Illinois House Floor Debate — May 1, 2008

"The hour of 10:30 having arrived, the House will be in order. Members will be in their seats. Members and guests are asked to refrain from starting their laptops. Turn off all cell phones and pagers and rise for the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance. We shall be led in prayer today by Reverend Ritch Boerckle, who is the pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Peoria. Reverend Boerckle is the guest of Representative Schock."

"Representative… Representative Lindner, will you lead us in the Pledge." Lindner – et al: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

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

"Thank you, Speaker. Please let the record reflect that Representatives Dugan, Gordon, Scully, Soto, Washington and Rich Bradley are excused today."

"And Representative Bost."

"Mr. Clerk, take the record. There are 108 Members answering the Roll Call; a quorum is present. Representative Will Davis, for what reason do you rise?" Davis, Will: "Point of personal privilege."

"State your point." Davis, Will: "Ladies and Gentlemen, if you will please… if I can please have your attention. I want to acknowledge that on tomorrow, May 2, my seatmate Deborah Graham will be 09500259.doc 2  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 celebrating a birthday. I believe she's going to be 21 tomorrow. Thanks to Representative Raymond Poe, there is cake in the back in Skip Saviano's office, so please come and enjoy some cake. Thank you and happy birthday to Deborah Graham."

"Representative Hamos."

"Thank you. Also on a note of personal privilege, I would like to introduce a really wonderful class: Mr. Clemenz' class from New Trier High School. And when I met with them last week in preparation for their trip to Springfield, I thought the most challenging question I received from one of the young women was, Why is Illinois 51st in the funding for disabled services?. Please give them a warm welcome. Mr. Clemenz' class."

"Representative Coulson, I'm advised that you have a House Resolution 1167 on page 28 of the Calendar."

"Is there any discussion? Then all in favor of the Resolution say 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The 'ayes' have it. And the Resolution is adopted. Representative Lang, for what reason do you rise?"

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There was an omission on the excused absences and that would include Representative Patterson."

"The record will so reflect. And Mr. Clerk, read the Committee Reports."

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

"Absolutely, Representative."

"Representative D'Amico."

"Point of personal privilege." 09500259.doc 6  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

"State your point."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Up here in the gallery to my right I have the eighth grade graduating class of Edgebrook School. I'd like everyone to give 'em a big round of applause. Welcome."

"Representative Bost."

"Proceed."

"Representative Stephens."

"Representative Graham."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to former Representative Robin Kelly for the birthday cake and Representative Raymond Poe. But it's just not regular cake; you guys need to understand that. It's butter cake. So, if you want some butter cake. I don’t want to have to take it home with me, so help me eat the butter cake. It's in the back in Saviano's area, but so… I just want you to 09500259.doc 9  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 understand it's just not regular cake, it's butter cake. Thank you."

"Representative Fritchey."

"Thank you, Speaker. I just want to weigh in on some of the comments here. I'm neither ashamed nor embarrassed of our actions of not considering this matter. Like many of you, I was here when we suspended the sale… gas sales tax several years ago under the Ryan administration. And I know that when we did it then, gas prices did not go down. There was a negligible drop that maybe lasted a week or so and that was it. The effect of rolling back the sales tax right now is not just one that would have an adverse impact on our budget. It simply on… ironic that on a day when Exxon reported record profits again, I believe of about 10 billion dollars (10,000,000,000) in the first quarter, that the Republicans are advocating that we roll back the sales tax. Their prices are gonna stay the same; their profits are going to go up. We're not helping anybody but the oil companies right now. So, if you… if you want sit here and you want to demagogue on this issue, you want to try to make political points by saying that you want to help people, you can do that. But don’t try to lay the blame on us. We have nothing to be ashamed for right now. And we're not going to be engaged in pandering on an issue, which sounds really good, and it does sound good. We want to help people. Here, none of us like paying 70, 80, 100 dollars ($70, $80, $100) to fill up a gas tank. But a temporary roll back of the sales tax for political expediency, going into a campaign season, is not the 09500259.doc 10  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 answer. That's not offering people hope; that’s offering them false hope. And we're not going to be a part of it. Thank you."

"Representative Meyer."

"Representative Eddy."

"Representative Winters."

"Representative Bill Mitchell." Mitchell, B.: "Thank you, Mr… Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week we just came back from break. We were on break last week and I, as well as I'm sure many others, had town meetings. And what the folks of the town meetings were saying was, what are you doing about the price of gasoline? What are you doing about the Recall Amendment? They’re very unhappy with the state of government in Springfield nowadays. Now my friend and colleague across the aisle from the City of Chicago said we're pandering. He said we're just doing politics as usual. That's the one thing that we don’t want to do. Because we all represent Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. And regardless of political parties, they’re having a tough time in their pocketbook. They’re having a very, very difficult time and one of the reasons is, gasoline is high. Now my friend said, and I'll agree with one thing, he said it shouldn’t be a temporary, or it's a temporary relief. Well, it should… what we should do is lift the sales tax on gasoline permanently. We're only one of nine (9) states that have it. We do know a fact is that for every fifty cent increase in the price of gasoline, the State Treasury makes an additional hundred and twenty million dollars 09500259.doc 17  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 ($120,000,000). So this General Assembly is good at spending the money for program after program after program but they tell the people… they give the people that we represent in effect a slap in the face. Now, the logic on the other side of the aisle I think is flawed. I said you lift the sales tax, these companies are going to make more and more money… well, I'm not really… we know that these gas companies are making a heck of a lot of money and that's another issue. But the precedent has been set in the State of Illinois. We don’t tax food; we don’t tax medicine. And so when food goes up, we don’t say… we don’t have the sales tax to blame. But we've set the precedent in saying food is important, medicine is important; it is a staple of life. Right now, particularly in downstate Illinois. The folks that I represent have to travel sometimes twenty (20), thirty (30) miles to work. It's just as important a commodity for people on fixed incomes, and most the people we represent are on fixed incomes. Is… it's very important that we give them some form of relief. We've already set the precedent in terms of food and medicine. Let's just extend it to gasoline. That's something that people… it's a commodity; it's a staple of life. Let's debate this issue, folks. The people that we represent demand us to get something done instead of bickering and bickering and bickering and acting like silly children. Let's vote on this thing; let's debate it. Thank you."

"Representative Monique Davis." 09500259.doc 18  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 Davis, M.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've been listening to this interesting debate in reference to a gas holiday in Illinois. When we had an opportunity in this Body to reduce the taxes, not just on gas, but on income, my colleagues failed to support that issue. It was House Joint Resolution 42. It would have allowed a small increase for those who earned over two hundred fifty thousand (250,000). It would have allowed a greater exemption on families as they file their income tax. But, no, we didn’t want to vote for that. But we want to offer people twenty-four dollar ($24) holiday on gas tax. That’s about what it will come to, at the federal level. It truly amazes and surprises me that any candidate would suggest a gas tax holiday. Why? Because as stated, as researched, and as offered by Barack Obama, a federal tax holiday would mean the loss of three hundred thousand (300,000) jobs in our country. A tax holiday would mean the lack of improvement on our roads. It would be another attack on the truck drivers. Where is the federal administration? Where is Bush when we're talking about these huge profits by these oil giants? No one talks about the trillions of dollars they are earning on a quarterly basis to the detriment of all of Illinois’s citizens. It would appear to me the argument should be to let's stop these profits of these oil companies to raise the price of a needed commodity for this economy to live, to survive, to raise the prices and nobody wants to talk about that. They want to talk about reducing a tax, reducing a tax that is the tax that pays for people to go to work everyday. It is the 09500259.doc 19  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 tax that's used to pay to repair the roads, to repair the highways. Mr. Speaker, thank you for this opportunity, but I am going to beg my colleagues to be genuine, to not be disingenuous, but to be genuine. When you talk about reducing the cost to our taxpayer. Let's talk about reducing those profits to those greedy, greedy oil men that Bush is supporting. A tax holiday is merely saving the pain for the next three (3) months and perhaps the pain will be doubled. Thank you, Mr. Speaker."

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

"I want to… I want to follow up on the previous speaker. She… she made some great points."

"Proceed."

"I know when our current President was elected, I was paying about ninety-eight cents a gallon for gas when I drive to Springfield from Marengo. Now I'm paying almost $4.00 a gallon, as everybody else is, and we know that the President is an oil man, and the people who put up his money early were all oil people. And I think they’re getting a heck of a return on their investment. Today, Exxon Mobile announced that they made 10.9 billion dollars ($10,900,000,000), billion dollars, in the first quarter. Their record last year was over 36 billion dollars ($36,000,000,000) profit. We're not talking sales; we're talking profit. And they’re going to make over 40 billion dollars ($40,000,000,000) this year. There's a real problem with our energy policy. It emanates at the highest levels of our Federal Government. We don’t have an energy 09500259.doc 20  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 policy, except to make oil companies richer. There's very little input in alternate sources of fuel, harnessing wind, and solar, which we ought to be concentrating on. But I think we oughta place blame where blame belongs and look at the dismal leadership of President Bush on this matter, and we ought to be talking to our Congress people about this. Now I appreciate this debate because it does bring it to light, and there's certainly things that we ought to be doing here in the state as well by encouraging alternate sources of energy, but I think we ought to be pushing hard, and efficiencies, absolutely, and our buildings, and in everything we do. But we ought to be putting pressure on our Federal Government, and perhaps looking at our foreign policy to determine on who we support and why and where we’re going to be spending our money, and looking at why our gas prices are so high. And perhaps, instead of subsidizing countries that don’t allow women to vote and pay their defense, that possibly we should be subsidizing the gas prices here for our own citizens, instead of subsidizing that of the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia. Thank you."

"Representative Black, it's your turn again."

"The Chair recognizes Speaker Madigan."

"Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, I rise for the purpose of an announcement. I'm going to direct my remarks to this piece of paper that has been distributed in the last few minutes. This concerns scheduling and it concerns the possibility that the Senate may pass a Constitutional Amendment that would provide for recall in the State of Illinois. I presume that all of you are aware of developments in the Senate where the Constitutional Amendment has been amended to include local government officials and judges, and I'm advised that that Resolution will be considered by the Senate sometime today. We don't know when they will consider that Resolution today. It might be soon; it might be later. We just don't know and in terms of planning, our plan for the House is that we will adjourn about 2:00 today and permit people to go home. If we receive a Message from the Senate either today or tomorrow, the plan is that the Rules Committee will send that matter directly to the floor. That would permit for First Reading today or tomorrow, Second Reading 09500259.doc 26  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 either tomorrow or Saturday, and then we would plan to return to Springfield on Sunday for floor consideration of the Amendment. This all pertains if the Senate passes the Resolution. If the Resolution fails in the Senate, then we will just follow the schedule which was published and would provide that we would be here next week, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. But what we're trying to do is to have an orderly consideration of this matter and also permit you to go home to your districts for part of the weekend. As I said, if we get a message today or tomorrow, the Rules Committee will send the matter to the floor for consideration on Sunday. We have scheduled a meeting of the State Government Administration Committee for Sunday at 1 p.m. to take testimony and to engage in discussion in debate concerning the Constitutional Amendment in the event that it arrives here from the Senate. Mr. Speaker, I presume that there'll be some questions."

"Representative Black."

"The parliamentarian advises me that we can do that and that's part of the plan. They would be read in a Perfunctory Session." 09500259.doc 27  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

"We haven't done that. As I said, we're planning a committee hearing. If a… if there's objection, then there's objection. We view this as an extraordinary situation. As I explained yesterday on the floor, the House in considering this issue acted in due time for the Senate to take up consideration of the matter. They chose to do it differently. They’re the ones that are considering a Senate Resolution today where we are within three (3) to four (4) days of a Constitutional deadline. And so our thinking is that we want to accommodate the scheduling of the Members, permit them to go home, but to return on Sunday, which is the Constitutional deadline. We've announced that we'll have this committee hearing. We're making that announcement without regard to a suspension of the posting requirements. We wouldn’t be able to do that until the message arrived from the Senate. And as I said earlier, we don’t know when that will arrive. So we’re proceeding in good faith, presuming that some people would like to attend a committee hearing on this matter."

"The answer to that is yes."

"We're going to now move to the Order of House Bills-Third Reading. Excuse me, Mr. Speaker, did you have a closing statement?"

"I've been advised that the Senate just took up consideration of the Constitutional Amendment, so we may have a… we may have knowledge of a result very shortly. But just one more item, I talked about receiving a message in the House and simply because they pass a Resolution, doesn’t mean that a Message arrives in the House. And we 09500259.doc 30  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 would advise everyone to check your offices or check your Leadership office to ask did the Message arrive before you make plans to come down. Thank you."

"Now on the Order of House Bills-Third Reading is House Bill 5148. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Representative Will Davis." Davis, W.: "Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Over the past couple of months, we have been a… a should I say over the last couple of months, there have been a number of news stories that have involved individuals who have been the unfortunate victims of dealing with issues of domestic violence. Some of them have resulted in an individual being killed or murdered as a result of a domestic violence situation. In lieu of some of those situations, Members on the other side of the aisle, led by Leader Cross, have introduced a series of Bills or a… to deal with issues of domestic violence, one of which have included that in the case where an order of protection has been instituted, the individual in which the order has been put against may even wear a monitoring bracelet to keep track of their whereabouts. And there are a number of other pieces of legislation that have been brought by the other side of the aisle in reference to orders of protection. Well, in… in line with some of those pieces of legislation, and at the request of a constituent, I have introduced House Bill 5148, which essentially says that… essentially says that this allows that after a 09500259.doc 31  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 preliminary order of protection has been granted that if there is indeed good cause that that order of protection can be in re… or should I say reinstituted or a… lost for word here, that an order of protection can be brought back, so to speak, and that order of protection can remain indefinitely against that individual. Again, this is… I feel yet another tool by which we can try to protect individuals who have been the unfortunate victims of domestic violence, and that is why I brought this piece of legislation. So I'll be more than happy to answer any questions."

"Is there any discussion? Then the question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' All in favor vote 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Brauer. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 107 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative May, you have House Bill 4791. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk. Representative May, I'm advised that there is an Amendment.

"Yes…I"

So do you wish us to return it to Second?"

"Yes, please."

"Okay. So, Mr. Clerk, return this to the Order of Second Reading. Are there any Amendments?"

Speaker Hannig: "So, on Amendment #3… 2, Amendment #2, Representative May."

"Yes, I only move the adoption of Amendment 2. It's technical. We've inserted the language, ‘except for willful and wanton misconduct,’ thereby tightening it up."

"Is there any discussion? Then all in favor of the Amendment say 'aye'; opposed… Excuse me, Representative Black."

"She indicates she'll yield."

"You know I was thinking about that and I think it came from staff."

"Okay. The original Amendment 1 was… was I believe the telecommunications carriers."

"I thought it came from staff, but it could be."

"I… You know what, I'll have to look at the analysis. I can do that."

"But the ori… the original Amendment was the do… a… if this is about the sale of tickets and…"

"The underlying Bill, the underlying Bill. So, the telecommunications carriers wanted Amendment #1 and then this, making it just for willful and wanton, would indeed give them, if they did… had willful and wanton conduct."

"And wanton. Yes."

"A… No, I don’t think it's menu item #2."

"It's illegal…"

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

Speaker Hannig: "We'll just move this to Third Reading. Representative Black."

"State your inquiry."

"Mr. Clerk, what's the status of Amendment #4?" 09500259.doc 34  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

"Representative May."

"Yes, if I could clarify. Amendments 3 and 4 were drafted by Representative Saviano, and he advised me that he wished not to attach them or to call them."

"That's my understanding. Yes."

"And Representative Saviano said he wished not to pursue it at this time."

"Amendment 3 was drafted by staff and the staffer standing with you said it was just a mistake. They wanted to do 4. But a… we were cooperating on this because it was my original Bill and Representative Saviano, who’s worked extensively on this, was trying to get an agreement on another Amendment, but they have at this point not… don’t…"

"…want it considered."

"Thank you." 09500259.doc 35  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

"So for the record, Mr. Clerk, put this on the Order of Third Reading. Representative Feigenholtz has House Bill 4623. Out of the record. Representative Flider on House Bill 4634. Representative Flider. Out of the record. Representative Flowers on House Bill 4441. We’re advised, Representative Flowers, that there's an Amendment."

"Yes."

"And so let's move this back to the Order of Second Reading, Mr. Clerk, and are there any Amendments?"

"Representative Fortner on the Amendment."

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

"Then Third Reading. Representative Hamos, you have House Bill 5703. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Hamos." 09500259.doc 36  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. The 5703 essentially incorporates three (3) different Bills. Two (2) of them repeal laws that are currently on the books with full concurrence of everyone. They have been on the books for some time at the Department of Aging, and they basically are not being implemented. One of them depends on a federal grant that is not coming. And as a result of that, the Department of Aging has received some negative Auditor General Reports, and we wanted to clear that up for them. But the most substantive part of 5703 has to do with the Department creating a fully integrated care co- ordination program. For those of us who went this morning to the family impact seminars, we learned about the aging population and what other states are doing in rebalancing the long-term care system to make sure that seniors receive a full range of adequate information to make choices. We already have a Comprehensive Case Coordination System. We implemented this a few years ago. This would put it into law, what is currently there by rule, and it also will provide importantly that as part of creating this a… a Care Coordination System that they will develop a rate structure in collaboration with the case coordination units and advocates that reflects the activities of the coordination provided. We are now requiring a comprehensive assessment. We want seniors to get this so they can receive, as I said, the information about the full range of choices. This basically puts all of that in statute."

"Is there any discussion? Then the question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' All in favor vote 'aye'; 09500259.doc 37  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 opposed 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Feigenholtz and Fritchey. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 107 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no' and this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Harris, you have House Bill 4779. Out of the record. Representative Ramey on House Bill 5506. Out of the record. Representative Lang, Lou Lang, on House Bill 953. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Lang."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 953 would amend the Insurance Code to provide that services by a licensed marriage and family therapist would be covered just as other licensed clinical social workers. There's been an anomaly in the law that has allowed some providers of services to families to get to be able to make insurance claims and others not. All this would do would be to put marriage therapists on a par with others who are providing exactly the same service. There was limited or no discussion of this in committee or disagreement with this in committee. I would ask your support."

"Is there any discussion? Then the question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' All in favor vote 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? 09500259.doc 38  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 100 voting 'yes' and 7 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Mendoza, you have House Bill 4981. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Mendoza."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 4981 amends the State Finance Act to create the Roadside Memorial Fund. Last year we unanimously passed out of this chamber a Bill that would create the roadside memorial which is a blue sign that gets erected at the site of fatality that is a result of a DUI accident. And the family members can petition the Department of Transportation to erect a roadside memorial sign that says, ‘Please don’t drink and drive,’ the name of the victim, and a… that would serve as a reminder to people in a stark, you know, example of what happens when people get behind the wheel under the influence. Right now, without this Bill, the family members fill out an application and they go ahead, once they’re approved by the Department, they pay a fee to have the whatever the cost is of the sign, to have that sign erected. And Representative Ramey had actually brought up a suggestion to me that we should make the Bill better by having those who are actually the people that are convicted of DUI's have an additional fee placed on them, which would be a fifty dollar ($50) fee, which would then go into this new 09500259.doc 39  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 Roadside Memorial Fund in order to have people that are actually committing these offenses be responsible for paying into the fund and erecting the signs once there's a tragedy, instead of having the family members of the victims be the ones responsible for paying that fee. So, I think it makes a lot of sense. And I want to thank the Representative for his suggestion and you know, on behalf of those families who unfortunately will be petitioning the state to erect these signs for their lost loved ones, I would certainly ask for your support and be happy to answer any questions."

Speaker Hannig: "And on that question, the Gentleman from Crawford, Representative Eddy."

"She indicates she'll yield."

"Yes, it is. That was the Amendment that I added to make sure that it’s not swept."

"Thank you, Representative."

Speaker Hannig: "The Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Ramey."

"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 107 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Phelps, you have House Bill 5204. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Representative Phelps."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 5204, first off, I want to thank Representative Skip Saviano for his help on this. This just allows more competition in the salvage vehicle business that a… 37 other states do, and I just ask for its passage."

"Is there any discussion? Then the question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' All in favor vote 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 105 voting 'yes' and 2 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Miller, you have House Bill 4380. Out of the record. Representative Molaro on House Bill 09500259.doc 41  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 4857. Out of the record. Representative Rita on House Bill 5308. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Rita."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 5308 is an agreed Bill that was brought to me by the Health Care Council of Illinois. What it basically does is a… the Department of Aging will present one award annually for five (5) categories to case workers 55 years and older. It sets up the parameters, how them awards would be given and recognized. Be happy to answer any questions."

"Is there any discussion? Then the question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' All in favor vote 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 107 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Ryg, you have House Bill 5120. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Representative Ryg."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Bill amends the Teachers Retirement System Article to remove legal obstacles that prevent adult children with disabilities from receiving 09500259.doc 42  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 benefits under those Articles. There's no opposition and the impact to the system was determined to be insignificant, so there is no opposition that I'm aware of, and I'm happy to answer any questions."

"Is there any discussion? Then the question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' All in favor vote 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Reis and Colvin, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 107 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Molaro, did you wish us to read House Bill 4857? 4857. Okay, out of the record. Representative Smith on House Bill 5077. Shall we read that Bill? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill. So, I'm advised Representative Smith, that there's an Amendment pending. It's been approved for consideration. So, Mr. Clerk, let's move the Bill back to the Order of Second Reading. Are there any Amendments?"

"Representative Smith."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is just a technical Amendment that changes the effective date from the Amendatory Act to when it becomes law to January 1 of 2009. That's the only thing the Amendment does." 09500259.doc 43  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

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

"Third Reading. Representative Turner, you have House Bill 2467. Out of the record. Representative Verschoore, you have House Bill 4919. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Verschoore."

"Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen. What this Bill does is a… it a… is going to be like a pilot program where the State of Illinois will pick two (2) buildings that either a leased or an owned building and do a real-time pricing on electrical use. And a… there it… won't go into effect until 2010. I'm hoping that one of the buildings that they pick when they do this, it would be a correctional institution because I think with a… with a correctional institution, there'd be places where they could do laundry and different things at off peak when the electricity is cheaper. And I'd ask for an 'aye' vote and I'd be glad… happy to answer any questions."

"Is there any discussion? Then the question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' All in favor vote 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 09500259.doc 44  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 107 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Younge, you have House Bill 5205. Out of the record. We’re going to go to Second Reading for a few moments and try to move some Bills. Representative Berrios, you have House Bill 5687. Out of the record. Representative John Bradley on House Bill 562. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Bradley." Bradley, J.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a Bill that we've been working on awhile. Basically, what it is, is trying to encourage the a… pension systems to the extent they came without jeopardizing the returns to a… to invest the taxpayer money from Illinois in Illinois and worked with the different pension systems including the a… firms that they used to invest the money. And we reached a consensus on this, and they actually helped me prepare this language, and so I removed all opposition to the Bill that I know of. I'd appreciate an 'aye' vote."

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

"Third Reading. Representative Boland, you have Senate Bill 439. Representative Boland. Out of the record. Representative Coulson on House Bill 4417. Oh, there she is in the… in the rear. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Representative Coulson, you need to present Amendment #1."

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

"Third Reading. Representative Durkin, you have House Bill 5513. Out of the record. Representative Chapa LaVia, you have House Bill 4139. Shall we read this Bill? Representative Chapa LaVia? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative Colvin on House Bill 6313. Out of the record. Representative Crespo on House Bill 5731. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Crespo on Amendment #1."

"Yeah. Amendment #1, Speaker, removes reference to alternative methods to take the a… defensive driving class as specifies testing has an online course."

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

"Representative Crespo on Amendment #2."

"Yeah. I need to table Amendment 2 and 3 and actually adopt Amendment #4."

"Mr. Clerk, we're going to withdraw Amendments 2 and withdraw Amendment #3 and let's move to Amendment #4. Representative Crespo."

"Basically, Amendment #4 is a rulemaking Amendment, Speaker."

Speaker Hannig: "Is there any discussion? Representative Osmond." 09500259.doc 47  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

"Representative Crespo."

"Yeah, there has been actually several discussions, Speaker. The last one was… as a matter of fact, it took place yesterday. So we passed over discussions. One of these days we’re… we’re just going to have to agree to disagree."

"No, Representative. The agreement was to take time, sit down with them, see if we could reach an agreement. And we've had several meetings with the insurance industry, and we just couldn’t reach an agreement."

"Correct."

"Representative Stephens."

"Indicates he'll yield."

"Beg your pardon?" 09500259.doc 48  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

"We talked to Kevin a… can't remember Kevin's last name from the insurance industry. It was like the third or fourth time that I've talked to the gentleman."

"No, they’re not."

"No, Representative. What we talked at the committee was that we would sit down with them and see if we could reach some type of consensus or agreement, but we did not."

"My agreement with the committee and the insurance folks was that we would sit down and look at the Bill and see if we could reach an agreement and we did not."

"This is what I'll do, Speak… a… Representative. Since there's some kind of dispute as to what the understanding was in the committee meeting, I'll… I'll move it off the record for now, and I'll go back and make sure that there's no misunderstanding."

"So this is out of the record, at the request of the Sponsor. Representative Cross has House Bill 4874. Do you wish us to read that Bill? Out of the record. And how about on House Bill 5960? Out of the record. Representative Leitch, you have House Bill 4647. Shall we read that on Second? Representative Leitch, do you wish us to read this Bill? Out of the record. Representative Meyer, you have House Bill 4629. Out of the record. Representative Golar on House Bill 4913. Out of the record. Representative Hoffman on House Bill 5157. Out of the record. Representative Jefferson on House Bill 5739. Do you wish us to read this Bill? Out of the record. Representative Reboletti on House Bill 2916. Out of the record. Representative Rose, on House Bill 5912. Do you wish us to read this? Out of the record. Representative Saviano on House Bill 4762. Out of the record. Representative Turner on House Bill 2248. Representative Turner, shall we read this on Second? Second to Third. 09500259.doc 50  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 Okay, out of the record. Representative Turner, earlier we passed over your House Bill 2467 Okay, out of the record. On the Order of Second Reading, Representative Acevedo, you have House Bill 5125. Out of the record. Representative Boland on Senate Bill 439, Representative Boland. Representative Bradley, John Bradley, on House Bill 4425. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative Saviano, you have House Bill 4762. Do you wish us to read that Bill? So you want us to hold it? Okay. So we'll hold it. Representative Black, you have House Bill 628. Representative Black on House Bill 628… on Second. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative Brady, you have House Bill 4127, Representative Brady. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. And Representative Brady, you also have House Bill 4326. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative Brauer on House Bill 5765. Representative Brauer. Representative Brauer on House Bill 5765. Do you wish us to read this? Out of the record. Representative Chapa LaVia on House Bill 4728. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative Colvin on House Bill 2405. Out of the record. Representative Will Davis on House Bill 4888. Representative Davis. Out of the record. Representative Coulson on House Bill 6310. Representative Coulson? 6310? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Representative Coulson."

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

"Third Reading. Representative Fortner, you have House Bill 5186… on Second. Out of the record. Representative Franks, Representative Franks, you have House Bill 2496. Out of the record. Representative Graham on House Bill 5750. Out of the record. Representative Mathias on House Bill 4755. Representative Mathias on 4755. Do you wish us to read this? Out of the record. Okay, there’s been a Motion filed in writing by Representative Beaubien, pursuant to Rule 61 having voted on the prevailing side. Representative Beaubien moves to reconsider the vote by which House Bill 953 passed. So he's not out here, so we'll hold this for a later time. So we're going move back to Third Readings. Representative Flider, you have House Bill 5086. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Flider."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 5086 is a Bill that a… was a… is supported by AARP, and I know of no opposition to this Bill. But what this legislation would do, it would provide that during the summer that there would be a… a disconnection protection if the temperature is forecast to 09500259.doc 53  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 reach 95 degrees or above, including any day proceding a holiday or a weekend. I ask for your 'aye' vote."

"Is there any discussion? Then the question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' All in favor vote 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Colvin, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 106 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Flowers, you have House Bill 4442. Out of the record. Representative Ford, you have House Bill 475. Out of the record. Representative Fritchey on House Bill 5518. Out of the record. Representative Froehlich on House Bill 5691. Out of the record. Representative Flowers, do you wish us to read House Bill 4442? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Flowers."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 4442 merely says that if a child is in a failing school and if the parent want to transfer that child that he or she would be able to do so in the school that they go to… cannot be on the failing list. And I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you have in regards to House Bill 4442." 09500259.doc 54  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

"The Lady has moved for the passage of House Bill 4442. And on that question, the Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black."

"She indicates she'll yield."

"No, if my memory serves me correctly, Representative, it is only applicable to Chicago. I had it amended a couple times. So, I'm looking now."

"Well, maybe it's not there."

"Yes."

"Representative, in the City of Chicago there's certain areas in which children… certain schools that because of their address that they will be able to go to. Well, unfortunately, all of those schools may be on a failing list or on a watch list. As a parent, I should not have to send my child to a failing school. I should have the right to find another school in that district to send my child to. As a parent and as a taxpayer and that's all this Bill is saying. Do not force me to send my child to a failing school."

"No. Quite frankly, right now there's very few transportation for schools in various district… It will be up to the parents."

"But we do know that there is transportation reimbursement that parents are entitled to if they do send their child more than a mile to school." 09500259.doc 56  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

"Oh, okay. Well, Representative, it has been brought to my attention that it's… it still is applicable to any school, but it was my intention to only make it applicable to the Chica…"

"Representative Black, could you bring your remarks to a close, and Representative Flowers, finish answering the question."

"And if you would allow it, I would be more than happy to have it amended in the Senate, because that was truly my intention."

"But when…"

"But you… this is one thing you need to remember, Representative, even if it is, if it stays the way that it 09500259.doc 57  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 is, it will be up to that parent to make that decision. And if that school is thirty (30) miles away, that will be the parents’ choice and then the parent would be responsible."

"But it… again, it is my intention to have it amended in the Senate."

"Yes."

"Thank you."

"Representative Eddy."

"She indicates she'll yield."

"Right."

"Well, I'm glad you asked that question because I'm looking forward to us having a Democratic president, and both candidates have sworn to do away with Leave No Child Behind CSIC-No Child Left Behind, because that present legislation is leaving all of our children behind. And if this Bill is not only about meeting or exceeding the a… the reading level, but some schools are failing even worse than that, as far as the tools and the books and the lack of 09500259.doc 59  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 labs and the lack of equipment. The other day we had some teachers to come before us to talk about how they had to go in their pockets to buy the lab and the art work and the other various things that they need in order to teach the children, which is part of the requirement."

"And I agree with you 100 percent. It is the intent of this legislation is just because the school may have failed one test for one year, you know, I think it's a lot broader than that. There could've been a new principal, a turnover of teachers, it could've been a multitude of things. I don’t think a parent will just arbitrarily take their child out of… out of that particular school for that reason. I'm talking about troubles, I'm talking about 09500259.doc 60  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 gangs, and we need to do something to eradicate the problems that we are having in our schools. And if we know that there's a bunch of gang members over here, and if the board can't do anything about it, as a parent we need to do something about it."

"I'll be more than happy to work with you, Sir. Thank you."

"Representative Jerry Mitchell." Mitchell, J.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. An inquiry of the Chair."

"State your inquiry." Mitchell, J.: "I… I realize that… that time is growing short. I'm not exactly positive what all the deadlines are. But is there, in fact, time to have this bill amended to reflect exactly what the Representative wants and… and have it read again on Third Reading?"

"Representative, I… I think we'll be here next week, if that's your question, whether or not that's enough time." 09500259.doc 61  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 Mitchell, J.: "I… I certainly repr… you know I trust the Representative to try to keep her word, but I don’t really trust all of my Senate colleagues. There have been times when we've agreed to amend a Bill in the Senate. They totally ignore our request, run the Bill as is and then we don’t get the Bill back to discuss again or change. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"She indicates she'll yield." Mitchell, J.: "Representative, since there is time to amend this Bill here in the House and get it exactly the way you want it to go to the Senate, would you, in fact, pull the Bill from the record? Let's get that Amendment filed and let it fly out of here next week and go to the Senate, so that we don’t have to worry about whether or not they will agree to your wishes and amend the Bill?"

"Well, you know what, Representative, I'm so glad you brought that up. I'll be more than happy to do so, Sir, if you would join me as a Sponsor?" Mitchell, J.: "I will pledge my vote to it. I won't… I won't agree to be a Sponsor, but I certainly will pledge my 'yes' vote to it if we amend the Bill."

"Well, thank you so very much. I'll be more than happy to do it. A… Mr. Speaker, would you please take the Bill out of the record?"

"Out of the record."

"And would you move it…"

"Do you want us to move it back to Second? Okay. So Mr. Clerk, let's move this back to the Order of Second Reading at the request of the Sponsor. 09500259.doc 62  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 Representative Franks, you have House Bill 2496 on the Order of Second Reading. Did you wish us to move that? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative Fritchey, you have House Bill 5518. Did you wish us to read that on Third? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Hannig: "Representative Stephens, were you seeking recognition?"

"Representative Franks, did you wish to answer the Gentleman's question? I think it was your Bill 2496, is that correct?"

"It's my understanding that there was an Amendment and that's what the analysis indicates, Mr. Speaker."

"Let's ask the Clerk. Mr. Clerk, what is the status of House Bill 2496, as far as the Amendments?"

"Did you wish to move that back to Second?" 09500259.doc 63  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

"Yeah. Thank you for pointing that out. We’ll move it back to Second and I'd ask for the Amendment to be adopted."

"Well, we'll have to wait for the Amendments to be approved, but…"

"Thank you, Mr. Stephens."

"Okay. Thank you, Representative Stephens. And back on the Order of Third Reading, Representative Fritchey on House Bill 5518. Have you read the Bill, Mr. Clerk? Read the Bill, please."

"Representative Fritchey."

"Thank you. Thank you, Speaker, Members of the Body. This Bill mirrors a Bill that was just passed out of the Senate a week or two (2) ago I think on a vote of 57-1. It has to do with licensure rights for images that are distributed by companies. So, for example, an individual would license a photograph off of a Web site to use. They would sign a document noting the restrictions of their rights on that… on that image, should they violate that licensure, they would be liable. But this simply makes sure that the company that properly licensed the image would not be held liable for any actions that they did not undertake. I request an 'aye' vote. Thank you."

"Is there any discussion? The Gentleman from McLean, Representative Brady." 09500259.doc 64  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

"Indicates he'll yield."

"You have a situation where a company will provide stock images for… for use for commercial purposes. Along with that image, they would provide a license that the end user would sign. And so if there's a violation of that license agreement by the end user, the end user would still be liable, but the company that provided the image and did not do anything to violate the terms of the license would not be liable."

"That’s…"

"That’s talking about images of let’s say celebrities or musician's or artists that may have passed away. So a Marilyn Monroe, a Jimi Hendrix, that type of thing."

"Yes."

"Thank you." 09500259.doc 65  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

Speaker Hannig: "Is there any further discussion? Then, Representative Fritchey, to close."

"I simply request an 'aye' vote. Thank you."

"The question is, 'Shall this Bill pass?' All in favor vote 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Durkin, Golar, Holbrook, Schock, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 68 voting 'yes' and 37 voting 'no' and this Bill, having received a Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Sacia, for what reason do you rise?"

"State your point."

"Representative Molaro."

"Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I wasn’t… I don’t know what we're going to do now. I heard some rumor about the Senate. I don’t know what they did on that adjournment, and the problem is I know the Speaker spoke about our schedule, but it was so noisy in here when he was speaking, 09500259.doc 66  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 I really didn’t under… you know, I really didn’t hear what he had to say. So if, in fact, it did fail, we don’t come back 'til Tuesday. Was that the idea?"

"I think that was the idea, Representative. Perhaps we'll get a clarification on that before we adjourn today. Representative Froehlich on House Bill 5691. Do you wish us to read that Bill? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk. Excuse me, Representative Cross, were you seeking recognition?"

"I… I was just simply repeating what I thought I had heard, Representative Cross…"

"We will make a… we'll make an announcement before we adjourn for the day, clarifying exactly what it is, when it is we need to return, but I would anticipate it would be next Tuesday."

"Representative Franks."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My learned colleague couldn't be any fur… couldn’t be any further wrong than his last statements. This was a very sincere effort by the Members of the House of Representatives. To insinuate that the Speaker was some part of a wink and a nod conspiracy here is insulting and it's untrue and he… and he should be apologized to. The Speaker, to his great credit, told me that he was against this Bill for reasons that he learned while he was at the Constitutional Convention. But to his great credit, he allowed the Bill to be heard on the House Floor. He, and I believe every one of his Members of 09500259.doc 71  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 Leadership, voted against it. The only people on the House Floor who spoke against it were Members of Speaker Madigan's Leadership team. They've been honest with us from the very beginning. And I have no qualms about what happened here in the House of Representatives. The people here acted honorably; they worked hard and they were very sincere. Now, if you have criticisms that need to be levied, they should be levied at the other chamber. I sat in and listened to the debate; they had eight (8) speakers. They had chang… They didn’t even use our Bill; they took another Bill. Here's what happened. They took Senator Cronin's Bill; they amended it, and they made it much larger, which gave people cover not to vote for the Bill. However, there was a Motion and as a result it failed. And it shouldn't have failed, but it did. And as you know before an opponent of my Bill picked it up and hijacked it. That Bill is still in their Rules Committee. We had a whole hearing on it in the Executive Committee. We had the votes to get it out of the Executive Committee, and that Senator decided not to call it for a vote because he could count. And he knew that it would get to the Senate Floor. So after Cronin's Bill failed today, or the Amendment that was put on Cronin's Bill, the Senators made a Motion to have our Bill that we passed from the House dismissed from Rules and have a vote on it. Instead of even having a ruling on that Motion, the Senate instead adjourned. There was no shenanigans in the House. I talked to Members from the other side of the aisle. They were ready to come back here on Sunday and go back to work. This was not a 09500259.doc 72  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 Democratic or Republican issue. It was a bipartisan issue and it was dealt with fairly here. I can't say the same about what happened in the Senate, ‘cause I don’t believe in… it was handled fairly. But I think we ought to hold our heads up high because we did everything we were supposed to do. Okay? Nothing’s going to change the fact that you're going to hear more testimony of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) in cash wrapped in bags given to people as bribes. And we understand now that the Senate isn’t coming back to hear our Bill because they don’t want the people to decide. We still will have other opportunities. Okay. This isn’t over, but don’t blame the Speaker, Don’t say this was scammed here. We have good working relationships. Those kind of statements inflame a situation. We have to keep working together for the benefit of the citizens of the State of Illinois, do our job, put the pressure on the people who aren't doing their jobs. But let's not point blame where no blame is necessary. I can't tell you how disappointed I am about what happened over there. When I was watching the debate, I tell you, my… I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I hadn’t had in a long time. I went through every machination yester… I could not sleep last night thinking about what might happen and when it passed, what shenanigans they might pull, like they did to Senator Forby when he passed his Bill and then filed a Motion to reconsider, or I was worried they would pass, then they would hold it and not send it 'til Saturday. I always thought something could happen, but not allowing our Bill 09500259.doc 73  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 to be heard I think was the ultimate travesty. But I really think that we have to keep our focus on the ball here. We have serious work to be done; hopefully, we'll be able to pass a budget and capital Bill and education, everything we need to be doing. This was a very important issue we lost today. We're going to have other opportunities, but I please ask you not to try to divide this Body. We need to keep working together for the benefit of the citizens of the State of Illinois, and I really appreciate the opportunity that the Speaker provided this Body, even though he personally didn’t agree with the Bill."

"Representative Lang."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen, I rise on a point of personal privilege, responding to some of the things I just heard. Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen, we heard from the Minority Leader about what he calls a wink and a nod. I think the Minority Leader was making a political speech. He's taking the opportunity to dump on the Majority Party for no reason whatsoever, simply because he has the forum and the opportunity to do so. I heard him insult the Speaker of the House, I heard him insult the Democratic side of the aisle, I heard him insult every Member of Leadership on this side of the aisle. I'm one of those Members. You know, I don’t think anyone on this floor would ever say I'm a defender of, an apologist for, the Governor of the State of Illinois. I think I'm known as a harsh critic of that Governor. And yet, when this recall petition was… this recall Amendment first came forth 09500259.doc 74  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 from my seatmate, I told him very clearly up-front I thought it was bad government. I don’t think you change a Constitution over the actions of one person, because when you change the constitution you change it forever. And I heard the Minority Leader talk about Members of Leadership and some games that were played. In essence, he's accusing this side of the aisle of a conspiracy, of a conspiracy between ourselves, and of a conspiracy with the Democrats in the Senate to some how save the Governor embarrassment. Well, I'm not about saving the Governor embarrassment. Let's go. Let's start with the list of embarrassing things. I'm prepared to do that today. This isn’t about saving the Governor. From my point of view, it was about protecting the Constitution of the State of Illinois from a bunch of stuff, garbage that doesn’t belong in it. We have a remedy to deal with this Governor if we feel that he's abused the laws, the rules, the regulations, the statutes, and the Constitution of the State of Illinois. We don’t need to change the Constitution to accomplish that. We have all we need on the books of the State of Illinois today. So, no, Mr. Leader, I was not involved in a conspiracy. I was against the recall from the beginning. I think if there was some grand conspiracy, Mr. Speaker, we would not have been in a situation where the Senate waited so long to do this, that if it had passed, it would've forced the House to remain in over the weekend. If there was a grand conspiracy, the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate would've arranged to do this on a convenient day, so a hundred and eighteen (118) of us would 09500259.doc 75  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 not have had to travel back to Springfield away from our families. There was no conspiracy. And while we're on the subject of running away from the Governor, Gentleman talked about running away from the Governor, I wonder why a Gentleman that talks about running away from the Governor at a time where none of us trust this Governor and at a time we can't get a capital Bill together or begin a budget process or move forward any of the work of the citizens of the State of Illinois because of this Governor, I wonder why the same Gentleman while he talks about running away from the Governor is planning an… an hour or two to go to a meeting with the Governor. The same Governor he wants to remove from office, the same Governor he thinks the people ought to recall, the same Governor who he thinks is incompetent, the same Governor who he thinks he's not prepared to work with because we can't accomplish anything with this Governor at the helm of the State of Illinois, and yet the same Governor… or the same Gentleman on the other side of the aisle, who believes that there's some grand conspiracy to help move the Governor's agenda along is very happy to leave his desk on the floor of the House and go negotiate with a Governor that can't get it done. And so I wonder about hypocrisy, never mind a wink and a nod. I wonder about a person who stands on the floor and makes a political speech and accuses the Majority Party of a wink and a nod, accuses the Majority Party of a conspiracy to defraud the people of the State of Illinois when he's prepared to stand up, go to the second floor of this building, and work with a Governor who he says he does 09500259.doc 76  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 not trust and a Governor who for years has not been able to move anyone's agenda forward, his, ours, or the people of the State of Illinois. I don’t need to have Rod Blagojevich be Governor of the State of Illinois. It's okay with me if he's not the Governor of the State of Illinois. But nothing that happened today and nothing that happened over the last couple of several weeks about this recall Amendment has anything whatsoever to do with this side of the aisle running from the Governor, with this side of the aisle being involved in a conspiracy to help the Governor. In fact, there are many of us on this side of the aisle prepared to do what the Chicago Tribune said to do at the end of their editorial today, endorsing the recall. Their last three words in that editorial, whatever it takes. Let's do whatever it takes and move past political rhetoric."

"Representative Cross."

"Representative Stephens." 09500259.doc 79  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

"State your point."

"Representative Molaro."

"Thank you. Point of personal privilege."

"State your point."

"I'm gonna take one shot at this, and this is the only shot I'll do for the rest of the thirty (30) days. I… I came over to the House after ten (10) years in the Senate. I love the institution. I love the House of Representatives and I am a Member of the House of Representatives. And I just want to say this. This has nothing to do with the Leaders in the Senate or the Governor. I also absolutely enjoy and… and really believe in the absolute integrity of Mike Madigan and Tom Cross, the absolute integrity of those two (2) individuals. Now I always thought we got in this problem, that we have this historical footnote that the five Leaders gotta get together to solve the problems all the time, that us menions, us 112, I'm not a math major, what's ever left, we just sit back like sheep and we wait 'til the five (5) Leaders get together. That’s all we do. When is there a meeting? When is there a meeting? Well, I don’t know if anybody gets this, and I don’t know if Leader Cross gets it or whoever doesn’t. It doesn’t look like that meeting is going to take place anytime soon. That's done; it's a historical footnote. And I say, good riddance. Good riddance with that. Here's what I say, we should do it 09500259.doc 81  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 like they do in the United States Congress. Let's take two (2) men of integrity. Now again, this is nothing about the other three (3). Let's take two (2) men, like Tom Cross and Speaker Madigan. Let them get together, let their Leadership team get together, and let them come up with spending; a budget, revenue streams, gaming, a capital Bill. We should as a House of Representatives with the talent that we have in this room, we should come up with what we need to do to get it done for the State of Illinois. We don’t have to sit with other Leaders. Sorry to say, but Emil Jones and Frank Watson passed a capital Bill. It might not be a good one, one we agreed to. It’s our job now for our Leaders, not just the two (2) of them, for our Leaders and anybody else who wants to get involved, it’s time for us to pass a budget, to pass whatever revenue streams we need, to pass a capital Bill. Now, the reason I'm saying this now is this; we are really getting close to driving off the cliff. Yes, the Republicans got up and said what they thought. Well, that’s what I did for ten (10) years in the Senate when Pate was running. They have every right to get up and make how many political speeches they want. Do whatever they want to do, that's fine, they can do it. But it's getting awfully close to being too personal. I mean I don’t know about you guys, but when Speaker Madigan got up there last week and started talking about getting… I mean we're all looking at each other saying WTF. I mean trying to figure out what's going on here. Now I don’t want to make it worse. I don’t want to have it where everyday the Leader's going to get up and say 09500259.doc 82  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 something that we perceive as personal. Then the Speaker's got to come down from his office and go back and we're going to go back and forth for the next three (3) weeks. Why don’t we just cool it and start right now and cool it and maybe the Leaders in the House can do what we're supposed to do and together we can craft a budget. Together we can pass a capital Bill. Now I know, and I'm almost done, that you'll say you tried. We called the Speaker twenty (20) times. The Speaker will tell me he tried, but you guys are running back and having your meetings with the Governor. Hey, it’s now May 1st. Let's not bring up the past. Let's see if for the next few weeks we can get something done, but we have to do it with the House of Representatives. I don’t care what the Senate's going to do. I don’t care. When they passed their capital Bill and their gaming Bill, they didn’t call us and ask us what we wanted in their Bill. We should pass what we want as a House and then maybe something will get done in this building."

"There's a written Motion by Representative Beaubien to reconsider the vote by which House Bill 953 passed. Is that correct, Representative? Representative Beaubien."

"So is there any discussion? Representative Lang, did you wish to speak to that Motion?"

"Well, I certainly object to the Motion, Mr. Speaker. And the Gentleman's within his rights to make the Motion, but I object to it. So if he wants to commence with his 09500259.doc 83  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 Motion, I'll object and ask my side of the aisle to support me."

Speaker Hannig: "So the question is, 'Shall the House reconsider the vote by which House Bill 953 passed?' All in favor vote 'aye'; all opposed 'nay'. The voting is open. This requires 60 votes. 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 48 voting 'yes' and 57 voting 'no' and the Motion fails. Representative Mathias is recognized on House Joint Resolution 92. Representative Mathias."

"Is there any discussion? Then all in favor of the Gentleman's Motion say 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The 'ayes' have it and the Resolution is adopted. Mr. Clerk, what is the status of House Bill 4236? Representative Bassi, for what reason do you rise?" 09500259.doc 86  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

"The record will so reflect."

"Mr. Clerk, what is the status of House Bill 4326?"

"Return that to the Order of Second Reading at the request of the Sponsor. Representative Brauer, for what reason do you rise?"

"State your point."

"And Representative Bill Mitchell, okay. On page 31 of the Calendar, Representative Stephens, you have House Joint Resolution 107. Representative Stephens."

"Is there any discussion? Then the question is, 'Shall the Resolution be adopted?' 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 106 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And the Resolution is adopted. Representative Eddy, you have House Joint Resolution 108."

"Mr. Clerk, are there any Amendments?"

"Representative Eddy."

"Is there any discussion? Then all in favor say 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The 'ayes' have it; the Amendment is adopted. Are there any further Amendments?"

"Okay. Then on the Resolution, Representative Eddy."

"Is there any discussion? This requires a Roll Call Vote. So 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 Mitchell, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 105 voting 'yes' and 0 09500259.doc 89  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 voting 'no'. And the Resolution is adopted. On page 38 of the Calendar, under the Order of House Resolutions, is House Resolution 1188. Representative Franks."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Oh, I was preparing 1190, but I'll start at 1188. 1188 is a House Resolution that would disapprove Executive Order #1, which purported to transfer about twenty (20) state agencies into three (3) super agencies in a shared service initiative. The Governor had done an Executive Order to do this, and we had a hearing in our State Government Administration Committee where I believe it was unanimous that we… I got to check the status. I believe it was unanimous that we voted to a… reject the Governor’s Executive Order. Yeah, it was 13-0- 0. And what's very peculiar during this hearing where we had learned that this administration had already spent seven (7) figures on this shared services initiative, over a million dollars ($1,000,000), which had not been appropriated. And they couldn’t tell us from which line item it came from. It had not been approved by the General Assembly, yet the Governor on his own initiative started forward on an Executive Order that had not been approved. Then reading the Executive Order, it indicates that the Governor was gonna have JCAR write the rules for these three (3) super agencies. This was after the Governor had already filed suit against the Secretary of State to say that JCAR had no rulemaking authority. It's Alice in Wonderland when it comes to the Governor's Office on how government's supposed to run. What I ask is that we reject this Executive Order, that there are severe problems with 09500259.doc 90  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 this. They could not show savings. Labor was against it, and what I'm… concerned is if the Governor was allowed to do this, he would do much of what he did a few years ago with his so called efficiency initiatives and basically, have an elaborate money laundering scheme where he moves money around from line items, which then he controls and donors get state contracts. If you remember, Auditor General Holland’s report, six (6) out of nine (9) contracts that he looked at from these efficiency initiatives went to entities that had given substantial amounts of money to the Governor. And in one instance, that entity did not even exist until after they got the contract. I think in order to protect the citizens of the State of Illinois, we need to reject a… the Executive Order #1, and I would ask that we have an 'aye' vote rejecting Executive Order #1."

"And on the Resolution, the Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Ramey."

"State your point."

"Representative Sullivan." 09500259.doc 91  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

"He indicates he'll yield."

"I'm not… I think there might have been, but I'm not positive. I'm not sure they did a Resolution. I… I don’t think they've done a Resolution rejecting…"

"I'm not sure they've done a Resolution rejecting. Ours is an affirmative rejection."

"I don’t know… I think they might not have accepted the Executive Order, but if when you read the Constitution, I think you have to pass the Motion rejecting it. And I'm not sure what they did was… was correct. All right. Well, I'd rather be safe than sorry."

"Representative Pritchard."

"He indicates he'll yield."

"No… Their whole argument was they were going to move the back office of the host agencies under one… one agency, but they said there'd be no reduction in staff. And they sort of spoke around that issue, but they could not point to any real savings, though they did claim there would be a hundred and twenty million dollar ($120,000,000) savings but they didn’t show us where."

"None at all and nor could they tell us who they'd spoke to as well on these."

"Representative Lang."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Seems to me that the whole point of Executive Order #1 is to consolidate more power within the Governor's Office to shield what those agencies are doing from our purview. It would be less transparency if this Executive Order happens. It would be less opportunity for the Members of the General Assembly to look inside this administration and see what they’re doing. It would be less opportunity for us to do our due diligence, to do our investigation, to make determinations for ourselves as to whether these agencies are doing the work that they're suppose to be doing. We cannot allow, it seems to me as a General Assembly, the Governor to further insulate himself from our purview, from the purview of the media, from the purview of the General public. We just went through a long debate more than once on this recall situation, and there's a lot of people concerned about the actions of the Governor. And here we have a proposal by the Governor's Office to further encircle his power in a way that only he gets to look at it. Well, that can't be good government. It can't be good government just to simply say, well, we're going to make these agencies a little larger. We'll get rid of some employees. We'll have one-stop shopping for 09500259.doc 94  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 everyone. Well, it's okay to say that and it's another thing to do that. I don’t think any of us trusts much of what's coming out of the second floor of this building, and if you don't, you can't allow this Executive Order to stand because it will take us farther away from the process. Additionally… additionally, who are these agencies going to be beholding to? More and more power and less and less agencies means more and more interplay between the Governor's Office and the state agency directors without any involvement by us. And so it seems to me that especially since the Governor's Office could… had… there was no showing from the Governor's Office that there'd be any direct savings to taxpayers. Given all these things together, I don’t know how we could allow this order to stand and I would strongly recommend an 'aye' vote."

"Representative Bellock."

"Representative Mulligan."

"Representative Eddy."

"Indicates he'll yield."

"Yes."

"No."

"He might do another Executive Order."

"He could do another Executive Order that we would have to reject then within sixty (60) days."

"Well, it doesn’t become effective until after sixty (60) days."

"Right."

"I… I think it would be unconstitutional. I… I think by taking that action, by using monies that weren't appropriated and not approved, then I think it could be an issue."

"I would… in my opinion, yes."

"In my opinion."

"Yeah, we'd have to get a lawyer’s opinion. I'm telling you in my opinion I think it is."

"Thank you."

"Is there any further discussion? Then the question is, 'Shall the Resolution be adopted?’ We're gonna have a Roll Call vote. So all in favor vote 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this question, there are 101 voting 'yes' and 5 voting 'no'. And the Resolution is adopted. Representative Franks, you also have House Resolution 1190."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Resolution would direct the Auditor General to conduct a management audit of the 09500259.doc 99  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 grant process involved in the one million dollar ($1,000,000) state grant to the Loop Lab School. As you may recall a few years ago this Body allowed an audit on the purchase of the flu vaccines, which lost the state approximately 2.6 million dollars ($2,600,000). We found at that time that the vaccines weren't necessary. The Governor at the time knew they weren't necessary, that there was no shortage. He knew that they would not be able to import them; yet, he obligated the state to 2.6 million dollars ($2,600,000). And then he then donated them to Pakistan; however, they were already expired and we upset an ally. So it was… It couldn’t of gotten worse, until you look at this one. And we had an issue where we brought the Governor’s Office to our committee asking for answers on an admitted… an alleged mistake. The Governor said that there was a mistake by two (2) former employees that had worked on this grant and had given one million dollars ($1,000,000) to the Loop Lab School where the Governor said he intended it to go to Pilgrim Baptist Church. We had a series of questions and the Governor's Deputy Governor Louanner Peters came to our committee and charitably couldn’t answer our questions. To the… from the simplest questions on. We asked who the two employees who the Governor referred to publicly worked on the grant and she could not answer those questions. Now what we have here if you look… We got the grant documents from DCEO, and they were explicit on the grant documents that the Loop Lab School will be taking a million dollars ($1,000,000) and buying a condominium property in downtown Chicago at 318 09500259.doc 100  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 West Adams. And ultimately, we found out that the seller was a federal mole in the ongoing Rezko trial and had brokered a deal for Mr. Rezko a few years before. It gets more curious though, because the… the Governor's Office says it was a mistake, and they didn’t know the money was going to buy a condominium miles away from the Pilgrim Baptist Church. If you look at… We looked at the a tax returns of this school, and their revenues had fallen over 80 percent in the prior three (3) years, and they were quickly going out of business. They had shown no assets. They showed no students. They showed no faculty, except for the administration. Yet somehow, this institution received a million dollars ($1,000,000) to buy a condominium, and they still have not opened the school. It's still not in business. And what's more interesting and I'm… And really what's more upsetting is that there are so many people waiting to have pardons granted. So many deserving individuals, over a thousand individuals have been waiting to have their pardon heard by this Governor, and he hasn’t heard it. There's a man, Randy Steidl. He was freed from prison in 2004 after se… after spending seventeen (17) years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. He still has not been pardoned. But the lady who was running this school filed for a pardon in August, had a hearing in October, and had her pardon granted in January. On her pardon application, it said that she needed a… she needed the pardon so she could accept the million dollars ($1,000,000) to be able to… for the Loop Lab School so she could be an administrator 'cause with a felony conviction, 09500259.doc 101  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 she was worried she couldn't be. So there's questions that have to be answered, and we asked Deputy Peters these questions in committee about the pardons. And the reason we asked her these questions is because she did a press conference on pardons, saying she knows for sure that this pardon had nothing to do with the one million dollars ($1,000,000). So we asked her, well, what did it have to do with? But she had no idea; she was just sure it had nothing to do with the one million (1,000,000). We asked how many people have outstanding pardon requests that haven’t been heard? She couldn’t answer that either, though she was the Governor's expert on pardons. We were stonewalled completely by the administration; they showed utter contempt. We asked them repeatedly to answer the questions. We sent them letters; we asked for documents. They didn’t give anything. Now they don’t have that ability if the Auditor General asks for the documents, asks for the e-mail, asks for the phone records. They cannot turn the Auditor General down…"

"Representative, your 5 minutes have expired. Could you bring your introduction to a close."

"It's stuff… But it's really good stuff. But if… But if the Auditor… If they turn down the Auditor General, and the Auditor General has the ability to go to law enforcement. It was obvious that they were not going to work with the General Assembly, that they were doing what they always do, business as usual, do whatever they want, and then ignore us. I'm asking for the second audit of a sitting Governor and to have this thoroughly investigated 09500259.doc 102  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 by those with the power to make sure we get the answers. I'd be glad to answer any questions."

"Representative Eddy."

"They claimed in committee that this was some type of ongoing investigation, but the only thing we had seen that there was a letter and they hav… there's a process when you try to get money back that's been given as a mistake. It actually happened in my county. One of my social service agencies received a check that was supposed to have gone to someone else. They had to pay it back shortly thereafter with interest. There's been no demand that I'm aware of by this administration for that money back."

"Yeah, but let me… I… I don’t want to mislead you. This school, the Loop Lab School, was renting proper… was renting the administration building at the Pilgrim Baptist Church."

"If you look at their application…"

"That's exactly what it was intended to do."

"It gets… I don’t believe there was… now I want to be perfectly clear here. The Governor says there was a mistake. I don’t believe there was any mistakes done here, whatsoever. I think it was a concentrated effort at the highest levels of the Governor’s Office to get a million dollars ($1,000,000) to the Loop Lab School so they could buy a condominium in downtown Chicago."

"Representative Lang."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?" 09500259.doc 104  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

"Indicates he'll yield."

"Representative, as I recall the press accounts of this incident, the a… Governor's attorney, I believe, when asked if this was a… a purposeful act, denied that it was a purposeful act and said something like, at worst this was incompetence. Did he say something like that?"

"I believe so."

"And so the inference is that the Governor's Office either did something purposefully wrong or they were simply incompetent. Is that right?"

"I wouldn’t say simply; I'd say horribly incompetent."

"Right. But do you… do you find any other… any other options, other than horribly incompetent or purposefully derelict or purposefully defrauding the taxpayers?"

"No, and… and… and to make… to clarify it, I really believe it was… It wasn’t a mistake because if you look at the… What happened is that this organization filed three (3) years of tax returns on the same day. Someone had to tell them to do that, and they have been around for twenty (20) some years and they also filed as a charitable organization on that same day for the first time ever. And it wasn’t as though this organization applied for a grant. It was the Governor's Office who'd called them to say, we want to give you a million bucks ($1,000,000)."

"This is the same Governor's Office that wanted to give a whole bunch of millions of dollars to NIU to build a building that didn’t need to be built after a tragedy?"

"Yes, it is."

"And they haven’t seen any of that money, right?" 09500259.doc 105  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

"I hope not."

"Right. And apparently, the right people didn’t see the money at the church either, is that right?"

"Yeah, nor has most of our social service agencies, either."

"Thank you. Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen, to the Resolution. This is an important Resolution. We need to get to the bottom of this. And… as… as sad and unfortunate as the entire situation is giving a million dollars ($1,000,000) to the wrong people, and the preface to this, which is the Governor, without talking to any of us, deciding to give a million dollars ($1,000,000) to a church who may have needed it, and we may have approved it, but never came to us. Subsequent to this, after the Governor's Office admits that, well, we didn’t do anything purposefully wrong, but perhaps we were just incompetent. They then let this gap of time pass where they did no investigation, got no information, and were… came forth with no data. And so Representative Franks rightly calls them before his committee and asks them very pointed questions that any of us in our personal life would ask, any of us that run businesses would ask. Where did the money go? How did they get it? Who got it? Who's responsible for it? Who are the two (2) people that made the 'error' and what happened? And you think that when the Representative or the Governor's Office, who I believe is a Deputy Governor of the State of Illinois, appeared before Representative Franks committee, you'd think she'd have something valuable to say. Now, time… Enough time had 09500259.doc 106  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 passed for them to track all of this down. And I don’t think any of us really believe that they didn’t track it down. I believe the inference is that they know exactly who did it, exactly what happened, exactly under what circumstances, and they just refuse to tell the truth. If they… If it isn’t that, then it is the grossest level of incompetence I have ever seen out of any administration I've served under. Now the truth be told, we all make mistakes. The Governor's Office makes mistakes. Every constitutional officer makes mistakes. Own up to the mistake, fix it, and tell us what happened. And since they’re unwilling to do that, this audit is essential. And their inability to have answers sounds to me like when these agency people come before our committees in the House, and they put in witness slips opposed to this Bill or that Bill or the other Bill, and you bring them forward and you say, why are you opposed? And they… they say, well, we can't afford it. And we say, well, who spends the money? You or the General Assembly? And they say, well, you do. I say, well, then I don’t care what you think about that, but what do you think about the Bill? What about the Bill, the substance of the Bill? Oh, we don’t know. We don’t know. All we know is what we are told to come here and tell you. And so I think we have to assume that the Deputy Governor went to Representative Franks’ committee and was only allowed to tell her, well, zero, nothing. And unless we demand this audit, that's what we'll continue to get, zero and nothing, from this administration. This Resolution, you must vote for." 09500259.doc 107  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

"Representative Rose."

"I'm certain that he will."

"Oh, yes, it was Ms. Gill."

"Yes, Sir."

"A… for an assault on a police officer, a few… like five (5) years before."

"I think it was Champaign County."

"Is there any further discussion? Then the question is, 'Shall the Resolution be adopted?' We’re going to have a Roll Call vote. So 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 09500259.doc 108  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008 are 105 voting 'yes' and 0 voting 'no'. And the Resolution is adopted. Mr. Clerk, read the Agreed Resolutions."

"Representative Lang 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. Mr. Clerk, read the Adjournment Resolution.

"Representative Lang moves for the adoption of the Adjournment Resolution. All in favor say 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The 'ayes' have it. And the Adjournment Resolution is adopted. Representative Eddy, for what reason do you rise?" 09500259.doc 109  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008

"That is correct, Representative."

"Yes. So, just to clarify to everyone that we will adjourn today and return to Springfield on Tuesday under the normal published schedule that had been previously filed."

Speaker Hannig: "The original schedule. So, Representative Lyons, you’re recognized for an announcement."

"Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, so if we can end on a rather light side, but a very important side, Coach Harry Osterman and Coach Art Turner want to remind all of us Tuesday we will have softball practice for the House-Senate softball game scheduled for the 14th. So bring your bats, bring your balls, bring your a… cleats, whatever you need. We will have information. We will have information on Tuesday night for where we’re going to have our softball practice. Thank you, Speaker."

Speaker Hannig: "Are there any other announcements? Then Representative Lang moves, that allowing perfunctory time for the Clerk, that the House adjourn until Tuesday, May 6, at the hour of 12:00 noon. All in favor say 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The 'ayes' have it. The Resolution is adopted and the House stands adjourned." 09500259.doc 110  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 259th Legislative Day 5/1/2008