Illinois House Floor Debate — March 18, 2010

"The hour of 11:00 having arrived, the House shall be in order. Members and guests are asked to refrain from starting their laptops. Turn off all cell phones and rise for the invocation, and the Pledge of Allegiance. We shall be read in… led in prayer today by Reverend Keith Harris, who is with McKinley Memorial Presbyterian Church in Champaign, Illinois. Reverend Harris is the guest of Representative Jakobsson. Reverend Harris."

Reverend Harris: "Let us pray. Oh, God, the citizens of Illinois call You by many names; God, Yahweh, Allah, Brahman, All Glorious, Goddess, Sat Nam, Wankantaka, Ahura, Mazda, our Ground of Being, Father/Abba, Mother/Amma, even the Void of Nirvana to name a few. These names are planted and transplanted here. The Greek traditions of the world now growing in our own garden of Illinois. We are joined together as our crops are joined with the plains while it reaches upward beyond itself. We are joined together this day as the rivers and streams are joined, as they travel to the oceans of our planet. So, we are joined together in this chamber with the citizens on whose behalf You hold offices of trust. You, who from ancient times have joined us all together in community, covenant, and constitution is by me… as means by which we all may co-create a more humane, educated, and prosperous society. You, the Spirit of all generations, bless all those here and everywhere serving You and the public in peaceful and just ways. On this new day, accept us anew as we join again with the calls to stewardship, liberty, justice, righteousness, and love, Amen." 09600115.doc 1  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"We'll be led in the Pledge of Allegiance by the Lady from Cook, Representative Deborah Mell."

Speaker Mautino: "Roll Call… Roll Call for Attendance. Representative Currie."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Please, let the record show that there are no excused House Democrats today."

"Representative Bost."

"Mr. Clerk, take the record. 114 answering the call, a Quorum is present and the House is prepared to do its business. Mr. Clerk."

"The Gentleman from Jackson, Representative Bost."

Speaker Mautino: "The record will reflect. The Chair is prepared to go to the Order of Third Reading. And Mr. Clerk, on page 22 of the Calendar is House Bill 5330, Representative Beiser. Read the Bill."

"Representative Beiser."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 5330 amends the Vehicle Code that would require IDOT to provide vehicle accident reports to certain federal, state, and other local agencies. It's passed in committee. There were no… no opposition that I'm aware of. And I'd be happy to answer any question and ask for an 'aye' vote."

"The Gentleman has moved passage of House Bill 5330. All those in favor vote 'yes'; opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Flowers, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. 113 voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no', 0 voting 'present'. House Bill 5330 is declared passed. On page 23 of the Calendar is House Bill 5783 on Third Reading. Representative Burns. Out of the record. Page 26 of the Calendar appears House Bill 6205, Representative Currie. Out of the record. Representative Currie, on page 23 of the Calendar is House Bill 5833. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Majority Leader Currie." 09600115.doc 3  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Thank you, Speaker. I was confused about the numbers. This is a measure that would say that businesses that have tax liability of 20,000 or more during a calendar year, would be required to file with the State Department of Revenue electronically. Today, that provision applies to those with 200,000 in liability. This does not apply to individuals. It does apply to businesses. I know of no opposition. It's a way of streamlining and making more cost efficient Illinois State Government. I'd be happy to answer your questions, and would appreciate your support for the Bill."

"The Lady moves passage of House Bill 5833. No one seeking recognition, all in favor vote 'yes'; 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. 113 voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no', 0 voting 'present'. House Bill 5833 is declared passed. Page 20 of the Calendar is House Bill 4582, Representative Monique Davis. This Bill is on Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"The Lady from Cook." Davis, M.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 4582 amends the Chicago teacher article of the Illinois Pension Code by requiring the state to contribute to the public school teachers of Chicago, twenty percent of what is contributed to the Illinois Teacher's Retirement System beginning in 09600115.doc 4  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 fiscal year '10. The Illinois Teacher's Retirement System will receive over $2 billion. So, if this Bill were to become law, the Chicago Teacher's Fund would receive less than 500 million. Since 1988, the state has contributed only 65 million to Chicago Teacher's Retirement Fund, and we're just asking that this become law today. Thank you."

"The Lady's moved passage of House Bill 4582. On that question, the Gentleman from Crawford, Representative Eddy."

"She indicates she will."

"The Gentleman from McHenry, Representative Tryon."

"Yes, she will."

"Further discussion? The Lady from Cook, Representative Nekritz." 09600115.doc 11  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Representative, I did support this Bill in committee, but expressed my reservations at that time about the $420 million price tag. And I… you know, I do recognize that there are fairnesses… fairness issues and equity issues as between the various pension systems across the state, between the… the Chicago Teacher's Pension and the state pensions. But I think at this time with the… with our significant budget gap, I just can't in good conscience add another $420 million to that, so I just wanted to explain that. Thank you."

"Further discussion? The Gentleman from Lee, Representative Mitchell." Mitchell, J.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen, to the Bill. At… we've got to use some commonsense. We are facing the worse budget mess that we've had, at least in the 16 years that… that I've been here. Representative Davis and I worked on many issues on education for Chicago, and I've supported her many, many times. But, when all pension systems are in crisis, when the education budget for the State of Illinois, not just Chicago but every single school dic… district is in crisis, we simply can't do this. If we're ever going to catch up pension systems that… that are in dire need of funds, it's going to have to be in good economic times when we have full employment, when everybody is working hard and we can afford it. Folks, today, regretfully, we simply can't afford this Bill. And, Mr. Speaker, I would request verification of the Roll Call vote if we so have the vote. Thank you." 09600115.doc 12  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"The Chair will acknowledge your request. The Lady from Cook is seeking recognition, Majority Leader Currie."

"Thank you, Speaker and Members of the House. This Bill raises basic issues of morality, parity, and fair play. I live in the City of Chicago. My tax dollars go to support the pensions of the Chicago Public School teachers. I'm really lucky because I get to pay for the pensions of the public school teachers in the districts of those people who have just spoken before us. Chicago has been a step- child from the very beginning, and when Representatives talk about, well, they gave up the levy, that was a local levy. And if you're concerned about the cost of this program, maybe you ought to think about how your districts ought to be levying more money for the public school pension… teacher pensions in your own neighborhoods. It has been a problem for years that Chicago has been left out. Chicago is a step-child. Now, I don’t know that this is the right solution, and I don't know whether the dollar amounts make this something that we can't quite think about doing this year. Although, if we're going to spend 2.4 billion on the downstate system, I'm not sure why we can't take a small piece of that $400 million and spend it to help the citizens of Chicago pay for the pensions of their public school teachers. So, I think we've heard a lot of hypocrisy on this Floor. My nickel levy doesn’t compare to what you're doing in other parts of the education system. For years the state has said we'll take responsibility for the downstate teachers. Chicago you get to help us with 09600115.doc 13  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 that, but when push comes to shove, Chicago, you're taking the responsibility for your teacher's pensions on your own backs. Again, I'm not sure this is the best solution, and I know these times are tough, but I think that the Sponsor has done a good job of bringing to us a very important issue of morality, morality in our public policy, fair play, and parity. Thank you."

"Representative Davis to close." Davis, M.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just simply must say that we must bring some parity in reference to the pension funding. There is a substantial, additional cost for the state, however, as they have… there's a funding requirement that 90 percent of the pension be funded by 2045. This is not an increase in any benefits or any expenses of the pension fund but defines an obligation that the state put in place in 1995 that remains unfunded. The downstate TRS system in 2005 received 906,000,000. In fiscal year '08, 1,041,000,000. In '09, the TRS system got, listen carefully, 1,451,000,000 and in 2010 it's almost doubled for the TRS system, $2,089,000,000. To so the TRS system is almost getting double and all Chicago is asking is for a 20 percent… 20 percent pension payment for the state. We never got anything until 1988. I ask, Mr. Speaker, that you urge people to not force us to use our operational dollars to fund our pension. It's only fair, and it's only just. We're not asking to take anything away from the 2 billion and more from the TRS system. We're merely asking for a small amount to pay into our system, which will bring us totally on par by 2045. I urge an 'aye' vote." 09600115.doc 14  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"The Lady's moved passage of House Bill 4582. There has been a request for verification from Representative Mitchell. All in favor vote 'yes'; 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. 42 voting 'yes', 71 voting 'no', 0 voting 'present'. The Bill is declared lost and the request for verification has been withdrawn. The Gentleman from Morgan is seeking recognition."

"State your point, Sir."

"The Gentleman from Kendall, Republican Leader Tom Cross, is seeking recognition."

"Yes, Sir. In… in response, I'm not familiar with the letter that you have sent to the Speaker or Senator Cullerton, however, I will make that inquiry."

"I'll make the inquiry of the Speaker and then get a response back."

"The Gentleman has moved the… to discharge House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 56. And on that Motion, the Lady from Cook, Majority Leader Currie."

"Thank you, Speaker. I object to the Motion."

Speaker Mautino: "The Motion requires a unanimous consent. There has been an objection and therefore, the Motion fails. Leader Cross."

Speaker Mautino: "The Motion is, 'Shall the Chair be sustained?' And, we will follow within rules of the House where there'll be two minutes to discuss your Motion, two minutes for response, one minute to close. Leader Cross."

"The Motion before us is, 'Shall the Chair be sustained?' On that Motion, the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Fritchey is granted two minutes in response."

"Thank you, Speaker. I don't believe I'll need the whole two minutes, even. I… I would point out one… one issue from a procedural matter that the other side has 09600115.doc 21  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 seemed to forget time and time again. The debate on these issues is supposed to be the debate on the Motion to Discharge, not on the underlying piece of legislation. We can engage in this time and time again. It really is out of order, in my opinion, Speaker, but sobeit. I… I would remind the Minority Leader, who I have a tremendous amount of personal and professional respect for, this chamber has taken up the issue of a Constitutional Amendment to revisit the issue of redistricting. Representative Brosnahan, prior to his departure, had an Amendment which would have denested the Representative districts from the Senate districts. It would have created a commission to review how we do the redistricting process. That Amendment was passed by this chamber, by a democratically controlled chamber and sent over to the Senate that did not take action. We've done our job in the past and I don't think that this is something that can be laid at our feet. Different people are going to have different views on what they think the priorities need to be time and time again. And this may well be a priority. I think that the Motion is premature until we see which Amendments have even been passed by this Body. We are really having a hypothetical debate right now about a… an Amendment that may or may not wind up as one of those three. That's all I have to say. Thank you."

"The Motion before the House is, 'Shall the Chair be sustained?' Representative Cross to close."

Speaker Mautino: "The question is, 'Shall the Chair be sustained?' All in favor vote 'yes'; opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Mitchell, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. 69 voting 'yes', 44 voting 'no', 0 voting 'present', the Chair is sustained. The Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Fortner is seeking recognition."

"The Gentleman's time has expired. The Chair is now prepared to return to Third Readings. Page 15 of the Calendar is House Bill 5764. At this time, we're on the Order of Third Readings. At this time, we're on the… Mr. Bradley. On Third Reading appears… we're on the Order of Third Readings right now. Representative Bradley, on the Order of Third Reading is House Bill 5764. Do you wish to call this Bill? Read the Bill."

"Representative Bradley."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I'd like to draw the chamber's attention to the east balcony, and I'd ask… like to ask Sergeant First Class Maureen Sanders to stand up. This Bill is in honor of her son. Her son had just returned from tours of duty overseas representing our country as a veteran, and when he got back to a hospital here in the states, he became… he became incapacitated in a locked bathroom in the hospital. They were unable to get to him. Had there been a procedure in place to actually obtain access to that hospital bathroom, her son would likely still be alive. This is going to be called Seth's Law. The Hospital Association is voluntarily doing this. And all it says is that we're going to have a policy and procedure in place to make sure that there is some kind of procedure for this situation in case of locked bathrooms in 09600115.doc 26  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 the hospitals. So, again, I'd recognize Sergeant First Class Sanders. Ask for an 'aye' vote. I'd also ask for a round of applause for Sergeant First Class Sanders."

"The Gentleman has explained the Bill and moved passage. And on that Bill, the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Fritchey."

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

"He indicates that he will."

"Representative, just for a clarification of what we're doing here. When you talk about having a policy and procedure in place, are we talking about a statutory requiring that all… that all the locks be changed or…"

"No. No. We're leaving it up to the hospitals. They just have to have a procedure in place at the hospitals, so what they do in case the bathroom's locked, they can get in."

"And… I fully understand and support what you're trying to do. I just want to make sure…"

"Yeah. We're not telling them what to do…"

"…that… that we did it here, but you know, the tragic situation that you refer to, my understanding, is that they couldn't find a key to get into the door. So, I guess my concern is if a hospital isn't maybe as diligent as they should be, their policy is… well, our policy is that we have a key located somewhere on the floor. I mean… I'm just… I'm wondering if we're maybe even giving them too much leeway to prevent something like this from happening again." 09600115.doc 27  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"No, we're… I think this is the way to do it, to let the hospitals come up with a procedure so they think about this ahead of time, and in case this situation occurs, they have something in place. I'm not going to tell them exactly how to do it 'cause they know better than we do. But let's at least have something in place so that if this happens, they can get in."

"So… so, the goal ultimately is by them having a policy procedure in place, it'll raise awareness of this issue by the hospitals and, hopefully, that awareness in and of itself will reduce, if not fully prevent this from happening again?"

"Correct."

"All right. Thank you, John."

"The Gentleman has moved passage of House Bill 5764. All in favor vote 'yes'; opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Burns, Currie, Davis, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. 113 voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no', 0 voting 'present', House Bill 5764 is declared passed. The Gentleman from Jackson, Representative Bost is seeking recognition."

"Point well-taken, Sir. Following… continuing on Third Readings, Representative… Representative Biggins. On Third Reading appears House Bill 6148, Representative Biggins. Out of the record. Representative Brauer, House Bill 1702. Representative Brauer. Senate Bill 1702, sorry. Out of the record. Representative Mathias, on page 26 of the Calendar, under the Order of Short Debate is House Bill 6271. Representative Mathias. Read the Bill."

"Representative Mathias."

"The Gentleman has moved passage of House Bill 6271. And on that question, the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Fritchey."

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

"Indicates that he will."

"Representative, do you have any estimate on the cost associated with creating a database for all state employees and categorizing the information that you set forth here?"

"But… but that's… that's not how it works. The fact that there's an existing website has nothing to do with the fact that a database would have to be created. And to the extent that it's solely for new employees, you're going to be picking up 10 or 20 people out of tens of thousands of people, and I don't know that it accomplishes your goal."

"Well, eventually, everyone, hopefully, as there's turnover, it certainly will take a while, but…"

"But, there… there would be cost associated with the creation of the database. There'd be…"

"…an employee, if not employees, required to maintain and update and establish the vari… the veracity and accuracy of the database. We've heard a lot of comments from your side of the aisle with respect to figuring out how we are going to pay for these things when we are looking at laying off teachers, when we are looking at cutting essential services, and I understand what you're trying to do. I'm just curious how you're going to prioritize paying for a database like this as opposed to the other costs currently facing the state?"

"From a… from a policy standpoint, I fully agree with you. I don't think that you've addressed the cost issue or the prioritization of the cost issue, but thank you for answering the question, or trying to at least."

"The Gentleman has moved passage of House Bill 6271. All in favor vote 'yes'; 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 09600115.doc 31  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 record. 112 voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no', 1 voting 'present', House Bill 6271 is declared passed. Representative William Davis, on the Calendar, page 22, is House Bill 5289. Out of the record. Representative Dunkin, page 22 of the Calendar, on Third Reading is 5281. Read the Bill."

"The Gentleman from Cook."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. House Bill 5281 simply provides that the fee required by the community assoc… condominium associations be reduced, or ended, or concluded in four years. And I would ask for a favorable vote."

"The Gentleman has moved passage of House Bill 5281. And on that question, the Lady from Cook, Representative Coulson."

"He indicates that he will."

"We are stopping this Bill… excuse me. We are really decreasing it over four years. In four years, this will be over with."

"The fees of condominiums over ten… with over ten units or more."

"Currently, well…"

"…last year the…"

"Last year, the General Assembly passed and the Governor signed the Bill to license property van… managers of condominiums, townhouses, and homeowner's associations. You know, there's estimated about 60 thousand such associations. And in order to cover the cost of the administration of this new licensure law, all condo associations are required to pay $50, plus a $1 per unit, per year. And as the division of Professional and Regulations is unable to predict the cost of the administration, the various condo and homeowner's association have agreed to pay $50, plus the $1 per unit for four years, instead of making it as infinitum. So, it's… right now, this is about to start, and we're looking to make sure that we cap it at four years other than having it go on and on just because there are condo association managers, and townhouse associations."

"Correct. It… it would have to be re…"

"You… you would… you would have to bring in new legislation to bring it back, but it's the intent…"

"Correct."

"That is correct."

"Yes, ma'am."

"The Sponsor has moved the passage of House Bill 5281. And on that question, the Gentleman from Champaign, Representative Rose."

"He indicates he will."

"Can you repeat… Can you state your question again? It's kind of loud in here."

"Well, the department wants to evaluate how much it'll bring in."

"They would like to evaluate over time, how much it'll bring in and… and therefore, assume the costs of administering such a program."

"Well, it's a… it's a new statute today. What this does is, in four years, it stops the fees, or the assessed fees, on condo associations and townhouses and by that time, the administration should have a good sense of what the cost of such a program to licensed managers."

"You know, that's… the department doesn’t know. No one knows because the Governor just signed it into law and so…"

"…there's no way to really gage…"

"That… that's why it's in four years."

"Well, Representative, are you for a fee increase? You want to sustain the fee increase?"

"Well, in affect, it does. In four years, we'll stop the condo association manager fees…" 09600115.doc 35  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"In four years."

"That is correct."

"Well, we tried that. We tried to eliminate it completely, but if the department didn't support that, and the Governor, as you know, just signed this legislation into effect, and the committee didn’t support it."

"That's a possibility but there will, obviously, be money. There… there's over… there's estimated over 60 thousand…"

"Come again?"

"Well, currently, the program has no money in it. It has not even started and so…"

"No. There will be dollars in this particular program, clearly. You're assessing a well over 60 thousand condo associations and townhouse associations."

"You know, the department doesn’t know." 09600115.doc 36  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Representative, are you for an increase?"

"You want to… are you for an increase on townhouses?"

"I would love to do that."

"I think this is an adequate Amendment that is better than having it for 10 and 20 years. Stop it in four years, because I, you know, with 60 thousand…"

"By… by the department."

"We tried that. We tried to eliminate fees on condo association managers."

"No. We tried… I tried to do it…"

"I wanted to do it immediately, effectively, immediately."

"This… I couldn't get the support to do it immediately because you need votes in the committee, as well as this chamber to pass out. So, you are not…" 09600115.doc 37  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Thank you."

"Further discussion? The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Osterman."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. What the Sponsor is trying to do is to reduce some of the financial burden on condominium owners and associations in dealing with a law that was passed to benefit them, ultimately, by licensing the managers and the organizations that manage those condominium properties. I think that this is an issue. It's an important issue that was passed last year. Many of us voted for it. He's simply trying to reduce the fees over a long haul and give the state the ability to figure out, over the next four years, how much they need to keep that program going in an effective way but in a way that is cost effective for the association, and ultimately, the condo owners. So, I think this is something that's financially a wise thing to do for condominium owners. And I think we all should support this Bill."

"Further discussion? The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Fritchey."

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

"Indicates he will."

"Representative, and I apologize for having my back to you, but it's just a matter of logistics here. When you brought this Bill before my committee, you had discussed coming back with an Amendment." 09600115.doc 38  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"This is the Amendment, Sir."

"Oh, this is… this is a Third Reading Bill here?"

"We came back. I originally wanted to it to be an assessed fee for $50 every five years, and it… this… this was adopted in committee if you check the… check the analysis and the rules, there was no opposition."

"Let… let me just say this, and to… to the Bill. The concern that I have, Ladies and Gentlemen, reluctantly, is that we have a law that hasn't even taken effect yet. It was just passed. We don't know if the fees that are set are too high, too low, or just right. The department has said as much itself. I… I think that it's premature for us to be amending a law that hasn’t even taken effect, and we don't know where this is going to go, right now. We could find out that the department's going to come back and say that the fees do not pay adequately for implementing this law, or we could come back in a few years and say, oh, you know what, this is right where it needs to be. But right now, I… I think that, you know, for lack of a better phrase, it… this just… it isn't soup yet. I understand what he's trying to do. I understand that the Sponsor is trying to relieve a burden, but we're talking about a $50 fee that had originally been payable every five years. It was not excessive. It was part of the deliberative process when the law was passed by this Body last year, and I just really think that we should wait to see if we did the right thing or not before presuming that we didn't. Thank you."

"Final speaker. The Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Ramey." 09600115.doc 39  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"He indicates he will."

"Yes, Sir, Representative."

"Thank you. I'm glad to have your support, Representative."

"You know, I don't recall. We went through a number of Bills here. I'm not sure how valid that is, Representative, but I simply don't recall."

"Thank you."

"The Gentleman has moved passage of 5281. Representative Dunkin to close."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House. In this time… in this harsh economic time amongst a number of our fellow citizens here in the state, I think this Bill is timely. If we can reduce fees on any bodies, any individuals in their homes, in their condos, this is the right legislation to… to deal with. This simply is going 09600115.doc 40  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 from 50… $50 a year to sunsetting the fees. I think this is the type of legislation we should be focusing on during this economic time. Thank you. And I would ask for an 'aye' vote."

"The Gentleman moves passage of House Bill 5281. All in favor vote 'yes'; opposed vote 'no'. Voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk… Representative Saviano, Representative McAuliffe, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. 80 voting 'yes', 34 voting 'no', 0 voting 'present', and House Bill 5281 is declared passed. Representative Feigenholtz, 20… page 22 of the Calendar on Third Reading is House Bill 5428. Read the Bill."

"Representative Feigenholtz."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, I'm now in my sixteenth year down here in the General Assembly, and Kevin Joyce counts every day. And I know that a lot of us often struggle with issues that are personal to us, but none are more personal to me than this one. You know, each time I drive out of town after we adjourn, I drive down Jefferson Street, West, and I pass the Office of Vital Records at the Illinois Department of Public Health, and that is the place where all people go to get a copy of their original birth certificate, but not me. It's hard to describe to you what it's like not being trusted with the facts of my own birth. It assumes as an 09600115.doc 41  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 adult, I cannot handle the truth and I can't be trusted to be responsible with it. In the eyes of government, I am either a perpetual infant or a potential stalker. Because Illinois Government refused to provide me or my family with the information we needed, we were forced to search out my birth relatives to get that information. My birth mother was never asked whether or not she wanted to be protected from me. The absurdity of it all is now I can trace my roots back to the 1400s, but when I go to that line at the Office of Vital Records and ask for my original birth certificate, I get nothing. Why do I need my original birth certificate? It's not like I'm about to take on another persona. That bell has rung and that ship has sailed. I want the true document of my birth and I need to be trusted with that document. I've done nothing to deserve being put in a suspect class of citizens who have to reveal their personal life to anyone to obtain a document that complete strangers have control over. We need to ask ourselves what kind of culture we are in that there is such a thing as a shameful birth that needs to be kept a state secret. Ladies and Gentlemen, House Bill 5428 would finally allow adult adopted persons to have a copy of his or her original birth certificate, which is a basic human right available to nonadopted persons. It is a very well-balanced Bill in that it includes provisions that respect the wishes of the small minority of birth parents who wish to remain anonymous both retrospectively and prospectively. It is not a Bill about search or reunion. It is not about open adoption. It is simply a Bill that 09600115.doc 42  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 would allow me, like you, to walk through the front door of Vital Records to obtain a noncertified copy of my original birth certificate. I believe that this Bill has been worked on for a very long time. It is supported by both the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Child Care Association of Illinois, preeminent adoption agencies around Illinois. And I would be more than glad to answer any questions that any Member might have about it."

Speaker Mautino: "Further discussion? The Lady has moved passage of House Bill 5428. And seeking recognition, the Gentleman from Tazewell, Representative Sommer."

"The Gentleman will be given another minute to close."

"The Gentleman's time has… has expired. Go ahead and turn your lights on, if you do wish to yield time. I hear you're not seeking recog… The Gentleman from Champaign, Representative Rose."

Speaker Mautino: "The Gentleman yields his time to Representative Sommer."

Speaker Mautino: "And with the number of people seeking recognition, we'll place this Bill on Extended Debate. The Lady from Champaign, Representative Jakobsson."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. I want to remind people that this Bill is about adult adoptees. As the parent of eight children, six of them are adopted, I've discussed this topic with many people, including my children. And have done considerable research on this topic and can attest to the fact that there's a growing body of evidence that strongly indicates that something as simple as allowing my adult adopted children to access copies of their original birth certificates will provide them with both comfort and identity validation. This is something my children want. This is something that other adult adoptees want and this is something that I want for all of them. I can also tell you that there's an equal amount of evidence that indicates that adopted persons don't necessarily use this information listed on the original birth certificate to search out their birth families. For many adopted persons, this is simply about knowing who they are and where they come from, about having the same rights and privileges that you and I have, and that everyone else has. It's not necessarily about searching. I'd also like to emphatically state that the notion that the identity of a birth parent is confidential, that parents were given 09600115.doc 47  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 anonymity is patently false. The identities of the birth mothers and in some cases the birth fathers of every child my husband and I adopted in Illinois appears on their adoption decree. And as an adoptive parent, Illinois law gives me the right to access a copy of this document without show of cause at any time. It doesn't extend the same right to my adopted children. Until 1970, we never asked birth mothers what they wanted. After the 1970s, most agencies have asked because of an Illinois law requiring to do, and these agencies report that 90 percent of their birth mothers choose some form of openness. Remind you, this Bill is not about adoption. It's about adult adoptees being allow… allowed the same access to their original birth records that you and I have and all other adults have. Thank you. I urge an 'aye' vote."

"The Lady has moved passage. And next to speak on this will be the Gentleman from Lake, Representative Washington."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. You know, Mr. Speaker, you know, I… if God gives me help, two more years from now, I'll be here. I've served in this position for 10 years. I mean, I look how fast the time has grown, and I've gotten to know some of you better than others and issues that I thought I had a position on. Sometime, I've had to change that, and I try never to practice having tunnel vision and knowing that I have it, but this particular issue, I thought I was clear on it. I was leaning toward it until I heard Representative Sommer say some things that kind of made me think of some things that 09600115.doc 48  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 I had forgotten. And I walked over to get Jim Sacia's opinion because I value that opinion, and he and I both were kind of just in the middle. I just want to say that I was thinking about father and mother is, is what father and mother does. And you know, I didn't have the opportunity of being reared by my biological father, but as I stated, father is what father does. And I know people have a right to know, and I think for me this particular issue is going to be hard-pressed to make a decision. It's like six in one hand and six in the other. And I know knowing is… is important, but then again, I've thought about the 200 thousand or more women, for whatever reason that they found themself having to make probably a heavy decision for a woman to carry life for nine months, and for whatever reason, having to disconnect and to walk away, that has to be not an easy task. So, I'll listen very intently with this debate. And I'm not sure where I want to go with it because it's an issue that I didn't think that I would be confronting in a lifetime, but I think it's very important that we listen intently to the arguments being waged on this Bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker."

Speaker Mautino: "Further discussion? The Gentleman from Winnebago, Representative Jefferson."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members of the General Assembly. I rise in support of this Bill. I, too, am an adopted father. My son has been in my home for some time, but I give him the right to know who his parents were, his biological parents. So, the Freedom of Information Act that we're referring to here along with all the things that 09600115.doc 49  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 are incorporated in this Bill, I support, and I just want to encourage each and every one of you to do the same thing because we, as people, as individuals, need to make sure we're doing everything we can to support these adopted children. They don't choose to be in those positions. They need care just like your biological children would need care. So, I would encourage all of you to support this Bill and vote 'yes'."

"Further discussion? The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Burke."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. I, too, rise in support of this very, very important piece of legislation. You know, as an uncle of adopted children, and certainly one who sits in this Body every day considering what we call human rights, can we imagine what more basic human right could there be than having the opportunity to know who you are and where you come from. Back in the early days, I suppose there was a greater concern for anonymit… anonymity with respect to the birth parents. But, in this day of communication, in this day of modern science, in this day of genes, how could we say to one who might have the opportunity to know if they have a disease that will be evident in their future? How could we say to that person, you can't know where you come from? You can't know who you are. You shouldn't be allowed to know your beginnings. This, to me, Ladies and Gentlemen, is a basic human right. I think this matter should con… be considered very importantly, and I can't imagine how anyone could sit in this Body and not support 09600115.doc 50  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 this piece of legislation as a basic human right. Thank you very much."

"Further discussion? The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Zalewski."

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

"Indicates she will."

"Representative, just to be clear, you mentioned the Catholic Conference was neutral on this Bill?"

"That is correct."

"Have they indicated to you that they wished for there to be any changes with the Bill as it exists right now?"

"No, they have not."

"And did they… did they testify in committee about the Bill?"

"The Catholic Conference wrote a multipage… a very, very thoughtful explanation of this Bill. And I believe that what they did was, they went and spoke to the frontline workers at the various diocese around the state to see what their experience was with the birth parents that come forward searching for the adult children that they relinquished to see how they fared, and also the adoptees that… that were indicating a need to learn more about their origins. And I believe it was those particular workers who were quite persuasive about how important and how humane this was. I think that they felt that the overwhelming majority of people wanted some form of openness and contact, and I believe that a lot of social workers, currently, will look at the practice and see that 09600115.doc 51  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 it is quite outdated, antiquated, and actually, almost inhumane and barbaric. Representative Zalewski, I think the reflection of adoption today is a correction, if you will, of some of the errors that were made when I was a child. I think that Julie Tye of The Cradle, a very, very well respected adoption agency in Cook County used to say, we used to call a good adoption where the adoptee could not remember the first time they were told they were adopted. Today, a good adoption is one in which the adoptee can't recall the first time they met their birth parents. So, I believe that the reason that the Child Care Association, which is comprised of the Baby Fold, Bethany, Lutheran Social Services, and every licensed child welfare agency… and these are the agencies, Representative, that actually worked with the birth parents when they were signing consent. And they are the ones that said, it was a presumption in the 50s. It was a presumption in the 60s that women wanted protection. I believe that in the attempt to protect women from the societal stigma of an out-of-wedlock birth, they also protected… thought they had to protect them from the child that they were relinquishing and essentially, that was not the case. When I met my birth mother, I asked her, when you gave me up for adoption, were you ever offered an option whether… when I became an adult, whether you wanted contact from me or not? And she laughed, she said I was never even asked that. And I believe that the Catholic… I believe that all social workers, including the Catholic Conference had that experience." 09600115.doc 52  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"One more question, Mr. Speaker."

"As is owed to you, yes."

"Is it… do you… Representative, do you know of any other states that have a similar statute like this?"

"There are eight others states that have… that allow adult adoptive persons to have acc…"

"Go ahead and… you may finish the question."

"Eight other states."

"Further discussion? The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Lang."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand that for some this is a difficult Bill. I understand that there are heartfelt feelings on both sides, and it's good to have a real debate on an issue rather than some of the things we do around here from time to time. I've heard some things on the floor going through this debate that I think I should just address briefly. First, it really doesn’t matter what the Catholic Conference thinks or the Jewish Federation. This is not a religious issue. It's an issue of human rights. Feel how you will about it and no religious denomination has a corner on this. Second, one Gentleman commented that this is not a fair Bill because all of the prior birth mothers won't get information about the law. I don't find that particularly compelling, although, I do find it interesting. It's not compelling because we pass Bills every day on this House Floor that the people of Illinois don't know about. We pass all kinds of Bills, all kinds of criminal laws, all kinds of laws all over every statute in our state that affects people's lives every day and they 09600115.doc 53  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 don't know about them. They find out about them when they break one of those rules or they find out about them when they hire a lawyer to talk to them about one of those rules. So, it's not compelling that people don't know about it. What is compelling is that people should have a basic human right to know where they came from. You know, we all talk to our constituents, and between our constituents and the people we know in our daily lives, we know all sorts of people with mental health issues because they have parents who they know that they don't get along with or they have parents who they know that they've never been able to communication with, or they have parents that they know and… and their lives are not intermeshed in a way that makes them comfortable. And so these individuals in our communities have mental health issues even if they know their parents. Imagine how much exponentially more difficult it is for a person who has no connection, and no ability, and no opportunity to know where they came from. Now, as you heard Representative Jakobsson say not now every one of these folks, when they get the information, is going to go seek out that birth mother. Sometimes just knowing who it is closes the loop. We have thousands of people in our state in this situation, and they have issues in their lives because they have not been able to know where they came from, what they're all about, and they feel a void. They feel an emptiness. They want to get this information so that they have a better feeling about themselves. So that they will be more comfortable in their own skin. So that they can have a greater relationship 09600115.doc 54  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 with their own children. Let's not deprive people of the understanding about who they are, what their background is, what they're all about, because if we do that, we render these people with a hole in their lives that they can never fill and makes it completely more difficult for them to be the kind of parents to their own children that they would like to be. Representative Feigenholtz has worked on this Bill a number of years. She's worked on it, she's amended it, she's changed it. This is not about who thinks this is right or wrong. This is about whether we think this is right or wrong. Each one of us individually, needs to come to grips with the issue of, would I like to know. Would I like to know who my mother is? Would I like to close that loop in my life? And so, this is an excellent Bill. It's about basic human rights. It's about the need for people to know who they are. What more basic need could there be? I strongly urge your 'aye' votes."

Speaker Mautino: "Further discussion? The Gentleman from McLean, Representative Brady."

"Indicates that she will."

"This is a noncertified copy, Representative Brady." 09600115.doc 55  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"The… the charge will be the same, $15, that is the same amount of money anyone pays for a non… a birth certificate."

"Actually, Representative, we… the… the Bar Association, the Department of Public Health, the parties that have been working on this for a decade wanted to address two concerns. One of which was that on a certified copy, sometimes there is private medical information pertaining to the birth mother. And the second item is, of course, the issue of identities. It's more… it's… some may be concerned about a security issue which is why we have limited it to the noncertified copy."

"Further discussion? The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Will Davis." Davis, W.: "Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. This is to the Bill. I've heard Representative Feigenholtz and all Members of the House talk about this particular issue and when I talked to some of the proponents of this, just trying to understand what this is all about. Now, for some, I understand that the parents who gave up those 09600115.doc 56  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 children, they may not want to be identified. They may not want anyone to know who they are for a myriad of reasons. Maybe it's the circumstances under which they gave up the child. Maybe it's because they're embarrassed. You… you just never know, but what's important to me about this is the fact that, here in this country, unfortunately, sometimes, a piece of paper is what identifies you. It's what makes you whole in some respects. And so, the way I look at this is very simple and it's not against the birth parents who don't want to be identified, but if I'm a child, at some point as an adult, I may want a copy of my birth certificate. Sometimes, when you apply for things here, when you go to purchase, major purchases, and you have to gather a bunch of documents, one of those documents that they may want to do that may be a birth certificate. So, for those of you who feel that there's a need to protect the… the individuals who gave up the children, and I can understand and respect that, but again, in this country, you need papers to get things done. And for those of you who are imm… from immigrant families, maybe your grandparents or maybe even your parents are first generation in this country, having a piece of paper to identify them was important. And in my opinion, that's what this legislation is about, Ladies and Gentlemen, for those children who want a birth certificate. Again, I understand those that want to be protected. They don’t want to be known. They don't want to be found out. But sometimes in order to conduct business in this country, you need documents and a birth certificate is one of those 09600115.doc 57  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 identifying documents that someone may need in order to be able to make purchases or to obtain certain things here. So, again, I encourage everyone to support this particular Bill. If nothing else, if nothing else, just remember, in order to get things done here, you have to have documents, and a birth certificate is one of those documents that lets someone know who you are, not necessarily what's important about who you came from, but it lets them know who you are. So, I encourage everyone to support this particular legislation. Thank you."

"Further discussion? The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Riley."

"Will the Sponsor yield?"

"She indicates she will."

"Representative Feigenholtz, you have been working on this Bill a long time, and you know, you're to be commended. I think that Representative Lang in a lot of ways stole my thunder about the passion and the heartfelt concerns that almost everyone who has weighted in on this issue has had, and I think that speaks to the importance. Can you tell me… well, first of all, there was some… there was something that was said about information not being disbursed? Based on the gravity of this Bill itself, I'd like for you to address how this Bill will get information out, especially to the… well, just to the general public about the specifics."

"There's… the… maybe I just need to be clear that the original birth certificate is only released to the adult adopted person. It is not open to society. It is 09600115.doc 58  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 just the adult adopted person, and if that adult adopted person is deceased, their spouse or their… their children and that's only upon the presentation of a death certificate. So, it's limited to immediate family. It is not an unsealed record open for public view. There's an application that needs to be made at the Office of Vital Records after a one year robust informational campaign. I also want you to understand, Representative Riley, that this is the only Bill… this Bill is unique from the eight other states that have proposed this legislation. We are allowing for the first time the birth parent to actually take the power of what they want into their hands. I have a document from May 9, 1991, when in this very room on an Agreed Bill list adoption records were sealed retroactively for 99 years without any floor debate. My rights, and the rights of my birth mother, and anything she may have wanted, in one gavel, were removed."

"Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, to the Bill. I'm going to support this piece of legislation. I… I really think that it's a piece of legislation whose time has come. But I would just like to go on record to say, because I support this Bill does not mean that I don't recognize that Representative Sommer's statements were extremely compelling, and he's got all the respect, certainly, in the world from me. Thank you."

Speaker Mautino: "The final speaker. The Gentleman from Jasper, Representative Reis."

"Indicates that she will." 09600115.doc 59  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Yes, there is."

"We're going to do a very robust informational campaign. I think that all of the most conservative people who have supported this Bill, have worked diligently to get that informational campaign out there. Originally, Representative Reis, this campaign was only six months long. We've extended it for a year."

"We are working…"

"We have 12…"

"…million pieces… envelopes going out to owners of vehicles in the State of Illinois as a public notice about the change in this law. Every adoption agency is going to post this on their website. It is going to be tenfold of what any other state has done, and in those states, people… birth parents came forward from 40 states and three foreign countries, to fill out a birth parent preference form. So, there's your firewall."

"After the yearlong campaign, birth parents still have the opportunity to come forward and fill out a contact preference form even after that yearlong campaign."

"If they…"

"Well, then the adoptee will get their original birth certificate.

"But Representative, I know you're sensitive to this issue. I want to be… I want to make something perfectly clear. Today, we have a program and other… and many adoption agencies already provide for post adoption services where we can do outreach through the confidential intermediary program. This is not a Bill about search and reunion. In committee, a woman came in and said that she would never risk an outreach to her birth family. What she wanted was her original birth certificate. So, I just want you to understand that we have been serving a minority of people and forcing them to reach out to birth families when, essentially, all they've really wanted was a document of their origin, their original birth certificate."

"The Gentleman's time has expired. Will be given one minute."

Speaker Mautino: "The Lady from Cook, Representative Feigenholtz to close."

"Thank you, Members of the Illinois House. It has taken me a long time to get to this place. There are pieces of this Bill that I really am not happy about, but I would like to speak to birth parent privacy, and I would like to talk a little bit about reality. If my birth mother had given birth to me, I would have been in foster care for six months prior to the finalization of my adoption. If no one had adopted me, my birth record would never be sealed. I know that there are a lot of people in this room who have worries about birth parent confidentiality, but the fact is, is that an adoption record… my birth record was sealed, not on the event of my birth, but on the event of my adoption. Today, an adoptive parent could write a letter to the court and get a copy without the need to show cause, and get a copy of the decree of adoption in the mail without any questions asked. So, I ask you, where is birth parent confidentiality? The reality is, we never asked. We never asked birth parents what they wanted, and when we finally had 18.3 statements put into statute, when we retroactively sealed adoption records, the desires of those birth parents were sealed along with them. In the eight states that have done this, birth parents have come forward. In the Illinois experience here with our registry, and with the confidential intermediary program, we see an overwhelming number of birth parents that welcome contact or at least allow the adult adoptive person that they relinquished to 09600115.doc 63  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 have access to their original birth certificate. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is time that justice is done. I want to walk into the front door of Vital Records and get a copy of my birth certificate just like you. Please vote 'aye'."

"The Lady moved passage of House Bill 5428. All in favor vote 'yes'; 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. 74 voting 'yes', 39 voting 'no', 0 voting 'present', House Bill 5428 is declared passed. The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Zalewski, is seeking recognition."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I just wanted to acknowledge St. Renee's school. They were in the gallery, however, they had to go on their tour. They're here from the southwest side of the City of Chicago, and if they were here, we would all applaud for them. So… they're not though, so thank you for acknowledging me."

"The Gentleman from Cook… the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Riley."

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

"State your point, Sir."

"I would like to welcome, along with Representative Eddie Washington, I don’t think he's here… welcome a group of fifth graders from Lions Academy in Waukegan, who are here visiting their State Capitol on a history trip. So, we have Mrs. Betty Underwood and the students from Lions Academy from Waukegan. Please give them a round of applause." 09600115.doc 64  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

Speaker Mautino: "Welcome to Springfield and the House of Representatives. Mr. Clerk, on page 25 of the Calendar appears House Bill 6112, Representative Flider. Read the Bill."

"Representative Flider."

"Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 6112 is legislation that… actually, a version of this passed last year out of the House, and we're going to try it again, did not pass the Senate, and it's actually been improved. And what this legislation does is it amends the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act to ensure that a worker engaged in the transportation of aggregate or excavated materials to or from a public work site shall also be paid the applicable prevailing wages set by the Department of Labor and the IDOT equipment raise for trucks on public works projects. So, in us… in other words, those who are driving trucks would also be prevailing… be being paid prevailing wage in addition to laborers, operating engineers, cement finishers and others who are paid prevailing wage on public works projects and this does apply only to public work projects sponsored by state funds. Not… does not include federal funds, state funds only. Secondly, it ensures that the prevailing wage and the equipment rental rates paid to the contractors and subcontractors by a public body go directly to the truck owner/operators hired to transport the aggregate material as opposed to the contractor, where they previously now go. 09600115.doc 65  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 So, I would… this is a practice that previously was endorsed by the Department of Labor. We believe this legislation's important, will reinstate the previous practice of the Department of Labor. It's a good Bill. It's an equity issue. And I ask for an 'aye' vote."

"Gentleman has moved passage of House Bill 6112. This Bill is on Short Debate. And the Gentleman from Crawford, Representative Eddy is seeking recognition."

"Indicates that he will."

"There's been considerable discussion on that and estimates have been, I think, wildly exaggerated. But we believe that, in effect, that what this does is it ensures that those who are working on those projects are being paid an adequate wage. Now, we know that IDOT has come with a… in its analysis, an increase cost to the state, but I would suggest to you that that number is an estimate and in fact, we believe that the cost would be minimal."

"That's their estimate, yes, but again."

"I believe that this estimate is in question. I don't believe there's any scientific way for them to know what kind of costs there would be associated with this, but the fact of the matter is, whether you're talking about an operating engineer, a laborer, or any other person who is working on a public works job, they are entitled to be prev… paid the prevailing wage…"

"The Gentleman will be given an additional minute."

"Your request will be granted. There has been a request for a verification. And the Bill is on Short 09600115.doc 67  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 Debate. Our next speaker is the Gentleman from Jasper, Representative Reis."

"Indicates that he will."

"Because we want to be fair people and when we have laws that ensure that all those who are working on public works projects should be paid according to prevailing wage, then we have an obligation to do that, and that's what this legislation's about. This is an equity issue. Secondly, the reason we need that is that the proceeds of operating and carry… for those owner/operators who bring aggregate and other materials to a job site, they are not getting the full amount authorized by the Department of Transportation. That amount is going to the contractors. That should be going to those who own that equipment so that they can maintain and afford to keep that equipment."

"Representative, I think you're bringing up a separate issue."

"Well, this legislation takes care of a certain aspect that we believe is inequ… inequitable at this time."

Speaker Mautino: "The Gentleman be given one additional minute."

"Further discussion? The Lady from Lake, Representative Osmond."

"He indicates he will." 09600115.doc 69  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"The definition pertains, specifically, to aggregated materials that are included in the construction of a road."

"Well… the people who drafted the legislation felt that the ongoing delivery of aggregated road pack materials were the primary aspects of the project to be built and funded by the public works dollars."

"I… I don't know the answer to that."

Speaker Mautino: "Further discussion? The Gentleman from Iroquois, Representative Cultra."

Speaker Mautino: "Further discussion? The Gentleman from Peoria, Representative Leitch."

"He indicates he will."

"That's probably accurate. I don't recall, but that could be the case. I do know that Minnesota has a law similar to this."

"Turn his light… Give you another minute. Yes, Sir."

"Further discussion? The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Lang."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of the Gentleman's Bill. I heard some discussion about jobs. As Chairman of Jobs Creation Task Force, I jealously guard jobs and I'm working to try to create jobs as the members of my task force are, but this really isn't about that. This is about… this is really not a debate about much of what I've heard. This is really a debate about prevailing wage. I haven't heard anybody speak against this Bill who's for prevailing wage, so let's put it where it is. This is a debate of people who are for prevailing wage, and 09600115.doc 72  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 people who are against prevailing wage. We know who they are. We know what this Bill is about. We know what the opposition is about. So, rather than creating a smoke screen, those of you who are against the Bill, why don't you just say right here on the floor, hey, I'm opposed to prevailing wage because if you're not opposed to prevailing wage, you must be for the Bill. We have prevailing wage laws in the State of Illinois. The activities involved in this Bill are directly related to those same government dollar projects that the rest of the jobs relate to and so, logically, there's no reason to exclude these jobs from the Prevailing Wage Act. So, the smoke screen aside, this Bill will bring these jobs into compliance with what is already in the law, a statute we have regarding prevailing wage. Those of you who want to argue that this one thing should be exempted are really wanting to argue that we shouldn't have a Prevailing Wage Act at all. So, why don't you propose that? Why don't you come to the House Floor, go to… introduce a Bill, go to committee with a Bill to repeal the Prevailing Wage Act, and come to the floor and make that argument? To make an argument that this one item ought to be exempted from that is folly, it's ridiculous, and you're not telling the truth."

"Further discussion? The Lady from Kankakee, Representative Dugan."

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

"Indicates that he will."

"As… as I've sat here and listened to this discussion, and… and I think the previous Representative was correct, 09600115.doc 73  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 we're talking on the issue of prevailing wage. Representative, do you know, do businesses and contractors that do not pay prevailing wage, do they bid on public projects?"

"Well, they would, however, when they do, they must pay prevailing wage."

"But they do bid on public projects, correct?"

"Yes, they do."

"And they bid on public projects knowing that they need to pay prevailing wage, but that doesn't stop them from bidding on the project."

"That's correct."

"So, with all due respect to those who believe that companies will not, or do not, come forward to bid on projects just because there's prevailing wage that, in fact, is not true in the State of Illinois. As we look at prevailing wage, we look at the quality of life that people are able to have because of a good wage. Now, if companies in this state said we can't bid on any projects because we will not pay prevailing wage and we can't afford it, then I think if you look at contracts and bidders, not only on public projects, but on projects within your communities, you will see that many companies that do not pay prevailing wage still bid on the project. In fact, I have been in the construction area for 30 years, and I used to work for a contractor and I used to see bids that came in. And it is surprising, and maybe surprising to some to know, that contractors, even though they don't pay prevailing wage, 09600115.doc 74  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 their bid, in some cases, was over the contractor that did pay prevail…"

"Grant the Lady one more minute."

"Okay. Thank you."

"Bring your remarks to a close."

"…and in many cases, very, very close to the bid of those contractors that pay prevailing wage. The only difference between the costs is whether or not it goes to the workers or whether or not it goes to the business. So, I just think it's unfair to say that contractors will not be able to bid and do public projects because they already bid on projects even though they pay nonprevailing wages. Thank you."

Speaker Mautino: "Further discussion? The Gentleman from Winnebago, Representative Winters."

"Don't know exactly."

"Probably farther."

"Further discussion? The Lady from Champaign, Representative Jakobsson."

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

"He indicates he will."

"Representative, aside from all of the folks who are just plain opposed to prevailing wage, I've heard some opponents expressing the thought that this is unconstitutional. Can you help me with that argument, please?" 09600115.doc 76  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Well, we don't believe that's the case. In fact, this law is in place in Minnesota, and the Constitution of the… the constitutionality of the Prevailing Wage Act was challenged on equal protection grounds in a case Hayden v. Ogle, and it was determined by the Illinois Supreme Court that the Act is constitutional."

"Thank you."

Speaker Mautino: "Further discussion? The Gentleman from Morgan, Representative Watson."

"He indicates he will."

"I believe that there's room for improvement."

"I believe that if you look at certain factors, we are doing well in others, but there's others where we definitely need improvement."

"Like, I… if you want to go, you know… I… I'm trying to present this legislation, and you're bringing up factors that are, I believe, outside the realm of this legislation."

"I think the thing that everybody's forgetting about is that owners and operators are business owners. They are small business people. They're not getting compensated adequately for a job that they are doing to haul aggregate. They are… get …getting paid a… only a wage, but they're not getting compensated for the value of the equipment, the hauling rates that IDOT must approve. IDOT authorizes certain rates that owners and operators should be getting, but they're not. Those rates are going to the contractors. Those who are actually submitting the proposals, the costs for that, then they're hiring haulers and they're paying them prevailing wage, but not compensating them for their rigs or their equipment. That is definitely hurting businesses and we have a number of business organizations that are supporting this legislation for that very reason."

"I believe that the capital Bill that we passed will create jobs, and I believe this is an equity issue that treats people fairly."

"Believe it's above 10 percent."

"Please give the Gentleman another minute."

"Further discussion? The Lady from Cook, Representative Mulligan."

"He indicates that he will."

"I'm… I'm sorry, Representative. I didn't hear the question. Could you repeat that? I apologize."

"You'll be granted an additional minute when the… as other Members have been." 09600115.doc 79  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"I do not know the answer."

"I don't know the answer of what the prevailing wage is in your area."

"I can find that out for you."

"The Lady's granted an additional minute."

"In answer to your first question, prevailing wage in Cook County is between 30 and 33 dollars an hour in your area."

"Yes. Yes." 09600115.doc 80  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"And, secondly, with regard to your question, this legislation provides that during the transportation of materials to and from a construction project, that prevailing wage would be paid. Now, would, you know… so, does that mean a contractor's going to say, well, I'm going to go to a quarry farther away so that it cost more? I don't think so. I think it's going to give an incentive to use quarries even closer in Illinois so that the cost will be reduced."

"Prevailing wage…"

"The Lady's time has expired. The Gentleman may finish the answer to the question. Bob, you may finish the answer to the question. Have you finished… furth… next speaker is the Gentleman from Winnebago, Representative Sacia."

"He indicates that he will."

"The Gentleman has moved passage of House Bill 6112. On that, the Gentleman from Madison, Representative Hoffman."

"Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, like the previous speaker, wasn't sure that I was going to speak until I heard some of the comments from the other side of the aisle. This truly is a philosophical issue, but it really is greater than that. It's about real people and the effect that our public policy has on real people. Is it about fairness? Yes, it is, but it's about fairness and a decision on whose side you're on, whose side you're going 09600115.doc 82  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 to be on. Are you going to have the public policy in the State of Illinois, a public policy that ensures that people get a living wage, that people get paid and compensated adequately for the work that they do? You want to talk about unfairness. We currently have prevailing wage on public works projects, but it's on the project itself. So, the laborer gets prevailing wage. The cement finisher gets prevailing wage. The operating engineer gets a living, prevailing wage, but the person who just happens to be hauling the aggregate material to that public work site does not. So, this is about fairness. It is about making sure that a family… a person and a worker gets compensated adequately, so they can raise their family, send their children to school. It's about fairness to them. It's about fairness to their family. And you talk about businesses leaving Illinois, this is about public works. It's not about private enterprise. It's not about a private business coming to Illinois. It's whether we want to have the policy of the State of Illinois that mirrors the policy of Henry Ford years ago when he decided, I'm going to pay an adequate wage to the people who work for me so that they can buy the Model-T Ford. More money to workers means more that they're paid, more to state contractors, more disposable income, more revenue to the state, and more jobs created. That's why we should be voting for fairness and vote for this Bill."

"The Gentleman from McHenry, Representative Franks." 09600115.doc 83  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Lang keeps looking at me, so I'd like to yield my time to him because I'd like to hear what he has to say."

"The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Lang for two minutes."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Mr. Franks. You know, I don't know that I can say it any better than Representative Hoffman did. He did an excellent job as he always does in… in defending what's right. Ladies and Gentlemen, I… I'm going to repeat some of what I said before. I don't hear a lot of conversation here about the Bill. Hear a lot of conversation here about some allegation that this is going to cost jobs. I hear some… all kinds of allegations and all sorts of things but, ultimately, do you… do you believe in prevailing wage or don't you? If you believe in prevailing wage because you think that on government paid for contracts, we ought to be paying a decent wage to people who are taking taxpayer money, then I think you ought to consider what prevailing wage is all about, what it was meant to do, why we passed it in the first place. I recognize that many of who have spoken are just simply against it, and every time you open your mouth, you're making sure that people know you're against it. I don't know that's what you want to do. We're here to defend working men and women. We're here to make sure that working men and women have a right to a good paycheck, and at a time where there are so few projects going on and the capital Bill hasn’t really begun to roll, it seemed to me this would be a time you'd want to say to 09600115.doc 84  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 those working men and women, we're on your side, we've got your back, we want to help you. Ultimately, we're going to create 400 thousand new jobs when the capital Bill rolls out, and I don't think anybody will care that much about the prevailing wage part of this because there are gong to be a lot of people working, a lot of people being paid. It'd be good for working men and women, it'll be good for this chamber to put people to work, but first they need to be paid a decent wage. This Bill will ensure that."

Speaker Mautino: "The Gentleman from Lake, Representative Beaubien."

"The Gentleman has called the question. All in favor say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'yeses' have it. And the question is put. Representative Flider to close."

"Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I know this is good debate and I know there are a lot of strong feelings about issues that really, I think, don't relate to this. But what we are doing here is we are voting to reinstate a practice that used to be in place here in the State of Illinois. This is an equity issue, and not only does it relate to prevailing wage as it relates to public works projects where people deserve to be treated equitably and fairly, all practices, all trades, and it also ensures that it levels the playing field. And what… the reason it levels the playing field is that owners and operators will be able to be paid appropriately for their equipment. Not somebody else, but they will be able to be paid appropriately for their equipment. These are small 09600115.doc 85  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 business people. These are people who, quite frankly, if they're not compensated adequately, are having a hard time making ends meet. And lastly, I would say that this legislation is sponsored by, and much has been said here today, but it's sponsored by a number of organizations including the Black Chamber of Commerce, Black Contractors United, Suburban Black Contractors Association. So, we've go a good strong Bill here, a good fair piece of legislation. And I ask for an 'aye' vote."

"The Gentleman has moved passage of House Bill 6112. The Gentleman from Crawford has requested a verification. That's been acknowledged. All Members please vote your own switches. And all in favor vote 'yes'; opposed vote 'no'. Voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. The vote totals are 71 voting 'yes', 43 voting 'no', 0 voting 'present'. Representative Eddy, do you seek your verification?"

Speaker Mautino: "The Gentleman withdraws his request for verification. Therefore, on a vote of 71 voting 'yes', 43 voting 'no', 0 voting 'present', House Bill 6112 is declared passed. Representative Brady."

"State your point, Sir."

Speaker Mautino: "Welcome to Springfield. Representative Senger, the Lady from DuPage, is seeking recognition."

Speaker Mautino: "Welcome to Springfield. Representative Jakobsson."

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

"State your point."

"In celebration of women's history month, I want to commemorate the life and the contributions of Georgina Trotter. Born in Ireland to an aristocratic clan of agriculture, she came to the United States in 1850. She served as a nurse during the Civil War, working with Julia Ward Howe and serving during the Battle of Shiloh. Georgina Trotter was also in charge of escort services to northern hospitals and operated hospital boats on the Mississippi River. With her brother, Miss Trotter was involved in a successful lumber, grain and coal business in Bloomington. She was the first woman to serve as a member of the Bloomington Board of Education. She and her friend, Sarah Raymond, raised $20 thousand to build Withers Library in 1887. The Trotter family fountain on the grounds of the 09600115.doc 87  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 former Withers Library stands as a familiar landmark to local residents. It was designed by noted sculptor Lorado Taft and was bequeathed to the City of Bloomington in 1907. Georgina Trotter."

"For the benefit of the Members, we've had some requests about the plans for Friday. The… the House does plan to convene on Friday, tomorrow, at 9:30, and then on Monday, we will be convening at 3:00. Representative Lyons in the Chair."

Speaker Lyons: "Hello, again, everybody. Mr. Clerk, Representative Burke has House Bill 5842. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Dan Burke."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. This is a matter that I bring to your attention again. We put it on Postponed Consideration last week. The matter was thoroughly discussed as I suggested to the body at that time. This is a business in my district that is wishing to be exempt from the distant requirement… distance requirement from a school. It's probably 7 feet short from the required 100 feet distance. I'd be happy to answer any questions."

"Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all… those in favor of the passage of House Bill 5842 should vote 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have 09600115.doc 88  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 68 Members voting 'yes', 46 Members voting 'no', 0 voting 'present'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Don Moffitt, on page 21 of the Calendar under… Order… Bills Order of Third Reading you have House Bill 4974. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Don Moffitt."

"Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 4974 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 09600115.doc 89  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 the record. On this Bill, there's 114 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Mary Flowers, on the Order of Third Readings, you have House Bill 5113. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Lyons: "The Lady from Cook, Representative Mary Flowers."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 5113… HA… HFS is in the beginning stage of implementing the integrated care pilot program for the aged, the blind, and the disabled population. In specific areas of Illinois, DuPage County, Kane County, Kankakee, Lake, and Will are some of the counties. There has been some questions regarding the expediency of implementing this pilot program. Some advocates are concerned that this pilot program is driven by budgetary pressures. In addition, the advocates that represent the developmental disabled populations are concerned whether the individuals will have the ability to continue services with their current providers because continuity of care is important to this vulnerable population. Since HSF… HFS does not need legislative approval to implement this integrated care pilot program, House Bill 5113 is an attempt to halt the process. And I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you may have in regards to this legislation." 09600115.doc 90  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"The Chair recognizes the Lady from DuPage, Representative Patti Bellock."

"Sponsor yields."

"Representative… Excuse me. May I take this Bill out of the record and I'll get back with you?"

"Okay. Thank you."

"Mr. Clerk, on the request of the Sponsor, take that Bill out of the record. Representative Jack Franks, on the Order of Third… Third Readings, you have House Bill 4694. Wish to call the Bill, Representative? Out of the record. Representative Debbie Graham, you have, on page 24 of the Calendar, House Bill 6014. House Bill 6014. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Lady from Cook, Representative Deb… Debbie Graham."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is an Amendment to the child labor law. Currently, if a child wants to work in the State of Illinois and they're from out of town, the 09600115.doc 91  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 child has to come and apply in person for a work permit. This law would waive the presence of the child showing up in person. It would authorize the parent or the authorized agent to apply for the child in person. There's no opposition to this legislation. And I'll take any questions at this time."

"Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 6014 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 Ramey, Coladipietro… Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 114 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Rosemary Mulligan, you have House Bill 5823. Rosemary, you wish to call the Bill? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Lady from Cook, Representative Rosemary Mulligan."

"You've heard the Lady's explanation on House Bill 5823. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 5823 pass?' All those is 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's 114 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Naomi Jakobsson, you have House Bill 5859. Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"On request of the Sponsor, take that Bill out of the record. Representative Mautino, you have House Bill 4797. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Gentleman from Bureau, Representative Frank Mautino."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. This Bill extends the tat… the statutory sunset on wind farm assessment practices from 2011 until 2016. This is an agreed Bill and it's… it's been a very tremendous 09600115.doc 93  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 industry for the State of Illinois. Currently in my area, there's about a billion dollars worth of new construction on windmills. That law sunsets on how we assess their taxes. We brought all the groups in, they've agreed to push it out another five years, and that will allow the construction to continue. Thank you, Mr. Sacia, and Mr. Pritchard for working with me on this. And I'd answer any questions."

"Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 4797 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 Brady. Representative Osterman. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 114 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Mautino, you also have House Bill 5377. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Frank Mautino."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. After the Amendment, which was placed on… it removed all of the objections. Many of you received e- mails and phone calls on the agents and the people who work with animals and pets. The Bill as introduced affected agents. It no longer does. It only deals with the issues 09600115.doc 94  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 of veterinarians in the Veterinarian Care Act, and it is 100 percent agreed. Be happy to answer any questions."

"You've heard the Gentleman's explanation. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 5377 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's 114 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Lou Lang, you have House Bill 5781. 5-7-8-1. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Gentleman from Cook, Leader Lou Lang."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. In simplest terms, this Bill is a initiative of the Department of Revenue to help the state collect debt that it's owed by its own taxpayers. I would ask your support."

"Is there any discussion? The Chair recognizes the Lady from Cook, Representative Rosemary Mulligan."

"I don't remember, Representative."

"Is… does that have anything to do with this Bill?"

"Well, I'm sure you would agree with me, Representative, that we want our taxpayers who are paying their taxes on time and appropriately, to not be prejudiced by the fact that we have some taxpayers who don't, or who bounce checks, or who don't pay their fees as appropriate."

"Representative, I don't work in the Department of Revenue, so I don't have an answer for you."

"I'm certainly handling a Bill for them, Representative."

"Yes, I certainly did."

"Actually, it's the only one I've ever gotten out of the Revenue Committee, so…"

"Well, it'd certainly going to give the tools to the Department of Revenue to go after the people that owe the state money and certainly, your constituents would want you to vote for a Bill that did that because they pay their taxes, and everyone else should as well."

Speaker Lyons: "The Lady from Lake, Representative JoAnn Osmond."

"Sponsor yields."

"The answer is 'no'. In fact, it doesn't even relate to their own collectors. Part of this Bill is about collection agency fees when they refer a matter out. Part of this is about the statute of limitations. Part of this is about the Secretary of State, who can give information to the Department of Revenue to help them collect debt, and part of this is about the Reciprocal Tax Collection Act so 09600115.doc 97  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 we can go into other states and find people that owe the State of Illinois money and go after them there."

"So, this… this does not provide any new powers to revenue agents."

"Well, I'm glad you're no longer nervous, Representative."

"The Gentleman from Jasper, Representative David Reis."

"Sponsor yields."

"Well, I… I think your analysis is too restrictive. Whoever wrote it must have been using the toll highway authority as an example. This provides that all debts that the Department of Revenue collects, if they can't find the person and they think they can find it through getting the information from the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State would have the power to give it to the Department of Revenue. It has nothing to do, specifically, with the toll highway authority."

"The Gentleman from McHenry, Representative Jack Franks."

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

"The Sponsor yields."

"Thank you. I appreciate the answers to the previous speakers and you've cleared up a lot of the questions that I had, there's a few though that are remaining. When we're looking at the statute of limitations, in this Bill is providing that the Department of Revenue will have six years now instead of two years to exhaust all conventional collection methods? I'm wondering, won't… isn't that in vio… isn't that in violation of the statute of limitation laws we presently have? Because right now, if you were to collect on a debt whether it's written or oral, let's assume that it's a… it's not a written contract, the statute of limitations in this state is five years. So, is it the intent of this Bill to alter the statute of limitations when the State of Illinois is attempting to 09600115.doc 99  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 collect a debt, as opposed to a private entity trying to collect a debt?"

"The answer to that is yes."

"Okay. So, what you're saying is that a new statute of limitation, and would the toll start… would it start to run at the time that the debt is incurred, or at the time of the first co… dunning letter?"

"This would provide six years to do all the work they have to do to get the background, to locate the person, all the way up to the time a lawsuit might be filed. So, they have six years 'til that point. Under the law today, the state has a different statute of limitations than everybody else today. Today the state only has two years. So, you and I, if we were suing a debtor, we would have five years under…"

"Right."

"…the law today. The state has only had two. So, this alters what the state can do."

"Well, my suggestion, I'm concerned if we would give the state additional time as opposed to other conventional creditors. Since our statute of limitations for everybody else is five years, don't you think it makes more sense to bring the state up to the same level instead of giving them more priority? Because of this reason, primarily, because of the starry decisis of the cases that have been involving the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. And I think with… if we have here the state turning out their debt to outside collectors, for instance, those collectors would be under the auspices of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 09600115.doc 100  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 which is a federal statute. This flies in the face of that federal statute because it changes the statute of limitations, in my opinion."

"I…"

"Representative Franks, your time is…"

"I wouldn't say flies in the face, but I would say does alter it."

"And I'm… I'm not sure it's legal. I'm not sure that it would pass muster if anyone would challenge this law on that basis, because it would not conform with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. That's number one. And the second issue I want to talk to you about is the collection agencies…"

Speaker Lyons: "Representative Franks, your… your time has expired. I'll give you one more minute to finish that line of question."

"Okay. The next issue… and this is very important… on the collection agency fees, what we're saying here is regardless of a contract, you're requiring that these agency fees be added on to a debt. That's not the law in the State of Illinois. The State of Illinois indicates that unless there is a contract, there's no way a judge is going to give you those attorney's fees. I don’t see how we can do this with a straight face, because I think we have a very established reasons for this, and it puts the debtor in a horrible position if they want it to… if they want to challenge this. For instance, if the Illinois Department of Revenue entered into a contract with someone to collect these debts at 50 percent, that would add 50 09600115.doc 101  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 percent onto the debt of the person, which could really take away their ability to challenge."

"Representative Lang, are you going to respond to that 'cause the time has expired?"

"Well, I would just simply say this, that under the law today, if you want to sue someone for attorney's fees along with a debt, you have to have a written contract for that."

"Right, right."

"However, if we put into state statute that when the state sues somebody and there are attorney's fees, or debt collection fees that were entitled to them, then you wouldn't need a written contract. It's a simple change."

"Representative Franks, we extended your two minutes to an extra minute, so the next speaker's been waiting. We're following the letter of the law pretty close today. The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Peoria, Representative David Leitch."

"The Sponsor yields."

"The Bills says that the Secretary of State can release it to the department for interdepartment use only. So, this could not be used by others." 09600115.doc 102  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"They would have to be held in the department just like the Secretary of State holds them now. So, I think you would agree with me that if someone owes the state $10 thousand because they haven't paid their taxes, or they wrote a check for $10 thousand and bounced it, that we would like to collect that money. And if we can't collect the money because we can't find the person, the investigators within the department, if they had a Social Security number, might be able to find that person. The purpose is not to disseminate the Social Security number to other people. In fact, the Amendment narrows the Bill to make sure that information stays within the department."

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

"This is not a complicated Bill. The whole point of this Bill is to give the department additional tools to collect the many billions of dollars that are owed to the state by its own taxpayers. I would urge your 'aye' votes."

"The question is, 'Should House Bill 5781 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 Kosel. Representative Coulson. Dave Winters. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 89 Members voting 'yes', 24 Members voting 'no'. This 09600115.doc 103  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Kevin McCarthy, you have House Bill 5960. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Kevin McCarthy."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 5960 is a initiative of my hometown Orland Park, along with some other municipalities in the West Central Municipal Conference and the Southwest Conference of Mayors. It's a completely permissive Bill, which back in the 1980s, different municipalities across our state were encouraged to build these civic centers. The donation of land was the only investment on the part of the municipality. The civic center was paid for by state bonds. So, this is a permissive gesture that if one of those municipalities wanted to contact the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and if it was in their best interest to take on the responsibility for those bonds so that they could run the civic center completely on their own, the state would be relieved of any of the bond debt because the municipality would have to take that on. Some of the municipalities said they'd like to look at the numbers to see if it would be a wise investment for them to do this. They feel they could run these civic centers better with just the local… the board of trustees that now sits for the different municipalities, as opposed to having an independent civic center… civic center authority for 09600115.doc 104  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 each different one of these… these buildings. So, it is completely permissive. They would look at the numbers, and decide whether they thought it was in their best interest to go forward. So, I'd appreciate an 'aye' vote."

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

"Sponsor yields."

"The state would benefit because the municipality would be… if it was in their best interest after they look over all the numbers, if it was in their best interest to assume it, then they would take on that… the responsibility and pay off the bonds."

"Thank you."

"Representative McCarthy to close."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd appreciate a positive vote."

"You've heard the Gentleman's explanation, all those in favor of the adoption of House Bill 5960 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 Gordon. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 114 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. 09600115.doc 105  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 Representative Michael Bost, for what purpose do you seek recognition, Sir?"

"The record will reflect. Mr. Clerk, so noted. Representative Raymond Poe, you have House Bill 4578. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Lyons: "The Gentleman from Sangamon, Representative Raymond Poe."

"You've heard the Gentleman's explanation. Is there any questions? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Ken Dunkin."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to certainly congratulate my colleague 09600115.doc 106  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 on the other side of the aisle with introducing this measure. I actually introduced a similar measure unbeknownst to this legislation until I got to committee. But this is certainly timely to have this type of legislation that simply adds to the… the statutes of violations as a way to uncontrol… well, controlled substance in this state. And right now, a 6-year-old, a 10-year-old can actually go to the store and buy K2 product, an incense really, over the counter. So, my hat goes off to you, Representative. I'd like to be one of your cosponsors. I think that this is a tool that we're going to need in the future."

"The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative John Fritchey."

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

"The Sponsor yields."

"Representative, I know this is… this is a product and an issue that is quickly gaining attention around the country. It's a relatively new issue and we may, in fact, be right, but we don't know. Have you seen any studies that show that there is any harmful effects of K2?"

"Right."

"Well, no, I… I understand that. And it's a lengthy list and most everything on that list belongs on the list. You know, I think the… the way it's drafted is interesting because we talk about… the common name for it is K2, when it's really the… it's the chemical substance and not the product name that… that should be in… that should be in the statute here. You know, I'm going to support it. I think everybody's going to support it. We're probably right, but we really need to try cover… we really don't know what… you know, we really don't know what this is here or what I've also read, too, is that in response to the bans that are popping up now on K2, that it can actually be very, very, very minorly…"

"Representative Fritchey, your time is expired. We'll give you another minute to conclude your questions."

"Not… not even a minute. Just… just a word of education, I guess. It… it's possible making exceedingly minor modification so that technically, it would not fall 09600115.doc 108  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 under the cat… the classification that we have now. It would still have all the same effects, all the same potential danger, yet be completely legal. I think we've really got to look at how we classify this one because it is a synthetic. All you got to do is make a very minor tweak to it and it's no longer a banned substance. So, thank you."

"Representative Poe to close."

"The question is, 'Should House Bill 4578 pass?' All those in favor signify by 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 Currie. Danny Reitz. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 112 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Connie Howard, you have, on the Order of Third Readings, House Bill 5388. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Lyons: "The Lady from Cook, Representative Connie Howard."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 5388, as amended, would amend the MRDD Community Care Act by making a technical change allowing facilities under this Act to be governed solely under the MRDD Community Care Act. The Amendment would add a… the Amendment adds a date of closure that coincides with the implementation date of the Act. It 09600115.doc 109  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 cleaned up the language that added a date of closure that would coincide with the Implementation Date Act… of the Act. It prevents the intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled and long tong… term care for under 22 facilities from being licensed under two separate Acts. I'll… I'll answer questions at this point."

"Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 5388 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 Wait, Ron. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 112 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative David Reis, you have House Bill 6158. Out of the record. Representative Tim Schmitz, House Bill 5749. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Lyons: "Recognize the Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Dennis Reboletti."

"Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 5749 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? Dugan. Gordon. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 112 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Debbie Mell, you have House Bill 5419. Out of the record. Representative Harry Osterman, you have House Bill 5849. Out of the record. Representative Phelps, you have House Bill 4858. Out of the record. Representative Senger, you have House Bill 5321. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Senger."

"You've heard the Lady's explanation. Are there any questions? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 5321 pass?' All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Hoffman. Representative Hernandez. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 112 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Ed Sullivan, you have House Bill 5923. Out of the record. Representative Ron Wait, you have House Bill 587… 5675. Out of the record. Representative Brauer, you have a Senate Bill, Senate Bill 1702. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Menard, Representative Rich Brauer."

"You've heard the Gentleman's discussion, is there any explanations or any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should Senate Bill 1702 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 Sommer. Representative Jakobsson. Like to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 112 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Going to be moving a few Bills from Second to Third on the list that had been turned in to the Chief of Staff, Tim Mapes. So, we'll be going through a few Second… Second Readings to see if your choice is to have them moved to Third or not. The first one is Representative Cross. Leader Cross has House Bill 6065. Out of the record. Representative Shane Cultra, you have House Bill 5699. Out of the record. Representative Toni Berrios, you have House Bill 5334. Do you wish to move that Bill to Third Reading? Out of the record. Representative Berrios, you also have House Bill 5701. Out of the record. Representative Golar, you have House Bill 5836. Do you wish to move that Bill to the Order of Third Reading? Out of the record. Representative Jefferson, you have House Bill 1629. Do you wish to move that Bill from Second to Third, Representative? Been advised by the Clerk there are notes pending on that, so hold that Bill on the Order of Second 09600115.doc 113  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 Reading. Representative Kevin Joyce, you have House Bill 5057. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative Lou Lang, you have House Bill 6083 on Second Reading. Do you wish to move that Bill to the Order of Third Reading? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative David Leitch, you have House Bill 5304. Do you wish to move that Bill? Out of the record. David, you also have House Bill 5306. Do you wish to move that Bill to the Order… Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk. House Bill 5306."

Speaker Lyons: "Third Reading. Representative Rosemary Mulligan, you have House Bill 5517. Do you wish to move that Bill from Second to Third? Out of the record. Representative Jim Watson, you have House Bill 5623. Do you wish to move that Bill? Out of the record. Representative Danny Reitz, you have House Bill 5224. Do you wish to move that Bill? Out of the record. 09600115.doc 114  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 Representative Al Riley, you have House Bill 5448. Out of the record. Representative André Thapedi, you have House Bill 6215. Out of the record. Continuing on Second Readings, is Representative Mike Bost… Is Representative Bost on the floor… Mike, do you wish to move… move House Bill 4821 from Second to Third? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative Dan Brady, you have House Bill 5630. Representative Brady, House Bill 5630. Do you want to move that Bill from Second to Third? Out of the record. Representative Cavaletto, you have House Bill 5539. Out of the record. Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, you have House Bill 6052. Barbara, do you wish to move that Bill from Second to Third? Out of the record. Representative Monique Davis. Is Representative Davis on the floor? Representative Will Davis. Is Will Davis on the floor? Representative Will Davis. Representative Sara Feigenholtz, you have House Bill 6059. Sara, do you wish to move House Bill 6059 from Second to Third? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Feigenholtz on Floor Amendment #3."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Floor Amendment #3 is an agreement with the Governor's Office. I'd be glad to answer any questions."

"Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor of the adoption of Floor Amendment #3 to House Bill 6059 signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Mary Flowers, do you wish to move House Bill 5476 from Second to Third? Hold that Bill on the Order of Second Reading. Out of the record. Representative Jack Franks, on Second Reading you have House Bill 4658. Do you wish to move that Bill to Sec… from Second to Third, Representative Franks? Out of the record. Representative John Fritchey, you have House Bill 4982. Wish to move that Bill from Second to Third, Representative? The Clerk tells me there's a note pending on that, so we'll hold that Bill on the Order of Second Reading. Representative Fortner, you have House Bill 5191 on the Order of Second Reading. Out of the record. Representative David Leitch, you have House Bill 5308 on the Order of Second Reading. David, do you wish to move that? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative Leitch."

"Mr. Clerk, on the request of the Sponsor, move that back… that Bill back to the Order of Second Reading. Representative Michael McAuliffe, you have House Bill 5996. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Lyons: "Representative McAuliffe on Floor Amendment #1."

Speaker Lyons: "Is there any discussion on the Amendment? Seeing none, the question is, all those in favor of the adoption of Amendment #1 signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

Speaker Lyons: "Third Reading. Representative Rosemary Mulligan, you have House Bill 4924. Rosemary. Representative Mulligan, do you wish to move House Bill 4924? Out of the record. Representative Raymond Poe, you have House Bill 4871. Do you wish to move that Bill, Representative? Out of the record. Representative Chapin Rose, you have House Bill 5966 on the Order of Second Reading. Do you wish to move that Bill, Representative? Chapin, you… Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Representative…"

"There's an Amendment pending in Rules. Hold that Bill on the Order of Second Reading. Representative Skip Saviano, you have House Bill 4976. Do you wish to move that Bill, Skip? Representative Saviano, you got an Order… Bill on Second Reading. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative Darlene Senger, you have House Bill 6272. Do you wish to move that Bill? Out of the record. Representative Ed Sullivan, you have House Bill 5799. Out of the record. Representative Jehan Gordon, you have House Bill 5905 on the Order of Second Reading. Do you wish to move that Bill? Out of the record. Representative Debbie Graham, you have House Bill 09600115.doc 118  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 4805 on the Order of Second Reading. Representative Graham. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative Lisa Hernandez, you have House Bill 4928 on the Order of Second Reading. Do you wish to move that Bill, Representative? 4928. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Lyons: "Third Reading. Representative J… Naomi Jakobsson, you have House Bill 5040 on the Order of Second Reading. Do you wish to move that Bill? Out of the record. Representative Lou Lang, you have House Bill 5752 on the Order of Second Reading. Do you wish to move that Bill? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative Lang, you also have House Bill 5677 on Second Reading. Lou Lang. Lou, you got a second Bill, 5677. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Ok, Representative Senger, you wish to move House Bill 6272 from Second to Third Reading? Mr. Clerk, read the Bill."

"Third Reading. Representative Jehan Gordon, for what purpose do you seek recognition?" Gordon, J.: "Today with us in the gallery is a group of young African-American males from Illinois Central College in East Peoria, Illinois. If you'd stand, please. This group of young men has come down here today to learn more about the government process, and they have been very much so engaged in the civic process back in Peoria, Illinois. And I'd like for all of you to please give them a round of applause and welcome them to the General Assembly."

"Welcome to Springfield. We're glad to have you at the Capitol. Enjoy your day. Representative Mike Tryon, on the Order of Second Readings, you have House Bill 5214. Mike. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Keep that Bill on the Order of Second Reading. Representative Ron Wait, you have House Bill 5601 on the Order of Second Readings. Out of the record. Representative Jim Watson, you have, on the Order of Second Reading, House Bill 5623. Out of the record. Representative Debbie Mell, you have House Bill 5420 on the Order of Second Reading. Representative, do you wish to move that Bill to Third Reading? Debbie Mell. Deb, it's on Second Reading. Leave it on Second Reading? Out of the record. Representative Elaine Nekritz, you have House Bill 6208 on Second Reading. What's your pleasure? Out of the record. Representative Bob Rita, you have House Bill 6239 on Second Reading. Representative Rita."

"Should be an Amendment for that, too, correct? Was that…"

"Mr. Clerk, what's the status of that Bill?"

"Keep that Bill on the Order of Second Reading. Representative André Thapedi, you have House Bill 5409. Out of the record. Representative Mike Zalewski, on the Order of Second Reading, you have House Bill 4931. Out of the record. All right, Ladies and Gentlemen, we're working on a second list today of Bills that are now on Third Reading alphabetical. We'll be going back and forth on both sides of the chamber. Representative Patti 09600115.doc 121  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 Bellock, on the Order of Third Reading, you have House Bill 5696. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Chair recognizes the Lady from DuPage, Representative Patti Bellock."

"Patti, you're finished with your explanation of the Bill? Chair recognizes the Lady from Cook, Leader Barbara Flynn Currie."

"Thank you, Speaker and Members of the House. I do appreciate that the services that would be offered under this Bill are important services. But I have a question can you tell us, Representative, what the cost will be?" 09600115.doc 122  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Representative, I just want to make the point to the Members of this chamber, well-intentioned Bill, no question about it, but the state doesn't have the money today that it may have when they said, we'll meet these responsibilities in a different fashion. I see nothing in this Bill that respects the PAYGO principal that is so important to many of the Members of this chamber. The pay- as-you-go principal that says we are not going to spend money on a program unless we can find a savings some place else. So, I certainly appreciate the good heart that is behind this Bill, but I am certainly also a little disturbed at the fairly cavalier approach to the state's fiscal problems."

"The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Peoria, Representative David Leitch." 09600115.doc 123  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Representative Bellock to close."

"The Lady asked for an 'aye' vote. The question is, all those in favor of House Bill 5696 should 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 Jefferson, Burns. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 110 Members voting 'yes', 2 Members voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative John Bradley, on the Order of Third Reading you have House Bill 5232. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative John Bradley."

"This is a Bill… it's an initiative of the Illinois Press Association. It would require the… the different newspapers around the state to, as a free service, provide Internet website for public notices. So, it doesn't cost the customer anything. It's something that they've taken upon themselves and initiated and are doing themselves. I ask for an 'aye' vote."

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

"Sponsor yields."

"I… I think that's already the law, isn't it?"

"The main thrust of this is to get this website started for…"

"Yeah."

"Representative Bradley to close."

"I ask for an 'aye' vote."

"The question is, 'Should House Bill 5232 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 Mendoza. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 111 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Colvin. Representative DeLuca, you have House Bill 6252. Out of the record. Representative Flider, on the Order of Third Readings you have House Bill 5947. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk." 09600115.doc 126  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"The Gentleman from Macon, Representative Bob Flider."

"Yes. Thank you, Mr. Spe… Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. This legislation simply enables a… the family of a… of a crime victim to actually be identified as victims themselves for purposes of being able to obtain a restraining order, so that they would not be contacted by the family… or, excuse me, by the person convicted of a crime toward their family. There's been an instance in my district where a family member had been contacted by a convict, and this legislation would enable the family to go to a state's attorney and ask for a restraining order. And so, this would put that in place. I'd ask for an 'aye' vote."

"Is there any discussion? The Chair recognizes the Lady from Grundy, Representative Careen Gordon." Gordon, C.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"Sponsor yields." Gordon, C.: "Representative, does there have to be a basis for the state's attorney filing a preliminary or permanent injunction or a temporary restraining order, or is this just automatic? I'm sorry, I don't have…"

"Well, it would have to be requested and…" Gordon, C.: "Right. I understand it would be requested, but do they have to have a basis, or is it just going to be automatic because it was the defendant who committed the 09600115.doc 127  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 crime against this person, this victim, or their family member?"

"Well, I believe it would be discretionary, of course, so I don't believe it would be automatic, no." Gordon, C.: "You… well, what… is the Bill silent on it? What's the actual language about? I haven't… this is the first… And is it a civil standard or… it could be civil or criminal?"

"So, what the language states is that a family member would be allowed to file a complaint and apply to the circuit court for a temporary restraining order." Gordon, C.: "And… I'm sorry?"

"And this would be contained in the… and so…" Gordon, C.: "It's on page 6, and it starts from line 17 to line 26."

"Right. So, at the request of the victim, yes, it would be authorized." Gordon, C.: "So, you're asking the criminal prosecuting authority to represent them in a civil complaint, without actually spelling out the basis for what that restraining order, or temporary restraining order, or preliminary, or permanent injunction might be other than the fact that they were the perpetrator of the homicide? And this person's going to get out and they may or may not try to contact them. They may go nowhere near them. They may move…"

"Go ahead, Representative Gordon. We'll give you another minute to finish up." Gordon, C.: "They… they may not be anywhere near them, but it's just… is it going to be automatic, or do they actually have 09600115.doc 128  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 to have a basis because it looks like your Bill is silent as to that."

"Right. So, if… if you are… this is… the answer to your question is, yes. So, the family whose, in this case, their sister and daughter were killed. They were getting… the person was convicted of that and he was contacting them in prison. So, yes, at their request, the state's attorney would file this and there would be an injunction or a restraining order. I should say a restraining order that would prohibit that person from contacting them, yes." Gordon, C.: "Mr. Speaker, very briefly. To the Bill, Ladies and Gentlemen. You're asking a criminal prosecuting authority to file a civil order and represent a family personally, and there's absolutely no basis, whatsoever, other than this person getting out of jail, and they may have no interest in contacting the family of the victim. I think we're way overstepping our bounds here, and we should really question whether or not we want to pass this legislation out of the House. Thank you."

"The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Dennis Reboletti."

"Sponsor yields."

"Well, the person was convicted. I… I can't tell you exactly how long, but I can tell you that they're… they come up for parole periodically, they apply for parole. And so, it's a situation where the family has had to, you know, go before the parole board, state their case, along with the community as to why this person should not be granted parole. But in the course of the time where this person was in prison, the person who was convicted of the crime had made contact with the family and this family would like never to have contact with this person again."

"It was not a… a situation where they were threatening in any way, no."

"I have no problem with that."

"Be great." 09600115.doc 130  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Mr. Clerk, take that Bill…"

"Mr. Speaker, please pull this out of the record."

"Out of the record. Representative LaShawn Ford, you have on the Order of Third Readings, House Bill 4587. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Gentleman from Cook, Representative LaShawn Ford."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. House Bill 4587 develops a Lupus Education Awareness Program. And this Bill is agreed, and it's supported by the Lupus Foundation of America. And the Bill has no impact… physical impact. And I ask for a favorable vote. Thank you."

"You heard the Gentlemen's explanation of House Bill 4587. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 4587 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 Currie. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 111 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Rich Brauer, you have House Bill 5688. Out of the record. Representative Mike Connelly, you have House Bill 5282. Out of the record. Representative Roger Eddy, you have House Bill 4711. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk." 09600115.doc 131  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

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

Speaker Lyons: "The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Champaign, Representative Chapin Rose."

Speaker Lyons: "Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Lee, Representative Jerry Mitchell." Mitchell, J.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Representative Eddy, I also want to congratulate you on the hard work on this particular Bill. This is a difficult subject, but in these times, school districts need all the flexibility we could possibly give them. I know there may be some mandates out there that… that were put on the schools by individuals who felt they were very, very important, but at this point, schools are going to have to teach the kids reading, writing, math, and… and the subjects that are mandated already. This doesn't let them out of any of those types of mandates. It's simply those extras that, at this point, really can't afford. So, I certainly urge everyone to vote 'aye', and help out the school districts across the State of Illinois. Thank you, Mr. Speaker."

"The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Lou Lang."

"Thank you. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"Sponsor yields."

"Thank you. I wanted to make sure I read this correctly. This implies to future mandates only?" 09600115.doc 133  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"All right. So, conceptually, I agree, but in practice, I'm not sure how this works. So, let's say next year we dump a new mandate on them, right, and then we don't pay… we… they… we pay them less money then they would like to have. How do they know which mandates we're paying for and which mandates we're not paying for?"

"And so, we could presumably then, if we put a new mandate on them, and we put a line item in the budget and paid for it, there could still be other mandates from the past that we're not paying for, that they'd still be responsible for. Is that correct?"

"All right, I'm going to think about this."

Speaker Lyons: "The Chair recognizes the Lady from Cook, Representative Monique Davis." Davis, M.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?" 09600115.doc 134  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Sponsor yields." Davis, M.: "Representative, your Bill is stating that the only mandates that the state would have to abide by would be those currently in existence. Is that correct?"

"Representative Davis, your time has expired. We'll give you one more minute, please, to finish up your remarks." Davis, M.: "Well, I just want to say, I certainly recognize the conditions of our state, but I don't believe that all the excellent ideas have been put forth. I don't believe that we're the superior people with superior knowledge. I don't believe that a coming legislature may not have some great ideas to help better our school system and move our students forward. I know you have an excellent intent, and I have great respect for you, Representative Eddy. You're a superintendent of a school, and I know you have the best interest of your district at heart. But, as a Legislator for the State of Illinois, I cannot condemn new ideas to the back burner. I would urge a 'no' vote."

"The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Ken Dunkin."

"Yes, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to yield my five minutes to Representative Monique Davis."

Speaker Lyons: "Representative Davis, two minutes. Two minutes." Davis, M.: "Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I would also just like to say, for a number of years, people have come to the General Assembly. They have placed ideas in the hopper. They went from a committee, to a committee, the House Floor, the Senate, committee, committee, Governor's desk, and for us to decide that that process is no longer going to happen for new Legislators, or new General Assemblies if you can't come up with the money that 09600115.doc 136  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 everyone agrees should pay for your new idea. Emergencies can occur. The President… the First Lady is talking about obesity in our state, and what our kids are being fed on a daily basis, and how it's feeding into the condition of their health. So, some new mandates may come forth, and we may have to decide that something that's sitting there today doesn't have the priority of a new mandate. So, to blanketly say… to blanketly say new ideas without money, we just can't do them. I don't think a doctor would say that about any of his medical practice. I don't think a dentist would say that about medical practice. I think you have to prioritize the needs for the time and condition. And our needs may change. Our needs may change. Our conditions have changed, and our needs may change. There may be some things that don't have a priority, that in the next coming fiscal year will have a priority. And I think if you support a tax increase, you may not have to try to remove new ideas from this Body. There was a time people wanted to continue to believe the world was flat. Don't bring us any ideas that says…"

Speaker Lyons: "Your time has expired, Rep… The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Paul Froehlich."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Gentleman yield for a quick question?"

"Sponsor yields."

"Representative Eddy, I support your Bill, but I… I have one question. We… we know there will be future Bills imposing unfunded mandates. Is there anything to prevent 09600115.doc 137  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 the future Bill from simply exempting itself from this Act if it becomes law, and we're back right where we started again?"

"Well, I do hope anybody who votes for your Bill today will at least keep it in mind when they're tempted to propose the next unfunded mandate. Thanks."

"The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Mark Walker."

"Thank you. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"Sponsor yields." 09600115.doc 138  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"I like your… the concept of this Bill. I have a couple of questions. One is, who determines when the funding is sufficient?"

"Whether or not school districts tell us this isn't even remotely covering the cost?"

"Thank you very much."

"Representative Linda Chapa LaVia."

"Will this… will the Sponsor yield?"

"Sponsor yields."

"Representative Eddy, you know I'm a co-sponsor on this and we've been dealing with this for the last couple months, since last year, as far as Representative Bassi's list of all unfunded mandates… or underfunded mandates. Do you have a projection of how much, roughly, guesstimate, how money could be saved by the institute of all the school districts in the state? Any idea?" 09600115.doc 139  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Well, let's take your school district. How much do you think you could save?"

"Right."

Chapa LaVia: "Right. And earlier, we heard from a Representative saying that we're kind of putting a ban all… a ban on all future mandates, but that's not true. That is voted on as resolution by the school board on what they'd like to teach the kids and what they don't think they should teach the kids right now. And… and the sunset on that would be when we do get money into the system to pay for those mandates. Correct?"

"What'd you say?"

"You might not what?"

Chapa LaVia: "Okay. I… I think this is a fine piece of legislation. I want to thank you for all the work that you have done with the unions, all the concerned parties that had issues in the initial onset of this piece of legislation. People, the Governor has requested a 1.2 billion dollar cut out of education. We have to…"

"Representative Chapa LaVia, your two minutes are up. We'll give you one minute to conclude your remarks."

"Thank you. We have to find the creative ways, if you will, how to save dollars into these school districts. Just in my district alone, the school district that touch Aurora, we owe $45 million to. So, I commend the Sponsor on this. I am a supporter, and we really need to work on more solutions. Thank you."

Speaker Lyons: "The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Al Riley."

"Will the Sponsor yield?"

"Sponsor yields."

"Representative Eddy, I know what it is you're trying to do. You know, earlier today, we spoke about information not necessarily being diffused out to people so they 09600115.doc 141  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 understand some of the pronouncements that come out of the General Assembly. And I'm not real big on subscribing to the slippery slope argument that's made here from time to time. But, could you explain how maybe school boards might sort of get an idea that they can sort of thumb our… thumb their nose at pro… pronouncements made by this Body, then we get into the arguments on what was funded, what was underfunded, and so forth?"

"No, I'm saying some people might, you know, view it that way."

"Thank you."

"The question is, 'Should House Bill 4711 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 Hamos. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 103 Members voting 'yes', 7 Members voting 'no', 1 Member voting 'present'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Tom Holbrook, you have House Bill 5998. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Gentleman from St. Clair, Representative Tom Holbrook."

"Thank you, Speaker. House Bill 5998 is cleanup language. We're getting rid of the assisted living shared housing authority committee that was established years ago 09600115.doc 143  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 to do the licensure when we set up assisted living. The Bill hasn't… the group has not met since 2008. They finished their work. I know of no opposition to the Bill. Be glad to take any questions."

"Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 5998 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. Representative Dugan. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 109 Members voting 'yes', 2 Members voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Connie Howard, you have House Bill 5402. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Lyons: "The Lady from Cook, Representative Connie Howard."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 5402, it amends the Criminal Code. It provides that it is a Class X felony to use force or to threaten the use of force against another person in order to affect, or attempt to affect a transaction of an electronic fund transfer terminal. And of course, that would be located in our state. I'll take questions."

Speaker Lyons: "You've heard the Lady's explanation. Representative John Fritchey. John, before you start, Representative Mautino in the Chair." 09600115.doc 144  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

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

"Indicates he will."

"Representative, I… I want to understand this because at… at a time that we are looking at ways to not further congest our prison system, and ways to not put people away for life, potentially, this says that if you threaten the use of force to make them… I mean, basically, what you're talking about, if you threaten the use of force to get somebody to withdraw money from an ATM, it's a Class X felony."

"That is correct. Are you asking me to read this again, or do you…"

"No, no. I want to… I want to make sure that I understand this, and… and I'm not being facetious."

"Yes, that is what…"

"It… so, if… if I threaten you to hand over your purse and your wallet to me, it's assault, it's potentially a battery. It's sure as heck not a Class X felony, but if I threaten…"

"Well, it would be a Class X felony if we pass this legislation."

"No, no, no, no, no. It… it would be a Class X felony if I threatened you to make you take money out of an ATM. But, if I simply threaten you to give me your wallet, it would not be."

"This particular legislation says it would become a Class X felony if what I described occurs." 09600115.doc 145  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Corre… Well, and… and maybe I'm not being clear. If I… if I'm not, let me apologize to the Body, but I hope that the Body pays attention to this, because this is how we make potentially… I don't want to say bad, 'cause I don't mean it in a disparaging… in a disparaging way, but I do mean unconstitutional laws. If… if I threaten you today and demand that you give me your wallet, I'm guilty, likely, of a Class 4 felony. If I threaten you to make you withdraw money from an ATM under this Bill, I would be guilty of a Class X felony. Is that correct?"

"You're asking me if that's what this legislation is saying?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Yes. That is what this legislation is… is saying."

"All right. This… this is… this is why I have to keep a sentencing card here. I…"

"Representative Lyons back in the Chair. John, your time ran out. We'll give you an extra minute to finish your remarks."

"To… to the Bill. Ladies… Ladies and Gentlemen, we… we would be… we would be creating an inherently unconstitutional and illogical difference in our sentencing structure here. Under this legislation, if it were to become law, I can threaten you to make you give me your wallet, and I would get one to three years. I could threaten you and make you give me your car keys, I would get one to three years. I could threaten you and do bodily… to do bodily harm to you and get one to three years. But if I threaten you to make your withdraw money 09600115.doc 146  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 from the ATM machine, I would get, potentially, 30 to 60 years for making you take $10 from an ATM machine. But, if I have you… give you… have you give me your wallet that has $1000 in it, I'm doing one year as opposed to 60 years. The… the costs incurred with this, the policy incurred with this doesn't make sense. I understand the very troubling nature of this type of crime, but this is a crime like any other robbery or any other burglary, and if there's an enhancement here, it's definitely not one from a Class 4 felony to a Class X felony. It's bad policy. It will not stand up in a court of law. This is unconstitutional. It is disproportionate. I… I understand what you're trying to do. Representative Howard, obviously, my comments are not directed at you, but this statute the way it's written… this Bill the way it's written, simply just does not work, Ladies and Gentlemen. Please, pay attention to this. I know we all want to say that we're tough on crime, but we got to understand the laws that we're trying to pass out of this place, too."

"Representative Howard to respond."

"Representative Fritchey, persons who are standing at an ATM machine are particularly vulnerable. They generally have their back turned, and someone walks up to them and… and makes the threat, or does the deed with some armed… with some kind of firearm. That is why we believe that it is necessary to have this kind of penalty for that kind of crime."

"But in… in response to that, Rep… Representative. A… a woman walking by herself down a dark street is equally 09600115.doc 147  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 vulnerable. If I… if I were to… if I were to forcibly rob her and take her wallet, I would get one to three years. If I was to forcibly make her withdraw money from an ATM and give it to me, I would get 30 to 60 years. The same woman, the same vulnerability, the same crime."

"I… I think that there's a different situation going on here. As a woman, if I'm walking down the street, I generally turn around and I'm able to watch my back. I can turn around all the way. If I'm focusing on an ATM machine, and on the process of getting the numbers in correctly, that means I am distracted from anybody else who might approach me. So, I do think that the circumstances are different."

"The Chair recognizes the Lady from Grundy, Representative Careen Gordon." Gordon, C.: "Repre… Rep…"

"Representative Fritchey, we've long gone over your two minutes, plus your one minute. Okay? So, one last minute and then Representative Gordon."

"That… that's fine, then I'll… I'll simply point this out. Ladies and Gentlemen, under… under the Sponsor's proposed legislation here, if… if I force the individual at the ATM machine to withdraw money and give it to me, I get 30 to 60 years. If I wait for them to take the money out of the ATM machine and then rob them, I get one to three years. That's not good policy and that's not good law. Thank you, Speaker, with the accommodation."

"Representative Gordon." Gordon, C.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?" 09600115.doc 148  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Sponsor yields." Gordon, C.: "Representative, isn't this crime already covered under potentially robbery, armed robbery, aggravated robbery statutes with… in… with taking into consideration or not, under the aggravation and mitigation… mitigating factors statute in the sentencing code, you could have extended term sentencing on any of this? So, I mean, why specifically are you doing this when it's already the law?"

"This legislation is speaking to a specific crime. There is not… this legislation… or this penalty for such a crime currently does not exist." Gordon, C.: "Well, for armed… armed robbery. Armed robbery… I mean… it's… the only thing it changes… it's the location of where it occurs, but… so, you're add… you're actually adding in another factor that they have to prove, but all the other elements are… are the same."

"Mr. Speaker, please remove this from the record for a few minutes. Thank you."

"Mr. Clerk, on the request of the Sponsor take this Bill out of the record. Representative Rich Brauer, on the Order of Third Readings, you have House Bill 5688. Do you wish to move that Bill? Representative Brauer. Out of the record. Representative Brauer, you also have House Bill 6178. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Brauer, one moment for a minute, please. Representative Currie." 09600115.doc 149  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Thank you, Speaker. Would you please show the… let the record show that Representative Dugan is excused for the remainder of the afternoon."

"Clerk will so note. Thank you, Representative Brauer. Please, proceed."

"You've heard the Gentleman's explanation on this Bill. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 6178 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 Howard. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 109 Members voting 'yes', 1 Member voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Annazette Collins, on the Order of Third Readings, you have House Bill 5916. Do you wish to call that Bill, Representative? Out of the record. Representative Frank Mautino, on the Order of 09600115.doc 150  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 Third Readings, you have House Bill 6022. Representative Mautino, 6002, Frank? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Gentleman from Bureau, Representative Frank Mautino."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Amendment #1 made changes to the introduced Bill, and this is an initiative of the Department of Revenue and it… it structures the tax payments, as paid to the distributor, supplier and reseller for their rates, and they would pay them on a quarterly or annual basis. And the department establishes on January 1, April 1, and July 1 of each year the average selling price per gallon on motor fuel. This has to do with the single trip permits. And there are a number of changes. These are all agreed to. We have the single trip permits will be $40. Currently, they're $20, and it allows the permit to be valid for 96 hours instead of 72 hours. This is an initiative of the Department of Revenue working in conjunction with the Midwest Truckers. I know of no opposition. And be happy to answer any question."

"You've heard the Gentleman's explanation. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the… the question is, 'Should House Bill 6022 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? Pat Verschoore. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's a 100… 76 Members voting 09600115.doc 151  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 'yes', 34 Members voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, what's the status of House Bill 6368?"

"The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook on Amendment #1, Representative McCarthy."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Floor Amendment #1 to House Bill 6368 is… becomes the Bill. And as they said in the Sun-Times editorial today, it's the first step in cutting pensions and our long-term liability debt that the state has incurred over… over many years in our five pension systems that we fund. This Bill will only affect future entrance into the systems. Anyone who joins either the General Assembly Retirement System or the Judges Retirement System on or after July 1 of this year. The 20-year timeframe that has always been a part of those two systems will be maintained in this Bill: however, the percent per year will be a flat 3 percent. So, new members into those systems can attain a maximum benefit of 60 percent, which is 20 years times 3 percent. We also raised the age for the people to receive a pension under these systems to 67 years old, and they can receive a reduced pension if they're willing to take… or if they want to take it starting at 62. The… there is a COLA in here that is the Consumer Price 09600115.doc 152  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 Index for urban, either that will be figured every year, or 3 percent, whichever one is less. And the… the final average salary for both of the systems will be based on the last 8 years. And one of the good things about this is because we're implementing this for immediate… for new members after July 1 is there's not only a great reduction in long-term liability through the plan of 2045, but even in this year through our current pension formula, the way we determine every year what the proper payment is to the systems, the reforms we have in this Bill will reduce the commitment under JRS by $21 million and under GARS, because we're so small, by $900 thousand. So, when the Governor talked about looking for $300 million in relief this year through reforms, he was talking about the way we have the formula, the way we… some people don't like the formula… I'm not really excited about the formula myself. I think it should be changed long-term. But, we're having such a hard time meeting the formula payments as they are today, that trying to say we're going to change that at this point, I think is a little bit foolhardy. But under that formula, the payments that we're going to send to the system this year will be reduced by $22 million, so I think it's a good start in that direction. I think it also, you know, many of us who have defended our own pension over the years when we met with the groups, the fact that we've always had the highest percent pension of 85 percent, I think it is more in keeping what the average citizen of Illinois will have. Actually, much… much more, but it does reduce it down to 60 percent. So, I'm very, very grateful 09600115.doc 153  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 that for the first time, we did pass a pension reform Bill out of committee last year with just 6 Democratic votes. This year, everybody on the committee, some more energetically than others, I will admit, but all 9 Members of the Pensions Committee who were with us yesterday morning did vote in support of this Bill. There was one opponent which was the judges system itself, but some of the other groups such as the education groups did not file any position on the Bill. So, I really feel that we have to say to the general public that this is something that we understand how important it is. Any of you who have studied our budget problems, this long-term debt to the pension systems is the number one problem we have. We can change education funding every year. We say we owe it this much, but that is a fluctuating thing. This is a hard debt. And since we started this reform process, we've had a mantra that says promises made will be promises kept. And if we really want to do that, we have to do these reforms to the system, because there's no way we're going to be able to honor the promises we made in the past. Because this only affects new members, I think we can say, promises made will be promises kept under this system. And I think that the new people coming into it, and I know there's some disagreement with this, but if you go check with your local citizens back home, you read the editorials that were in the paper today about this, the average citizen of Illinois has nothing that's even as good as this new reform's going to be for the judges, and the General Assembly Members. And I can promise you that we will still be able to attract 09600115.doc 154  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 high quality candidates to both of those occupations. And I think whatever we do in the future to the other systems controlled by the state, we will continue to attract high quality candidates to those positions, as well. So, I welcome any questions, and I really encourage you to be as supportive as you can. I think this is a great first step for us. We're doing it to our… our own future Members first to let the public, as I said before, know we're very, very serious about this. And I think it's time we start moving on it and show them that we're going to make reforms that are actually going to make a difference, not only long-term into the future, but actually on this budget year. So, thank you. And I'd answer any questions, Mr. Speaker."

"Well, you certainly have everybody's attention, Representative McCarthy. So, we'll start with Representative Will Davis on Amendment #1." Davis, W.: "Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"Sponsor yields." Davis, W.: "I'll wait 'til you finish giving your autograph there, Representative."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Davis." Davis, W.: "I just… I just have one simple question. I… how does this House Bill differ from what's happening in the Senate? Are these identical measures? I had a conversation with Senator Trotter last night and he told me about some of what they're doing with regard to pension. So, I'm just trying to find out if what you're doing 09600115.doc 155  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 mirrors what they're doing, or is it different than what they're doing? Are we going to get a… a different Bill coming over from the Senate?"

"This is… this Bill is just onto itself. So…" Davis, W.: "It's just what?"

" … it's nothing mirrored in it just yet. The Members of the Senate, and Senator Cullerton's staff are very much aware of this. As soon as the Amendment was drafted, it was given to them. Senator Raoul, when he was visiting you today, I actually spoke to him about, you know, giving me an answer as to whether he was going to pick this up or not. From what I've heard, they are making some significant steps. To my way of thinking, this is a much more significant step forward. They're working with some of the other systems. I don't see this as that every other system's going to get the same kind of changes as this. I think these two systems are unique and that they're more like a 20-year career path as opposed to the 35 to 40 year that our regular state employees or teachers would have. So, I know they're working on that. I'm proud to say they're going to move some things forward, from what I understand, but I have every intention to work closely with the Senate so they will pick up this measure and pass it as is." Davis, W.: "Okay. And so, my… then finally… so, the teachers groups are neutral on this or they're…"

"They… they filed no slip whatsoever. They were both… they were at the meetings, and…" Davis, W.: "They were at the meetings." 09600115.doc 156  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"…they told me they were not going to… not going to file a slip at the committee yesterday, and they did not." Davis, W.: "Okay. Thank you."

"Representative Riley. Representative Riley."

"Will the Sponsor yield?"

" Sponsor yields."

"Representative, can you… this is a piece of sweeping legislation, but can you give me any idea on the cost savings over time with this? For example, you know, we're talking about 90 percent coverage, you know, here to… at 2045. Do we get to that, you know, in a shorter period of time, or… just give me an idea of the cost savings."

"Well, as you know, everything we do, any kind of pension legislation, they always talk as far as the rule of the 2045 clock that we're on to get us to a 90 percent thing."

"Right."

"So, over the years, from now until 2045, it will save the state over $1.65 billion. And remember, these are the two smallest systems by far…"

"Right."

"…of the systems that we regulate…"

"Okay. Thank you."

"…and $22 million this year off the formula payment. So, that frees up $22 million to spend on other necessary programs."

"Thank you."

"Representative Dave Winters."

"Sponsor yields."

"Well, we certainly studied it in the task force, and I've had many conversations with Mr. Eden Martin, who you're referring to in the… and he has shared with me the legal opinion that has been used with private companies where they've done that. They've… they have guaranteed the benefits up to the date, a date certain, and then they change them into the future. This Bill does not do that. This Bill does affect all new future entrants. I have taken the position that the Governor also spoke about last 09600115.doc 158  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 year, in that I think the promises we made, we should keep to the current employees and the current retirees. But I also said in committee yesterday, and now that we got some movement on this, and I, hopefully, this will inspire even more movement, I… I said to my fellow committee Members there, but it's open to all the Members of the House, if you have a Bill that's coming forward, we…"

"Representative Winters, your two minutes are up. If you could finish the question, and then we'll move on."

"I… I would ask that you give a little extra time because I took most of it just with the explanation there. We have looked at that closely. It's not included in this, Dave. I think that's much more sweeping and we could study that into the future. But, I think it's so important, before we start taking on constitutional challenges like that that would automatically pop up if they were in a Bill like this. I'd rather move forward with a clean Bill that'll give us some relief this year and of course, long- term, and we certainly could address that later. And all I was saying was that, I… I told the Members of the committee, and like I say, it's open to the other House Members, you come forward with an idea, we'll give it a full debate in that Pension Committee and… and move forward if it… if it has the necessary support."

"I'll look it over. I already got enough targets on my back, but an extra one will fit there, too, Dave."

"Representative Chapin Rose."

"Sponsor yields."

"No, Sir."

"I've always been shocked that when judges go before judges, they win a lot, but…"

"…but I… I've had challenges before on some of my Bills from my original Bill in this chamber that went all the way to the Supreme Court. And I won on that one, and I think that the Attorney General will, if it becomes necessary, we will ask the Attorney General to defend us to the highest court in the land."

"And I think we… I don’t think it will go that far though. I think we will win at the lower levels."

"I certainly will entertain that in… in the Senate. I don’t think I want to stop it at this point, but I will talk to you more about it if it's… I mean, I… I think that's probably a good idea."

"I'll ask my Senate…"

"…Sponsor. So…"

"I think that's a good idea."

"The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative André Thapedi."

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

"Sponsor yields."

"Representative McCarthy, just as a matter of clarification, would you please clarify the judges objection… (audio malfunction) to this piece of legislation considering that it does not affect sitting judges?"

"The… all that's… there was no slip filed, but Tim Blair, who represents the State Employee Retirement System, which includes the state employees, our system, and the judges, said that he did contact his board, and they said they wanted to file opposition. He never clarified what that was, and… and there was… and there was no questions of 09600115.doc 161  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 the committee of Mr. Blair about that matter. So, I would only be guessing, you know, but…"

"Will you be able to ascertain what the judges objection is by the time we get to Third Reading?"

"I… you know… they had a… they had a chance if they would of allowed us to spell it out more clearly than that. I would just be assuming what it is. I think all of us can assume on our own what they think that is. But, you know, some of them talk about attracting better candidates and everything else. I think this will still be a very, very attractive position to be a judge. I mean, the current… the lowest paid judges today are close to $170 thousand. This pension if they stay 20 years, you know, cost of living going up from the Social Security maximum today, it's going to be somewhere above 65 to 70 thousand dollars for the first people leaving the… the system under this new order. So, I think, you know, holding a position where you're making that sizable amount of money, which will certainly allow you to invest in, you know, other forms for your… for your retirement, and having a $70 thousand pension to look forward to, I think is a very, very attractive offer. And I… I don't think we'll have a hard time. I think there'll be a lot of… a lot of lawyers out there that'll be more than willing to look at, you know, going on the bench with those kinds of benefits."

"So, if I understand correctly, this applies to associate judges, full circuit judges, Appellate Court Judges and Supreme Court Justices, as well, correct?" 09600115.doc 162  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"It applies to all members of the judges retirement system, and I… everyone you mentioned is included."

"Thank you, Representative."

"Representative Roger Eddy."

"Sponsor yields."

"Correct. And the… and the gentleman from SERS passed that out to all the members of the committee yesterday, and I can certainly make a copy available to you to show what that reduction is for all the years from now until 2045."

"The approach is to make sure that we stay at least, at least, at the bare minimum to make the payments under the formula. The formula, as applied, with these long-term 09600115.doc 163  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 benefits down the road being reduced, comes up at this year, the 2011 payment, will be that much less."

"Yes."

"Go ahead, Representative. We'll give you another minute to finish your question."

"Yes, it does. It starts in 2011 with the current maximal pensionable sal… maximal Social Security wage base, which is $106,800. It will move up, you know, for the people in that class, the new entrants, it'll move up at the CPI urban. So, probably by the time the first person would be… would be applied here, say it's 15 years down the road, that cap could be as high as like 120 thousand."

"Correct. I mean, they could… under current law, they can contribute to like a 457(b)plan like we do, and like we can today, and that would not change under this for the new members. And they certainly will have some… they should have some ample income there that is above the hundred… you know, move their salary down to $106 thousand, they would be able… they won't be taxed at the 11 percent for the contribution to the system. So, they could use that money at their discretion to put into a…"

"Ab… absolutely none."

"At… No, no. There will… the only employer contribution will be for their defined-benefit Plan. Which we worked hard to maintain a defined-benefit plan because, you know, there are people talking… Well, I had the original Bill over a year ago about going to a defined- contribution plan. It wasn't very warmly received, I'd have to say, by any of the systems."

"It's 4:00 right now, so…"

"I… I would… I don't know. I'm going to have to work with the Chair and… I'm not trying to rush anything 09600115.doc 165  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 through. We put everything out on paper, and so… I mean, I would love to call it right now 'cause I'm very excited about getting this thing going forward, but the…"

"I would say that I have faith that our Leadership will work with yours, and if your Leadership wants us to delay it a day or something… I mean, I do have some Members here who have told me they really wanted to vote for this and for one family reason or another, they might not be here tomorrow. So, I would love to do it today just so I can honor their requests that they want to be here to vote. Plus… plus, I want their vote. But, if… I'm sure if Leader Cross makes a serious…"

"Yeah. I mean, Roger…"

"…I… I would state that I'd be more than willing to wait until tomorrow or…"

"I understand that. I…"

"I… I understand that."

"I appreciate the support I've gotten from your side."

"Thank you."

Speaker Lyons: "Representative McCarthy, final comments… Amendment."

"No, thank you. You must be talking to me."

"Yeah, I'm talking to you."

"No, I mean, I…"

Speaker Lyons: "Final comments. You're… you're the final speaker."

"…if… if they… if you have concerns, if you in the Chair have concerns, and delaying it until tomorrow is, you know, wasn't my number one wish but if the… today… can't…"

Speaker Lyons: "Now, why don't you hold on a minute. Representative Eddy, what…"

"Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Lyons: "Well, let me get back to you on that, Representative Eddy. Representative McCarthy." 09600115.doc 167  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Thank you, Speaker. My intention is to adopt the Amendment today, and we will not call it on Third today."

"Okay. Representative Eddy, Roger, you okay with that? Okay. So, I've heard the Gentleman's Motion to… for the adoption of Floor Amendment #1. We'll do a Roll Call vote on this. All in favor of the adoption of Amendment #1 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. 109 Members voted 'yes', 1 Member has voted 'no'. Amendment #1 is adopted to House Bill 6368. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Back to the Order of Third Readings. Representative Karen May, you have House Bill 6103. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Lady from Lake, Representative Karen May."

"Yes. Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. 6103 just says that our mental health facilities around the state, that anyone who is a veteran would get free mental health services. And this is under DHS, they are neutral on the Bill. They said it would have a very nominal impact. And I think it's important as more and more of our service people are reservists going over. Right now, we have three thousand that are serving in Afghanistan last year, that when they come back with post-traumatic stress disorder… I have a picture, a story here from the paper, 09600115.doc 168  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 someone in Oak Lawn, a veteran killed his wife. I think it's important that we make sure that all of our veterans can use our state mental health facilities to get free counseling."

"You've heard the Lady's explanation, is there any questions? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 6103 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 Eddie Jackson. Representative Jackson. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 110 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Sid Mathias, on the Order of Third Readings, you have House Bill 6047. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Gentleman from Lake, Representative Sid Mathias."

Speaker Lyons: "Ladies and Gentlemen, you heard the explanation. Is there any questions on House Bill 6047? Seeing none, the quest… Representative Franks, question of Representative Mathias." 09600115.doc 169  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Thank you. Representative, what's the genesis of this Bill?"

"Are we actually paying out on these, 'cause I know we have a lot of programs in the State of Illinois, such as for solar. If you put some solar panels on your house, or if you want to put a windmill up, and we talk about… we talk a good game, but then when you go check to see if there's any money's there, there's never anything there funded. Has this line item been funded in the last year's budget?"

"And… and the only reason I bring it up because we had that Bill just a few… a few minutes ago about the unfunded mandates, and it's… with the schools, and it seems like, we're perpetuating a cruel hoax on folks, that if they think they're going to get some state… state assistance here, but oftentimes, there's none available even though we passed a law. So, I'm a little concerned about continuing to vote for these programs if they're not going to be appropriated. Because I think what we're doing is a disservice to our citizens by paying lip service to these types of green technologies, but then never funding them. I think we have to put our money where our mouth is."

"Thank you."

"And I appreciate you bringing this forward but enough's enough. If we… I we really do have a commitment to these type of technologies and to green issues, then we'd have to… we have to fund them. But otherwise, we should take these Bills off the books…"

"…and tell people the truth."

"Thank you."

"Representative Mathias to close."

"The question is, 'Should House Bill 6047 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 Ford. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 110 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Susana Mendoza, on the Order of Third Readings, you have House Bill 5247. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Lyons: "The Lady from Cook, Representative Susana Mendoza.

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 5247 amends the Day and Temporary Laborer 09600115.doc 171  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 Services Act by requiring third party clients that use temporary or day labor services, to pay wages and payroll taxes to the day and temporary labor service agency that provided said labor. Basically, what we're trying to do here is to ensure that if a third party client does not pay the day laborer for the fees that they had to pay up front to the people employed, that the labor agency would be able to either file a complaint with the Department of Labor that the Department of Labor would then investigate for cause of negative finding or not, or be able to take the third party client to court. There is no opposition that I know of to this legislation. I think it's an important message to send that if these day labor agencies are doing their part, which is paying for the services rendered, the third party contractor should also do their part, which is pay the labor agency. Again, no opposition to this Bill. The agreed… the language is agreed upon between the Department of Labor and the staffing agencies. And I would certainly be happy to answer any questions, and would ask for your support."

"Is there any discussion? Representative Rita, do you have questions of Representative Mendoza? The Gentleman does not seek recognition. Seeing no further questions, the question is, 'Should House Bill 5247 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's 110 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received 09600115.doc 172  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Harry Osterman, you have House Bill 5480. Out of the record. Representative Cynthia Soto, you have House Bill 5060. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

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

"Yes. Thank you, Speaker and Members of the House. House Bill 5060 amends the Unified Code of Corrections by expanding the type of evidence that can be subpoenaed for investigations and hearings regarding alleged violations of parole, or a mandatory supervised release. I urge an 'aye' vote."

"Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 50… 5060 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's 110 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Bob Rita."

"Thank… thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to let the record reflect that on… on House Bill 6368, Amendment #1, it was supposed to be a 'yes' vote."

Speaker Lyons: "Are you sure, Representative? Are you positive?" 09600115.doc 173  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"I'm… I'm positive."

"You're positive. The Journal will reflect your wishes, Representative."

"Thank you."

"Representative Sente, you have House Bill 4726. Representative Sente, you have House Bill 4726. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Lyons: "The Chair recognizes the Lady from Lake, Representative Carol Sente."

"Thank you, Speaker. This Bill assists in the control and maintenance of diabetes. It changes the classification of glucose monitor test strips from pharmaceuticals to durable medical equipment and therefore, makes the purchase of the test strips more affordable for the consumer. Currently, the glucose monitor and the lancet, are already covered and both classified under durable medical equipment. So, therefore, the only missing element for an individual to test their blood is the test strip. This Bill would place all three components under the same category, and the test strips and lancets are required to make the machine work. It is not uncommon for accessories to be part of durable medical equipment and to be all included under this classification. For example, for sleep apnea, the CPAP machine is classified durable, and so is the mask and the hose. With diabetes being such a large issue and cost to the United States and the State of Illinois, I… this change would be very helpful in making it 09600115.doc 174  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 more affordable for the diabetes patient. And I'm happy to take questions."

"You’ve heard the Lady's explanation of the Bill. Is there any question? The Chair recognizes the Lady from Lake, Representative JoAnn Osmond."

"Well, to the Bill."

"The Gentleman from Jasper, Representative David Reis."

"Sponsor yields."

"The state already covers it, so this is for self and employer based plans." 09600115.doc 175  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Representative Mike Tryon."

"Sponsor yields."

"I've been looking into this and it is a difficult question to answer just because of the variety of plans, the deductibles, and if a company provides a pharmaceutical benefit, or I went and talked to my pharmacist to various diabetes patients, looked online, checked the policy that my office provides to our 20 employees. Generally, I have 09600115.doc 176  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 found that if you have durable medical equipment… in fact, for this constituent who brought this to me, this was 100 percent covered. Test strips were 100 percent covered. If you're… if you have a P… and he had an HMO plan through Blue Cross Blue Shield. If it's a pharmaceutical, there is no generic test strip. And so, you have your brand, your formulary, and your generic. So, it's going to be at the… at the brand… its going be… going to be at the formulary rate. So, that might be, again, depending on your plan, maybe $60 to $100 copay. And so, you also have to look at how often you're going to test your blood. Whether you have diabetes 1 or 2, you may be testing your blood anywhere from a couple times a day, to 14 times a day. Again, depending on the diabetes you have. The retail cost for a strip ranges from 30 cents to about a… $1.50, with an average of about a dollar. So if you had an HSA plan, you would be paying retail 'til you reached your deductible. So, that's why it's a little bit of a hard question to answer…"

"Representative Tryon, your time has expired. I'll give you another minute to finish your…"

"…line of questions."

"Representative Beth Coulson."

"Sponsor yields."

"Correct. If you have a pharmaceutical component on to your current plan."

"Virtually, all of them do, yes."

"The idea originally came from a constituent in my district. I also have a 25-page document of… of diabetes 09600115.doc 178  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 patients complaining about the test… the cost of test strips. It's… it's really an insurmountable issue and we want to make sure that we're focusing on prevention and maintenance of the disease."

"Beth, hold on a second."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, if we could bring the noise level down just a little bit. A pretty important discussion going on here, please. Shhh. Thank you. Go ahead, Representative Coulson."

"I did look. You had two questions; under Medicare, it is currently under pharmaceutical. The lancet was not listed under there. And you asked about it being durable… I mean, the… the term of durable has a very specific definition, and it doesn't mean ex… that it can expire…"

"…but a test strip is used only once."

Speaker Lyons: "The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from McHenry, Representative Jack Franks."

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

"Sponsor yields."

"I was listening to the debate, and I want to make sure I understand this. What you're trying to do, I understand, is to move the test strips to be classified like other items that are used for diabetes treatment, correct?"

"Yes." 09600115.doc 180  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Okay. So, right now, is this… this is one thing, like, hanging out on its own and it's not with the rest of the group. Correct?"

"Absolutely, and the… and the lancet, which is also only used once, is already under durable medical equipment. This groups all items that are used with the monitor."

"So, it's a commonsense approach to put it all under one area, and it's not as the previous speaker said, would be confusing to patients because patients don’t really care. They're going to be getting the same product, regardless, but this is a way to keep it all under one area of the code. Correct?"

"Absolutely, and at a lower cost."

"Okay. Well, then, to the Bill. That makes perfect sense and I appreciate what Representative Tryon had said, as well. Now, Representative Tryon got up and he talked about this from a personal nature. And this is a commonsense piece… piece of legislation that not only will help keep people healthy and save lives, but it will also save our state money. This is a Bill that we all should be voting for because it cleans up the code, makes sense not only for issues of public safety, but will also save us money. Please vote 'aye'."

"Representative Rosemary Mulligan. On fire, Rosemary."

"Sponsor yields." 09600115.doc 181  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"No, I didn't because this Bill applies to only private plans and employer plans, not to Medicare."

"Some of the items that you brought up are not my understanding, and under the definition of durable medical equipment, again, the lancet is currently durable medical equipment. It is used much in the same way the test strip is. One time to test your blood, and then it is discarded. This combines the two items and moves them over for use with the monitor in a very effective and cost-effective way."

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

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Lady yield?" 09600115.doc 182  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Sponsor yields."

"Excuse me, Representative, is this medically necessary?"

"Is testing your blood for diabetes medically necessary?"

"Yeah, is it medically necessary?"

"Absolutely."

"And so, what would happen if a person that's diabetic doesn’t test their blood?"

"A variety of things, at the worst, amputation and death. I mean, diabetes, as you know, is a very, very serious disease."

"And so, if it's medically necessary and the insurance company, by law, should they cover what is medically necessary? If the doctor says that this is medically necessary and they have insurance, I mean, would it not make sense for them to cover… 'cause you did say this cost about 30 cents… from 30 cents to a dollar and some odd per strip? How much would it cost if they had to go to the emergency room of a hospital, approximately?"

"Much more."

"And even a doctor visit it would cost more? It's… this is a… this is a very good piece of legislation. And I would really urge an 'aye' vote. Thank you."

"Thank you."

"Representative Sente to close."

"Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death. This is no small issue. I also am a small business owner. I choose the insurance policy that protects 20 families based 09600115.doc 183  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 on prevention. We want diabetes maintained and this encourages it. It places the classification, all three, in the same category where they belong. And I urge an 'aye' vote."

"The question is, 'Should House Bill 4726 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. Mathias. Howard. Cole. Connie. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 77 Members voting 'yes', 30 Members voting 'no', 3 voting 'present'. This Bill having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Don Moffitt, you have House Bill 4779. Out of the record. Representative Sandy Pihos, you have House Bill 5890. Representative Pihos, ready to move the Bill? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Lyons: "The Lady from DuPage, Representative Sandy Pihos."

"Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 5890 pass?' All those in 09600115.doc 184  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 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? Chapin Rose. Representative Rose, do you wish to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 109 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Eddie Washington, you have House Bill 4910. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Lake, Representative Ed Washington."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this Bill is the back side of House Bill 4909, which we passed the other day. And what it does, it amends the Older Adult Services Act, changes the composition of the Older Adult Service Advisory Committee by allowing the Director of the Department on Aging to appoint one member representing municipal, township, or county officials. Thirty members will be appointed by the Director of the Department on Aging in collaboration with the Director of Public Health and Healthcare and Family Services. And I ask for an 'aye' vote."

"Is there any discussion? The Chair recognizes the Lady from Cook, Representative Rosemary Mulligan. Wait a minute, Rosemary. Ladies and Gentlemen, again, it's getting awfully loud on the floor. Can we please shhh."

"Thank you very much. Rosemary Mulligan."

"Sponsor yields."

"Yes, Ma'am. House Bill 4910 is an initiative that is put forth by the Department on Aging. Under the current law, 32 members are appointed by the Director of the Department on Aging, one member representing township officials, one member representing municipalities and one member representing county officials. The department was having problems with participation as far as having three separate individuals representing municipal, township or county official. So, the department feels that it is better to instead, having only one person to represent those inter… interested."

"Rep… Representative, to my understanding, it is a collaboration done with some of the entities you mentioned in collaboration, also, with the Public Health and Healthcare and Family Services. Things were going smoothly, but as it stated and I just read…"

"Representative Mulligan, your time has expired. We'll give you another minute to finish your discussion."

"As I just read to you, it was done due to the lack of participation. And so, I… I think they would rather shorten it than lengthen it and try to achieve the common goals involved."

Speaker Lyons: "Any further discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 4910 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 Riley. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 108 Members voting 'yes', 1 Member voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Bob Pritchard, you have House Bill 4947. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Gentleman from DeKalb, Representative Bob Pritchard."

"You've heard the Gentleman's explanation. Is there any discussion? Representative Riley, do you seek recognition on this Bill? Representative Al Riley."

"Not on this Bill, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to inform the Chair that on House Bill… the vote on House Bill 4810, my switch was stuck. I'd like to be recorded as voting 'aye'."

"The Journal will reflect your request. Seeing no further questions for Representative Pritchard's Bill, the question is, 'Should House Bill 4947 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 Sommer and Cultra. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 109 Members voting 'yes', 1 Member voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Chapin Rose, you have House Bill 6141. Representative Rose, wish to call the Bill? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Gentleman from Champaign, Representative Chapin Rose."

"You've heard the Gentleman's explanation. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 6141 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 Poe and Saviano. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 108 09600115.doc 189  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 Members voting 'yes', 2 Members voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Chapa LaVia, on the Order of Third Reading you have House Bill 5341. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Lyons: "The Chair recognizes the Lady from Kane, Representative Linda Chapa LaVia."

"Thank you, Speaker and Members of the House. Let me pull up my Bill. What House Bill 5341 does is it changes the validity of instruction permits for minor in certain situations and makes it unlawful to supervise a minor driver while under the influence of alcoholic drugs or combat it thereafter, makes it a misdemeanor. This is whether the child is under a permit and the parent, or guardian, or adult that is actually in the car while the child's on a permi… permit, is actually intoxicated. So, I'll take any questions."

"Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 5341 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 Osmond. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there's 110 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm going to start doing some Second Readings, some Bills that you have as your 09600115.doc 190  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 priorities that are on Second Readings to see if you wish to move them to Third Reading. Before I start, I'll let… Mr. Clerk, do you have an announcement?"

"On the Order of Second Readings, Representative Patti Bellock, you have House Bill 3693. Do you wish to move that Bill? Out of the record. Representative Brady, you have House Bill 5197 that's on hold. Out of the record? What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk? House Bill 5197."

Speaker Lyons: "Okay. Out of the record. Representative Brauer, you have House Bill 3323. Out of the record. Representative Monique Davis, on the Order of Second Reading you have House Bill 6450. Do you wish to move that Bill to the Order of Third Reading? Out of the record. Will Davis, you have House Bill 4826. Standing next to me. You want to move that Bill? What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Ken Dunkin. Is Representative Dunkin on the floor? Representative Bob Flider, you have House Bill 5879. Do you care to move that Bill, Representative? Representative Flider, you want to move that Bill to Third? What the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

Speaker Lyons: "Out of the record. Representative Mary Flowers, you have House Bill 4825. Do you wish to move that Bill to the Order of Third Reading, Representative? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"House Bill 4825, it's on Third Reading? Leave that Bill on the Order of Third Reading. Representative Fritchey, you have House Bill 6072. Representative John Fritchey, do you want to move that Bill, Representative? Out of the record. Representative Esther Golar, you have House Bill 6177. Out of the record. Representative Julie Hamos, you have House Bill 6115. On the Order of Second Reading, Representative. Out of the record. Representative Roger Eddy, you have House Bill 6041. Out of the record. Representative Mike Fortner, you have House Bill 5555. Do you want to move that Bill up to Third Reading? Representative Fortner."

"Mr. Clerk, what's the status of that Bill?" 09600115.doc 192  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Hold that Bill on the Order of Second Reading. Representative Bob Pritchard, on the Order of Second Reading, you have House Bill 5942. Representative Pritchard. Out of the record. Representative Greg Harris, you have House Bill 5691 on Second Reading, 5691. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Harris on Floor Amendment #2."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Floor Amendment #2 is at the request of the department asking that we put… have the continuing education requirements in rule, as opposed to statute so that we don't have to come back to the Legislature every time the course work changes."

"Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor of the adoption of Floor Amendment #2 signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

Speaker Lyons: "Third Reading. Representative Hernandez. Lisa, you have House Bill 4927 on the Order of Second Reading. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk." 09600115.doc 193  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Third Reading. Representative Jay Hoffman, you have House Bill 6152 on Second Reading. You want to move the Bill, Jay? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative Debbie Mell, you have House Bill 5226. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative Connie Howard, you have House Bill 5401 on the Order of Second Reading. Do you wish to move that Bill, Representative? Out of the record. Representative Naomi Jakobsson, you have House Bill 4936. Do you wish to move that Bill, Representative? 4936. Out of the record. Representative Chuck Jefferson, you have House Bill 6315. Out of the record. Representative Saviano, you have House Bill 5026. Out of the record. Representative Dave Winters, you have House Bill 5655 on Second Reading. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Hold that Bill on the Order of Second Reading. Representative McCarthy, you have House Bill 4851 on the Order of Second Reading. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Jack McGuire, you have House Bill 6125. Jack, you want to move that Bill from Second to Third? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative Debbie Mell, you have House Bill 5226. Out of the record. Representative Mendoza, you have House Bill 5772. Out of the record. What's the status, Mr. Clerk, of House Bill 6123?"

"Hold that Bill on the Order of Second Reading. Representative Bob Rita, House Bill 6434. Do you wish to move that Bill, Representative? What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Out of the record. Representative Bradley. Is John Bradley on the House Floor? You have House Bill 5230 on the Order of Second Reading. What's the status of that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Sente, you have House Bill 6359. Representative Carol Sente. House Bill 6359 is on the Order of Second Reading. Do you wish to move that Bill, Representative? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Lyons: "Representative, do you wish to call your Amendment, or do you want to hold it on Second Reading? You have an Amendment approved."

"Thank you, Speaker. Sorry."

"The Chair recognizes the Lady from Cook on Amendment… Floor Amendment #1. Representative Sente, you have Floor Amendment #1."

"So, this is a retailer's certificate of registration fund. The current access that applicants… Oh. That applicants for certificate of registration need to furnish a bond to protect the state in case that the applicant fails to pay the ROTC… the ROT tax. But since '86, the 09600115.doc 196  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 department has set applica… application bonds at zero. The Auditor General recently questioned the practice. And so, because of the climate… because of the current economic climate, provision of a bond would be prohibitive for businesses, but we do also need to protect the state from the retail establishments that may default. So, the Amendment allows the department the discretion, and that's the key word, to request bonds only if they feel that the retail business may warrant it. So, one, if they're in default of a payment for other ROT moneys or, two, if they have their certificate revoked within the last five years."

Speaker Lyons: "You've heard the Lady's explanation on Amendment #1. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor of its adoption signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And Floor Amendment #1 is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Thapedi, you have House Bill 1545 on Second Reading. Out of the record. Representative Washington, you have House Bill 5499 on the Order of Second Reading. Do you wish to move that Bill to Third Reading? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, what the status of House Bill 5044?" 09600115.doc 197  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"On the request of the Sponsor, move that Bill back to the Order of Second Reading. Representative Jakobsson, you have, on the Order of Second Reading, House Bill 6001. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative John Bradley, on the Order of Third Reading, you have House Bill 6035. Out of the record. Representative Annazette Collins, on the Order of Third Reading, you have House Bill 5914. Do you wish to move that Bill? Out of the record. Representative Sara Feigenholtz. Is Sara on the floor? Out of the record. Representative LaSh… LaShawn Ford, you have House Bill 2236. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative LaShawn Ford."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. House Bill 2236 simply codifies what the child support agency is doing now. The attempt is to make sure that we're able to modify any child support orders that… that's owed to any parents or while a person is in jail. It also aims at modifying child support orders when an individual is released out of prison, which is a recommendation made 09600115.doc 198  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 while the Bill was in committee. And that's what the Bill attempts to do. And I ask for a favorable vote."

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

"State your inquiry, Sir."

"Mr. Clerk."

"Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Ford. Speak up or bring the microphone…"

"I need Amendment 2 to be adopted. This Bill's not ready. It's still pending." 09600115.doc 199  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

Speaker Lyons: "So, we should take that Bill out of the record?"

"Yes. Yes."

"Do you wish to put it back on the Order of Second Reading?"

"Please."

"Representative Eddy, we'll take that Bill out of the record. Mr. Clerk, put it on the Order of Second Reading at the request of the Sponsor. Representative Feigenholtz. Representative, you have House Bill 6080. Do you wish to call the Bill? Mr. Clerk, what's the status of House Bill 6080?"

"On the request of the Sponsor, move that Bill back to the Order of Second Reading. Representative Eddy, on the Order of Third Reading, you have House Bill 5132. Do you wish to call that Bill? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

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

"You've heard the Gentleman's explanations. Is there any questions? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 5132 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's 110 Members voting 'yes', and 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Eddie Jackson, you have House Bill 5846. Representative Jackson on the floor? Out of the record. Representative Cynthia Soto, you have on the Order of Third Reading, House Bill 4972. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

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

"Thank you, Speaker and Members of the House. House Bill 4972 amends the Public Community College Act to prohibit nonvoting student members of the Illinois Community College Board and advisory committee members from receiving reimbursement for duties related through expenses. And I urge an 'aye' vote." 09600115.doc 201  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 4972 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's 110 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative McAsey, you have House Bill 6094. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

Speaker Lyons: "The Chair recognizes the Lady from Will, Representative Emily McAsey."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House. House Bill 6094 does two things. First off, there is a technical change related to the definition of neighborhood vehicles, a specific class of vehicles. It changes the Vehicle Code, changes the language stating that it conforms to a… it does not conform to certain federal safety standards. In addition to that, House Amendment 1 was adopted in committee last week. This is an Amendment supported by the Farm Bureau that would allow for these neighborhood nonhighway vehicles to be driven on county or township roadways, when those vehicles are being used for farming operations. Additionally, there are insurance requirements and safety requirements related to headlight use if these nonconforming vehicles are being used in this purpose. I 09600115.doc 202  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 would urge an 'aye' vote. And would be willing to answer any questions."

"Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should House Bill 6094 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… Representative Saviano, Poe, Cultra, Brauer, Bellock. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill there's 109 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Sid Mathias, you have House Bill 5720. Out of the record. Representative Sandy Pihos, you have House Bill 6194. Representative Pihos. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Chair recognizes the Lady from DuPage, Representative Sandy Pihos."

"You've heard the Lady's explanations. Are there any questions? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Lake, Representative Ed Washington."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, just for clarification, I don't know why this analysis still includes that the Department of Financial and Professional Regul… Regulations, Illinois Association of Realtors, Pharmacists, and the Illinois Society for Advanced Practice Nursing are against it. I spoke to each one. All of them are in favor or support of the Legislator's Bill."

"Representative Pihos to close."

"The question is, 'Should House Bill 6194 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 Saviano. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill there's 110 Members voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Jefferson, what purpose do you seek recognition, Sir?"

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

"Please proceed."

"Just want to recognize in the balcony over to my right, the Pastor from Rockford, Illinois, Pastor Kenneth 09600115.doc 204  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 Board, who's going to be doing the invocation tomorrow. Welcome him to Springfield, please."

"Welcome to Springfield, Pastor. Enjoy your day, and we're looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. Representative Pihos, you also have House Bill 6034. Do you wish to call that Bill on the Order of Third Reading? Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Representative Sandy Pihos."

Speaker Lyons: "Mr. Clerk, on the request of the Sponsor, please move this Bill back to the Order of Second Reading. Representative Dave Winters, you have House Bill 5972. Out of the record. Representative Dan Burke, you have House Bill 4802. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Gentleman from Cook, Representative Danny Burke."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. This initiative is brought to us from the Water Reclamation District of greater Chicago. And very simply, the district is requesting an extension of the sunset date for two reasons. Firstly, the district's long-term capital plan includes over 2 million in projects for replacement of aged infrastructure, and the construction of two major flood control reservoirs. These capital projects and their 09600115.doc 205  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 funding requirements extend beyond the current sunset date of 2016, and extending the sunset date on the district's bonding authority would help the district maintain its triple A bonding rating, which saved district taxpayers millions annually in debt service costs. This legislation imposes no fiscal burden on the state, requires no tax increase or exemption from the tax cap. It merely allows that the district continue to do what it has been doing for the last 35 years. I'd be happy to answer any questions."

"You've heard the Gentleman's explanation of House Bill 4802. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, 'Should the House Bill pass?' All those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Representative Feigenholtz. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 84 Members voting 'yes', 25 Members voting 'no', 1 Member voting 'present'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Speaker, (sic-Clerk) what's the status of House Bill 5914?"

"Representative Collins."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to move that Bill back to Second, please."

"On request of the Sponsor, Mr. Clerk, move that Bill back to the Order of Second Reading. Representative 09600115.doc 206  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 Biggins, on the Order of Third Readings, you have House Bill 6151. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"The Gentleman from DuPage, Representative Bob Biggins."

"Is there any discussion? The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative Mike Zalewski."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support… To the Bill. I rise in support of this Bill. It's an important issue for the west suburban… the western suburbs, specifically, the town of Riverside. We need to be able to equip the towns like Riverside to collect on these fines, and ensure that the court system's doing the proper thing. I urge an 'aye' vote."

"Representative David Reis."

"Sponsor yields." 09600115.doc 207  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"The Chair recognizes the Gentleman from Cook, Representative John Fritchey." 09600115.doc 208  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

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

"The Sponsor yields."

"Representative, so this sets a minimum fine at an amount equal to what the bail would be for that offense, correct?"

"What's the rationale behind that?"

"Well, and that…"

"That… that's actually what I… what I was getting at. I mean, what… what you're doing is taking the authority away from the judge to set or waive a fine, depending on what the offense was and the circumstances surrounding the event, and say that that fine would have to be pegged to whatever the prescribed bail is for that offense. Right?"

"But I… and again, I'm not trying to be difficult, but what's the purpose of doing… what's the rationale in linking the fine amount to the bail amount? The… the bail… the bail… amount is prescribed by the Supreme Court based on the nature of the offense and other mitigating factors of whether bail is warranted and what value should be set at. The purpose of the fine for a certain offense is based on very different standards." 09600115.doc 209  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"So, the municipalities are losing revenue, and in order to make up for revenue that they're losing, they want to take authority away from the judges on how to set a fine for a traffic offense."

"Gentlemen, your time has expired. John, we'll give you another minute. Bob, to answer that question."

"Well, to the Bill, brief…"

"I'm sorry, Bob."

"Well, just to… to the Bill. Ladies and Gentlemen, I… you know, I understand that, you know, just like the State of Illinois, no municipality wants to see a decrease in revenues in tough economic times, but I think you need to tread very carefully if you think that the answer for capturing those potentially lost revenues is to take the authority away from a judge in a case like this and tie it arbitrarily to a bail amount, which is really scheduled for very different purposes than the fine for an underlying offense. I think it's a very dangerous policy where we start treading into judicial authority as a way to make up for revenue deficits. Thank you." 09600115.doc 210  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Representative Biggins to close."

"The question is, 'Should House Bill 6151 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 Cole. Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 95 Members voting 'yes', 15 voting 'no'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. There's some Bills on Second Reading. I'll ask the Sponsors if they care to move these Bills to Third Reading. Representative Will Davis, you have House Bill 4827. Out of the record. Representative Dunkin. Is Representative Dunkin on the floor? Out of the record. Representative LaShawn Ford, you have House Bill 5323 on the Order of Second Reading. What's the status on that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading. Representative Golar, you have House Bill 5918. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk." 09600115.doc 211  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010

"Third Reading. Representative McAsey, you have House Bill 4037, 4037. Out of the record. Representative McAsey, you also have House Bill 5932, Second Reading. Out of the record. Representative Bob Rita, House Bill 5513. Read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Representative Sente, you have House Bill 4817. Out of the record. Representative Cynthia Soto, you have House Bill 4755. It's on its Second Reading. Do you wish to move that to Third Reading? Yes or no. No. Leave it on Second Reading. We'll leave the Bill on the Order of Second Reading. Representative Bellock. Representative Patti Bellock. Okay. Representative Bill Mitchell. Representative Mitchell, you have House Bill 4663 on Second Reading. Want to read… leave that Bill of the Order of Second Reading? Representative Mitchell, you also have House Bill 5663, 5663. Wish to move that Bill? Leave that Order on the Second Reading. Representative Don Moffitt, you have House Bill 5183. Do you wish to move that Bill, Representative? Leave that on the Order of Second Reading. Representative Rosemary Mulligan, you have House Bill 5516. Rosemary. 09600115.doc 212  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 House Bill 5516 on Second Reading, you want to leave it there? Leave that Bill on the Order of Second Reading. Ladies and Gentlemen, it's been brought to my attention to announce that Members should review pages 28 and 29 in the Calendar. There are Senate Bills looking for House Sponsors. So, they're starting to appear in our Calendars, so a message from the Senate for us to take a look at Senate Bills that are available for us to… to take and run on the House Floor, put through with our process on the House. Representative Bob Pritchard, for an announcement."

"Mr. Clerk, Adjournment Resolution. Mr. Clerk, Adjournment Resolution. Mr. Clerk, Agreed Resolutions."

"Representative McGuire moves for the passage 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, with no further business to come before the Illinois House of Representatives, the House… Representative McGuire moves that the House will stand adjourned on Friday, March 19 at the hour of 9:30. The House will stand adjourned to the hour of 9:30. So, 09600115.doc 213  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 115th Legislative Day 3/18/2010 allowing perfunctory time for the Clerk, Representative McGuire moves for the adjournment of the House. All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the House stands adjourned until the hour of 9:30 tomorrow morning. Have a safe evening, everyone."