Illinois House Floor Debate — March 24, 2015

"The House will be in order. Members will be in their chairs. We'll be led in prayer today by Pastor Tim McCormick, who is with Kingdom Authority Ministries International in Springfield. Pastor McCormick is the guest of Representative Butler. Members and guests are asked to refrain from starting their laptops, turn off cell phones, and rise for the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance. Pastor McCormick."

"We'll be led in the Pledge by Representative Stewart."

"Roll Call for Attendance. Leader Currie."

"Thank you, Speaker. Please let the record reflect that not a single House Democrat is excused today."

"As it should be. Leader Bellock."

"Thank you. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. There are 117 House Members in attendance, and we do have a quorum. Chair recognizes Representative Sente."

"Thank you. On behalf of Leader Sullivan and myself, I'd like to offer a warm Swing… Springfield welcome to Village Trustee from Mundelein, Holly Kim, and her husband, Ken Ning. Their daughters, Wendy and Kelly, are here as Pages today and 09900027.docx 3  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 27th Legislative Day 3/24/2015 their brother is up in the gallery, Malachi, watching. So welcome to Springfield."

"Welcome. Thank you, Representative. Mr. Meier."

"Proceed, Sir."

"Welcome to Springfield. Thank you, Mr. Meier. Chair recognizes Representative Bryant."

"Proceed, please."

"We are as well, thank you. Welcome. Representative Ammons."

"Thank you, Leader. Rise for a point of privilege, please."

"Proceed."

"Thank you. I'd like for the General Assembly to help welcome my 13-year-old son, Amir Ammons. He's here to serve us all week. And I hope that he is certainly accessible and available to you. Please welcome 7th grade Amir Ammons."

"Thank you for being with us today. Mr. Mitchell." Mitchell, B.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Point of personal privilege."

"Please proceed." Mitchell, B.: "Today, I would like to introduce to the House a young man, Thomas Young. Mr. Young is from Monticello, and his grandparents are in the gallery. So if they would stand up, let's give a big Illinois House welcome to these folks. Thanks for coming."

"Hello. Welcome to the House chamber. Representative Mussman."

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

"Go right ahead."

"So I just wanted us to welcome my Page for the day, and his father. This is Robert Grasse, and his father's up in the gallery, Ed Grasse. Thank you." 09900027.docx 5  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 27th Legislative Day 3/24/2015

"Happy you're here with us. Mr. Clerk, Committee Reports."

"Representative Mayfield."

"I just want to ask the… I'm sorry. Point of personal privilege. I'd like to ask everybody just to welcome my intern for the week, Chris Patterson. He is up in the gallery. He is going to be following me around to all the committees this week learning about all of our wonderful legislative procedures. Thank you."

"Welcome, happy you're with us. On page 6 of the Calendar, under the Order of House Bills-Second Reading, there appears House Bill 2416, Leader Durkin. Please read the Bill."

"Third Reading. And on page 8 of the Calendar there appears House Bill 3093, Leader Durkin. Please read the Bill."

"Third Reading. On page 4 of the Calendar, House Bill 318. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill." 09900027.docx 6  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 27th Legislative Day 3/24/2015

"Leader Currie."

"Thank you, Speaker. This Amendment was approved in the House Executive Committee today. I'd appreciate it if we could add the Amendment and then discuss the Bill."

"Those in favor of the Amendment will say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Mr. Clerk."

"Leader Currie."

"Same request."

"Those in favor of the Amendment will say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Please read the bill."

"Leader Currie."

"Thank you, Speaker and Members of the House. Everybody in this chamber knows that we face a $1.6 billion deficit before we can close the books on the current fiscal year, fiscal year '15. In order to avoid the disaster of entering budget discussions for the next fiscal year, the Governor, and the Leadership, the Republicans, and the Democrats have 09900027.docx 7  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 27th Legislative Day 3/24/2015 come together to try to find a way to fill the gap so that we can start discussions about the next budget year with a clean slate. The provisions of House Bill 318 as amended do exactly that. The $1.6 billion hole would be filled in several ways. First, we would use money in special funds that are not currently allocated and not needed to be used for those fund purposes. One point three billion dollars would be set aside to take care of our General Revenue Fund responsibilities. In addition, we would impose a 2.25 percent cut, not quite across the board but close, in the remainder of the fiscal year for all programs. The programs that would not be cut include pensions, include health care for state employees and would not include services to the mentally ill, the developmentally disabled, and to autistic children. But doing those items would make it possible for us to finish the year without finding ourselves behind the eight ball in fiscal '16. The Bill, additionally, would take care of our responsibilities to people who provide child care services in the State of Illinois. We would appropriate some $266 million to meet those needs for the remainder of the fiscal year. We would provide more that $100 million to the Department of Corrections to pay for guards. We would also fund court reporters. And in order to make sure that there is flexibility in the budget for the Governor, for the remainder of the year we would expand flexibility so that instead of a 2 percent opportunity to transfer funds from one line to another, there would be a 4 percent transferability. As well, we would give the Governor a $97 million lump sum so, to the extent that the State Board of Education identifies school districts at the absolute 09900027.docx 8  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 27th Legislative Day 3/24/2015 brink of financial disaster, that money can help fill the gap. And we would give the Governor additional flexibility by providing some $90 million so that he may fill other holes as they could develop in the budget between now and June 30. Speaker and Members of the House, we're in a crisis in the State of Illinois. We are in an emergency and anybody who is a grown up and is prepared to behave like a grown up should vote 'yes' on House Bill 318. It is a painful vote, but the pain is not as bad as it might have been. More than 80 percent of the filling of this budget gap will come from using special funds not needed for their intended purposes. Yes, there is pain in the 2.25 percent across the board cut, but that pain is mitigated in that most of the funding is not coming from the vulnerable, the fragile, the people who depend upon us in order to be able to make it in this world. If we do not vote 'yes' on House Bill 318, think of the cuts we will be forced to make in fiscal '16, the budget that begins July 1, 2015. Think how much more deeply we will help… have to hurt the people who are vulnerable and fragile; people in nursing homes, people on Medicaid, people who are… are waiting for services from the State Department of Children and Family Services and so forth. So I would be happy to answer your questions, but I have to say to each and every one of you, you came here to do what's needed to be done for the people of the State of Illinois. And unfortunately, I think you have to vote 'yes' for a Third Reading passage of House Bill 318. I invite your questions and I welcome your support."

"Leader Durkin." 09900027.docx 9  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 27th Legislative Day 3/24/2015

"All of them are… are perfectly fine. And we have a failsafe in the Bill so that in the event there was some encumbrance on a particular fund that the Governor's Office of Manage… Management and Budget…"

"Ladies and Gentlemen…"

"…will be able to make that whole."

"Excuse me, Leader Currie. This is one of our more important debates. Could we just hold it down to a dull roar, Ladies and Gentlemen, for at least a few minutes? Please proceed, Leader. I'm sorry to interrupt you."

"That’s exactly right."

"Exactly right. And again, if… if there's something that we didn’t know was encumbered that the… the Office of Management and Budget will be able to pay that responsibility." 09900027.docx 10  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 27th Legislative Day 3/24/2015

"Statutory transfers will continue and that would include the Local Government Distributive Fund."

"One of… yeah… the fund that is not being swept is the Open Space and Land Acquisition Fund."

"Absolutely right, which is important if the goal is to make sure we start the next budget year discussions without being encumbered by earlier responsibilities."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the Minority Leader needs to be heard on this issue. Could we please give him your attention?"

"Leader Mautino."

"Thank you. Some questions of the Sponsor."

"Please proceed. Sponsor yields."

"Majority Leader, thank you, for bringing forward the legislation before us today, and for Leader Durkin, and for those Members of Leadership, and the agencies, the Governor's Office that have worked together to bring a… an idea forward to be able to fund the balance of this year. We have had many… many difficult budget years. And not just going back to 2009, but if you go back to the Emergency Budget Act of 1992 under Edgar, the collapse of the state economy under Ryan. About every decade through here we have come through with Emergency Budget Acts. Today, we're allowing for sweeps. And so, to that question… and throughout the years I've run many of the sweeps Bills; sweeps, administrative chargebacks, and we have always placed protections into those Bills. And so, what I would like to ask the Majority Leader is for the purposes of the sweeps themselves, in the past, we have language which has said if the Bureau of Management and Budget overreaches on a sweep and that agency cannot fulfill its mission, what is the process or is there a process in the Bill to put that money back?"

"There is, and the Governor's Office of Management and Budget has authority under this Bill to see to it that encumbered funds are spent even if the fund they were supposed to come from was swept today." 09900027.docx 13  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 27th Legislative Day 3/24/2015

"In the language of the Bill, do you also have protections for… there… there are many funds throughout the… the thousands of funds that we deal with that are designated by federal dollars. Bullet taxes, those items which can be used only specifically to purchase lands otherwise we lose those parks and have to return the lands and properties. In the past, we have placed those protections inside there. Are they in this Bill?"

"They are in this Bill. There is a failsafe. If federal dollars would be denied because of the sweep, the money goes right back in."

"Now, in the past budgets from last year, we had dollars for school districts, and especially looking at downstate school districts, who, because we have had to, over the past five or six budgets, reduce transportation reimbursements, rely on them to utilize some of their reserves, about two- thirds or better of the downstate school districts find themselves this year in deficit. Now my understanding is, though the cuts will require about $150 million, the Governor will have discretion through the state board for those school districts to seek dollars. Can you tell me how that works?"

"It will work because the Governor will have $97 million in… in a bucket devoted to elementary and secondary schools. The State Board of Education will establish an application process so that schools that find themselves on the very brink will be able to apply and the Governor will be able to meet their immediate needs out of that additional money. We are giving the Governor flexibility. Flexibility so that, if there are unintended consequences, he has an additional $90 09900027.docx 14  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 27th Legislative Day 3/24/2015 million available to be able to fill gaps and he has 97 million available beyond the school aid formula to help schools that find themselves on the brink of closure."

"We have also given this administration additional authority to move money within agencies, I believe, on operational lines. And with this we had given to… during all times of crises, both parties: Edgar, Ryan, Blagojevich, Quinn, whenever we had those, we always have had the ability to move at least 2 percent that the Governor had in his authority. What have you done with this Bill?"

"And under this Bill, the Governor will have instead a 4 percent flexibility. And we've done even more than that for some Governors in times past."

"Thank you. I appreciate your work and the work of Leader Durkin, and the Governor's Office as well on a very, very difficult Bill. I do rise to support your legislation today. We need to do that as we go forward into 2016, which will be brutal. And this brought forward and was made necessary because of the rolling back of the tax increase; there was 1.2 billion. What I would ask the Governor's Office and all of the Members to look at is in the course of the Bill, there is a billion three in sweeps and there is about $300 million in cuts, so it does fill the $1.6 billion hole. What I think the Members should take a look in your own districts about is, in addition to that money, there has been funds and projects which are stopped and suspended. That’s over and above 1.6 billion. So, I think you're going to want to check the status on those to make sure that your cities, once reviewed, do receive that funding they were counting on. And 09900027.docx 15  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 27th Legislative Day 3/24/2015 with that, I would… I'm going to vote for your legislation and look forward to working into 2016, where we'll need to talk about additional cuts and about revenue."

"Mr. Franks."

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

"Sponsor yields."

"Representative… well, Majority Leader, thank you for carrying this. And I didn’t know much about this Bill until I read about it in Capitol Fax this morning. And that bothers me 'cause I'd like to be more involved and when we hear about these things… and you know, I don’t want to go back to the days when… when George Ryan did the budgets and they were all done with closed doors, you know, and we have these agreements. Because I believe the Speaker has really opened up the process in the last few years and I'd like to see it remain so. So, I'm not sure I understand this Bill completely and I want to ask some questions on it. The 2.25 percent cut that we're talking about equates to $300 million. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Now, I'm not sure how that works. Is it the 2.25 percent? Is that annualized or does…"

"No."

"…the 2.25 all…"

"Two… 2.25 percent reduction in current year spending."

"So, we only have a few months left in the current year."

"That’s right."

"So, for a full year it would… it would then equate to about .6…" 09900027.docx 16  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 27th Legislative Day 3/24/2015

"Two point two…"

"….06?"

"It's 2.25 percent across the year."

"Across the year."

"Right."

"But it's all going to be put in in these last three months?"

"And for many that'll… that will work. People… the providers are on different kinds of schedules and so forth and so on. Some agencies have been reserving money for some time."

"Okay. Are we making sure that we're not going to lose any federal matches?"

"Yes. We have two provisions, one has to do with the sweeps. If any of the money that is swept turns out to be important for garnering federal funds, OMB will have the authority to go back in and spend the money. Second, when it comes to changes in the Medicaid program, if the Federal Government says you can't do this or you risk federal reimbursement, then that cut will be rescinded."

"And I understand that part of the sweeps we're looking at are the Road Funds and that’s a large…"

"The what? Yeah. Yeah."

"…the Road Funds which are about a quarter of a billion dollars. How will that affect…"

"I'm sorry. Would you start that question over?"

"I'm sorry. One of the funds that I see are looking to be swept is the Road Fund, and that’s about a quarter of a billion dollars. How will that affect any existing projects?" 09900027.docx 17  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 27th Legislative Day 3/24/2015

"I have here a letter from the acting Con… Chief Financial Officer at the Department of Transportation. The results of the revised model with this legislation show that while the projected available balances are lower at set forth, they are still positive. Even with the proposed sweeps, the department would still be able to match all of its currently expected federal funds and deliver the FY16 annual element of the highway program at the introduced level of $1.85 billion."

"And would that also hold true for the Motor Fuel Tax besides the Road Fund?"

"Yes. The Road Fund, the State Construction Account Fund, and the Motor Fuel Tax Fund."

"Can I ask you about the school funding. Because I believe there is some cuts to school funding, but I also understand there's a separate pot of money being put back in to get people to the… I'm sorry… to the bottom line where they have to be for the school state aid. Could you explain that to me?"

"Yeah. So, yes, there is a cut in school funding as there is across the board for most programs. But there is also an additional $97 million that the Governor may use at his discretion working with the State Board of Education if there are some school districts that are so adversely affected by these cuts that they are close to closing their doors."

"Okay. Are there… are there any reduction in the Local Distribution Fund to our municipalities?"

"No."

"Speaker Madigan to close."

"Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, let me compliment Representative Currie for a very good explanation of the Bill. Let me compliment Leader Durkin for speaking directly to the heart of the issue. This is a request from our new Governor, Governor Rauner. The Governor claims that the current budget, the current budget for this fiscal year, is $1.6 billion out of balance. No one, no one in the Legislature has contested the Governor's claim; and therefore, we ought to proceed on the understanding the claim of a $1.6 billion out of balance is accurate. This Bill addresses that problem. It does a variety of cuts. Of course, we would rather not do the cuts, but as Representative Currie explained, over 80 percent of the correction in the Bill comes from special funds. Money sitting in accounts where a determination has been made that the money in the accounts will not be needed for the balance of this fiscal year. Eighty percent of the correction comes from special funds. The remainder comes from cuts. At one point, the proposal was that the cuts would be across the board, now there are exceptions. Three notable exceptions would be developmentally disabled, mental health, and the autism program. At the same time, in a later Bill, we will address the current need for additional funding in child care, at the Department of Corrections to make prison payrolls, and in the area of court reporters for the court system. This is not a perfect Bill. It's not a perfect solution. Some might say it's not pretty, but it responds to the Governor's request. It responds to the 09900027.docx 19  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 27th Legislative Day 3/24/2015 problem. It ought to be supported. I recommend an 'aye' vote. Thank you."

"Those in favor of the Bill will vote 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Fine, Franks, Moylan, Thapedi. Mr. Moylan. Please take the record, Mr. Clerk. On this question, there are 69 voting 'yes', 48 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Page 3 of the Calendar, House Bills-Second Reading, House Bill 317, Leader Currie. Please read the Bill."

"Leader Currie."

"Adoption of Amendment 1, then we can discuss the Bill on Third."

"Those in favor of the Amendment will say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Please read the Bill."

"Leader Currie."

"Thank you, Speaker. This is the… the companion Appropriations Bill to the substantive Bill we just adopted. I ask for your support. Happy to answer your questions. I'll take the same Roll Call." 09900027.docx 20  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 27th Legislative Day 3/24/2015

"Those in favor of the Bill will vote 'yes'; opposed… Please hold that, Mr. Clerk. Let's try this again. Those in favor of the Bill will vote 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Please record yourselves. Gable, Golar, Jackson, Mayfield, Thapedi. Mr. Thapedi. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 72 voting 'yes', 45 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On page 19 of the Calendar, under the Order of Motions in Writing, there are several Bills where Sponsors have filed written Motions to Table. We'll do these in one Motion. House Bill 2428, Mr. Kay; House Bill 2437, Mr. Kay; House Bill 2764 Mr. Kay; House Bill 2784, Mr. Kay; House Bill 3367, Mr. Zalewski; House Bill 3935, Mr. Zalewski; House Bill 4012, Leader Feigenholtz. Each of these Members has moved to table their Bill. Is there leave? Seeing no objection, leave is granted. And each of these Bills is tabled. On page 17 on the Calendar, under the Order of Resolutions, there appears House Joint Resolution 15, Mr. Davidsmeyer. Mr. Clerk."

"Mr. Davidsmeyer."

"Body will be in a moment of silence. Thank you, Mr. Davidsmeyer. Mr. Butler."

"Those in favor of the Resolution will vote 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The voting is open. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 116 voting 'yes' and 1 voting 'present'. And the Resolution is adopted. House Resolution 141, Representative Lilly. Please proceed."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen of the General Assembly, today I present House Resolution 141 which designates March as Poison Prevention Month. March, as Poison Prevention Month, will promote Illinoisans to educate themselves about potential harmful substance in their home and take steps to create a healthy, safe, and playful work environment in their communities. Also, as you may know, 50 percent of more than 800 thousand poisons involve children under the age of five and they can be perme… prevented. Therefore, today I would also like to thank the Illinois Poison Center for providing timely poison prevention education and treatment to the people of Illinois for over the past 60 years. They are one of the oldest and largest poison prevent… poison centers in the nation. In the gallery today, we do have some of their representation; Dr. Carol DesLauriers, Vickie Dance, and Connie Fischbein. Can we give them a Springfield welcome, please? They have been working diligently to make sure that our homes, our communities are 09900027.docx 23  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 27th Legislative Day 3/24/2015 safe from poisons. With that being said, and there's no question, I ask for an 'aye' vote."

"Those in favor of the Resolution will say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And the Resolution is adopted. House Resolution 155, Mr. Moffitt. Please proceed, Sir."

"Thank you, Mr. Moffitt. Those in favor of the Resolution will say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And the Resolution is adopted. Chair recognizes Mr. Sullivan for an introduction."

"Proceed." 09900027.docx 24  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 27th Legislative Day 3/24/2015

"Welcome aboard. Mr. Clerk, Agreed Resolutions."

"Leader Currie moves for the adoption of the Agreed Resolutions. Those in favor say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And the Agreed Resolutions are adopted. Mr. Clerk, committee announcements. Members, please pay attention to the Clerk."

"And now, leaving perfunctory time for the Clerk, Leader Currie moves that the House stand adjourned 'til Wednesday, March 25 at the hour of 1 p.m. Those in favor say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And the House does stand adjourned 'til tomorrow, Wednesday, March 21 at the hour… 25 at the hour of 1 p.m."