Illinois House Floor Debate — April 22, 2016

"The House will be in order. Members will please be in their chairs. The House will be in order. We shall be led in prayer today by Lee Crawford, the pastor of the Cathedral of Praise Christian Center in Springfield. 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 Crawford."

Speaker Lang: "Be led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Representative Wojcicki Jimenez." Jimenez – et al: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

"Roll Call for Attendance. Leader Currie."

"Thank you, Speaker. Please let the record reflect the excused absences of Representatives Acevedo, Chapa LaVia, 09900123.docx 1  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 Monique Davis, Dunkin, Feigenholtz, Riley, Scherer, and Soto."

"Mr. Brown."

"Mr. Clerk, please take the record. There are 108 Members answering the roll, we do have a quorum. Mr. Clerk, Committee Reports."

"Mr. Clerk. Adjournment Resolution."

"Leader Currie moves for the adoption of the Adjournment Resolution. Those in favor say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And the Adjournment Resolution is adopted. House Bill 6200, on the Order of Third Reading, Representative Ammons. Please read the Bill."

"Representative Ammons."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning to the General Assembly. House Bill 6200, the family connections Bill, will put a reasonable cap on rates for… of calls from prisons and eliminate commissions. These commissions are a kickback to the prisons for an exclusive monopoly contract to provide services to captive audiences. The family connection Bill is a consumer protection Bill. The consumers protected are the family members outside of the prison industrial complex who pay extremely high costs to stay in contact with their loved ones inside. For every dollar these poor families spend to stay in touch with their loved ones, 76 cents currently goes to commission kickbacks that Illinois receives. One of the highest rates in the country. This Bill eliminates the clear moral hazard of the commission system where prisoners have every… where prisons have every incentive to choose contracts that collect exorbitant commission amounts from families. We want this Bill to pass today because it's an anti-poverty Bill. Most of the people who are paying this exorbitant cost are women, grandmothers, aunts and family members who can 09900123.docx 3  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 least afford the additional cost. This has happened in 10 other states in this country and we want Illinois to be the eleventh to end the kickbacks. I'd ask for an 'aye' vote."

"Mr. Sandack."

"Sponsor yields."

"Yes."

"So the FCC ruled, back in October, to cap the rates for interstate calls across the country, but that did not include the commissions. So the commissions are on top of the rate and each state has to deal with its own commission to lower that cost, regardless to what the FCC does."

"What they set was an 11 cents rate."

"Eleven cents."

"Correct." 09900123.docx 4  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"So DOC actually… did not actually have the discretion on this issue until just 2016.”

“This was decided by Central Management Services, had nothing to do with Department of Corrections, and so any revenue that may have been generated initially was being filtered to CMS, not DOC."

"Yes, we do."

"Actually, the rate came from the research that was done by the Federal Communications Commission. When they looked across the state, they saw that there was a patchwork of rates and that the companies actually reported that they made significant revenue in the billions of dollars at five cents a minute."

"DOC says, please the more the merrier, because we get a greater commission."

"Seventy-six percent…"

"…is saying the more the merrier, we get the commission."

"Well, that's been found factually by FCC that price gouging is going on."

"Okay."

"No. DOC doesn't actually have expense that they demonstrated in relationship to telephone calls."

"They have not demonstrated any expense in relationship to telephone calls."

"Oh, I do… I do think we have overhead costs now, but the people of the State of Illinois already pay sales tax, property tax, taxes to fund the Department of Corrections through the General Fund. This is on top for only a certain segment of the population to pay this extra rate."

"I'll just remind you that the vendor… all the costs are part of the vendor contracts. So they do already pay that."

"I think that is a different discussion in some way, Mr. Sandack. This is why that's a different discussion. We have programs already, right, they don't actually use them for books. We provide that…"

"Oh, I know that personally because there's a program called Books to Prisoners that provide all of the books in the prisons today…"

"…in the State of Illinois."

"And that's a great point."

"So, currently, all the services, if there are any, and you can talk to inmates and they would disagree, but whatever it is they… those things…"

"They… there would be an example that all of these services are already paid for by inmates. Commissions, contracts, all of that."

"DOC have said many things and I can't pinpoint which one is true, nor can I provide that factually to you. What I do know is that the commission is being paid by poor families for no reason except that there's a kickback. So I'm telling you that if you and I…"

"It is a charged term."

"Let me tell you why I use the term kickback because that's in essence, the contract goes to the highest bidder. And so you and I…"

"If you and I did that, actually, and get paid back we would actually go to jail for the very same thing that they're doing."

"That's correct."

"I actually did…"

"Well, there are a few people that have already gone to jail for kickbacks, I'm told."

"A few people…"

"…that have gone to jail in the past for kickbacks through DOC. A plumber’s contracting."

“It’s a normal thing, right?”

"And we're trying to end that practice; that's exactly why."

"Representative Nekritz."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. You know, I… Representative Ammons knows certainly a lot more about the 09900123.docx 9  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 ins and outs of what goes on in these contract than I do, but it just seems to me at that… in this day what when, you know, can call all over the country for a… with no long distance charge, you know, for a very regular monthly fee that to have this kind of a system in place for prisoners just doesn't make sense. I mean, that's all we're doing is just… is making money off of them for a service that… that should not cost all that much money. And I don't argue that we shouldn't be reimbursing DOC for, you know, for… that they shouldn't be recovering their costs on that, but their costs cannot be what… what is currently contemplated in… in this contract. And from a… from a rehabilitative perspective, we… we want folks that remain connected to family and community have lower recidivism rates, do better when they get out and so this is the kind of behavior we should be encouraging, not discouraging by slapping an add… a huge fee on their ability to communicate with loved ones. I think this is a very important Bill; we should be voting 'aye'. This… this has been a problem in… in Illinois and across the country for decades and we have the ability to solve it today. I'd ask for your support."

"Representative Ammons to close."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to address a couple things that was said by the great Gentleman on the other side. The interesting part of this discussion is that it's not a new one. I'm a new Member to the House of Representatives here, but many Members before me have been trying to work on this… what I would consider a very unfair practice in the State of Illinois. Representative Monique Davis worked on 09900123.docx 10  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 this for years before I got here. Several Members of the Senate have worked on this for years. They've never been able to tie this process down, to end the exploitation, unfortunately, of people who are incarcerated. So this time, what we ask for you to do is to join the other states. There are 10 other states who have already done this, who've eliminated this commission, so that we can lower the rate in our state. And I ask for an 'aye' vote."

"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, Members. Please record yourselves. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 53 voting ‘yes’, 55 voting ‘no’. And the Lady asks for Postponed Consideration. Senate Bill 2… I'm sorry. Senate Bill 2059, Leader Currie. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Leader Currie."

"Thank you. I'd like to defer to Representative Mayfield."

"Representative Mayfield on 2059."

"Thank you, everyone. We had a very full debate yesterday when we were moving this Bill from… when we were moving the Amendment for this Bill. I think we are pretty much all on the same page. All of the questions ha… should've been addressed either during debate or last night. I know a lot of Members actually had an opportunity to talk to staff and to each other to get clarification on what this Bill does and does not do. This… I want to clarify that the intent of 09900123.docx 11  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 this Bill is stopgap funding. It is not an FY16 fix; it is not the FY17 fix. This is just to get money to our universities, our students and our community colleges as well as MSA. I ask…"

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we had a very, very thorough conversation on this yesterday, a very thorough debate. We're going to hear from Leader Durkin and then we’re going to hear from one person on opposition. And then we're going to have a Roll Call. Leader Durkin is recognized."

"That is correct. Everything's the same."

"Mr. Franks, do you rise on opposition?"

"Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker…"

"You are recognized."

"Thank you. I know I'm a… I know this Bill's going to pass. I understand that. We all want to see schools being funded and because of our terrible job that we've done here in Springfield, we've created hostage situations at every 09900123.docx 12  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 level. We've… because of our actions, our social service agencies are crumbling in this state; they're closing all around us. Because of our actions, poor people who want to go to college can't go to college because they can't get their MAP grants. Because of our actions, we are losing thousands of people moving out of Illinois. Because of our actions, our universities lost 16 thousand people last year. That's like… that's the equivalent of losing an entire Northern Illinois University. We have created a political freak show and a financial Armageddon for our state. So when it comes to crises, we careen from crisis to crisis trying to put a stopgap measure and then saying, okay, aren't we great, we saved a school from closing temporarily. We haven't shot the hostages yet; we're giving them a temporary reprieve because the funds that are here may, may, not positive, may get them through to September 1 when they're supposed to open for their fall sessions, while at the same time, we're leaving hundreds of thousands of our citizens… just left… just kicked aside. So instead of having half measures, instead of doing… doing it like we're doing, why don't we come together and actually pass a real budget. I've heard the Governor say he didn't want a piecemeal budget, but now, apparently, it's okay to do a piecemeal budget. Well, if that's okay, maybe that… that we should be sitting here and stay all weekend and let's work together now that we have a little bit of momentum. We've also heard the Governor say that he's not going to do anything unless it's tied, unless it's tied to his union-busting agenda, but now we've seen that that's not part of this. Well perhaps, that might be something very important going 09900123.docx 13  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 forward, that perhaps he will no longer and you will no longer… on the other side of the aisle be very clear on this, that you will no longer have to be tied… no longer have to be tied to a union-busting ideology that most of you don't even agree with. Because that's what's got us here. Yesterday, courageously, many of you voted for a property tax relief Bill that an hour later the Governor criticized because, gee, it didn't bust unions, it can't be good enough. Now he's saying he's going to vote for this… he wants us to pass this Bill, but it doesn't have the same union-busting language that he insisted on everywhere else. So perhaps, the one silver lining on this is perhaps, just perhaps, we can take our ideology and leave it somewhere else and work together to come forward to bring our state forward, to save our state. Folks, we are imploding. This is no different than ancient Rome; we are fiddling while Rome burns. Let's not pretend that this is somehow a victory because what this is, is only, is only, delaying the inevitable. So let's work together and get this done but don't be too proud after this passes because all we've done is delay unless we change how we go forward. I'm going to vote 'no' out of protest. I know it's going to pass, but we need to do much better."

"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? Ammons? Please take the record. On this question, there are 106 voting ‘yes’, 2 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. 09900123.docx 14  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 Clerk, HJRCA36. Please read this Constitutional Amendment for a third time."

"On the Order of Third Reading, HJRCA36, Mr. Phelps is recognized."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 36. I 09900123.docx 17  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 first want to say, I want to thank the road builders, the Chamber, IDOT, Representative Fortner, the Operators 150 and also I want to go back in time a little bit and thank our good friend, Bill Black. He brought this up many years ago and I think it's long overdue. This Constitutional Amendment will make sure that taxes collected from the motor fuel tax will only be used on transportation related projects only. Too many times we had funds that have been swept. This is undoubtedly going to make sure that that money is going to be used for projects in our transportation system. It's a jobs Bill and I just ask for its adoption."

"Mr. Sandack."

"Sponsor yields."

"That's exactly right."

"Absolutely."

"I have none… and a matter of fact because we amended it the other day, Ron, they… they are totally fine."

"All opponents are off."

"Thank you, Ron." 09900123.docx 18  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Thanks, Ron."

"Mr. Davidsmeyer."

Speaker Lang: "Thank you, Sir. Representative Flowers is recognized."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to congratulate the Gentleman on this very important Resolution because it is about creating jobs. And I think downstate has done itself a disservice for such a long time because they were so busy building prisons and keeping people locked up. And as a result of this, instead of having bodies locked up, we will have the money locked in a box to create jobs and make the roads and bridges safe for everyone in the State of Illinois. And I commend you, Representative, for bringing forth this Resolution."

"Mr. Fortner."

"Sponsor yields."

"Sure. And Representative, thank you for… 'cause I know you were one of the main Sponsors on this before, so thank you for your hard work on this as well."

"Yeah. It does not apply… does not apply to state and local taxes on the sale of motor fuel. But you are correct, the Constitutional Amendment is not intended to apply to moneys raised by state and local sales taxes on the sale of motor fuel. State sales tax moneys raised on the sale of motor fuel, for example, are deposited into GRF and not indicated for transportation purposes. I have discussed this matter with the Senate Sponsor of the Amendment as well as the Amendment's House cosponsors. We are in agreement that the Amendment is not intended to apply to state and local sales tax moneys on the sale of motor fuel."

"Yes, I do, as do my colleagues, cosponsors of the Constitutional Amendment. Thank you for your questions to clarify this matter for purposes of legislative intent, Representative Fortner."

"Representative Fortner, yes, that is correct because the current distribution of moneys from the State Motor Fuel Tax are dedicated to transportation purposes only."

"Yes. Those moneys from the RTA sales tax and the City of Chicago's Real Estate tax… Transfer Tax are protected by the Constitutional Amendment that we have before us."

"No. Federal funds are not covered by this Constitutional Amendment ‘cause Federal Law controls what purposes those moneys may be spent on."

"Yes. Those moneys could continue to be shared with charitable organizations, so long as the full regular license plate fee is paid and used for transportation purposes only."

"Yes. Transportation moneys could be spent on those activities based on subsection (b) of the Amendment which states that moneys may be spent on maintenance, operation, and administration of highways as well as costs associated with the enforcement of traffic, railroad, and motor carrier laws."

"Yeah and this was very important. I agree with you. Subsection (b) of the Constitutional Amendment states that transportation moneys can be spent on costs for the betterment of mass transit, intercity passenger rail and other forms of transportation, Representative Fortner."

"Those in favor of the adoption of the Resolution will vote 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The voting is open. This requires 71 votes. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Please record yourselves. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 98 voting 'yes', 4 voting 'no', 2 voting 'present'. And the Resolution is adopted. The Chair recognizes Mr. Phillips."

"Please proceed, Sir."

"Thank you, Sir, and welcome both of you to the House chamber. Mr. Meier." 09900123.docx 23  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Thank you, Sir. HJRC5, Mr. McSweeney. Proceed, Sir."

"Excuse me, one second, Sir. Has this been read a third time, Mr. Clerk?"

"Thank you. You may proceed, Sir."

"Mr. Breen."

"Sponsor yields." 09900123.docx 25  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Here's what we're going to do. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to quiet down in the chamber."

"No. We're… we're going to quiet down in the chamber."

"I don't care how long it takes. I don't know about the rest of you, but I would like to get our work finished today. How about that? Mr. Breen."

"Mr. Harris." Harris, D.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, before I address the Resolution, I'd like to make a… an observation on what the previous speaker just said. He said that as an experiment we teamed the Governor and Lieutenant Governor together as a ticket. Well, to show you that I've been around here too long and to give you some sense of a little bit of history, it doesn't… it wasn't an experiment. It actually goes back to the 1986 Gubernatorial Election when the Democrat Lieutenant Gubernatorial candidate happened to be a LaRouche, won the… the Democrat nomination for Lieutenant Governor and Adlai Stevenson won the Democratic nomination for Governor and Adlai Stevenson was not about to run with a LaRouche candidate as his Lieutenant Governor candidate. So he actually went out and formed a separate party called the Solidarity Party, which of course didn't help him win the election, which he didn't do and he 09900123.docx 31  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 lost to… to Jim Thompson. So it wasn't an experiment, it was quite frankly, a very deliberate effort to make sure that the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor pair up and work together and the voters elect a team to help them lead the state. So, let me just turn to the Resolution for a second. As the Sponsor said, there are seven states that don't have a… a Lieutenant Governor position. Well, that's technically correct; however, there are two states which do indeed provide for someone to serve as Lieutenant Governor, specifically, West Virginia and Tennessee. They have… they're either President of the Senate or what they call the Speaker of the Senate serve as Lieutenant Governor, so they do have a Lieutenant Governor's position. So that leaves five states without a Lieutenant Governor's position. So, if we abolish the Lieutenant Governor's position, Illinois, the fifth largest state in the union, a state of 13… 12.5 million people, fifth largest state in the union. We'd be right up there with, let's see, Wyoming and we'd be right up there with Maine, and we'd be right up there with New Hampshire. There you go. Let's see, New Hampshire has a… a budget of about one point… excuse me, has a budget of about $6.5 billion, with 1.3 million people. Maine has 1.3 million people with a budget of $5 billion and Wyoming, now Wyoming, no Lieutenant Governor, they've got 600 thousand people and a budget of $6 billion. Population wise we are 10 times bigger than those other states. We are at least eight times… nine times bigger when it come to a budget, but we want to put ourselves on the par with Maine and New Hampshire and Wyoming. We're a big state, big companies have CEOs and COOs, a team 09900123.docx 32  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 that runs the company. We are a big state. Now oftentimes, to show you again I've been around here too long, I was around here when… when Dave O'Neal, who was Governor Thompson's Lieutenant Governor, said, well, I don't want to be the Lieutenant Governor anymore and he just left office and it was vacant. And Bob Kustra, who was State Senator, who became Lieutenant Governor, said well, I'm going to do something else, and he left the Lieutenant Governor's Office. And for a period of time, the Lieutenant Governor's Office was vacant. And when Governor, former Governor Quinn, who was Lieutenant Governor ascended to the Governor's Office after Governor Blagojevich's impeachment, the Lieutenant Governor's Office was vacant. So yes, there are periods of time when it is and can be vacant, but that doesn't mean that the relationship between the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor cannot be positive. It doesn't mean that the Lieutenant Governor cannot be assigned important responsibilities, such as the current Lieutenant Governor was given the responsibility to oversee a task of seeing how we might consolidate all of our excess units of government in the State of Illinois. So the Lieutenant Governor can have very important functions as was mentioned by the previous speaker in terms of ceremonial functions. And in terms of a budget, let's look at the idea of savings. It’s been said that the Lieutenant Governor's Office was $1.6 million. Well, that's not entirely right. For FY14 the Lieutenant Governor's Office was $1.4 million, for FY15 it was $1.4 million, for FY16 the proposed budget by this Governor was $1.25 million, and for FY17 it's $1.52 million. Okay. It's a million dollars; a million dollars is 09900123.docx 33  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 not chump change and we could do away with it… we could do away with spending $1.25 million by doing away with the office. However, if you don't want to spend $1.25 million, guess what? The Lieutenant Governor's Office has to come before the General Services Appropriations Committee and ask for a budget. And three or four years ago, we cut that budget by 25 percent. We said… Sheila Simon was the Lieutenant Governor, we said what you're doing is duplicative of other services and the committee said we're going to cut your budget by 25 percent. And that's exactly what we did. So my point is this, if we don't want to spend $1.25 million, when the Lieutenant Governor comes to the General Services Appropriations Committee, we appropriate a hundred thousand or two hundred thousand, but we still have the office. And I think that's the point. Now, I realize this… this Resolution passed with 83 votes last time around; it'll probably fly out of here this time around. That doesn't make it right. It doesn't make it the right thing to do for a state that has a $30-plus billion budget that has 1.3… excuse me, that has 13… nearly 13 million people. We're a big operation, we deserve to have both a Governor as well as a Lieutenant Governor and the issue that was brought up earlier about succession is very real. I like the Attorney General, I really do. But I will tell you that if we didn't have the Lieutenant Governor and the current Governor, who is a Republican, was somehow incapacitated or worse and couldn't perform his office, I don't want that Attorney General, who is of a different Party, ascending to the office of Governor. I want somebody who was elected as a team with the Governor… the people elected as a 09900123.docx 34  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 team with the Governor to ascend that office. So again, I certainly think this is going to pass; however, I don't think it's the right idea. I encourage a 'no' vote."

"Mr. Martwick."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A few questions of the Sponsor."

"Sponsor yields."

"So, Dave, I don't want to go too far over what's been said. I… I'm just curious, like, when you… when you were drafting this Amendment, obviously, succession is a concern and I think for both sides, you know, you… you want that smooth transition if something were to happen. Was there no way to build that into this Amendment?"

“Right.”

"Yeah and… and to that point, you know, I… I'm a big fan of democracy. As you know, I run some democracy forward issues, elected school boards and what not, but I wonder about that Constitutional Amendment, and I'm not suggesting it's a 09900123.docx 35  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 bad idea here, I generally like to turn to the voters. But I wonder if there is an imbalance at some point, right, where we say to ourselves, well, we got elected to make decisions and… and punting to the voters, while sometimes we want them to weigh in, sometimes I think they want us to make decisions. And you know, I… as I was sitting here listening to the debate I think, well, it might be very easy politically to get rid of the Lieutenant Governor, but you know, if we allow constantly changing the structure of our government, there might be a time when a particular Governor, right, we can pass a Constitutional Amendment that says, hey, we don't need a Governor. And at certain times people might like that idea, right. So, sometimes we're supposed to be the voice of reason. We're supposed to make the decisions. I haven’t decided how I'm going to vote here, but I… I think that this could be tightened up for the voters to give them a little bit more certainty. I really think the lack of orderly succession, it… it really is troubling to me, so I… I don't know if you would consider putting that in or not, but you know, I think that's important."

"Thank you."

"Mr. Franks."

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

"Sponsor yields." 09900123.docx 36  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"First of all, David, thank you for allowing me to be a chief cosponsor. I've stood with you before on this and I really appreciate you bringing this forward. Can you tell us, is this the exact same Bill that we passed out of here a few years ago with 83 votes?"

"Okay. And are you getting support for this Bill? Has anybody… has anybody come out against this Bill?"

"Has anyone… was there any opposition in committee? Was there anyone who weighed in on any opposition?"

"Has the Governor weighed in on this?"

"Yeah. I… again, I appreciate you bringing this. I… I'd like to comment on a few things. To the… to the Amendment… to the Constitutional Amendment. I heard one of my friends talk about one of the criticisms is how can we allow the succession to be perhaps from one Party to another? Like, gee, that… that would just be terrible because then we wouldn't have the continuity. I'm not sure what he's seeing, but I don't think things are working so well right now. Okay. Perhaps, having to work together across the aisle might actually be a good thing. I don't think anyone would accuse Illinois of being a model of government efficiency. One of the arguments, it sounds like you're worried that we might become dysfunctional 09900123.docx 37  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 if people from the other side got involved. Ladies and Gentlemen, we are dysfunctional. What we have now does not work. Now I… I hope that this passes today, but let's not kid ourselves, this will not pass in the Senate. And you want to know why? Because we saw yesterday a bunch of hypocrites, who not only sponsored and voted for this Bill a few years ago, went through a series of gymnastics to justify their pathetic flip-flop. Now the only thing that changed was the Party that controlled the office. A couple years ago it was a great idea when a Democrat had it, but this year all of a sudden it's just an awful idea when a Republican has it. And we wonder why our state is in dysfunction, because it's politics 24-7, 100 percent of the time. It's not about what's good for the people, it's only about what's good for the insiders. Our state motto ought to be, where's mine? Because that's what this… that's what it's about. Ladies and Gentlemen, let's be honest, this is a ceremonial post. It is an expensive, needless, insurance policy. When then Lieutenant Governor Quinn ascended to the Governorship after we impeached him no one noticed that the Lieutenant Governor's Office was vacant. Actually, our Constitution requires that if there's a vacancy that it remain vacant because it doesn’t do anything. This isn't about personalities; this is about an old system that no longer is part of the 21st century. If we're ever going to reform government, if we're ever going to ask for citizens to do… to do with less and for government to do with less, we must lead by example. And frankly, the only job description I can think for the Lieutenant Governor is to wake up in the morning, read the obituary, and see if they won the lottery. 09900123.docx 38  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 That's it. There are nothing else that they do, anything else could be moved over. Let's not kid ourselves. This needs to go. Let's send a message over to the Senate that we're serious about reforming Illinois, and that we're about reforming our government, and doing the right thing. And let's put it back over there and make them rethink their stupid vote yesterday. Please vote 'aye'."

"Representative Williams."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Amendment. Certainly, this is a popular idea. Certainly, it polls really well, but to me it strikes me as governing by gimmick. Frankly, we're doing all too much of that lately. Our higher institutions are on the brink of closure. Our debt is piling up. Our human service programs are being decimated to the point that the most vulnerable among us are being left out in the cold. Chicago public schools continue to be in fiscal crisis. Feels today like we're pandering to the voters instead of doing the real work we need to do. That's why I will not be supporting this."

"Mr. Mitchell." Mitchell, B.: "Thank you… thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the… would the Sponsor yield?"

"Sponsor yields." Mitchell, B.: "And Representative, I sponsored this Constitutional Amendment 'X' number of years ago and I'll support it. And I don't… Mike, this question might have been asked and I apologize if it has and I'm going to be repetitive. How many times in the last three decades has that office been vacant?" 09900123.docx 39  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Mr. McSweeney to close."

"This requires 71 votes. Those in favor of the Gentleman's Motion 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. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 95 voting ‘yes’, 10 voting ‘no’. And the House adopts the Resolution. HJRCA33, Mr. Sandack. Out of the record. HJRCA59, Mr. Mitchell. I understand this has been read a third time, Mr. Clerk? This has not been read a third time? We… we're just going to move it to third so just place this on the Order of Third Reading. House Bill 6213. Representative Ammons. Please read the Bill." 09900123.docx 40  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Representative Ammons."

"Thank you. 6213, it reduces the information gap that currently exists for Medicaid recipients in managed care and it increases overall transparency within the Medicaid managed care system. HFS and the Illinois Association of Medicaid Health Plans are neutral on this Bill. I have no opposition. And it passed the committee 14-0. I ask for an 'aye' vote."

"Representative Gabel."

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

"Sponsor yields."

"So, thank you for bringing this Bill to the floor, Representative. I appreciate the work that you've done with the department and… and the Medicaid managed care agencies. I think you've done great work. It is still keeping the integrity of the Bill by making many compromises. So one of my concerns has always been with the quality of services provided by managed care companies. And how does your Bill address that?"

"Thank you for the question. Right now, Representative, the Medicaid enrollees have no information on how well one plan is performing over another. 6213 requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to create a plan quality comparison tool that will allow consumers to compare the quality of Medicaid health plans that they have to pick from. Medicaid and private health insurance plans are increasingly moving towards consumers being able to make informed… informed apples to apples and comparisons when they choose a 09900123.docx 41  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 health care plan. This Bill would allow Medicaid enrollees to do that and make it much easier for them to make selections."

"I… again, I appreciate this Bill; I think it's incredibly important. Millions of people will have… will be having to choose their plans and I think it's really important for them to know what the quality of these plans are."

"Thank you."

"So, thank you, again, and I urge an 'aye' vote."

"Mr. Sandack."

"Sponsor yields."

"I'm sorry. I… I can't hear you. I can't hear your question. I'm sorry."

"So they… they do have to publish information on their website right now. The problem is that some of the information is outdated and it's not updated regularly. This Bill allows us to update that information more regularly, to take doctors out of network that may not be in network anymore, and to make the process for consumer selection much easier."

“Right.” 09900123.docx 42  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

“Right.”

"That's correct."

"Thank you."

"Representative Wallace."

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

"Sponsor yields."

"I want to say thank you, Representative Ammons, for this particular piece of legislation. I've actually looked at some of these plan formularies. They're actually pretty challenging for individuals to understand. And I think it's very important for my constituents to know how the plan that they're picking or enrolling in actually covers medication and if there are any other requirements that kind of go along with the plan. I'm wondering, does your Bill, the 6213, actually do anything about the medication formularies and the Medicaid managed ca… managed care situation because that's been a major concern of some of the… some of my constituents."

"Thank you so much. Some of the questions that we've had, I've had from my office is, you know, I don't know how to choose these formularies. And so this Bill is going to make this much clearer for them to understand, put it in clear English for people to make a selection when they go on the website. It requires the plans to clearly show how the 09900123.docx 43  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 formularies were last updated. How consumers can report information to the Medicaid managed care plan if the formulary is inconsistent or if there needs to be some corrections on the list. And so the Bill will make it much easier for people to make their selections through the formulary process."

"Thank you. Thank you, Representative Ammons. To the Bill. I… I know that it's very difficult for individuals to kind of understand how these formularies work in terms of what medication will be provided for them. And I… I stand in strong support of this particular legislation because it… it just kind of sets the tone. It sets a commonsense provision for those who are having to deal with the Illinois Medicaid managed care system. And it really helps me to kind of be able to respond to my constituents and their needs. It helps all of us be able to respond in that way. So I encourage an 'aye' vote."

"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. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 108 voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 5729, Representative Kelly Burke. Please read the Bill."

"Representative Burke." Burke, K.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 5729 is the Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Act. It is designed to 09900123.docx 44  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 do two things: provide tools to our high schools and community colleges to address the situation in which many students come from high school into community college and are… are not prepared for college level work and end up in remedial classes that don't bear credit, delay their completion of college or their certificate program, and also make college more unaffordable. So it gives some flexibility to high school districts to prepare students by looking at fourth… fourth- year math options that would make them college ready. The other provision is to provide school districts with an opportunity to develop… to develop alternative competency based high school graduation requirements. It sets up a pilot program for high school districts to do that and lays out the procedures by which they would go to participate in that pilot program. It has many supporters including the school administration groups, Advance Illinois. It has the support of lots of education-based advocacy groups. I urge an 'aye' vote and ask for… look forward to any questions."

"Those in favor of the Lady's 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 take the record. There are 108 voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 1190, Representative Kelly Burke. Out of the record. House Bill 6013, Representative Cassidy. Out of the record. House Bill 6163, Mr. Crespo. Please read the Bill."

"Mr. Crespo."

"Thank you, Speaker, Members of the House. House Bill 6163 allows a Home Rule municipality to disconnect property held within the fire protection district if the Home Rule municipality provides services to at least 80 percent of the territory within the municipality. Under this Bill, the municipality may submit a petition signed by the mayor or village president to the Circuit Court including statements providing, among other things, that the disconnection would not impair the ability of the district to render fully adequate fire protection service to the property remaining in the district. That it is a Home Rule municipality that provides for its own fire service for at least 80 percent of the territory within the municipality. This basically allows one of my towns, Hanover Park, which I represent, to have complete responsibility for all aspects of fire and EMS services within their corporate boundaries. And be happy to answer any questions."

"Representative Willis."

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

"Sponsor yields."

"I know that part of the problem I'm hearing from the Bloomingdale Fire Protection District is by having this break apart it will actually affect their… their budget quite significantly. That they have a concern that they will not… it's almost 10 percent of their budget by having this disconnect. Are your figures the same as that or is there a contingency plan to assist the fire protection district?" 09900123.docx 46  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"It is my understanding, we've heard numbers above it's like 400… $450 thousand that they claim that they won't be able to collect through their taxes. We're trying to reconcile that with the fact that their… based on their call volume, these two parcels represent three percent of the calls that they get. If in fact… if that is true, we also know that they have a bond that expires this year in which they're paying $500 thousand, so the net effect would be zero since they're not paying the bonds anymore after this year. It would've been a problem two or three years ago because they still had the bonds and if, in fact, that were true, which we're… which we're not sure, but with the bonds expiring now this year, with the $500 thousand that more than covers whatever potential loss they claim they might have."

"So you're stating that they would need to reapply for new bonds or continue the bonds to be able to…"

"My understanding is that they won't need to do that anymore. You know, those bonds expire. So…"

"Okay. And my other question is, what would this do to the taxing rate for the people that are in that district that… that area that'll be switched over to the municipal fire protection as opposed to what they're paying right now on the… the district rates?"

"So what I can say about that is in talking to… to the municipality, they're telling me that they can provide the same services to those two parcels at a cost of, like, $185 thousand compared to the attest $450 thousand that this fire protection district is claiming they need to… to serve that… those two parcels." 09900123.docx 47  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"But are we looking at a tax increase for the people that are in that particular area?"

"Well, the tax levy should be the same, so they should be able to recover whatever it is that they need. And not only that, but let me just tell you, they still have to go through a court proceeding and one of the things that the… that they have to show in court is if, in fact, they… they're… if they do say effectively that by disconnecting that they're going to lose the ability to render services adequately to the district where they are or if it provides a… a negative financial impact on them, then the courts might decide not to do it. So they still have that appeal process."

"So, I guess my question is, are we setting a precedence to allow other areas to switch when… when this first went into effect, I believe it was like 30 years ago, with the fire protection district as opposed to the municipalities and recently, we've gone through where there is, I believe it's in statute, that states when you switch over there has to be a payment that graduates into there to take care of that. Where do we stand on that? 'Cause I'm understanding that the two, the municipality and the fire protection district, are at two polar opposite ends on this and… and that's a major concern for me on it."

"Well, in terms of what you just stated, the payback, and I think it was like 80/40 I forgot what… what the terms were."

"I think it's 80, 60, 40 or something like that."

"It only… it only applies if there's an annexation, which does not apply here. These two parcels are already inside the corporate limits of the municipality, so… so in effect, that 09900123.docx 48  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 law does not apply to this situation. They're not annexing property; it's already included within the corporate boundaries."

"Even though we're switching who their fire protection is?"

"Correct."

"So it's on that. To the Bill. I… I am very hesitant to support this Bill. We're… we’re taking something that has worked in the past and putting in to something else. Fire protection is important no matter who gives it, whether it is from a municipality or for… for fire protection district. One of the advantages, though, of going to a fire protection district is that you do have much better sense of transparency. You know specifically what the levies are going to be, you are able to FOIA and see specifically where the expenses and the cost are with that. When you deal with a fire municipality, oftentimes it muddies the water and it's… we're… while we always want to support our police and fire, it's sometimes much more difficult to break that out when we're looking at where's the money going, what's it getting spent for. So, with that in mind, I would urge a 'no' vote on this. Thank you very much."

"Mr. Moffitt. Leader Turner in the Chair. All right. Representative Lang back in the Chair. Mr. Moffitt is recognized."

"And since you tap danced long enough, Leader Turner in the Chair."

"Representative Moffitt."

“Sure.”

"I'm sorry. What was the question?"

"No, no. So we knew, Representative Moffitt, when we introduced this piece of legislation, that it's natural for the fire protection districts to come together and oppose it. We expected that. But I need to add that the Illinois Municipal League is strongly in favor of this. I need to add that the State Fire Marshal has no position, they're neutral. But most importantly, the Illinois Firefighter’s Association is neutral on the Bill as well. I have met with them; they understand the issue. The… as far as the opposition, we’ll be expecting the opposition; it's a natural thing. But just for the record, I want to be very clear that the Firefighter’s Association is neutral on this Bill." 09900123.docx 50  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"No. This would go against the mayor or the president of the village the option of this going to Circuit Court to make the case. During that time the fire district also can claim whether this is going to have a negative impact on their ability to render services to their district or if it would have a negative financial impact as well. So, there's still going to be a hearing on that so they can appeal the process through that hearing."

"This Bill does not address that."

"Well, whatever the process was before. The process is still very similar. We're just changing some of the requirements before they go to the Circuit Court whereas in past… in the past they had to prove which one could provide better services. We're outlining some other considerations that they should be able to take into account, but the process remains the same."

"Yeah, Representative, if I may add, I'm sorry, so the residents of the district can file petitions during the court proceedings as well. So they can ap… file objections, I should say."

"Chair recognizes Representative Harris." Harris, D.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Questions of the Sponsor."

"The Sponsor will yield." Harris, D.: "Representative, just so that we're clear on the Bill. It's my understanding that in order for this to take effect, the municipality has to provide 80 percent of the… of the fire protection throughout that municipality, correct?"

"Correct." Harris, D.: "And this parcel is within the corporate limits of the municipality, right?"

"Two parcels, yes, correct." Harris, D.: "Two parcels. Okay, two parcels are within the corporate limits. And the other… another protection is that, as you mentioned earlier, there was a… well, the… the area being taken over is still responsible for any bonded indebtedness, but you're saying that the bonds are going to be paid off so that there is no liability there with bonded indebtedness. Is that correct?"

"Correct." Harris, D.: "Okay. And I know that there is some concern on the part of some firefighters that there may be a job impact. But there's nothing that says that the fire protection district is going to require any fewer firefighters, right?"

"No. And… and based on conversations that the fire chiefs have had from the Hanover Park Fire Department and the fire 09900123.docx 53  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 protection district, our understanding based on statements they've made that in the event that there has to be a reduction, firefighters will not be fired. They will accomplish that through attrition.” Harris, D.: "Okay."

"So, again, firefighters will not be fired." Harris, D.: "Okay. And then that… that parcel… there's two parcels which are going to be taken over and covered by the municipal fire department that fire protection is going to be just as full as they have now. So there's no danger in loss of fire protection?"

"That's correct." Harris, D.: "Okay. And then the last question. In terms of EAV on the… for the fire protection district, do you know what their total EAV is, roughly?"

"I don't have that with me, Representative." Harris, D.: "I was… well, I don't want to put a figure in the… in the… in the record that isn't accurate, but it's my understanding that it's a fairly substantial equalized assessed valuation for the district and what's this disconnection… disconnected area is a relatively small portion of that… of that EAV, in terms of what they would… what they would have to levy on. So I think the impact would be somewhat minimal. I know there's a concern, but I'm… I'm pleased to stand in support of the Bill. I know there are some questions. I think there are protections built into the Bill and the… the approach that you've taken seems to be reasonable. And I encourage an 'aye' vote."

"Chair recognizes Representative Fortner." 09900123.docx 54  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"The Sponsor will yield."

"That's correct in 2002."

"That's right."

"That's correct."

"Th… that's right."

"That's correct. And back in 1990, they were served, as you pointed out, Representative Fortner, by four fire protection districts. In 2002, when they did establish their own fire department, they were able to work with three. They reached an agreement. There's just this one that for some reason they haven't been able to get there."

"Thank you." 09900123.docx 56  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Representative Crespo to close."

"Thank you, Speaker. Thank you, Members. Again, we… Dave gave us some historical perspective. Thanks to Representative Fortner that the town has been able to negotiate with three other fire dis… protection districts, this one we have not. Again, the property in question represents close to 15 percent of the Village of Hanover Park. Their fire stations are closer to the properties in question as well. It's something that's pretty important to my town. I hope I can count on your… on your support. Thank you, Speaker."

"The question is, 'Shall House Bill 6163 pass?' All in favor vote ‘aye’; all opposed vote ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On a count of 67 voting ‘yes’, 35 voting ‘no’, 1 voting ‘present’, House Bill 6163, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, Rules Report."

"Mr. Clerk, House Bill 747, Representative Lang. Please read the Bill."

"Leader Lang." 09900123.docx 57  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. In 101 counties, township assessors assess property. In Cook County, the 30 township assessors do no assessing at all. However, the statute requires that those who run for township assessor have to possess certain qualifications, take certain classes, get certain certificates. Since township assessors in Cook County do no assessing, this Bill would say they no longer have to take those classes. There's no reason for them to take those classes at all because they don't do any assessing at all. I would ask for your support."

"Chair recognizes Representative Sandack."

"He indicates that he will yield."

"Not the Cook County Assessor, just the township assessors."

"In all other counties, township assessors assess property. In Cook County, the county assessor assesses property, the township assessors do not. They act as clerical people to help people with their property tax appeal; they answer questions about their property tax bills. They don't do any assessing; and therefore, shouldn't have to take those classes."

"Well, they… in fact, we do. They do some very important work for local people. So if… in Cook County, if you lived in 09900123.docx 58  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 Barrington, you wouldn't have to drive… you wouldn't want to drive down to see Mr. Berrios downtown, park your car, et cetera. You'd want to see the Barrington Township Assessor to get the answers to your questions."

"But they are ex…"

"…they are experts in the assess… in the process, in how to file an appeal, et cetera, just like many lawyers are… do that for clients. And so this is not the time or the Bill to talk about how people feel about township government. This is a very narrow piece of legislation."

"Well, my response would be, if at some point you want to talk about the issue of whether this office is a necessary appropriate one, I'll be happy to have that conversation with you. But for now, it seems to me, when someone wants to run for public office, they shouldn't have any more qualifications upon them then they actually need." 09900123.docx 59  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Chair recognizes Representative Ives."

"The Sponsor will yield."

"No, particular reason, Representative, other than this is a… an issue that I've thought about, and as I deal with candidates for various offices it's been suggested to me that since township assessors don't assess, there's no real reason for them to have these classes and have this designation."

"No that couldn't…"

"…that couldn't be farther from the truth, Representative. I didn't even know that was the case. What I did know is that for many, many years township assessors have had to file paperwork with their statements of candidacy asserting that they've taken these classes, which are costly and which they 09900123.docx 60  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 do not need. I should add that this Bill came out of committee unanimously."

"Not only don't I know the answer to that question, it's irrelevant to the Bill."

"It's the law that was in place long before I was in the General Assembly, which as you know is a very long time."

"Chair recognizes Representative Harris." Harris, D.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, I'm not going to disagree with a lot of what my previous… what the previous speaker said. However, there is a significant difference and that is, she's talking about assessments in Cook County, which are done by the county 09900123.docx 63  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 assessor and maybe they're done improperly, maybe they're not… they're not… they're out of line with the rest of the state, and I won't disagree with that, but they're done by the county assessor, not the township assessor. This Gentleman has brought forth what I consider to be an eminently reasonable Bill. I have… I'm a Cook County guy. I live in a township in Cook County. My township assessor's a great guy, I like him a lot, but he doesn't assess property. The county assessor does that, the township assessor does not. So why should we require the township assessor, who does not assess property, to be a certified Illinois assessing officer with a certificate from the Illinois Property Assessment Institute with a minimum of 300 additional hours of successfully completed courses when… they're, pardon the… pardon the term, they're paper pushers that help citizens and they do… do a good job. They help citizens who come into their office to file a complaint, to file a… a challenge to their property assessment. That they do and they do very well, but they do not assess property. Yes, Cook County is different from every other… every other county in the state, but that is the way it is. So if a… if a assessor is not required to assess property, why make that person go through the assessing course and get the certificate. So I think the Gentleman has an extremely reasonable Bill. I would certainly encourage a 'yes' vote and I applaud him for bringing it forward."

"Chair recognizes Representative Sullivan."

"Leader Lang to close."

"Thank you. I appreciate the comments of the last two eminently reasonable speakers. Some have tried to make this some kind of referendum on township government, it isn't that. It has nothing to do with whether you like township government. Some have tried to make it a referendum on the Cook County Assessor, that's great, you can have whatever feeling you want about him. But this is a Bill that simply says that people that don't assess shouldn't have to take assessing classes. That's all it says. It's about ballot access and making sure that people get to run for office without having extra qualifications on them that are irrelevant to their needs. Please vote 'aye'."

"The question is, 'Shall House Bill 747 pass?' All in favor vote ‘aye’; all opposed vote ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On a count of 79 voting ‘yes’, 27 voting ‘no’, 0 voting ‘present’, House Bill 747, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, House Bill 582, Representative Lang. Please read the Bill."

"Representative Lang. You’re good to go."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. This Bill honors caregivers. As we know, there are wonderful caregivers that take care of the disabled, the blind, the elderly in Illinois. They do incredible work. This Bill simply honors them by saying we will make November of every year Family Caregivers Month. I think it's a great way to honor them and to give them the kind of feeling that they deserve that the Members of the General Assembly appreciate their work on behalf of all of us."

"Seeing no debate, the question is, 'Shall House Bill 582 pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; all opposed vote ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On a count of 106 voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’, 0 voting ‘present’, House Bill 582, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Manley, for what reason do you rise?"

"Mr. Speaker, I want… if you wouldn't mind, let the record reflect that I meant to vote 'no' on House Bill 6163."

"The Journal will reflect your request. Mr. Clerk, Senate Joint Resolution 49. Representative Crespo. Please proceed."

"Thank you, Speaker. Senate Joint Resolution 49 is the waiver report on School Code Mandates which the State Board of Education submits twice a year. This time we had 83 waiver requests, they approved 81, two were denied, one had to do with School District 308, which they withdrew anyway. And the other one had to do with School District 10 and they were 09900123.docx 67  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 asking for a Building Code waiver that relates to doors that failed to comply with current safety standards. And the State Board of Education recommended denying them because it represented a safety hazard. As always, we do explain that voting 'yes' means that you approve of the modifications to the school district waiver applications outlined in the Resolution. Voting 'no' means that you support the original school district waivers applications without any changes. Happy to answer any questions."

"Seeing no debate, the question is, 'Shall… Excuse me. The question is, 'Shall Senate Joint Resolution 49 pass?' All in favor vote ‘aye’; all opposed vote ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On a count of 99 voting ‘yes’, 1 voting ‘no’, 0 voting ‘present’, Senate Joint Resolution 49, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 4715, Representative Bryant. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Representative Bryant."

"Seeing no debate, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4715 pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; all opposed vote ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On a count of 107 voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’, 0 voting ‘present’, House Bill 4715, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 6292, Representative Fine. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Representative Fine."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 6292 would streamline the process for disabled individuals receiving a pension under the Cook County Pension Fund. This allows the board of the fund to waive the required physician’s proof of disability if that employee is already being compensated by the county for a disability or loss under the Workers' Compensation Act or if the employee claims an ordinary disability of up to eight weeks for maternity."

"Chair recognizes Representative Ives."

"She indicates that she will."

"According to the Amendment and the people who are supporting the legislation, what they said was it would allow them to work in the private sector if they can no longer hold on to their position in that public job."

"Yes, in this particular pension fund."

"That's correct."

"Representative Sandack." 09900123.docx 70  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"The Sponsor will yield."

"With the body of the Bill?"

"No, what really the body of the Bill says is if you already have a disability, there's a doctor that has said you are disabled."

"What this is saying is, if you've got that doctor that already says that you are disabled and you're receiving this disability, you don't have to go to a doctor that's also under the Cook County Pension Fund to sort of double that diagnosis of the disability."

"As it was explained to me that if you are already considered disabled because you are found to be disabled and you are put on disability pay, you also have to… what the board does now is you have to go to the Cook County Pension Fund and you also have to see one of their doctors that is with the Cook County hospital to say, yes, we agree that you are disabled."

"Well, you… you've already been found to be disabled and so you… you're already under workers' compensation, so you've been through the process already."

"And so what this is saying is every year you don't have to continue to go through the process."

"Well, what…"

"Well, as it was explained to me, is it… it increases the red tape and this would just streamline the process that you would only need the one doctor."

"Thank you."

"Representative Morrison is recognized."

"The Sponsor indicates that she will yield."

"I believe it was AFSCME who was uncomfortable adding that language to the Bill because that language was not in the original legislation. So, they wanted to take that out and that eliminated all opposition to the Bill."

"To have the Amendment?"

"Well, this would… this came from the fund and what the fund said was this is just creating additional work for us and it's unnecessary."

"Oh, absolutely, but they've already been declared disabled."

"No…"

"…I don't."

"Yes, I believe so."

"Representative Fine to close."

"Thank you. And again, this Bill did come from the… the pension fund and they feel that it will just streamline the process. And I ask for your 'aye' vote."

"The question is, ‘Shall House Bill 6292 pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; all opposed vote ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On a count of 70 voting ‘yes’, 35 voting ‘no’, 1 voting ‘present’, House Bill 6292, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 5472, Representative Gordon-Booth. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Representative Gordon-Booth." 09900123.docx 74  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 47… 5472, it expands the definition to include witnesses that are asked by the prosecution to offer testimony and information that links an offender to a crime. This Bill was negotiated for almost a year in conjunction with the Attorney General's Office. The Crime Victims' Compensation Fund offers assistance to victims that are the victims of crime, also many times the witnesses that are asked to come forward and testify in violent in… in crimes, because of a violent crime, oftentimes prosecutors have a very difficult time getting witnesses to come forward. And I was blessed enough to have heroes come forward in the case that involved my stepson. Without the participation of those individuals, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, for my family to receive justice for my stepson's murder. And so, through that process, I realized that oftentimes many of these people who don't necessarily live in the most comfortable situations, they step forward and they're heroes and they oftentimes risk their comfortability. And we have to honor that the fact of the matter of it is, is that we have violent crime going on in our communities and there are witnesses to these crimes and oftentimes these witnesses just need a little assistance to be comfortable coming forward in these cases. And so, again, what this legislation would do is it would expand the definition of victim; it would allow the State's Attorney to determine whether or not that individual's testimony is required for building a nexus between the crime and that offender. This legislation, again, is supported by Attorney General Lisa 09900123.docx 75  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 Madigan and the State's Attorneys Association is a proponent on the Bill as well. I'm open for your questions."

"Chair recognizes Representative Sandack."

"The Sponsor will yield."

"That's already the law, yes."

"So, yes, that is already the law."

"So the expansion would allow an individual… so the way that the law is set up now, if you are an eyewitness, you are allowed to receive assistance through the Victims' Compensation Act. Expanding the definition of witness would then allow an individual that may not have been an actual eyewitness, but based on what took place in that particular incident, the prosecutor may need to develop a nexus between what happened in a particular situation. So although they may not have been an eyewitness, they may have been there, they may have been in the other room, they could've been around the corner, and they may have germane information to offer to the case."

"The original basis of the law is that, I think, that there's a clear understanding that when you are asking people to come forward in a court of law and testify, particularly when you are testifying in a violent crime, I think it's understood that these individuals are under fear… they're because they were a witness in a violent crime, there is a great degree of fear that comes along with that. And so when you come forward, although you may not be an eyewitness, you may be called to provide a nexus between what happened between the victim and the offender. Your participation makes you, potentially, just as much in jeopardy as someone who is an eyewitness."

"The only person who will make that determination is all of… are the individual state's attorneys, which is why they're a proponent on the Bill."

"So there's a 6:1 match. Most of the mon… most of the money comes from the Federal Government, but we have a… 09900123.docx 77  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 a small pot that we… a small allotment that we send to them each year, but most of the money comes from the Federal Government."

"Right. They're actually proponents on… they're proponents to the Bill. They believe that this… having this… having this expansion actually assists them in being able to get witnesses to come forward because clearly, oftentimes early on in a case, people feel a little more compelled at the beginning of the case then say maybe six, seven, eight months later when the court… when the case actually goes to trial. And so you're right, oftentimes people are subpoenaed but then when said witness gets on the stand oftentimes a prosecutor then has to make the decision, do I even want to call this witness because they may be a hostile witness. They may not want to come forward with information. And so, they were very supportive in this effort. They were involved in the conversations because they believe that being able to offer this small assistance to some folks may be… it may be of… incentive to allow folks to do what it is they are naturally trying to do, which is be a hero and give families some justice."

"None."

"Representative Gordon-Booth to close."

"Again, this… this Bill came from an unfortunate situation that my family and I dealt with. We were blessed enough to be able to get victim… to be able to get justice for my stepson, but there are many, many families throughout this state that are not so lucky. And so, we want to provide an incentive and a tool to be able to help families get the justice that my family was so blessed to receive. I ask for your 'aye' vote."

"The question is, ‘Shall House Bill 5472 pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; all opposed vote ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On a count of 106 voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’, 0 voting ‘present’, House Bill 5472, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 4999, Representative Guzzardi. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Representative Guzzardi."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. This Bill follows up on legislation that was passed by my colleague Representative Ford a few years ago, protecting employers from having their social media accounts looked at by, excuse me, protecting employees from having their social media accounts looked at by employers. This language was 09900123.docx 79  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 worked out between employer groups, civil liberties groups, and social media companies. It's agreed language in that regard. And I ask for an 'aye' vote."

"Seeing no debate, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 4999 pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; all opposed vote ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On a count of 105 voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’, 1 voting ‘present’, House Bill 4999, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 335, Representative Hoffman. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Representative Hoffman."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. This Bill would simply extend the sunset date for what is called Advanced Deposit Wagering from the sunset of February 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018. In addition, it would… it would make sure that the Standard Breeders Fund Advisory Board makeup is… is properly defined. And I know of no opposition to the Bill. It would ensure that the horse racing industry as it currently stands would still remain viable."

"Seeing no debate, the question is, ‘Shall House Bill 335 pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; all opposed vote ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On a count of 81 voting ‘yes’, 23 voting ‘no’, 0 voting ‘present’, House Bill 335, having received the 09900123.docx 80  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 746. Representative Verschoore. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Representative Verschoore."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen. As you know, this Bill I had yesterday and I pulled it off of the… out of the record, had some conversations with a couple of my colleagues. It's the consensus with the legislative staff here… legal staff here that this is constitutional. I guess that was the big question. But one of the things is this… the forest preserve district was decided by referendum about 75 years ago. And forest preserves are… they are units of government that already exist, so it's not creating another… another unit of government. And the… the best thing about it, I think, is that the county board is requesting that we do this. So with the deadline coming up, I was trying to get an extension, but with the deadline coming up, I'd just like to have an up and down vote on it and let the Members here in… in the chamber decide."

“Chair recognizes Representative Sandack.”

"Chair recognizes Representative Breen."

"Representative Demmer."

"The Sponsor will yield."

"Yes. Yes, it is."

"I can't answer since the inception. I'm assuming it has a… as far as I go back I think it's been that way, yeah."

"It goes from 25 board members down to 7 commissioners that are elected in apportioned district through the county… throughout the county."

"That's basically… that's not what the… the people want or the… the representatives that represent the county are… they're the ones that basically asked for this, the county board people. To get it… to get it out of the, like a political football to a more transparent, elected by all of the citizens of Rock Island County."

"I think it would make it easier rather than dealing with 25 members they would be down to dealing with 7 members. I think the biggest question here is like I said in my opening statement is the legality of it. And I'm hearing from our legal staff saying they feel it is legal then, of course, there's anoth… another opinion from the colleagues of mine that say it isn't. And that's, like, the only reason I'm not trying to delve into this further because I don't have any time because of the deadline. So, that's why… that's why I'm asking for an up and down vote."

"Chair recognizes Representative Smiddy."

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

"He indicates that he will."

"To the Bill. Again, as I indicated yesterday this forest preserve for the six entities actually reside in my district and I do… do not wish to create another layer of government in Rock Island County, and that's why I still oppose this Bill today. And I urge my colleagues to also vote 'no' on this. Thank you."

"Chair recognizes Representative Moffitt."

"The Sponsor will yield."

"No, there's absolutely no payment. It's a bipartisan…"

"Pardon?"

"And… and it's a bipartisan election when they elect them. There's no pay. The only possible pay is if they would have to attend a meeting or seminar somewhere that they were requested to go to and if they do they… they would be paid in… just expenses that were backed up with receipts."

"Reimbursement, right." 09900123.docx 86  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"No. No way under…"

"No."

"The county board can do now."

"Right."

"That's the way I understand it."

"Right."

"Exactly."

"Exactly."

"Thank you."

"Chair recognizes Representative McDermed."

"Chair recognizes Representative Fortner."

"The Sponsor will yield."

"The way I understand it, yes."

"Yes."

"Representative Verschoore to close."

"Like I said, the question was whether adding another unit of government; I don't feel it is. And there's been a lot of conversation in our… in the General Assembly here about having more elected rather than appointed. This takes the politics out of it and lets the whole county vote on it. And I would ask for a… an 'aye' vote. Thank you."

"The question is, ‘Shall House Bill 746 pass?’ All in favor vote ‘aye’; all opposed vote ‘nay’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On a count of 55 voting ‘yes’, 48 voting ‘no’, and 0 voting ‘present’. Representative Verschoore?"

"I'd like to put it on Postpone Consideration, please."

"Mr. Clerk please move this Bill to the Order of Postpone Consideration. Leader Lang in the Chair."

"Chair recognizes Leader Currie."

"Thank you, Speaker. Please let the record show that Representative Bradley is excused for the rest of the day."

"House Bill 4257, Representative Kifowit. Please read the Bill."

"Representative Kifowit."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 4257 is an initiative that came from my special needs caucus that we have in my 09900123.docx 90  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 district. And what it is… it's an autism Wallet Card meant to deescalate interactions with emergency personnel and police with an individual that has autism. The card is… describes what the condition of autism does, which does include becoming physically agitated if somebody close to them or if they touch them. And it also includes stating that they might have difficulty understanding directions. This Bill was… is still going to be amended in the Senate. And I have talked to Representative Bellock and Representative Gabel and they have my word that it will come back for Concurrence and the Senate Sponsor has concurred to amend it in the Senate."

Speaker Lang: "Ladies and Gentlemen, for your edification virtually all the Bills left on the list to be called today are on Short Debate. The rules of Short Debate are a Sponsor and one person in opposition. And so, unless somebody takes a Bill off of Short Debate, we're going to proceed on that course so that we can move this process along. Those in fav… I don't see a light, but I think Representative Bellock is trying to get my attention. Representative Bellock is recognized."

"I… I did say that we were still working on it. DHS is still opposed and we are working with them. Due to the deadlines, we told DHS that we would amend it in the Senate."

"And… and continue to work on it."

"And… and I have the Sponsor… Sponsor's word that that will happen as well."

"All the autism groups love this Bill."

"Correct."

"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? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 104 voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 4820, Mr. Cabello. Please read the Bill."

"Mr. Cabello."

"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, Members. Maybe we can move this process along, please record yourselves. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 67 voting ‘yes’, 38 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill… House Bill 4515, Representative Lilly. Please read the Bill."

"Representative Lilly."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the General Assembly. I rise to present House Bill 4515. This… the Bill this afternoon, this morning, addresses the event of 45 percent of Illinois adults have criminal records. Even so, there are more than 500 employee… employment barriers along with… under Illinois law making it hard for these Illinoisans to find jobs and build financial, secure lives for themselves and their family. HB45 (sic-4515) will improve job opportunity for people with criminal background in the health care… in health care without compromising patient… patient's safety. House Bill 15… excuse me, 4515 improves the waiver process, removes low-level cannabis related to conviction, and it creates a work group to continue to improve the waiver process. Nothing in this Bill requires employers to hire people with criminal backgrounds. I have been working with 09900123.docx 93  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 advocates, the department, and the industry for over two years. We have no opposition to this legislation with the Amendment #3. This Bill is supported by many groups: Safer Foundation, Heartland Alliance, Cabrini Green Legal Aid, Community Renewal Society, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, and the Illinois Policy Institute. If there's no questions, I ask for an 'aye' vote."

"This Bill is on Short Debate. Mr. Sandack is recognized. Do you stand in… in opposition, Sir?"

"Ask your questions, Sir."

"I'm sorry?"

"The hiring is permissive."

"No, it does not. It clarifies the current waivering process."

"Correct."

"It makes it… it makes it more… it provides clarification to the employer about the registry process. It improves it so they will have, what we call, better information." 09900123.docx 94  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"That is correct."

"Not to my knowledge."

"The only change that we changed is the low-level cannabis."

"Cannabis, low-level cannabis. That's the only change."

"For that level, yes."

"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. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 62 voting ‘yes’, 44 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 4312, Mr. Martwick. Out of the record. House Bill 4492, Representative Mayfield. Please read the Bill." 09900123.docx 95  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Representative Mayfield."

"Thank you. This Bill had come before us once before. This is an initiative of the North Shore Reclamation District. The Bill that you have before you is the exact amendatory language that came from the Governor's Office. We took out the provision that allowed them to provide a raise for themselves. There is no opposition to the Bill, ask for an 'aye' vote."

"Mr. Sullivan, do you stand in opposition? This Bill's on Short Debate."

"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. Please record yourselves. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 62 voting ‘yes’, 44 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 6098, Mr. Demmer. Out of the record. House Bill 6291, Representative Nekritz. Representative Nekritz. Please read the Bill."

"Representative Nekritz."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I begin I really would like to thank President Preckwinkle for working on this legislation along with the Justice Advisory Council that she 09900123.docx 96  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 has. They… they've done some really excellent work on this. This Bill deals really with two issues for juvenile offenders. The first is a commitment to the Department of Juvenile Justice for drug offenses and second is the length of probation. The goal of the first part of the legislation dealing with commitments to… for drug offenses, our goal is to keep youthful substance abusers out of the Department of Juvenile Justice and get them the treatment they need to addru… address their drug problem. On the second part dealing with probation, the goal of this legis… the goal of this part is to offer a probationary period that is long enough to get the youth the services and the programming and the treatment they need, but short enough to keep them motivated to working toward the goal of getting off probation. Research is very clear that it's the best public policy to reducing recidivism to shorten that period of time and give them an achievable goal. With that, I will be happy to take questions and ask for your support."

"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? Members, please record yourselves. Please record yourselves. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 50 voting ‘yes’, 56 voting ‘no’. Wish Postpone Consideration? The Lady asks that the Bill be placed on the Order of Postpone Consideration. House Bill 1380, Mr. Phelps. Please read the Bill. I understand you have a Floor Amendment, Sir. So we'll move the Bill back to the Order of Second Reading. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill." 09900123.docx 97  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Mr. Phelps on the Amendment."

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Floor Amendment #2 it just simply takes out unfair labor practices. And I just ask for its adoption."

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

"Third Reading. Please read the Bill."

"Mr. Phelps."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 1380 is an initiative of the Associated Firefighters of Illinois. It plainly says any party who fails to comply with an arbitration award for a frivolous appeal only will be responsible for court fees including attorneys' fees. Now let me just say this ‘cause I know there probably will be some debate on this. We have had some very good discussions with the Governor's Office on this. The Associated Firefighters are very sincere 'cause there are a lot of frivolous appeals out there and they're just wanting them to stop. As far as who this is concerned to, it's only for unions with binding arbitration only. Only binding arbitration. They've been used… these frivolous lawsuits have 09900123.docx 98  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 been trying to tighten things up and they're just wanting things, more or less, justice delayed justice denied, so to speak. So I just ask for its passage."

"Mr. Sandack, do you rise in opposition? Mr. Sandack is recognized."

"Sponsor yields."

"Yeah. It removed unfair labor practices and… and for this Bill."

"It's only interest and grievance arbitration only, Ron."

"Only to frivolous appeals if determined by the judge."

"In grievance arbitration and interest arbitration."

"It's not in interest and grievance arbitration, Ron. That's why… it's not under this… these two deals, interest and grievance arbitration. That's why they want to do it because most municipalities, Ron, the way we look at it the municipalities use this. They appeal, appeal, appeal, appeal. And you know, Oak Lawn, you know what all happened there." 09900123.docx 99  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"So they're just wanting to take this away just if the judge determines if it's frivolous or not, that's it."

"No, not at all."

"It's that totally misunderstanding…"

"…that's why we're trying to fix…"

"You lose… bring a claim, you lose. Then you get… you got to pay, more or less you got to pay. Loser pays."

"Loser pays the fees and the attorney fees, Ron."

"Mr. Phelps to close."

"Representative Sandack, I appreciate your thoughts. We… we are very sincere about this. There are a lot of bad actors out there right now. And we are sincere about working with the Governor's Office on this. And everybody, I just ask for an 'aye' vote."

"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. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 74 voting ‘yes’, 30 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Franks, the reason you weren't recognized is that the Bill was on Short Debate."

"And I'd like to and perhaps we should then take the Bills off of Short Debate because I had a few questions that weren't asked."

"Sir, Bills are on Short Debate. People may… people may move to remove them as we go through them, Sir."

"But how can we be recognized to remove them?"

"It's a very good question."

"That's… that's what I was trying to do."

"House Bill 581, Leader Currie. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill." 09900123.docx 101  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Leader Currie on the Amendment."

"Thank you, Speaker. This would… this would remove the opportunity for social service contracting groups to cancel a contract after there's been no payment for 90 days. I know this was a hardship for the agencies. I would appreciate adoption of the Amendment and then I would ask the… the Chair to leave the Bill on Second Reading."

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

"Please hold the Bill on the Order of Second Reading pending the notes. House Bill 5604, Representative Conroy. Please read the Bill."

"House Bill 5604, a Bill for an Act concerning regulation. The Bill was read for a second time previously. No Committee Amendments. Floor Amendment #1 is offered by Representative Conroy."

"Representative Conroy."

"Thank you, Speaker. The Amendment was a compromise that was worked out with the insurance companies and removed all opposition." 09900123.docx 102  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

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

"Third Reading. Please read the Bill."

"Representative Conroy."

"Thank you, Speaker. This Bill will have… insurance companies will offer a plan to companies so that children who have pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder caused by strep throat have the option of getting an insurance policy to cover the treatment that they need to get healthy."

"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? Mayfield. Please take the record. On this question, there are 106 voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Chair recognizes Mr. Breen. For what reason do you rise, Sir?"

"The record will reflect your intention. House Bill 5918, Mr. Thapedi. I understand there's an Amendment. Please put the Bill back on the Order of Second Reading and read the Bill, Mr. Clerk."

"Mr. Thapedi on the Amendment."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members of the House, I offer and move for the adoption of Floor Amendment #5 to House Bill 5918. Believe it or not, this actually removes all opposition to the Bill. And I'd like to debate it on Third Reading."

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

"Third Reading. Please read the Bill."

"Mr. Thapedi."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and Members of the House. House Bill 5918 has become well-known in this chamber over the last couple of weeks. I'm pleased to report that there is no, I repeat, no opposition whatsoever to this Bill. I want to thank, especially, Adam Rogalski and Sean Denney for their tireless efforts on this Bill. These two gentlemen went to the mat for their members day after day and night after night to protect their members' respective interests. I also want to commend Jim Reed, Commissioner Larry Suffredin, Ariel Johnson, and D’Javan Conway for their aggressive, yet meaningful work to get us to this point. This Bill passed the Charter School Policy Committee unanimously and it's my understanding that this has never happened before. House Bill 5918 remains an innocuous charter school transparency Bill. 09900123.docx 104  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 The Bill does primarily two essential things. Of course, there are other issues with charter schools that are interesting and worthy of discussion, but this Bill only has two primary components and those two components are the ones that are before this Body today. As for the first component of House Bill 5918, the current state of the law allows a new charter school to initially operate for 10 long years before it is required to reapply for a subsequent 5-year term. This is far too long for an inadequate, underperforming charter school to operate. This is a statutory loophole that can easily be exploited. To close this loophole, this Bill cuts the initial operating period in half to 5 years and transposes the length of time the charter may initially operate and then reapply with detailed performance metrics. It was these performance metrics that formed the basis of the dis… of the disa… disagreement between all of the parties involved. The… the final primary component to House Bill 5918 addresses loans awarded from the essentially defunct charter school revolving loan fund. This fund is operated by the State Board of Education and provides loans to charter schools for soft start-up costs as we… as well as materials. The fund currently has a little over… or a little less than $27 thousand in it. After being decimated by sweeps, there appears to be no plans to replenish the funds, but if it is replenished, House Bill 5918 reshapes the fund to ensure that the money is spent in the correct and appropriate way. To be clear, Mr. Speaker, this Bill does not tinker with Section 27A-7, (a)-(c) of the School Code, which sets forth the criteria for the awarding of charter schools, nor does the Bill modify Sections 27A- 09900123.docx 105  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 9(b) of the School Code, which sets forth a test for the renewal of charter schools. Equally, if not more importantly, this Bill also does not modify the revocation procedures set forth in Section 27A-9(c) of the School Code. And if Members look at the Bill on its face, you will see these provisions in the law and you will see that they remain completely untouched. I also, Mr. Speaker, lastly, want to thank the current rosters of cosponsors that stuck it out with me on this Bill that even though with external pressures and robo calls they stuck it out with me and… and didn't bail on me and… and didn't bail on the Bill. And I want to thank the current roster of cosponsors for doing that. So as a result, Mr. Speaker, I'm available to answer any and all questions. And after I do so, I'll ask for a ‘green’ vote."

"Sir, you've apparently answered all questions. 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? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 103 voting ‘yes’, 1 voting ‘no’, 1 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 6167, Representative Sente. Please read the Bill."

"Representative Sente."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In 2014, the General Assembly passed a Bill with overwhelming bipartisan support to allow 17-year-olds to vote in a Primary, so long as they will be 18 years old on the date of the immediately following General 09900123.docx 106  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 Election. Since that time, 11 thousand 17-year-olds have registered to vote in Illinois. So this Bill adds two cleanup provisions and one new provision to that language. Number 1, it allows individuals who are 17 by the Primary and 18 by the General to sign and circulate petitions. Number 2, it allows 17-year-olds to vote in a township Primary or caucus. And third, it allows 17-year-olds to serve as a deputy registrar. The Bill passed unanimously out of Executive Committee."

"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, Members. Please take the record. There are 98 voting ‘yes’, 8 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Chair recognizes Leader Currie."

"Thank you, Speaker. Please let the record show that Representative DeLuca is excused for the rest of the day."

"The record will reflect that. House Bill 5958, Mr. Kay. Please read the Bill."

"Mr. Kay."

"Those in favor of the Gentleman's 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? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 103 voting ‘yes’, 1 voting ‘no’, 1 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 5566, Mr. Sims. Please read the Bill."

"Mr. Sims."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 5566… adds and allows for the chairperson of the Illinois P-20 Council to authorize a working group to discuss issues related to postsecondary college affordability. As many of us know, there's a crisis of… crisis for students here in the… in the State of Illinois and across the country where students are being asked to fund their college education. And they're going into debt to do so, to the tune of $1 trillion. And we're want… we want to make sure we have strategies in place to make sure the college remains affordable for our students in the State of Illinois. And I'd answer any questions and ask for a favorable… I’d ask for a favorable Roll Call."

"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 take the 09900123.docx 108  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 record. There are 105 voting ‘yes’, 0 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 5681, Mr. Sims. Please read the Bill."

"Mr. Sims."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Bill has been the result of some ongoing discussions and what we're trying do is make sure that we have a… we put a plan in place for retiree… retiree pension in the Chicago… in Chica… City of Chicago. What we are attempting to do is continue the discussions with all stakeholders and what we'd like to do is move the Bill over to the Senate to… to continue those discussions because all parties are… have come to the table now, but they'd like to continue the process. So what we're going… what we're asking Members to do is to trust that the discussions will continue and we're going to move the Bill over, park it in the Senate as discussions continue. So I ask for a favorable Roll Call."

"Those in favor of the Gentleman's 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, Members. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 78 voting ‘yes’, 25 voting ‘no’, 1 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 6162, Mr. Skoog. Out of the record. House Bill 6123, Mr. Smiddy. Please read the Bill." 09900123.docx 109  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Mr. Smiddy."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm asking that we’d be able to pass 6123 over to the Senate and make some corrections over there. What the Bill will do is require the Department of Military Affairs to test National Guards member for depleted uranium prior and post service. And I'm asking for an 'aye' vote. And I'm willing to take all questions."

"This Bill is on the Order of Short Debate. Mr. Harris, do you rise in opposition?" Harris, D.: "I do, Sir."

"You… you're up, Sir." Harris, D.: "Thank you very much. Question of the Sponsor, please?"

"Sponsor yields." Harris, D.: "Representative, the Bill states that, very simply, that the… a Guardsman will be tested for both pre- and post- deployment. Is that correct?"

"Yes, Sir." Harris, D.: "How do you define deployment?"

"Well, that's… we are going to try to get that fixed over in the Senate. I've talked to Senator Hastings and what we are going to do is we’re going to put specific areas, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait and Qatar in there for deployment for National Guards members." Harris, D.: "Okay. And what does the testing consist of?" 09900123.docx 110  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"It is a urinalysis over a 24-hour period where they will test to see if there is any depleted uranium in the system of the soldier." Harris, D.: "And it requires a test both pre- and post-deployment, correct?"

"That is correct." Harris, D.: "So the test for pre-deployment is to ensure that there's nothing there ahead of time, right?"

"Yes, Sir." Harris, D.: "So, if you're testing… the testing is a urine test, but how long does it take?"

"As… as I stated, it's a… to test for depleted uranium it is over a 24-hour period." Harris, D.: "It's over a 24-hour period, but it actually takes two days, does it not?"

"If that's the case then probably, yes. I don't know exactly how long. It's just over a 24-hour period." Harris, D.: "Well, let's just very specifically and for… for the folks in the chamber, I ask your indulgence on this. It does take two days and what re… is required is the urine is tested throughout the entire day. An individual wakes up, the morning sample is destroyed, not used, but the rest of the sample for that day as well as the morning sample the following day is tested. So you've got… you've got significant number of urine samples that are… that are collected over two days. It requires that that individual Guardsman be on… at a single location, which means they have to be at a… at a National Guard facility. They can't be at home. Is that correct? Do you know?" 09900123.docx 111  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Yes, Sir. My light went off." Harris, D.: "Okay. So how do you get a Guardsman to go to that armory and… and stay there overnight? What authority does… does the Guard have to do that?"

"Well, they would have to be called up prior to being put on Federal Active Duty." Harris, D.: "Yes, they would. And the problem is this, Ladies and Gentlemen, and I don't mean to bore you with details and I hope you will forgive me, because as the former Adjutant General of the Illinois National Guard, this Bill has a very significant impact. You heard the man… you heard the Sponsor correctly say that it requires somebody to be there for two days. There is no authority to call that person in on state active duty and I… there's… well, let me get into that in a moment. There's no authority to call that person in on state active duty to… to be at that location; in addition to which there's no authority to pay the person. You know, when the Guard is called out in a national… in a state emergency for a flood, or a fire or a… or a tornado, the Commander in Chief, namely the Governor, issues an order saying call out the Guard in… in state active duty and the Guard is called out based on that authority. There is no authority to bring a Guardsman in for two days and do this testing. And let me, so as not to delay it too much, let me just talk to the Bill directly. Each urine sample takes… costs about 100 and some dollars to process, each urine sample. And you could take as many as seven to nine urine samples during the course of that 24-hour period. The estimate… and I'll ask the question of the 09900123.docx 112  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 Sponsor, do you have an estimate of what the cost is to the Guard?"

"From what I was told by Military Affairs, it would be approximately $4.6 million." Harris, D.: "Four point six million dollars. And that's… that's probably fairly accurate because of all the deployments that… that you have, the way the Bill currently reads, of all the deployments that you currently have if… if all those people are required to get urine samples and do this and have to be paid state active duty, $4.5 million. And that's… those are state dollars, 4.5 million state dollars. The entire budget… the entire budget for the Department of Illinois… Illinois… the entire budget for the Department of Military Affairs is $14 million. You're putting a $4 million requirement on the department that only has a budget of $14.5 million. If you want to close armories, if you want to take away Lincoln's Challenge voting for this Bill will do that, because it's impossible to afford it with the budget that they have now. There is no appropriation for the Bill. Yes, you can talk about deployments, you know, first of all the deployments over to Iraq and Afghanistan and… and other areas of the world for depleted uranium, the… the military no longer uses depleted uranium munitions and they haven't since the Gulf War. It's gone out of… we use titanium munitions now instead of depl… depleted uranium. The Gentleman is concerned about burn pits, where they burn excess… all sorts of excess items, it could be plastic, it could be human waste, that sort of thing. But the Department of Defense is now monitoring all of those… all of those burn pits wherever the military goes. And 09900123.docx 113  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 when a soldier comes back, and remember that there's a difference between a National Guardsman on state duty and a National Guardsman when he goes on active… he or she goes on active duty. When they transfer to active duty, when they deploy and transfer to active duty they're under the authority of the President of the United States and the Department of Defense. So the Department of Defense has a very rigid testing session when they come back from active duty that they have to go through. I can tell you that when… when we set up the pre-deployment test for Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom back in 2002, before we deployed all those guardsmen, we… we tested those guardsmen from the tip of their toes to the top of their head and everything in between to make sure that they were qualified to deploy. And sometimes you have to kind of get a sense here, sometimes, not sometimes, a lot of times an individual who's with a military unit says, hey, I don't want to leave my military unit I want to go with my… with my unit to… to provide the service that I've been asked to provide. And they don't tell you about things that may be wrong with them. I had a soldier, as an example, he couldn't qualify for… for medical reasons because of his dental condition. He went out that day and had seven teeth pulled because he wanted to go with his unit, seven teeth pulled. So we test them very thoroughly. When they come back off of active duty, they are tested by the Federal Government, by the Department of… the Department of Army, Department of Navy, Department of the Air Force. To put this requirement on the National Guard is extremely onerous. You are not helping a solider or an airman by voting for this Bill. It has nothing 09900123.docx 114  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 to do with veterans. You are putting a requirement on the National Guard, which they do not have the… the ability, financial ability… certainly, they don't have the money to do it, but it's already being covered by the Federal Government. And the Federal Government has a depleted uranium website where you can register if you think there is a problem and they ask you when you come back whether or not you think you have been exposed to depleted uranium, so you can register for that website. It is not like Agent Orange, which some people would say, well, the… the government didn't recognize that problem and they didn't, but on this one they do recognize the problem. They have taken action and they're… they're addressing it at the federal level. So it's unfair to put this… this burden on the Guard. And let me come back, just a second, to what I first asked about, what cons… constitutes a deployment. If you're at Scott Air Force Base, as an example, if you're down at Scott Air Force Base and you happen to be a pilot of a KC-135 air refueler, those KC-135 air refuelers fly all over the world. And every time they fly… let's say they're flying a refueling mission to Incirlik, Turkey. Every time that… that KC-135 refueler gets up there and refuels an airplane, that crew is on active duty. They have deployed. So you're not only dealing with the Army Guard here in areas of… of active combat, you are dealing with the air guard that might deploy to Germany, they might deploy down to South America. The C-130s up in Peoria go down, wouldn't surprise me if… if an International Guard C-130 was down in South America helping the earthquake refugee… or the earthquake victims in… in Ecuador. My point here is the Bill 09900123.docx 115  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 sounds good. It has real, serious implications on the Illinois National Guard. I ask you, look at it very closely. It may very well pass. Maybe you try to reserv… resolve it in the Senate, but this Bill has real problems, and I think really deserve a 'no' vote. And I thank you for your attention."

"Mr. Smiddy to close."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Again, I want to reiterate that I have already spoken with Senator Hastings who has prefiled for this piece of legislation, and I'm willing to work with him and others to try to find a solution to this. I believe that it's imperative that we take care of the men and women in our Armed Forces that have fought and defended this country. I had… the reason why this Bill came about is due to a soldier that lives near my area that was exposed and this past summer passed away. And I felt it necessary to bring this forward due to time constraints, trying to get it out of the… the House. That's why I'm very willing to work with the Senate and try to find a funding source and try to do everything I can to ensure that this is not going to be as burdensome on the state as it currently is. And I… I make that commitment here today and I just ask for an 'aye' vote."

"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. Please record yourselves. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 63 voting ‘yes’, 37 voting ‘no’, 2 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having 09900123.docx 116  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 5995, Mr. Sullivan. Please read the Bill."

"Mr. Sullivan."

"Representative Ammons, do you rise in opposition?"

"No, Sir. I rise to correct a vote on House Bill 5918, for the record, being a 'no' vote. Thank you."

"The record will reflect your intention. On the Amendment, those in favor of the Amendment say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Mr. Clerk."

"Third Reading. Please read the Bill."

"Mr. Sullivan."

"Chair recognizes Mr. Sims."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Representative Sullivan mentioned, we have agreed to work… continue to work on this piece of legislation in the Senate. I've spoken to the Senate Sponsor just this afternoon who has agreed to pick up the Bill and prefile for the Bill. This Bill is a work in progress. And we will continue to work with Representative Sullivan to get a favorable outcome on it."

"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? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 102 voting ‘yes’, 1 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 6298, Representative Tabares. Please read the Bill."

"Representative Tabares." 09900123.docx 118  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"House Bill 6298 provides the Fireman's Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago the authorization to lend securities owned by the fund. I ask for an 'aye' vote."

"Mr. Franks, do you rise in opposition?"

"I… I don't know what the Bill does. I don't know whether I'm… I’m for or against."

"The Sponsor will yield, Sir."

"Thank you. Representative, can you describe the… since we had very Short Debate, I… I don't know what it does and we don't have enough time to read the analysis when we have a description like that. I'd appreciate if you could give us a little background. Thank you."

"So, this Bill allows the Fireman's Annuity Benefit Fund to lend securities held by the fund to third party borrowers in exchange for pledged collateral, borrowing fees, and interest earned during the length of the borrowing term. Lending terms are negotiated at the time of borrowing and can be terminated by either party at their discretion."

"And why do we want to do that?"

"Well, this… according to the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability's Pension Impact Note stated that the Fireman's Annuity and Benefit Fund has utilized the lending of securities since 1984. So what this Bill does is just provides the necessary statuary authorization for the fund. And there is no fiscal impact."

"So are we codifying what they've been doing for a long time and they're looking to get our approval because they've been doing it without statutory authority?"

"Yes." 09900123.docx 119  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Are there other pension funds that have this same opportunity to… to invest the same way?"

"Yes. There is identical language found in the Illinois Pension Code for the following pension funds, such as: the Chicago Police Fund, the Chicago Municipal Fund, Cook County's Employees, the Chicago Laborer's Fund, the Chicago Park District, and Chicago Teachers. All of these funds have a one-year limit on such transactions except for the Chicago Teachers."

"So, this brings them into line with all the others except for the Teachers?"

"Yes."

"Okay. And I presume they have all the same protections for the fiduciaries and… and are required to be investing in the best interest of their members?"

"Yes."

"Okay. And there's no opposition?"

"No opposition."

"Okay. Thank you very much."

"Mr. Moffitt, do you rise in opposition, Sir?"

"Sponsor will yield for your question."

"Correct."

"Correct."

"The Board of Trustees of the Fund."

"We can get that for you, Representative."

"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. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 101 voting 'yes', 2 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Mitchell is recognized. For what reason do you rise, Sir?" Mitchell, B.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like the record to reflect that I wish to be recorded as an 'aye'… excuse me… as a 'aye' vote on House Bill 6123."

"The record will reflect your intention. And you may remain standing, Sir, 'cause the next Bill is yours. House Bill 2262, Mr. Mitchell. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Mr. Mitchell." Mitchell, B.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 2262, it provides that the minimum amount of a $2 million of liability insurance required for a vehicle with a school bus driver permit may be satisfied by either a $2 million combined single 09900123.docx 121  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 limit primary commercial automobile policy or a million dollar primary commercial automobile policy with a minimum of 5 million excess or umbrella liability policy."

"This Bill is on the Order of Short Debate. Mr. Franks, do you rise in opposition?"

"I need some questions answered."

"Sponsor will yield." Mitchell, B.: "I kind of fig… I kind of figured you would."

"Yeah. Why do we need this Bill?" Mitchell, B.: "This just gives some school districts some flexibility. There were some issues with the $2 million limit, so now they can use their umbrella 5… 5 million."

"Is it only for school districts?" Mitchell, B.: "It's for those applying for the permit."

"Okay. So, this could also apply for private companies that provide services to schools." Mitchell, B.: "Correct."

"Okay. Would this… would this be enough? I mean, I don't know… do we know what the typical claim might be if there is an accident with a school bus if it's… We've had… and the reason why I'm asking this is 'cause we've had tremendous tragedy in school buses in my county years ago. Unfortunately, a school bus was caught between two crossing sections and the… and there was fatalities when a train hit the school bus. So, I'm wondering whether these numbers are sufficient to cover this type of tragedy." Mitchell, B.: "I'm sorry. I couldn't catch your last question."

"I… I just…" Mitchell, B.: "The last part of your question." 09900123.docx 122  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Okay. I'm sorry. I described an event that happened in my district years ago, which was a… was a tragic event." Mitchell, B.: "Right."

"A school bus did not make it over a train crossing. The school bus was struck and there was a number of our children who were killed. Okay? There was litigation, obviously…" Mitchell, B.: "Sure."

"…ongoing because of this. I'm wondering whether this Bill would lower the thresholds or not be sufficient to cover a tragedy such as this? So, will the… I want to make sure that the families could be made as whole as possible for their loss." Mitchell, B.: "Yeah. The 2 million is already in the statute and then moving it to 5 is…"

"But why… then why do we need this Bill?" Mitchell, B.: "It just gives them more flexibility."

"But what you're… what you're doing is achieving a minimum insurance requirements for school buses and I'm not sure how we're doing that." Mitchell, B.: "The Secretary of State's Office were interrupting it as a $2 million primary policy. So this… we're just kind of clarifying…"

"Okay. Well, I see in our analysis…" Mitchell, B.: "And the Secretary of State's Office supports this effort. I mean, this is a Bill that took… came to me from my home area. There was many parties involved in this negotiation. And the school bus folks are okay with it as well as…" 09900123.docx 123  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Well, I bet… I'm sure they will be because if this is a… if it's easier for them to get to a minimum, I'd expect…" Mitchell, B.: "As sure as the school district… Sir, let me repeat… finish, Sir."

"Okay." Mitchell, B.: "As well as school districts and…"

"Can I ask why the Property Casualty Insurers Association is opposed?" Mitchell, B.: "They think that one in the five at too high."

"Okay. Okay." Mitchell, B.: "Too high."

"I just wish we had more time… I'm just… I'm sorry. I think this was a shell Bill. I'm not sure when this Amendment was put on. So, I'm not sure how much…" Mitchell, B.: "Put on a week ago and it went to committee. And it was unanimous in committee."

"Okay. And I don't if other folks are… are experts in insurance. I'm not. So I'm asking questions and maybe I don't…" Mitchell, B.: "And that's great and neither am I, that's why I'm relying on my…"

"Right. I just want to make sure we're doing the right thing here. And I don't know if any…" Mitchell, B.: "We all want to do the right thing. And we want to do… protect Illinois citizens. And we think this does."

"Tell me in a sentence how this protects Illinois citizens? That's what I'm not getting." Mitchell, B.: "It increases coverage on buses."

"It does increase buses? It doesn't increase coverage?" 09900123.docx 124  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 Mitchell, B.: "The fund… you meant, it allows them to use the $5 million umbrella. So, it’s… it…"

"And before they were prohibited from using the umbrella?" Mitchell, B.: "Right. The interpretation was it was the 2 million, so this increases it to 5 million. So, you can use the excess umbrella which is the 5 million not just the primary policy."

"Okay. And before they were not able to use the excess umbrella…" Mitchell, B.: "That is correct."

"…so now you're actually bringing an umbrella policy in." Mitchell, B.: "Correct."

"Well, why didn't you say that?" Mitchell, B.: "Well, you're much more articulate than I am as this Body already knows."

"All right. Thank you very much. We came in together, Mr. Mitchell. We got to… I have to give you a hard time when you stand up." Mitchell, B.: "Thank you."

"All right. Thank you."

"Those in favor of the Bill will vote 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 105 voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 5580, Representative Wallace. Out of the record. House Bill 8… excuse me… House Bill 4648, Mr. Welch. Please read the Bill."

"Mr. Welch."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 4648 is a product of a lot of work that started last summer. It creates the Revised Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act. It allows a legally recognized fiduciary, a personal representative, a guardian, agent, or a trustee to access the digital assets, e.g., photos that someone may post on Facebook of a person who is deceased, under legal disability or subject to a trust agreement. This is a bipartisan Bill that we worked hard to make an agreed Bill. It is supported by respected organizations like Northern Trust Bank, the Illinois State Bar, the Cook County Public Guardian, Corporate Fiduciaries Association of Illinois, National Association of Elder Law Attorneys, AARP, and… and the tech industry. I do want to compliment all of those that were involved particularly those from… representatives from Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Apple, who all came to the table and worked with us diligently to get this done and come to an agreement. I ask for an 'aye' vote."

"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 take the record. There are 104 voting 'yes', 1 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 887, Representative Williams. Representative Williams. Out of the record. House Bill 4935, Representative Winger. Please read the Bill."

"Third Reading. Please read the Bill for a third time."

"Representative Winger."

"Representative Lilly, do you rise on this Bill? Mr. Franks, do you rise in opposition?"

"I have some questions."

"Sponsor yields."

"What happens if they don't provide this service? What happens if they don't test the kids? 'Cause I'm reading the Bill and it says that they 'shall' complete the… the hearing prior to discharge. What happens if they don't? Is there a penalty?" 09900123.docx 127  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Is there an affirmative obligation by a parent who has a child outside of a medical facility and has the… has the baby at home…"

"…and is then there an affirmative obligation by that parent to have to bring the child in for hearing screening within 30 days of birth?"

"And what happens if the parent does not do that? Is there any penalty for the parent or for the health care provider? I'm just… I just want to make sure that we're not criminalizing, you know, home births."

"Well, even a civil penalty. I'm just wondering where does… where's the burden on this? So, let's say someone has their baby at home and they're assisted by whoever… some health care professional. Okay? And then they say, you know, you're supposed to go to get… get the hearing checked. What… what happens if they don't?"

"Okay. And I'm wondering how this is drafted because you say they 'shall' do this before discharge."

"Wouldn't it be better that you encourage it. What happens if they don't have the opportunity before discharge? What happens if it… whatever it might be? I mean, does it really need to be mandated in the language and that they must do this before discharge?"

"Does there need to be follow-up? What happens if, you know, it's not definitive, the test, on the first time? Is there required follow-up on this?"

"Okay. Well, I appreciate the answers. And I understand what you're trying to do. I just want to make sure that we're not providing penalties for people we're not trying to penalize. And I know that your staff is… is looking to determine that, so I appreciate your efforts."

"Those in favor of the Lady's 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. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. There are 105 voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. The Chair recognizes Representative Lilly."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can you please let the record show that I intended to vote 'no' on House Bill 335?"

"The record will show your intention. Mr. Demmer is recognized."

"Proceed, Sir."

"Welcome. Thank you for joining us today. House Bill 5781, Representative Bellock. Please read the Bill."

"Representative Bellock on the Amendment."

"Quickly, briefly, what does it do?"

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

"Third Reading. Please read the Bill."

"Leader Bellock."

"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? Please record yourselves. Have all voted who wish? Ammons, Harper, Wallace. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 104 voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House Bill 4554, Representative Flowers. Please read the Bill." 09900123.docx 131  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Representative Flowers."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 4554 as amended is an agreed Bill that codifies existing practice with the Department of Health Care and Family Services. The Bill required that the Illinois Medicaid include in its coverage prep and any other type of corresponding program to deal with HIV and STD testing, medical and monitoring. I know of no opposition to the Bill. And I would appreciate an 'aye' vote."

"Mr. Sandack, do you rise in opposition?"

"Sponsor yields."

"Yes."

"There was quite a bit and there's none as of this date."

"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? Have all voted who wish? Please record yourselves. Please take the record. There are 104 voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. House 09900123.docx 132  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 Bill 5417, Mr. Ford. Out of the record. House Bill 5762, Representative Harper. Representative Harper. Please read the Bill."

"Third Reading. Please read the Bill."

"Representative Harper."

"Can we hold the Bill on Third?"

"We certainly can hold the Bill on Third. You understand today's the deadline, Representative."

"Can I have an extended deadline?"

"That… that you'll have to take up with someone of… ahead of my paygrade."

"Gotcha. Okay."

"All right. So, this Bill will be on… held on the Order of Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, House Bill 6027. Mr. Tryon. Please read the Bill."

"Third Reading. Please read the Bill."

"Mr. Tryon." 09900123.docx 133  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Those in favor of the Gentlemen's 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 take the record, Mr. Clerk. There are 104 voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, House Bill 5763. Representative Ammons. Please read the Bill."

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, House Bill 5572. Mr. Sims. Please read the Bill."

"Mr. Sims."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. House Bill 5572 is the result of numerous discussions and work that Members of this august Body have done. What House Bill 5572 does, it creates a sex offenders' registry task force. What we've tried to do is to put together a task force representing victims' rights groups and other interested parties to come together and make sure that we are putting together a policy in the State of Illinois that represents and reflects the concerns that we have regarding individuals who create some very heinous crimes. I ask for… I know of no opposition, I ask for its favorable passage."

"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 take the record. There are 104 voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, House Bill 5684. Representative Breen. Please read the Bill."

"Mr. Breen." 09900123.docx 135  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Those… Excuse me. Mr. Franks on the Amendment. Mr. Mitchell on the Amendment." Mitchell, C.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just a couple questions of the Sponsor."

"Sponsor yields." Mitchell, C.: "Representative, I'm curious. So, I actually really, really, really liked your sort of initial Bill because, as you know, one of the challenges we've had on some pension stuff is that, you know, there’s been sort of back loading it's why… and our pension proposal we went from projected units earned at entry age, normal. So I'm just curious, why, if it is such a good idea, would you go from effectively banning a practice to asking voters whether or not they want to ban the practice?"

"Mr. Franks."

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

"Sponsor yields." 09900123.docx 138  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Representative, I'm trying to understand the House Floor Amendment #3 where it says it removes the language that exempted unused vacation time or other benefits from being included as a disclosable payment."

"We've… we've seen a lot of that in this state. What concerns me is the fact that we passed a law saying that they couldn't have increases greater than six percent for their last four years. That was before your time, before you got here. But what we've seen is abuses at the local level where they've done it time and again, but we also have a penalty in there for when the local governments do that. So, as a result, 09900123.docx 139  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 they… they ignore the law and then they pay a penalty, but they don't care because all were tax dollars anyway. Right?"

"Right."

"Well, I saw in the analysis that IMRF was against…"

"Okay. And that was… and why were they initially opposed?"

"By taking IMRF out of determining whether there is an issue, you're leaving it really the fox to watch the hen house, because you're saying that the municipality are the ones who are… who are the ones who are… who are doing this or the local government are also the ones you're asking then to… to report, correct?"

"But there's no way to stop it, are you telling us? There's no way to stop these spikes above the statutory limit of six percent?" 09900123.docx 141  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016

"Absolutely."

"But… but they still have to pay the penalty."

"Right."

"But is there a way…"

"…did you look to see whether we could cap it at six and say, you're not going higher than this; you're not going higher. You can't even pay a penalty if you want to go higher."

"Well, they…"

"Okay. Well, I appreciate it. I'll listen to more."

"I think it's intriguing with what you're trying to do."

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

"Third Reading. Please read the Bill."

"Mr. Breen, did… Amendment 3 became the Bill?"

"I believe it's been thoroughly debated. I see no one wishing to speak. Therefore, 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. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 100 voting 'yes', 3 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. 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. And now, leaving perfunctory time for the Clerk, Leader Currie 09900123.docx 143  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 123rd Legislative Day 4/22/2016 moves that the House stand adjourned 'til Tuesday, May 3 at the hour of noon. Those in favor say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And the House stands adjourned. Have a nice week."