Illinois House Floor Debate — April 15, 2010

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let the record reflect that Representative Bassi is excused on the Republican side of the aisle today."

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

"Thank you. I'd like to recognize the Pages from Breese Central High School here today who's serving us and want to welcome to the capitol along with their coach, who helped coach the Breese Central Cougars to fourth place in the state tournament, Mr. Kurt Peters in the gallery. So, thank you for coming. Give them a warm welcome."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Senate Bill 3004 passed the Senate with no opposition and it merely extends the Cobra from 9 to 15 months and this also extends the group insurance coverage premium. And the Illinois Chamber and Illinois Insurance Association, Illinois Life Insurance Council and BlueCross BlueShield are all neutral on this. And… and this is an initiative of the Department of Insurance." 09600125.doc 6  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 125th Legislative Day 4/15/2010

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. This is a Bill that we've passed out several times that changes the way that motor fuel tax is distributed within counties. It would take from townships that currently are at their eight cent minimum and give a small proportion to those that do not need a tax at the eight cent minimum a proportional share. There is no opposition: the township officials are in support. Be happy to answer any questions. And it's gone out on unanimous votes in the past."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Senate Bill 3645 amends the home repair Bill… I'm sorry… Act. And what it does is it adds people with disabilities in a… to the current Bill which basically deals with seniors. So, we've added that and we've also… when there is a person with a disability or a senior involved, we've also increased the penalty by one class. And I ask for your 'aye' vote." 09600125.doc 8  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 125th Legislative Day 4/15/2010

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise on a pow… point of order. Under House Rule 18(g) I move for discharge of HJRCA 56 from the House Rules Committee. Under House Rule 54(a)(2) all Motions are assigned Standard Debate status and I wish to debate my Motion. Upon the conclusion of the debate, I ask for a recorded vote on the Motion to Discharge. Under Rule 49 and Article IV, Section 8(c) of the Illinois Constitution, any vote shall be by record vote whenever 5 Representatives show… request. There be at the Motion to Discharge the measure for the House Rules Committee."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Bill, I think, is very important Bill for Illinois…"

"Well, then…"

"Thank you… thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I… I'll tell you what. I'll come back… we'll come back to that. I think he's going to go…"

"Mr. Speaker, I rise to a point of order. We specifically requested a Roll Call vote on my Motion pursuant to the rights granted in the Illinois House Rules and the Illinois Constitution. This breach of rules should be corrected immediately with a Roll Call vote on my Motion to Discharge. As we know, once every 10 years following the census our legislative boundaries must be redrawn. We have said, we've even taken action 2 years ago to recognize the system is flawed and that it allows the law… lawmakers to draw their own boundary lines. In work that's been done subsequently, in testimony that's been given in the hearings, there's been a lot of points been brought up. The Fair Map Amendment which is embodied in HJRCA 56 would take that act of drawing the lines out of the hands of the Legislature. This is a timely Motion because the deadline for doing a Constitutional Amendment is barely two and half weeks away. We know what the number of readings and the committee hearings that would need to be have, this Bill needs to get a hearing. I also understand the Senate Democrats have put forward a Bill that has been sent over to this chamber; it's already gone through First Reading. And while there are some positive aspects to that plan, like the transparency procedures certainly well worth looking into, I have to say that that takes us a step backward 'cause it would give the Legislature not one, but two shots at drawing those boundaries. That’s a step backwards from where we are which has the Legislature have one shot at it before it moves to a commission process. The Fair Map Amendment, on the other hand, provides for 09600125.doc 12  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 125th Legislative Day 4/15/2010 public input from the outset throughout the process. It's been crafted by a lot of good government groups, Illinois League of Women Voters and the Illinois Reform Commission just to name a couple. And I agree with the Daily Herald, that if we don’t act on a Fair Amendment, this is going to be another missed opportunity for reform that this state desperately needs. Mr. Speaker, would you please allow this proposed Amendment HJRCA 56 out of Rules so that when we return home to our districts we can tell our constituents that we have done real and honest reform. Mr. Speaker, under House Rule 57(a) I move to appeal the ruling of the Chair that there be no recorded vote to discharge HJRCA 56 from the House Rules Committee."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to add what little I can to Representative Fortner. What I had intended to do was to make sure the Chair was aware that under House Rule 57(a) that is a debatable Motion and I think that you'll see with the lights on on our side of the aisle that we wish to debate that Motion. And I'm sure you will allow us to do that. Thank you."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker…"

"I… I appreciate this opportunity to call on my colleagues in this chamber to support the releasing this Bill from Rules. There's no process in the next two years that were going to find ourselves in that isn’t anymore important than reapportionment. And it's important that we do it the right way, we do it a fair way, we do it an open way. And since we've had this in our Constitution, it has been done in controversial ways. And the problem that we have now is the process that we use, let's call it what it is, it's an incumbent protection plan. And now we have a citizens group that's out engaged seeking for placing a question on the ballot to amend our Constitution. They have a process called the Fair Map Amendment that brings citizens to the table. They'll be able to reapportion our districts based upon demographics and census information in a… in a fair nonpartisan way. And now we got the Senate Democrats. They engage and they have a plan called the citizens first plan and they want to do it by taking our process now and unnesting our Senate and House districts in and actually making it even more of an incumbent protection plan. So, now we have what the process we have now regular incumbent protection plan and their citizen first is really more of a incumbent protection plan on steroids. It really is something that I think we need a full debate on. And we should be able to do that in this chamber. And we… and we should look at all the groups that are calling for reforms on our… on our reapportionment process and we should take to heart what they want to see done. We can do this right. We can't stand here and vote for half a loaf on things like 09600125.doc 14  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 125th Legislative Day 4/15/2010 campaign finance reform that empowers political bosses and caucus Leaders and then come back and not look at what citizens want to do in the process for reapportionment. I urge you to support releasing this from the Rules Committee, have a fair debate on it. What's wrong with having a debate on something as important as reapportionment of our legislative districts. I hope you will…"

"…support me and vote to override the ruling… override the Speaker and discharge this from the Rules Committee."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, can I get a little order in the chamber? To the Motion, Mr. Speaker. This week you read the editorials around the state. The Daily Herald said of the plan that passed the Senate drawn by the Senate Democrats, 'People aren't stupid', direct quote. My own local paper that I share with Representative Jakobsson, Representative Cultra, Representative Black The News Gazette said 'the politicians in Springfield are trying to pull another fast one', 'the Amendment is a deliberate sham.' That's actually two quotes to be completely clear. The Amendment is a deliberate, sham. Why? Why's it a sham? Because there's only one Bill out there, only one Constitutional Amendment out there, that actually removes the ability to draw districts, takes it out of our hands and puts it back in the hands of the people of the State of Illinois. There's only one Amendment, it's the Fair Map Amendment. It's not the one 09600125.doc 15  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 125th Legislative Day 4/15/2010 that just came out of the Senate last week; that's a deliberate sham. The only one that solves the problem and takes this out of our hands is this one here before you today. Ladies and Gentlemen, listen to what every newspaper editorial board in the entire State of Illinois has said. Listen to what the… the League of Women Voters, the Chamber of Commerce, the Farm Bureau. Listen to what the Better Government Association, Mr. McMillen, the change groups, what have they all said? They said it's this Constitutional Amendment. This is the third time we've tried to release it from Rules, the third time. Let's just have a debate. Why's that so hard? What on earth are we afraid of? Let's have a debate. Let's have a debate and overrule the Chair. Thank you, Mr. Speaker."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, this is a very timely Motion. Whereas the Senate has had a chance to debate two different versions, unfortunately I think they passed a version that takes us a step backwards. This chamber has not had that chance to debate what is going to be one of the most important decisions that we do to craft how our General Assembly goes forward in the next decade. And that is what is our means to do redistricting. I would urge the Body to overrule the Chair so that we can really debate the merits of both proposals, talk about what would be best for the citizens of Illinois. I urge the overruling of the Chair."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise to a point of order."

"Under House Rule 18(g), I move to discharge House Bill 5008 from the House Rules Committee. Under House Rule 54(a)(2), as you know all Motions are assigned Standard Debate status and I wish to debate my Motion. Upon the conclusion of the debate I also ask for a recorded vote on the Motion to Discharge. Under Rule 49, Article IV Section 8(c) of the Illinois Constitution, any vote shall be re… by record vote whenever 5 Representatives shall so request. There are, Sir, at least 5 Members on my side of the aisle by show of hands that wish for a recorded vote on the Motion to Discharge the measure from the House Rules Committee."

"This… this is my Motion now. We just filed the proper paperwork, Sir."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to yield my time to Representative Eddy."

"…Speaker."

"Thank you, Speaker. I rise to a point of order. I specifically requested a Roll Call vote on my Motion pursuant to the rights granted. I understand the objection. I also would like to make a Motion to appeal the ruling of the Chair and there be no recorded vote to discharge House Bill 5008 from the House Rules Committee and I wish to debate that as well."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 5008 is a tremendously important Bill to the… the people of the State of Illinois in that last year we left some very serious unfinished business when campaign finance reform was a passed in this chamber. In fact, if you remember, the… the good government groups at that time said that the measure was inadequate and that they would be ready to revisit 09600125.doc 18  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 125th Legislative Day 4/15/2010 that. We are ready at this time to revisit that. On Monday the Chicago Sun-Times was correct when they editorialized about the need for us to finish the job on campaign finance reform. You know, it's time now with the sun shining outside and a fresh start spring to roll up our sleeves and get to the task at hand and give the taxpayers of this state what they want, campaign finance reform that goes all the way. Everyone knows that what we did last year regarding campaign finance reform was nothing more than a small step. Let's be honest, limitl… limitless cash supplies to individuals who control the flow of legislation, that combination of power to control the flow of legil… legislation along with the capability of taking from special interest groups unlimited amounts of cash, creates at least the perception in the public that Illinois is bought and paid for and pay-to-play is still alive. The people of this state want a clean break from the Rod Blagojevich era and we do not have that clean break as long as individuals in positions of power are able to take unlimited campaign contributions. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, please vote with me to override the Chair and debate this important Bill immediately."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen. We have a lack of trust with the people in this chamber and they're starting to get it a little bit. They're starting to not see their paychecks, they're starting to see their services not arrive that they've been entitled to. And they're starting to see where it's… where… where the 09600125.doc 19  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 125th Legislative Day 4/15/2010 problem lies. Your side of the aisle, at some point, needs to wake up. You need to wake up and not follow your Leader blindlessly into the abyss. We started campaign finance reform last year and some of it was very good and some of it was terribly bad. We have a Bill before us that we can bring out to fix the problems of last year by empowering your Leadership, empowering our Leadership where we shouldn’t have the power we should have the power in our hands and in the people's hands, not in our Leaderships hands. I don't know where the… where the problem lies. Maybe it's in the Rules Committee. But at some point you need to wake up and you need to not follow your Leader. We need to pass this Bill or a Bill that Karen May has that basically does the same thing. Please vote to override the Chair."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, rise in support of hearing House Bill 5008 that goes a bit further than our prior campaign reform measurement that we passed. I've been asked why would this Bill that we passed pertain only to Leadership contributions to campaigns during the Primaries? Perhaps it was an omission that we did not include the general campaigns as part of that financing reform. And I would suggest that this Bill or Representative May's Bill it doesn’t matter to the House Republicans which Bill gets brought forward, but it does matter to us that this very important issue to the State of Illinois and our constituents and the people who are counting on us to work towards real reform this year, that 09600125.doc 20  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 125th Legislative Day 4/15/2010 we hear a Bill that goes further, that puts caps on Leader contributions in the general campaigns so that every Illinoisan has a fair chance to run for membership in this chamber. So, again, I would ask that this motion be put forth. Thank you."

"Thank you, Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, I want to go back to what the Motion is before you. The Motion before you is not necessarily a vote on campaign finance reform, it is a Motion to debate a Bill that includes campaign contribution limits on Leaders. The Motion would simply allow you the opportunity and many of you are cosponsors of measures that actually do exactly what this Bill does. You're cosponsors of the Bill. Why wouldn't you vote in favor of getting the Bill out of Rules Committee so that you can actually vote on a Bill that you cosponsor? Are you for the Bill? If you're for the Bill, you better vote to override the Chair so you can vote on a Bill that you supposedly support. Do you support the Bill? If you support the concept and you support the Bill of campaign contributions limits for Leaders, vote to override the Chair. Vote for an opportunity to vote for something that you sponsor."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I have filed the requisite Motion in Writing and it is in the well. I rise to a point of order. Under House Rule 18(g) I move the discharge of House Bill 6200 from the House Rules Committee. Under the applicable House Rule 54(a), Section 2 all Motions will be assigned Standard Debate status. I do wish to debate my Motion. Upon the conclusion of the debate, I ask for a recorded vote on the Motion to Discharge. Under rule 49 Article IV, Section 8(c) of the Illinois Constitution any vote shall be by a record vote whenever 5 Representatives shall so request. I'm joined by at least 5 Members on my side of the aisle that wish for a recorded vote on the Motion to Discharge House Bill 6200 from the House Rules Committee."

"Thank… thank you very much, Mr… Mr. Speaker. This continued breach of the House Rules can be corrected immediately with a Roll Call on my Motion to Discharge. However, you have denied that by the imposition of one person objecting on behalf of 118 Members in this chamber. Mr. Speaker, under House Rule 57(a) I move to appeal the ruling of the Chair that there be no recorded vote to 09600125.doc 22  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 125th Legislative Day 4/15/2010 discharge House Bill 6200 from the House Rules Committee. And desire to debate my Motion to appeal the ruling of the Chair."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I… it's kind of a fascinating day. We actually decided that maybe our Bills weren't gett… getting called because they're Republicans Bills. We found a Bill sponsored by a Democrat, Representative May, a Bill that does not everything we would like in the area of campaign finance, but goes to really the essence of what we've been talking about the fact that we've regulated everybody else in this state, businesses, labor, individual citizens, except the one entity we have not regulated and not controlled the flow of money as to the Legislative Leaders. A Democrat sponsored Bill to clean up, provide a whole loaf, if you will, on campaign finance reform. A Democrat sponsored Bill and you will not even let a Democrat sponsored Bill be heard in committee. Wow. It's one thing to shut us up, but to say to your own Member who, I would think if she cared about campaign finance and actually believes in the Bill, would stand up and support us in this Motion. If she truly believes what she says in filing a Bill on campaign finance would get up and say, you know what, the Speaker's wrong. The Speaker's wrong to worry about only preserving power, centralizing power, not regulating ourselves and I am going to stand up and fight 09600125.doc 23  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 125th Legislative Day 4/15/2010 for the Bill I filed. I don’t see that happening. I don’t see… I don’t see those of you on your side of the aisle whether it was on recall, redistricting, campaign finance, Primary dates saying, I'm with you. Because I would bet you that everyone of you whether you're answering a survey, talking…"

"…talking to the media, talking to a friend at church, talking to a constituent at the door, that place in Springfield's out of control. I know we're an embarrassment, I know we're on late night talk shows, I know people around the country, if not the world, think we're a disgrace. And I'm going to do something about it. I am tired of what's going on in the State of Illinois and I'm going to file Bills and vote for changing Illinois government. Here's your opportunity. Here's your opportunity. One guy controls all of Illinois government, it's the Speaker of the House, let's not kid ourselves. One man, one man says it ain't going to happen. One man who's been here for 40 years says, I don’t like that so I'm not even going to let you vote on it. I'm not even going to let a Democrat have her vote on a Bill. Now, you tell everybody that you're for this stuff. I'm looking at the Daily Herald today, you apparently all filled out a survey, said you were for changing the way we were doing redistricting, said you were for changing in the way we do it where legislative Members draw their own boundaries. Wow, a novel concept, taking it out of the hands of 09600125.doc 24  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 125th Legislative Day 4/15/2010 Legislators. You said, I'm for changing that. A few minutes ago you all voted in the exact opposite way. Representative Franks, you're of the most vocal proponents of changing the way we do business in Springfield, but yet the opportunity presented itself today on campaign finance and on redistricting and you failed the people of your district in this state by voting with the one man who controls Illinois government. If you really don’t believe what you tell newspapers or your constituents or your friends or your families, then you oughta quit saying it. We are a disgrace. We have a financial picture that is as worse as it could be. And we have an ethics issue in this state that is as bad as it can be and we are not willing to break from the past. We're going to continue the status quo, we are going to do nothing to better our image, we are going to let one man control what goes on in this state. That's unacceptable. And you guys on your side of the aisle need to start being honest with your constituents and with the people of this state and vote with them, not with the one person that controls everything that happens politically and governmentally in the State of Illinois. Stand up and do what's right. The person whose Bill we're talking about today should at least have the courage to vote with us and stand up and say, I'm for campaign finance, the whole loaf, nothing but the whole loaf and I'm going to do that by standing up today and fighting for my Bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Did you take the time off of the applause from my time?"

"Thank you very much. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, I don’t know how many of you stayed in your districts over spring break, I did. My wife and I went out last Sunday and passed petitions from the Vermilion County Farm Bureau for the redistricting, the Fair Map Amendment. The easiest petition I've ever circulated. Thirty sheets in a very short period of time. You better pay attention to what's going on out there in the real world. There's an Amendment being circulated by John Bambenek called the Put- Back Amendment there are other Amendments out there…"

"Thank you, Sir. You may think that you can do this and they'll be no price to pay. I can tell you the citizenry of this state are as upset as I've ever seen them and thank goodness for that. They're demanding change. If you won't do it, they're going to do it. You know Karen May's Bill, 6200, just takes… just look at what it does. The Legislative Leader Caucus or political Party no limits, no limits on the General Election: a million, ten million, a billion. She puts down reasonable limits higher than… than our Bill: three hundred thousand for statewide candidate, a hundred and seventy-five thousand for a Senate candidate, a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars for a House and others, eighty-five thousand dollars for certain other county wide offices. It's still a lot of money, but to go 09600125.doc 26  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 125th Legislative Day 4/15/2010 from no limit to reasonable limits, it's time. You better get out your Bob Dylan song book and you better go over the lyrics to The Times They Are A-Changin'…"

"Point of personal privilege."

"Today we'd like to wish Ron Wait a happy birthday. I think there was a cake, but I think somebody ate it all already. Thank you. Happy birthday to Ron Wait."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I rise to a point of personal privilege and the challenge if I might to all of the Members of the House. This Session today was a complete waste of time and money to the taxpayers of Illinois. Now, I know we're not getting paid per diem anyway and you may never get paid, which is fine with me, but, I assume at some point they'll try to make up the days… the per diem days that we haven't been paid. And we sure earned our money today. I hate this beard. I'll shave half of it off, if you just let us… Mr. Speaker, if 09600125.doc 28  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 125th Legislative Day 4/15/2010 you just let us discuss the budget on the House Floor for a half an hour I'll shave half of it off. If you let us discuss the budget crisis for one hour, which we could do this afternoon, to see where we… if we could agree on cuts, if we could agree on what needs to be restored. We used to do that as a Committee of the Whole and work our way through the budget. No more, no more. Be put together in somebody's backroom, thrown on your desk on May the 7th given an hour to vote on it, nobody will know what's in it, probably a six month budget, maybe a nine month budget. You better go home and start talking to people this weekend. Your… your social services agencies are going to close before summer's over. My state's attorney hasn’t been paid in two months, my public defender hasn’t been paid in two months, the probation officers in Vermilion County haven't been paid in two months. How much longer do you think the criminal justice system will work in your counties as well as mine? It won't. They'll start to shut down on your watch. Maybe next week we can talk about the budget a little bit, Mr. Speaker. I know you'd love to do that, so would I. What a waste of time. We ought to be in embarrassed. And since this is live on the Internet, maybe we will eventually be embarrassed at what little we do for how much the taxpayers pay us."