all I want. And that's what this Bill says."

"Does the state already disqualify them? And remember, whenever they go into the interview, this doesn't say that… I've heard of people say that we must create jobs for people with offenses. This doesn't say that. This doesn’t say that, 'you must hire'. This doesn't say anything but be careful before hiring people by doing a criminal background check. Let me remind you, House Amendment #2, once again, disqualifies a person automatically. And that question remains on that application if you're applying for a job that disqualifies you for the position."

"It would be on that application. 09500046.doc 223  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Rep… Representative, your time has expired. Could you bring remarks to a close."

"And you'll be granted one."

"Thank you. Okay. So, now we've now had three (3)… three (3) speak in favor and three (3) in opposition and the rules provide, Representative Ford, you have 5 minutes to close."

"I respect all opposition for what they say, but I just wish that the opposition will look at this Bill for what it is and what it's trying to do. This Bill does not mandate, nor does it require for anyone to hire anyone. Everyone in this chamber have made a mistake in their life. And if you could tell me that there's no one in your family, no one in your circle of friends or anyone that does not deserve a second chance, then you should vote 'no'. But I'm telling you right now this Bill is very important to me and to the people of the State of Illinois, because if you hire people 09500046.doc 224  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 without doing a criminal background check, then you're doing everybody a disservice. So, I ask for a 'aye' vote. The Amendment #2 states that you must put on the application whether or not the person is disqualified. So, DCFS has told me through my workings in dealing with them that they are no longer opposed to this. So, if DCS… DCFS says that they're not opposed to it, why would CMS or whoever they are be opposed to it? If… if SERS, they said they were opposed to it, now they're not opposed to it. Why would anybody be opposed to it? If NRA say that they're not opposed to it and they're for it, why would you be opposed to it? This helps everyone. This doesn't help black people. I want to say that. It doesn't help just minorities; it helps everyone. And find in your heart to change your mind about this legislation because it does not demand for you to hire anyone. And I ask you… I ask you, please, to make a difference today. We're here to effect change. That's why we're here. I came here to effect change and I look forward to effecting change with you on that side and everyone on this side. I urge an 'aye' vote, please."

"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 Bassi, Colvin, Sommer, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. And there's been a request for a verification. I'd ask the staff to retire to the rear of the chamber, clear the aisles. And we'd ask the Members to please be in their 09500046.doc 225  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 seats. Mr. Clerk, read the names of those who voted in the affirmative."

"Representative Leitch, do you have questions of those voting in the affirmative?"

"Representative Lyons is here at the podium. Here at… here at the podium. I think he voted 'no'."

"Representative Jay Hoffman. Is the Gentleman in the chambers?"

Speaker Hannig: "Wait a minute. Mr. Clerk, how is Representative Hoffman recorded?"

"Okay. Remove him. Sorry, who was the next one?" 09500046.doc 226  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

Speaker Hannig: "Representative Scully? Is Representative Scully in the chambers? Okay. Mr. Clerk, how is the Gentleman recorded?"

"Remove him."

"Okay. On this question, there are 61 voting 'yes' and 51 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed."

"Representative Joe Lyons in the Chair. Thank you. Representative Molaro, for what purpose do you seek recognition?"

"Just a… a point of inquiry of the… on the other side of the aisle. You know sometimes I joke too much, but I was serious. We… no, I'm serious now. When we're doing a verification, I… Mr. Black said we're not going to verify the Speaker or the Majority Leader. I'm trying to tell everybody, but I don't know if you guys are listening. Representative Jay Hoffman has become a very important man and I don't think that we should verify… he's very, very busy. There he his. Okay. We were waiting for him. You know he's a busy guy and I think he should be in the same status with the Speaker and the Majority Leader. And I'm not kidding this time."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, what we're going to be doing some Second Readings to Third Readings. If there's Amendments, you'll need to explain them. So, we'll start 09500046.doc 227  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 alphabetically. Representative Acevedo you have House Bill 2758. Mr. Clerk, what's the status of House Bill 2758?"

"The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Ed Acevedo. Mr. Clerk, take that Bill out of the record at the request of the Sponsor. Representative Beaubien you have House Bill 1622. Mr. Clerk, what's the status of House Bill 1622?"

"By request of the Sponsor, take that Bill out of the record. Representative Burke on the floor? Representative Burke? Mr. Clerk, there is House Bill 1478. What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

Speaker Lyons: "Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Dan Burke."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Amendment #2, which becomes the Bill, is 09500046.doc 228  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 simply… offers to preserve home ownership in Illinois. As the foreclosure rates rose to a dramatic 55 percent in the year 2006 and the subprime lending market is in a meltdown. Brokers and lenders, Ladies and Gentlemen, must assess the borrower's ability to repay the loan, the ability to repay the initial monthly payment and the ability to repay the higher monthly payment when adjustable loans reset. This Bill would level the playing field. Federal financial institutions and state chartered banks are now under a duty to assess the same ability to repay. The Bill defines the broker/borrower relationship to ensure the borrower receives the best loan the broker can provide. The overwhelming majority of mortgage loans in Illinois go through brokers. The Bill also provides other protections concerning loan terms. Technically, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to withdraw Amendment #1 and continue to offer Amendment #2."

"The Motion has been made to withdraw Amendment #1 and to proceed with Amendment #2. Amendment 1 is withdrawn. Mr. Clerk (sic-Burke) on Amendment #2."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To continue, notification to the borrower of changes in material loan terms before closing, provide borrower with a copy of appraisal before closing. This would prohibit financing of single premium credit insurance. Prohibits misleading statements that lead to consumers to believe a low monthly payment would include taxes and insurance. I'd be happy to answer any questions." 09500046.doc 229  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Anyone seeking recognition? Seeing not, the question is… Chair recognizes Representative Jim Meyer."

"Indicates he will."

"Mr. Speaker, I didn't hear the Gentleman's question."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a debate going on regarding an Amendment and would like some silence. If you could please lower our volume slightly so we could have some quiet on the floor. Thank you."

"I believe you are referring to House Bill 4050, which was a pilot project that included, I believe, ten (10) zip codes in our state. And, in fact, you are correct, the Governor did repeal the Bill. This legislation differs dramatically in the sense that House Bill 4050 simply was collecting data. This legislation talks about certain controls, restrictions, and prohibits certain practices."

"We believe…" 09500046.doc 230  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"…as well, along with the Attorney General of our state, that this is a quite comprehensive piece of legislation that would address very directly the subject of predatory lending in our state."

"Thank you."

Speaker Lyons: "No one seeking further recognition? The question is, 'Should House Amendment #2 to House Bill 1478 be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'aye'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And House Amendment #2 is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Chapa LaVia, you have House Bill 1977. What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk? Out of the record. Representative Collins, you have House Bill 791. Out of the record. Representative Acevedo, are you ready to move your legislation? You have House Bill 2758. What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Acevedo on Floor Amendment #1." 09500046.doc 231  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I ask for adoption of House Amendment #1. It amends the offense of reckless homicide and aggravated assault to increase the penalties when a person harms a traffic control aide or if the offender is willfully disobeying a lawful order or direction of the aide. This legislation is an initiative of the City of Chicago in response to the recent deaths of two (2) individuals, traffic control aides', who were directing traffic and were killed by two (2) separate drivers who failed to comply with the aides’ directions. I'd be happy to answer any questions."

"Anyone seeking recognition on Amendment #1? Seeing not, the question is, 'Should Senate Am… House Amendment #1 to House Bill 2758 be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'aye'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And Ho… Amendment #1 is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

Speaker Lyons: "Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, Representative Acevedo has House Bill 429. What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Mr. Clerk, House Amendment #1."

"Representative Acevedo."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I'd ask that we remove Floor Amendment #1. Withdraw, I apologize."

"Request is made to withdraw House Amendment #1… Floor Amendment #1 to House Bill 429. The Amendment is withdrawn. Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Acevedo on Amendment #2."

"Mr. Speaker, at this time I'd like to… Representative Lou Lang… Representative Lou Lang will handle Amendment #2."

"The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Lang."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. I'm sure you all know that for well over a year there has been a debate over how to handle the distribution of wine in Illinois, vis-à-vis, other states, concern about purchasing wine over the Internet, et cetera. We almost had a resolution to this issue a year ago, when it fell through and after some length of conversations and debate with the beer distributors, the wine and spirits distributors, the wine institute, Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, this is the agreement. All parties that have been involved in this issue, all parties involved in this debate and this negotiation are on board on the Amendment. I would ask your support." 09500046.doc 233  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Anyone seeking recognition to the Amendment #2? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should Floor Amendment #2 be adopted to House Bill 429?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And House Amendment… Floor Amendment #2 is adopted. Mr. Clerk, anything further?"

"Third Reading. Representative Colvin has House Bill 520. Out of the record. Representative Coladipietro, you have House Bill 3767. Out of the record. Representative Crespo, you have House Bill 3477. Mr. Clerk, what's the status of House Bill 3477?"

"Representative Crespo."

"I think we did submit an Amendment for this one. It's probably still the Rules?"

"Representative, we're going to take that Bill out of the record for right now. Representative John D'Amico, House Bill 2749. What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

Speaker Lyons: "Representative D'Amico, there are three Amendments on this Bill. Which Amendment are we going to be with… working with?"

"Okay. Request is made to withdraw Amendment #1 and Amendment #2 to House Bill 2749. Amendments are withdrawn. On… on Amendment #3, Representative D'Amico."

"Is anyone seeking recognition? Seeing not, the question is, 'Should Amendment #3 to House Bill 2749 be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And Amendment #3 is adopted. Mr. Clerk, anything further? Representative, at the moment we'll have to take that Bill out of the record. We'll come back to you. Take that Bill out of the record. Mr. Clerk, Representative Dugan has House Bill 2043. Take that Bill out of the record. Representative Dunkin, you have House Bill 1351. Representative Ken Dunkin, House Bill 1351, an Amendment. Mr… Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Representative Dunkin, Floor Amendment #1."

"Yes, I move that we adopt Amendment #1." 09500046.doc 235  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Representative, would you like to do a little more explanation on what the Amendment does?"

"Yes. This Amendment simply is a test pilot… test program, won't cost the state any money. All we're trying to do is to identify a couple of areas in the state where we can have a call set up as it relates to senior citizens. For example, seniors who are up in age or who may be elderly, we want them to have the ability to be able to contact the Department on Aging or depending on what agency we set it up with. And it won't cost the state anything. And I ask for a favorable adoption."

"Anybody seeking recognition to House Bill 1351, Amendment #1? Seeing not, the question is, 'Should Amendment #1 be adopted? All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. House Amendment #1 to House Bill 1351 is adopted. Mr. Clerk, anything further?"

"Third Reading. Representative Dunkin you also have House Bill 920. Out of the record. Representative Feigenholtz you have House Bill 3446. Mr. Clerk, what's the status on House Bill 3446?"

"Representative Feigenholtz." 09500046.doc 236  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. House… Floor Amendment #1 is an Amendment that was put together by the Illinois Press Association and the Illinois Department of Public Health in order to make this Bill agreed. I'd be glad to answer any questions."

"Anyone seeking recognition on the Amendment? Seeing not, the question is, 'Should Amendment #1 be adopted to House Bill 3446?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. The Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Feigenholtz, you have House Bill 2353. What's the status of the Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Representative Feigenholtz."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Floor Amendment #1 to House Bill 2353 is a trailer Bill to a piece of legislation that Representative Currie passed a few years ago regarding children who are… children who are losing payments when their parents die, there is a gap. This closes that gap. I'd be glad to answer any questions." 09500046.doc 237  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Anyone seeking recognition on Amendment #1 to 2553 (sic-House Bill 2353)? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should the Amendment be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And Amendment #1 is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Jack Franks, you have House Bill 247. What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Golar, you have House Bill 1398. Out of the record. Representative Granberg. Is Representative Granberg in the chamber? You have House Bill 1868. Read the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative Hamos, you have House Bill 611. Mr. Clerk, what's the status of that Bill?"

Speaker Lyons: "The Chair recognizes the Lady from Cook, Representative Julie Hamos."

"Thank you. Ladies and Gentlemen, this has to do with mail in registration forms. The Bill would no longer require that first-time registrants would have to appear in person to vote since that is now verified at the front end by the election authorities. And I'm sure we will be discussing this in greater detail on Third Reading. Thank you."

"Anyone seeking recognition on Amendment #1? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should Amendment #1 to House Bill 611 be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, they 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Hernandez, you have House Bill 1449. Ready to move your Amendments? Mr. Clerk, what's the status of House Bill 1449?"

"No Amendments being… Third Reading on that House Bill, House Bill 1449. Representative Hernandez, you also have House Bill 2201. Representative Hernandez. Out of the record. Mr. Clerk, take that Bill out of the 09500046.doc 239  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 record. Representative Holbrook, you have House Bill 664. Representative Tom Holbrook. Status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Jefferies, you have House Bill 2563. Out of the record. Representative Jefferson you have House Bill 3428. Status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

Speaker Lyons: "Representative Jefferson on Floor Amendment #3."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to move for the adoption of Floor… Floor Amendment #3 which guts the Bill and becomes the Bill."

Speaker Lyons: "Are there any questions of the Sponsor on Amendment #3? Seeing not, the question is, 'Should Amendment #3 be adopted?' All those in favor signify by voting… saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Leitch, you have House Bill 1823. Status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Jim Meyer, you have House Bill 3632. Status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Bill Mitchell, you have House Bill 1983. Out of the record. Representative Mitchell has House Bill 308. Status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Jerry Mitchell, you have House Bill 3361. Status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Representative Mitchell on Floor Amendment #2." Mitchell, J.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House… Floor Amendment #2 simply says that if a 09500046.doc 241  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 charter school is not used for the… the purpose that it's indicated, which is for reenrolling dropouts or truants, then that particular charter would… would forfeit all of its state dollars."

"Anyone seeking recognition on the Amendment? Seeing not, the question is, 'Should it be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Ramey, you have House Bill 3086. Status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Representative Ramey, you have Floor Amendment #2?"

"Anyone discussion on Amendment #3? Seeing none, 'Should the Amendment be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. The Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?" 09500046.doc 242  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Third Reading. Representative Ramey, you also have House Bill 314. Mr. Clerk, what is the status of that Bill?"

"Representative Ramey you on Floor Amendment #2."

"Anyone seeking recognition on the Amendment? Seeing not, the question is, 'Should the Amendment be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative… Representative Reboletti, you have House Bill 3662. Out of the record. Representative Tryon, you have House Bill 3256. Status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Representative Tryon on the Amendment. Floor Amendment #1, Mr. Clerk?"

"Any questions? Seeing none, the question, 'Should Amendment #1 be adopted to House Bill 3256?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Tryon, don't sit down, you have House Bill 2913. Status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Rep… Representative Tryon on Amendment #1."

"Anyone seeking recognition? Seeing not, the question is, 'Should the Amendment be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Gordon, you have House Bill 2071. Status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Representative Gordon on Floor Amendment #1."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Floor Amendment to House Bill 2071 re… requires that it would prohibit electric utilities from decreasing the staffing levels for job classifications due to layoffs, attrition, voluntary severance and termination and requires the levels to be the same as they were on January 1 of 0… of 2007. It also would allow the staffing levels to decrease only if the electric utility filed a petition with the ICC for such reductions and demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence that the reductions won't have any impact on the ability of the utility to provide safe and reliable service. It takes into consideration the contracts that have been entered into between the utilities and the unions and allows for the consumer to have continuous safe and reliable service considering the recent occurrences with our electric utilities in the state. And I would ask for adoption of the Amendment at this time."

Speaker Lyons: "Any questions? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Jasper, Representative Reis."

"She indicates she will."

"I'm… I'm not… we… we can do that later if we pass it over to the Senate, but I was very busy with this Bill concerning all of the notes that were filed. So, Representative, that's something… the deadline is only until tomorrow. And I'd be happy to deal with it with the Senate Sponsor, but I don't think it's going to come out the House that way."

Speaker Lyons: "No one further seeking recognition? The question is, 'Should the Amendment be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

Speaker Lyons: "Third Reading. Representative Hoffman has House Bill 818. What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"The Chair recognizes Representative Hoffman." 09500046.doc 247  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Yes, inquiry of the Clerk. I believe that Amendment #2 was recommended for adoption also?"

"Mr. Clerk."

"Thank you. Then Floor Amendment #1 is simply a technical change to the Bill. Or Floor Amendment #3, I apologize, is simply a technical change to the Bill."

Speaker Lyons: "The Gentleman moves the adoption of Floor Amendment #3 to House Bill 818. Is there any discussion? Seeing not, the question is, 'Should the Amendment be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Cross has House Bill 1… Representative Eddy has House Bill 14… 146. Mr. Clerk, what's the status of that Bill?"

"Representative Eddy."

Speaker Lyons: "Anyone seeking recognition regarding the Amendment? Seeing not, the question is, 'Should it be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Crespo, you have House Bill 2671. Status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Representative Crespo on Floor Amendment #1."

"Okay. Yes. Floor Amendment #1, Speaker, amends the Election Code to prohibit a person from serving as an election judge if the person's required to register as a sex offender."

"Is anyone seeking recognition regarding the Amendment? Seeing not, the question is, 'Should the Amendment be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'aye'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of 09500046.doc 249  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Crespo, you have House Bill 2472. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Fred Crespo on Floor Amendment #2."

"Yeah, thank you, Speaker. House Amendment amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. It creates a tax check off for the Lung Cancer Research Fund and authorizes the Illinois Department of Public Health to provide grants for lung cancer research."

Speaker Lyons: "Anyone seeking recognition? The question, 'Should the Amendment be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Black you have House Bill 495. Status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Karen May you have House Bill 2285. What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Representative May on Floor Amendment #1."

"Floor Amendment #1 is actually the Bill. It is a preventative health initiative for the Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan Act. This is the CHIP pool for the uninsured, the high risk people in this state. It would add coverage for the office visits for preventative health screenings such as: mammograms, pap smears, colorectal, and prostrate cancer screening. And it also… and also for contraceptives."

"Any discussion on Amendment #1? Seeing none, should the… the question is, 'Should the Amendment be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'aye'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And Amendment #1 is adopted. Representative May on Amendment #2."

"Floor Amendment #2 is strictly technical referencing what we did in Floor Amendment #1, we missed it in one place."

"No one seeking recognition? The question is, 'Should the Amendment be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the 09500046.doc 251  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And Amendment #2 is adopted. Mr. Clerk, anything further?"

"Third Reading. Representative Frank Mautino, you have House Bill 1627. What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Representative Mautino on Floor Amendment #2."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. This Amendment we had taken out of the record yesterday so that the House Democrat and Republican staff could get together and answer a couple of questions. What the Bill does, as amended, shows an agreement between the IFT, IEA, and the Illinois Retired Teachers Association. And what is says is that the TRS board of trustees may annually provide annuitants an option of receiving informational material from any nonprofit association with a membership consisting of at least 50 percent TRS annuitants, which means the IEA and IFT. Know of no objections. It's an agreed Bill now. And I thank Mr. Black for bringing up the earlier questions, we got them resolved. Ask for an 'aye' vote."

"Anyone seeking recognition? Seeing not, the question is, 'Should the Amendment be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. 09500046.doc 252  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Mautino you also have House Bill 380. 380. What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative McCarthy you have House Bill 2632. Is Representative McCarthy in the chamber? Out of the record. Representative McGuire, you have House Bill 3571. 3571. Out of the record. Representative Mendoza, House Bill 1447. Status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Nekritz, you have House Bill 1871. Status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Representative Nekritz on Floor Amendment #2." 09500046.doc 253  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 1871 establishes a renewable portfolio energy standard for Illinois. And all that House Amendment… Floor Amendment #2 does is to add another type of renewable energy into the list of… of acceptable fuels."

Speaker Lyons: "Questions? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should the Amendment be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Osterman, you have House Bill 1941. Status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Connie Howard, you're… you're handling House Bill 2233 for Representative Patterson? What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Hold that Bill on Second Reading on the request of the Sponsor. Representative Kathy Ryg, you have House Bill 2473. Status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk? 2473, Mr. Clerk." 09500046.doc 254  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Third Reading. Representative Ryg, you have House Bill 471. Status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Scully… Scully in the chamber? Scully, you have House Bill 2070. 2070. Status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Mr. Scully on the Amendment, Floor Amendment."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Floor Amendment #1 is an Amendment to the Collection Agency Act and it will add utilities to the types of entities that are subject to the Act. Over the past couple of months we've heard a lot of concern from the Illinois consumers about their inability to pay their electric utility bills. One way that we can give the people of the State of Illinois some assurance that they will not be subjected to unusual turn offs or collection procedures is to specifically make the utility companies subject to the Collection Agency Act." 09500046.doc 255  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

Speaker Lyons: "The Chair recognizes the Lady from Cook, Representative Monique Davis." Davis, M.: "Will the Sponsor yield?"

"He indicates he will." Davis, M.: "I'm sorry, I didn't hear your explanation, Representative?"

"The Amendment will make a change to the Collection Agency Act to specifically make this Act applicable to utility companies when they are in the process of collecting consumer debt. At the present time, utility companies are exempt from this Act." Davis, M.: "So currently the electric company has to collect the debt themselves and you want to give the authority to the… to the utility company to turn this over to a collection agency?"

"Oh, no. Just the contrary. Currently, the utility companies have the ability to turn this debt over to a collection agency, and if they do so that collection agency is subject to the Collection Agency Act. However, if they simply turn it over to their collection department, their collection department is not subject to the Collection Agency Act. I want to make their department subject to the Collection Agency Act, so that all of the prohibited activities… activities pro… collection activities, harassing activities that are prohibited by the Collection Agency Act are also applicable to the utility companies." Davis, M.: "Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will reserve the rest of my comments when you present your Bill on Third Reading. Thank you." 09500046.doc 256  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007

"Thank you."

Speaker Lyons: "Seeing no further discussion, 'Should the Amendment be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'aye'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the Amendment is adopted. Any further Amendments? Any further on that… on 2070, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Scully you have House Bill 2072. What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Representative Scully on Floor Amendment #1."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Floor Amendment #1 to House Bill 7… 2072 addresses the issue of some of the advertising and the free speech… commercial and political free speech that has been exercised by a group called CORE. The proposal made by this Amendment is to require that any advertisements by these types of organizations, that the Act of… the proposal defines as utility voice groups, requires a full disclosure of where they're getting their funding from. Now, if the funding is simply coming from a grass roots group of consumers there is no disclosure requirement at all, but it… if this organization… this utility voice group is obtaining at least half of their financing from one of the utility companies, that fact has 09500046.doc 257  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 to be disclosed. We are not in any manner attempting to regulate the message that they deliver. We are merely trying to make sure the consumers know who these utility voice groups actually are."

"Anyone seeking discussion? Seeing not, 'Should the Amendment be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. Floor Amendment #1 is adopted. Mr. Clerk, anything further?"

"Third Reading. Representative Smith you have House Bill 2470. What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Soto, you have House Bill 1747. What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk? 1747, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Soto, on Floor Amendment #4.

"Thank you, Speaker and Members of the House. House Bill… Amendment #4 guts and replaces the original language to become the Bill. House Bill 1747, as amended by House Amendment #4, adds severance pay to the list of items 09500046.doc 258  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 defined in the income for wage withholding purposes, authorizes Healthcare and Family Services to request that any… that the Secretary of State suspend Illinois driver's license privileges to certain child support debtors through an administrative process. It also authorizes Healthcare and Family Services to work with the municipalities to immobilize vehicles and certain… of child support debtors. Authori… also authorizes parents and their legal representatives to review case child support records."

"No one seeking recognition…"

"Thank you."

"…the question is, 'Should Floor Amendment #4 to House Bill 1747 be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, we'll go back to House Bill 3571, Representative McGuire. 3571."

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, what's the status of House Bill 410? Representative Verschoore."

"Representative Verschoore on Floor Amendment #2."

"House… Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Amendment #2 replaces the existing Bill, but keeps the main intent of the Bill. The changes… a couple of changes made to the existing Bill. The… House Amendment 2 allows school district boards that represent 51 percent of the students in the county to pass a resolution that would put the question on the ballot. This is in addition to the county board having the ability to put the question on. Number two, the Amendment allows the revenue from the new sales tax to be pledged for the issuance of alternative bonds. Although alternative bonds are subject to a backdoor referendum, the Amendment prevents a backdoor referendum from being held if one the revenue streams is to be the school's facility tax. The Amendment also amends the section of the School Code that requires a referendum on the question of whether or not to build school buildings. Currently, a referendum has to be held on the question or if you can build a school and (b) whether the voters want to issue bonds for construction of… of the school. Since the question under this new tax will combine both questions, the Amendment does not require another referendum to ask for the bonding question. The Amendment also deletes the provision that would distribute the proceeds of the tax on a per pupil basis. And instead, requires the money to be distributed on a formula basis. 09500046.doc 260  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 The Amendment requires the money to be allocated based on the number of all students that live in the county that is collecting the tax, divided by the total number of students from all school districts within that county. The Amendment also adds a statute that the Illinois State Board of Education public school fall enrollment and housing report will be used to report the number of students that reside in the county by each school district. This will allow the superintendent to review the number of students in each district and will allow him or her to conduct random reviews if he or she so chooses. Thank you."

"No one seeking recognition? Seeing not, the question is, 'Should Floor Amendment #2 to House Bill 410 be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Younge, you have House Bill 2352. The status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Representative Younge on Floor Amendment #1."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Floor Amendment #1 establishes a commission to set up community investment 09500046.doc 261  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 corporations. And I move for the adoption of the Amendment."

"Anyone seeking recognition? Seeing not, the question is, 'Should Amendment #1 be adopted?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And Amendment #1 is adopted. Representative Younge on Amendment #2."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Amendment #2 limits the territory of the commission to St. Clair County."

"Any questions? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should the… Amendment #2 be adopted to House Bill 2352?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, back to House Bill 2749. The status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

Speaker Lyons: "Third Reading, Mr. Clerk. Representative Colvin… Representative Marlow Colvin has House Bill 1664. What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Colvin also has House Bill 1069. What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, on page 39 of the Calendar is Senate Bill 1395. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, on page 40 of the Calendar, we have joint… House Joint Resolution #42. And on that Resolution, we recognize Representative Karen May. Representative Karen May on House Joint Resolution 42."

"Yes. Thank you. Yes. House Joint Resolution 42 is regarding the 'Catch Your Breath Day' in the State of Illinois. Actually, it's May 2, it is today. It's an initiative of the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago. And it's an educational program to call attention to the fact that women are much more susceptible to lung disease. In the recent fourteen-(14-) year period asthma is… among women jumped 97 percent compared to 22 percent increase in men. And lung cancer, more women die from the disease than from any other type of cancer and female 09500046.doc 263  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 smokers are twice as likely to develop lung cancer than male smokers. So, I think all the Members of the Conference of Women Legislators and I find also the men Members of the Conference of Women Legislators, most of us have signed on to this initiative calling attention and the education of women's health and… lung health. And if anyone hasn't signed on, see me. But I do ask for your support for this Bill. Thank you."

"All those in favor of the adoption of House Joint Resolution 42 signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And House Joint Resolution is adopted. On page 42 of the Calendar, Mr. Clerk, is House Joint Resolution 40. The Chair recognizes the Lady from Cook, Representative Monique Davis." Davis, M.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Resolution… House Joint Resolution 40 is a Resolution that reconstitutes the council on reenrolling students who dropped out of school. This council was created in 2006. It's scheduled to be dissolved in 2… January 2008. The council will have eight (8) Legislative Members, two (2) appointed by the Senate President, two (2) by the Speaker of the House, two (2) by the Minority Leader in the House, two (2) by the Minority Leader in the Senate, one by the Governor and so on. This council will have hearings throughout the state to review data, review financing, and produce and file an annual report with recommendations to the Governor, General Assembly, and the state on ways and means to address the challenge of reenrolling students who have left school 09500046.doc 264  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 without a diploma. In Illinois, we have over two hundred twenty-seven thousand (227,000) such students and they really become a drain on the state. I just urge support for this House Joint Resolution."

"No one seeking recognition, the question is, 'Should House Joint Resolution be adopted?' This will require a vote, folks. So, all those in favor of the adoption of the Resolution 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? Have all voted who wish? Representative Black. Representative Boland. Representative Black. Representative Mitchell, Jerry Mitchell. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Amendment… on this Resolution, there's 111 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. And House Joint Resolution 40 is adopted. Mr. Clerk, on page 42 we have House Joint Resolution 51. Representative Marlow Colvin."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Joint Resolution 51 simply urges the members of the Illinois Delegation to United States Congress to give full consideration to the passage of the Savings for Working Families Act that was introduced in the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. This deals with the fact that for a second year in a row the national personal savings rate in the United States of America remains below zero. A negative savings rate in the United States has not occurred since the Great Depression, nearly eighty (80) years. One in five (5) families have a negative net worth here in the United States of America and about one third of all low-income 09500046.doc 265  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 households and more than one tenth of moderate income households report having no financial assets at all. This registration… the Bill I'm referring to is House Resolution (sic-House Bill) 4751, is currently being debated in the Unites States Congress. And I simply ask for passage. Thank you."

"Mr. Clerk, take that Resolution out of the record. We'll repost it for next week. Representative Jerry Mitchell, for what purpose do you rise?" Mitchell, J.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was away from my desk. Please record me as a 'yes' on House Resolution 40."

"The Journal will so reflect."

"Mr. Clerk, Agreed Resolutions."

"You've heard the Agreed Resolutions. All those in favor of their adoption signify by saying 'aye'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Resolutions are adopted. Seeing no 09500046.doc 266  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 46th Legislative Day 5/2/2007 further business to come before the House of Representatives today… Representative Toni Berrios, for what reason do you rise?"

"Point of… well, actually just a reminder."

"State your point."

"The Latino Caucus, Cinco de Mayo party is tonight. Everyone is invited, it is at the Inn, 835 Second Street. Hopefully, you can come out and have a nice Mexican meal with us. Thank you."

Speaker Lyons: "Thank you, Representative. The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Bob Rita. For what purpose do you rise, Representative?"

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For an announcement. The Tollway Oversight Committee will be canceled tomorrow. The Tollway Oversight Committee will be canceled tomorrow."

"Thank you, Representative. Seeing no further business to come before the House today, the House will stand adjourned to the hour of Thursday, May 3 at 10 a.m., allowing perfunctory time for the Clerk. Is there a Motion to adjourn? All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the House stands adjourned. Have a safe and enjoyable evening."