"The House shall come to order. The Members shall be in their chairs. We ask the Members and our guests in the gallery to turn off laptop computers, cell phones, and pagers. And we ask our guests in the gallery to rise and join us for the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance. We shall be led today in prayer by Lee Crawford, the pastor of the Cathedral of Praise Christian Center in Springfield."
"Let us pray. Most gracious and most kind God, who art the author and the finisher of our faith. We come before You humbly and in a spirit of thanksgiving. Your word says that in all things we are to be thankful, for it is the will of God concerning You. So, we're thankful for the life that You have afforded us, the strength that You have granted us and the health that You have given us. I pray for this august Assembly this day. I pray that You would bestow Your blessings upon the Leader of this House. May You grant him wisdom. May You grant him health. And may You grant him strength. I pray for every Member that is represented here. I pray also, Father, that You would grant them wisdom, that You may grant them health and that You may grant them strength. This we ask kindly and humbly in Your Son's name. Amen."
"We shall be led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Representative Verschoore."
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." 09500234.doc 1 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"Roll Call for Attendance. Representative Currie."
"Thank you, Speaker. Please let the record reflect that Representatives Rich Bradley, Gordon, Patterson, Washington, Younge are excused, as is Representative Kevin Joyce, who is excused for a very happy reason. He and his wife Krista welcomed their seventh child, seventh Democrat, yesterday. It is a new baby boy bringing the total Joyce clan to four (4) boys and three (3) girls. So, I am sure you'll join me in just applauding the birth of this new, wonderful child."
"Mr. Bost…"
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker."
"…were there any Republicans born yesterday?"
"There were several Republicans born, but none to the House Members. So, we need to remember that… well, actually the only absentee we have is Jimmy Watson. So…"
"The Clerk shall take the record. There being 109 Members responding to the Attendance Roll Call, there is a quorum is present. Mr. Clerk."
"Rules Report. Representative Barbara Flynn Currie, Chairperson from the Committee on Rules, to which the following legislative measures and/or Joint Action Motions were referred, action taken on March 03, 2008, reported the same back with the following recommendation/s: 'approved for floor consideration' referred to the Order of Second Reading is House Bill 392; 'approved for considerations' Amendment #2 to House Bill 1144, Amendment #1 to House Bill 1304, Amendment #2 to House Bill 1831, 09500234.doc 2 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 Amendment #3 to House Bill 3424, Amendment #3 to House Bill 3653, Amendment #1 and 2 to House Bill 4119, Amendment #2 to House Bill 4159, Amendment #1 to House Bill 4220, Amendment #2 to House Bill 4225, Amendment #2 to House Bill 4471, Amendment #2 to House Bill 4549, Amendment #1 to House Bill 4573, Amendment #1 to House Bill 4605, Amendment #1 to House Bill 4646, Amendment #2 to House Bill 4812. Referred to the House Committee on Rules is House Resolution 1042, offered by Representative Verschoore. House Resolution 1048, offered by Representative Poe. House Resolution 1050, offered by Representative Feigenholtz. House Joint Resolution 112, offered by Representative Ryg."
"Mr. Cross."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just a brief announcement. Tomorrow, former U.S. Speaker of the House, Denny Hastert, will be here. We have a Resolution to honor him and I believe he's going to get a chance to speak. Anybody that wishes to be on that Resolution, please let us know. We also plan on having a reception in my office immediately after Session tomorrow. Thank you."
"Mr. Verschoore. Mr. Verschoore."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Point of interest. Ladies and Gentlemen, if I can have your attention for just one minute. I think on your desk you'll find that I've put a Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System brochure on there. I was out to the Crowne Plaza today and addressed this group. Probably a lot of you don’t know even to what ILEAS is, but it's… it's our, basically our Homeland Security in 09500234.doc 3 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 the State of Illinois. They come in on when there's kind of a disaster of any kind or any types of terrorism. And the Governor has cut their budget by one hundred and twenty-five thousand ($125,000), which basically is going to really hurt them because getting matching fund from the Federal Government. They've… on February 7 of last year they went to Washington, D.C. and gave a presentation and other states are now modeling their Homeland Security ILEAS after ours. So, we've got a very good program. They're going to be contacting each and every one of you in their areas to get you informed of what this is and we need to get behind them and help them. If anybody has any questions, please contact me and I'll help you as much as I can or I'll get you in contact with somebody that can. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker."
"Mr. Hannig."
"Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. I would ask leave to suspend the posting requirements for Senate Bill 1863. I understand it's been agreed to by the other side of the aisle. And so, I would make that Motion."
"Mr. Hannig has moved to suspend the posting requirements for Senate Bill 1853. All right. Let's correct the record. Mr. Hannig has moved to suspend the posting requirements on Senate Bill 1863. You've all heard the Gentleman's Motion. Is there leave? Leave is granted to suspend the posting requirements for Senate Bill 1863. Mr. Black." 09500234.doc 4 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. An inquiry of the Chair."
"State your inquiry."
"Yeah. Mr. Speaker, last summer, my wife and I took three (3) of our grandchildren and spent a delightful two (2) nights and three (3) days in the City of Chicago. Stayed at a lovely downtown hotel. I used your name, in fact, when I made the reservation thinking I'd get a discount. When I checked in the desk clerk said, 'Who is Michael J. Madigan?' I made up my mind there and then I would never stay at that hotel again. And I didn't get the discount. And we had a great time. We went to the museums. We went to LEGOLAND. We went to NikeTown. And the kids… young kids that they are had a great time. But I'm concerned… I'm concerned about that city on the lake. From what I read in the newspapers, it appears that Chicago now has the highest sales tax the county of Cook, in the entire country. I don’t know that I'll be able to afford to go back up and spend money at LEGOLAND and NikeTown. And then I read today that the Cook County Board is thinking of doubling the parking tax. I don’t even know what a parking tax is. The city council put a tax on bottled water. I… Mr. Speaker, in my area we're doing the best we can to survive. We have a plant that may move to our fair city if we can scratch up a million dollars ($1,000,000) that was promised to them by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and we now find that there's no money. And yet the Governor announced today that there is money. I… in a matter of fairness and I 09500234.doc 5 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 don’t know that you may not want to address this, but it seems like the biggest city in the state is on a path to just raise taxes, raise taxes, raise taxes and those of us downstate can't even get the money that was promised to us a few months ago to retain and bring in five hundred (500) jobs. I… Mr. Speaker, I don’t understand this. The State of Illinois is in poor fiscal condition. We just got a grade from some study group that said we don’t rank very highly in government operations and if what I read is true about what's going on in the City of Chicago and the county of Cook, when does this… when does this fascination with raising taxes stop? I just… I don’t understand it. I have people have called me wanting to know if we're going to raise taxes to this level. I tell them I don’t know at this point. I wouldn’t think we would put a tax on bottled water. The city raised the property taxes. The county board has raised sales taxes to the highest in the country. Mr. Speaker, I just simply don’t understand this philosophy in a town that has been run, and I think run well for the most part, by the Democrat Party for almost fifty (50) years. I just… I don’t understand what's going on. And I would hope that you could use your influence and that Members on your side of the aisle would tell these people in the City of Chicago and the county of Cook… and I know they might say they know more about their needs and resources than I do, but I… Mr. Speaker, I think on behalf of most people in Illinois, I simply rise to the point that I think enough is enough. Let's… let's slow this thing down. Let's take a look at some of these taxes and what 09500234.doc 6 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 the people can bear. And I don’t think there's any pride there shouldn’t be any pride in saying we now have the highest sales tax in the country in the City of Chicago. That's not… that's not a good thing. I think it will tend to hurt business. I think it will tend to discourage weekend visitors and I certainly like to go up there and make several trips a year to Wrigley Field, which I understand now may not even be Wrigley Field. Is there no end? Is there no end to these things that are going on in that shining city by the lake? Mr. Speaker, I rely on your expertise in these matters to mediate these disputes with certain factions of the Democrat Party who believe we can just continue to tax and spend and tax and spend. So, I look forward to your efforts on this, Mr. Speaker. And I will say that the people in my district have made it very clear. They do not want the highest sales tax in the country. They do not want a tax on bottled water. And they certainly don’t want any large increases in the property tax. They expect government to live within its means and perhaps that statement should be what guides us in the months ahead."
"Representative Kosel."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. May I yield for a point of personal privilege, please?"
"State your point."
"Under Democratic control of Illinois has earned the dubious distinction of having the worst-funded pension system in the country. Today, a government watchdog group issued a report that gives our government a 'C' grade for 09500234.doc 7 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 poor management, ranking us only above New Hampshire and Rhode Island. In their report they attribute political animosity is… to our list of many, many problems. Identifying our state's budget, long-term money outlook and lack of a capital program to many of our weaknesses. To make matters worse, thanks to Democratically-controlled Cook County Board this week, residents and visitors to Cook County are now going to pay at least 10.25 percent sales tax. The highest of any major city in the country. Local families and businesses have had it. They cannot take it anymore. Thank you."
"Mr. Sacia. Do you have your script ready?"
"Mr. Speaker, point of personal privilege as well, Sir."
"State your point."
"Mr. Speaker and Members of the Body, I'm not going to say anything about Democrat control or Republican control. To me, that's somewhat not very productive. What I will say and I think you would agree, Mr. Speaker, and every Member of this Body, you cannot tax your way out of an economic downturn. And we find ourselves trying to do that starting in the great county of Cook and the City of Chicago. I would just encourage of all us to use whatever influence we have to try to prevent this abominable situation from moving forward in such a great state, a great county, and the great City of Chicago. Thank you, Mr. Speaker."
"Mr. Winters."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A point of personal privilege." 09500234.doc 8 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"State your point."
"The point that I'd like to bring up for this General Assembly is the attitude of Democratic officeholders in the County of Cook. I would quote a Deborah Sims, who I believe is one of the county board members who voted for the sales tax increase that now brings Cook County to the highest in the country. Her quote is, 'this country was built on taxes.' And that's the mentality of Democratic officeholders is if there's a problem raise taxes. Well, in fact, Ms. Sims, this country was built on a revolt against taxes. The Boston Tea Party was not because the British were taxing tea too much it was… because they weren't taxing it enough it was because the British were trying to found their empire and control their empire, run their empire on the back of the colonists without any support from the mother country. We have to learn to live within our means and instead of raising several hundred million dollars in new taxes. I believe it's over four hundred million dollars ($400,000,000) in new taxes for the Cook County so that they can hire more friends of the officerholders. They can hire more featherbedders. They can hire more people that don’t do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. Instead of doing that, we need to look carefully at our budgets. Now, I believe that the county board president, Todd Stroger, who I served with in this House, learned many of the techniques that he's using in Cook County in this very chamber. Well, Todd, I hate to tell, you but what you learned in Springfield is still going on down here. We're not balancing our budget. We 09500234.doc 9 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 are doing it by borrowing from our children and our grandchildren. We're running up the state's credit card debt, the long-term debt. We're fixing that debt as general obligation debt and what we're doing is we're spending the dollars today, but we're not asking the public what are our priorities. Instead we're trying to solve every problem by throwing money at it. That's not the right thing for the State of Illinois. It's not the right thing for the Cook County. I wish you had learned a different lesson when you were down here in Springfield, but unfortunately, you've taken it to Cook County. Remember, this country was founded on a revolt against taxes. That revolt, hopefully, will come to fruition in Illinois. We can stand and say what is actually essential to State Government, raise the revenue for what is essential and stop adding for superfluous programs that are not effective and I believe you've got more than any other portion of the state in Chicago. Thank you, Mr. Speaker."
"Mr. Miller. Do you have a complaint about Cook County?"
"No. point of personal privilege."
"State your point."
"Earlier today Leader Currie announced the… my seatmate and congratulated him on the birth of his new baby, Kevin Joyce. But I also would like to make an announcement of myself and Speaker Madigan's seatmate, John Fritchey, had a birthday over the weekend and we want to congratulate him. Thank you."
"Mr. Eddy." 09500234.doc 10 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise with no complaint, no complaint. I do have a concern, though. I love Chicago. I love the city. It's a world-class city. It's a state treasure, but unfortunately, I share the concerns of many of my colleagues in this chamber on both sides of the aisle that recent action to impose the largest property tax in Chicago history, combined with action this past weekend by the Cook County Board, will hurt everyone. Whether you live in Chicago or Cook County or simply visit as I do at least twice a year in the fall with thousands of others for the school board convention or the Farm Bureau Convention. One of the nice things to be able to do in the City of Chicago around Christmas is to get out of the hotel and go down Michigan Avenue and shop in some of the finest places to shop in the United States. The problem is people are going to stop shopping at some of those finest places. They're not going to pay another dollar for every hundred dollars ($100) that they spend. They're going to go across the border into Indiana and shop or they're going to go out to the suburbs or farther west to shop, so they don’t have to pay these taxes. You know, Chicago is the economic engine of the State of Illinois. There's no question about it. But Ladies and Gentlemen, we are flooding the carburetor to that engine. It's sputtering and the rest of the state will feel the fact that that engine is being tinkered with to a point that it may backfire very, very soon. Chicago is known as a city that works. The city of big shoulders. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, let's not make Chicago 09500234.doc 11 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 known as not the city that works, but the city that taxes. Thank you."
"Mr. Stephens."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A point of personal privilege."
"State your point."
"First of all, a happy birthday, belated. You know, Representative Black said he went to the City of Chicago. Well, I live further downstate and we can't afford to go to Chicago. So, my family went to Danville this weekend for a little vacation. And I was surprised they don’t have a bottled water tax in Danville. As a matter of fact, we only found one store that sold bottled water. We… there's no parking tax. As a matter of fact, they don’t even charge for parking in Danville. There are plenty of parking spaces available. We stayed Friday and Saturday and on into Sunday and I didn’t know this, but on Sunday's Danville is closed. There's just not a lot going on in Danville. If you drive by some of the factories you'll see that they're shuttered up. Many of the retail stores, the same condition. And why is that? Some of my colleagues on this side of the aisle have uttered words of frustration. Frustration about what's going on in Cook County and the City of Chicago. And indeed, that frustration is representative of the feelings throughout the state. Throughout every county and city in the State of Illinois. We are frustrated because it seems like about 15 percent of the Leadership of the state is out of touch with the rest of the world. I think that 85 percent of Illinoisans agree 09500234.doc 12 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 that we shouldn’t be talking about raising taxes to the degree that the Democrats in Illinois want to raise taxes. It is an abomination. Let me just read to you a review of recent ideas from your Party, Speaker, the Party of the Governor, the party of the Leadership of the Senate and indeed, the Party of the Leadership of the House and every statewide public official. You are the Party that proposed a gross receipts tax for almost eight billion dollars ($8,000,000,000), a payroll tax for over one billion ($1,000,000,000); a streamlined sales tax for seventy million ($70,000,000); closure of… so-called corporate loopholes; we call them incentives for jobs, seventy million ($70,000,000); three hundred million ($300,000,000), electric generation tax; 7.35 billion ($7,350,000,000) in personal income tax increase; nine billion ($9,000,000,000) for personal income expanded sales tax and income tax increase; an increase in the income tax from 3 to 4 percent for 3.4 billion (3,400,000,000); the Governor's proposed additional tax incentive elimination, six hundred million (600,000,000); the county sales tax hike, seven hundred million (700,000,000); county sales tax hike #2, eight hundred million (800,000,000); county sales tax hike #3, four hundred million (400,000,000); and Mayor Daley's budget proposal this year, an additional three hundred million dollars ($300,000,000) in taxes. The Governor comes before us two (2) weeks ago and says we need more spending and more taxes. And the people of Illinois are tired of it. That's why we stand today in total frustration of the sort of leadership that you are 09500234.doc 13 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 offering. We say to the people of Illinois look further down your ballot. Look for reasoned conservatives on either side of the aisle who say to you that we can't have everything. That in these dire times where our state debt and our state unfunded liabilities are at an all-time high now is not the time to talk about the Democrat plan, the Democrat plan for more taxes. Now is the time to talk about restraint of government, not expansive new programs that the Democrat Party proposed, but reasoned programs limiting the growth of government to at least within the taxpayer's ability to pay. Don’t do to the taxpayers what you've done to the State of Illinois, Democrat Party. Do to the taxpayers what they deserve. Less growth in government, less taxation and bringing jobs to Illinois."
"Representative Bellock."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. A point of personal privilege."
"State your point."
"I just want to speak, too to the issue that we're talking about today because Chicago is the economic engine to the State of Illinois and I think all of us know that. And with the… being on this short list for the Olympics, the tax increases in the City of Chicago alone, I think, will deter us from being kept on that short list for the Olympics besides the fact of all the retailers in the City of Chicago. I represent the County of DuPage, so people will be coming out to DuPage but we realize how important the City of Chicago is to the entire state. And the high raise of taxes in the city right now eliminates the ideas 09500234.doc 14 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 of people coming and shopping, especially at Christmastime. If we don’t keep the retailers in the City of Chicago and in the State of Illinois, how will we ever address the debt of being the worst state in the United States with the highest debt? Now, we have this city with the highest sales tax in the entire United States. This is an issue that we all have to address. It's not a partisan issue. We all care about the City of Chicago. We want the Olympics to come. We want retailers to stay in the city. So, let's oppose any more tax increases. The property tax, transfer tax, the parking tax, the sales tax, its unbelievable the high cost of the increases of taxes."
"Representative Bassi. Bassi, do you wish to call House Bill 4167? Page 6 of the Calendar, on the Order of House Bills-Third Readings, there appears House Bill 4167. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."
"House Bill 4167, a Bill for an Act concerning local government. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 4167 amends the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Act. Provides for the amendment of sixteen-acre development property. It's a mixed-use parcel. There is no opposition and I would ask for an 'aye' vote."
"Mr. McCarthy."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"Sponsor yields."
"Representative, the analysis on our computer talks about how this is land that will then be annexed into the 09500234.doc 15 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, but then eventually used for a real estate development. Is that correct?"
"It’s a mixed-use parcel, combination of business property and residential."
"Does the Water Reclamation District have other properties that they own that have…"
"That are adjacent? Yes."
"They're adjacent to it or they're actually on the same property?"
"Adjacent."
"So, in this case, will it be adjacent to it or will it be on the property?"
"So… so… what?"
"Will the home development be on the property that's owned by the Water Reclamation District?"
"The annexation will be… will put the two (2) properties next to each other and the development will be on the sixteen (16) acres that they are annexing."
"Who owns the sixteen (16) acres right now? Or is it part of Hoffman Estates right now?"
"It's in Hoffman Estates, but it's owned by the Iatarola Development Company." McCarthy" "I'm sorry. Owned by what?"
"It's owned by the Iatarola Development Corporation, but it's in the prop… in the Village of Hoffman Estates."
"And that's a private real estate development company?"
"Yes." 09500234.doc 16 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"Why does he need this if he owns that property today? Why does he have to be annexed into the Water Recl… I'm really mixed up on this. I apologize for that, but why does he have to be annexed into the Water Reclamation District in order to build homes on property he already owns?"
"He needs that in order to handle sewer and stormwater infrastructure. And in order… and to enlarge the district it requires legislative action. You have to extend the district in order to cover his portion in order to provide for the sewer and infrastructure property. And MWRD is not opposed to the annexation."
"Is there any other proponent other than the developer himself?"
"Well, the Village of Hoffman Estates is in favor of it. Representative Crespo and I are both working with the developer to try and make this happen."
"Is the Village of Hoffman Estates a actual proponent, an official proponent?"
"No."
"Representative Crespo is shaking his head, yes."
"Oh, well, maybe they are. Yeah, Fred just said 'yes'."
"Is this land that's going to be serviced by Water Reclamation or land that's going to be owned by Water Reclamation?"
"No, serviced."
"So, this just annexes them into their service territory?"
"Yes." 09500234.doc 17 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"And by doing that, then the sewage and that'll be treated by Water Rec. Today the land… if we didn’t do this, if we went forward with this property, would somebody else treat the sewage and stuff?"
"No… unknown. It's undeveloped property at the moment. So, there isn’t anybody to do it."
"Okay. Is Hoffman Estates… the entire area of Hoffman Estates covered by the Water Reclamation District?"
"I don’t know if the entire village is covered by it, but I know the bulk of it is."
"Does Hoffman Estates have a plan to annex this property?"
"Does Hoffman Estates… what? I can't… I'm sorry, Kevin."
"Is this property in Hoffman Estates today or does Hoffman Estates have a plan to annex the property?"
"It's in the Village of Hoffman Estates."
"It's in the village already?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Thank you for your answers."
"Mr. Sullivan."
"Mr. Speaker, I think the and… the questions are answered. I just wanted it clarified. Thank you."
"The question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' Those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed by voting 'no'. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 83 people voting 'yes', 25 people voting 'no'. This Bill, having received a 09500234.doc 18 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 4174, Mr. Holbrook. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."
"House Bill 4174, a Bill for an Act concerning elections. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Mr. Holbrook."
"Thank you, Speaker. House Bill 4174 is a cleanup Bill for the State Board of Education Clerks and Recorders Association. It clears up write-in candidate issues. No candidates and the one new initiative in it is the multiple voters for candidates. I received a complaint from a couple of my villages about the wording on the ballot. And had Legislative Research Unit do a study on it and what was discovered was that Illinois is the exception with the wording on our ballot. We're the only state and this adopts the vote for 'no more than' rather than just 'vote for' as part of the voting instructions. It clears up some ambiguity. I know of no opposition to the Bill. The state board is in support of it, the County Clerks, the County Recorders. Glad to take any questions."
"The Gentlemen moves for the passage of the Bill. The Chair recognizes Mr. Black."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"Sponsor yields."
"Representative, I just have one question. If I understand the new electronic voting system, because this happened to me, when you put the ballot into the counter if you've over voted the computer, as I understand it, puts it back out and there is a little voice message that says 'you 09500234.doc 19 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 have over voted'. And so, you correct it. Is it necessary to make this change with the new electronic format?"
"Especially on the under voting. That's what it was about. We had people call us and say that 'I only like two (2)…"
"Okay."
"…of these trustees running and it's vote for, you know, it says vote four (4), and it was up to three (3). I don’t want to vote for the others, but I felt I had to or it was going to kick it out of the machine.' And that's when this came up and I did the survey of the… by the Legislative Research Unit and I discovered we're the only state that does it that way. And this wording is what all of the… just about all the Midwestern states have on their wording."
"Okay. So, you'll still be able to do an under vote…"
"Right."
"…without having your ballot rejected, right?"
"Absolutely."
"And the County Clerks Association, you know, they have to handle all of the election stuff."
"Right."
"They’re okay with that?"
"They filed in support of it, along with the recorders and the state board."
"All right. Would you ask your staffer if this Bill is all right and has been properly reviewed?"
"I didn’t know she was here."
"Well, these 23-year-old staffers…" 09500234.doc 20 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"Yes."
"…sometimes they change their mind."
"Yes."
"But she's all right with it?"
"She's okay with it."
"All right. Maybe before the year's up she'll be all right with me. I don’t know though. Thank you very much."
"Thank you, Representative Black."
"The question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' Those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed by voting 'no'. Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question there are 108 people voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Fritchey, do you wish to call House Bill 4180? The Clerk shall read the Bill."
"House Bill 4180, a Bill for an Act concerning education. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Thank you, Speaker and Members of the Body. House Bill 4180 is an attempt to clarify action that this Legislature took last year with respect to a moment of silence. I'd be happy to answer any questions, otherwise I'd ask for an 'aye' vote."
"Mr. Eddy."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I… to the Bill. I rise in strong support of the Gentleman's Bill. This is an issue that I think across the State of Illinois has caused a great deal of consternation for school districts who last spring and into the fall immediately had to deal with an 09500234.doc 21 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 issue related to policy locally, that put them in, quite frankly, a real quandary. Either school districts were immediately observing a mandated moment of silence that would provide probably some legal challenge and the real concern that they would end up in court, spending money that should go for text books, and computers, and educating our children, on defending themselves against the possibility of lawsuits for a mandate that they really had nothing to do with. Their other choice was to ignore the law, which would send a bad message to their students. So, I appreciate very much the fact that Representative Fritchey has brought forward what I believe to be a commonsense solution that would allow school districts at the local level once again, the ability to, if they chose, provide a policy that could be written by school attorneys who understand how to avoid the pitfalls that schools run into when they're faced with this type of an issue. So that they could locally have a policy to allow a moment of silent reflection without the real possibility of landing them in court, where they would end up spending valuable school resources defending themselves against something that they were mandated to do. So, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, I would encourage that everyone support this measure as a commonsense approach. It is not a question of whether or not you support prayer. I believe very much in allowing students a appropriately at school a time for silent reflection and prayer. I do not agree with the state mandate that, at the end of the day, landed school districts in court or forced school districts in the 09500234.doc 22 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 untenable situation of not enforcing a state mandate. Representative, thank you for working on this and Body, I hope you'll vote 'yes' and give school districts the relief from this mandate that they need. Thank you."
"Mr. Black."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I don’t want to go over the ground that Representative Eddy has already covered. I happen to believe in the efficacy of local government. People run for school boards. They campaign, they get elected to school boards. The underlying Bill was passed in 1969 and it allowed for locally elected school boards, administrators, staff, parents to make the decision on whether or not they wanted to have a moment of silence to begin the school day. Some districts did that, some districts did not do that. And then last spring and in all the years I've served down here I never had one call, one letter, one e-mail telling me that the Bill that the local units of government could decide on what to do, should be made a state mandate. I did not vote for the Bill as it became a mandate. I think this Bill, as Representative Eddy said, will get us out of the arena of litigation, which today nobody can really afford and puts the decision back where I think it belongs, in the hands of your locally elected school board members, their staff, their administrators, the parents. They're fully capable of making this decision. And I don’t think in our ever increasing desire to mandate every minute of the school day that we needed to do this last spring. I think we now need 09500234.doc 23 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 to take a step back and say, look, you're perfectly capable of making this decision on your own. And the Bill that we passed last spring did not define 'moment'. There is no penalty if schools choose not to do it. I think the Sponsor was welled-intentioned. One could argue that this is what every school should do. Let those schools decide based on the length of the school day, the resources they have, and what their parents, teachers, staff, and locally- elected school board members think would be best for their students and their school system. That's what local governments are for, to make decisions like this. They're fully capable as they did since 1969. And I never had a complaint about it, but I've certainly had complaints since we passed the Bill last spring that mandated it. So, lets just… and I know there are all kinds of side issues that people will try to raise. But as Representative Eddy said, 'This is a commonsense measure.' Putting that decision back in the hands of locally-elected school boards who are perfectly capable of determining how the school day should start as they did for almost thirty-five, (35) forty (40) years. So, Ladies and Gentlemen, I rise in strong support of the Bill. I think it makes eminent good sense to do this. And let's get out from expensive litigation and let the locally-elected schools run the school system within as much latitude as we can give them. Vote 'aye'."
"Mr. Reis."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"Sponsor yields." 09500234.doc 24 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"I obviously rise in opposition to the Member's Bill, but I did have a couple of questions. We devoted a lot of time to this Bill and a couple of other Bills in Education Committee this year already and if I remember right, Representative, you said there was three (3) things about the existing law that just took effect in January that you didn’t like. And one of them was that it mentioned prayer in the body. One of them was that the students were kind of told what they had to think about during that moment of silence and throughout the debate on your Bill and the other Bill, some suggestions came up from the Members of the Education Committee as to maybe you two (2) could get together on your Bills and try to get one that the whole chamber could support. Where are you at with that process? We're on Third Reading, so I guess that's…"
"I believe that Representative Davis has as much respect for my efforts as I do for his. We have a fundamental disagreement as to whether or not this Bill should… whether or not the law should be mandatory. I'm… I believe I'm correct, he believes he's correct. And we are where we are."
"Well, I think that just to outline the suggestions that were made, let's go ahead and take the existing law language, the statute, take out any reference to the word 'prayer'. Just make it a moment of silence. Take out any reference as to what we think that student should be thinking about, which is two (2) very easy things to do, but leave in the mandate. And just so that everyone knows there are fourteen (14) other states that have mandated 09500234.doc 25 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 moment of silences. I read those states in committee. States like New Jersey, and Massachusetts, and Connecticut. States that you'd typically wouldn’t think has this mandate. Those have stood up to the challenge by their courts. That that is okay to have that mandate. I mean we're not doing something here that is way out in right field. So, it's upheld in court and I think if we came back with a Bill that included what the suggestions came out of that Education Committee, take out the reference to prayer, take out the fact that we want the students to think about certain things and leave in the mandate that that Bill could probably pass this chamber with over a hundred (100) votes. It would be the commonsense thing to do. So, I just wanted to remind people that there has been alternatives to this proposed and that there are fourteen (14) other states that have a moment of silence mandate that has withstood their courts."
"Mr. Lang."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. I rise in strong support of this legislation. When we debated the previous version of this Bill and it passed last year, I stood on the floor of this House and said many of things Mr. Black had just said. What we did last year flies in the face of local control. It flies in the face of our Constitution. And while I understood what the Sponsor was trying to do, well-intentioned Sponsor, the legislation was misguided. This Bill will take us back where we ought to be, in a place where school districts on their own can decide, families on their own can decide, and students on 09500234.doc 26 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 their own can decide what, if anything, they wish to do with this moment in time. It is quite true that there was never a definition as to what 'moment' is. In fact, we in essence left that up to the school districts. So, we said to the school districts 'you must do something', but we didn’t tell them how to define it. And that doing something is a series of regulations that they would make about something that they had no control over in the first place. This is commonsense legislation. It says to families, it says to students, it says to schools, go ahead and make your decisions and in your moment of silence, if you choose to have one for yourself, do what you choose to do. Why would it be appropriate for the Illinois General Assembly to have ever said to a student at a public school classroom, you must pray during that period of time? Why would it have ever been appropriate to assume what they would do? One Legislator during that debate said ' well, maybe they'll be thinking about their math homework.' Well, maybe they will but most of the students will be using it for whatever is on their mind. But it is not going to be prayer, for the most part. If it is, great. But this is not something that should be mandated from the Illinois General Assembly. And I find interesting that many of you who supported last year's version of this, which in essence requires a moment of silence and prayer in the public schools, are some of you are the very same people who stand on this floor over and over and over again and talk about local control. Talk about getting the government out of people's business and out of people's 09500234.doc 27 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 lives. And yet you had no problem with this mandate. It was a mistake then. It would be a mistake to vote 'no' on this Bill for these reasons. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is really an important piece of legislation to get our schools on this issue back where they belong, to explain to school boards all across our state that they are not bound by Springfield's mandates on what someone ought to think in a classroom. We should mandate all sorts of things and, yes, Representative Bassi, pay for them, but we should never mandate what somebody must think in a classroom. When we do not legislate independent thought among the hundreds of thousands of public school students in Illinois, we do them a disservice. This Bill will bring us back where we ought to be. Please vote 'aye'."
"Mr. Sullivan."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"The Sponsor yields."
"Representative, wait a minute. Where the Repr… oh, there he is. Hey, Representative, what… what would happen if someone's child… well, you know, would like to… you know, you are a religious family or you… whichever. Your child would like to take a moment and collect their thoughts. What you're saying now is we're going to change this back to in essence say you can observe that, but the teacher doesn’t have to control the classroom at that point? Or at what point will they be able to actually have that moment of silence?"
"Well, I would think that a child that was so inclined to do that could do that at the beginning of the 09500234.doc 28 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 day at home, before getting to school. I think that we can leave it up to each school district as has been said repeatedly here today, as to whether the classroom is the appropriate time to do that. Whether what time of the day is the appropriate time to do that, whether a student wants to do that at home. Whether they want to think about their religious beliefs, their homework, their home life, the football game, whatever the case may be."
"Well, it would seem that a lot of, even here in this chamber, we start our day by having a moment of reflection. You know, it's… clearly is religious. And it's… many religions that come and discuss things with us and talk about how to further our lives and so forth, so wouldn’t it be appropriate that a student before they begin their day would want to take a time and reflect, whether that be in religious reasons or reflect on the day ahead? So, if they wanted to do that in their school, in their opening classroom, what would happen if the teacher decide we're not going do that? What would happen to the student if they did it and the teacher did not allow for it?"
"I would refresh your recollection that last year the Sponsor of the Bill adamantly maintained that this Bill had nothing to do with prayer in school and I agree with him fully. This is not a Bill about prayer; it is a Bill about local control for school districts. The Bill… I shouldn’t say the Bill, the law as it stands today, says that a student shall pray or a student shall think about the upcoming activities of the day. If that student were to think about anything else, that student would be in 09500234.doc 29 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 violation of the law. Now mind you, a law with no penalties, but in violation of the law nevertheless. So, what we have done is three (3) things. We have said let's make this permissive, as it had been for almost forty (40) years without objection. Let's make it so that we remove the words 'prayer' because we don’t need them, because we are now going to say that if there is a moment of silence, you can think about whatever you deem appropriate, which is only the commonsense thing to say. To say that it's going to be a moment of silence, but we are going to tell you what to think about was contrary to logic. So, if they choose to have a moment of silence they can do so. And if a school district chooses not to have a formal moment of silence there are many opportunities in the day between classes, before the start of the school day, at the end of the school day, where a person can gather their thoughts just as you and I can gather our thoughts on the drive down, on the walk over from the Stratton Building to the Capitol, in between committees, albeit as it may. So again, I simply did the act of taking all the proponents of the Bill at their word last year. That this was about letting students think about the chirping of the birds as one Legislator said. About their home life as another legislator said. About their homework, about the football game. What ever they want to think about, they can, but we're going to let each school district decide how that should be done, not 177 men and women in Springfield telling school districts how to start their school day." 09500234.doc 30 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"Representative, the previous Bill that was passed allows for a moment of prayer or silent reflection and that's what I'm talking about. Let's get prayer out of the whole process."
"No, no. But with all due respect it says…"
"I'm reading the Bill right here. It says in al…"
"And read… read the second sentence."
"…in an opportunity for silent prayer or for such silent reflection."
"No. That… that's my… that's my language. That's not the law as it stands today. The law as it stands today says that they can pray or think about the anticipated activities of the day."
"Right. So, but it gets back to the same thing. If a student under your Bill now, because you're taking away… says 'may conduct'… if a student wanted to have silent reflection, wanted to think about his family, her family, what you're telling me now is if the teacher didn’t say 'or may conduct' what would happen to that student? In essence, you're by changing this law, you're saying potentially, the student now could get in trouble if before the class they decided to continue with what they've done over the last year. They could potentially get in trouble under your Bill."
"Well, try as you may, you're not going to be able to torture this one into that scenario. For the last forty (40) years you will not be able to point to one instance of a student being reprimanded for sitting at their desk and thinking while another student is talking, while the 09500234.doc 31 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 teacher is talking. They're sitting there and oftentimes… here, I have done it. You have done it on this floor. Every Member here will be sitting here, a debate may be going on and you're reflecting upon some issue of your life. Students can do that the same way. What we're saying is that probably makes more sense to do it that way then try to formalize it and tell them when they have to think about it and what they can think about."
"Don’t you see a lot of times where a certain group would like to have a time to voice their opinion, where the institution would come in and allow them to do that. I see this under this change now you have a child, a student, young adult that wants to have a moment of silence to reflect on the day and they're going to be ridiculed for it, because now the teacher's not going to be able to control that. And I think under your legislation you're going to find more of that where someone is going to be ridiculed for what they want to do. Maybe not for potentially their beliefs, but their actions and whether they want to do it at the beginning of the day."
"Well, with all due respect, nowhere in the two (2) sentences of this law can you find that. And quite to the contrary, under the existing law if there were to be a moment of silence which is held as a semi-official act of prayer and a student does not engage in that prayer, that may ostracize the student much more than that student wanting to think about whatever they want while they're sitting at their chair or in their classroom, as the case 09500234.doc 32 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 may be. So, I agree with you, which is fully why you should support this Bill."
"Well, Representative, I certainly thank you for your comments. To the Bill. I respectfully disagree that when you take away the ability of a student to have a moment of reflection because the teacher now decides they may or may not conduct this moment, I think that's going to lead to some problems and so therefore I would request that everyone vote 'no'."
"Jerry Mitchell." Mitchell, J.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, I last year voted for Representative Davis's Bill. I liked the concept. I thought it was a good idea, but quite frankly, Representative Fritchey is bringing things back to where they were. I heard probably from every superintendent in my district and many, many teachers who say we did that already, but it was our choice, it's our classroom. And I understand that, so I'm changing my mind. I'm voting in favor of this legislation. You know, one thing that this does that we very seldom do in the House, it repeals a mandate. We very, very seldom ever repeal a mandate on a school district but we're sure ready to put more on them. Funded or unfunded, they're still mandates. I met with the high school superintendents and they said, 'Look, just please don’t send us any more mandates of any kind.' It's not a question of money. It's a question of time in the school day. Let us control that time as we see fit. Most good teachers have at least a couple of minutes of silence already just to establish 09500234.doc 33 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 order. And you and I both know as long as we have tests in schools we'll have school prayer. I know I prayed a lot of times for that reason. This is a good Bill. It's commonsense legislation and I'm going to vote 'aye'. I'd encourage you to vote 'aye'. Thank you, Mr. Speaker."
"Mr. Molaro."
"Thank you. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"Sponsor yields."
"I'll just be really quick. The only thing I did like about it, Representative, I did have teachers tell me that maybe the mandatory part you might be right about. I'm not so sure. But it turned out to be, even though this mandatory moment of silence, whether it was spiritual or not there is a lot of kids who didn’t have the discipline at home and this actual moment of silence was a way to finally get everybody to settle down and all of that, and I know a lot of teachers like that. I don’t know if making it mandatory or not mandatory changes that, but if you talk to teachers… if this moves forward and you talk to teachers, maybe there's a way that we can at least put something like that back in, 'cause it actually worked pretty well for that reason."
"All I can say is without exception every teacher and school superintendent that I have heard from, which were numerous, have supported this version of the legislation. Now keep in mind, if a school district or even a school or even a schoolteacher in a classroom felt that this was the appropriate way to start their day, nothing would preclude them from doing that. What this does do is simply remove 09500234.doc 34 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 the obligation of us telling them how to start their school day."
"The question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' Those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed by voting 'no'. Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 72 people voting 'yes', 31 people voting 'no'. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. John Bradley, do you wish to call 4183? Mr. Clerk, House Bill 4183. Read the Bill."
"House Bill 4183, a Bill for an Act concerning transportation. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Mr. Bradley." Bradley, J.: "In a completely… in a completely unrelated matter, this is the 'In God we Trust' license plates Bill. And completely voluntary. Part of the money will go to the Military Family Relief Fund. They do this in Indiana. It's been wildly successful. I'd ask for an 'aye' vote."
"The Gentleman moves for the passage of the Bill. The Chair recognizes Mr. Verschoore. Verschoore."
"Mr. Speaker, on the last vote I want to be recorded as a 'yes' vote rather than a 'no' vote."
"All right. Let the record reflect that the Gentleman wish to be recorded as 'aye' rather than 'no' on the last Bill. On this Bill, the Chair recognizes Mr. Boland."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this Bill. As some of you may know, I also had a 'In God we Trust' plate Bill. Some of our surrounding states, such as 09500234.doc 35 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 Indiana, have these plates. It's a good way for folks to express themselves. It's the same statement that we have on our money. It is… also goes… the most important thing in my eyes anyway, is the fact that this goes to a great cause, and that is the Military Families Relief Act. For those of you who may or may not remember that legislation, I was the Sponsor of that and what we did was we set up a fund that helps the families of those who are in financial stress due to the breadwinner being over in Afghanistan or Iraq. And sad to say many of the folks that originally had come to me with problems were not able to have Christmas presents for their kids. Some of them were having difficulty paying the phone bill, the rent, the other types of utility bills and so forth. So, this great fund which was set up, the Military Families Relief Act, provides money in forms of six hundred dollar ($600) grants, and I believe it has helped. The latest figure is that it has helped ten thousand (10,000) families in the State of Illinois. So, what this Bill will do, and I salute Representative Bradley, John Bradley, for this, is this will provide a permanent source of revenue, so that it won't just be donations to the Military Family Fund which is a current situation, but we'll have a steady source of revenue for the Military Families Relief Act. And so I would urge all to please support House Bill 4183."
"Representative Hannig is in the Chair. And the Chair recognizes Representative Golar."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the previous Bill, I would… I voted 'yes'. I would like to vote 'present'." 09500234.doc 36 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"The record will so reflect. Is there any further discussion? Then Representative Bradley, would you like to close?" Bradley, J.: "I'd like to thank Representative Boland for his assisting with this and his kind words. I want to thank all of you for your help with this as well. I'd 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 Feigenholtz, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 105 voting 'yes' and 3 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Franks, for what reason do you rise?"
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a point of personal privilege."
"State your point."
"Well, with all this prayer talk I just would like to let the General Assembly know that my prayer has been answered. News reports are indicating that Green Bay quarterback, Brett Favre, has decided to retire after seventeen (17) seasons. Go Bears."
"Representative Black, for what reason do you rise?"
"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Inquiry of the chair."
"State your inquiry." 09500234.doc 37 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"Mr. Speaker, have you looked out the window lately?"
"A little bit earlier."
"I don’t think there's any way the Illinois Senate will get back from Ohio… excuse me. I don’t think there's any way the Illinois Senate will be able to convene tomorrow, given this weather. I just had to take some books out to my car. I couldn’t find it. But out there in the parking lot, a young man with a sled dog went by and asked me which way to Anchorage. He said he was in the Iditarod. I said… I said, 'Sir, in all due respect, I think you're lost.' And he had to make some cute comment as he drove off. He said, 'Not as lost as you guys.' So, I'm just wondering have we made arrangements? Will there be cots brought in? Will there be ample food and water, because I… this is a veritable blizzard, Mr. Speaker. I don’t think we're going to get out of here for days. So, I just… I assume that we're making all the necessary emergency preparations. Has anybody talked to IEMA? I tried to tell you, Mr. Speaker, two (2) weeks ago. We have to watch the weather. And you wouldn’t do it. Now look. I don’t know what we're going to do. So, I… you'll take this under advisement?"
"Absolutely, Representative."
"All right. You're very kind to do so. Thank you."
"On page 6 of the Calendar, Representative Pritchard, you have House Bill 4199. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."
"House Bill 4199, a Bill for an Act concerning health. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Representative Pritchard." 09500234.doc 38 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, last year we passed this piece of legislation but it got sidetracked in the Senate. So, we're introducing it again. It's a piece of legislation that allows certified clinical consultants to… or counselors to deal with the admission of adolescents for mental illness and substance abuse disorders. I ask for your support."
"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 109 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 7 of the Calendar, under the Order of House Bills- Third Reading, Representative Sommer, you have House Bill 4201. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."
"House Bill 4201, a Bill for an Act concerning local government. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Representative Sommer."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 4201 is legislation which would extend the TIF districts for the Village of Downs, for another additional nine (9) years. All the taxing bodies within the community have signed on and are in support of the extension."
"This is on the Order of Short Debate. Does anyone stand in response? Then the question is, 'Shall 09500234.doc 39 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 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 107 voting 'yes' and 1 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Black, you have House Bill 4209. Okay. We'll… Mr. Clerk, would you read the Bill, please?"
"House Bill 4209, a Bill for an Act concerning appropriations. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black."
"Mr. Speaker, I'm sorry, I didn’t know that the Bill this was. I think the Governor's office and the Department of Military Affairs are trying very diligently to work out this situation of the boiler at Lincoln's Challenge. Let me just hold this Bill on Second until we make certain that the negotiations are either fruitful or get stalled. I'd appreciate that. Thank you."
"Did you wish to hold it on Third, where it's at?"
"No. Hold it on Second."
"So, you… okay. So…"
"Thank you."
"…Mr. Clerk, let's return this to the Order of Second Reading at the request of the Sponsor. And now, Representative Currie, you have House Bill 4212. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill." 09500234.doc 40 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"House Bill 4212, a Bill for an Act concerning State Government. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"The Lady from Cook, Majority Leader Currie."
"Thank you, Speaker, Members of the House. This is a measure we actually looked at last year. It didn’t go very far in the Senate, but the idea is that the Department of Children and Family Services should provide special help to grandparents, people over the age of 60 who are bringing up children who are DCF wards. This is a very important and growing population, not just in Illinois but across the nation. And we think it is important for those grandparents to know how they can plan succession should anything happen to them. And that they should have access to social services, help in bringing up children from the department. So, I'd be happy to answer your questions and I'd certainly appreciate your 'aye' vote for House Bill 4212."
"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 109 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Currie, you have House Bill 4215. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."
"House Bill 4215, a Bill for an Act concerning appropriations. Third Reading of this House Bill." 09500234.doc 41 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"The Lady from Cook, Representative Currie."
"Thank you, Speaker, and Members of the House. Last year we created an historic preservation program for the Illinois Supreme Court. I believe this year is the building's 100th birthday. What we were not able to do last year however was to make it clear that the appropriation that we gave the court could be used for this renovation restoration project. This Bill merely says that up to ten million dollars ($10,000,000) of either donated funds or money appropriated, already appropriated to the court, can be used for this project. I'd be happy to answer your questions. And would be grateful for your support of the Bill."
"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 Mulligan, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 107 voting 'yes' and 2 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Munson, you have House Bill 4219. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."
"House Bill 4219, a Bill for an Act concerning State Government. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Representative Munson."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 4219 creates the Identity Protection Act 09500234.doc 42 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 which applies many of the same provisions of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act to state and local governments. The Bill will prohibit state and local governments from publicly displaying Social Security numbers, transmitting them over the Internet without a secure or encrypted mechanism, requiring Social Security numbers to access Web sites, or printing Social Security numbers on any materials mailed or electronically mailed. It also requires state and local governments to create a policy to protect Social Security numbers when they have them in their possession and also train employees who have access to Social Security numbers on how to protect them. This similar measure passed out of the House last year, but was held up in the Senate. I will answer any questions and ask for your 'aye' vote."
This is on the Order of Short Debate. Does anyone stand in response? Then the question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' All in favor vote 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Represe… Mr. Clerk take the record. On this question, there are 109 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Eddy, you have House Bill 4226. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."
"House Bill 4226, a Bill for an Act concerning education. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Representative Eddy." 09500234.doc 43 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 4226 attempts to correct a problem with the state aid reimbursement for transportation. Currently, if you happen to have a household where there are two (2) students, let's say one of them is in second grade and one of them is in prekindergarten, if the second grader gets on that bus, you receive transportation at the full amount, but if the pre-K student at the same exact household gets on the bus, the amount of your transportation reimbursement is reduced. It's a problem with the way the formula is worded and stated. This Bill would correct that so that you would not be penalized for allowing both students from the same household to ride on the same bus. And actually, it would save the district having to send a second bus out to pick up the pre-K kid. And I'd appreciate an 'aye' vote."
"This is on the Order of Short Debate. Does anyone stand in response? Then the question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' All in favor vote 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 109 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Lindner, you have House Bill 4294. Do you wish us… Out of the record. Representative Reis, you have House Bill 4309. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."
"House Bill 4309, a Bill for an Act concerning education. Third Reading of this House Bill." 09500234.doc 44 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
Speaker Hannig: "The Gentleman from Jasper, Representative Reis."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 4309 provides that if a school district closes a particular school building that poses a hazardous threat to the health or safety of the students prior to providing the minimum number of instructional hours that’s currently in statute, then they would be able to, in fact, claim a full day of attendance for that building. This came about from a school district in our district that had to close a particular building in a school district because of vandalism and this Bill is supported by School Board Alliance, SCOPE, LEND and IEA, and IFT. I'd appreciate your support on this Bill and 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? Representative Riley and Soto, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 108 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Feigenholtz, you have House Bill 4314. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."
"House Bill 4314, a Bill for an Act concerning public health. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Representative Feigenholtz." 09500234.doc 45 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 4314 amends the Communicable Disease Prevention Act and strikes the provision of a Section requiring that the Illinois Department of Public Health or a local health department notify a school principal of the identity of a student who has tested positive for HIV or any other causative agent. I'd be glad to answer any questions."
"We're going to put this on Standard Debate to accommodate some of our Members. Representative Rose, you're recognized for 5 minutes. We're running the clock. We've been running the clock all afternoon since I've been in the Chair. So."
"We'll be watching the clock. Thank you. Will the Lady yield for a question?"
"She indicates she'll yield."
"I have a concern. And I'll tell you what the concern is. The concern is that if a… in an event of an emergency where a first responder, whether it's a police officer or a emergency medical technician, paramedic, whatever, comes to a school, don’t they want as much information possible about what's going on? I mean, shouldn’t they have that information?"
"This is a provision, actually, Representative Rose, that interestingly enough would be a violation of HIPAA. The difference is is that it was actually passed prior to HIPAA, but it violates the spirit of HIPAA."
"Well, I was going to say that our analysis indicates it's exempt from HIPAA. But the question, that wasn’t the question. The question is this. If a student who has one 09500234.doc 46 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 of these awful diseases is hospitalized and not treated because no one told the paramedic who came in an ambulance about the condition and was subsequently injured or died, would the school district be liable for that?"
"I don’t think so."
"You don’t think so?"
"No."
"Okay. So, if… you're saying that if the doctor's office, the emergency room, whatever, isn’t told this information and the school district had it available but they didn’t tell the paramedic, that there's no liability to the school district?"
"If they don’t know, they're not liable."
"But… Does this… for… does this your Bill address a student who… what if they do know? What if it's not the Department of Public Health who tells them but the parents?"
"I'm sorry. I didn’t hear you."
"What if it's the Department of Public… what if it’s not the Department of Public Health that tells them but are parents who tell them? And then they don’t pass that on. What does that do?"
"Then it's fine."
"I'm not sure that it's written that way, Representative but I'll listen to the debate."
"Representative Eddy, you're recognized for 5 minutes."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"She indicates she'll yield." 09500234.doc 47 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"Representative, I… the real question I have for you is your belief as to when it's appropriate for a school district or personnel of the school district to have information regarding communicable diseases for not only the safety of the student that may have the communicable disease, but for the rest of the student population. I understand what you're trying to do. My concern is, shouldn’t there be some way that some school personnel would have knowledge?"
"Currently, Representative Eddy, there are no other communicable diseases that are notifiable."
"Well…"
"That are more… actually more contagious than this."
"Well, wait a second. There are notifications from the health department to school districts regarding hepatitis, regarding meningitis. Whenever there… whenever there is…"
"It's not required by statute, Representative Eddy."
"Okay. But those notifications take place. So, I guess my question is, the overarching question is, in those situations when the student welfare of a group is concerning a communicable disease, is there not a way to make sure that some school district personnel has that information so that there can be that protection of everyone. And I'm not… I'm not just limiting this to…"
"No, I… I understand. And I appreciate your position and your questioning, 'cause I think it’s it very reasonable. And I think that a lot of the school districts 09500234.doc 48 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 have looked at this very carefully and weighed these individual situations. The difference here is is if there is an outbreak of meningitis, which is something that we've heard about happening in school districts, that is something that public health officials will notify school districts about or learn about from school districts. But they're not done on an individual basis. I think that the concern and agreement on the part of CPS, there was no, by the way, no opposition to this Bill. I think the school administrators are in support of it as are all the local health people that we deal with down here, is the cultural of sharing that goes on in school and…"
"And I got 5 minutes. So, I want to make sure… and I'd appreciate your position."
"And I really want… you know, I think that we're trying to strike this and repeal this, Representative, because of the individual nature of it, not because of the collective communicable…"
"It is my understanding you're concern that there won't be the confidentiality that this issue might need. Is that the issue?"
"That is exactly what the problem has been. This law has discouraged young people from testing for HIV."
"And I don’t want that to happen. I don’t."
"I know you don’t."
"But I do believe there's a way to do this so that school districts can be notified and perhaps confidentiality can be part of that notification or requirement, and / or I think now the principal is notified. There may be a more 09500234.doc 49 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 appropriate school personnel to be notified. If there's a nurse, they understand the confidentiality. My point is and to the Bill, with the remaining time I have. Ladies and Gentlemen, I want you to ask yourself one question about this Bill. One question. If this passes in its current form, and I have great respect for the Sponsor, I know what she's trying to do. But if this passes in its current form, do you feel safer? Do you feel safer sending your child to a school where that notification that now takes place will no longer take place? If you answer 'no' to that question, you should vote 'no' on this Bill, because there's a better way to work this out. There is a way, I think, to respect the issue that the Representative brings to this Assembly while still making sure that in our public schools there is an appropriate notification, so that we have some knowledge of a student with a communicable disease. And I understand the differentiation you're making. I do have a concern with the safety issues that, and in fact, this could cause if passes. Again, all due respect to the Sponsor. I understand what she's trying to do. This is dangerous, Ladies and Gentlemen. This dangerous public policy and I urge a 'no' vote."
"Representative Reis, you're recognized for 5 minutes."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"Indicates she'll yield."
"Representative, what's the genesis of this Bill for you?" 09500234.doc 50 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"Representative, the Bill was brought to me by school officials and the Children's Place, Cathy Krieger. There's certainly been a rise in HIV transmission amongst youth. They're very, very concerned that one of the reasons that this is happening is because testing is prohibitive because of this law in school cultures."
"It's not prohibitive, but don’t you feel… and I'm speaking to you today as a parent. I know sometimes we get into this philosophical debate, you and I, on our various pieces of legislation. But I'm questioning your Bill today as a parent. And I think everyone in the General Assembly here today should be doing that and not let the side groups that sometimes we both represent come into the debate. But as a parent I would want to know that my child is being taken care of with every precaution possible by the… the administrators. Say they get hurt on the playground, they get a cut or they get into a fight, two (2) boys get into a fight or two (2) girls. Say a basketball player gets hit in the nose with an elbow, that precautions are being taken that no other children are going to have this virus passed on to them that they could very well carry for the rest of their life."
"Actually, I would hope that schools teach their children and the students that they're watching over to take precautions all of the time."
"Yeah, but the principals will know…"
"Because we don’t… because…"
"…that that pers… that child has HIV."
"I… The answer to that is 'no'." 09500234.doc 51 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"Well, and you know, if you're saying that we should teach them not to fight and get all of that, I mean, that just doesn't happen. Accidents happen, either on the playground or in school or on athletic courts where sometimes the boys or girls are bleeding and precautions should be taken. And I understand the HIPAA thing, but you know, I think Illinois, this Bill passed that allowed this before the HIPAA Bill came into effect and it's a good thing. I oppose your Bill, not because of our ideology differences, but as a parent, I want to make sure that administrators have all the ability and ammunition they have, no pun intended, to make sure that the safety of all the kids are taken care of."
"We've had three (3) speak in response. The rules would provide that two (2) additional speakers could rise in favor. Does anyone wish to speak in favor? Representative Schmitz, did you wish to speak in favor? Okay. Then Representative Feigenholtz, you're recognized to close."
"Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I really, really appreciate some of the comments that my colleagues have made and the concerns that they've brought up and I think that in this Body we have some very difficult decisions to make in weighing the benefits of this. Again, I think that if this law had been passed after HIPAA this would have been a clear violation of that law. It is… it is my desire that this will help with the environment in schools and will encourage children not to be afraid and remove a barrier to testing so that we can 09500234.doc 52 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 successfully screen and treat people who are HIV positive and I ask you 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? Representative Colvin and Golar, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 42 voting 'yes' and 65 voting 'no'. And the Bill fails. Representative Acevedo, you have House Bill 4357. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."
"House Bill 4357, a Bill for an Act concerning criminal law. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Representative Acevedo."
"Mr. Speaker, if I may, can I put it back on Second Reading? I have an Amendment."
"We'll move this back to the Order of Second Reading at the request of the Sponsor. And Representative Mautino, you have House Bill 4378. Representative Mautino, do you wish us to read this Bill? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."
"House Bill 4378, a Bill for an Act concerning local government. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Representative Mautino."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. This is an initiative of the Township Officials of Illinois and it would allow for the… in the cases where cellular providers are going to be putting up towers… cell towers, the townships want the ability to extend their leases up to a maximum of twenty-five (25) years. The 09500234.doc 53 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 current law is ten (10). And in the situation with cell towers, the companies, since there's a large capital investment, have asked for a longer term of the lease. The townships agree, there is no opposition. And be happy to answer any questions."
"This is on the Order of Short Debate. Does anyone stand in response? The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"He indicates he'll yield."
"Representative, a question that just came into my mind. Under existing law, how does a township enter into such a lease? Do they have to take the best offer if there are multiple offers from… you know, there… there still are more than… there's still several cell phone companies… I don’t know how much longer that will be the case. But do they have to take the best offer?"
"I believe it's best and final offer."
"Okay. So, they couldn’t enter into a executive session deal where they just wanted to deal with AT&T and not Sprint, or Verizon, or whatever. It would have to be done transparently to get a… so the public would know they have leased this for the best price they could get."
"I believe that's correct."
"Okay. I would assume…"
"I can find out for sure…"
"…that would be the case. I just…" 09500234.doc 54 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"…that would be my assumption and that's how I've seen it done and I've actually seen the bids published."
"Okay. I would hope that would be the case. Thank you very much."
"Representative Mautino to close."
"I'd appreciate 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 Scully, Fortner, Will Davis. Mr. Clerk take the record. On this question, there are 110 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Colvin, you have House Bill 4379. Do you wish us to read this Bill? Out of the record. Representative May, you have House Bill 4390. Out of the record. Representative Lindner, you have two (2) appropriation Bills, House Bill 4428. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."
"House Bill 4428, a Bill for an Act making appropriations. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Representative Lindner."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is an appropriation to the Kendall County Health Department, so that they can get their own funding for their mental health clients that they serve."
"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 09500234.doc 55 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Yarbrough, Wait, Riley, Brauer, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 106 voting 'yes' and 3 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. And Representative Lindner, you have House Bill 4434. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."
"House Bill 4434, a Bill for an Act concerning appropriations. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Representative Lindner."
"Thank you. This is an appropriation to the Association for Individual Development in Aurora to have support services for… mental health support services for children. And would be divided between Tri-City Family Services, Elgin Family Services and AID."
"This is on the Order of Short Debate. And in response, the Gentleman from Cook, Representative McCarthy."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"Indicates she'll yield."
"Representative, I probably should have asked you on the last Bill, too. Is this part of the FY09 budget?"
"Yes."
"Has this group received money in the FY08 budget?"
"I don’t believe so."
"So, this would be an entire increase then."
"Yes."
"And do you have any revenue source? I've heard…"
"From the Department of Human Services." 09500234.doc 56 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"That's where the revenue will come from, but how is the Department of Human Services going to get that revenue?"
"Well, I think it that when with all these appropriation Bills they have to look at their budget and decide what to fund and what not to fund."
"So, you're hoping that at the end of the day that when it's all discussed this will be added to the DHS budget?"
"Yes. I would…"
"Do you know anything in the DHS budget that could reduce eight hundred thousand ($800,000) in order to make this appropriation available?"
"Well, I think there are probably things that we're spending money on that this would be a more worthwhile thing, because right now SASS covers emergency services, but then there's no money for community mental health. And that's what this would do with children. It would follow them and make sure that they don’t keep coming back and are in crisis. And I think it would actually save the state money to fund this."
"Okay. Well, I think this… I think this and your last Bill, of course, are for wonderful causes, and would probably be money very well spent if we had it. But I'm sure the few people that voted 'no' are just worried about where's the revenue going to come from. Is it going to be taken away from another program? And until we start identifying the revenue sources, I think I do kind of agree with them that sending forth one individual appropriation. 09500234.doc 57 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 I mean, I should do probably something for southwest Cook County now and… and I maybe will have to vote 'no' just because I feel bad that I didn’t do it for my own area. So… but good luck."
"Any further discussion? Representative Lindner, you're recognized to close."
"Thank you. Well, I feel that I'm expressing, you know, my interests as to what I think should be in the budget. And the Governor obviously has some other interests that I don’t agree with. So, I would ask for a favorable 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 Coulson, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 102 voting 'yes' and 8 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Fortner, you have House Bill 4450. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."
"House Bill 4450, a Bill for an Act concerning civil law. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Representative Fortner."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House. House Bill 4450 extends a protection for victims that already exists in the state correctional system down to the county correctional system that has to do with the case where a inmate in the state correctional system. Right now, if they should receive a settlement from the state, there is 09500234.doc 58 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 notification of the victim that that settlement was made. So, the settlement… so that the victim could choose to pursue a civil action against that inmate. What this Bill does is provide that exact same protection should someone be in the custody of the counties. I would be happy to answer any questions."
"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 Munson, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 110 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Beaubien, you have House Bill 4454. Out of the record. Representative Harris, you have House Bill 4455. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."
"House Bill 4455, a Bill for an Act making appropriations. Third Reading of this House Bill."
Speaker Hannig: "The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Harris."
"Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen. This is an appropriation to the FY09 budget to supplement the Governor's request. It would provide housing and transitional jobs training to the twenty-five thousand (25,000) youth who are homeless in Illinois each year: eight thousand (8,000) approximately in Cook County, eight thousand (8,000) in central Illinois, and eight thousand 09500234.doc 59 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 (8,000) youth in downstate Illinois. I'd be happy to answer any questions."
Speaker Hannig: "And on this Bill, the Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black."
"Thank you very… thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I don’t want to vote against this Bill or any of these appropriation Bills, but I don’t know what we're doing here. I… we haven’t done appropriations like this in a number of years. Ladies and Gentlemen, I don’t know where the seven million ($7,000,000) comes from. I don’t even know where the million dollars ($1,000,000) comes from that the Governor announced this morning he was going to send to Pilgrim Baptist Church that was destroyed by fire because the first million ($1,000,000) he sent to the Pilgrim Baptist Church didn’t go to that institution. It went to a school, a private school as I recall, that was located in the church. So, he's found another million dollars (1,000,000). I don’t know where and the Governor said he was going to do that, so that's fine. But I, again, rise out of concern. I have the opportunity in my district on or before March 9 to honor a commitment of one million dollars (1,000,000) to an industry who will locate a high-tech machine operation, saving two hundred (200) jobs currently in Danville and bringing about two hundred and fifty (250) new jobs. And I'm told that even though this commitment was made by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, there wasn’t a reapprop so they don’t have the money. I've also been told by the company that if we don’t honor our commitment by… on or by March the 9, 09500234.doc 60 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 there's a very good opportunity that they will not transfer their machining operation to Illinois, particularly in Danville, Illinois in my district and they may very well close the machining operation that they currently have in Danville. Ladies and Gentlemen, I don’t think any of you would turn your back on four hundred and fifty (450) or five hundred (500) jobs and twenty-five ($25,000,000) to forty million dollars (40,000,000) in investment, but if I vote for these appropriation Bills the only question I'm going to be asked when I go back home, 'where is the million dollars ($1,000,000) that was promised to a business that wanted to locate a high-tech facility in Illinois?' And suddenly, the State of Illinois tells me we can't honor that commitment. We don’t have the money. Well, if we don’t have the money to honor a commitment and stand to lose up to five hundred (500) jobs, if the Sponsor could simply tell me where we're gonna find seven million dollars ($7,000,000), albeit for a very good cause, and I would normally vote for it, I… I just… I can't do it. I can't go back home and look people in the eye and say I couldn’t find the million dollars ($1,000,000) to bring new jobs to Danville, and save current jobs in Danville but I voted for seven, ten, twenty, thirty million dollars ($7,000,000 - $10,000,000 - $20,000,000 - $30,000,000) in expenditures. It… it's not a comfortable position to be in. I wish I wasn’t in this position, but perhaps Representative Harris can tell me if we can't find the million dollars ($1,000,000) to honor a written commitment, 09500234.doc 61 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 where are we going to find the seven million dollars ($7,000,000) to do this?"
"Representative Hamos."
"Thank you. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"Indicates he'll yield."
"Representative Harris, aside from what we're hearing, is the natural reluctance of any of us to be doing budgeting in this new creative way we're doing it this year, I have a question about this specific program and you and I have had some discussion about this. The Bill itself says that this is for shelter and transitional housing and employment assistance for homeless youth. And homeless youth are defined as what in this Bill?"
"Youth who are no longer welcome in their family home and are basically living on the streets at their own devices. Children that I've had a chance to meet with as young as eight (8) years old, you know, all over the State of Illinois, you know, on up to their early twenties (20s)."
"So, this does go up into the early twenties (20s), right?"
"In some cases, yes."
"So, isn’t it probable that most of these young people do not have a high school degree?"
"I think it's… you know, at least from the young people I've met, anecdotally the answer is true. And statistically, from the surveys I've seen, the answer is true, which is why most of the facilities that work with 09500234.doc 62 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 them stress either completion of high school, GED, or vocational training."
"Well, and the Bill doesn’t say that. So, but I wanted to really just put out there and would ask you and suggest to you that you should work with those groups to do this. If we're going to more than double the appropriation that we're giving to programs, it seems to me that getting students into… getting young people into education should be, really be the number two (2) priority, right after stabilizing them and getting them to be there. And the number two (2) priority and instead of offering what I'm sure are menial, fairly menial low-wage subsidized jobs that will go away the minute that these young people age out of the program, it seems to me a really important bang for the buck would be to get these people into school and to push on them the importance of getting a GED. Sometimes I would think these youth have not really gotten that message anywhere. They don’t have families who support or reinforce that. And I'm wondering and I want these programs to do more and I want that to be our value as public officials, that we will want students… young people to get their educational degree to allow them to succeed in later life. So, will you do that? And work with these programs. I have tried my own informal way, but you are the Sponsor. This is a big increase in their appropriation. And I think it just seems to need some guidance from the policy level."
"Absolutely, and I think as we try to work on establishing programs in downstate and central Illinois… 09500234.doc 63 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 Remember there are sixteen thousand (16,000) homeless kids in downstate and central Illinois. There are only eleven (11) service providers. So, one of the key things is to begin to find places for these young folks to have a safe haven to begin to get the services they need, including education because we all know that's the key to their future. They also need to learn job skills and a recent study done by the University of Illinois last year, you'll be happy to know, shows that of young people coming out of the homeless services system that currently exist 42 percent left with high school diploma or GED, 8.5 percent went on to post secondary education and 36 percent got vocational education."
"Yeah. I just don’t know if this is really a condition of getting these grants. Again, I think that when we're talking about homeless youth, probably many of them are pretty burned out on school. They probably haven’t been treated very well by the school districts in which they've come, because we know that they've had kind of a scattered existence. And I'm sure all of them want some money in their pocket just like most teenagers I know. And getting them into educational program is harder, requires more vigilance. It's a more… it's more difficult to do that hookup and I just want that to be a part of these programs. And I don’t know that we have said that before when they're coming to us for a big increase, that's a good time to engage in this conversation. Thank you."
"Thank you."
"Representative Mulligan." 09500234.doc 64 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"Indicates he'll yield."
"Representative, this is one of the issues that's high on my priority list, but although I didn’t hear everything Representative Hamos said it seems to me that how we spend this money would be really important to those of us that are interested and to make sure that it goes to appropriate places. So, I want to support you on this, but I hope you will support us back on the issue of how you think this money would be spent? I have a little cold so it's a little hard for me to articulate this morning. But could you tell me how you envision this money being spent. Is it just all going to be out in grants or will the grants be classified as to so much going for issues, so much going towards job programs? You know, I'd like to see some decent job programs that would really be helpful and work for these young people. I'm just trying to envision… I know you were in committee before us, but it's an issue that some of us are really interested in this year."
"Sure. Representative, about 70-75 percent, and I'd have to work out the math, is dedicated to housing and supportive services and about… the remainder, about 23-25 percent goes to the transitional jobs program. And we actually have started a task force of providers and employment folks and the educators that are meeting on an ad hoc basis. And I'd be happy to provide you and Representative Hamos with the times and places so that you can help us figure out how this will all work." 09500234.doc 65 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"I'm trying to remember. Is this the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless that's behind this?"
"No. They are one of the people who are participating… one of the agencies participating, but, there are many agencies, many providers, and… as well as educators, Workforce Development people, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, working together to sort of develop a public/private strategy."
"All right. And what age does this go up to now? Did she say?"
"It depends on the Programs, but it generally… the oldest are the early 20s. The bulk are in their young teens."
"I have a group in my area, The Harbor, that I think is part of the coalition. I think the Harbour that's in our area is part of this coalition, if I remember correctly from committee, which is girls, young women."
"Yes."
"Yes. Okay. So, I'd like to support you in this. I think it's an important issue, particularly since, you know, people don’t understand some of the issues that make them homeless are really serious family issues that they feel they have to get out of the house to survive. So, we're willing to support you on this and we'd like certainly to have a discussion on how we can appropriately spend the money to the best, you know, bang for the buck, basically."
"All right. I very much appreciate that, Representative. Thank you." 09500234.doc 66 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"Thank you."
"Representative McCarthy."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And hopefully, these questions weren't asked 'cause I had to run out for a second. Representative, is this an appropriation that you have planned for FY09?"
"Yes, Sir."
"And does this group have an appropriation in FY '08?"
"Yes, they do."
"And how much is that?"
"I believe that they had for the last twenty (20) years about a six hundred thousand (600,000) or seven hundred thousand (700,000) appropriation. There's an additional appropriation in the '09 budget of about six hundred and sixty thousand (660,000)."
"So, the '09 budget as introduced has about 1.3 million (1,300,000) then, approximately."
"Something like that."
"And you're asking for…"
"I'm asking in this for seven million (7,000,000) because that's what it'll take. Right now, understand Representative, over half these young people are turned away on any given night because there's no capacity in the system."
"Okay."
"So this is what's projected to be able to put a roof over their heads." 09500234.doc 67 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008
"I'm just trying to see at what increase in the budget this would be. So, it's about…"
"A very large one."
"… a 5.7 (5,700,000) or 5.7 million (5,700,000) or something? I hear there was million (7,000,000) and you had 1.3 (1,300,000)?"
"Yes."
"Okay. And do you have a revenue source for that?"
"Well, I think that you… a couple have been brought up. I mean there seems to be a million dollars ($1,000,000) for the lab school around. There seems to be a million dollars ($1,000,000) for the people who were supposed to get the first million dollar ($1,000,000) check. I listened very intently…"
"I think that money is out the door, though."
"…last week at JCAR where Director Maram talked about sixty-five million dollar ($65,000,000) figures that were not appropriated, saying, oh, these were simply rounding errors in our budget. We can always find this amount of money. So, I assume Human Services can find this amount of money, too, if they want to."
"Yeah. But I think we're all realist and all should be realists and unfortunately, as great of an idea as this would be to fully fund this and make sure these individuals are all cared for, without a true revenue source, sometimes it's like we're giving them a hope but we're not there to back it up with the money. So, unfortunately, until we see a revenue source that would actually be directed towards this, I feel compelled to vote against doing the budgeting 09500234.doc 68 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 this way. It's not your fault. I just don’t think this is the right way to do it."
"And I don’t take it personally, Representative. I just think this is an amount of money that the department can find. And I think there's one other thing that's true. We can spend this money on these children now of about seven million dollars ($7,000,000) or every year from here on out we'll be seeing them again in juvenile justice, in the Department of Corrections, in Medicaid. And it's going to cost us a heck of a lot more when they fall through the cracks and become prostitutes, substance abusers, and continue to remain homeless. That's what happens."
"I think you have a good point and I just hope you're wrong. I don’t think you're wrong but I would hope that you're wrong about that. Thank you."
"Representative Harris to close."
"Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen. Again, just to emphasize, this is a statewide program. It would serve the… approximately 50 percent of the twenty-five thousand (25,000) homeless youth who are not currently served within the system and I'd appreciate 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 Cultra, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 80 voting 'yes' and 30 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 8 of the Calendar, at 09500234.doc 69 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 the bottom of the page is House Bill 4757. And Mr. Clerk, the Sponsor requests to return that to the Order of Second Reading. Representative Golar, for what reason do you rise?"
"Mr. Speaker, I would like the record to reflect that House Bill 4314, I would like to be recorded as a 'no'."
"The record will reflect your intentions."
"Thank you."
Speaker Hannig: "Mr. Clerk, would you read the Agreed Resolutions."
"On the Order of Agreed Resolutions is House Resolution 1043, offered by Representative Currie. House Resolution 1044, offered by Representative Lyons. House Resolution 1045, offered by Representative Coladipietro. House Resolution 1046, offered by Representative Black. House Resolution 1047, offered by Representative Beiser. House Resolution 1049, offered by Representative Granberg."
"Representative Currie moves for the adoption of the Agreed Resolutions. All in favor say 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The 'ayes' have it and the Agreed Resolutions are adopted. Are there any announcements? Representative Currie."
"Thank you, Speaker. The Innocence Project which planned a reception this afternoon, 5:00 to 7:00 I believe at the Pasfield House, has been canceled because of the weather. So, scratch it from your calendar, but we'll let you know when it is rescheduled."
Speaker Hannig: "Are there any other announcements? Then allowing perfunctory time for the Clerk, Representative 09500234.doc 70 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 234th Legislative Day 3/4/2008 Currie moves that the House adjourn until Wednesday, March 5 at the hour of 12 noon. All in favor say 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The 'ayes' have it. The Motion is adopted and the House stands adjourned." 09500234.doc 71