"The hour of 12:00 having arrived, the House will be in Session. Today's March 3, 2009, and we shall be led in prayer today by the Reverend Tim Filkins, who is the Pastor of Palmer Park Baptist Church, in Frankfort, Illinois. Reverend Filkins is the guest of Representative Kosel. 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. Reverend Filkins."
"Thank you. As I was reading in the Apostle Paul this morning, as he says, 'I've longed to be with you that I might impart to you a spiritual gift'. And I pray that it's a blessing to you for me to be here as much as it is for me to be here. Thank you. So let's bow our heads and go to the Lord in prayer. Father God, we thank You for this group of fine people. We thank You that You have called them to this office. Lord, You tell us in Your word that no authority is established except by You. And I thank You that You have established each and every one of these fine people. I pray, God, that You will bless their lives, bless them as they debate Bills, as they consider Bills in committee. Father, I ask that You would give them wisdom. The state would have no law if You didn't provide lawmakers. Just like the universe would have no law unless there was a lawmaker, and we thank You that You are He, and we just ask Your blessings on these people. We ask that You would bless their families as they deal with situations at home. Father God, I ask for Your grace and mercy on them. I ask that they would feel Your call on their life. 09600020.doc 1 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 I pray that You will bless them and bring healing in their families where they need it and help them to feel Your approval and to know that You are with them and guiding their thoughts. And I pray that all that they do would be pleasing to You and that they would seek to be so. And we just thank You for them, and ask Your blessings on them and uplift them and help them to do their job with joy, Father God, and protect them from the slings and arrows of men. I know they work under a lot of pressure, and I pray for Your blessings on them. Prosper their families. Help the Bills that they pass to be pleasing to You, Father, and to be part of what makes this great state so great. And we ask it all in the holy and precious name of Christ our Lord, Amen."
"We shall be led in the Pledge today by the Lady from Cook, Representative Mendoza."
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
"Roll Call for Attendance. The Lady from Cook, Representative Currie."
"Thank you, Speaker. Please let the record reflect the excused absences of Representatives Collins, D'Amico, Golar and Gordon."
Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Jackson, Representative Bost, for what reason do you rise?" 09600020.doc 2 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let the record reflect that Representative Bill Mitchell and Skip Saviano are excused today on the Republican side of the aisle."
"There are 102 Members present, and a quorum is present. The Clerk shall take the roll. The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Riley, for what reason do you rise?"
"Point of person privilege, Mr. Speaker."
"State your point."
"I'd like for the Body to give a warm House of Representatives welcome to a good friend of mine who has done a lot for economic development in the south and southwest suburbs, and is the mother of Reverend Filkins that just gave us that tremendous prayer. Sharon Filkins- Jenrich in the stands. Is she still here? Round of applause."
"Welcome to Springfield. The Gentleman from Jackson, Representative Bost."
"Yes, Mr. Speaker. An inquiry of the Chair, if I may."
"State your inquiry."
"I've noticed… first off, I want to thank everyone for finally getting our Rule Books out here, and I noticed that… that… you know, they're of a fairly decent weight, but have they been range tested? You know, on occasion, when the question comes into play, I've seen these fly. How far will they actually go? Have they been ranged tested?"
"Say that again. Range tested?"
"Range… range tested. You know, like any other weapon you want to make sure that… see how far they'll fly, and so I 09600020.doc 3 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 just wondered if anybody had checked them to see what kind of yardage we can get out of them if we all of a sudden get into a very serious debate and want to throw them."
"We'll let you bring that report back next week."
"Okay. You think that the hall should be cleared while we do that?"
"That's a good chance."
"Okay, I just wanted to check."
"The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Lang, for what reason do you rise?"
"Thank you. I'd just like to let Representative Bost know that some years ago we went from the hard cover version of the Rules to the soft cover version of the Rules, because people on your side of the aisle were getting injured with the flying books."
Speaker Turner: "And the Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black, for what reason do you rise?"
"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. A serious inquiry of the Chair."
"And seriously we'll take you."
"Thank you. Thank you for the new Rule Book. I would call your attention to House Rule 18, on page 13. House Rule 18 says, 'House Rule 18(b). During odd-numbered years, the Rules Committee shall thereafter refer any such Bill before it to a standing committee or a special committee within three legislative days'. Mr. Speaker, there are several Bills on the Rules Cal… still in Rules Committee that have been there longer than three days. What is… 09600020.doc 4 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 including House Bill 2503, which is a Special Election Bill, which of course all of the Democrats wanted at one time, but I can't keep up with where they are on it today. But seriously, what is the intent of the Chair and/or the Rules Committee on Bills that have not been released within the required three days?"
"We're going to refer to the chairman of the Rules Committee, the chairlady of the Rules Committee, Representative Currie."
"Thank you."
"We take all these requests under advisement. Thank you very much, Representative Black, for bringing this to our attention."
"In all due respect to the Majority Leader, House Rule 18 doesn't say anything about under advisement. It says 'shall be released'. My question and the question of Democrats as well as Republicans who have Bills languishing in Rules for seven, eight, ten days. Are you going to follow House Rule 18 or not? That's all I want to know. The rule does not say you take it under advisement, it says, 'shall be released within three days'. So what can we expect?"
"Representative, we heard from the chairwoman of the committee and she says that she will take it under advisement, and maybe by the end of the day we'll may be able to share with you some additional information."
"I certainly hope so, because I'm making this inquiry on behalf of some of your Members, as well as some of mine."
"Thank you…" 09600020.doc 5 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"We'd just like to know why some Bills introduced in the last 72 hours will be released prior to Bills that were introduced seven or eight days ago. That's not what was said on this House Floor when you adopted these rules. Every Bill will be reported out. We're waiting. We're waiting for the Special Election Bill, too."
"Thank you…"
"I hope it's released."
"Thank you for your inquiry, Representative. The Gentleman from DeKalb, Representative Pritchard, for what reason do you rise?"
"For a point of personal privilege, Mr. Speaker."
"State your point."
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, we all have rules and regulations that we follow, and sometimes we are aware that our constituents are watching or listening. I would like to direct your attention to the gallery this afternoon where some of my constituents are there, some of my youth advisory committee. Eleven juniors and seniors from area high schools who are watching how this chamber operates and how Illinois law is created. So, I would ask that you would help welcome these individuals up in the gallery."
"Welcome to Springfield. The Lady from Will, Representative Senger, for what reason do you rise? Representative Senger, you had a point to make? The Gentleman from Macon, Representative Flider, for what reason do you rise?"
"A point of personal privilege, Mr. Speaker." 09600020.doc 6 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"State your point."
"Yes, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I'd like to call your attention to the gallery on the right side of the chamber. We have a group of great students from Decatur, Illinois, Eisenhower High School. They're part of Mr. Rusk's advanced placement government class. And I'd like you to please welcome them to Springfield."
"Welcome to Springfield. The Gentleman from Bond, Representative Stephens, for what reason do you rise?"
"Well, first of all, to see if there are any more Members on my side of the aisle that would like to seek recognition for anymore introductions, and since I don't see any, I would like to proceed with the order of Representative Black questioning the intention of the Chair. Mr. Speaker, the Speaker's Office is in control of the rules of this chamber, and his job as Speaker is to enforce them. It's not whether somebody has time to take into consideration, I don't care if you're the Majority Leader or not. The Majority Leader, the Speaker, as every Member of this General Assembly, is bound by these rules. We simply ask for fair treatment. You know… somebody said this is suppose to be maroon, it looks brown to me, and it reminds me of brown. I just don't understand, why when you have overwhelming control of this Body, you can't just play fair. You can win every vote you want to win. Take the Bills out of Rules Committee, send them to the appropriate committee, don't… you don't have to play those games either. You don't have to teach your Members to play with 09600020.doc 7 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 the rules. Just play by them. Play by the rules, don't play with them. It just occurs to me that with all the attention that Illinois has gotten this year, has received this year, it seems to me that we should be on our best behavior. And I am just over… I'm overwhelmed when I look across the aisle and see you, you know what, hey, it was just a game. It's a game you're going to play with us. It's a game; it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that you brought us Rod Blagojevich and embarrassed us. It doesn't matter that you brought us the trailblazer and embarrassed us. It doesn't matter, the corruption doesn't matter, the rules don't matter. Nothing matters except control. And that's wrong. That's wrong. Play by the rules, don't play with them."
"The Gentleman from Crawford, Representative Eddy, for what reason do you rise?"
"A point of pers… a point of personal privilege, Mr. Speaker."
"State your point."
"Mr. Speaker, I rise simply to ask the same question that others on my side of the aisle have asked. But more importantly, over the weekend as I was out and about in the communities that I represent, constituents ask questions about a Special Election, and what the issues are related to why that Special Election Bill hasn't been called. Unfortunately, the only answer that I can give them is apparently the folks that control the House have some fear. There's some type of fear involved with allowing elected Representatives in the State of Illinois to debate an issue 09600020.doc 8 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 that's important to the people that they represent. On multiple occasions this weekend, my constituents asked me if there was any way that that particular issue could be forwarded on their behalf. I'm hopeful that I'm at sometime able to answer them with something that resembles an answer a Representative would provide to their constituents in a democracy. So far, I haven't been able to answer them with anything related to what one would expect to hear in a democracy. Now, if we were in a dictatorship, everything I'm telling them makes perfect sense. That there is a person, a Party, a particular individual that has the power in our form of government to hold up debate on a Bill. That's all I can tell them right now. And I think it's accurate. Mr. Speaker, when are we going to stop being afraid? That's all this is. This shows fear. We're afraid of debating an issue that's important. We're not asking… we're not asking for anything more than the opportunity for a Bill to be released from Rules Committee which the rules calls for. The rules say very clearly that that Bill shall be reported to a committee for a hearing. That's not happening. People can draw no other conclusion from your action except for the fact that there is substantial fear on your side of the aisle regarding the way democracy is supposed to work. Mr. Speaker, I would again request that we stop being afraid in this Body of democracy and we start following the rules that we're supposed to follow in this Body."
Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Bond, Representative Stephens. You spoke earlier." 09600020.doc 9 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"Just an inquiry of the Chair. I wondered if you could ask Representative Franks, his Special Election Bill is out of committee, assigned to Exec, and I wonder if he's going to call that today."
"He's sitting in that…"
"And if he's going to call it, I wonder if we could amend it?"
"He's sitting in there…"
"We got to have our voices heard, Mr. Speaker. We want our voices heard."
"If you walk over to his desk he probably can hear you."
"You know, I want it on the record."
"The Lady from Cook, Representative Currie."
"Thank you, Speaker. I move to suspend the posting requirements so that House Bills 1362 through 2128; House Bill 2233; House Bills 2701 through 3158; House Bills 3160 and 3161; and 3163 through 3332; and House Bill 3335; and House Bills 3337 through 3591; and House Bills 3593 through 3605, may be heard tomorrow in Executive Committee at 10 a.m. And I would like also leave to repost the subject matter hearing in the Juvenile Justice Reform Committee. And as I understand it, there is no objection to the Motion."
"Seeing no objection, leave is granted and the Bills will be so reported. The Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Ramey, for what reason do you rise today?"
"Point of pers…"
"Very colorful, I might add." 09600020.doc 10 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"A point of personal privilege, Mr. Speaker."
"State your point."
"Well, since you did mention it, this very colorful jacket besides representing my love for the St. Louis Cardinals, is a… worn by… and you've probably seen it around the Capitol the last few weeks, worn by the Springfield Gentlemen's Association, and some may contest my gentlemanship, but what this group does is to raise awareness and help find a cure for cancer. And this evening, this association is presenting the world's first Cozy Dog eating contest. And to get into that contest costs $15 dollars. You'll get an opportunity to eat the most Cozy Dogs that you can in 12 minutes. And if you win, your name will be posted on the Cozy Dog sign. A picture of the winner will be hung inside and the winner will be established as the world's first Cozy Dog eating champion. So, Ladies and Gentlemen, I ask you to attend this fantastic event. Have a little fun and help support a cure for cancer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker."
"Thank you, Representative. The Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Reboletti, for what reason do you rise?"
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to thank the Majority Leader for allowing the Juvenile Justice Committee to come back for a subject matter hearings. Besides, one of our Representatives has a very important measure. She has witnesses that'll be traveling for over 200 miles, so we appreciate the consideration." 09600020.doc 11 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"On page 20 of the Calendar, we have some Motions to table some Bills. I'd like to read them all and take them all in one Motion. The first Bill will be House Bill 757 by Representative Thapedi. The next Bill will be House Bill 937 by Representative Black. House Bill 1091 by Representative Verschoore. House Bill 2273 by Representative Hamos. House Bill 2511 by Representative Pihos. House Bill 3643 by Representative Sacia. Representative Currie moves that we table those House Bills that were previously mentioned. With leave of the Body, the Mot… these Bills will be tabled. On page 19 of the Calendar, we have a Motion to move from the table back to the Calendar House Bill 357. That Bill was moved inadvertently by the Sponsor, Representative Pritchard. With leave of the Body, all those in favor should say 'aye'; those opposed say 'no'. The 'ayes' have it, and House Bill 357 will be placed from the table back on to the Calendar in the order in which it should appear. Representative Pritchard also moves that we table House Bill 337. All those in favor say 'aye'; those opposed say 'no', and House Bill 337 will be tabled. Ladies and Gentlemen, we're going to start off on page 14 of the Calendar, that's where we left off last week. That will be the order for the rest of the week. We will continue where we left off, and on page 14 of the Calendar, the first Bill that we will hear, this is under the Order of Third Reading, is House Bill 214 by Representative Smith. Representative Smith on House Bill 214. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk." 09600020.doc 12 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"House Bill 214, a Bill for an Act concerning property. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Take it out of the record. The next Bill is House Bill 229. Representative Rose. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 229, a Bill for an Act concerning wildlife. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"The Gentleman from Champaign, Representative Rose."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. This Bill deals with a couple of issues related to deer permits on the forty-acre rule. With the introduction of the new global positioning and the ability to better estimate acreage, some people are finding out that the 40 acres that's been in their family for four generations is really 39.78 acres, and this would… just to simply allow them to round up a half of ten… or a half of an acre to qualify for the permit. So, pretty simple Bill, and I'd ask for your support."
"Seeing no questions, the question is, 'Shall the House pass House Bill 229?' All those in favor should vote 'aye'; all those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is now open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Could you turn on Representative Joyce. No, he's absent today. D'Amico's absent, Lyons absent. The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 101 voting 'aye', 0 'noes', 0 'presents'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On the 09600020.doc 13 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 Order of Third Readings, we have House Bill 236. Representative Ryg. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 236, a Bill for an Act concerning civil law. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Take it out of the record. On the Order of Third Readings, we have House Bill 244. Representative Pritchard. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 244, a Bill for an Act concerning insurance. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, in the 94th General Assembly we passed a law that provided preventative and restorative physical therapy for those people suffering from multiple sclerosis. We did not include public employees. That serious omission is taken care of in this particular Act, and I would ask for your support in House Bill 244 to extend this type of insurance coverage for public employees."
Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Bond, Representative Stephens, for what reason do you rise?"
"Mr. Speaker, only to report that Triad High School, my son's high school where he wrestled and was a pretty average wrestler. When he came back from the Army and he became the assistant wrestling coach this year, and for the first time in Triad's history, they brought home a… a state trophy. Now, they didn't win the championship, but for the first time in team sport, Triad High School has a trophy, and I'm proud to announce that here on… today."
Speaker Turner: "Thank you for that information, Representative. Are there any… are there any questions 09600020.doc 14 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 regarding this Bill? Seeing no questions, the question is, 'Shall the House pass House Bill 244?' All those in favor should vote 'aye'; all those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is now open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 101 voting 'aye', 0 'noes', 1 'present'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On the Order of Third Readings, we have House Bill 247. Representative Bradley. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 247, a Bill for an Act concerning transportation. Third Reading of this House Bill." Bradley, J.: "This is a Bill that we passed, I believe it was unanimous, last year. It would establish the 'In God We Trust' license plates. The additional revenue raised from that would go towards the Military Family Relief Fund. I think this is an important piece of legislation. Indiana has done it. It's raised a lot of money, and got caught up in all the infighting last year, and I'd ask for an 'aye' vote."
"The Gentleman from Rock Island, Representative Boland, for what reason do you rise?"
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of House Bill 247. Very important Bill. It not only gives those individuals who want to have that on their plates as in Indiana and many other states, but in the best of our special plate tradition, this will raise money for the Military Family Relief Act. I was the Sponsor of that. We have helped literally thousands of Illinois families, and 09600020.doc 15 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 that legislation, the Military Family Relief Act, has been copied by over 30 states now, all helping our families of those who are off in Iraq and Afghanistan risking their life and limb in the war against terror. And often at home, you know, under financial stress, their families. So we don't want those folks over there in harm's way to have to worry about… whether the telephone bill or… or the rent or any other bills are being paid, we want to be able to help those folks. So I would urge an unanimous vote for this. Thank you."
Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Cook, Representative McCarthy, for what reason do you rise?"
"Will the Sponsor yield?"
"Indicates he will."
"Representative Bradley…" Bradley, J.: "Yes."
"I just want to assure you I have nothing against in God we trust, I have nothing against prostrate cancer, I have nothing against all the other assorted plates that we've issued in the last couple of years, but I do think they are a hazard to our law enforcement committee, so, I will be one of the 2 'noes' up there at the end of this debate." Bradley, J.: "Thank you for sharing that with me."
Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Reboletti, for what reason do you rise?"
"Thank you, Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"Indicates he will." 09600020.doc 16 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"Representative, is this plate fund, this 15 dollar or 12 dollars, is this subject to sweeps as we have seen in the past, where if I buy a plate for Eastern Illinois University, the money that's supposed to go to Eastern, mysteriously, doesn't make it there? Or is this going to make it to the families that we say we're going to help?" Bradley, J.: "I don't know the answer to that. I would say in response to that, that it's a new day in Illinois."
"Well, I hope it is a new day in Illinois, Counselor, but hope springs eternal here but…" Bradley, J.: "I'm not a counselor today, I'm just a little…"
"You're not a…" Bradley, J.: "…'ol Representative."
"Why, I think you're both. But would you contemplate that type of a language maybe with your Senate Sponsor to make sure that…?" Bradley, J.: "Yeah, we… I think that's something we should talk about. I appreciate the comment."
"Thank you."
Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Miller, for what reason do you rise?"
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"Indicates he will."
"Just a question in regards to a constitutional issue. I looked at the opponent of this and I know we had a Bill earlier last General Assembly dealing with prayer and a moment of silence. Do you see any conflict with this?" 09600020.doc 17 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 Bradley, J.: "No. No, actually, he… the argument he made in committee which I thought was weak, was that you should have some outside source draft the 'In God…"
"Mr. Speaker, I can't hear." Bradley, J.: "The argument he made was not over the plate itself, because apparently he said he had atheist plates. The argument was over who was going to design the plate. Well, obviously, the Secretary of State has to design the plates. So, I just think that's a losing argument on his behalf."
"Okay. So you… and I wasn't in committee and just a question in regards to…" Bradley, J.: "Yeah."
"…are we going to down a path of constitutional…" Bradley, J.: "His argument was over the stylization of the plate and I just think that's weak."
"Okay. And as far as any other states, do they have some…" Bradley, J.: "Indiana's got this and it's gone over terrific and they've raised a lot of revenue and this would potentially raise a lot of revenue for military families."
"Okay. All right, thank you."
"Seeing no further questions, the question is, 'Shall the House pass House Bill 247?' All those in favor should vote 'aye'; all those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is now open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 93 voting 'aye', 9 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby 09600020.doc 18 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 declared passed. On the Order of Third Readings, we have House Bill 278, Representative Bellock. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 278, a Bill for an Act concerning appropriations. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 278 is an appropriation Bill for a million dollars, and this goes to fund a program that we passed a Bill on two years ago regarding the funding of fellowships for forensic psychiatry. It is subject to appropriation, and what it would do is fund fellowships 75 percent at the University of Illinois in Chicago, and 25 percent at Southern Illinois University. The reason this is important is forensic psychiatry is a very, very specialized doctoral… past doctoral for psychiatrists. Over 80 percent of the criminals in our institutions have some form of mental health issues or substance abuse, and is a high specialty. So, I'm hoping that you can support this. It is subject to appropriation."
"Seeing no questions, the question is, 'Shall the House pass… I'm sorry, Representative Graham. For what rea…"
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"He indicates she will."
"Representative, can you clarify what this legislation does again?"
"Yes. What this legis… forensic psychiatry is a psychiatry dealing with criminals. And in the State of Illinois, right now, forensic psychiatry is very 09600020.doc 19 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 underfunded. There are no specialties in any of the universities. So, we passed a law two years ago to create a program doing this, but we never passed the appropriation for it. And so that's what this Bill is for, the appropriation."
"How much is the appropriation in this legislation?"
"It's a million dollars."
"A million dollars."
"And it's divided between 75 percent to go to the University of Illinois in Chicago and 25 percent to go to Southern Illinois University."
"How great is the demand for this program?"
"It's huge. Because as I said, probably 80 percent of the criminals in our systems need some form of mental health care, and Dr. Cavanaugh, who ran the Isaac Ray Institution, told me right now, for all psychiatrists at least 40 percent of their work is dealing with forensic psychiatry, but there are very few people who are specialized in this field to be able to really deal with it."
"So forensic psychiatry is not limited to… is this a criminal who has… they think he's mentally ill or is this… does this go across the board to…"
"Yes."
"…be able to counsel anyone who is convicted of a crime or is this before a person is convicted of a crime? Where does the psychiatry fit in? 'Cause I don't know…"
"Well, it's… these are mostly the psyc… I mean, they would be psychiatrists anywhere who deal with the issue, 09600020.doc 20 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 but these are people who deal with mental health issues. They would be dealing out at Elgin with sexual offenders. They are the people who are in the inside track in dealing with people with severe mental health problems and criminal activity."
"It sounds like it's a good piece of legislation. I… and I guess I can just talk to you a little bit more off line to some clarity…"
"Um hmm, um hmm, um hmm."
"…about it."
"This would be people who are already psychiatrists and then they take this specialized training in order… it would be like… you know, a regular doctor or… who then becomes, you know, more specialized in a field. But forensic psychiatry, if you start to read, is something that is needed throughout the entire United States now to help deal with people who are in the criminal system, so that they cannot be repeat offenders."
"You know, because some of the issues that we address in the African-American community, is that we feel that people go to prison and although we make this money available, that they won't even get the service. Although… they'll be select, picking and choosing who would be eligible to receive this important service that would help decrease recidivism and some of the other issues out there. So, I hope that in distributing this service, that there's not a picking and choosing of who is eligible for it, and that everyone who is incarcerated, who you say can receive this service across the board, would actually get it. So I 09600020.doc 21 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 don't want them to pick and choose the way it's done about who goes to jail in the first place. Some people get tapped on the wrist for marijuana and go home, and some folks have to go to jail for three or four years for marijuana. So, I don't want this to be another one of those good pieces of legislation that is applied…"
"Well, I agree with you, Representative, that, I mean, this… we need a lot more of this to deal with the population that we have, but this is a start. There were… there was a program like this before, but it went, you know, under because of funding, and so this is an attempt… the majority of all of the medical… well, all the medical field and psychiatrists, everybody was for this program when we passed the program two years ago…"
"Yes."
"…but we haven't been able to implement it. But I agree with you, I mean, the most important thing we can do to keep people out of prison is to help give them some type of mental health care so that they're not repeat offenders. But this is for very, very serious offenders."
"Thank you, Representative. One last question. Like other pieces of legislation when folks go to school for nursing or for doctors or whatever, and we give them a scholarship, there's also something that's put in place that says how long they have to stay once they receive those dollars. Is there anything in your legislation that kind of specifies once you receive this money, to become a forensic psychiatrist, that you have to stay or pay back or any of that? 'Cause it's… it's some sort of requirement 09600020.doc 22 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 like that for nursing or for doctors who are asked to practice in a particular area. Does your legislation have that in it?"
"There is nothing in this specific Bill because this is just the appropriation Bill. And in the original Bill, I don't think that that was in there. Representative Miller asked me that before. We can go back and try to change that… you know, do a repeal of part of that original Bill, but on the approp Bill, it's just strictly, you know, the amount."
"I would really like to see that happen."
"Mmm, mmm."
"And again, I do think it's a good piece of legislation, and I do think that's it's needed, but sometimes we don't ask the right questions, we kind of get some of the same stuff that doesn't do exactly what we're specifying."
"Right."
"So, if we could go back and put that language or put a trailer Bill together, to give those people a… like we do with everything else."
"Sure."
"The nurses, the doctors…"
"Right."
"…we put a time limit…"
"Right."
"…once they receive those grants that they have to practice, I wouldn't say in a particular area, but have to 09600020.doc 23 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 stay in Illinois. We'd hate for them to get that money, get the skill, and go some place else and practice."
"I think it's a good idea."
"Great. Thank you."
Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Peoria, Representative Leitch, for what reason do you rise?"
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Lady yield?"
"See indicates she will."
"Representative Bellock, in my community, we just recruited from West Virginia, a psychiatrist who created the forensic psychiatry program for the entire state of West Virginia and also is about preparing to do so for Illinois and is in the course of that working on creating a psychiatry residency. I would like it very much if you would amend the Bill in the Senate to include the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, to be included in the appropriation. I also, in another Bill, have an Amendment that would change the Bill that you passed two years ago. So, I just wanted to bring that to your attention. This is a very important area. It's one that, frankly, the State of Illinois does very, very miserably at performing right now and this would offer great strides in that direction. Thank you."
"Okay, well… I'm not sure how to address that. This Bill is to fund the original Bill that set up the program from two years ago. That Bill has already been signed into law."
"I realize that. I've a Bill right now that would include the University of Illinois College of Medicine at 09600020.doc 24 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 Peoria. Because we have a true expert in our ranks and our community and I don't want to be shut out of that process."
"See… we've already passed in that Bill exactly and we amended this Bill to say 75 percent for University of Illinois at Chicago… I mean, I'm open to the discussion of that. I just don't know because the other Bill that passed two years ago had the exact percentage in there and the universities in it. If now if I amend this, I can't go back and amend that other Bill from two years ago."
"I'm working to amend the Bill from two years ago."
"All right. Oh, that's fine with me, then. I mean, you know, I'm all for it, so however you want to do it."
"Thank you."
"Seeing no further questions, the question is, 'Shall the House pass House Bill 278?' All those in favor should vote 'aye'; all those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is now open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Hatcher. I'm sorry. The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 85 voting 'aye', 17 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On the Order of Third Readings, we have House Bill 289. Representative Mautino. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk." Clerk Mahoney: "House Bill 289, a Bill for an Act concerning finance. Third Reading of this Hous…"
"Representative Mautino."
"Yes, a question of the Clerk. I believe I need to withdraw Amendment #2."
"What's the status of Amendment #2, Mr. Clerk?" 09600020.doc 25 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"Excuse me."
"House Bill 289 is on the Order of House Bills- Third Reading. There is a… a Floor Amendment on the Bill pending, and there's a Committee Amendment that has been adopted to the Bill."
"Bring the Bill back to Second Reading."
Clerk Mahoney: "Floor Amendment #2 has been approved for consideration."
"The Gentleman asks leave to withdraw Amendment #2."
"Withdraw Amendment #2, please."
"Any further Amendments, Mr. Clerk?"
"No further Amendments. No Motions filed."
Speaker Turner: "Third Reading. On the Order of Third Readings, we have House Bill 306. Representative Rita. Out of the record. On the Order of Third Readings, we have House Bill 336. Representative Pritchard. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 336, a Bill for an Act concerning education. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we passed the Campus Security Act last year, and as a result of that one of my school districts indicated that they saw an omission. So, what this Bill is doing is adding to the language of the Bill that says that as we develop interdisciplinary and multijurisdictional campus violence prevention plans, including coordination of and communication among all available campus and local mental health and first responders, we will also communicate with governmental 09600020.doc 26 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 agencies and school districts that are contiguous with a higher educational institution's boundaries. I would ask for your support in this legislation."
"Seeing no questions, the question is, 'Shall the House pass House Bill 336?' All those in favor should vote 'aye'; all those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is now open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 102 voting 'aye', 0 'noes', 0 'presents'. And this Bill having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Lady from Brown, Representative Tracy, for what reason do you rise?"
"Point of personal privilege, Mr. Speaker."
"State your point."
"March is Woman's History Month, and we have a Resolution in process that will have us recognizing that event, and I wanted to read something about a lady who made history in Illinois and her name was Dr. Elizabeth Howard Miner. She was born in 1867 and died in 1960. Elizabeth Minor was born in Iowa on Christmas Day, 1867, and she earned a degree from Shenandoah Teachers College and taught school prior to her first marriage. In 1895, Mrs. Miner graduated from Denver Medical College in Denver, Colorado. She and husband William moved to Macomb, Illinois, where she became Macomb, Illinois's, first woman physician- surgeon. During her medical career in Macomb, Dr. Miner served in three of Macomb's hospitals. Dr. Miner was a charter member and the first secretary of the McDonough County Medical Society organized in 1897. She served as a 09600020.doc 27 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 delegate to the Illinois Medical Society from 1918 to 1938 and was elected vice president of the Illinois Medical Society in 1935, becoming the first woman to hold elected office in the State Medical Society. She was also elected president of the Illinois branch of the American Women's Medical Association. Dr. Elizabeth Miner practiced medicine for over 50 years. Her career continued into the late 1940's, and she died at age 93 in Macomb. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for that indulgence."
"Thank you, Representative. On the Order of Third Readings, we have House Bill 338. Representative Franks. Read the Bill Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 338, a Bill for an Act concerning renewable fuels. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Bill is a rewrite of House Bill 1551 that passed unanimously last year in the House. It's the exact same Bill. Mr. Flider moved this through committee for us, which I appreciate. I was since contacted by individuals who had an interest in it, and they told me that they no longer… there was no objection, they wanted to look at it. So, I'd be happy to answer any question. But what we're really trying to do is give incentives for those that are creating alternate fuels."
Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Jasper, Representative Reis."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"…cates…"
"Representative Franks, what's the genesis of this Bill? You, basically, if I understand the Bill right, you're 09600020.doc 28 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 lowing the threshold in order to be able to qualify for a grant from 30 million gallons a year production down to 5."
"I was trying to have… I guess trying to reward creativity and trying to get ways that we could possibly get different sorts of fuel for our country, made here in our state, and not requiring the larger plants, but maybe we could come up with some inventive ways with smaller amounts, because I think we have to try all creative ways. So instead of just… 'cause right now there is a grant program, but it's only for those that create $30 million… 30 million gallons of renewable fuel per year. So, I wanted to lower it to try to open it up to others."
"Are we talking backyard stills? I mean, hardly anybody builds a $30 million… or 30 million gallon plant any more. Almost all the ethanol plants are a hundred million gallons a year. That seems to be where the threshold is for economic viability in the plant, and we just want to make sure that by lowering that threshold we're not spending grant dollars on plants that really have no economic viability or ability to sustain profitability and stay in business."
"No, that's… that's… that's a good point, and you may be right for some of the ethanol-based products right now, but what I'm trying to think about is possibly other fuels that we haven't thought about, because you know, just a few years ago, we weren't thinking of the biodiesels and the other types. And perhaps there's going to be other new technologies and other things that we can use, and I want to have that available, so we can always remain on the 09600020.doc 29 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 cutting edge because as you know, we've been driving business out of the state. We've been driving R&D out of the state. I think we ought to be bringing those type of thinkers back to this state and creating jobs here in Illinois."
"Couldn't agree with you more on that last part, and I look for your support on many of our Bills over here. But has someone came to you specifically and said, Representative Franks, we would like for you to lower this threshold, I mean, is there a particular kind of… of…"
"No. No, there isn't. But my point is, technology is changing so quickly, you know, you look at how the Internet has just transformed commerce and industry in this country. And you see how the computer has done that, and you know, a hundred years ago if someone told you that you'd be flying around in aluminum spheres through the air and there'd be 10 thousand of them up in the air at one time, they probably would have had you committed. So, I don't know what the technology is going to bring, but I think that I'd rather err on the side of allowing more innovation than less innovation."
"My last couple of questions. Has the Farm Bureau removed their opposition?"
"Yeah. I met… I… I had a gentleman grab me in the hall a couple of days ago, it was last week, and they said they didn't have a problem with it."
"Okay. And my last question is, are these grants administered through DCEO?"
"Yes they are." 09600020.doc 30 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"And do they have any opposition to the change?"
"No, not that I'm aware of."
"Okay. To the Bill. Thank you, Representative and thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to support this, just simply to move it over and there's a thousand ways to kill a Bill in this town. So, hopefully, it'll get aired out even more as it goes over to the Senate and we can truly determine if this is something that we need to go down. So, thank you."
"Seeing no further questions, the question is, 'Shall the House pass House Bill 338?' All those in favor should vote 'aye'; all those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is now open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there are 104 voting 'aye', 0 'noes', 0 'presents'. And this Bill having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Holbrook on House Bill 348. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 348, a Bill for an Act concerning financial regulation. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Representative Holbrook."
"Thank you, Speaker. House Bill 348, as amended, amends the Credit Union Act. It allow… it puts credit unions for deter… to determining their historical loss on the same footing as the federal credit unions and the banks. Allows them to market their services just as other entities can now, and it also allows them to participate in the Rural Development Home and Community Facilities Act as amended. This passed out last year out of this chamber, got hung up with the JCAR language. We're running it again 09600020.doc 31 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 this year. I know of no opposition to the Bill. Be glad to take any questions."
"The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black, for what reason do you rise?"
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"Indicates he will."
"Representative, let me ask you a question, I'm not sure I understand that one part of your Bill. It says that, 'Illinois chartered credit unions may participate in parity with federal credit unions, the practice of lending up to 2 percent more than the appraised value of a residential property.' Now, I remember when we got into some real problems when we started loaning more money than the inflated, at that time, the inflated appraisal value. So, why do we want to allow somebody to loan more money than the appraised value of the property that they are attempting to purchase?"
"That will allow them to participate in the federal program, the Rural Development Housing and Community Facilities Program, which they are the only financial institution… it's my understanding now they can't, because they can… but if they can't meet that, this allows them to participate in that federal program that has those guarantees for this. It's part of the U.S. Department of Ag for rural areas."
"Well… and I can understand that, and I'm not necessarily opposed to the premise, but it would seem to me in the current financial crisis with banks failing, banks being bailed out by your money and my money to the tunes of 09600020.doc 32 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 billions of dollars because of questionable… well, some may disagree with this, I think questionable lending practices to people who couldn't pay it back or loaning them more money than the property was worth. It just seems like it flies in the face of what is happening currently in our financial markets."
"I am told this is limited to certain criteria where the feds have already taken a participatory fee out that would cover that, and that this is the same program used by the other institutions. And that the loan then would be covered where the feds have done this, under the program to… it's a guaranteed payback for them as to… for rural development, and the feds have already set the criteria to make sure, they feel, that they're safe with this loan. We're just… it's one of our lending institutions, in fact, the only I'm aware of that is not allowed to participate in this because of this rule."
"Well, our… one of the things that concerns me, Representative, and maybe… I'm not going to ask you to take it out of the record, that's up to you. But our staff analyst says that with this provision, you can perhaps purchase a home for no money down. Now, I was under the impression that's one of the things that got us into this foreclosure mess to begin with. I just… I just…"
"That's not the broad basis of the loan, that is true in some cases. They have this set up under certain criteria where they can make that type of loan. You're absolutely right, Representative Black, but it's very narrow under this program." 09600020.doc 33 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"So, the 2 percent, over and above the appraised value, is going to be used to cover the cost of federal underwriting and a full faith backing from the U.S. Treasury. Does the Treasury have any money left to back strange loans?"
"And the other financial institutions are allowed to do it also and that 2 percent is guaranteed through the feds. You and I, of course, are the feds. And again, this is only on a very narrow portion of these that qualify under these rules. It's at 2 percent."
"At this point in the financial crisis of our country, I'm just a little nervous about saying, well, other financial institutions do it, we've done it in the past, well, look where that's… look where that has gotten us, to this point, where the financial markets are in absolute meltdown. And here we go lending money in some cases, at 2 percent over appraised value, no money down, backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Treasury. I… I thought we were trying to get out of this situation, not adding to it."
"I don't disagree with you that there could be a loan here that could be of some issue, but the feds feel they have it covered with the criteria they allow under it, and this again, other institutions may be doing it. The credit unions would like to cover these type of loans because they're out in these very rural areas, populations of under 10 thousand is where this program applies. And again, they're the only group right now to my knowledge, from my analysis and from what I've read, that aren't allowed to do 09600020.doc 34 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 this and they're having members ask them to do it. And that 2 percent is guaranteed through the U.S. Department of Ag, I believe, the way this is read."
"Well, maybe that's why credit unions are… seem to be an island of common sense in this meltdown, and now they're asking to do the same thing that some rather large financial institutions have done, and being bailed out by billions of taxpayer money. I mean… I haven't had anybody in the credit union… the credit unions in my district contact me about this. That's what makes me a little nervous about this Bill."
"okay. Well, again, this was passed the last… last year over to the Senate. I think it passed with about 109 votes, I'm not sure how you voted on it, but again, if we want to look at all financial institutions in the state not participating in this, maybe I could join you with that, but at least this way I…"
"Okay."
"…think our credit unions are put on a even footing with the rest of them."
"How… how is this Bill different from the one you passed last year? Is the only difference the rulemaking Amendment?"
"Yeah, the JCAR."
"All right. Now, keep in mind, last year, we were not in the current meltdown that we are now."
"Absolutely." 09600020.doc 35 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"And the credit unions' still say that they need this… need this what, to be competitive or…? Why would you want to be competitive in a market that's upside down?"
"Well, they feel this… for the credit unions position, they're guaranteed through the U.S. Department of Ag on this, so they feel very secure. Again…"
"Again…"
"Yeah."
"Representative, you know…"
"Yeah."
"…the U.S. Treasury doesn't guarantee anything."
"No."
"You and I, the people in the gallery, the people in Illinois guarantee it with our tax money."
"We do, yes. Again, I'd be glad to look at all financial institutions if they think that this is a bad program, then it shouldn't… what's good for the goose is good for the gander. They should all be pulled out of it. But right now they're asking for this to be competitive."
"Would you accept my Amendment to your Bill that would say, nobody can have this provision?"
"I'd rather run that like a separate Bill. I'm sure we can get that out of Rules, Representative Black."
"All right. So, I just wanted to talk with the staff here for just a second. In other words, what your Bill does is to put all financial institutions in the State of Illinois on the same basic rules. Would that be a fair statement?" 09600020.doc 36 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"For purposes of this program, yes, under the Rural Development Housing and Community Act, yes."
"All right. All right. As always, I appreciate your indulgence. May I just ask you one personal question? You're much younger than I am, but when you bought your house, how much money did you have to put down? Do you remember?"
"Twenty percent."
"Mine was 30 percent. I guess I was born too soon. But, 30 percent of $5,000 wasn't that bad I guess."
"Well, I think I was high risk, I was… they worried about me."
"Well, once I took the wheels off my house, I got a better financial rate. Thank you, Representative."
"First one I had I didn't even take the wheels off; I didn’t know if I'd have to keep moving."
Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from McHenry, Representative Franks, for what reason do you rise?"
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"Indicates he will."
"I want to follow up with some up with some of the questions of the previous speaker, because I’m concerned as well when I'm reading the analysis. Mr. Holbrook, our analysis indicates that the credit unions want to change how they determine the historical loss rate by using a period of time less than 5 years to determine the appropriate balance and the allowance for loan losses account. Why would we do that?" 09600020.doc 37 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"This brings them in line with the federal credit unions and the banks and is even stricter, I'm told."
"Are we sure about that, because it doesn't seem right to me."
"Again, I… I am told it brings it into line with the federal credit unions and the banks that they use that type of experience of loss. Yes."
"Well, my concern is this, we've had… it depends on what years they choose, because the last few years as you know, we've had horrible losses at banks and credit unions, primarily because of the value of the properties diminishing. So, if we could cut out these last few years, and instead use the prior 3 years, the loan loss reserves that the credit unions would be having would be much less than whether they would be using the last few years. Wouldn't you agree?"
"I would think so."
"Well, that's… that's the rub. And I think if we do something like that, we're being reckless. Because right now, we've had 14 bank failures recently, and what you're saying is, is that these credit unions don't have to have as much capital as other financial institutions to cover the potential losses. What I think would be a better public policy, would actually be for them to have to have more capital. So that way we're not at risk of it failing. So that's my first criticism."
"Representative Franks, also again, this is what our state chartered banks are under, this is what our federal credit unions are under, and this just puts them… if we 09600020.doc 38 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 need to readdress how they look at this loss ratio, as I told Representative Black on the issue of participating with the rural loans, then maybe we ought to look at that for all institutions and not just single them out and not have them on an even basis with the other lending institutions."
"I'm not sure we want to compare them to our banks, because if you've seen banks, I'm not sure if you put them on the same way, that that's what you really want to do. Because, if you see what's happening in our financial institutions, when you see that the Federal Government's had to purchase 36 percent of Citicorp, because these are the rules that they are… that they're operating under, obviously these rules are not working. And when you look at the ability, and I want to talk to you about the loan aspect of being able to give a loan for the appraised value. I think the problem that we may have, is the fact that the… for first-time home buyers, they're using only a ninety-day window for comps. And because many of the sales that we're seeing now are short sales or foreclosures, almost 45 percent of the sales we're seeing in this state, are short sales or foreclosures. As a result, the appraisals are not coming out. If someone wants to purchase a home, let's say you want to buy a home for 250 thousand, but two of the homes… I talked to a realtor this morning from McHenry County on the way down, and this is the example she used. Two of the homes sold for… in the one hundreds, they were both short sale. There was one of a regular sale for 209, but because they sold this house at 09600020.doc 39 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 252, they could not get an appraisal because the first-time home buyers, they were only using ninety-day comps instead of having six-month comps. So, maybe we ought to be looking at the appraisal time, but I think what this would do here, would to be severely undercapitalize credit unions. And I think that we would be then putting at risk their viability, and I think you will see failures if we vote for this Bill. I understand what you're trying to do, but I think by putting them at the same level of banks is not the thing to be doing right now. I think we have to… with the TARP money coming in and all the changes that we're seeing in the financial regulations, I think this would be reckless. And I understand the reason why you're trying to do it and I know your heart's in the right place and I hate to stand up to argue against this, but to the Bill. I represent… in my law practice, I represent banks and I sit on two bank boards and I represent, actually, credit unions as well. I've seen what happens when there's not enough capital. If you see what's happening right now, when the… when President Bush put $350 billion in to shore up the banks, it was basically a black hole. Nothing changed. Now we're throwing hundreds of billions more, and we haven't seen credit be opened up. People aren't giving loans. I think there's another issue here. I think it's a question of banks not being… giving enough. I think we have a problem with our appraisals and I think we also have a problem with not enough down payment. This Bill here I think would cost the taxpayers a lot of money, because it would undercapitalize these financial institutions. And 09600020.doc 40 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 all of the financial institutions that have failed in the last year, have failed because they've been undercapitalized. This Bill would make them undercap… it would give them much more incentive to be undercapitalized. I'd urge a 'no' vote because I tell you, it is a reckless use of money and we will all be paying for this if we vote 'aye'. So please, vote 'no' on this Bill."
"The Lady from Cook, Representative Soto, for reason do you rise?"
"Thank you, Rep… thank you, Speaker. This is a question for Representative Holbrook. Representative Holbrook, I just want to be clear. This Bill will… so, if my house is worth a $100 thousand, you're saying that I can borrow a $150 thousand?"
"No. You don't live in a rural area that's covered under the Federal Department of Ag, population under 10 thousand, that has met a whole list of criteria where you can get a loan of 2 percent more. You know what, you got to realize with this Bill is, these are state-chartered credit unions. Everyone of these credit unions if they want, can become a federally-chartered credit union. They can do this overnight and we'll have no control over them. We'll have no oversight over them and all of these programs will continue just as I… that are listed here, if they become federally-chartered credit unions, and we have no control here at the state level."
"Representative, is this Bill just for your district or is it for the whole State of Illinois?" 09600020.doc 41 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"This is for the entire State of Illinois. There's a portion for the rural Department of Ag. Only one portion of this Bill addressed them to be able to participate like all the other institutions currently do, under the same rules for the Department of Ag, under the Rural Development Housing and Community Facilities Program. So, does it affect the whole state, yes. But is the whole state eligible for this one portion under the Department of Ag, no. Very few people in the state are eligible for that."
"Okay. Can you explain how it would work in Chicago, in my district? Can you give me an example, please?"
"Under the program for the Department of Ag, it wouldn't function at all. It couldn't, because you're over… you're over 10 thousand people."
"Is this for purchases and refinancing? Would this allow purchasing and refinancing?"
"Yes, but not, again, only in communities under 10 thousand."
"Okay. Thank you. Thank you."
"Seeing no further questions, the question is, 'Shall the House pass House Bill 348?' All those in favor should vote 'aye'; all those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is now open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? The Clerk shall take the record. On this question, there's 70 voting 'aye', 34 voting 'no', 0 'presents'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On the Order of Third Readings, we have House Bill 349. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk. Representative Pritchard." 09600020.doc 42 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"House Bill 349, a Bill for an Act concerning vehicles. Third Reading of this House Bill."
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. In response to a lot of accidents that are occurring across our state, this Bill will create the offense of distracting driving when a person engages in text messaging, reading a newspaper, book, magazine or map, and is engaged in personal grooming while operating a vehicle in violation of our motor vehicle law. It does not allow the police officer to stop someone for simply the offense of distracted driving, but if he stops that person for some other violation, he can also charge them with distraction which will result in a double fine for that underlying offense. This would not be a recordable event on their driver's license, but hopefully will be a stimulus for making people be more attentive to their driving and not be distracted. I would ask for your support."
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn the time on. There's a lot of people that want to speak on this Bill. The first speaker will be Representative Leitch, the Gentleman from Peoria."
"Thank you. My light was on before the measure was called. It was my intent to vote 'yes' on House Bill 247. Thank you."
"The record will so reflect your intent. Thank you. Speaker's Representative Flider. The Gentleman from Macon."
"Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"Indicates he will." 09600020.doc 43 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"Yes, Representative Pritchard, I received a call from a representative of the Decatur Police Department, concerned about this legislation, not from the standpoint of it's safety, but from a standpoint if you were a police officer, and as you know, they often use computers and other equipment to… for dispatch purposes and communication purposes when tracking a vehicle and so on. And so his concern was whether this legislation would inadvertently apply to those kinds of situations?"
"Well, this Bill sets forward that the police officer is the one that is finding evidence and charging in this offense. So I would doubt that the police officer would find that they are distracted themselves. It deals though with an underlying offense. That if someone is not obeying the rules of the road, the officer observes that, and then secondly, also observes that they are somewhat distracted. That then would qualify for charging the person. But it's the police officer that's doing that."
"Right, but by the same token, sometimes legislation we pass is… we pass here, has unintended consequences, and I think we just need to make sure this doesn't have that unintended consequence. I guess my question is this, if… you know, certainly this is a good Bill and one that would promote safety, but should this Bill pass, would you be open if we find that there is such a unintended consequence that would inadvertently, you know, place a police officer in violation of the law whether or not, you know, this was intended or not, whether you know, in fact is, that would be depended on the language, but if in fact there is such 09600020.doc 44 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 an unintended consequence, would you be willing to reconsider that should the Bill be amended in the Senate?"
"Well certainly if this passes out of the House, we would be amenable to some kind of Amendment in the Senate if there is clarification that would make sense to the intent of this Bill. As you know, we discussed with a number of interested parties following committee action on this Bill, and we're trying to improve it and then come up with any additional language at that time, but we always want to make the best legislation possible, so if there is some suggestions, I would certainly be amenable to encourage the Senate Sponsor to do that."
"Right, and then obviously your intent is that it would not apply to police officers, in their pursuit of law enforcement?"
"Correct."
"Thank you."
"So, we'd certainly do that."
"Thank you."
"The Gentleman from Crawford, Representative Eddy, for what reason do you rise?"
"Pardon me, I was distracted, I was do a text and I wasn't paying attention. This doesn't cover anything on the House floor does it, Representative? Distracted Legislator?"
"Not yet."
"Not yet. Okay. Just a couple quick questions for you, Representative Pritchard. It's my understanding that the amount of the fine would be connected to the primary stop 09600020.doc 45 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 and the cause for the original ticket, and that is something you would be working out with specific language on this?"
"We were not successful in coming up with anything that was more clearer than the intent, that the fine would be equivalent to the underlying fine. So if someone is stopped for running a red light or weaving down the road, whatever that fine is, it would be double for distracted driving if they're found… and convicted on that offense as well."
"Okay. This… this is not a separate moving violation then?"
"Correct."
"Okay, so whatever the… if there's a moving violation with the original fine or the source of the original fine, this doesn't add a second moving violation, it just adds an additional fine?"
"Correct. And it is not a moving violation on their driving record. This is simply an additional fine and hopefully a discouragement for people from doing these activities when they're driving."
"The final question is, this… this creates the offense of distracted driving, but it doesn't specify all types of distracted driving in the Bill. It could be anything that the officer investigating the primary stop, considers to have distracted the driver to maybe have caused the issue?"
"No, this Bill specifies specific distractions. We know there are multiple distractions, and sometimes things distract people in one person but not necessarily distract 09600020.doc 46 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 another person. So we were trying to be very clear in here that this deals with text messaging, reading a newspaper, book, magazine, or map, which gets to Representative Flider's comments, and it's also engaged in an act of personal grooming. These were items that the state police indicated to me where the most frequently causes of distraction and violation of the Motor Vehicle Code."
"Thank you, I appreciate the answers. I think that as this moves forward, your willingness to take suggestions may even result in a better Bill, but certainly it's something we have to deal with that is a sign of the times, and I'll support the legislation. I hope everybody can work with you as you move this through."
"Thank you."
"The Lady from Cook, Representative Monique Davis, for what reason do rise?" Davis, M.: "Thank you. The Sponsor yield? The Sponsor will yield. Okay. Representative Pritchard, your Bill states a person is distracted while driving if he or she is reading a newspaper, a book, a magazine, or a map. Well first, may I say that some people look at a map when they're traveling. They have a GPS System that has map on it. It's not illegal to buy that GPS System. I think it's so important, Representative, that we not attempt to find things to cause people greater distractions then a real distraction. Seeing a police officer drive up behind you is a major distraction. Grooming, you have grooming, so if a lady shakes out her long blond hair, if she decides to 09600020.doc 47 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 comb or brush it a little bit, that's a distraction? You can answer."
"Are you asking a question, Representative?" Davis, M.: "Yes, Sir. I'm asking you, how can you call someone grooming a distraction while they're driving?"
"First of all, Representative, as this legislation was put together, we were not trying to create an offense that the police officer would stop someone for doing the acts that you've just mentioned. What we're saying is, if they are violating a motor vehicle moving violation, this would be a secondary charge." Davis, M.: "And what happens when they get this secondary charge?"
"They would… it would a fine of equivalent to the underlying violation. So in other words, if someone was able to drive down the road and comb their hair and obey all of the rules, this law would not apply." Davis, M.: "So, if a person is using a GPS System and they go over the speed limit or they make a turn in error… in an erroneous way, then their fine could be doubled?"
"It would be doubled if there was an underlying offense." Davis, M.: "Well, the underlying offense would be that they made a wrong turn, perhaps. And the police officer…"
"Are you saying they used the wrong signal?" Davis, M.: "And the police… he uses a signal, whatever the reason. He makes a wrong turn, and the police officer says you got a map, you're looking at that map on his GPS System. So his fine is doubled?" 09600020.doc 48 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"That would be the officer's discretion when he makes the stop and makes the charge." Davis, M.: "To the Bill. Wait, let me ask you one more question. Were you on Secretary of State, Jesse White's Distracted Drivers Committee?"
"I was not." Davis, M.: "Okay, well that kind of explains this. I was on Jesse White's Distracted Drivers Committee, and one of the major issues that we discussed of course, was the use of one's cell phone. Not just texting because texting had not become that popular. Representative."
"Excuse me?" Davis, M.: "Cell phone use is not a distraction here?"
"That is another issue that your Distracted Driving Committee did not address directly. So…" Davis, M.: "You don't have it in your Bill."
"Correct. It was my understanding that they didn't include that as one of the findings that they were recommending." Davis, M.: "But I don't remember any of these that you have listed here as being a part of the Distracted Driving Committee's findings."
"Text messaging was." Davis, M.: "Which one?"
"Text messaging was." Davis, M.: "Which one?"
"Text messaging." Davis, M.: "Oh, text messaging was not even popular during the committee meetings." 09600020.doc 49 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"I believe I have a copy of the recommendation of the Secretary's committee, and that is one of the recommendations." Davis, M.: "Okay, thank you very much for your responses, Representative Pritchard. To the Bill, Mr. Speaker. We all know that Chicago especially is about the business of earning as much money as they can earn from each individual in that city. I'm not begrudging them the opportunity to earn that money, but this Bill would simply serve people having to double any fines that were given to them. To my knowledge, to my knowledge, there has not been any large rash of increased accidents based on people reading the newspaper, women using cosmetics or putting lipstick on in the mirror. There has not been any large increase in accidents. And I'm not sure this Bill is getting at whatever you attempting to get at. But where I'm from, all it will do is increase the cost to a driver who perhaps makes a driving error. He turns the wrong way. He's speeding a little bit too much. He's going to get a ticket for some reason and all you're saying is, now you're going to pay double for that. I think it's a bad Bill. I think the Sponsor has good intentions, but I think it's a very bad Bill. People are having a hard enough time trying to pay their rent, pay their mortgage, buy groceries, put food on the table, send kids to school." Speaker Turner: "Representative, you have to bring your remarks to a close." Davis, M.: "And I would just urge an 'no' vote. Thank you, Representative." 09600020.doc 50 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"The Lady from Cook, Representative Graham, for what reason do you rise?"
"I just wanted to ask… will the Sponsor yield?"
"Indicates he will."
"Representative, just to follow up on my colleagues questioning. Now if the person appears to be looking at a map and isn't breaking any other moving violation, will they be pulled over… and the map is not visible?"
"No."
"It's not visible. It's… so how are you determining if the person is looking at the map if it's not like high in plain view?"
"So what we're trying to do with this Bill, is encourage people to pay attention to their driving. So if a person is violating some motor vehicle law, that is the reason the officer would be drawn to the attention of this motorist. It wouldn't be because they're reading or they're combing their hair or any other item. It would be because they're violating a law. What this Bill would say is, if the officer determines they were distracted and that was the reason for their violation, we would be trying to discourage drivers from doing those kinds of activities."
"Representative, how else will the officer determine a distraction that's not visible to…"
"They wouldn't."
"…the naked eye?"
"They wouldn't."
"They wouldn't."
"No." 09600020.doc 51 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"So he was just saying if it was just a moving violation and… and he couldn't determine anything else, it would just simply be a moving violation."
"Correct."
"But if he determined they were looking at a map or… or… his cell phone, or something like that, then you're saying the person would have to pay double the fine."
"So cell phones are not included on this."
"Cell phones are not included?"
"But text messaging is, and text messaging would probably be visible if an officer was following that person for a period of time, or if they saw that the person was putting on makeup. I mean believe it or not, in the City of Chicago, I have witnessed people putting on makeup."
"I witness it all across the state. I drive down here to Springfield about 30-40 times a year and I see that at times, and I see people be very skilled at it, so I'm just wondering if your legislation just limits them to being stopped once they break another moving violation code? And they just wouldn't be stopped only for putting on lipstick or combing their hair?"
"No."
"They have to be breaking something else along with… along with that action?"
"Correct. It would have to be a moving violation that the officer witnessed."
"What's the origin of this legislation?"
"Excuse me?"
"What… what… what did this originate from?" 09600020.doc 52 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"This idea came from observations as you said, from constituents that have witnessed accidents because someone was distracted and ran into an intersection with a red light. It came from the state police who are concerned with the rising volume of distraction which results in people violating a moving vehicle."
"So this legislation will distract officers who are dealing with… in areas who have other crimes that are a little more serious in nature at times, then stopping someone for a particular violation?"
"I wouldn't believe so. That's the officers digression."
"Thank you, Representative."
"The Gentleman from Vermilion, for what reason do you rise?"
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"
"Indicates he will."
"Representative, I have been interested in this concept for some time as you know, and served on Secretary of State, Jesse White's Distracted Task Force, that some of you evidently have forgotten he convened. But I've run into some of the difficulties that you have encountered in presenting this Bill. Did the Illinois State's Attorneys Association bring you an Amendment that might have removed their concerns?"
"They did not bring specific language, we tried several different wordings, but in the final analysis didn't feel that that substantively changed what we were doing here." 09600020.doc 53 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"So it's your intention not to adopt their suggestion, correct?"
"It was not in the form of a specific suggestion."
"Okay. Thank you, Representative. Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. To the Bill. The genesis of distracted driving legislation came from Secretary of State, Jesse White. There are numerous studies, nationally and statewide, that point out that this is an ever growing problem. Our automobiles today can become business centers, entertain centers, and we're doing everything it seems on occasion, rather then pay attention to what we're suppose to be doing when we're behind the wheel, and that is pay attention to our driving. Now I don't know where some of the opposition has come from on this Bill. I know it's a difficult Bill to wrap around because it has to be vague or it gets you in an increasingly difficult situation the more specific that you try to make it. Previously speaker said, well what's the cost to the motorist? Well let me tell you the cost of somebody just adjacent to my district who was the victim of a distracted driver, and he's dead! And the driver of the vehicle admitted she was downloading ring tones when she went off the road by twenty feet, and hit and killed a bicycle rider. You know what she was charged with? Improper lane usage. A young man by the name of Matt Wilhelm died. And the driver of the vehicle, who was not paying attention to the task at hand, was charged with improper lane usage. Ladies and Gentlemen, many of you drive several miles every time we come down here as do I. 09600020.doc 54 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 On the way over here Monday, I followed a driver on Interstate 72, for about ten miles who was in the left land, the right lane, the right shoulder, the left shoulder, finally when I had an opportunity to pass, I did so in a hurry because I had no idea where this car was going to go next. When I passed the car, the driver had a book propped up on the steering wheel. All this Gentleman's Bill says, if I had police power I would have stopped that driver. Unfortunately I didn't see a state trooper. If the gentleman who was driving that car had been stopped by a trooper for improper land usage and the trooper had observed he had a book propped upon the steering wheel, he could also have added this violation. It isn't an automatic doubling of the fine. You have due process. You can go to court. The cost of the driver, what about the cost of the victim? There's no automatic doubling of the fine here. It isn't picking on anybody. All the Representative is trying to do, and there's parts of the Bill that I don't agree, and I understand having served on Secretary White's Distracted Driving Task Force, I understand how difficult this… this concept is. But the evidence is clear. Nationally and state studies show this is an ever increasing problem. We are doing everything in the care except often paying attention to what we're doing, and the price that some victims pay is their life. It isn't a perfect Bill. It's a start. I think Secretary White was in full support, not of this Bill particularly but of this concept when he convened his Distracted Driving Task Force. We're either going to sit here and talk these 09600020.doc 55 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 Bills to death or we're going to start sending some kind of message that when you drive a 2000 or more pound car at 70 miles an hour, pay attention to what you're doing. Because when you don't, somebody ends up getting hurt. I intend to vote 'aye' for the Bill."
"The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Davis, for what reason do you rise?" Davis, W.: "Will the Sponsor yield?"
"Indicates he will." Davis, W.: "Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Representative, as I'm listening to the debate, I under… I think I understand the nature of what you trying to get to, but to me it just seems like there's entirely too many grey areas in this. And so one question that I have for you is, if an officer pulls someone over, and if I heard you correctly earlier, you said that the officer has discretion correct?"
"Correct." Davis, W.: "To make the charge that someone is being distracted while they're driving, is that correct?"
"Correct." Davis, W.: "So… so the officer pulls someone over for something, and they also want to add this to it, must the officer write a ticket for the original traffic violation? Must they do it?"
"It's my understanding that on the form that the officer is completing, there are multiple places to put offenses. And this would simply be another part of that form that they would complete." 09600020.doc 56 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 Davis, W.: "Let's say for instance, an officer pulls me over because I didn’t stop properly at a stop sign. I rolled through a stop sign. So he pulls me over and says I pulled you over for that, which is an offense that they can write a ticket for, and then he also makes the determination that I'm now distracted while I'm driving which my have led to what I'm doing. Must he write the ticket for me rolling through stop sign as well as giving me an additional fine for the distraction? Must he do it?"
"Yes." Davis, W.: "He must write that ticket."
"Correct. There is a tic… if he writes it… if he finds you in violation of the law and he's writing you an offense… a ticket. This would be a secondary charge or perhaps a cause for your violation of the Motor Vehicle Code." Davis, W.: "Okay. So if he chooses not to write me the ticket…"
"Correct." Davis, W.: "…for rolling through the stop sign, because again, officers have that discretion, can he also… but can he also fine me for 'being distracted'…"
"No." Davis, W.: "…while I'm driving?"
"No." Davis, W.: "He cannot do that?"
"No." Davis, W.: "And… and that's worded that way in the law? And the reason that I'm asking, and I'm trying to be very 09600020.doc 57 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 specific in my question, Representative, is that unfortunately in the State of Illinois, there's individuals who can get stopped while driving black as we say. You know, racial profiling. Unfortunately, it's something that still exists here in the State of Illinois. Individuals can get pulled over for the color of their skin, so I just want to make sure that that's not an excuse for an officer to pull us over because we 'driving in the wrong neighborhood', but then because they pulled us over then they all of a sudden give us a fine because they say we're not distracted while we're driving. So, I just need to make sure that the officer has the right to ticket for the original offense as well as adding additional fine if he chooses."
"That's certainly the intent and the way I read this Bill." Davis, W.: "You said that's the way you read it."
"Excuse me?" Davis, W.: "You said that's the way you read it, but is there kind of latitude? Is there that kind of discretion for officers to be able to do that? And again, I hate to be so specific, but I think it's important that I be specific in this particular case."
"As we intended and as I read this Bill, this is a secondary offense. So if there is no primary offense, there would be no ticket." Davis, W.: "So if there's no primary offense, there is no ticket."
"Correct." 09600020.doc 58 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 Davis, W.: "Okay. I hope you can appreciate, you know, the nature of my questioning, Representative. I know you're a fair… fair Representative and I know you have no malicious intent, but unfortunately, we know that some of these things do exist in our society, particularly here in the State of Illinois. So, I just want to be certain of that. And I can appreciate you saying, that's certainly not your intent, but I just want to be clear that the officer does not have that kind of discretion to be able to stop us for supposedly one thing which may or may not be valid, but then to say, well, you're distracted while you're driving, so I'm going give you a fine for that as well."
"That's correct." Davis, W.: "I just want to be certain."
"Yes." Davis, W.: "Thank you very much, Representative."
"Mr. Speaker."
"Yes, Sir."
"If I might, I would like pull this from the record. This is a very significant Bill. It's something that driver's education teachers have come to me and said it's a growing problem. We've got to do something, and it's obvious from the questions that we've had here today, that some Representatives thinks that this Bill could be improved. So what I would like to do, is try to improve that Bill, and make the assurances that have been raised in question so that we can have a Bill that everyone can support and know that the intent is going to be followed." 09600020.doc 59 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"Gentleman asks leave to take the Bill out of the record. Take the Bill out of the record. Ladies and Gentlemen, we're going to start at the top of page 2. We're going to go through the Orders of Second Readings. So be prepared to advise the Chair whether you want your Bill moved from Second to Third. We're trying to get some Bills ready to move later this week. And the first Bill, on the Order of Second Readings, we have House Bill 6. Representative Franks. Out of the record. Representative Tracy, on House Bill 9. Move the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 9, a Bill for an Act concerning health. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
Speaker Turner: "Third Reading. Representative Arroyo, on House Bill 13. Out of the record. Representative Flowers, on House Bill 19. Representative Flowers, on House Bill 19. Out of the record. Out of the record. Representative Flowers, on House Bill 30. Out of the record. Representative Tryon, on House Bill 35. Out of the record. Representative Moffitt, on House Bill 38. Out of the record. Representative Moffitt, on House Bill 39. Out of the record. Representative Brady, on House Bill 47. Move the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 47, a Bill for an Act concerning government, has been read a second time, previously. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Osterman, on House Bill 48. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk." 09600020.doc 60 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"House Bill 48, a Bill for an Act concerning public safety. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. However, notes have been requested and not yet received."
Speaker Turner: "Those should remain on Second Reading. Representative Ford, on House Bill 65. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 65, a Bill for an Act concerning state employment. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Black, on House Bill 73. Representative Black. Out of the record. Representative Lang, on House Bill 83. Third Reading. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 83, a Bill for an Act concerning appropriations. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
Speaker Turner: "Third Reading. Representative Colvin, on House Bill 146. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 146, a Bill for an Act concerning local government. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Mathias, on House Bill 151. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 151, a Bill or an Act concerning state government. Second Reading of the House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed." 09600020.doc 61 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"Third Reading. Representative Poe, on House Bill 157. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 157…"
"No, out of the record. Out of the record. I apologize. Representative Mathias, on House Bill 159. Out of the record. Representative Sacia, on House Bill 160. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 161, a Bill for an Act concerning transportation. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Reis, on House Bill 171. Reis. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk. No. Out of the record. Mr. Clerk, House Bill 159. Read the Bill."
"House Bill 159, a Bill for an Act concerning local government. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Ramey, on House Bill 172. Out of the record. Representative Bradley, on 182. Bradley. House Bill… read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 182, a Bill for an Act concerning criminal law. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Bassi, on 194. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 194, a Bill for an Act concerning finance. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed." 09600020.doc 62 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"Third Reading. Representative Reitz, on House Bill 234. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk. Read the Bill."
"House Bill 234, a Bill for an Act in relation to firearms, has been read a second time, previously. No Amendments. However, notes have been requested and not yet filed."
Speaker Turner: "Hold the Bill on Second. Representative Tracy, on House Bill 237. Hold the Bill. Representative Bradley, on House Bill 245. Out of the record. Representative Meyer, on House Bill 253. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 253, a Bill for an Act concerning transportation. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Representative Will Davis, on House Bill 265… I should say Third Reading. Third Reading. Representative Davis, on House Bill 265. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 265, a Bill for an Act concerning civil law. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."
Speaker Turner: "Representative… Representative Nekritz, on House Bill 271. Out of the record. Representative Bellock, on House Bill 277. Bellock. Out of the record. Representative Fritchey. Out of the record. Representative Hannig, on House Bill 312. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk. House Bill 312. Out of the record. Representative Pihos, on House Bill 326. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk." 09600020.doc 63 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"House Bill 326, a Bill for an Act concerning education. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Pritchard, on House Bill 337. Hold the record. Out of the record. Representative Mulligan, on House Bill 342. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 342, a Bill for an Act concerning state government. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Soto, on House Bill 363. Representative Soto. Out of the record. Representative Mitchell, on… Bill Mitchell, 367. Out of the record. He's not here. Representative Farnham, on House Bill 377. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 377, a Bill for an Act concerning public employee benefits. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. The Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black, for what reason do you rise?"
"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. An inquiry of the Chair."
"State your inquiry."
"Earlier in the day, I made an inquiry of the Chair about the apparent refusal of the Chair to adhere to House Rule 18. All I got was a deflected answer from the Majority Leader that they'd take my request under advisement. It wasn't a request. I made a specific inquiry that you 09600020.doc 64 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 follow the House Rules. And under Roberts Rules of Order, which is the definitive fallback when you don't get an answer. I quote on page 95, 'the Chair has the duty of responding to such questions when the answer my assist to make an appropriation, raise a proper point of order, or understand the Parliamentary situation or the effective motion'. Mr. Speaker, I again rise… we just had a Rules Committee meeting, House Rule 2 which was introduced in January, is still in the House Rules Committee. House Rule 18 says specifically that Bills in the odd numbered years are to be reported to a substantive committee within three days. Now, I'll be more than happy to make a Motion to Discharge on every Bill that has not met that requirement, but I want to know why you are in abject violation of your own House Rule. It's your rule, not mine."
"Representative, the… the question that you're asking is in the purview of the Rules Committee Chair. And she's not gotten back to us yet. She did tell me that they were going to look into this issue, and I assume before the day is over, we will hear from the Rules Committee Chair."
"Mr. Speaker, I expect to hear a ruling from the Chair as to my inquiry, as to what the Chair intends to do for violating the rules of this Body that your party wrote, that your party went through and passed on a partisan roll call. You are the ruling party. You Sir, are the Speaker of the House right now. I am asking you before we leave here today, to make a ruling as to you're either going to follow your rules or you're not going to follow and then I can act accordingly. Right now, you're denying me my basic 09600020.doc 65 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 right as a Member of this chamber, not only under your rules, but under Roberts Rules of Order. I don't think that's an outrageous question. I think every Member of this House floor has the right to know what rules you're going to enforce, and if you're not going to enforce, why, and then we can make the proper motion. I will await your answer, Sir. Thank you."
Speaker Turner: "On the Order of Third Readings… Second Readings, we have House Bill 380, Representative Nekritz. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 380, a Bill for an Act concerning education. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Hernandez, on House Bill 386. Hernandez. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 386, a Bill for an Act concerning insurance. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment # 1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Hernandez, on House Bill 388. Out of the record. Representative Golar… I mean Representative Osterman, on House Bill 399. Out of the record. Representative Tryon, House Bill 402. Tryon. Out of the record. Out of the record. Representative Jefferson, on House Bill 441. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 441, a Bill for an Act concerning local government. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed." 09600020.doc 66 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"Third Reading. Representative Jefferson, on House Bill 442. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 442, a Bill for an Act concerning transportation. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
Speaker Turner: "Third Reading. Representative Phelps, on House Bill 462. Out of the record. Representative Jakobsson, on House Bill 466. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 466, a Bill for an Act concerning local government. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Winters, on House Bill 475. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 475, a Bill for an Act concerning education. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
Speaker Turner: "Representative Winters, on House Bill 476. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk. Third Reading on House Bill 475. House Bill 476, read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 476, a Bill for an Act concerning revenue. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
Speaker Turner: "Third Reading Representative Hernandez, on House Bill 489. Representative. Out of the record. Representative Miller, on House Bill 496. Out of the record. Representative Miller, on House Bill 497. Third Reading. I mean, read the Bill, Mr. Clerk." 09600020.doc 67 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"House Bill 497, a Bill for an Act concerning health. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Colvin, on House Bill 503. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 503, a Bill for an Act concerning public aid. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment # 1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."
Speaker Turner: "Third Reading. House Bill 45… 542, Representative Reitz. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 542, a Bill for an Act concerning public aid. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. House Bill 543, Representative Reitz. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 543, a Bill for an Act concerning finance. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Rep… Third Reading. Representative Pihos, on House Bill 548. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 548, a Bill for an Act concerning education. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendment. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Pihos, on House Bill 550. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk." 09600020.doc 68 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"House Bill 550, a Bill for an Act concerning criminal law. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Chapa LaVia, on House Bill 557. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 557, a Bill for an Act concerning criminal law. Second Reading of this House Bill. Floor Amendment #1, offered by Representative Chapa LaVia, has been approved for consideration."
"Third Reading. Representative Mendoza, on House Bill 5… I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Back up. Slow down. Representative Chapa LaVia, on Amendment #1 to House Bill 557."
"Yes, Speaker and Members of the House. It was a technical change as far as language on that Bill that was asked by the… oh gee… I can't remember which Human Rights Commission or somebody asked me to change it because of the permissive language in it… in the Bill. Let me take a moment…"
"Lady moves for the adop…"
"…let me look…"
"The Lady moves for the adoption of Amendment #1 to House Bill 557. All those in favor should say 'aye'; all those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair the 'ayes' have it; and the Amendment's adopted. Further Amendments?"
"No further Amendments. No Motions filed."
Speaker Turner: "Third Reading. Representative Mendoza, on House Bill 562. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk." 09600020.doc 69 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"House Bill 562, a Bill for an Act concerning abuse. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
Speaker Turner: "Third Reading. Representative Osmond, on House Bill 564. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 564, a Bill for an Act concerning local government. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Ford, on House Bill 565. Representative Ford. Out of the record. Representative Sacia, on House Bill 583. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 583, a Bill for an Act concerning animals. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments."
"Out of the record. Take it out of the record. Representative Sacia, we have House Bill 585. Read the… read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 585, a Bill for an Act concerning local government. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Yarbrough, on House Bill 607. Representative Yarbrough. Out of the record. On House Bill 607. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 607, a Bill for an Act concerning state government. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Chapa LaVia, on House Bill 612. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk." 09600020.doc 70 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"House Bill 612, a Bill for an Act concerning appropriations. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Eddy, on House Bill 613. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 613, a Bill for an Act concerning education. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Hernandez, on House Bill 614. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 614, a Bill for an Act concerning public aid. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No floor Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Representative Ford, on House Bill 618. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 618, a Bill for an Act concerning state government. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No floor Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Burke, on House Bill 645. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 645, a Bill for an Act concerning education. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No floor Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Monique Davis, on House Bill 648. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk." 09600020.doc 71 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"House Bill 648, a Bill for an Act concerning transportation. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Ford, on House Bill 618. The Gentleman asks leave to bring the Bill back from Third and hold the Bill on Second. This is on House Bill 618, Mr. Clerk. Bring it back to Second. Representative Mautino, on House Bill 651. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 651, a Bill for an Act concerning state government. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Froehlich, on House Bill 658. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 658, a Bill for an Act concerning safety. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Froehlich, on House Bill 662. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 662, a Bill for an Act concerning health. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Froehlich, on House Bill 664. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 664, a Bill for an Act concerning public aid. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment 09600020.doc 72 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Smith, on House Bill 666. Representative Smith, on 666. Third… read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 666, a Bill for an Act concerning local government. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Moffitt, on House Bill 680. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 680, a Bill for an Act concerning state government. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Burns, on House Bill 682. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 682, a Bill for an Act concerning juveniles. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."
Speaker Turner: "Third Reading. Representative Colvin, on House Bill 688. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 688, a Bill for an Act concerning civil law. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Joyce, on House Bill 707. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk." 09600020.doc 73 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009
"House Bill 707, a Bill for an Act concerning transportation. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Zalewski, on House Bill 710. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 710, a Bill for an Act concerning state government. Second Reading of this House Bill. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
Speaker Turner: "Third Reading. Representative Mathias, on House Bi… Representative Mathias, on House Bill 719. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 719, a Bill for an Act concerning local government. No Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Ryg, on House Bill 749. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 74…"
"No. Out of the record. Out of the record. Representative Ryg, on House Bill 751. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."
"House Bill 751, a Bill for an Act concerning health. Second Reading of this House Bill. Amendment #1 was adopted in committee. No Floor Amendments. No Motions filed."
"Third Reading. Representative Sacia, on House Bill 160. The Gentleman asks leave… Mr. Clerk, what's the status of House Bill 160?"
"House Bill 160 is on the Order of House Bills- Third Reading. Gentleman asks leave to bring the Bill back 09600020.doc 74 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 to Second and hold it on Second. So leave is granted. Mr. Clerk, what's the status of House Bill 236?"
Clerk Mahoney: "House Bill 236 is on the Order of Third Reading."
"Lady asks leave to put the Bill on Second. Bring it back to Second. Mr. Clerk, Rules Report. Mr. Clerk, committee cancellations. We should have your attention, Ladies and Gentlemen. Committee cancellations, Mr. Clerk."
Clerk Mahoney: "Committee cancellations. There are no committee cancellations for today. On Thursday, Computer Technology that was scheduled for 11:00 a.m. has been cancelled. That is on Thursday, the 11:00 a.m. Computer Technology. And the Revenue Committee that was to meet at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday has also been cancelled."
Speaker Turner: "The Gentleman from Bond, Representative Stephens, for what reason did you rise?"
"Mr. Speaker, I have had my light on for ten minutes. And all I wanted to know was what committees were going to be cancelled. And now you've told me. And I'm satisfied."
"It's Tuesday, Representative. Not Friday. Mr. Clerk, Agreed Resolutions."
"On the Order of Agreed Resolutions, is House Resolution 134, offered by Representative Stephens; House Resolution 135, offered by Representative John Bradley; House Resolution 136, offered by Representative Burke; House Resolution 137, offered by Representative Pritchard; House Resolution 142, offered by Representative Connelly; 09600020.doc 75 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 House Resolution 143, offered by Representative Cross; House Resolution 144, offered by Representative D’Amico."
"Representative Currie moves for the adoption of the Agree Resolutions. All those in favor say 'aye'; all those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair the 'ayes' have it, and the Agreed Resolutions are adopted. And now seeing no further business before the House, Representative Currie moves that the House stand adjourned until Wednesday, March 4, at the hour of 12:00 noon. That's Wednesday, March 4, at the hour of 12:00 noon. And the House now stands adjourned. Allowing perfunctory time for the Clerk, the House will stand adjourned."
"House Perfunctory Session will come to order. Referred to the House Committee on Rules, is House Resolution 138, offered by Representative Flowers; House Resolution 139, offered by Representative McGuire; House Resolution 140, offered by Representative Watson; House Resolution 141, offered by Representative Watson; House Joint Resolution 23, offered by Representative Pihos; House Joint Resolution 24, offered by Representative Pihos; House Joint Resolution 25, offered by Representative Joyce; House Joint Resolution 26, offered by Representative Miller; House Joint Resolution 27, offered by Representative Monique Davis; House Joint Resolution 28, offered by Representative Ryg; House Joint Resolution 29, offered by Representative Ford. Introduction and reading of House Bills-First Reading. House Bill 4332, offered by Representative Riley, a Bill for an Act making 09600020.doc 76 STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 20th Legislative Day 3/3/2009 appropriations. Seeing for further business, the House Perfunctory Session now stands adjourned." 09600020.doc 77