Illinois House Floor Debate — February 18, 2010

Speaker Lyons: "Good afternoon, Illinois. The House of Representatives will come to order. Members are asked to please be at their desks. We shall be led in prayer today by Pastor Shaun Lewis, who is the Illinois State Director of the Capitol Commission serving the political leaders of our State of Illinois. Members and guests are asked to please refrain from starting their laptops and all are asked to turn off cell phones and pagers and rise for the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance. Pastor Shaun Lewis."

"Representative Pat Verschoore, would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, please."

"Roll Call for Attendance. Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, Democrats."

"Thank you, Speaker. Please let the record show that Representatives Durkin and Joyce are excused today."

"Representative Currie, you want to…"

"I'm… I'm sorry. I meant Dunkin."

"I'm sure the Republicans appreciate your good intentions. Michael, what's the status of the GOP? Representative Bost."

"Thank you, Representative. Mr. Clerk, take the record. 112 Members are present, we have a quorum. We're prepared to do the State of Illinois's business. Mr. Clerk, Committee Reports."

"Representative Froehlich, for what purpose do you seek recognition, Sir?"

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

"Please proceed."

"There's a birthday today. My former seatmate, who's one of the true Gentlemen in the General Assembly, has a birthday. I ask everyone to join me in congratulating Don Moffitt for this birthday today."

"Happy birthday, Don. Many… Have a healthy, happy year. Okay. On page 5 of the Calendar, Ladies and Gentlemen, under Third Readings, we have House Bill 4623. Representative Jakobsson. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Lyons: "The Lady from Champaign, Representative Jakobsson."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 4623 creates the Prairie State license plate. It's a fee of $25 with the… would be deposited in the Secretary of State's special license plate to defray the cost of the administrative processing."

"You've heard the Lady's explanation. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 4623 pass?' All those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative May, McCarthy, Mulligan, want it to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this issue, there's 101 Members voting 'yes', 11 voting 'no', 0 voting 'present'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, on page 5 of the Calendar, Representative Dan Reitz has House Bill 4649. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Reitz. Out of the record."

"Yeah. Out of the record."

"Out of the record. Representative Mautino on page 5 of the Calendar, under House Bills-Third Reading, you have House Bill 4782, Frank. 4782. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk." 09600100.doc 4  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010

"The Gentleman from Bureau, Representative Frank Mautino."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. 4782 amends the Insurance Code and exempts the mandatory young adult dependent coverage from being required in supplemental insurance policies. These are basically the travel policies, the cancer only policies that are not designed for anything other than the person who is purchasing them. The department submitted the language as well for it, for the Department of Insurance. I know of no opposition. You passed a Bill identical to this last year which dealt with the long… the disability income policies and long-term care. Ask for an 'aye' vote."

"Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 4782 pass?' All those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 112 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no', 0 voting 'present'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Bob Pritchard, you have House Bill 4815. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Gentleman from DeKalb, Representative Bob Pritchard."

"Is there any discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Lake, Representative Eddie Washington."

"Representative Pritchard, is this just for a particular area or is this statewide?"

"And has it been a consensus statewide with the association that they totally agree, all of them agree with that?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't hear you."

"Across the entire state to reduce? Now, 'cause I… I would imagine that every place might not have a problem with having seven…"

"…unless you said, I think…" 09600100.doc 6  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010

"Representative, hold on. Mr. Speaker, I can't hardly hear him."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a discussion going on regarding a Bill and as usual, first thing in the morning, we tend to be quite loud. Can we please bring the noise level down so they can have a discussion? Shhh. Thank you very much. Representative Pritchard, do you want to respond to Representative Washington."

"Yes. Representative, I was saying I would imagine that it's not difficult in every area if they have seven members or more. And I think you said that the reason for this is because there was difficulty in rural areas, but yet you also said it's a state consensus wide that this is acceptable. So, I was asking the question, if it's a… if it's… if this is acceptable across the board, then what is… why is this coming about? And just because it's in a particular area that it was needed or what?"

"So, existing boards that have seven members, if that is not a problem, it remains the same."

"Thank you."

"The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Knox, Representative Don Moffitt."

"Representative Pritchard to close."

"The question is, 'Should House Bill 4815 pass?' All those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Hoffman. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 112 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Renée 09600100.doc 8  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 Kosel, on page 5 of the Calendar, you have House Bill 4627. Out of the record. Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be proceeding on House Bill-Third Readings starting on the top of page 6 of the Calendar. Representative Jack Franks, you have House Bill 4854. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Gentleman from McHenry, Representative Jack Franks."

"Mr. Speaker, I believe that we need to adopt House Floor Amendment #2. This was in response to the discussion we had on the House Floor a few days ago when Representative Durkin had wanted… that the requirement… that this be evaluated by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulations, which we've done with that House Floor Amendment #2."

"Representative Franks, it's my understanding from the Clerk that we'll have to move that Bill back to the Order of Second Reading and then put the Amendment… through the Amendment where it gets in Rules. Mr. Clerk, move that Bill, on the request of the Sponsor, back to the Order of Second Reading. Representative Roger Eddy, you have House Bill 4879. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Lyons: "The Gentleman from Crawford, Representative Roger Eddy."

"Is there any discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Champaign, Representative Chapin Rose."

Speaker Lyons: "Pardon me, Chapin? Ladies and Gentlemen, again, if we can bring the noise level down somewhat so we can hear the discussion, we'd appreciate it. Representative Rose."

"Gentleman yields."

Speaker Lyons: "The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Black."

"He's awaiting your…"

"…he's awaiting your questions, Mr. Black."

"Seeing no further discussion, Representative Eddy to close."

"The question is, 'Should House Bill 4879 pass?' All those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Gordon, Representative Feigenholtz, Representative Dugan. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 112 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Lake, Representative Sid Mathias." 09600100.doc 13  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010

"Welcome, everybody to Don Moffitt day, new grandpa and a birthday. Congratulations, Don. Representative Mautino, you seek recognition for a point of personal privilege?"

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, we're very honored to have with us today Specialist Mitch McCoy. He joins us in the gallery back here and Mitch has returned home from Afghanistan and he… where he was stationed in a base actually no larger than this room. He had contacted us when… when he got there, there were no colors, so we sent him a flag which meant a lot to the people of his… to his fellow soldiers. He brought the flag back and you guys can see that in my office when it comes in as a thank you to all of us. But from us, thank you, Mitch." 09600100.doc 14  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010

"God bless you, Mitch. be safe. On behalf of all Illinois, thank you for what you do for our country. Representative Danny Reitz, on page 6 of the Calendar, you have House Bill 4973. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Danny Reitz."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 4973 is an initiative of a town in my area. It would allow municipalities and counties to charge fees for false alarms. We are… had a good discussion in committee. Had the fire chief and the police chief from Columbia, Illinois, that came up and testified, a good discussion with the committee. Currently, the Municipal League and the Retail Merchants are working on an Amendment that we hope to put on in the Senate and see this Bill back again. But I appreciate your indulgence in passing this over and allowing us to put this in statute. And I'd be hap… Representative Black's question."

Speaker Lyons: "Is there any discussion? The Chair… the Representative Gentleman from Vermilion, Representative Bill Black."

"Sponsor yields."

"No. I think I left… I'd spoken with the Municipal League and the Retail Merchants and they are reaching out to their various interests to make sure they… they do the Amendment in the proper way and have an agreement with them to allow us to do this in the Senate, to amend it in the Senate and have it come back here. That way they…"

"…they don't know if they can get it done in the next couple weeks, actually."

"Is that right?"

"I trust the Senate to do this."

"And have a commitment from the Senate Sponsor that he won't move it until we agree with all the entities that are concerned."

"I would recommend that it be in an open Session."

"Correct."

"That's correct. And I think it will help make it a little more lawful for some of the cities that are already has it on their ordinances…"

"…and can do this. There's nothing in state statute that allows them to do this."

"We're just allowing the cities the ability to draft their ordinance however they see fit."

"But that is one of the concerns that the Retail Merchants talked about it and the Municipal League. They're reaching out to some of the Home Rule communities to get a consensus on what would be…"

"…the best way to proceed with this."

"That's correct."

"The Gentleman from Jackson, Representative Mike Bost. Representative Bost, you're up."

"Sponsor yields."

"Correct. But the… the city attorney from Columbia has told me that there's nothing in state statute… and the Municipal League has agreed… that there… they… they don't have the legal ability to reinforce those ordinances."

"No. The intent's not… It's just to allow the cities to adopt their own ordinance, but…"

"Correct…"

"…to codify that."

Speaker Lyons: "The Gentleman from Lake, Representative Ed Washington."

"Representative, how often does this happen? And what's at the root of this particular legislation? And how many calls does this actually happen of false alarms?"

"I can tell… In 2005, on our analysis, and we got those figures from the city, that they had 300… 314 false… alarm call outs and 306 were false. So, what they're trying to do is get the people to set some kind of fine, at the end of the day, fine or fee in place, that will urge them and encourage them to fix their alarm systems, so that we don't have response… and I think the biggest concern that I have is that we have policemen, more so policemen maybe going into a situation where there's a repeated false alarms and really walking into a real situation where they're in danger."

"But Representative, out of how many calls?"

"There were 304… in Columbia in 2005, there were 314 alarm call outs, 306 were false and in… there were 76 residential security alarm call outs and 72 were false. Now, they're not… I don't think this will be residential and most of those are one-time events."

"Well, my… my interest in this is that, you know, even with the numbers you give me, you're saying 2005. You don't have anything more recent than that? This is 2010."

"Yep, I do. I have more… I have more recent; I don't have it on me. I… on the other floor."

"But that… but…" 09600100.doc 19  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010

"Historically, it has been the same. And all this is doing is allowing the city the ability to impose these fees or fines to make sure that they can respond to that. And their intent is to do it on the third, you know, probably the third offense is what they currently have in ordinance to allow them, if they've had repeated offenders, to have some way to urge them to fix their systems."

"So, basically, this is revenue driven. Because, I mean, you think about it… I mean, most people that have false alarms, generally it's an accident, an incident, at best. Nobody just perpetuates false alarm calls for the sake that they can do it and especially if they know they're going to get fined for it. So, this is revenue driven."

"In some… and that's the problem we have in… in this community and other communities is, one, they have volunteer fire departments, so someone has to come across and there's a… there's a… always a response cost that is associated with these false alarms. But the biggest problem they have is taking them away from other duties that they could do."

"So… but you're telling me from stats from 2005 that you've given in 2010, 306 calls were false alarm calls and 306 calls were actually responded to?"

"Three hundred and fourteen were responded to and 306 were false."

"Were false?" 09600100.doc 20  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010

"Yeah. And the ones that are once or twice, they're not too concerned about them. It's the ones that, you know, some of those are 30 and 40 times."

"Representative, I'm sorry. I'm not doing the math. Is that… are you saying out of a total of 620 calls 306 were false and 314 were responded to?"

"No."

"I'm not understanding this."

"The numbers and again, we'll get you all the numbers that Columbia gave us, if you'd like and I'll get those to you later…"

"But 2005 wouldn't be anything invalid by…"

"In 2005, of those numbers, 314 were responses and 306 were false. So, you know, there were only, you know…"

"But it was 306 false…"

"False."

"…calls."

"Right."

"And 314 that were not false."

"No, 314 total. There were…"

"Total."

"Okay. So, there's 306 that were false and there were…"

"So, only 306 incidents were falsities."

"…there were eight…"

"I've got it."

"…eight were real events."

"I've got you, yes. And where do you live at, again?"

"What? South of where you used to live." 09600100.doc 21  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010

"Man, that's a lot of calls. Look, Representative, you got on here, provides that a fee may not be imposed against a person if the call was initiated due to symptoms… symptoms."

"Right."

"Can you explain what symptoms are you referring to that could require emergency medical attention? And then you have defined alarm and false alarm, yet, up on the board, it says fee for false alarm. And what would the fee be and how do they come at the fee?"

"Well, they… they're going to set the fee. Each individual community will set the fee, based on what they think is fair."

"So, basically, you want us to vote for something that a fee has not been established and they can… I mean, it and I'm looking at it. This applies statewide, right?"

"Correct."

"Representative…"

"Home Rule communities can already do this. All we're going is allowing non-Home Rule communities to set a fee so that they can be reimbursed if someone repeatedly has false alarms and doesn't rectify the situation."

"But Representative, for the… for the intelligence of the discussion and I understand revenue driven Bill, but I also understand consumers and business people have to pay that price. I mean, surely… surely, I would hope that you would have a number before asking us just to give us a cart before putting a horse onto the cart. I mean, where are we trying to go here?" 09600100.doc 22  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010

"It… it allows the locals to set the fee, to do their job as city council members and mayors. I don't think we wi… I don't think we want to do it statewide, 'cause if we do that, then we have to do all the Home Rule communities and I don't think we should set the fee. I think we should… All this does is allow the local authorities and in a lot of cases, they're already doing this. It's just that they don't have the… the state statute ability to legally do that."

"But Representative, we're discussing it statewide. See, this is the contradiction at least… at least I'm hearing in what you just said. We don't want to impose, but yet, I don't want to give municipalities open checks. We… we got controversy concerning the… the lights or the camera that takes pictures of people that are… that are barely stopping and we know it's revenue driven. And I got a Bill that's going to come up and I have… I made that municipality give me a price, so it could be intelligently discussed here at this level. So, surely, to just give them a blank check and say they'd set the fee, that should be some continuity, I feel, in an economic time that's the worst ever, there should be some consistency especially if you're talking about a statewide Bill like this one that's going to just open it up for everybody, there should be a continuity of a pricing structure that should be in this discussion, I feel."

"I… I think that's the elected officials in the city, who first, they have the ability to decide whether or not they want to do this. Then they have the ability to set 09600100.doc 23  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 what they think, how many… you know, how many times before the fee, or fine goes in and you know, it's their job and I really think this is just allowing them to do their job to take care of a concern that they have. A lot of municipalities won't even do this."

"Representative, would you be willing to pull this out of the record for further discussion and let those municipalities or whoever initiated this at least give you something for us to look at in terms of a continuity of pricing and not just give a blanket check when the people voted you and I in this office have to pay that cost and those small businesses?"

"They…"

Speaker Lyons: "Representative Washington, your time has expired. We'll give you another minute, so please conclude your remarks."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, based on my questioning of the Sponsor…"

"Yeah."

"…I don't think this is a very well crafted Bill. I think in an economic situation anybody that comes with something should at least come with a number for us to consider, but just to give a blank check because of revenue driven and balanced budget, I don't think that's the way to go. So, I will be asking a 'no' vote on this legislation."

"The Gentleman from Champaign, Representative Chapin Rose."

"Sponsor yields." 09600100.doc 24  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010

"Okay."

"I think that's what we're working with with Retail Merchants and we're trying to get all of the input. I just don't think we can do it in the time line of the House. That's what our plan is to pass it over and have an Amendment that makes this a much better Bill and brings all of the entities in so we can get their input. But that's definitely not the intent of this is to have children that do it, you know, they don't plan on doing this for any schools or anything like that where it's pranks."

"I appreciate it. And it will and it will definitely come back. I mean, we're…"

"This is not a finished product and they… we're just trying to give them more time to do it right."

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

"Sponsor yields." Davis, M.: "I see one Section here that says if a person thinks there may be a medical emergency and there actually is not a medical emergency, the person who initiates this call could be fined."

"Yeah. And I think the intent is to not count those as a false alarm. If it is… if someone has a… some type of medical emergency response, the necklace or whatever they have or bracelet, that responds because there's a medical emergency, that's not considered a false alarm. And also, if… if there is a problem with a false alarm of any type and… and they call the fire department or the police department and just say it's a false alarm, then there's provisions in there to make sure that that doesn't count. As I said earlier, they're not… you know, this Bill and the towns are definitely not going after anyone that has an inadvertent problem or has a problem once or twice a year." Davis, M.: "Okay. Let me…"

"It' people that are having false alarms repeatedly." Davis, M.: "…let me just share with you what this really says. It says a fee may not be imposed against a person if the 09600100.doc 26  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 call and the call that was initiated due to symptoms that could require emergency medical attention."

"Right." Davis, M.: "There are many people including myself may not be aware of the situation that would require a serious medical attention. I mean, the person might be lying in the street and I thought the person was having a heart attack or an asthma attack when actually the person was inebriated. So, the question becomes, am I then charged for that call? I would be the person who initiated that call."

"No." Davis, M.: "That was… according to your Bill I would be."

"No." Davis, M.: "According to… according to your Bill, it says I should know whether that call will… will result in emergency medical attention. I would have no knowledge of whether it would result in medical attention. Now, let me just go on, Representative. Sometimes in the City of Chicago there are a number of burglary attempts. There're attempts to get into your office, there're attempts to get into your home, but because you have a burglary alarm system the attempt fails."

"Right." Davis, M.: "Now, according to your Bill, this person would be subject to a fine because when the police arrive there's no one there."

"You know, that's… but that's not correct. I mean, well, for starters, in Chicago, they already do this. I 09600100.doc 27  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 mean, they… they already have the ability to do it. This is for non-Home Rule communities, but if…" Davis, M.: "I know they already have this…"

"…if someone has broke… then…" Davis, M.: "…'cause they tried it on me."

"All right. But if someone…" Davis, M.: "They tried it."

"…has been broken into…" Davis, M.: "Someone attempted to get into my office…"

"Yeah." Davis, M.: "…several times. Their attempt failed because an alarm went off."

"That would not be a false alarm." Davis, M.: "Not to you."

"Not to the police department." Davis, M.: "But to them it was a false alarm."

"That… Now, that's… Okay." Davis, M.: "But to… What proof… Listen to me very carefully, please. What proof would a resident or business owner have that this alarm went off because someone tried to get in here? Now, what is the proof he's supposed to have?"

"Well, there would be… there should be some kind of proof that someone tripped the alarm in some form or fashion, but if not that's…" Davis, M.: "How is there proof if the person hears the alarm and make haste and get away from there?"

"That's not what this Bill's going after. This Bill is going after someone that forgets to turn off the alarm. Someone that comes in and just doesn't turn the alarm off 09600100.doc 28  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 for whatever reason, goes into the building, and doesn't call the police or the fire department and say, don't respond…" Davis, M.: "To… to the Bill."

"…it's a false alarm." Davis, M.: "What about… what about a major… a major storm that comes through Chicago and you know, it's unusual and it topples… it topples the things for your television and it topples anything on your roof and it spins it around and you know, is that… is that a false alarm? To the Bill. To the Bill, Mr. Speaker. I know that this Representative has the best intentions of… in the…"

"Representative Davis, your time expired. We'll give you a minute to conclude your remarks." Davis, M.: "My remarks are… this is not a good time to ask taxpayers once again to pay for something that they had no intentions of causing harm. Their intention is to protect their business, protect their property and they should not have to pay a fee for that beyond the alarm system's fee."

"Representative Reitz to close."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the debate, but I think a lot of the… we… This Bill won't solve problems that other communities already have that have imposed fees like this. This allows for communities… and it's just simply permissive… allows for communities to have a way to respond to repeated false alarms. And I think at the end, this will save taxpayers money. It'll keep them from having to pay the fire department response time and it costs money to roll the trucks out. It will keep the 09600100.doc 29  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 police department from walking into a situation where they think it is just another false alarm and ends up being a real incident where a policeman could get hurt. So, as I said earlier, the intent, we're working with the Municipal League and we're working with the Retail Merchants in trying to make sure that this is in the right form when we finally vote on it and I can assure you that it will come back for concurrence from the Senate or it won't become law. And I appreciate your vote."

"The question is, 'Should House Bill 4973 pass?' All those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 61 Members voting 'yes', 48 voting 'no', 1 Member voting 'present'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk."

"Continuing on page 6 of the Calendar under House Bills-Third Reading, Representative May, you have House Bill 5018. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Lady from Lake, Representative Karen May."

"Yes. Thank you, Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. This Bill allows our citizens who lose their jobs to access the 65 percent payment for many COBRA health insurance premium 09600100.doc 30  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 that is being put forward by the Federal Government. It's an initiative of the Department of Insurance to help the citizens of our state. You may recall that last year we passed House Bill 2325 rather unanimously. And this, since the Federal Government has extended it through the end of February, two more months, this would allow us to access those dollars and we've also written in, if there are any further extensions, we don't have to do this again."

Speaker Lyons: "Any discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Bureau, Representative Frank Mautino."

"I simply rise in support of the Lady's Bill. What she said is exactly correct. The Department of Insurance has set forth that we have the opportunity so long as the Federal Government continues to provide the funding to extend the 65 percent credit, should that funding end, then the program ends. There is no impact on the state. And I ask for an 'aye' vote."

"No one seeking further discussion, the question is, 'Should House Bill 5018 pass?' All those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Jim Durkin. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 112 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no', 0 voting 'present'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Chapin Rose, on page 6 of the Calendar, you have House Bill 5122. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk." 09600100.doc 31  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010

"Representative Chapin Rose."

"Is there any discussion on House Bill 5122? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should this Resolution… should this Bill pass?' All those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 112 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Dennis Reboletti, you have House Bill 5148. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk." 09600100.doc 32  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010

Speaker Lyons: "The Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Reboletti."

"This Bill's on Short Debate. We have several people wanting to speak to the issue. The first speaker is Representative Ed Washington."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To my good colleague, Reboletti. Reboletti, what is the problem? We don't have enough people in jail for drugs, so we're going to continue to treat…"

"Let me finish, let me finish, let me finish the question."

"Let me finish the question. Let me… I'm going to let you to respond. I said my good friend."

"So, we don't have enough people in jail. So, we want to go from 15 grams to 5 grams so we can put more people in jail. So, we don't want to… we don't want to go to the root causes of drug uses, which is economic opportunity, which is treatment. We just want to put more people in jail and so, we're going to go from 15 to 5. Can you explain that, please?" 09600100.doc 34  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010

"Lock them up."

"Reboletti, there's no difference between a white lie and a black lie, a lie is a lie. And most people who handle drugs use drugs. So, let me just say that I don't think, you know, I respect you greatly and we're going to agree to disagree and this is probably another time that you and I will disagree. I am not for putting more people in American jails. The statistics that I get, unless they're different than yours, said that it costs more to incarcerate than educate. And if that's the case, if that is a true thing in an economic time when we're facing in the worst time of our history, I am not for lowering… 09600100.doc 35  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 We've got enough people going in jails. If not… do you know what 5 grams is versus 15 grams?"

"All I'm saying, Sir, that I am not for putting more people in jail for a lesser amount, a drug use is a drug use. How about you and I talk about more resources for people who can't find these jobs who are turning to these drug sales and how not… how about not changing it at all and just keeping it like it is, let's go to the root causes and not the symptoms. To the Bill. I think this is, once again, one of those moves, lock them up, lock them up and let's feed them cake. I think it's wrong, I think it's wrong, I think it's wrong. To continue to put Americans in jail and to talk about lowering the amount of grams to 5 grams now. Lock them up, lock them up. That does not solve the problem of crime, Reboletti. It does not solve the problem of the war on drugs which we lost a long time ago. So, I think this is a bad Bill and urge my colleagues to vote 'no' and leave it like it is and let's talk about symptoms and resources."

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

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. This Bill represents the exact same Bill when we changed crack from coke… coke from crack. So, what we did was, we penalized because we had… now, what's happening is the people that are down south are coming up north buying drugs, buying the heroin 'cause it's cheaper and it's packaged differently, and then they go back down south. So, they want to give 09600100.doc 36  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 those people treatment, but they want to lower the amounts, the grams, of the people up north who's selling the drug so that they can go to jail longer. Now, the profit margins aren't going to change. What's the difference is is they're going to carry less drugs now and so you won't catch them with those drugs, but we don't want to put those people in treatment or we don't want to get them a job because, you know, once you get an 'x' on your back, Illinois is not a work free state, that you can't get a job. So, now, we don't want to feed the people and give them a house, but we want to put the people down south… we want to put them in treatment, but the people up north that's driving up, the people down south that's driving up north to get the drugs out of our communities, well, we're going to lower the amount of drugs and put those people in jail. No, the disparities already exist and the only thing we're doing now is making disparities greater and greater and greater. We have to come up with something else besides putting the people in jail for drugs. Drugs is a nonviolent crime. It is; it truly is and the drug dealers don't want to kill people because that brings more attention to their drug sales. What we want to do… these people want to take care of their families. They want to have a house to live in. They want to buy food and clothes for their children and so we have to figure out a way how to employ these people. So, lowering the amount of drugs that they carry for… from the grams that you're having for heroin is only going to perpetuate the problem. And I just urge a… a 'no' vote for this Bill. It is the wrong Bill 09600100.doc 37  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 and it is the wrong way to deal with the drug problem in Illinois."

"The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Paul Froehlich."

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

"Sponsor yields."

"Representative, do you have any idea what this will cost the State of Illinois if your Bill leads to more people incarcerated for more years?"

"But it's fairly predictable that… that your Bill, if it becomes law, will mean more people locked up for longer years which means this is a spending Bill. This is a Bill that will likely increase spending at a time when we need to be cutting spending. Isn't that true?"

"Now…"

"Well, isn't treatment less expensive than incarceration for Class X felony?" 09600100.doc 38  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010

"Well, it seems to me at a time when we've got a budget crisis we ought to be careful about increasing our… passing Bills that are going to clearly increase our state expenditures on DOC. Thank you."

Speaker Lyons: "The Lady from Cook, Representative Debbie Graham."

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

"Sponsor yields."

"Representative Reboletti, again, I've been listening to some of the debate. Can you tell me, again, why you decided to do this legislation?"

"Representative, I appreciate the thought of trying to save lives. I live in a community where our community has… we've had an issue with drugs for quite some time. And I've sat here over the last few years when methamphetamine became an issue in downstate Illinois and in some of the other areas I've seen legislation come out here repeatedly asking for money to treat people, to help people, to make them aware. I've seen legislation come through here that says put the drugs… cold medicine behind the counter, make them sign for it, give their IDs, to stop the making of methamphetamine, but I have not seen anything that really addresses where the drugs really come from, how they really get into the communities. We have a problem, I would agree, but lowering the amount of drugs that people are packaging, I don't think is the solution. I think this problem is so widespread and so disproportionately happening that we even have an issue with the police department, because, you know, some kids when they come into the police department they decide whether or not they're going to call their parents or not or pat them on the back and say, well, this is a kid; he doesn't know what he's doing. In some communities, they don't even give you a second chance. They stop you; they pull you over and search you because your pipes on your car is loud and we're facing so many other issues. We have state's attorneys that come in to determine what you're being charged for and everybody across the board is not being charged 09600100.doc 40  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 consistently for some of the same crimes or issues that are being hap… that's happening in other communities. I understand wanting to stop what you think is getting out there to the suburbs, but I will beg to differ with you or I would join with you to say that we need to educate our kids and stop talking like drugs is not a problem and it ain't been happening since the '60s of people using various drugs. We've been sugarcoating and not looking at the problems and I don't think this is… this piece of legislation gets to that at all. It's another 'feel good' piece of legislation. We can't keep… we can't create jobs. We can't create a number of things that will really help our communities and create the programs that will help educate our kids to not go down this path 'cause we seem to not be able to head in that direction. Mr. Speaker…"

"Representative Graham, you're time has expired. I'll give you another minute to finish your remarks."

"Thank you. I respect my colleague in wanting to end the trauma that has happened to various kids in other parts of the state, in the suburbs, but we've been begging and pleading for so long for help in our communities, treatment programs, Second Chance programs and we've always… almost been laughed out of this place asking for help for our communities. You know, I do want to and I understand. I don't want by any means to think that I don't understand what the problem is, but we've been suffering for a long time. And it seems like our cries have fallen on deaf ears and I think this legislation does more harm than it does good. It does not address any of the problems that we're 09600100.doc 41  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 facing. So, I would ask my colleagues… I would ask my colleagues in anything that comes up that raises the fees or things like that, everybody's jumping off their seats saying 'no'. This will cost more than $2 million more, you know, to incarcerate the people for carrying such a small amount that they shouldn't have in the first place, I would agree. But this piece of legislation doesn't address the real problem. So, I would urge my colleagues to please vote 'no'."

"The Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Randy Ramey."

"Representative, there's a lot of people wishing to speak for this issue and I'll continue debate some. We'll call the question. Okay. We'll call the question. All those in favor of this Motion say 'yes'; all those opposed 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'noes' have it. The debate continues. Representative Chapin Rose, you're the next speaker."

"Representative Fritchey."

"Thank you, Speaker. To the Bill. I'll say it with all sincerity. The Sponsor and I are personal friends. We have… I think respect each other's integrity on this. This is a bad Bill, folks, for a couple of reasons. When we created Class X felonies, they were created for the worst of the worst and before anybody comes back and says that I am condoning people that commit these crimes, that's not the case. But what we are doing arbitrarily here, by taking the possession amount with intent from 15 to 5, is simply an arbitrary number. It doesn't get to the root problem. At a time when more and more studies and discussions talk about the need for alternative treatment, 09600100.doc 43  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 alternative sentencing, for getting these people back in productive lives again, getting them back to work again, we're simply condemning them to becoming career criminals. This is making us a prison economy. You know, time and time again, I will speak and I'll talk about the fact, when I talk to groups, that Illinois is one of the few places that looks at prison construction as economic development. Where are our priorities here? We are fighting… we are fighting to do whatever we can to fund education for children. We're looking at budgets where we may have to cut education spending, but we have legislation here that will cause us to divert money from education and put that money into incarceration. Work on the users as well as the dealers, work on education, work on alternative treatment. There is a disparity here. There's also a geographic issue here. When there was an issue with crack, way back when, it was an urban minority issue and a lot of folks around this place didn't care. But when meth started to ravage downstate Illinois, then all hell broke loose and we needed to do whatever we could. If you use Sudafed to make crack, and we said that we should put crack behind counters and behind pharmacists to get it, a lot of people on that side of the aisle would never have supported it, but when it was an issue about meth ravaging downstate Illinois or suburban communities, then it was a different issue, then we needed to act. This is legislation that's going to put more people behind bars. It isn't going to get at the root problem and Representative, you know what, you and I agree about the problem, not just about the people making it, not 09600100.doc 44  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 just about the people selling it, but the fact that people are drawn into this and you and Representative Rose was correct, too. Those lives are being ruined and we need to do something about that, but simply swelling our prison population is not the answer. Just a week ago, this side of the aisle was talking about responsible budgeting and pay-go budgeting. I'd like to see the analysis on this and I wish I'd known this Bill was coming up 'cause I would have put a fiscal note on the Bill. I'd like to see where the money's going to come from when we have a $12 billion deficit to figure out how we're going to start incarcerating thousands of more people for longer terms at $30 thousand a year, but we can't find a way to spend $7 thousand a year to educate a child. There's something wrong with this here, not with your intentions. Dennis, you and I know each other too well for that. The intentions are right. I disagree that this legislation gets at the intention. I think it sets a bad policy for us. It takes troublesome policy as far as where are priorities are, how we're going to get there and what we're going to deal with in these difficult economic times. Ladies and Gentlemen, with all due respect, please pay attention to what you're doing on this piece of legislation. This is not a matter of being tough on criminals, soft on drugs, this is a matter about having a consistent, intelligent, productive policy that gets us to have more people back in society and not behind bars. Thank you."

"Representative Mary Flowers." 09600100.doc 45  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010

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

"Gentleman yields."

"Representative, can you please tell me how long the war has been going on on drugs here in the United States?"

"For decades we have been fighting a war on drugs in the United States. And so, how have we been doing in this war, Sir? Have we been winning?"

"Is… is the country…"

"…is the country better?"

"I just wanted…"

"I just want to bring to your attention that in 2008, the New York Times said that the United States war on drugs has failed, it has failed. So, if we have been fighting a 09600100.doc 46  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 war, Sir, for decades and have spent billions and billions of dollars, more dollars on education, for a failed war, don't you think we should do something different? Don't you think it's time for a change? Don't you think that we should realize that what we've been doing hasn't been working, so therefore we should change our mode of operation? If we were fighting the war in Afghanistan the same way we started off fighting, do you think we would be winning? If we had started and continued the fight that we're fighting in… Iran the same way decades later, do you think we would be winning? We need to stop it, Sir. We need to stop it because we are wasting moneys. The United States have more people locked up for crimes…"

"…of doing drugs. We have not fixed the problem; we have made it worse. And we, the taxpayer of the State of Illinois, we would like to create jobs, we would like to be able to keep our homes, we would love to be able to educate our children, but locking up people longer for a failed war on drugs is not the responsible thing to do. Please don't ask us to continue to do something that we know has failed this country. Thank you, Sir."

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

"Representative, your time has expired. We'll give you another minute to conclude your remarks."

"We have three more speakers: McAsey, Burns and Davis. I'm cutting off debate and then Representative Reboletti will close. Representative McAsey."

"Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this Bill. I had the opportunity to be in committee to hear from Representative Reboletti. Like Representative Reboletti, I represent a community where this is a growing problem on our street. Like Representative Reboletti, I've 09600100.doc 50  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 had conversations with undercover agents who are trying to build cases to take these heroin dealers off of our streets, to prevent death among our youth who are using. And this legislation is specific to go to the small weight that the dealers are carrying so that, in fact, we can make cases in our courts of law. I… I would just urge the 'aye' vote of all my colleagues."

Speaker Lyons: "Representative, have you completed your remarks? Representative McAsey, are you finished? Thank you, Representative. The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Burns."

"Thank you, Speaker. I'd like to speak to the Bill."

"To the Bill."

"There are a lot of emotions that have been raised by this Bill today. I'd like to correct some of the statements and characterizations that have been made by previous speakers. We are all concerned about the scourge of drug abuse in our communities. Many of us on this side of the aisle suffer from that scourge in ways that are very different than your side of the aisle. We have open drug markets in our communities. It is a real problem and it breeds violence. And we all are looking for ways to deal with this problem in a constructive way, but to me it appears that this Bill and with all due respect to the Bill's Sponsor and I've worked with him on a number of issues around criminal justice reform and I think he's a open and fair-minded person, but with all due respect, this Bill seems to be disproportionate. To drop it from 15 grams to 5 grams and make that a Class X felony, it would 09600100.doc 51  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 seem to me that you're giving small-time drug dealers and persons with small amounts of heroin on their person extraordinary prison terms. And I'd like to point out for the record that it… folks who already in possession of these… of these drugs and with the intent to manufacture or sell are already going to be charged as felons. What we're doing is bumping this up to a Class X felony, a category that was reserved originally for those people who had committed murder, who are serious threats to our community. It seems to me that providing a Class X felony for small- time drug dealers, regardless of the drug, is disproportionate. We have to figure out ways to work together on this. One of the previous speakers mentioned that we're not funding human services and alcohol and substance abuse programs. Part of the reason we're not doing that is we have failed to come up with the revenue to fund those programs. And we have failed to come up with a bipartisan consensus on how to deal with the state's budget crisis. Yet, it's not a problem to increase criminal penalties and send more people to jail for longer periods of time where it costs tens of thousands of dollars a year to keep someone locked up in prison where it's far cheaper to deal with that person and provide drug treatment and job training and other services. This is not a good ROI on the state's money. So, with that, I would encourage my colleague to take this Bill out of the record. Let's try to figure out some other ways that we can work together. We've worked together on the Illinois Crime Reduction Act of 2009. I think there's some fair-minded people in this 09600100.doc 52  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 Body and I think we can come up with a solution. But I think in order for us to move forward, we have to move beyond Bills that look good in press releases, that look good in mailers, but really don't solve our problems. I would encourage our colleagues to vote 'no' on both sides of the aisle. Thank you."

Speaker Lyons: "Representative Monique Davis is the final speaker then Representative Reboletti." Davis, M.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First, I want to say that yesterday there was a woman in the back who is the first woman to ever be on Death Row in the State of Illinois. She was in the back of our chamber because she has been to court and the court found her punishment from domestic abuse to have been extremely, extremely over-the-top, depressing and much harsher sentence than she deserved. So, a woman that we had given the death penalty to is now a radio talk show hostess and a religious leader for others who are suffering from domestic violence. When we compare those… that sentence to the proposed sentence for someone selling heroin and reducing the amount, what we're saying is you are going to be in prison as long as a person who has committed first degree murder. Now, one of the most important things for us as Legislators to remember is putting people in jail is not free. They don't go to jail with a free card or free pass. Someone pays for that and it is the Illinois taxpayer who pays more and more for incarceration and incarceration without treatment, incarceration without education, incarceration without job training. And all of these things lead to the great 09600100.doc 53  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 recidivism that we see. No one on this side of the aisle and I would suggest on your side of the aisle, no one supports and condones the sale of or the use of drugs which include heroin. And for anyone to make those kind of charges, it is extremely disingenuous and it leads me to believe they're in need of psychiatric help. No one on this side of the aisle regardless to what neighborhood you come from, support drug selling or drug abuse, but we do not support excessive sentencing with excessive incarceration that increases excessively the budget of the State of Illinois. I, too, urge a 'no' vote, but we can work on something else to help solve the problem. Thank you."

"Representative Reboletti to close."

"The question is, 'Should House Bill 5148 pass?' All those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 68 Members voting 'yes', 40 Members voting 'no', 4 Members voting 'present'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On the Order of Resolutions, on page 8 of the Calendar, Representative Eddy, you have House Joint Resolution 86. Representative Eddy."

"Also speaking to the question, I assume, is Representative Ron Stephens. Representative Stephens on the Resolution."

"Thank you, Representative Stephens. Thank you, Representative Eddy. This call will require a Roll Call vote. So, all those in favor of the adoption of House Joint Resolution 86 vote 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Art Turner. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Resolution, 112 'yes', 0 voting 'no', 0 voting 'present'. House Joint Resolution 86 is adopted. Mr. Clerk, the Adjournment Resolution."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I've been asked to remind all of you that Members should submit their requests for House Bills to be… to get out of Rules to Chief of Staff Tim Mapes no later than Tuesday the 23 of February. So, get those requests in to Chief of Staff as soon as possible. Representative Lang moves for the adoption of the Adjournment Resolution. All those in favor signify by saying 'aye'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Resolution is adopted. Agreed Resolutions, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Lang moves for the adoption of the Agreed Resolutions. All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; 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 to come before the House of Representatives, allowing perfunctory 09600100.doc 57  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 100th Legislative Day 2/18/2010 time for the Clerk, the House will stand adjourned 'til the hour of noon on Tuesday, February 23. All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And allowing perfunctory time for the Clerk, the House stands adjourned 'til the hour of noon on Tuesday, February 23. Representative Moffitt, tell that new granddaughter 117 of us and your daughter wish her all the best and congratulations. The House stands adjourned. Safe trip home everyone."