Illinois House Floor Debate — December 1, 2016

"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."

"We'll be led in the Pledge by Mr. Franks."

"Roll Call for Attendance. There was an assumption that you didn’t know it, Mr. Franks. Leader Currie."

"Thank you, Speaker please let the record show that Representatives Ammons, Costello, Dunkin, Phelps, and Reaves- Harris are excused today.

"Mr. Brown." 09900153.docx 1  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"Mr. Clerk, please take record. We have 109 Members answering the roll and we do have a quorum. Mr. Clerk, House Resolution 584, Mr. Brady. Will Members please be in their chairs? And please rise. Mr. Clerk."

"Mr. Brady."

"Thank you, Mr. Brady. Ladies and Gentleman this Resolution had been previously adopted so you may take your seats. Mr. Clerk, Committee Reports."

"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. Chair recognizes Representative Fine, for what reason do you rise?"

"Point of personal privilege, please."

"You may proceed."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to remind the Body that we passed a Resolution last May for Random Acts of Kindness week and that’s coming up December 11th-December 17th. I know there are a lot of schools and community groups that are participating. So, it’s a great time just to remember to hold the door to somebody… for somebody, talk to a stranger, and do something kind because you never know how that’s going to impact somebody else's life. So, don’t forget Random Act of Kindness week December 11th-17th."

Speaker Lang: "Thank you, Representative. Chair recognizes Representative Kifowit. For what reason do you rise?"

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise to announce the filing of the Veteran's Suicide Report. For the attention of the General Assembly, today myself and I'm joined with Senator Cullerton are officially filing the findings of the Veteran's Suicide Taskforce that we've been meeting all year long. I realize that this subject matter is not one to be taken lightly but 09900153.docx 4  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 I do believe that this task force traveled the whole State of Illinois and actually embarked on a listening tour to hear about the needs and to express the services that the Veterans are lacking in our state today. I would be remise if I did not publicly thank the members of the task force for all their hard work. Representative Jeanne Ives, the Minority Representative on the task force, Greg Dooley from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Lieutenant Colonel Steve Foster from the Department of Military Affairs, Tom Miller from the Department of Human Services, Jennifer Martin from the Department of Public Health, Paul Schimpf from the Senate Minority Leader Representative. We spent countless hours working on this subject matter and I hope and I want to implore upon all of you that in the next year that we embark to prevent and to eliminate the epidemic of Veteran suicide and I hope and pray that we do not lose a Veteran to suicide again. So, with that Mr. Clerk, I also want to acknowledge Will Attig, in the Gallery who was instrumental in getting this started… this initiative started and coming together to make sure that we are here as a resource and that the State of Illinois will not turn its back on our Veterans. So, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker."

"Thank you Representative, thank the task force for its hard work. Representative Ives is recognized." Ives: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I personally want to thank Representative Kifowit, for her professionalism during every task force meeting, for writing the majority, if not the bulk of the report, for actually… actually running the Bill that allowed this Suicide task force to exist and for really being 09900153.docx 5  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 there the entire time without fail at every meeting no matter where it was around the state she, your professionalism was remarkable in a very delicate and difficult topic to speak to. Especially when you had personnel, person, people coming in and giving their very personal stories about how suicide, veterans’ suicide is affected them. So, I commend you for you wonderful report and your professional style and everything that you did with it. It was a wonderful experience to work with you on this endeavor."

Speaker Lang: "Representative McAsey is recognized. For what reason do you rise?"

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On a point of personal privilege."

"Please proceed."

"Thank you. This morning it's come to my attention that some very integral members of our House Democratic staff are going to be leaving us and I just wanted to take a moment to recognize Eric Lane and Julia Larkin, who are on the floor today. As, well as Chris Maley, who's back in the D Wing and to thank them all for their many years of service. I know that they’ve each been very helpful to me over the years and I think that other members would… would likely agree. Today is also Eric's birthday. So, if we can give these three around of applause to thank them for their service and wish them well in their next endeavor."

"Thanks to all of you for your service to the Illinois General Assembly and to the people of Illinois. Mr. Evans is recognized. For what reason do you rise?"

"Point of personal privilege, please."

"Please proceed." 09900153.docx 6  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"Ladies and Gentleman, it was man that was raised in East Saint Louis, received his Bachelors of Science in Education, a Masters of Planning from Southern Illinois University, was an Assistant Principal, a Teacher, and a Principal. And he did all of this prior to 2009, he was great leader in his community. And in 2009, this Gentleman joined this Assembly and made a difference for his community and residents throughout the State of Illinois. He will not be returning but he made an impact on my life. I met Representative Jackson in 2012, when I came to this Assembly. And we've built a friendship and he's been a great influencer of my life, encouraging me to continue do some things, just a huge impact. So, I think we should definitely give Representative Jackson a great round of applause, for not only all he's done for his region prior to 2009, but for taking upon the challenge to come to the General Assembly after he had a lifetime of accomplishments. And to just add to his mantle an additional accomplishment. So, I want to give him a round of applause, I want them to hear it all the way in East Saint Louis, how much we appreciated his contribution to this state. Thank you, and round of applause to my colleague and friend Eddie Lee Jackson."

"Thank you, Representative. Thank you for those fine comments. Senate Bills-Second Reading page 3 of the Calendar. Senate Bill 586, Representative Flowers. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Third Reading, please read the Bill"

"Representative Flowers."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen, of the House, Senate Bill 586 amends the Illinois Lottery by extending the Carolyn Adams Ticket for the Cure scratch off 'til December 30 of 2026. And I would appreciate an 'aye' vote on Senate Bill 586."

"Mr. Demmer."

"Sponsor Yields."

"There's various organizations that work with cancer patients, cancer patient's families, help send their kids to school, help the patient get back and forth to the hospital, do counseling for the children. There's multitude of things that this fund does."

"Yes it does."

"Absolutely."

"My pleasure." 09900153.docx 8  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"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. There are 118 voting 'yes', 0 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is here by declared passed. Page 5 of the Calendar. Constitutional Amendments-Third Reading. HJRCA 62. Mr. Clerk, please read the Constitutional Amendment for a third time."

"Mr. Franks."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the Assembly. We bring to you House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 62, which is a logical extension of existing law that requires a supermajority of votes for legislative action outside the regularly scheduled Legislative Session. Presently, any votes and any measure after May 31st, with an immediate effective date requires a super majority. This Constitutional Amendment seeks to extend those same procedural protections during any lame duck Legislative Session, which by definition, is outside the regularly schedule Legislative Session, to votes dealing with tax increases. It's only fair that those people who will face the voters be the ones to make the decisions in the regular Legislative Session. Lame duck Sessions should not be used for 11th hour tax increases, with a lower vote standard than a Veto Session. Now, when the Quinn tax increase was approved my colleagues on the Republican side on the aisle correctly criticized the actions of those lame duck legislators. They mentioned yesterday on Representative McSweeney's Resolution, my friends Jim Durkin, Representatives Pritchard and Kay, even filed similar legislation to this measure to halt this practice. David Harris is not here today, also filed a Bill, his even went farther. His Bill said that there would always be a 3/5 vote for a tax increase. That's not what this Bill is though. It 09900153.docx 10  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 says if you're going to have tax increase during a lame duck, that you would require a 3/5ths. Yesterday, taxpayer advocacy groups like the Illinois Policy Institute, American's For Tax Reform, American's For Prosperity, and The Illinois Chamber testified in committee and wrote letters opposing the practice of lame duck tax increases without a heightened vote. We passed this Bill out of committee, yesterday, unanimously and we have many cosponsors. Presently, there are 16 of us in the General Assembly who are lame duck members and if you do the math that's more than 25 percent necessary to pass a tax hike under the present rules. So, this legislation provides a more responsive representative government by limiting the ability of lame duck unaccountable legislators to force a tax hike on to our citizens. This change is long overdue and necessary to protect the integrity of our elections and to insure accountability to the voters. I am one of those 16 lame duck legislators. What we really could be though is the zombie apocalypse if we're not stopped, because we're the walking dead. We don’t have to… we don’t have to respond to the voters. I know you like that, Mr. Sullivan. But you look back and it's rare to see, we only have to look back five years in our history for a verdict on policy choices. Let's really hear what happened a few years ago, when economic recovery in earnest and the rest of the country began to accelerate, a tax hike here born out of political expediency and patronage choked it off in Illinois. We can't allow that to happen again. I'd be happy to answer any questions, we talked briefly yesterday about how we witnessed the 11th hour tax increase during the 96th Legislative Assembly, when the 09900153.docx 11  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 Governor huddled right under… right back here at the back of the chamber in the shadows cutting… cutting those deals. Our citizens deserve much more and this Constitutional Amendment will give it to them. I'd be happy to answer any questions."

"Mr. McSweeney."

"Mr. Demmer."

"Sponsors yields."

"Well this wouldn’t take effect until 2018 at the earliest, that’s the next time it can be on the ballot so…"

"We don’t know, I haven’t seen the schedule. I don’t think the schedule's come out. But let's assume for the sake of argument that we pass it here."

"I think that we've sent a very strong message and hopefully, one of you remaining guys will file it if it doesn't pass in the Senate before the end, that you will file it for the next General Assembly, the 100th General Assembly, and get it going right away. But I think once we…"

"Right."

"Right it goes right to the Citizens."

"Correct."

"2018." 09900153.docx 13  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"Going…"

"Correct."

"Right."

"That’s exactly what I said in Committee yesterday. You’re right, but I think we need to change going forward in order to continue to protect the taxpayers. And I think the Resolution that Mr. McSweeney passed yesterday is effectively taken care of it for this General Assembly. But I think this will protect tax payers going forward." Demmer: So, one of the comments you made was we kind of have this peculiar way that the Calendar is structured in which after you get January 1st of a new year, you still have a lame duck legislature but the vote threshold drops from 71 to 60. And you chosen here to extend that 71 threshold but only for Revenue Bills. Right?"

"Correct."

"I think that this is the most important part. Perhaps you'd like…"

"Well, spending Bills already happen. Doesn’t mean they're going to be appropriated…"

"As we've seen, we passed a lot of spending Bills that’s doesn’t mean much."

"Correct."

"Correct."

"I thought about it long and hard, and I thought this made sense. I also thought it was the thing that would be most passable. I think if we put everything in it would make it more difficult to pass. I think it makes… I think it's difficult to vote against this because it’s… it’s the right public policy. I think the other one would bring a lot more… a lot more opposition and we have to understand that compromise is important in our work here and our job and we have to understand what can and can't be done. This is what can be done and what should be done. Actually what must be done." 09900153.docx 15  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"Absolutely."

"We can look at the language together."

"It’s the increase of Revenue to the state by an increase of a tax or measured by income or the selling price of any item of tangible personal property or any service may become law. We're dealing with taxes."

"Sure."

"Well, this is for taxes."

"This is for taxes."

"I don’t think…"

"Yeah."

"I like…"

"…I like that one."

"You know we can say that about everything. We can talk about the Governor saying that he won't do a budget unless we have tax… property tax freeze. Well, this body passed a property tax freeze, correct? It over in the Senate right now. He also says he wants to have term limits. I agree with the Governor there. So, to say… to criticize, that we’re doing this after an election when the Governor is saying we need to do things after the election I believe is a bit disingenuous."

"Look, don’t you think we need good policy?"

"We could argue about it on every Bill. But I think the idea is to create a structure and a frame work going forward that will work. I think we can agree that the State of Illinois is broke, it's broken, and it's dysfunctional. One of the ways to help fix our dysfunction is to change the structure. This will do that"

"Representative Cassidy."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Constitutional Amendment. Frankly, the exchange that we just heard tells us exactly what's going here. This is not about establishing good public policy for the State of Illinois. This is not about making real change, this is a gimmick. This is a thing to make folks say they did something to make people feel better. 09900153.docx 18  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 Fundamentally, this can't get done. The exchange between the last two speakers showed us this isn't going to get done and even if we could pass it through both chambers nothing would happen until at least after the 2018 Election. At its core though, what you're trying to do with this Constitutional Amendment is strip, your constituents and the constituents of all of the other 16, you called yourselves the walking dead. Was that the word you used? The zombie apocalypse. Yes. You're trying to strip them of representation for the period from Election Day until the new person is sworn in. And I just think that that’s not fair and not right. You were elected to serve two full years, your term is two years long, your constituents deserve your vote for that full two years. I urge a 'no' vote on this gimmick. If we want to make real change let's do it in a sincere and thoughtful way. Thank you."

"Mr. Zalewski."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Amendment. I act… Jack, I actually support this Amendment. I probably support it for a different reason than you would want me to support it for. But I was among those who supported the tax increase in 2011 and it was among the most empty feelings that night walking out of this chamber because it was a one party Roll Call. And that tax increase, respectfully, was talked about by yourself and by others as being damaging to the State of Illinois and something that should not have happened. When in all reality, that tax… tax increase rescued us from the brink of disaster. It allowed us to make our pension payment, it allowed us to pay social service providers, it allowed us to pay vendors, 09900153.docx 19  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 it allowed us to do budgets, it allowed us to do everything a functioning State Government was supposed to do. And it was villainized, called destructive, called a job killer, called everything in the book in an effort to show that we can't be responsible when we raise taxes. Well, the reason I like your Resolution is because, going forward, if we're going to do a post January 1, Revenue increase it's going to be bipartisan. It's going to require bipartisan support. And to me that’s valuable from the perspective of those Members who've continued to take tough votes and been demonized for it. So, I urge support of the Gentleman's Resol… the Amendment. I think it’s a good thing. It does hit people's guts wrong. But from those of us who taken tough votes and been demonized for it and been villainized for it, it's time to change the dynamic. Thank you, Mr. Speaker."

"Mr. Kay."

"Sponsor yields."

"Mr. Mitchell." Mitchell, C.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Constitutional Amendment. This is different than the Resolution we voted on yesterday. I was one of a few people that voted against that Resolution. I voted against that Resolution because I believe that State Representatives are elected for 24 months. That’s my read of the Constitution. My understanding is that we are elected to represent our 108 thousand Constituents, for the fullness of our term. If those Constituents don’t want us to vote for Revenue increase they should call our offices, they should send us a letter, they should make sure that they come to speak to us in person but ultimately we are elected to do job. Now, this Amendment is a little different and if you want to vote for it I think you should be able to because it's not about whether or not you can do something, it's about raising a vote threshold. But, to say that those who may or not vote against this Bill are doing so because they’re ridiculous as was sort of asserted by the last speaker, is itself ridiculous. There are some folks here, who come here to do a job, and sometimes that job is unpopular, and sometimes that job means taking difficult votes. But they come here to do a job for the entire time they are elected for. So, vote your conscience, vote your district, but understand that there are reasonable people who will probably vote against this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker."

Speaker Lang. "Mr. Franks, to close." 09900153.docx 21  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members. I want to reply to one of the comments. We’re not stripping any rights from any of the Members. And I appreciate the two speakers who were concerned about that because as the last speaker rightly said you're still going to be able to vote. But, what we're going to be doing is changing the threshold because the actions of an unaccountable legislatures has been allowed to go unchecked for too long. So, it's really time to end the practice of clandestine government, which is deal making behind closed doors to raise tax… raise taxes. This legislation will stop those backroom deals that cost the taxpayers literally billions of dollars. So, if there's going to be a tax hike let it be out in front, let it at least have, at least, the same requirement that we need to pass the Bill in Veto Session. That’s all this Bill does, it doesn't prohibit a vote, it doesn't prohibit a tax increase. All I'm saying is that something this important should at least be as treated as well as something in Veto. I'd ask for your support on this… on this Amendment."

Those in favor of the Constitutional Amendment will vote 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Last chance. Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 84 voting 'yes', 18 voting 'no', 2 voting 'present'. And the Resolution is adopted. Page 5 on the Calendar. Senate Bills-Second Reading. Senate Bill 2950, Mr. Harris. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill." 09900153.docx 22  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"Third Reading. Please read the Bill."

"Mr. Harris."

"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. Jones, Sims, Wallace. 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 here by declared passed. Mr. Clerk, Rules Report."

"Page 4 of the Calendar. Senate Bill 1941, Mr. Hoffman. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Mr. Hoffman."

"Mr. Speaker, I believe that we… we want to go to Amendment #5."

"Are you withdrawing Amendments 2, 3, and 4, Sir."

"Yes."

"Mr. Clerk, please withdraw Amendments 2, 3, and 4 and proceed."

"Mr. Hoffman"

"Yes, I would just ask permission to debate this 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. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Mr. Hoffman." 09900153.docx 24  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. This is an agreement between labor and business regarding the unemployment insurance benefits for individuals who are laid off by steel manufacture between April 1, 2015 and the effective day of this Bill. This would extend their unemployment benefits by 26 weeks. As you know, US Steel in Granite City laid off nearly 2,000 workers as a result of the illegal dumping of foreign steel into the markets here in the United States. The Trade Associa… the Trade Administration, federally is investigating that and I believe eventually will find that China and other countries have illegally dumped foreign steel. This would simply extend those benefits. Again, it is an agreement between business and labor and I ask for a favor roll call."

"Mr. Kay."

"Sponsor yields"

"Those in favor of the Gentleman's Bill will vote 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who 09900153.docx 25  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Chapa LaVia, Gabel. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. There are 102 voting 'yes', 0 voting… Excuse me 107 voting 'yes', 2 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is here by declared passed. Chair recognizes Mr. Morrison. For what reason do you rise, Sir?"

"The record will reflect your intentions, Sir. Under the Order of Senate Bills-Second Reading, there appears Senate Bill 1751, Mr. Guzzardi. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Mr. Guzzardi, are you going to handle this Amendment for Leader Currie?"

"I hope to. Yes, Sir."

"Go right ahead, Sir."

"The Amendment simply addresses a drafting error. I'm hoping that we can move it to third reading and discuss it then."

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

"Mr. Guzzardi."

"If we could just actually move right to Floor Amendment 3, Mr. Chair. That will be ideal.

"Do you withdrawal Amendment 2, Sir?"

"I do. Yes, Sir."

"Does Amendment 3 become the Bill?"

"Indeed it does, Sir."

"Amendment 2 is withdrawn. Mr. Clerk."

"Mr. Guzzardi on Amendment 3."

"This Amendment becomes the Bill. I look forward to discussing 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. Guzzardi."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Chamber. This Bill is a Bill I've discussed with many of you involving the border wall. So, I'd like to take just a moment before I address the specifics of the Bill to talk about walls. Walls have never, throughout history, been terribly effective means of keeping people in or out. You look back from the Great Wall of China, the Berlin Wall, to the border wall that we already have with Mexico. You know, in San Diego we have 14 09900153.docx 27  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 miles of border wall with Mexico. And that wall as many of you may have seen in the news it was recently discovered that there is a vast intricate network of tunnels under this wall. People are traveling freely back and forth. So, walls aren't good at securing borders. They never have been. Walls are symbols. Walls are messages that the people on the other side of the wall are dangerous and that by keeping those people out, we’re going to solve the problems on our side. I don’t believe that those are the values of the people of Illinois as pertains to the country of Mexico. I don’t believe that we think that keeping those people out is going to solve our problems. In fact, I think that Illinois is a welcoming state. I think that this is a state that embraces diversity. I think it’s a state that knows the value of immigrants. And I think that in these scary times for many immigrants in this state and in this country, if walls are symbols, if walls are messages, I think it's important that we send our own message to the people of Illinois. That we are standing up on the side of the immigrant community in this state. So, Senate Bill 1751 would divest Illinois’ public investments and pension funds from any company that accepts a Federal contract to build a border wall with Mexico. This operates exactly like Senate Bill 1761, which we passed in this General Assembly involving a boycott of transactions with companies that boycott, excuse me, involving prohibition of transactions with companies that boycott the State of Israel. That Bill 1761 passed this chamber 102 to 0. This Bill operates in an identical fashion, simply refers to a different type of investment. And again, I think this is an opportunity 09900153.docx 28  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 for us as a chamber and as the people of Illinois to send a message about what our values are. That we stand with the immigrant community in this state and that we are a welcoming state that embraces people who wish to come here. I think that it's an important moment for us to send a message about our values. And I urge an 'aye' vote. Thank you."

"Mr. Davidsmeyer."

"Sponsor yields."

"So, Representative Davidsmeyer, we already have on the books several types of companies that we don't invest in. Because we don’t agree with their values, right? Whether it's Iran or Sudan or this Israel boycott that we talked about earlier this year. This is a decision we've already made. The Illinois Investment Policy Board already does this. So, this type of decision that we make all time as a General Assembly. And I think this is a particular important moment for us to do it."

"A company that takes a federal contract to build a border wall with Mexico, we would not invest in that company. That’s correct."

"Pardon me?" 09900153.docx 29  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"Well again, you know, I believe that the construction of this wall, first of all I don’t think it's going to happen to be honest with you."

"Yeah. So, I think talking about the wall…"

"Well, the wall is a charged issue right and…"

"…so hear me out…

"…talking about the wall is a way of sending a message to a group of people in this country about what we think the problems in this country are. Right? So, the wall is a message. I think we should be really clear about that. And it’s a message that people are unwelcome in this country. We think they’re the problem. And so, the values of this Bill are in refuting that message with a message of our own. That's not what we think the problems facing this country are."

"Representative Davidsmeyer…"

"Right."

"Immigration from… net migration from Mexico, we have more people going back to Mexico than coming in. There was a big influx of people coming from Mexico 20 years ago. But the Boogie Man of illegal immigrants taking our jobs and 09900153.docx 30  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 destroying our communities is simply a false myth that we need to refute as a General Assembly."

"Let me tell you. Let me tell you."

"I agree completely."

"Yeah."

"That absolutely true."

"Yeah. That’s absolutely true. And here's the thing is that oftentimes people say, well why don’t they just do it the legal way? Why don’t they just get in line like everybody else? The fact of the matter is legal immigration from Mexico is an enormously difficult, costly, and extremely time intensive process it takes…"

"…Years. That's true. Not just from Mexico."

"It takes years and years and years. And a lot of the people who come to this country simply can’t wait that long. They’re escaping violence, they’re escaping abuse, they’re escaping poverty. Right, they’re coming to this country for 09900153.docx 31  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 opportunity and they simply can't afford to wait. So, they’re willing to take desperate measures to engage in activity that is illicit in order to come to this country and make a better life.

"But those are very ineffective and only apply in a extremely small minority of cases."

"To undertake comprehensive immigration reform? I would look forward to co-sponsoring that with you Representative Davidsmeyer."

"Absolutely. Well, I look forward to those conversations. Thank you very much."

"Mr. Demmer."

"Sponsor yields."

"Correct."

"Correct."

"So, the Bills lays out specific procedures that the IIPB can undertake, which include reviewing and relying on publicly available information, contacting asset managers, contacting institutional investors. So, there's procedures laid out in the Bill for how this works. And I will remind you that we already do this in a number of other areas, right around Iran and related investments, Sudan related investments…"

"Representative Demmer, this is the kind of work the IIPB is regularly engaged in at present. The statute before us contains a number of specific ways in which the IIPB is to 09900153.docx 33  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 make these determinations. And again, we passed something on it as nebulous a concept as boycotting the State of Israel that we assigned to the IIPB, which I believe you voted for Representative as did everyone in this chamber. So, I think that we are all comfortable assigning the IIPB this kind of task.

"Representative…"

"So again, I will direct you to the language of the proposed statute here, which says that the IIPB will makes it best effort to identify these companies and it lists a number of specific ways in which they could make that effort. And again, this is the…"

"…kind of work that you have told them do already in other areas."

"I am quite certain that they could make that they could make that information available to the IIPB and that they would review their list. According to this Bill…"

"They review the list every quarter. Yes."

"Representative Demmer, this kind of work is what the IIPB does. We're instructing them to do their job. We're telling them how to do it. This… and again, as I've repeated before, this is the kind of work that you have previously tasked them with doing. So, you clearly are comfortable as is everyone in this chamber tasking them to do this kind of work…"

"Simply to master contracts and I think that language is pretty clear. Subcontractors aren't mentioned in the statute at all."

"Well yeah, Representative Demmer, I think that the potential snowball effect of including subcontractors might be a little too grave for what we're trying to accomplish here."

"No, again that’s the language in this statute is quite clear. That does not apply to them."

"If they contract to build a border wall with Mexico then the IIPB will take that into account and make its 09900153.docx 35  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 investment decisions accordingly. And again, I'll point out that this won't have any effect on Illinois jobs or Illinois workers. Should Caterpillar receive this contract, they'll get the contract and they'll go do the work and they'll make the money for it, that we simply won't be owning shares."

"Again here, let make this point also. And I didn’t make it earlier. There have been times in recent history in this country when states like Indiana and North Carolina have engaged in activities that have been widely viewed as… as unethical, right? Have passed legislation that was targeting specific groups that a lot of people thought this is a bad idea. And you know what, a whole lot of responsible companies in this country got together and said we're not going do business with that state while they’re participating in these activities, right? And that had a huge impact and historically throughout time, targeted investment strategies and decisions by responsible corporations have had a major impact on public policy."

"Correct. My point in saying this is…"

"…my point in saying this is that I trust that good and responsible companies will not participate in this. I have faith in those companies."

"Any company that takes a contract to build a wall, the company that takes the contract, we won't be investing in…

"…the company its self that takes the contract, Representative."

"So, it does not apply to what are called indirect holdings or private funds. So, it's specifically the companies that are taking the contracts to build. I don’t know how to be more clear about this than I've already been, Representative."

"Representative."

"Go ahead, Sir."

"Yeah."

"No. We have sunset dates on Bills all the time and this one provides a great opportunity to reconsider this venture in 2 years." 09900153.docx 37  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"You know Representative Demmer, it was chosen… I know what you're getting at. It was chosen as a reference to the end of the 1st term of the current President-Elect of the United States."

"Representative, this is a moral initiative. This is an initiative about what are values are. And yes, that’s connected to politics. I think morals and politics are often intricately bound, right?"

"I haven’t heard you question any other legislation we've ever passed that has a sunset date of why it should have one. And frankly, I haven't heard you question, ask any of these same question about…"

"Well Representative, I appreciate your questions. Thank you for asking them. I'll simply say this. We had a Bill that did this exact same thing about companies that boycott Israel. And I heard none of these questions about the mechanics of how that Bill would operate when that came before us. So, I can only assume that the reason you're asking these questions now is about the substance of this Bill and not about its mechanics so…"

"Representative Ives."

"Lady moves the previous question. Those in favor say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And the previous question is put. Mr. Guzzardi to close."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll simply say this. I think any comments about from the previous speaker who spoke to the so many unanswered questions and how could we possibly know how the policy board could make these investment decisions. We had this exact same Bill about these companies that boycott 09900153.docx 39  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 Israel in this same General Assembly. And not a single one of those questions was raised. So, I think those questions are simply a thin excuse for not wanting to address the values question that is at the core of this Bill. What kind of values do we reflect as the General Assembly of the State of Illinois? And I trust, I really trust that we will show the people of this state, particularly the immigrant community of this state, that we don't believe they're the problem. We don’t want to build a wall and keep the boogie man out. We believe in welcoming people from all backgrounds to the State of Illinois and providing economic opportunity for those people in our state. I urge an 'aye' vote. I think this is a critical message for us to send to immigrants in this state and to people around this country about what our values are. Thank you."

"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. Please record yourselves. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 56 voting 'yes', 47 voting 'no'. The Gentleman requested the Bill put on the Order of Postponed Consideration."

"Representative Hernandez is recognized."

"Yes, Mr. Speaker. Point of personal privilege."

"State your point."

"I just want to thank Representative Guzzardi for having the courage to build bridges and not build walls. Thank you."

"Chair recognizes Representative Chapa LaVia. For what reason do you rise?" 09900153.docx 40  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"Point of personal privilege if I may."

"Please proceed."

"Thank you, Speaker. You look mighty nice today. I know we're at a lull and I'd like to just take a opportunity to congratulate and thank the Members that are going to be leaving us. Because there such a plethora of people leaving us. But I wanted to make sure especially my seatmate over here Mr. Jack Franks, that I honor him. He has sat next to me unfortunately for 14 years. And he does smell, and both of these Gentleman make me feel like I'm at home with my brothers. But honestly Jack, you have always gone above and beyond being a seatmate. You've always made sure that you’ve pushed my button or I've pushed yours red all the time. But I've learned a lot from you, you are a phenomenal debater. I was going to say another word but I won't say that. And… and whenever I wasn’t watching what Bills I was going to be on, you made sure that I was on Bills that I needed in my district. Because you knew my district. And I'm going to really, really, really, miss you. And I don't know how many people here can say that. But I… I have loved having a Republican on this side to represent that half of the chamber. Last time I did that I got in trouble on national news, but he's Caucasian. Part anyway, whatever the other side is, right? But seriously Jack, your family is like my family. I know you're going to be around, I know you're going be able to help us whenever we need it. And then you're going to come back for votes and a lot of our Members over here are going to say no. So, but from the bottom of my heart, I love you to death. I wish you only success. I know you have big foot steps to come into 09900153.docx 41  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 that seat but I know you're going to do great. Also, for all the Members, Mr. Sullivan I came in with you, you've been a great asset and I'm not going to go down litany of everybody. Tryon, I hope in the future that we're still working together on great stuff, Tryon. I know you're going to do great stuff. For the Members, the other 9… 17 Members, I adore each and every one of you, and I hope that you understand, you've been a big part of who we are and what will continue to be. This institution is a fine institution. 99 percent of the time we do agree on a lot of stuff. I just wish the media would cover that. Because these are all my brothers and sisters. These are all my GA brothers and sisters and if anything happens to you I'll be there in a heartbeat. And I just want let you know, and I'm sure some of our colleagues will get up and acknowledge other people but I'm going to miss all of you. Godspeed. Thank you."

"Representative Mayfield is recognized. For what reason do you rise?"

"Personal privilege. Since we're talking about Members that are leaving, I just want to acknowledge a strong leader within the Black Caucus that is going to be leaving us, Representative Eddie Jackson, who is by far the best dressed man in the chamber every Session day. He is extremely humble but he is so bright and so sharp. If you've ever had an opportunity to be in his committee, he knows his facts and nothing gets out of that committee that has any type of garbage in it. He is just an excellent man, a wonderful Representative. We are going to miss you, Representative. And 09900153.docx 42  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 I just want everybody just to congratulate him and thank him for all his service to us."

"Representative Kifowit is recognized. For what purpose do you rise?"

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the same vain being a fellow class of the freshman ‘98. I want to wish Godspeed to my good friend, fabulous singer, wonderful extraordinaire individual Kate Cloonen. She… as we all remember when we used to do freshman hazing, she was the one that belted it out. And I think put Dennis Reboletti on call for when they… when she sang God Bless America on this House Floor. And we will never forget all her wisdom, all her insight, and her experience. I am personally blessed to call her a friend and a colleague. So, thank you Kate and have a lot of fun."

"Mr. Hays."

"Mr. Evans, for what reason do you rise, Sir?"

"Point of personal privilege."

"Proceed"

"Ladies and Gentleman, we have another colleague who's not physically here, and she's not here because of some of the challenges that life presents to us. But she came in at very challenging period in which we needed stability representing the west side of Chicago in the 10th District. We needed a strong voice that we could trust, we got that individual in Pamela Reaves-Harris. She served and we’ve been talking about the amount of time you serve, she served and she is continuing to serve all the way through. She only did one term. I'm in my fourth, she did one but she served with dignity, with pride. Reminding me of the great women in my community, beautifully educated black woman. She pushed for human services, she pushed for criminal justice. Her short record was one that you could be proud of, that she should be proud of, and we all should thank her. Because again she came in, in a period, in which we needed a Representative to represent us all with a particular level of trust and class. She did that, she did not run for reelection, will be replaced by another, dynamic woman. But she deserves our thoughts, she deserves are prayers as she goes through a tumultuous period. And send her an email, call if you can, because her one term 09900153.docx 44  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 was impactful to our community and this Assembly. So, Pamela Reaves-Harris give her a round of applause. Thank you."

"Representative Williams is recognized."

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

"Please Proceed."

"You know, people sometimes say that Springfield and the world in and around the Capitol is kind of like a family. Albeit a very dysfunctional family, and I would agree. I was talking with a colleague of mine on the other side of the aisle, Representative McAuliffe, and we were noting that we've both been hanging around here over 20 years now. But I think it's important for all the Members that are leaving us to remember how many of us you've touched, in so many ways, over the years. And we are somewhat of a family. Representative Acevedo, you've been a great person to have in my row. But I remember as 27 year old staffer being terrified of you. Not as scared of you now but will miss you being here around the Capitol. I've know you've made such an impact on so many of us. Jen, Bradley, and I have worked on some crazy negotiations over the years. Both in my role as a Legislator, as well as a staffer, and some crazy, crazy Bills that have come out of that. Mike Tryon, what an amazing person you are. I look forward with you even beyond your time here. Linda Chapa LaVia, always a smile for all of us. Thank you for your remarks as well, even though you're not quite leaving us yet, but I appreciate your comments about Jack. And I will say, I did work on Jack's first election so I do take some responsibility for the last 18 years. And finally, just a shout out to Don Moffitt. We had some interesting times when 09900153.docx 45  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 we first started to regulate the Sudafedrin when I was working at the AG's office. And I'm not trying go through my own personal history but just to make the point that so many of you have touched so many of us in so many ways over the years. And we're all thinking of it as you move on to the next chapter in your lives. And we hope you come back and see us soon."

"Representative Hernandez."

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

"Go right ahead."

"I just… I want to start off… it is bittersweet to say farewell to our friend, Majority Leader Representative Ed Acevedo. There's been a lot of history that's been made especially under the leadership of Representative Acevedo. He's really taken this state forward in terms of, especially the immigrant communities, taking the lead in passing in- state tuition, the temporary driver's license, The Illinois Dream Act. Working very hard to hold back secure communities from being implemented in the State of Illinois. He has really… he really has a record of working hard on behalf of his community. He's been a friend to me, he's been my seatmate from the very get go. I've been here over 10 years. Often times I do have to mention that, that button right next to me, often times I thought was mine at times. All in kidding. Eddie we're going to really miss you. I really respect the leadership and how you have lead Illinois. Our communities have really just gained and benefit from the hard work that you have accomplished here. I want to thank you, we all want 09900153.docx 46  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 to thank you, Illinois wants to thank you for your work. Thank you my friend."

"Mr. Mitchell." Mitchell, B.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Point of personal privilege."

"Please proceed." Mitchell, B.: "Since were doing this unexpected my seatmate, my friend, Representative Adam Brown is retiring. He's doing what he does best right now, he's up in my office eating chicken. But Representative Brown started as a volunteer in my office then he had an upset against a popular incumbent, worked very very hard. He's a modern day Cincinnatus so to speak. He dropped the plowed shared farmer to come serve here for a short period of time: 6 years. Now he's going back to the farm. So, I wish he and his family all the best."

"Representative Soto."

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

"Proceed please."

"I, too, want to congratulate everybody for being here. I just want to tell you it's been a great experience. I want to also remind you to thank your wife for allowing you to be here. Not in bad way, I'm just saying that you know, we take a sacrifice when we're away from home so they miss us. So, always remember to thank them because we wouldn't be here without them. I want to thank Representative Acevedo, our Leader. Thank you for all you've done. We're going to miss you very much. But I know where you live. And Representative Tryon, thank you for being here in the General Assembly. You are a good friend. Representative Bradley, another good 09900153.docx 47  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 friend that I want to congratulate. Representative Franks, we're going to miss you, Representative Franks but we know where to find you too. Mr. Moffitt, Representative Moffitt, I can't forget you. You have been wonderful, you're a very good friend. So, I really appreciate you all. And I just want to wish you the very best and also wish you Happy Holidays if we don’t see each other. So, thank you again for serving in this state. We really appreciate it. Thank you."

"Representative Hammond."

"Proceed please."

"Mr. Ford."

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

"Please go ahead." 09900153.docx 48  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"Mr. Speaker, I rise to also congratulate all those that are leaving and moving on with their lives. Leaving us with the begged to bail out the state and find a solution. But I really want to rise in support of Ken Dunkin. He's a friend of mine. And I think that we just have to remember that people make their own decisions and they have to live with their decisions. But we can never forget about the good work that people have done to make this state a better place. And as a Member of the General Assembly, I must say that Ken Dunkin may have made some decisions that he felt was good for him and for the state. But I do know that the overwhelming majority of the work that Ken Dunkin did in this Body was for the good of the State of Illinois and for the community that he served. And for that I rise and ask everyone to give Ken Dunkin a round of applause for the good work that he did as he led the Higher Ed Committee. And I think he did that gracefully and the work that he did to change the Tourist Committee, and the tourism in Illinois. He did great work, and I think that he went out on his own terms. And I think that the state is better as a result of Dunkin serving and the House is better that he's gone."

"Leader Durkin is recognized."

"Thank you, Leader. Mr. Martwick is recognized. For what reason do you rise, Sir?"

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

"You may proceed."

"So, thank you Leader Durkin for those kind words on behalf of your colleagues. You know, I think it's wonderful the outgoing… the things… the final remarks we have to say to our colleagues and I think it's important that we recognize that no matter how contentious it gets here, that all of us come here from… with different viewpoints and different background but we come here not to corrupt the system, not to get personal benefits but to do go things. Clearly, you know, we didn’t hear anybody stand up and say, boy am I glad you're leaving, right? And it's not because we're being gentlemanly and kind and civil but because we truly appreciate the service of our Members. So, I would especially implore the new Members that are coming in to keep in mind that there is always room to work across the aisle. And as I listen to Leader Durkin extol the virtues of his Members, I think about each… working with each one those Members in my four short years here, across the aisle on different Bills. And they’re good people, all of them, good people on this side. I thank you all for 09900153.docx 54  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 your service and I wish you well. You know Mike, I love our conversations, I'm going to miss playing with you. I hope you'll come down. What an amazing guitarist. It’s amazing for those of you who don’t play music I tell you, when you’re a bad musician, you play with somebody like him, it's like all of a sudden you become really good. He makes it easy so it's a lot of fun. Dwight, I've enjoyed our conversations over the years. Although, I will tell you, I don’t know how I'm going to park in my parking spot without half your car in it. I'm not sure how to do that yet. So, yeah, I'll actually be able to bring the big car now, I guess. I don't know. So many good Members here, so many good memories. Eddie Jackson, I'm going to miss. Every time I come down this aisle, a smile on your face, a warm handshake, letting us know that every day is worth coming to work here, and doing the good work of the people. And finally, one last word for a colleague of mine who I have a personal affection for, Representative Mike Smiddy. Who… I have so much affection for him because he came down here and really with a rare approach to legislating and that was he wasn't going to do what was politically expedient or what other people said would be best for his reelection purposes. He was going to do what he thought was right and he took some very, very, controversial votes. I've often referred to him as the most courageous Member in the House. Whether you agreed with him or you didn't disagree with him, he made come votes that made his reelection very, very difficult but he did it because he thought it was the right thing. And if more of us acted in that manner, we might get more solutions done. But thank you all for your service. 09900153.docx 55  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 You're all good people. I look forward to work with in the future."

"Mr. Meier."

"Mr. Butler."

"You may go right ahead."

"Mr. Beiser"

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

"Proceed please."

"I rise today to talk about a couple of my colleagues that are on their way out. First of all, Eddie Jackson. Eddie I've got to know you through the legislative process being here in the House. And also one of the legislators that stay at the same hotel and you couldn't ask for a better, better, individual than Eddie Jackson. So, thank you, for when we come down here, one of the things we don’t really anticipate is forming new friendships and what that will mean. And Eddie, I consider you a good friend and one of the good assets that I've taken from my time here in the Legislature. The other person I would like to mention is my aisle seatmate Pat Verschoore. Pat doesn't know how much of a good person he is to all of us, I don’t believe. When we come down here as a 09900153.docx 58  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 brand new Legislator, it's somewhat intimidating because of all the issues that are there, the process itself, and just the sheer magnitude of all the people. Whether it's the fellow Legislators, people that representing different organizations, lobbyist, etc. So, it can be intimidating. And I don’t know if Pat realizes that as a brand new Legislator, he was the one that reached out to me and invited me to become part of the Caucus that he chairs in our wing of the Stratton Building. And that meant the world because you always know you're going to form relationships but you don’t know just when they're going to happen or how they're going to happen. And when he reached out to me, I felt like I was part of this Body. So Pat, that meant the world and I want to say publically thank you so much for becoming such a very, very good friend. I know there are other Members of the downstate that aren’t able be here today and hopefully if we're here in January before the new General Assembly they'll have an opportunity. But we did informally speak and Pat is the Chairman of the 4:00 Caucus in our wing. A very important caucus that decides many events, many ideas and very deep thinking caucus. And we have just made him a permanent member of the 4:00 Caucus who with all the rights and privileges that come with that. And I think he'll enjoy that and maybe that'll help bring him down to Springfield when he's not here in the Legislature. Thank you very much."

"He may never leave now. Mr… Representative McAsey.

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House. I rise and I find this a little bit more difficult than I thought it would be. I apologize. The landscape of the backrow here is 09900153.docx 59  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 certainly changing. I just wanted to take moment to wish a fond farewell to my seatmates Kate Cloonen, Mike Smiddy, Andy Skoog, and from the first day that I served my seatmate John Bradley, who has often been absent and at this moment I hope that he can hear me wish him Godspeed. I wish he, his family, his wife Michelle, his wonderful boys, who it's been an honor to watch them grow over these last years, Gabriel, Jackson, and Austin. Wish all of you Godspeed. It’s been an honor to serve with you. And look forward to seeing all of your smiling faces as we move forward. Thank you"

"Mr. Acevedo."

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

"Ahead, Sir."

"It's been a long 20 years and you know, as I look around the room, I can count on one hand how many Members were in my class when I first came in. I believe it was Representative Bellock, Representative McAuliffe. Things have changed in the past 20 years. I remember when we can be here 'til 2:00 at night, have our arguments amongst on the House floor, go out and have dinner and have a beer, and still come back as friends. Somehow that has changed. I know Lisa had mentioned about me passing all these legislation, as far as undocumented. Thank you Lisa so much, who's been my seatmate, Ann Williams, Cynthia Soto, Danny Burke. The rest of the Latino Caucus and the Black Caucus and the Downstate Caucus, thank you all for all your hard work you've done here. I'm not going to say goodbye to the people who are leaving because I'm sure I'll see you around in Springfield again. But I'll 09900153.docx 60  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 tell you one thing, people have come and gone in this chamber in the past 20 years I've been here. Some have gone on their own, some have gone on and passed away but do you know what? In the past 20 years, I've met some of the most incredible individuals, the most caring individuals, that I've ever met in my life. I want to thank my constituents from the 2nd Legislative District for giving me the honor, the honor for coming down here for 20 years to represent them. And that’s one thing, please don’t ever forget, when you're in this chamber, it's an honor that is bestowed on you by the people you represent. It's not about one person passing a Bill. It's about people coming together, it's about people working together across the aisle. I have friends on both sides of the aisle, we can work together. But more importantly, we have to put our political differences aside. We have to work for the people who we came down here to represent. We have to make this state what it once was. And still going to be the greatest state in this country. And I know with the people who are going to be here and the people that are coming in, that can happen. Change can happen. I want to thank the staff because they never get a chance for people to say thank you but you know what, you've done a tremendous… you’ve done a tremendous job. Our job wouldn’t be as easy as it was if it wasn't for you. So, I want to thank you all. I want to thank the organizations who came down and fought for what they believe in. But I leave you with this, please just remember, in these chambers, we are all as equal as one another. And we are all here to fight for our people. I'll miss you all. I'll 09900153.docx 61  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 be around here in Springfield more often but thank you so much for the opportunity. Thank you."

"Representative Sente is recognized."

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Before we get started I… I’d like to maybe conclude some of the remarks regarding people who are leaving. I, too, would like to add my best wishes to everyone who has served. I've had the pleasure of serving with. I've had many jobs in lifetime but I would say for me, truly, this is one of the hardest I have ever had. And so, I appreciate that and in this time when many people are looking to this position we hold as politicians and why are we doing it, I look around and I would tell you that I've been working with people who are true public servants. And I would like to say thank you and a fond fare well to them. There are 3 individuals that I've probably spent most time with that are leaving that I'd just like to talk about briefly. And I feel like their background embodies a non-partisan role and cared not at all if an idea was good, it didn’t matter where it came from and if an idea was bad, it didn't matter what side of the aisle it came from. I'll start with someone up in my county which was Ed Sullivan. We worked on countless pieces of legislation together. He was great for advice. And I think as I stand here on the House floor and he would get up and he would really explain pieces of legislation, it should help me make decision and would sometimes sway me in terms of how I would make a decision. So, I truly appreciate you for that Ed. And I will miss you very much when you leave. The other individual is Mike Tryon. I served with him for many years on the Environment Committee and I would tell you I don’t think 09900153.docx 62  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 there's anyone on that committee that I voted with more frequently or with more similar views. But with his vast background he really taught me a lot. And again, was one of those really non-partisan people who was down here to do good. And the last will probably be no surprise to you guys, would be my very good friend Jack Franks. The first time I met Jack he was in a ski cap and on the other side of the street with Shaw Decremer on the other side and they we're teaching me how to go up to talk to doors and rushing me because they had a live body on one side of the street or the other and I was running back and forth. Jack taught me everything I know frankly about campaigning and legislating and being a good legislator. He taught me to be bold, a true Representative. He is of transparency in the tax payer. And we hosted new Member dinners together, teaching new Members to be bi- partisan and work together. And I will miss every single person leaving and has served. And I wish you all the best but I will perhaps miss Jack the most of all. So, thank you."

"Mr. Burke is recognized." Burke, D.: "Thank you, Speaker. As we await some very important legislation, I think it might be appropriate that I ask that our colleague Kate Cloonen share one last song with us before she departs this chamber. I'm certainly going to be missing our duets but I know and I suggested to her and certainly to all the Members and I hope I've extended my best wishes to you personally, wishing you nothing but the best of health and good luck in your future endeavors. But I think it would be very appropriate if we had Representative Kate Cloonen do one last song for us. And, I for one would request the song 09900153.docx 63  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 God Bless America that she's performed on this House floor previously. If the Body would receive Kate, I think we all would appreciate it. Thank you so much."

"Seeing no objection if the Representative wishes, but the Representative doesn't have to."

"I'll sing if everyone will join me. Sings: God Bless America."

"The Chair recognizes Mr. Brady. Is this a round of O'Suzanna? Why are you standing, Sir? The Long Road Home?"

"Chair recognizes Mr. DeLuca on a point of personal privilege."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like the record to reflect on Senate Bill 250, my intentions were to vote 'yes'."

"The record will reflect you intentions, Sir. Senate Bills- Second Reading. Senate Bill 2437, Leader Currie. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Leader Currie on Amendment 4."

"Thank you. I would like to withdraw Amendment 4."

"Amendment 4 is withdrawn. Mr. Clerk." 09900153.docx 64  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"Leader Currie."

"Thank you, #6 becomes the Bill. And I would be grateful if we can go ahead and adopt the Amendment then discuss the Bill 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."

"Leader Currie."

"Thank you, Speaker and Members of the House. This measure represents an effort by the City of Chicago to solve its own pension problems without relying upon the state for a single penny. But they do need to rely upon the state to help make changes in the statutory, regulatory scheme for the Laborer and Municipal Pension Funds in the City of Chicago. Both of those funds are in deep financial trouble. The Municipal Fund is expected to go broke in 2025, the Laborers Fund in 2027. What this measure does is put those systems on an actuarially required contribution schedule. Today under state statute, they operate merely by the multiplier. The multiplier isn't anywhere near adequate to make those systems financially stable. This measure would, by virtue of moving to an ARC, would give the city a five-year ramp to go to a system that, over 35 years, will mean the systems are both 90 percent 09900153.docx 65  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 funded. The program would require significant new money from the city and for people hired after the effective date of this Act, there would likely be an increase in the contribution from the workers but it seems to be fair to say that the city taxpayers should be on the hook and workers should do their share as well. I would be happy to answer your questions. This, as I say is, an effort on the part of the city and its taxpayers to step up to the plate, to keep these systems from falling into the ocean, to make sure that our workers have the security they deserve and to show the city rating agencies and everybody else that we are prepared to behave responsibly. We do need your support to change the regulatory scheme but we are not, under this Bill, asking the State of Illinois taxpayers to put one penny into our systems. I'd be grateful to answer your questions. And I'd grateful for your support."

"Mr. Wehrli."

"Sponsor yields."

"Right. Amendment 6 actually incorporates Amendment 3, I believe. 2 and 3 as well. And Amendment 6 says that for the new hires, those in Tier 3, those hired after the effective date of the Bill, the required employee contribution would be at 11 and a half percent or normal cost, whichever is lower. Now, earlier changes in Amendments 2 and 3 said, unlike the 09900153.docx 66  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 original Bill that you heard in committee two weeks ago, did say that there would not be the opportunity for anyone to go to court with a mandamus action against the city and secondly, didn't change the Amendment. Took out changes to the management of the Municipal Fund. So, that's gone. The Municipal Fund would be the same trustee membership that we have today. There is no mandamus language and then there is the change in the 11 percent… 11 and a half percent contribution to say that it would be that or normal cost whichever is lower."

"Well, in fact, what happened was that under this last measure 11 and a half percent or normal cost, whichever is lower, the determination of normal cost at the behest of the labor groups would be determined by an actuary, mutually agreed upon, by the city and the Municipal Fund."

"Mr. Morrison."

"Sponsor yields." 09900153.docx 67  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"I believe it's 7 and a half percent and as we know, that number can change as it did, for example, with our own Teacher Retirement System this year. But the whole business of pensions and future payments, future benefit levels, future contributions has all been a matter of estimates and certainly that rate could be… could change over time. But at this point I think the assumption is 7 and a half percent."

"Well, under this legislation, 11 and a half percent is the cap. So, even if normal costs go higher, we would still be at 11 and a half percent.

"I don't think any of the actuaries who've looked at the issue thinks that it's likely the cost would go above 11 and a half percent. And remember, the reason that we said 11 and a half percent or normal cost is because there were many who felt that 11 and a half percent was too high a price to pay for the actual benefits that would be available to those hired after the effective date of the Bill. If, of course, it turns out that that's not right, well, then we… then we'll have another problem and the city will have to, again, find a way to ask the taxpayers to step up to the plate."

"Yeah. Except that… could I just respond to that point?"

"Because right now, they're not even on an actuarially required contribution formula. Right now, it doesn't matter what the investment returns actually are, they're on a multiplier and that means that not nearly enough city money is going into the system in order to make it actuarially sound. So, this is certainly an improvement over what we have today. And, in fact, if this additional money goes into the system, that money, too, can be invested and at whatever rate 09900153.docx 69  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 of return, that return will come into the system itself, making it rather more than less solvent."

"Mr. Sullivan."

"Representative Ives."

"Sponsor yields."

"Yeah. There would be an intercept, I would think and just remember what this Bill does is to say, that the amount that the city has to pay will be significantly increased over the regulatory structure that the state has imposed that now brings in. So, the city would be required to meet this actuarially required contribution and if they find that the water and sewer taxes that the City Council just imposed are not adequate to fund the Bill, they'll have to find another way to fund it."

"At this point, there is a requirement but the requirement amounts to relatively little funding for these pension systems."

"So, for example, in 2022, the current formula, the multiplier, would require them to put in $164 million. Under this proposal, it's closer to 600 million."

"That's a very significant difference."

"The difference would be required by state statute."

"We believe they cannot. We believe that the state pensions as the City of the Chicago itself is a creature of State Law. We believe State Law says this is what you must spend under the current law that says it will be not the actuarially required amount but merely the multiplier. We believe that State Law governs in this case as it does in many others. We don't believe the city has the authority to go above or below what State Law now contemplates. They're not asking for money from us…"

"…but they are asking for a change in the regulatory system that means that city taxpayers and future hires will 09900153.docx 73  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 be responsible for a larger share of funding so as to avoid bankruptcy."

"I don't know the answer to that question, but I can tell you even if you are right that they were very well-funded in 2000…"

"We've since have experienced the greatest recession since the Great Depression and that played havoc with pension funds in the City of Chicago as well as pension funds across the State of Illinois."

"Well, most importantly we are asking for the ability of the City of Chicago to step up to the plate and avoid the disaster you have just described. You described a serious problem and I'll tell you, the solution to that serious problem is the substance of Senate Bill 2437."

"Chicago, under this measure, is significantly stepping up to the plate. Chicago gets what it wants. Chicago gets the opportunity to tax its citizens at major levels in order to be able to stabilize, to safeguard the funds and to make sure retiree benefits will be available." 09900153.docx 75  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"The city did have that data available and I thought they'd planned to share it with you. If they didn't, I will see to it that they… they do."

"And just one other point. You talk about the other systems and I don’t disagree we need to do some work there but these systems are not even on an ARC, not even on an actuarially required contribution program when the other systems all are. So…"

"We're talking about the state system, the state regulation, the state requirements, Representative, not something that the city used to game anybody. The city has said let us safeguard the pensions, let us stabilize the city finances and the pension systems as well. That's what this measure does and I would appreciate your support. It's not 09900153.docx 76  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 going to cost your taxpayers a penny. I'm a taxpayer in Chicago. It'll cost me a pretty penny, but that money will be well spent because we will then be able to stabilize to make financially-sound pension systems that are on the brink of failure."

"Mr. Martwick."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. I'll go directly to the Bill. I rise in support of the Bill. And I'm not usually one who stands up to support pension Bills… reform Bills, but I think there's some critical factors here. Number 09900153.docx 77  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 1, much of this talk about the city could voluntarily contribute more money on its own is really sort of a false argument. They've been following the law. They've never not contributed what they were legally required to do. And what this administration is doing is making the bold step of changing the law to ensure that their required contributions match the actual cost to the system. That's a good thing and that, sort of, measures something that we should all be supporting. Responsible payment structure for the pensions to make sure they match the costs. Number 2, the employees that are affected by the changes in this pension program all had a legitimate seat at the bargaining table to discuss these changes and by and large, have approved or not opposed the changes that have been proposed. How much more fair can you be? This mayor has taken the bold step of his administration to do very, very difficult decisions. Yes, they have raised taxes, which no one wants to do, to pay for… to ensure that the fiscal structure of these pensions is secured for years to come, to take this as one less burden off of the minds of the taxpayers in the City of Chicago. There is security here. This is a good Bill. There's nothing about it and for all the people that think we need some sort of Tier 3 or some sort of similar vehicle for the suburbs and the rest of the state, by all means, you support my Bill, I'll be happy to support yours. Please vote 'yes'."

"Representative Nekritz."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. I think that the statement that the City of Chicago can fix this on their own without coming here is a… shows a real lack of understanding 09900153.docx 78  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes and the way the state operates vis-a-vis the entities that it creates, the municipalities and the pension systems. The city cannot go in and do something different than what the statutes require or allow them to do. If that were the case, all of our suburban municipalities that would like to see something done, who are Home Rule, would do that themselves. But instead, they're coming here asking us to do something and we have not taken action yet and I would like to think that we will with whatever room we have left on the Supreme Court, but… but again, I just… there's just no way that the City of Chicago has different rights and responsibilities vis-a-vis State Government than do the other municipalities. They cannot violate State Law. This is the only path they have to making this happen. And I urge your 'aye' vote."

"Leader Currie to close."

"Thank you, Speaker and Members of the House. The people in the City of Chicago have decided to fix their pension problem. We can't do it without your help but we aren’t doing it with your money. We are asking you to change the statutory structure that will make it possible for the City of Chicago to safeguard, to stabilize these pension funds, to avert bankruptcy, to make sure that the recipients of benefits under these programs will not go out empty-handed. The workers are helping. The taxpayers of the city are helping financially and now it's time for us to help just from a regulatory perspective. I appreciate your 'aye' votes."

"Those in favor of the Lady's Bill will vote 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wished? 09900153.docx 79  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Please record yourselves. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 91 voting 'yes', 16 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Wehrli is recognized."

"Record will reflect your intentions, Sir."

"Mr. Drury is recognized."

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

"Please proceed, Sir."

"With respect to that last Bill, it was really good to see that the bipartisan support we had seeing that when a system was on the brink of bankruptcy, the brink of going broke, that we could come together and we do something. I just want to bring it to the Speaker's attention, to the House's attention, that we have another system on the brink of completely failing in the State of Illinois, not in 10 years but in 8 years. It's called College Illinois. It’s a college savings plan where we take money from families… and we're still doing it… and we tell them, you pay a lump sum fee and your kid will go to college for 4 years in the State of Illinois for whatever that fee is. That system is set to go bankrupt in, I think, 2020 or 2022 and I would just ask that the 90 people who came together to help the City of Chicago, including myself, come together to help all of these parents who have invested to send their children to school, and make 09900153.docx 80  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 sure that we keep the promise that Illinois has made to them and save that system whatever it takes. Because right now, the system is still marketing and I know that. I got on my desk a few weeks ago from ISAC a book promoting College Illinois. But what College Illinois has reverted to… as opposed to, it used to market to wealthy families in my district… as the wealthy families stopped investing in this, seeing that it was a broken ship, they started targeting minority districts and started saying just pay $10 a month and your kid can go to college without truly disclosing that that system is bankrupt. I think it's morally wrong and I think we have a duty as the State of Illinois to provide these families the promise that we made to them. So, I just hope in the upcoming 100th General Assembly, the hundredth Session, that we can come together and work on that issue. Thank you."

"The House will be back in order. Mr. Clerk, Rules Report."

"Mr. Clerk, Adjournment Resolution."

"Leader Currie, on a Motion."

"Thank you, Speaker. I move that we suspend all applicable rules so that we can give immediate consid…"

"Sorry. Leader Currie moves the adoption of the Adjournment Resolution. Those in favor say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. The Adjournment Resolution is adopted. Now, Leader Currie, for another Motion."

"Now, a Motion to suspend all applicable rules so that we may give immediate consideration to House Amendments 8,9 and 10 to Senate Bill 2814."

"Seeing no objection, is there leave? Leave is granted. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Mr. Rita. Mr. Rita, please hold. Leader Currie for an excused absence."

"Thank you, Speaker. Please add Representative Mayfield to the list of excused absences today." 09900153.docx 82  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"Thank you, Representative. Mr. Rita, let's proceed on Amendment 2, Sir. Thank you very much."

"I'd like to withdraw Amendment #2."

"Amendment 2 is withdrawn. Mr. Clerk."

"Mr. Rita on Amendment 3."

"So, I'd like to move that we adopt Amendment 3 and then debate it on Third Reading."

Speaker Lang: "Seeing no objection, those in favor of the Amendment say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Mr. Clerk."

"Mr. Rita, on Amendment 4."

"I'd like to adopt Amendment #4 and then debate that Amendment on Third Reading."

"Seeing no objection, those in favor of Amendment 4 will say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And Amendment 4 is adopted. Mr. Clerk."

"Mr. Rita on Amendment 5."

"Again, I'd like to adopt Amendment #5 and debate that on Third Reading. It's a request of the Governor."

"Seeing no objection, those in favor of Amendment 5 shall say, 'yes'; opposed, 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And Amendment 5 is adopted. Mr. Clerk." 09900153.docx 83  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"Mr. Rita on Amendment 6."

"I'd like to withdraw Amendment #6."

"Mr. Clerk, withdraw Amendment #6. Mr. Clerk."

"Mr. Rita on Amendment 7."

"I'd like to withdraw Amendment #7."

"Mr. Clerk, withdraw Amendment 7. Mr. Clerk."

"Mr. Rita on Amendment 8."

"I'd like to adopt Amendment #8. That’s a request of the Governor. And de… you know debate that on Third Reading."

"Seeing no objection, those in favor of Amendment 8 will say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And Amendment 8 is adopted. Mr. Clerk."

"Mr. Rita on Amendment 9."

"I'd like to adopt Amendment #9. This one's also a request of the Governor and debate that on Third."

"Seeing no objection, those in favor of Amendment 9 shall say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And Amendment #9 is adopted. Mr. Clerk."

"Mr. Rita on Amendment 10." 09900153.docx 84  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"I'd like to adopt Amendment #10."

"Seeing no objection, those in favor of Amendment 10 shall say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And Amendment #10 is adopted. Mr. Clerk."

"The Chair recognizes Mr. Batinick."

"Please proceed, Sir."

"Mr. Clerk, please withdraw all of Mr. Batinick's note requests. Mr. Kay for what reason do you rise, Sir?"

"Go right ahead, Sir."

"That is our hope, Sir."

"Mr. Kay, it appears that the Amendments are on the LIS system." 09900153.docx 87  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"Thank you, Sir. Mr. Clerk, regarding the fiscal notes."

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Mr. Rita."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's been a long day and I bring to you 28… Senate Bill 2814. It's been a long road since we started this and I know in our previous comments Bills were filed in early of 2015. Today's package is a combination of 3 Bills that were originally filed. One by Representative Larry Walsh, one by Representative Elaine Nekritz and one by myself. And through many hours of negotiation we had a number of hearings hour… hours spent in these hearings. Hearing the pros and cons from the original Bills to what we are presenting here today to you is been reduced from what it was originally filed. It's about jobs and about alternate resources in energy and energy efficiency for the future of Illinois. So, when I hear that in 3 days things were brought forth, these were all technical Amendments. And the Amendments that were filed today were at the request of the Governor in the final hours of negotiation to meet all the 09900153.docx 88  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 needs of the different parties. So that we could have a Bill that is agreed… is agreed to as it's going to get. Be happy to answer any questions as we move forward."

"Mr. Morrison."

"Sponsor yields."

"500… 500."

"I've been part of all the integral parts of the negotiation, so these last Amendments that were filed today, Amendments 5, 8, 9 and 10 were all at the request of the Governor's office."

"Leader Durkin."

"Chair recognizes Mr. Rita for a comment."

"I'd like to make a point here because we're talking the process. Through this process, in these last few hours I've been working with the Governor's office and the Republican 09900153.docx 95  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 staff and each one of these Amendments that were filed that we are waiting on came from the Governor's office. These weren't… weren't Amendments that they didn't see and they weren't part of the process of filing. And it was put on the Bill to remove the Governor's opposition that he came out a couple weeks ago or a week and a half ago after we had our long hearing in terms of what we had in Amendment #3 is why we came back with Amendment #4. It removed the… the demand rates and removed a bunch of provisions and reduced this Bill. So… so if we want to talk about the process, the process was myself working with all the stakeholders with both sides of the aisle. And to the… to the point of the notes, they were filed on Amendments, not on the whole Bill so it was what… if you're were coming back to saying no impact it was impacted on the actual Amendment that you filed. I believe the process worked here. I believe we have a good Bill. Everybody didn't get what… what everybody wanted in this but we have environmental community working with the utility community in support of this. We have a number of stakeholders all in support of this from labor, the environmental community, the… business. We've taken parts of each stakeholder and put it in this package. We have a Bill here that I believe is going to be… or I believe is going to be agreed upon as it's going to be. Now, there are some opponents to this Bill but I believe they will never ever be proponents to this and I believe it was the process that took place here and why we are here today to hearing this Senate Bill. So, keep that in mind."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have fifteen people who wish to speak on this Bill. I'm going to use the 5 minute 09900153.docx 96  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 timer and I'm going to strictly enforce the 5 minute timer. The first speaker is Mr. Breen."

"Sponsor yields."

"My… my understanding and I was told he's going to sign this Bill as long as them… them Amendments were adopted, which we adopted and they were part of this Bill, that the Governor's going to sign this Bill."

"Mr. Andersson."

"Representative Ives."

"Ives." 09900153.docx 101  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"Sponsor yields."

"They were at the table at committee yesterday."

"They've been… they… they've been in part of all the negotiations."

"So I'd… I'd have to say yes."

"Yes."

"Are you talking about the ones in the last Amendment?"

"You'd have to verify that through the Governor's office because these… these last Amendments came from them."

"I… I'm going to defer that to the ICC and the Governor's office on that."

"Representative your time has expired. Mr. Thapedi."

"Inquiry of the Chair, Mr. Speaker."

"State your inquiry, Sir." 09900153.docx 104  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"What is the voting requirement and why for this piece of legislation?"

"The final Amendment reduced the voting requirement to 60 votes, Sir."

"For what reason?"

"Effective date was changed."

"And what is the effective date?"

"There is no effective date in the Bill so it would be June 1st."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker."

"Mr. Yingling for 5 minutes."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. What are we doing you guys? What… what are we doing listening to this Bill right now? I mean, we don't have a budget and our so-called stop- gap budget is just weeks away from expiring and after that we're back to no budget and we've been through that. We've been through about a year without a budget and how quickly we forget that. You know, but instead we're talking about a multi-billion dollar corporate bailout for one of the most profitable energy companies in the state. And how are we going to finance this? This is going to be financed on the backs of the rate payers and make no mistake about it, the rates are going to go up and I'm highly skeptical about the information that we've been provided as to exactly how much those rates are going to go up. So, everyone living on a fixed income, people are already having a hard time making ends meet, their electric bills are going up. Businesses, their electric bills are going up and all so we can increase the profits of an already very profitable company. The question was also raised 09900153.docx 105  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 about the effective date. If the effective date was moved to June, why are we ramrodding this Bill through in the 11th hour on the final day of Veto Session? We have plenty of time in the upcoming Legislature to review this Bill. There's been dates scheduled in January that we're going to be here. So, why are we ramrodding this through now? There is also another component of this, for years we've also had the… the Clean Jobs Bill… the Clean Jobs Bill which supports renewables, supports green technology and it has sixty six sponsors. We could run that Bill right now and that would fly out of this chamber because there's already enough sponsors on it. So, why are we sacrificing the expansion of renewable clean new technologies so a massive corporation can make more money? It makes no sense to me. This is… this is a very poor… this is… this is… a poorly thought out Bill. It only goes to raise rates at the expense of those people who cannot afford to pay those rates so a multibillion dollar company can make even more money. I strongly urge a 'no' vote on this. Thank you."

"Mr. Fortner for 5 minutes."

"Representative Gabel for five minutes."

"Th… thank you, Mr. Speaker… To the Bill. So, this is the most important green energy Bill that has ever come before the General Assembly. And I know you've heard a little bit of history about the Bill. I just want to reiterate that in… on 09900153.docx 108  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 February of 2015 environmental, consumer, labor, business and faith voices formed the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition. Through that work, and I was a cosponsor of that Bill, we had 66 cosponsors. In May, the legislative leadership directed the Clean Jobs Coalition, Exelon and ComEd to work to reach a compromise energy package. So, when people say that they haven’t seen the Bill or they don't know what's going on, this has been going on for quite a while. As part of that legislative package that we see today, we've been able to achieve major, major victories in the green energy field. It would jumpstart Illinois renewable energy industry, save everyone money through a nationally leading energy efficiency effort and create tens of thousands of jobs. Everyone who is a cosponsor of that clean energy jobs Bill should be on board for this one. Over the past five years, without a working renewable energy portfolio, the RPS, very little wind or solar was started in this state and other states are now poised to surpass us. This Bill fixes the RPS and keeps the existing percent targets and cost cap on rates. At a minimum, it will lead to 3,000 megawatts of solar development and 1,300 megawatts of wind development. Fifty percent of the solar projects will come from projects on the roofs of homes and businesses and in the community. This Bill creates the state's first community solar program which enables those who are not able to build solar on their roofs, to subscribe to a shared project in their community. And the energy efficiency provisions in this Bill will make Illinois one of the top states for energy efficiency in the country. This will lower bills for everyone. This Bill stimulates innovation and 09900153.docx 109  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 entrepreneurship by requiring funding to be set aside for competitive third party run efficiency programs other than the utilities. And it requires 25 million per year spending on programs to help low-income homes become more efficient among many, many other requirements. Seventy percent of this Bill will help energy efficiency and renewable energy. Thirty percent of the Bill helps Exelon and ComEd. So, I am for 70 percent of this Bill and I… you know, I'm not crazy about nuclear energy. I… I once picketed against nuclear power plants. I think that nuclear energy is a little extreme, that we don't need to split atoms to boil water. But this is the Bill, this is the Bill that's in front of us today. And for me, the 70 percent that helps us have renewable energy here in the state and energy efficiency which is the cheapest, best form of green energy, is just too important to pass up. I feel an urgency to pass this Bill now, failing to pass this Bill means that we lose out on renewable energy and energy efficiency jobs to other states. As a compromise Bill, as I said, there are things I don’t like about this Bill, there may be things you don’t like about this Bill, but the positives far outweigh the negatives. I urge you to vote 'yes' on this Bill, to jump start a whole new job sector in Illinois, help our economy and create a lower carbon mix of energy."

"Representative Nekritz for five minutes."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First I'd like to thank the Sponsor of this Bill and Representative Walsh who were… as Representative Rita indicated, were the main Sponsors of the two underlying Bills for this and I'd also like to thank the 09900153.docx 110  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 Clean Jobs Coalition that I think has done a fabulous job of pushing this issue and making sure that Il… Illinois moves into a 21st century energy environment. The Clean Jobs Coalition was exactly that, it was about the clean jobs in Illinois. In the energy sector here in this state creates a lot of jobs, the clean energy sector… the clean energy sector in Illinois has already… already created more than 100 thousand new jobs in Illinois. But there's a lot of opportunity to do better. As the previous speaker indicated, we have been waiting for seven years to fix the… our broken renewable portfolio standard, seven years. Energy efficiency jobs are created in this legislation in every part of the state. Every one of our districts will see weatherizing and insulating our homes and our businesses, installing solar on our rooftops and erecting turbines. So, those jobs will be spread out throughout the state and we are anticipating thousands, if not tens of thousands of new jobs from this legislation. And that's not to mention the jobs that we are saving in Clinton and the Quad Cities. But speaking of those… you know, I know there's a lot of concern, it's been expressed on the floor today about giving dollars to an already profitable company. I share those concerns and I've really wrestled with that issue when it comes to how I'm going sup… how I'm going to… vote on this Bill. But I think the question is, if we do nothing is there a price to be paid? And what, is in fact I… and what, in fact, is the price of doing nothing? Several of my colleagues have spoken more eloquently than I could about that price and the… the various studies that have been out there that would indicate that there's a very 09900153.docx 111  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 significant price for rate payers if we do nothing. But if you don't trust the consultants, you don't want the reports, you need look no further than the market. Because the capacity markets that set that the price for electricity are already paying the highest prices to generators in Illinois because of where… th… the amount of power that we're… that… that we're generating and the demand on that power. Those high rates indicate that Illinois needs the power from these power plants in order to keep rates from going even higher. So, obviously, if they close down, the capacity markets will say we're going to have to pay even higher rates in order to… to be able to keep the lights on. On the environmental benefits, my colleagues have already spoken to those… I want to reiterate we have been waiting seven very long, difficult years in order to get ourselves back on track for renewable energy in this state. The energy efficiency provisions will put us in the forefront in the nation on energy eff… on edu… on the most effective kind of energy out there which is, in fact, energy efficiency. But I want to come back to the first point I made and this is on the jobs. This Bill, at its core, is about creating and maintaining jobs for Illinoisans and if for no other reason than that, we should all be supporting it, thank you."

"Representative Bill Mitchell for five minutes." Mitchell, B. "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. First off, I would like to thank Representative Rita, you've done a great job on this Bill, you've had a lot of patience. I sit on that House Energy Committee and I would like thank the Chairwoman Representative Chapa LaVia, she did a great job. Thank you, 09900153.docx 112  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 I appreciate that. I'd especially like to thank, of course, our staff, as well as my Leader, Representative Durkin. Jim kept his word and worked hard. And lastly, I would like to thank Governor Rauner. Governor Rauner was indeed a friend of DeWitt County, a friend of Clinton, Illinois. When they needed the help, the Governor was there. The Governor told us when this Bill gets to his desk, he will sign it. And I very much appreciate that from Governor Rauner and his staff. The advocates of this legislation, I don't want to be repetitive, they've done an excellent job of saying the merits of the issue, the cost of inaction to the businesses and residential people of the State of Illinois. I would like to put a personal face on this: there's two power plants involved, nuke plants, one represented by a democrat, one by a republican. Both good plants. I happen to have the good fortune to represent Clinton and DeWitt County. A little bit about DeWitt County. It's an agricultural community, a county of about 17 thousand people. It has agriculture… a mix of agriculture and manufacture. It makes stuff. And it makes not only things, products, but energy. The people of DeWitt County would prefer not to be here today. The county of that 17,000 people have 700 good paying jobs. The median income is about $90,000 a year. There's over 1,500 tradespeople that come in there several times a year on the maintenance, good-paying jobs. They want those to continue. I happen, if I can boast a little bit about the Clinton Power Plant, it's been rated one of the most efficient nuclear power plants in the country, it's very good. In the last several decades… for the last six months rather, people of DeWitt County, and indeed all the 09900153.docx 113  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 counties that I represent and every county that is neighboring the people of Central Illinois because those 700 folks work in all of… around Central Illinois. But the people of DeWitt County just in the last, I called up… and see, just the last couple of decades typical of, unfortunately typical of manufacturing economies in Illinois or in the nation, they’ve lost jobs. We used to have Revere Ware, little county like I just described, seven hundred jobs lost. Thrall Rail, a hundred jobs, Kenny Fray a hundred jobs, Imperial China, seventy jobs. R. R. Donnelly, they’re still there, but they drastically reduced. The people of DeWitt County have been put through hell for the last six months, wondering will they have a job. The school system, the school system of Clinton, Illinois. Clinton, Illinois population is 7500 hundred, they get nearly half of their revenue from the power plant. DeWitt County, gets a sizeable. In Macon County, the community college, which we've cut community college funding, Richland Community College gets over a million dollars from this power plant. In a few years, that would all go away. What will the people do without it? So, I'm pleading with the Members of the General Assembly for an 'aye' vote. I certainly respect the opponents, every single opponent. Several of you folks have come up to me saying they disagree on the merits of the issue and I appreciate their courtesy, I very much do. But on behalf of the people of DeWitt County, I'm begging you for an 'aye' vote, thank you."

"Mr. Davis, for five minutes." Davis, W.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"Well, there's a number of provisions. One in particular, the 750 million in low-income programs including 50 million in the care funding for eligible customers for active duty or deployed servicemen, those with disabilities and nonprofit organizations. Along with money for job creation and job training into the new sector, into the new clean jobs… portion of this Bill with fixing the RPS. There's energy efficiency dollars that are provided in there. So, there's a number of programs, a number of initiatives that will help constituents like yours and mine in my district. To the amount of 750 million." Davis, W.: "Okay. Also, I understand that they are creating not just the… the opportunities for our contractors because there will… there will be work to… move some of these initiatives forward. Like, for the solar energy side… I mean… I need you 09900153.docx 115  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 to really dive deep into some of these things and talk about them so… so people understand."

"So, there's also initiatives for the solar for low income, those that would… like to have solar and alternate sources of power. That… that's part of this. In the overall… in… in job training and installing and putting these alternate sources of… of power are all a part of that." Davis, W.: "Okay, thank you. So… and I'll just speak to the Bill, Mr. Speaker. I know for many of you this is going to be a difficult vote and I can appreciate those that've said that this is not necessary or don’t need it. But one of the previous speakers talked about the idea that this offers a few jobs for some of us here or there if you will. And… and I can appreciate the reason why he said that. But what I want that individual to understand is that, you know, here are the opportunities that I must take advantage of to bring jobs and opportunity to the districts and communities like the ones that I represent because that particular Representative, represents areas that are a lot wealthier than mine. It’s where the jobs are already are. So, my community is already traveling one, two hours to get to those jobs. What kind of quality of life can we expect them to have? So, when we have opportunities like this, I must try to take advantage and advocate for increased minority opportunities for contractors, specific jobs for, as… as I've read in one of the Amendments for those that are incarcerated making their transition back to communities. We have to provide those opportunities for them and it's fortunate that we have companies like Exelon, like ComEd, like Ameren who are willing 09900153.docx 116  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 to listen to many of us who want those opportunities because those businesses that exist in many of your districts, they don't care, they're not listening. They're not interested in their numbers on minority hires, they're not interested in how many people that they have working for them that are of color or anything like that. And what do they care whether somebody wants to travel two hours to get to that job. So, if I have an opportunity to work with these companies, to talk about increased goals for minority participation, specific goals for individuals who are incarcerated or have been incarcerated, specific goals for some of the people in some of these low income communities, I have to stand up and advocate for that. And the reality is that when we do that kind of work, not only does my community get better but all of your communities get better as well. We always talk about adding more to the tax-base here in the State of Illinois but when people are working that is what adds to this tax base. When people work they spend money. And people in my communities, they love to spend money but they need a job in order to make that happen. So, that's why I stand in support of this piece of legislation, encouraging others to do so and hopefully you will recognize. We'll recognize that what we need is opportunities like that to make all of our communities better. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker."

"Mr. Smiddy for five minutes."

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

"Sponsor yields."

"Like Representative Mitchell… I repre… represent one of these plants as well in Rock Island County. And I do want to 09900153.docx 117  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 talk about the impact that it's going to have to my community. 800 jobs lost, at a median income of 80 to 90 thousand dollars. 2,000 to 2500 jobs shut down for maintenance. Again, high paying jobs. $8 million lost in property taxes to Rock Island County and to Whiteside County which goes to our schools, to our roads, and to fund things that we need in our communities. If we do nothing and these two plants close, yes we will have rate increases. No doubt about it, it's a proven fact. Ten percent of Illinois's energy will be lost. Again, because of these plants closing down. Over a billion dollars lost to our economy because these plants close down. Illinois might not have a budget, that is correct, but what does that mean? That means local governments will continue maybe not getting payments on time from the State of Illinois. That will be devastating to these communities when they lose these jobs and $8 million of property taxes in my community. We've already lost several jobs. We've lost North West Steel and Wire, we've lost the Savanna Army Depo, we've had layoffs at John Deere and the closure of case IH. Our communities have already been devastated, not beyond repair yet, but if this goes down, it could be beyond repair. We have to do everything we can to try to ensure that jobs that pay good… good paying… salaries are here in Illinois to stay. And that's why I'm supporting this Bill and I encourage that all my colleagues support this Bill as well. Thank you."

"Mr. Tryon for five minutes."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. Long before my election to the Illinois House, I was a supporter of clean and sustainable energy sources. As Chair of the Green Caucus my commitment to making Illinois a leader in the development of wind and solar has been a cornerstone of my legislative agenda. But like everyone else, I had concerns about this Bill. How would it impact consumers and rate payers? Why do we care if the nuclear plants close? And what about our budget? But after a lot of analysis, review of the final Bill, I've determined that the benefits of the Bill far… far outweigh its costs. And, in fact, the Bill provides Illinois with several wins: jobs, saving consumers money, and 09900153.docx 121  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 protecting our environment. First, this Bill offers incredible benefits in terms of spurring economic development in the wind and solar sectors. We've lagged behind as some of my colleagues have already mentioned in terms of building these… these sources up in Illinois other states have surged far ahead of us. But passage of the Bill will mean real, tangible benefits in terms of economic development and bring thousands of jobs. Yes, Representative Breen, green jobs to Illinois. And who cares what we call them, they're jobs and we need jobs. Second, and on all of our minds, is the impact to rate payers. But in at least… in at least three areas, rate payers will benefit from this Bill. First of all, like it or not, Illinois relies on a mix of energy sources to provide its energy including nuclear. If these plants go offline, we stand to lose 10 percent of our energy mix. We have to pay for that loss, consumers would pay for that loss. This cost of inaction in this Bill far outweighs the cost of action. Secondly, energy efficiency. The latest report I said… saw shows that for every dollar you invest for energy efficiency, consumers save three dollars. That's a pretty big deal. Finally, rate caps. This Bill contains significant and real rate caps which are strong and enforceable. And finally, the benefits to our environment. We can’t underestimate the significance of these benefits. The air we breathe, the water we drink. As we face a Trump presidency, many of us are very concerned that we'll roll back many of the advances we made for the environment. It's critical even more than ever now that we do what we can to make Illinois a leader in the development of wind and solar energy. Yes, Illinois has no 09900153.docx 122  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 budget, the Governor refuses to negotiate the budget until his political agenda is passed and every day that passes without a budget we do more damage to our state. But this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t move forward where we can. We were not elected to make a point, we were not elected to make some kind of statement. We were elected to take action and today we can take action and move forward with the most important and significant piece of legislation to help the environment in Illinois' history. Today, I'll be voting 'yes' to move Illinois forward."

"Representative McDermed for five minutes."

"Your request will be acknowledged."

"Sponsor yields."

"Yes?"

"The… the cost impact is much less now. I don't know where you read that from… but it's much less now.

"And… and I’d like to point out that the Amendments that were filed and done today only deal with effective dates, drafting changes, they've pulled out the prevailing wage portion… and an issue with the Farm Bureau so they were all technical in natural…"

"Now… when you were talking about as Amended from what you want, but it's been reduced from the original from what was put down. This Bill has been reduced dramatically."

"I believe she is opposed."

"I didn't hear that part. I know they were passing around a pamphlet but that wasn't clearly accurate though."

"Representative Sente for five minutes."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've been thinking about this Bill thoughtfully for many weeks and trying to wrestle with the pros and cons on this issue which is very important and I'd like to just share with you some of the reasons that are leading me to my current decision to support this Bill. Number 1, Illinois is a leader in green energy and with this Bill, we would remain so and probably even advance Illinois to a leading edge position. We continually speak about wanting Illinois to be a leader in something and not place… and not last place in x, y, or z. And so, when we have an opportunity to do something impressive and bold that allows Illinois to really shine, then I want to be the first in line to consider that. Secondly, green energy creates jobs. We are always talking in this Assembly about creating jobs and stimulating the economy. And these are jobs that will have a long shelf- life and we have to create new jobs to replace jobs that are drying up in outdated industries. The two Illinois nuclear plants in Clinton and the Quad Cities directly employ approximately 2,000 workers. But it is countless more when we look to include the construction workers and the suppliers that are associated with this industry. So, if you do not care about Exelon, as Illinois public servants, we need to care about the entire state and not just our constituency. These are families, they are… these are workers that care and 09900153.docx 126  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 need these jobs. This legislation, and we don’t have many like this, is bipartisan. We need more bipartisanship. It is supported by the Governor, it is a Bill that has had the engagement of all five leaders. Business, labor and environment are all in support of this. We do not get this very often. Illinois’ electric rates are among the lowest in the region and country because of prior bold and thoughtful actions like the one we are taking today. Like when we took that action on deregulation and the same dooms day scenarios were discussed. But the fact is, when we look at Illinois’ energy rates and where they’re currently at, the following data is a combination of both consumer, commercial, and industrial electric rates based on cents per kilowatt hour, expressed over an 8 year period. And from 2008 to 2016, that comp… comparison Illinois’ electric rates have decreased .5 percent compared to the U.S. where it's 5.5 percent and none of our mid… midwestern states surrounding us can come anywhere near to competing. They are at 6.3 percent all the way up to 42.2 percent increase over that same time period. Why are we getting those low rates? Because we're taking bold action. Lastly, I just want to address the… the comment about why aren't we working on a budget and that's more important and I couldn't agree more. We should absolutely be working on a full-year budget with the most sincere urgency possible and yet, we can't all multitask. And addressing a large economic issue and green portfolio is an enormous undertaking where we can be proud that this body is addressing this. And I hope that the momentum of coming together to solve this issue rolls 09900153.docx 127  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 into equally sincere efforts to obtaining a bipartisan budget solution. Thank you."

"Mr. Kay for five minutes."

"Of course, the Sponsor will yield."

"In terms of what? In terms of this Bill?"

"I… I…"

"…I don’t know."

"How many…"

"No."

"Well, I know we… we added a part for the… the… in one of the Amendments that we heard testimony on for the coal industry but it had overwhelming… opposition to this…"

"So…"

"…so, I know we looked at all the different parts and we had extensive hearings…"

"…no… we did go through extensive hearings…"

"…in terms of the coal in Dynegy in Southern Illinois in terms of… of…"

"I believe there was a couple Bills that were passed…"

"Again, we started out with three bills in early 2015. We're faced in… actually today's the deadline date for… for a letter to get sent for… Clinton to shut down. We're faced with two… two generation plants to shut down. The process has already started for Quad Cities. And these are thousands of jobs…"

"It was going to be sent out today. I don’t know if it was sent out already of if it's going to be sent out. December 1st was a… a date to start the process of shutting down Clinton."

"So, not only… not only with these two, two, two, two…"

"With all due respect, we had the coal industry at the table, kay? And they were at the hearings, I don’t know if you were at the six and a half, seven hour hearing where we heard about the coal industry. There's been commitments to… to members of the committee on… that were interested in the… in Southern Illinois and MISO and that 70 percent of that energy is through coal through there, that they’re going to work on solutions and work on the future of Southern Illinois and how they’re powered…"

"So, I don’t know if you were in that committee… I don’t you were in that committee…"

"…when we… when those commitments were made…"

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Yes I have." 09900153.docx 130  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"There's multiple rate caps. There's caps within the Bill, there's caps on the overall of the Bill. So, there's… there's a number of checks and balances that the ICC will monitor. So that… so that if they hit them points where the… the effi… that we hit like on residentials the 25 cents and the 1.3 percent on the… the medium and middle class business and the large business. So, there's all caps in there that are to… that will have the check and balance."

"It's done through the residential class 'cause there's three classes in… how they do billing. There… there was a number of initiatives, too, for the… the large users would… enjoy their own efficiency program pulling them completely out. So, they did get some things that… that they were interested in and been working and that were…" Kay: "I'd like to ask some questions…"

"…wanted for a number of times… So… so…"

"Well, you were talking about business."

"Mr. Kay, your time is expired. You already told me someone was yielding their time to you. Is someone doing that? Rep. Bourne is yielding 5 minutes to Mr. Kay."

"Representative Kifowit for five minutes."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. I… I came into this discussion undecided and I want to appreciate both sides of the discussion on this matter. I… I wanted to point out a couple of things that I have seen over my few years that I've been here. These Bills seem to come out a lot, at the last 09900153.docx 132  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 minute, and just in the last couple days we went from Amendment 3 to Amendment 10. And I… I want to point out that I am, for lack of a better word, in awe that if a Democratic Bill would come out at the last minute there's gnashing of teeth and throwing of hands from the other side of the aisle on how horrible it is to have a process that's at the last minute. I think that this Bill coming out at the last minute is not the way it should have gone. I think our Governor should have been negotiating this for the two years that it's been here, but because the Governor waited 'til the last minute now it's okay and that everybody should get on board with it. It's a failure of the Governor that should have addressed this situation two years ago, negotiated a plan in committee in the public so that everybody knows what the rates are going to be, how the people are going to be affected, and what is the true outcome of this Bill. I'm also a bit appalled that for years we have tried to be a leader in green energy and now we are a leader in green energy just when it's convenient for the Governor to get a Bill through. This… this is not right. We should've passed green energy, green jobs years ago to be a true pioneer in this area. I think… I believe that nuclear is fine. I believe that we need to have stratified sources of energy including green energy, including green jobs. But I think the process that this has been on the table for two years, and that now it comes up at the last minute of the 11th hour with… on… on Amendment 10 is… is a… a point of nee… that needs to be pointed out that the Governor should've been negotiating this instead of tweeting on Twitter about M&Ms being his favorite chocolate 09900153.docx 133  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 for National Chocolate Day. We need to be engaged, this should've been out in the public beforehand and I just want to point out that while I am still very appreciative of the discussion of the merits and I am very sensitive to our tax payers and I'm very sensitive to our green jobs. And we have a little bit of everything in here that we need to start having leadership in the state so that this stops from both sides of the aisle and the Governor should have been a leader and should now have a comprehensive energy plan. This plan is only for 10 years. What are we going to do then? What are the rates going to be then? In 10 years? If they’re going to spike if these plants close now, how much higher are they going to spike in 10 years on top of this rate increase today? We need a comprehensive energy plan. We need a comprehensive jobs plans. We need a comprehensive renewal energy plan. We need to start being responsible to the people of the State of Illinois and we need the Governor to put as much energy as he put into this Bill into a responsible and balanced budget. A budget is what we need, a budget is what he should have been working on these past two years and that is where we need to be. So, Mr. Speaker I needed to point out that we need responsible governments from this governor, we need a responsible Bill, a balanced budget and we need to have now a plan assuming this passes to be crafted in 10 years on how the rate payers won't be doubly taxed when these plans are set to be expired. Thank you, Sir."

"Mr. Sullivan for 5 minutes."

Speaker Lang: "Leader Currie is recognized for an excused absence."

"Thank you. Please let the record show that Representative Lilly is excused for the remainder of the day."

"Thank you, Leader. Mr. Davidsmeyer for five minutes."

"Repeat that just a…"

"…about. Go ahead."

"In… In as you know, in Amendment 3 I believe it was, we hit some with the FRAP, and we were addressing the coal and coal for energy. And it drew a lot of opposition as you heard."

"In… there was a portion that we took out but I know it was stated in committee and it was stated by yourself, the importance of Central and Southern Illinois in terms of coal 09900153.docx 137  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 and what coal does. That they were going to continue to work on some solutions as we move forward…

"But in particular the way that the FRAP was drafted, and the FRAP was included, it drew a number of opposition. Not just from one or two. Including 1, being the Governor's office, 2 being I believe it was the Illinois Coal…Coal Association was in opposition if I'm remembering that correctly…"

"To the overall…"

"And it was mentioned. And there was a commitment by those that were at the table, a commitment by myself. That is something that we need to look at as we move in the future.

"Representative Jesiel yields her 5 minutes of her time to Mr. Davidsmeyer. Please proceed, Sir."

"So… so, it wasn't just the… the one portion. There was business groups. There was a number of people in opposition. But what… what happens in this complex of a Bill, when you move one part, it could move 2 or 3 other parts. And by adding the FRAP, it actually moved, instead of moving towards an agreed Bill, and as we reduce this, it was starting to move the Bill in opposite directions like it was when all the 3 different Bills were…were put in place. So, it was through the negotiations and through compromise on all the parties of why that portion was removed."

"I believe they've went up a little bit is that?"

"No. Down."

"Historically low."

"But is that do to the natural gas?"

"I share you concern. And I will… will do that because at the time, I mean, if we could put a portion of coal in here, I would. And the idea was to bring all the parties to try to figure out what we could do and how we could do this to get 09900153.docx 140  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 this passed with them plants closing. But I will work with you and work with them that made that commitment to you.

"Mr. Andrade for 5 minutes."

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

"Sponsor yields."

"Representative, I am very happy that his Bill has come to its day because I was a little worried about your health. Saw you smoking a little bit more than usual. But this here debate makes me very proud to be a Member of this House. I did not take, I didn't participate in the freshman orientation last year but this time I… I'm participating right now in the freshman orientation of the 100th class. So, I can't remember which Representative told but we live in Illinois which is basically almost made up of 5 states within. And I have a lot of friends here that I've grown to become in the last 3 years. A lot of Republicans, a lot of Democrats and this is…this here is incredible because we have actually Democrats who are upset, we have Republicans who are upset. Every caucus has spoke. And so, maybe Mr. Speaker, maybe the Rules Committee can actually send our Budget Bill through the Energy Committee because I have a lot of respect for her. And so, but what I do feel might be missing why… the reason why we don’t have a budget is, Representative Rita, I have one request for you please…"

"Yes."

"…one request. There's been all these lobbyists up here and all Exelon, ComEd, and we've helped a lot of people, probably make a lot of money this last year or two. So, maybe 09900153.docx 141  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 can you request them just not to break up the band just… just yet? Maybe they can do some pro-bono work and help us get a budget. On behalf of the citizen's maybe they can do some pro-bono work. On behalf of citizens of Illinois can they please stay together and do some pro-bono work? I mean we go the Governor in agreement, we got Republican leadership, we got all our, every Caucus is upset and happy. So, that’s all Mr. Rita. On behalf of the State of Illinois, on behalf of the residents, please keep the band together. Maybe until January 9th because were available. So, maybe all the lobbyist, ComEd, Exelon, because their budget on this lobbying must have been pretty… pretty extensive. So, all I ask they do some pro-bono work…"

"I've heard your request and one day I may call upon you for a request."

"Absolutely. As some people mistake me for you sometimes and I will answer all the time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for indulgence. And… and I just want to say I'm proud to be a Member of this House and this is… this is how every debate should be. Thank you very much.

"Mr. Ford for 5 minutes."

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

"Sponsor yields."

"Representative Rita, just a few questions. Where would you say most of the jobs will be created as a result of this Bill?

"There's 2 parts. Two in the job creation comes through the… most of them through the energy efficiency, which would be a result in jobs in the communities like you represent, or I represent, or what Representative Davis represented. Part 09900153.docx 142  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 of that low assistance, low income assistance program and income job training."

"Are those permanent jobs?"

"Yes."

"Are those jobs like the plant that may close down?"

"Well, there's two parts. There are jobs that are tied to these plants that are closed down, that are currently people employed with in both Quad Cities and in Clinton, which will be saving them jobs. But the job creations comes a bulk of them through the energy efficiency and job training, and to installing solar panels, installing the new portions of the energy efficiency of this Bill."

"But the guaranteed jobs, with the somewhat bailout…"

"I wouldn’t say guaranteed jobs. The jobs that the two facilities where people currently work at, there's a number of jobs that they have not replaced because of the preparation of them closing. But the creation, cause of…with in the legislation for the job creation is part of the new components of the policy."

"So, there are no guaranteed jobs with the bailout? So, that’s a possibility?"

"So, the money tied into here that will go to job training. To train and certify individuals in the energy…

"What about the plant?"

"Industry…"

"Yeah. I agree with those. I commend you for…"

"So, that’s part of this. So, it’s a two part. You can't, you got to look at all these different parts…" 09900153.docx 143  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016

"Well, let me just commend you for that part. But I want to know about those permanent jobs. That’s important because those are going to be tax payers…"

"Yes…"

"I just want to know. Are there permanent jobs that's tied to this Bill? The part two…"

"Well, there will be permanent jobs that will be created. There's permanent jobs that if this legislation don’t pass that we will lose."

"So, there's probably no guarantee. Alright, I'm just wondering. I thought that there would be guaranteed jobs. And the jobs that are there in the new plant areas, are those areas where prisons are? Already where they have jobs?"

"I wouldn’t say there's no guarantee, there's targets in here. So… so, as this Bill takes effect, there's targets to me."

"Well, I appreciate…"

"And the goal is to create permanent, full time, good paying jobs."

"I appreciate your work on this. And you know, as a business person and a business owner, I got to tell you this feels good to business people because they're going to get a big pay day as a result of our work. And I heard the debate, and I heard people say that this is not a perfect Bill. And in my mind that means there will be some winners and some losers. And where I come from, everyone knows I live in the Austin community, the Westside of Chicago, and there still reporting that Chicago tops 700 homicides with this month. And in order of us to be serious about helping all communities, this Bill 09900153.docx 144  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 should be one that tied the communities together with the business community to do what's good for all the people in the State of Illinois. I hear people talking about, there are goals in this Bill. Goals have gotten us in the situation that leaves us hopeless. What we need are opportunities on the West and South side of Chicago. Because the goals as stated in Article 10 of our Constitution, is just hopeful that we will do right by our children. I want to congratulate all of the people that did the work on this Bill and provide the human service or the social service programs but Ronald Regan once said that the best social service program is a job. And it's my belief that if we could only bring some real jobs to the Westside of Chicago, where I live and where I represent, we would all do better in this state. And for that reason, because this Bill is not equal in access to jobs and opportunities, I don’t think the people that I represent would be happy for me to vote for this Bill. So, congratulations to the winners and I apologize to the losers."

"Mr. Frese for 5 minutes."

"Representative Ives for 5 minutes."

"Mr. Leitch for 5 minutes." Leitch: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I love the theater. And I truly will miss episodes of last day, end of veto session in Springfield. There are many, many good reasons to pass elements of this Bill. Many have been worked on for some time. There are green aspects, none of us want to see the jobs lost by the nuke workers and devastate those communities. The problem is I think this Bill needs more work because everyones in favor of the Bill except for the people who are now producing the jobs. That’s the manufacturing base and the small business base in the state. And those are the communities who are telling us more work needs to be done on the Bill. So, it's with that observation that I thank you for the theater. And I look forward to opposing the Bill. Thank you."

"Representative Scherer for 5 minutes."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. I really care about the members of my district as I know that the other people in 09900153.docx 148  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 here do also. So, I've read one line that really scared me, which said, December 31, 2030. And that was really frightening. 1, that it goes on that long and 2, that there's no plan of what happens after that. There's just too many lose threads in this Bill. So, after much deliberation of the pros and the cons, I just have to come to the point to believe that there are just too many concerns. Just multiple concerns about the effect on… of the middle class, the working class. What's going to happen to the everyday people if this Bill passes? So, with that in mind, I've reached the conclusion that I would like to urge a 'no' vote. Thank you."

"And Ladies and Gentleman the last speaker. Mr. Phillips for 5 minutes."

"Mr. Orris… Mr. Morrison for 4:54."

"Sponsors yields."

"Yes."

"What's that got to do with this Bill?"

"The what?"

"I don’t know."

"I have no idea."

"So, can you explain to me then, why doing nothing is better?"

"You're saying it is."

"Without putting solar and using wind…"

"…and looking at these alternatives or not fixing…"

"…not fixing the RPS that they've been trying to fix for the last 7 years."

"Mr. Rita to close."

"Well, we've had a long debate with… very robust debate. We've had number of hearings. We've had lot of stakeholders come together in the last 72 hours. More importantly with these last Amendments, it brought the Governor, his assurance that he's going to sign this Bill. There was some uncertainty, where the Governor was, whether he was going to sign it or not. And with the final Amendments that was put in, insured his signature to this. You heard a lot about jobs. We heard a lot about saving the jobs in Clinton and Quad Cities. We heard a lot about creating jobs through the energy efficiency in the RPS. We've heard a lot of the debate. So, if you're about saving and creating jobs, it’s a 'yes' vote and join me in passing Senate Bill 2814. Thank you."

"Gentleman moves for the passage of the Bill. Please be reminded Representative McDermed has asked for a verification should this receive 60 votes. 60 votes is what it needs. Please be in your chairs and vote your own switches. Those is 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 09900153.docx 152  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 record yourselves, Members. Please record yourselves. Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 63 voting 'yes', 38 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority… sorry. I apologize. Thank you, Sir for the reminder. Mr. Clerk, please read the affirmative."

"Representative McDermed."

Speaker Lang: "Representative Feigenholtz. Representative Feigenholtz. Representative Feigenholtz is down here. Next."

"The Lady withdraws her Motion. There are 63 voting 'yes, 38 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is here by declared passed. The Chair is in receipt of a Motion from Mr. Franks. Pursuant to Rule 65, having voted on the prevailing side, I move to reconsider the vote by which Senate Bill 2814 passed. Leader Currie, moves to table that Motion. Is there leave? And the Motion does adopted. And the Motion for reconsider is tabled. Ladies and Gentleman, the 2017 Session schedule is being distributed. Ladies and Gentleman, we're going to adjourn on a Death Resolution. Will the Members be in their chairs and rise? Page 6 of the Calendar. House Resolution 1497, Leader Currie."

"Thank you very much, Members… Speaker and Members of the House. John Matijevich, was a Member of this chamber for 26 years. He was born on Christmas Day, 1927. He died just a month ago. John was wonderful person, a compassionate human 09900153.docx 154  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 being, a strong citizen of the North Chicago area. Very active in the community. His passions in the Legislature were two. First, he was among the strongest consumer advocates I have ever known. He was one of the creators of the Citizens Utility Board. And he was personally the government watch dog for the Illinois Commerce Commission and the Illinois Toll Highway Authority. The other thing that was really important to John was transparency and accountability in government. Long before those were watch words of the way we try to do business, John was the one who was forever calling out procedures and activities that didn’t quite meet the requirements of an open and fair government. John was a terrific Member of this institution, a strong member of his community, he wrote newspaper columns for most of his adult life. He was married for 60 years to his wife Agnes, and his son Robert was the very apple of his eye. He was a family man, he was a caring person. We lost a great leader when John Matijevich left us. And I would like to say to his family, to his friends, and to his community, God speed, and thank you John Matijevich."

"This Resolution has already been adopted. Let the Body take a moment of silence in memory of John Matijevich. Apparently this has not been adopted. Leader Currie moves for the adoption of the Resolution. Those in favor say 'yes'; those opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And the Resolution is adopted. And now, leaving perfunctory time for the Clerk, Leader Currie moves that the House stands adjourn 'til Monday, January 9, 2017 at the hour of 12 noon. Those in favor say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And the Motion is 09900153.docx 155  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 153rd Legislative Day 12/1/2016 adopted. And the House stands adjourned 'til January 9 at the hour of 12 noon. Everyone have a wonderful holiday."