Illinois House Floor Debate — January 9, 2017

"Happy New Year to all. The House will come to order. Members shall be in their chairs. 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 shall be led in the Pledge by Representative Kirkpatrick.”

Speaker Lang: "Well done, Representative. Roll Call for Attendance. Leader Currie."

"Thank you, Speaker. Please let the record reflect that Representatives Thapedi and Jones are excused today."

"Mr. Wheeler." Wheeler, K.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Please let the record reflect that Representatives Barb Wheeler and Bill Mitchell are excused today."

"Mr. Clerk, please take the record. We have 113 Members answering the roll and we do have a quorum. The Chair recognizes the Clerk."

"Mr. Clerk, Committee Reports."

"Chair recognizes Representative Bellock. For what reason do you rise, Representative?"

"Mr. Sauer, would you like to give us a brief comment on your first day on the House Floor?"

"Thank you, Sir. Congratulations. Leader Currie is recognized for some introductions."

"Thank you very much, Speaker and Members of the House. I'm very excited and pleased, honored, to introduce three new Members on our side of the aisle: Melissa Conyears from the 10th District, replacing Pamela Reaves-Harris. Do you want to say something now, Melissa or do you want to wait? Go ahead, speak."

"Representative Conyears."

"Good afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon, Representatives, Speaker. I am so excited to be here. Thank you for this opportunity to just say hello."

"Well done. Leader Currie."

"We also welcome Jim Kirkpatrick from the 117th District and he replaces Representative John Bradley. Welcome Jim."

"Welcome, Representative. Can we hear from you, Sir?"

"Thank you very much. It's a pleasure and an honor for me to serve in a chamber that was once represented by Abraham Lincoln. Thank you."

"Thank you, Sir. A good Republican I heard. And Leader Currie."

"Finally, we have Justin Slaughter, who comes from the district and replaces Representative Monique Davis. Welcome Justin."

"Representative Slaughter, good afternoon. Let’s hear from you."

"Good afternoon… good afternoon, thank you. Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm extremely excited to be here, extremely 09900156.docx 4  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 excited to work with you, fifth day on the job. You know, it’s funny, I got three days on Melissa over there, but there's a lot of work to do: I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work. Thank you."

"Thank you, Representative. Welcome aboard to all of you. Congratulations. Mr. Skoog is recognized."

"I stand for a point of a personal privilege."

"Please proceed, Sir."

"It’s an honor and privilege today to have my Page for the day, Ben Swanson. He is one of the hardest workers on my staff. He was at every parade, he was outing the signs in the yards. But he did, he was always there with me and I appreciate that he could be down here. He's in the second grade, but he acts like he’s a 17-year-old. He's very old for his age, which is wonderful. He loves politics and history. It’s great for him to be down here. Up in the gallery we have his family and his grandpa Al Ring. We appreciate they’re down here. And it's only… my… you know, I only have a couple of days left, so I brought my lovely wife down here. She put up with me for the last years or so; she knows how hard it is. So, thanks Hol for being here, too, with me. So thank you very much."

"Welcome to all of you. Congratulations. Enjoy your day on the House Floor. The Chair recognizes Mr. Harris." Harris, D.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, I’d like to make note of the fact that there are two new, future Republicans that have come to join us over the holidays. One is the child of Representative Demmer, Catherine Addison was born just before Christmas and 09900156.docx 5  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 Representative Morrison had Alexander who was born just after Christmas. So, they’re future Republicans."

"Congratulations, Gentlemen. By the way, how do you know? Mr. Clerk, Agreed Resolutions."

"Leader Currie moves for the adoption of the Agreed Resolutions. Those in favor say ‘yes’; opposed ‘no’. The ‘ayes’ have it. And the Agreed Resolutions are adopted. Mr. Wheeler for an announcement." Wheeler, K.: "The Republicans request an immediate caucus in Room 118."

"Democrats and Republicans are both caucusing. Republicans will caucus immediately in Room 118. Democrats will caucus immediately, that’s immediately, in Room 114. And the House will be adjourned… the House will be at recess 'til the call of the Chair. The House will be in order. The Chair recognizes Leader Currie."

"Thank you, Speaker. Please let Representative Ford to show he's excused for the remainder of the day."

"Thank you, Representative. Leader Currie for a Motion."

"Thank you, Speaker. I move to suspend the posting requirements so that House Joint Resolution 170 and Senate Joint Resolution 57 may be heard, without respect to ordinary posting requirements."

"I understand this has been cleared with the other side. There being no debate, those… Is the Lady have leave? Leave is granted. On Supplemental Calendar #1, under the Order 09900156.docx 7  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 of Senate Bills-Second Reading there appears Senate Bill 513, Representative Feigenholtz. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Third Reading. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill. Senate Bills-Third Reading. Senate Bill 3319, Representative Conroy. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill. Mr. Clerk, please place this Bill on the Order of Second Reading and please read the Bill."

"Representative Conroy on the Amendment."

"Thank you, Speaker. The Amendment just fixes a mistake that was made by the DuPage County Board of Elections and a published date that was three days too early for these governmental bodies. So, by doing this, we prevent these governmental bodies from having to go to court to fix this."

"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." 09900156.docx 8  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017

"Representative Conroy, did you just explain the Bill?"

"I did. Thank you."

"Those in favor of the Bill will vote ‘yes'; opposed ‘no’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Please record yourselves. Please record yourselves, Members. Andrade. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 100 voting ‘yes’, 9 voting ‘no’, 1 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Page 2 of the regular Calendar, Senate Bills- Third Reading, Senate Bill 2872. Mr. Clerk, please place this Bill on the Order of Second Reading for an Amendment and please read the Bill."

"Representative Gordon-Booth on the Amendment."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Amendment was debated and passed out of committee this morning, unanimously. I’d like to debate it on Third."

"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." 09900156.docx 9  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017

"Representative Gordon-Booth."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And happy new year to all of my colleagues. Today I bring before you Senate Bill 2872, which is the Neighborhood Safety Act. This is a major piece of criminal justice reform that many of us have been working on for some time now. The context to which we bring this Bill forward is comprised of three primary components. The first component to the legislation is we would be piloting trauma recovery centers around the State of Illinois. The purpose for that is, we… we realized through studies and through data that there is a significant need to stop the repeat victimization and break the cycle of violence that has… that’s happening in many of the communities across the state. And this legislation would direct the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority to establish pilot programs for trauma recovery for victims of violent crimes with a goal of providing safe, community-based, culturally competent environments in which to access the necessary services to facilitate recovery from the effects of chronic and repeated exposure to trauma. These services might include behavioral health treatment, financial recovery, family support and relocation assistance and support for navigating a very challenging legal system. Anyone who has been a victim of violent crime clearly knows that this is a significant issue. I will come back to the trauma recovery centers in my close. The second component to this legislation is that it will incentivize inmates to rehabilitate themselves while they’re 09900156.docx 10  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 incarcerated. Let's be very clear. This is not receiving credit for good conduct; you have to earn this credit. In Illinois, all… almost all prisoners will, eventually, be released from prisons, which means they're going to come back, primarily, to the communities from which they came. What we're doing with the second component of this legislation is we are looking to reduce recidivism. This component of the legislation would incentivize inmates to take positive steps toward self-improvement and skill-building by expanding the pool of those who are eligible to enroll in rehabilitative programming. The earned credit program will be governed by the Illinois Department of Corrections with the new risk assessment tool that’s been created. That risk assessment tool will screen inmates and tailor rehabilitative programming appropriate for each individual and most likely to have the greatest impact… let me say that again… the greatest impact on reducing recidivism. The third component of this legislation is providing additional judicial discretion. There is substantial evidence that demonstrates that lower recidivism rates when certain low-risk individuals are sentenced to supervised probation instead of prison is far better for the communities that they're serving but also it’s better for public safety. Because what we have become very well aware of is that there is a serious issue around mass incarceration. And the individuals that are housed in the Department of Corrections right now are being just that, warehoused. What we would like to create is a system where we actually have the ability to rehabilitate citizens while they're incarcerated so that when they reenter society that 09900156.docx 11  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 we don’t have this revolving door of individuals as we do now, that are merely leaving, only to come right back to the Department of Corrections. If I could swing back to the first component of this Bill in talking about trauma recovery, I think that this Bill is so important in the time that we're in, because when you look at communities like the City of Chicago, communities like Springfield, Peoria, Danville, Decatur, East St. Louis, Waukegan, Rockford, and communities all over this coun… all over this state, we have a very serious issue with violent crime. The trauma recovery centers and the trauma recovery services that we are looking to bring to those communities is going to have the ability to begin to deal with some of the unmet trauma that many of these communities are grappling with. We have to find a way to bring a more just system to the people of Illinois. We have to find a way to create a criminal justice system that does just that: it’s a… it’s a justice system that allows for real public safety to happen. Not only am I of this belief, but I would be remiss if I did not share the fact that this Bill is only possible because of the leadership of many of the people in this room. I'd like to thank Leader Durkin for all of the support that he has given to this legislation, thank you so much. To Chairman Sims, to Representative Hays and other Members of this… of this august Body that have allowed us to really sink our teeth into this legislation over the last six months. It’s no surprise that when you work together on a bipartisan basis that you have the ability to have organizations like the Illinois State’s Attorneys Organization along with a group like the NAACP and the 09900156.docx 12  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 Sheriff’s Association along with the an organization like the Safer Foundation and an organization like the Chiefs' of Police along with many other civil rights organizations around this state that have come in as proponents to this Bill. This isn’t soft-on-crime. This is a smart-on-crime legislation that looks to bring public safety back to the communities that we serve. I want to thank the Members who have worked with me on this legislation. And I want to thank all of the associations that have put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get us to where we are today. I am open for your questions."

"Leader Durkin."

"The financial cost to implement this program is zero. The dollars that are going to support the trauma recovery centers are all federal dollars. We’ll actually save money here in Illinois by doing this."

"Yes."

"Representative Flowers."

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

"Lady yields."

"Representative Gordon, I just want to say that I want to commend you for working so hard on this legislation and I know how personal it is to you as well. And for a long time, I have seen the problems that men and women, who have been incarcerated and never had the opportunity to earn good-time and how it has destroyed their lives. And I also have witnessed, throughout my 32 years of being here, what has happened in this state in regards to what goes on behind the prison walls, in regards to the programs that has been taken away. We… we used to have offenders who were able to go to college while they were incarcerated, it was taken away. We used to have to have… they used to be able to earn good-time by finishing high school having a job training program. I remember visiting St. Charles where the juveniles were and they didn’t even have teachers there and the Constitution of the State of Illinois required that they be entitled to an education from kindergarten through 12, but that didn’t happen for them either because those programs were not there. 09900156.docx 15  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 So I appreciate the fact that your Bill now gives offenders the opportunity to earn good time and get out of jail that would not have ordinarily been able to earn good time. But I also know that those were a few and then you’ve had… you've taken another few and you made it so that they cannot earn probation or… I’m sorry… earn good time to get out of jail. That kind of concerns me. The other thing that concerns me about your Bill is, as far as what ICJIA is supposed to do. Is it a requirement. Is it they 'shall' provide these services or is it a goal of theirs to provide services?"

"So, thank… thank you so much for your comments. So the way in which this process and this engagement happened initially was ICJIA is the administer… is the state administer of VOCA dollars. The VOCA dollars is the funding stream from which these trauma recovery services will be able to be offered to communities throughout the state. And yes, the… I think part of… we often times in this Body, as you well know from your experience…"

"Excuse me, Mr. Speaker, can you lower the volume so I can hear the Lady? Thank you."

"We often… often have a job that requires us to work on both ends as you well know. Part of our job is to… to work… to work within our communities and then try to bring the needs of our communities into legislation. And then when we are able and blessed to be able to pass legislation as comprehensive as this, we also have the other duty of working with the agencies to ensure that the intention of this Body is carried out by the agency. And so yes, the agency is charged with administering these dollars through the… excuse 09900156.docx 16  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 me, the dollars that they receive from VOCA. They're going to be charged with piloting these trauma recovery centers serv… these trauma recovery centers around the entire state."

"Okay."

"Around the state; not the entire state but around the state."

"But the trauma recovery center that’s just for the victims of the crime. Am I correct? It’s just for the victims?"

"So, in the way… the way… thank you… the way in which victim is defined, it isn’t necessarily to say for you to be a victim you had to be the one that was sexually assaulted, or you had to be the one that was robbed, or you had to be the one that was shot. You could be in a relation to that individual, and the way that the services have worked so eloquently in communities like in Watts and in South L.A. and in San Francisco and in Stockton, California, oftentimes to receive any kind of services you have to be willing to go to the police first before you receive any services. But the way that the trauma recovery center model works is that if you show up at the doorstep, you are served. And the motto and the thought-process behind that is, if someone is saying, I need help. We have to operate from the standpoint that they are crying out for help. And that is the pro… that is the purpose and the value for putting these trauma recovery centers and often the way in which we will offer our trauma recovery services in the communities that have been the most harmed and those that have had the most unmet need." 09900156.docx 17  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017

"Representative, I heard the speaker from the other side of the aisle ask how much this is going to cost and you said zero because this is federal funds. Now, I just need to bring you back to the state here because you know this Governor has cut all the programs that is supposed to help the aged, the blind, the disabled, the mentally ill and all of that. So please tell me where are these programs, and don’t forget that child care for infants and children to go to day care, those programs has been cut as well. So tell me how, in regards to the trauma center, and where are the facilities and where is the help in… because this Bill becomes effective immediately. Now, does the trauma center becomes effective immediately as well?"

"Yes."

"And so, immediately upon the Governor signing this Bill there will be a place where a person who feel like they are being traumatized… what about a community? What about a community like Englewood, or the south side of the City of Chicago or the West side of the City of Chicago where everyone in those communities feel traumatized? Where do they go? And why is it when the schools are closing and some people don’t have access to health care, tell me how this Bill will help facilitate the people to get the help that they need?"

"So, again, thank you for that question. As you know I am very familiar with the issue of child care, I am the mother of a two-year-old myself. I also was the Member in this Body that carried the legislation to reinstate that child care when it was…"

"And you know what happened with that?" 09900156.docx 18  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017

"…when it was… Yes, I do, I'm very… I'm very aware. But…"

"And so that’s my concern. So where are we going to get the money?"

"I am trying to respond to you. So, the reality is, as Members of this Body, as it relates to us dealing with issues of criminal justice reform and then issues of dealing with inclusion into… inclusion within our communities and building the other infrastructure that we need within our communities, the reality is is that we don’t get the luxury of picking and choosing which issues we work on because they're all issues that we have. And so what I would daresay is on this day, on January 9, we need to be standing against mass incarceration and that’s what this legislation looks to do. It looks to deal with sentencing reform, it looks to deal with trauma that is taking place in communities like yours- in communities like mine and many of the communities around the entire state. And so, today we're dealing with this… with this issue, and all those other issues as it relates to child care, education funding, I’m also there as well as many of the Members in this Body, we’re also there working on those issues too. But I would daresay, that I don’t want to go back to my community and say that I didn’t take… that we didn’t take the opportunity in this moment and in this day to advance this historic, significant legislation that would be able to allow families to remain whole and actually increase public safety 1hour communities instead of creating this system of mass incarceration that we have today." 09900156.docx 19  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017

"Representative, I agree with you 100 percent. And I want the record to reflect that for 32 years I have been against mass incarceration and for the 32 years that I have been here I have fought against that and I've tried to do something about it. And what I’m asking you what, specifically, will this Bill do that the Victim Crime Witness Act that the Secretary of State Office has, as well as the AG Office have in existence now, what will this trauma center do? Is it a location? Is it a goal? Is it 'shall'? I just want to know specifically what will it do. And in regards to the mass incarceration, I think what we’re… what the most important thing, and this is what concerns me about this Bill, there’s nothing that’s preventing the recidivism once a person go out. You can let them out because of the good time that they may have earned, but once they leave there, Representative, if there's no jobs, if there's no education, if there’s not a home or a family for them to go to, if there's not a mental health facility for them to get the services from, recidivism will be greater. But let me also share with you, that according to SPAC our recidivism rate and the prison incarceration rate has already been going down without this legislation. And what I’m afraid of… what I'm really afraid of is because of the assessment tool that it will be subject to someone else’s interpretation, whether or not I’m doing right or doing all the right things to get out, that will be left up to someone else's interpretation and let me tell you the reason why, because this Bill will become effective immediately and immediately, inside the prisons there’s not the educational program; immediately, inside the 09900156.docx 20  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 prison there’s not the training program. So on the inside, there is not the tools that’s needed to properly make the assessment. And so I could see, that if that’s the only means that it will now be up to the Department of Corrections to say whether or not I get prob… I get early release or not, based on an assessment where the tools is not there for them to assess me; and then upon my release, where am I going to go to make sure that I'm not causing or being caused to recidivise to go back to prison? So can you help me answer those questions, please?"

"And what was your question?"

"The question is what… where are the programs inside the prison…”

“So…”

“…that’s question number one. And then number two, once I get out, where are the jobs, the job training and the educational programs? And number three, where is the intervention and the prevention programs to stop people from coming in anyway?"

"Great questions. So, in this, as I stated before, within the second component of the legislation, the programs with inside the department, as you know… many of us know, that there has been a significant decrease in the programming that was offered by the Department of Corrections. Department of Corrections is prepared to ramp up that programming. But what they wanted to… what they were looking for from us is a sign that we were serious about wanting to ensure that when they decide to make that big jump, that as a Body, that we will also be supportive of that. And so, your question of, 09900156.docx 21  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 where are the programs, the department is in the process of building those programs back up. And your next question was, where are those jobs in the community. I would daresay that I am prepared to work with you and would sign on to any legislation that you may have that helps to increase jobs within our community. I know that I have legislation that I have worked on, that I have signed on to, to be able to create a better business climate, a better job environment, workforce trainings. I'm actually doing a trip to Caterpillar, which is a Fortune 50 company in my district, for colleagues of mine to learn about what are the needs that they have as a large-scale manufacturer so that we can figure out how to better partner with those kinds of companies so that maybe they would want to relocate a facility maybe in your district. And then I think the third part of your question was… What was the third part of your question?"

"The prevention program for preventing people from coming into the system in the first place, Representative…”

“So…”

“…There is no jobs, they're… they're closing schools in the City of Chicago, and I don’t know what they're doing in Peoria."

"Yes, they are closing them in Peoria as well…"

"But I… let me just say in my closing remarks, I was reading this fact analysis of this Bill, and it has in quotations, 'what if', and I look at this legislation as being a, 'what if', legislation. If… What if all these things were true? If all these things were true that you're saying and that could possibly happen, we would have 4 thousand fewer 09900156.docx 22  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 inmates in prison, if it was true. But this is a, what if. But there's no programs in place, and as a result, what I do see is a possibility of having double the number of people going to prison and fewer people being able to earn the good time because you are… you're taking away on one hand and you're getting it on the other. I commend you for what you’ve done in regards to expediting the people who were not able to earn good time; I commend you for that. I also commend you for all the work that you put into trying to make this a better Bill, but I see some problems with this legislation. But I will not be supporting you because I don't see whereas that it's going to work. And it's… I don’t see the programs in place. I don’t see nothing but, 'what if'. There’s nothing concrete; there's no jobs, there's no education, there’s no teachers. Do you know how long it takes for the Department of Corrections to get teachers in place? So, I would love to support this legislation, but I don’t want to send my constituency a message that our community is going to be safer and we're going to be better, because we did that once before when we got tough on crime. We told everybody about locking people up longer, that we're going to be safer and better off for it. That’s not true. And now, we're telling them by allowing, through this assessment program, for people to get out of prison that… and then for this trauma center to occur that things are going to be better. It will get better, Representative, when there is a real concertive effort to do something about the south and west side of the City of Chicago. And I just want to say this in closing, Al Capone used to go around and do a lot of drive-by shooting and the 09900156.docx 23  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 Mafia had the family. Those were problems that caused problems in those communities. It’s not happening anymore because someone had the where-with-all to do something about it. They created jobs, and opportunities and businesses. In our community all of that has been taken away. So with all due respect, once again I commend you for what you're doing but I will be voting, 'no'. Thank you."

"Mr. Hays."

"Sponsor yields."

"Absolutely, Representative Hays."

"Yes. That was that I, you know like you, was incredibly impressed by the… by the approach that the trauma recovery center… centers in California took in the way in which not only was it supportive for the victim… the victim of violent crime, but also there was the ability to actually get justice in many cases in which people just would prefer not to talk or people would just allow some of these situations to grow into something else that, you know, that clearly we want to try to prevent those kinds of things. And so not just responding to victims of crime, but what I found, and it sounds like you felt that same way, that these trauma recovery centers and these trauma recovery services provided as a wonderful catalyst to preventing further situations from happening in the future."

"Mr. Turner."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. I’d like to thank Representative Gordon-Booth for bringing this piece of legislation here today and for everyone who worked with her on bringing this… this Amendment to Senate Bill 2872 to the floor. You know, we talk a lot about criminal justice reform around here and we don’t talk often about the victims and what they go through and the families and what they experience. And with close to 800 murders in Chicago alone this year, we have a lot of victims. We have a lot of families who are hurting, who have experienced trauma. And this, I think, is a great piece of legislation specifically 'cause right away it addresses that trauma recovery and creates a center and a pilot program to deal with that. That family support, the relocation assistance, financial recovery, the behavioral health treatment is all beneficial to the family and in some cases, will help a victim from becoming a reoffender or an offender in the first place, in retaliation that something that they’ve experienced. I think that the sentencing credit reform is also a great piece in our criminal justice reform efforts. Everyone knows that we have a prison system that’s busting at the seams with inmates and we’ve worked to try to reduce our prison population over the years under this current administration and even before that. And so the idea of expanding on the good conduct credit, allowing truth in sentencing offenses to be eligible to receive up to 09900156.docx 26  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 180 days of earned sentencing credit is all good for our system. And while DOC isn’t perfect, and sure we’d like to see more programs available and opportunities available for inmates, I think that steps in that direction is a very important thing in helping people become back acclimated to society, reduce recidivism, and deal with some of the issues that we have for returning citizens. Under the current law, certain inmates are eligible to earn credit for participating in educational, substance abuse and other programs offered within IDOC. The earned credit program will be governed by the Illinois Department of Corrections new Risk Assessment Needs Assessment tool. RANA will screen inmates and tailor rehabilitative programming appropriate for each individual and most likely to have the greatest impact on reducing recidivism. Forty-three percent… people who participate in these correctional educational programs have a 43 percent lower odds of returning to prison than those who do not. Employment after release is 13 percent higher amongst prisoners who participated in either academic or vocational programs than those who do not. So, sure we need to expound on these programs, we need to have more opportunities available the inmates can take advantage of so that they’re a productive part of society when they get out. We have a lot of returning citizens in my neighborhood and this will be something that's great for them. And judicial discretion isn’t removed under this Bill either. Under current law, most drug crimes and Class 2 felonies require imprisonment. This Amendment will allow a judge to send a person convicted of certain drug crimes and Class 2 felonies to probation, 09900156.docx 27  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 periodic imprisonment or conditional discharge. I think this is a good-faith effort by DOC, and all those involved to help deal with our prison population issue and the struggles that returning citizens face when they come back to our communities. Class 2, or greater felony, sex offenses and deadly weapon offenses won’t be eligible for this pilot program, again, this pilot program. What if this worked out? What if we were able to help many people and reduce our prison population in a substantive way? I think that’s something that needs to be considered. I’ve been… I heard during the debate that there were no… there was no cost to Illinois, that there were federal money that would be dealing with this program and putting it into place. So I think we need to give it an opportunity and give it a chance to grow. Thank you, again for bringing this legislation, Representative. And thank you for all who support it. I encourage everyone to vote ‘aye’."

"Mr. Evans."

"Question for the Sponsor."

"Sponsor yields."

"Sponsor, could you… if you have time, could you please detail the full list of opponents to this legislation?"

"There are no opponents to this legislation."

"There’s no opponents to this legislation. To the Bill. Ladies and Gentlemen, this piece of legislation, like every other new piece of legislation, is not an indictment on what’s been done, but it’s a continuation and an evolution of our legislation and our evaluation of programs and what we can do in the future. Whether or not this will work, I don’t know. 09900156.docx 28  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 I don’t have a crystal ball. Whether or not we’ll pass a budget, whether or not we’ll do x, y, Z. We’re going to do things and we’re going to do our best and we’re going to move forward and I think this piece of legislation is one of those great examples as was mentioned earlier. I represent one of those communities on the southside of Chicago. I look like many of these young men who will get the opportunity to be helped, to become productive citizens. We need more productive citizens. And as a member of the Illinois Policy and Advisory Council, these are the results of discussions that we have, countless hours of discussions, on how to make our criminal justice system better. There's no magic bullet, it’s going to take hard work. Hard work was placed in this legislation and I’m hoping in the future that we can continue to be a part of more hard work to make our country and definitely the State of Illinois better. So I urge you to support this piece of legislation and to continue the criminal justice fight to make this country fair for all people. We're doing it; we’re leading the way in Illinois. Let’s continue to fight."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the Chamber is extremely noisy. Could we please hold this down? Representative Lilly."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. I, too, want to congratulate Representative Gordon-Booth for having the vision to help people. And as a Representative of a district where, number one, returning to the home community is the Austin community, this type of legislation will make a difference to the lives, not only of the individual, but the families in that community, and the families of which those 09900156.docx 29  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 returning-home citizens are needing that support. I was in a meeting this Saturday with the National Alliance for Empowering (sic-Empowerment) of the Formerly Incarcerated and they were talking about this Bill. And they referred to this Bill as the good times. And what they were meaning is there was a time where Illinois had good time legislation where if you did good time you were getting that credit. And they were able to come home because they were doing the things necessary to make them better citizens. And this Bill encompasses that concept. The Trauma Recovery Center pilot program just adds the necessary services that they need to be better citizens. I commend you and all those who worked on the program and worked on the project and this Bill to bring forth hope to our citizens who are returning home from the correctional system. I thank you. And I encourage each of you to vote 'aye'."

"Representative Ammons."

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

"Sponsor yields."

"I just want to clarify. Thank you, Leader Booth, for this very important piece of legislation. As a matter of fact, I've been asked over and over again about good-time credits. I just have three questions on this Bill though. One of them is, would this be retroactive to a person who is currently incarcerated and they have done 15 years already, but only had one violation that would, under normal circumstances, fit this Bill. Would they be able to benefit from this new legislation?"

"The Bill does not specify that it would not." 09900156.docx 30  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017

"Okay. The second question I have is, I read a portion of this Bill and please explain this, a person who may have committed a crime as a result of being addicted to methamphetamines, cocaine, crack or any other addiction were exempted from this Bill and I don’t quite understand why they were exempted in this particular case."

"So… so what we're part of, you know, massive pieces… massive pieces of reforms likes this is that there's a negotiation that is required and the only… the only two drugs that were exempted were fentanyl and heroine which was a request from the State's Attorney's Association because of the drastic issue that heroine has become in downstate communities. So they still want to be… they want the opportunity to be able to address the trafficking issues in their communities, but all other drugs are still… they're still a part of the legislation."

"I could certainly see that. I think that needs to be dealt with in a little bit of a different way, but for today's debate I'll leave that one alone. And then I can't tell in this Bill, but can you talk about if this Bill includes some gun violators increased penalty. I can't seem to find it in the Bill. Can you speak to that?"

"Yes, Representative. This Bill… there are no penalty enhancements in this legislation. And so, if you're looking for penalty enhancements, you won't find it in Senate Bill 2872."

"Thank you so much, Leader."

"Thank you."

"Representative Cassidy." 09900156.docx 31  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Bill. First of all I really do want to congratulate Representative Gordon-Booth for pulling this together and getting such a strong and broad coalition behind this package. I, too, represent an area with a lot of returning citizens and to some of the points made by one of the prior speakers about whether there are sufficient resources for them when they come out, I guarantee you that none of the families and none of the returning citizens that I work with in my community would rather stay in prison and wait for us to correct those missing pieces. And I know that Leader Booth, as well as many others, we stand together in working to fix those holes. But we shouldn't let the perfect get in the way of the good by any measure. And I think we also must recognize that in many of our communities there's such a huge fluidity between victim and offender and these resources that the Trauma Informed Center will bring… bring to bear are there for everyone and can, as Representative Turner said, sometimes prevent a victim from becoming an offender and that will be a huge impact. And I want to actually correct a piece of information that's floating around. This isn’t just going to not cost us any money, this is actually going to save us money in the long run. As we… as we reduce our prison population, as we reduce recidivism, as we make our communities healthier and safer we will be spending less money locking people up. We will be spending less money putting people away. And we have to play the long game. And I congratulate you for your hard work on this. And I thank you. I know this is deeply personal to you and… and 09900156.docx 32  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 your work has been amazing. And I strongly urge an 'aye' vote."

"Representative Gordon-Booth to briefly close."

"Thank you… Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. This legislation has definitely… definitely been a labor of love. Definitely not a labor of love because this is a soft and fuzzy issue… this legislation took a great amount of work. But the love in it is because I know that if we continue to work together in a bipartisan basis on behalf of the communities and the constituents that we serve, we can come together with a good quality product. Our communities are demanding criminal justice reform. I think that in the City of Chicago where there were almost 800 murders last year, of the 22 area precincts, those murders were concentrated in 5 areas. But Chicago isn’t the only area dealing with violent crime, violent crime is just a fact of life in the world today. What's also a by-product of violence is trauma. And some of… some of the folks in this room may not have dealt with the kind of violent crimes that some other families are, unfortunately, carrying on a daily basis. Trauma is real, grief is real. And when individuals in our communities have been tattered by violence after violence after violence, they need help. This Bill will do just that. The idea that we don't move on issues like this because we don't have everything else perfect I'm unwilling to accept. What I know is that communities around this state are prepared to do what is right by the citizens of this state. And I want to commend everyone in this Body for their questions, for their concerns and for the bipartisan effort that's gone into this. But I would 09900156.docx 33  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 daresay, that by continuing to allow our Corrections budget to double, in the way that it has since 1985, and juxtaposing that with the nominal increase that happened in education, it should be no question why the prison system is continuing to explode. It's because that's what we have been investing in. And so if we want to be serious about the business of decreasing the prison population and investing in the things like workforce development, like education, like mental health and behavioral health on a general revenue side of what we do with our state budget, then we have to get serious about sentencing reform as it relates to the Department of Corrections. And I will close with this quote, each moment in history is a fleeting time, precious and unique. But some stand out as a moment of a beginning in which courses are set that are shaped for either decades or years. I would daresay that this is not the end-all be-all as it relates to criminal justice reform, but it is a fantastic first step. And my hope is that this piece of legislation will not be the end, but just a beginning to changing the course of how we bring public safety to all the citizens of the State of Illinois. Thank you."

"Those in favor of the Lady's Bill will vote 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Please record yourselves. Crespo, Franks, Mayfield. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 83 voting 'yes', 26 voting 'no'. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Page 2 of 09900156.docx 34  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 the Calendar, Senate Bills-Second Reading, Senate Bill 2051. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Mr. Harris." Harris, G.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I could explain the legislation, or if we could move it to Third, which would be the more appropriate thing and then I would…"

"Mr. Demmer. Gentleman says go ahead and move it. 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. Harris." Harris, G.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Senate Bill 2051, as amended, is intended to be a lifeline to the higher education institutions, to the MAP grant families, and to the social service and human service providers across the State of Illinois. As you know previously the state had adopted a stopgap budget to fund higher education and human services, but that legislation expired on the 31st of December. So as of the first of this year, higher education that is not federally funded or human services that is not being paid through consent decrees or court orders 09900156.docx 35  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 have no way to receive revenue. To protect our colleges, our universities, our city colleges, to give some certainty to those educators and to the families of MAP Grant recipients, it's essential we pass this legislation to protect the higher education system in the State of Illinois. It is equally important that the very precarious situations that this long budget impasse has put our human service providers: aging, youth services, violence prevention, mental health, substance abuse, homelessness prevention, violence prevention, after school programming for teens, that all of these programs be given some funding to be able to continue during this ongoing situation. I will point out that this… what this Bill does. It does not require any GRF spending, it draws only from funds that are fed from… the Commitment to Human Service Fund is fed directly from income tax revenue as it arrives in the state, and the Educational Assistance Fund is funded by income tax revenue and some gaming revenue. So none of these are general funds that are required. The social service allocation is $258 million. It is distributed among the same lines on a pro rata basis, in this lifeline budget what the stopgap budget had last year with two exceptions, which I just want to point out to the Body. One is there is additional money for the domestic violence shelters in the State of Illinois and many of us have probably heard from domestic violence providers that they're in a precarious position and women who have been assaulted and had violence committed against them are at risk of losing all services should we not reappropriate money. So we did add domestic violence services to this legislation. Also there is a program called Safe from 09900156.docx 36  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 the Start which provides intervention services to children who have witnessed horrible violence or trauma. It provides services and intervention on a statewide basis to help those children recover from the violence or the trauma they've witnessed and avoid potential problems later in life, both very worthwhile programs. For higher education, this legislation appropriates $400 million that is divided equally on a pro rata basis between public universities, community colleges, the Math and Science Academy. It provides funding for ISAC, for programs such as Golden Apple, Line of Duty scholarships for the families of fallen police and fire. It funds the Illinois veterans' grants, Alternative Schools Network, Bridge programs. It funds Lincoln Challenge Scholarships. It provides funding for the University of Illinois' Hispanic Center of Excellence, also the University Center of Lake County the Diversifying Higher Education Faculty Fund and other programs. The single largest portion is the MAP grant portion. This legislation funds MAP for a full semester so that our institutions of higher learning are able to plan on funding enough to get through a semester for students and families who are trying to assess whether to send their students to school here in Illinois or if they do send their students here, if there will be enough money in the MAP grant fund to fund a full semester now will have the knowledge that full funding does exist. So there is one other thing that the Bill does. For certain parts of the 2016 stopgap measure and if you recall that was passed and the Department of Human Services and the Comptroller's Office had to figure out how to issue contracts in a way to address the 09900156.docx 37  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 appropriations in the stopgap. There were several areas where, for a variety of reasons, the departments were not able to process contracts and get them issued in sufficient time for a full year's appropriation under the 2016 stopgap. This legislation extends the deadline date for those agencies so that they are able to take advantage of the money that the General Assembly and the Governor sent them last year and I'll just enumerate what those are. These are to our counties for funeral and burial expenses. It is for the immigrant and immigration services, welcoming centers, after school programs, teen REACH programs and Redeploy Illinois. So we are doing everything we can within our power to maximize the funds that have been set aside for them and their opportunity to voucher against those funds. And again, it requires no GRF. I'd be happy to answer any questions."

"Leader Durkin."

"Sponsor yields."

"Mr. Demmer."

"Sponsor yields."

"Representative Bellock."

"Sponsor yields."

"Mr. Andersson."

"Sponsor yields"

"Mr. Harris." Harris, D.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And question of the Sponsor."

"Sponsor yields." Harris, D.: "Representative, when we talk about all these funds and the dollars, you know, kind of my eyes glaze over kind of thing. But let’s… let’s drill down for a second in terms of the specifics. How many funds are there in the State Treasury, roughly?" Harris, G.: "I’m told there are between 7 and 800, by staff." 09900156.docx 55  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 Harris, D.: "Well, I think it maybe even more than that, maybe be 900." Harris, G.: "Okay. Several hundred, yeah." Harris, D.: "So there’s 900 funds in the State Treasury. The granddaddy of them all is which one?" Harris, G.: "I believe that would be the Road Fund." Harris, D.: "Well, the… I… I refer to the granddaddy of them all. I consider that to be the General Revenue Fund." Harris, G.: "Okay." Harris, D.: "General Revenue Fund is fund #1, 001. When we say that our estimated revenues for the state for a given year are a certain amount of money. We say that’s what’s going to come into the general funds, plural, not just 001 the General Revenue Fund, but the general funds. What are the general funds of the State of Illinois, do you know?" Harris, G.: "So… are you asking, you know, in a larger sense or do you want to know which specific funds make up the general funds. I just want to be sure what the question is you’re asking." Harris, D.: "There’s one fund known as the General Revenue Fund." Harris, G.: "Right." Harris, D.: "Fund #001. Let me…" Harris, G.: "So, where… when income tax comes in…" Harris, D.: "There… there are several funds when we say there’s certain amount of money coming into the state, there are certain funds which we call general funds. One of those general funds is the General Revenue Fund…" Harris, G.: "Right." 09900156.docx 56  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 Harris, D.: "…001. Also the Educational Assistance Fund that you are … that you’re operating on." Harris, G.: "And the Commitment to Human Services Fund." Harris, D.: "Correct." Harris, G.: "And the general…" Harris, D.: "That’s another…" Harris, G.: "The Common School Fund, yeah." Harris, D.: "…general fund. The Common School Fund is another general fund. It’s my understanding from checking the Comptroller’s website here that the funding for the Educational Assistance Fund, from which you are proposing to appropriate $4.2 million, is 7.3 percent of the income tax. Does that sound right?" Harris, G.: "I… I’ve not done that math. Ms. Basham says that she believes that’s correct." Harris, D.: "Well, my point though is this. The Educational Assistance Fund, which you are correct will be replenished during the course of the year, is still part of that grand number for revenues that we are taking into the State of Illinois. Would you agree?" Harris, G.: "Yes." Harris, D.: "Okay. And what’s the estimate for how much revenue we’re going to bring into the State of Illinois this year, FY17, roughly?" Harris, G.: "Into the… in which fund, Representative?" Harris, D.: "No, no, total. In the…" Harris, G.: "Total?" Harris, D.: "…Into the general funds total." Harris, G.: "The total…" 09900156.docx 57  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 Harris, D.: "As an example." Harris, G.: "So all taxes…" Harris, D.: "What is… do you know what the COGFA number is for the estimate of revenue coming into the coming in for general funds?" Harris, G.: "So are you talking about general revenues of the state, federal funds, you know, all these other things which…" Harris, D.: "No, no. Just… just into the… when we choose a number for general funds, COGFA uses a round number. What the general funds estimate is for the State of Illinois for FY17?" Harris, G.: "It’s in the vicinity… I don’t have the exact number in front of me. You probably do because you’re on the Revenue Committee… of about 33 billion." Harris, D.: "You said 32… or 33… Right. And I’ll agree…" Harris, G.: "Thirty-three, yes." Harris, D.: "…and I will agree with that. Thirty-two, thirty-two and a half billion dollars are going to come into the State of Illinois for FY17. And the Educational Assistance Fund, of which you are appropriating or choose to appropriate $402 million in this Bill, is part of that 32 billion, correct?"

"Mr. Harris to close." 09900156.docx 59  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 Harris, G.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House and thank you for the comments. Now, I just want to be really clear though what happens with these funds. The people of Illinois, you know, will… will pay their taxes. We will collect 32 to 33 billion dollars of that. A portion of that will go to the Commitment to Human Services Fund, a portion of that will go to the Common School Fund and a portion of that will go to the Educational Assistance Fund as the speakers just said over there, but here’s where they get it wrong. If we don’t appropriate that money, it doesn’t go to other… other departments of the State of Illinois. It doesn’t. You can’t take the money from the Commitment to Human Services Fund and say oh, we’ll go give this to the DNR, the State Police. It can only be used to pay for human service programs. So Ladies and Gentlemen, this money will sit there and build up while the agencies it was designed to serve slowly lay off their workers and close in our communities. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a very responsible vote. It is in fact throwing a lifeline to our public universities, to our community colleges, to our adult education programs, to our veteran scholarships, to the scholarships for the sons and daughters of police and firefighters who’ve given their lives in the line of duty. It funds autism, it funds homelessness prevention, it funds substance abuse, it funds mental health, it funds supportive housing, it funds violence prevention, it funds teen programs and after school programs for our kids. I think the only good vote here is an ‘aye’ vote. Thank you."

"Those in favor of the Gentleman’s Bill will vote 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who 09900156.docx 60  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Drury. Please take the record. There are 63 voting ‘yes’, 49 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On Supplemental Calendar #1, under the Order of the Senate Bills- Second Reading, there appears Senate Bill 550. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Representative Harper on the Amendment."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask for the adoption of the Amendment."

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

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

"Third Reading. Please read the Bill."

"Representative Harper." 09900156.docx 61  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members of the House, I am pleased to bring before you Senate Bill 550, which will protect Illinois’s children from exposure to lead in their drinking water. This Bill would require schools to collect and analyze water samples and also ask water suppliers to identify lead drinking water pipes in their systems through a lead service line inventory. We also… this Bill also asks that residents be notified and provided guidance as to how to reduce risks when construction or water meter replacements may lead to the increase in the levels of lead in their water."

"Chair recognizes Mr. Tryon."

"Representative Ives."

"Sponsor yields."

"Yes. Chicago is covered in this Bill."

"Yes, Ma’am. Yes."

"It’s just based on the Lead and Copper Rule, which exist in current federal regulations."

"Not off the top of my head."

"Well, it is already in the Lead and Copper Rule and we did not want to create any confusion."

"Yes."

"Representative Harper to close."

"Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members, this Bill was basically brought to prevent another disaster from happening in our state that happened in Flint, Michigan. This is also an issue that is deeply personal for me, because I am glad that Chicago Public Schools went ahead and did their testing and it just so happens that my daughter goes to a school that has tested very high for levels of lead. And so I’m glad that Chicago Public Schools has been a leader on this issue and now we will be able to provide testing for all schools throughout the State of Illinois so that our children can have safe drinking water. I encourage an ‘aye’ vote."

"Those in favor of the Bill will vote ‘yes’; opposed ‘no’. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 108 voting ‘yes’, 1 voting ‘no’, and 1 voting ‘present’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Page 2 of the regular Calendar, House… Senate Bills- 09900156.docx 65  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 Second Reading, Senate Bill 2901, Mr. Hoffman. Mr. Clerk, please read the Bill."

"Mr. Hoffman on the Amendment."

"Yes. I would ask this be adopted and debate this 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."

"Third Reading. Please read the Bill."

"Mr. Hoffman."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. This is a Bill that would address the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. As you know, we’ve been talking for several years now about reforming the Illinois Workers’ Compensation law. In 2011, Illinois enacted a comprehensive workers’ compensation reform package and provided for fraud prevention, reduction in carpal tunnel recovery, reduction other injured workers benefits and a 30 percent reduction in the medical fee schedule. That’s… that’s what is set for the amount that is paid to doctors and medical providers. Since that time and just to give you a litany of what we’ve 09900156.docx 66  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 attempted to address since 2015, since that time we have looked at what has happened as a result of that Bill. As a result of that Bill, there have been a significant reduction in the cost to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation System. In fact, according to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, compensable injuries has declined and occur at a lower frequency in Illinois than any of our surrounding states. Annual claims filed in Illinois have been reduced by approximately 16 percent. As a result of the 2011 reforms, the National Council of Compensation Insurance or otherwise known as NCCI, which is the organization that recommends rates, has indicated that rates should be reduced by approximately 30 percent here in Illinois. Let me repeat that. NCCI, the National Council on Compensation Insurance, has indicated that rates should be reduced here in Illinois by 30 percent. Yet, companies continue to come to us and employers continue to come to us and say that their insurance rates for workers’ compensation and their premiums are rising. Well, let me tell you what’s happening. As a result of the 2011 reforms, insurance company profits from workers’ compensation insurance have increased from .3 percent to 10.8 percent since 2011. That’s an increase of 10.5 percent in five years. This occurred while the percentage of premiums used to pay claims, decreased from 75 percent to 53 percent. Now, let me repeat that. This occurred while the percentage of premiums, premiums collected used to pay claims decreased from 75 percent to 53 percent. So, who is making the money? I would say the insurance companies. What we would propose here on our side of the aisle is a pronged approach, a several pronged 09900156.docx 67  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 approach. The first would be to join the majority of other states in the nation that have prior rate approval. That means that we would make sure that insurance rates that are being charged on workers’ compensation insurance are not excessive. We would give the Illinois Department of Insurance the authority to find rates excessive and reduce rates. That’s number one. And let me tell you, as an example of shining stars, the Governor can continually points to Indiana, to Iowa, to Wisconsin as states that have great workers’ compensation insurance programs. We would be following those states in providing for the prior approval rates. In addition, what we would do is we would crack down on fraud. We would provide for provisions that would adopt what the Governor’s Office has asked for in the group meetings, in the Governor’s group meetings which I am a part of, where they are asking for the establishment and the addition of 10 additional people to help address fraud in the Workers’ Compensation System. They also have asked for increased penalties. We have accepted and put in this law increased penalties for fraud. And they have requested that the fraud unit remain with the Department of Insurance, that would happen under this Bill. In addition, in 2015 the House passed House Bill 1287. That provided for six different provisions. It provided for the rate review. It provided for safety programs that would ensure that if you have a safety or work return program that you would get reductions in your premiums. We address some of the Governor’s concerns that they brought regarding the self-insureds and make sure that the amount paid in commission wasn’t totally waived. We would codify causation and traveling employee 09900156.docx 68  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 standards. For the first time, we would use the Senate’s language on traveling employees and we would codify causation standards for the first time in Illinois law. It would protect employers from repetitive injury claims, and would provide for reporting of self-insured data and we would accept some of the language that the Governor put forward regarding self- insurance reporting. Incidentally, this information is already collected by the Department of Insurance; however, we are putting it in a workable form. Finally, 1287 would provide for Workers’ Compensation Premium Rates Task Force. We would extend that to add the study of the creation of a state fund and we would ask that the Workers’ Compensation Premium Rates Task Force look at that as well. Other provisions that would be included came out of the talks with the Governor’s Office and the Senate Democrats, the Senate Republicans and the House Republicans. We would adopt AMA guidelines. As was mentioned, we would establish a fraud unit. We would make changes with regard to a case called Will County Force Preserve. That… that in… and we would indicate that a hip and shoulder would equal a leg and an arm. That would… that was at the Governor’s and this is his request. We provide for penalties for unreasonable delay in the authorization of treatment, which would codi… would overturn a Hollywood casino case that we believe… that we believe was erroneous. We would eliminate mandatory arbitration rotation which was requested by the Industrial Commission and the Governor’s Office. We would clarify that there would be no appeal bond needed for the state. And again, requested by the working… agreed by the working group and requested from the Governor’s Office. And 09900156.docx 69  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 we would enhance the electronic billing rules because they were promised to the Med Society and the health care providers in the 2011 Act and they were never implemented. So, that’s the Bill. This is sincerely an attempt… this is sincerely an attempt to do two things. Number one, crack down on fraud. Number two, and most importantly, to make sure that employers premiums and workers’ compensation in the state are reduced so they can be competitive while making sure the generally injured employees are adequately compensated. I ask for an ‘aye’ vote."

"Mr. Kay."

"Sponsor yields."

"I’m reporting to you what the National Council on Compensation Insurance has indicated that the rates should be reduced by approximately 30 percent. That’s their recommendation. But I don’t believe it’s happening in Illinois."

"The employers aren’t getting the savings."

"We’re seeing… we’re seeing I believe as… as I indicated, we’re seeing soc… savings to the cost of the system. But it’s not being passed on to the employers. And according to the Nat… NCCI, which is incidentally a trade organization of insurance companies, the rates should be reduced by approximately 30 percent."

"It’s coming from both. There was a 30 percent reduction in the medical fee schedule. The amounts that are paid to providers in 2011 and then there were some indemnity of… there are some indemnity changes that reduced the amount to pay the injured workers. And to be quite frankly… or be quite frank, as a result of some of the changes, there have been less claims than compared to other states."

"No."

"We would declare whether or not insurance rates are excessive and whether profits are excessive that insurance is making on workers’ compensation… writing workers’ compensation insurance. If that… if that occurs, then the rate would not be approved and that insurance company would have to go back to the drawing board and reduce their rates."

"I can only give you the facts, okay. I can’t tell you whether or not insurance companies are colluding. I can tell you in some industries… for instance, the construction industries… industry because of the nature of the danger of the employment very few insurance companies will write in that industry. But here are the facts. Since 2011, insurance companies profits have increased by 10.5 percent while the percentage of premiums used to pay claims… the percentage of the premiums they collect used to pay claims has decreased from 75 percent to 53 percent. So, to me, they are making more money as a result of the actions we took in 2011 by reducing benefits to injured employees and by reducing payments to providers, yet they’re not passing it on. All I want… all I want is… is to make sure that three things happen: 09900156.docx 72  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 #1 that there’s fairness in the industry and reduce the amount that employers pay for premiums; #2, that fraud is prevented; and #3, we want to ensure that truly injured workers are adequately compensated."

"That’s what this would do."

"I would assume at some point, there’s… that… it’s… it’s a cost… anticipated cost plus. So you would anticipate your risk, anticipate you potential cost and then you would add some profit margin on top of that."

"And my point to you is…"

"Well, are you talking about the classification of the employer?"

"I think… I think it’s done by… in consultation with NCCI and the Department of Insurance."

"I believe. Now…"

"…I’m not an expert on that. I don’t want to…"

"Yes."

"Oh, true. That’s true."

"You said true or false; I said yes."

"I want to make sure that I…"

"… comply with your question. That would be true."

"So, I don’t know who wrote your analysis. But here’s… here… can I tell you what this will do. So, we heard from employers and I have heard from employers in our area, and others, that say that it’s not fair that a guy who may work out of the Union Hall. Let’s say he’s a plasterer who worked for 30 employers or 40 employers throughout his life and all of a sudden after 20 years of doing this, he gets hired; he gets hired out of the Union Hall. After three days he hurts 09900156.docx 74  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 his… his shoulder gives out and it’s repetitive cause he’s always working above his head and he has to have a rotator cuff surgery. So what happens, under current law, is the last employer would be the one that’s responsible. What this would say it would give a break to that employer and it would say, if the person hasn’t worked for you for a minimum of three months, that then you wouldn’t see a corresponding increase in your premiums. In other words, the insurance compa… the industry would spread that risk across all people who… or all employers who are in that job classification. That’s… that’s what it’s designed to do."

"What it also would provide for something that employers have asked for. It would say that you would go to the Industrial Commission and you could prove that sure this happened while he was an employee of mine, but these last five employers he worked for should have to contribute. That would be a determination by the Industrial Commission and it would be a determination of the employer as to whether they wanted to do that. But again, that employer would not see a corresponding increase in their premiums, if they had the employee only working for them for three months or less." Kay: "So, you’re not… you’re not saying the contribution is going to be determined in a court of law. You’re saying it’s going 09900156.docx 75  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 to be determined by the Commission? I didn’t hear that today in the committee."

"That’s what’s in the Bill. Now, there are provisions in there are provisions under the Industrial Commission Act, where you can appeal any ruling and then it goes to circuit court. But deference is giving to the Commission."

"I think the standard for review is arbitrary and capricious. So the actions of the Commission must be deemed arbitrary and capricious by the Circuit Court. I would venture to guess that very few times that is found."

"That provision?"

"Well, I would say to you that you guys always talk about fault. This could assess fault."

"Well, then… then you haven’t…"

"…then you haven’t talked to the people in the construction industry in our area who have had someone come on the job and… for a very short time… the person had repetitive trauma and in a short time because of the years and the pounding on the body got injured."

"It’s my understanding… it’s my understanding that it’s only 5 and this is… this is a proposal that came from the Department of Insurance."

"They’ve told us that in our negotiations it was indicated that’s how much they wanted."

"If fraud is found that’s what would happen."

"Look we… we try to put some of the things that were agreed upon in our negotiations in the Bill." 09900156.docx 77  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017

"That was… that was generally agreed upon."

"Mr. Kay, can I ask you to bring your remarks to a close. Sir?"

"There are still six speakers who wish to speak on this Bill, Sir"

"It’s my understanding that those proposed penalties are maximum proposed penalties and will be ultimately decided in the rules. Those penalties are less than most other states."

"That is not correct."

"Are you talking about…"

"Oh, okay. Okay, hold on."

"Okay. I misunderstood your question."

"All right I was under the impression you were talking about the entire Bill."

"But with the issue with causation, that is true. For the first time in Illinois, we took what the courts had said and we codified and put under statute what causation standards are and what the traveling employee standards are. I believe the case is called Venture-Newberg."

Ladies and Gentlemen, we still have six speakers who wish to speak on this Bill. I would please request your restraint and brevity. Mr. Batinick."

"Sponsor yields."

"Yeah. That was… I would assume it’s even higher now cause that was from 2014."

"It’s 10.5 percent. In 2011, it was .3 percent."

"And… and let me just make a point."

"And the insurance companies still were doing business here in Illinois. You say it’s a competitive market. They were still doing businesses here in Illinois."

"I’m told it’s more, but I don’t know where it ranks."

"Well, if you let me answer, I would say yes."

"I’m not in any way… in any way advocating the zero profits for insurance companies. In any way."

"Mr. Brady."

"Sponsor yields."

"I’ve only heard rumors. I understand they filed… you know how… I understand they filed the Bill, Representative, today. But we’re not calling that Bill and they’re not moving forward with it. So, I would say to you that that was a 09900156.docx 81  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 miserable failure, whatever they were doing, cause they’re not even calling the Bill."

"Unlike this one."

"Yeah. I hate… I hate… here’s what… and you know you were part of this and I consider you a very good friend and we agree on a lot of these things, I know we do. But then we disa…"

"…but we disagree on the ones that matter, unfortunately. I’m joking, I’m joking. On the… I hate to say it’s an agreement because we’re al… always very careful to say that these are areas, that if we are reach an ultimate agreement, these are areas or items that will be part of that. So, that’s how it characterizes."

"Well, I believe that our last meeting… I think we were on the phone, was a couple weeks ago."

"And so we never… we had asked… we, as the House Democrats, had asked for another meeting and then none were called and the holidays were in the way, I get that. So, we’re running up this deadline where we’re about to lose… we’re about to not have a budget. And we were under the impression that the Governor was saying that work comp had to be some… had to be passed before there was a budget."

"This is a legitimate attempt to try and come up with something that’s going to reduce the cost of workers’ compensation insurance to employers and take a lot of the items that we had tentative agreements on and put them into a Bill."

"We requested from the Governor’s Office for additional meetings, we didn’t hear. I’m not blaming him, you know. So, we filed the Bill."

"I did… did I call Governor Rauner and say I’m filing the Bill? No." 09900156.docx 83  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017

"Well, I apologize for that and I forgot to wish you happy holidays, Merry Christmas and happy New Year. But here you are now."

"Mr. Wheeler." Wheeler, K.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Please excuse Representative Unes for the rest of the day."

"Thank you, Sir. Mr. Breen."

"Sponsor yields."

"Representative, that may be what is currently in the law. But currently, they don’t even look at whether or not a rate is excessive; they don’t look at it."

"When I say they, the Department of Insurance."

"No. There’s… there’s more changes. We’re saying you actually have to review."

"They don’t know."

"Well, I mean, you can talk about procedure but you got in on Friday. This is Monday. I work weekends."

"I just did."

"Yes, I did."

"Yes. And we were…"

"…and we required rate review which doesn’t exist today."

"Yes."

"Look, we’re trying to help employers and reduce their rates. If an employer isn’t happy with their premium, this would give them an option to go to the department and have that addressed."

"I don’t know off the top of my head."

"We would intend that premiums as well as rates be reasonable. If you would like to remove that right of the employers to contest their premiums, put an Amendment."

"That is not what I said."

"You have this innate ability of not understanding the answers to your question and hearing what you want to hear."

"You ought to listen to the answers…"

"…and then possibly it would make some sense to you. If you would listen, it would possibly make some sense to you."

"Mr. Andersson."

"Sponsor yields."

"Yes. The Venture-Newberg decision." 09900156.docx 88  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017

"That’s my understanding. That is current… current case law as it exists."

"If… I… I apologize to you. I’m looking at my analysis not the Bill, but I trust that you are reading directly from the Bill."

"And it’s my understanding that where… where the language was taken was directly from the cases."

"As they exists."

"It was not intended to go down. It was not intentional."

"Again, we took it from the case law."

"And I’m… I’m not going to pretend to be an expert in what… how this has been litigated over the… the decades, but it was intended to be taken from the Venture-Newberg ca… case."

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

"Sponsor yields." Wheeler, K.: "Jay, I’ve missed a couple things here. I want to just do a really brief recap here. You agree that there’s progress been made in the working groups since they began a while ago, correct?"

"I’m sorry, Representative, there was…" Wheeler, K.: "It’s fine. I’m happy to repeat. Jay, you would agree there’s been some progress made in the working groups since they began."

"Well, yeah. I’ll agree that we’ve agreed to some items that could be in an ultimate Bill and I would… I would agree that there has been a good faith effort, but there are just some… some rubicons that are very difficult to cross. We believe that it should… we should be able to have employers in Illinois reap the benefits of the 2011 reforms. Others would say that people who are injured on the job, there will be some kind of causal… causal connection that has… based on a percentage of faults as to whether a person would receive benefits. We have a problem with that. And I… I misspoke earlier I would… I would just want to clarify that on the issue of causal connection is the Sisbro… Sisbro case that we codified and the traveling employee standards was Venture- Newberg case. I don’t want… I don’t want to confuse people so." 09900156.docx 91  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 Wheeler, K.: "Okay. Thank you. The… with respect to causation, Jay, you’re saying that you have problem with the causation being raised from the current very low almost minimal 1 percent standard to anything above that. So, we’re going to codify what ex… currently exists in case law, correct?"

"That’s the intent for the first time to codify it to avoid judicial activism in the future." Wheeler, K.: "So, codifying what already exists, really doesn’t present a reform to us though."

"Well, you would… some would say reform would be saying that you have to prove that 50 percent of the… in… accident occurred as a result of the fault of the employer, 50 percent or more, right?" Wheeler, K.: "One version, yeah."

"The whole idea behind the Workers’ Compensation System was one that if indeed the… the incident occurred or the accident occurred while working that you would receive less of a recovery than if it was a none work-related accident. It basically always was designed from the very beginning to… to be a standard by which you need to… you need to ensure that it… it arises out of and is in the course of employment. If it does, then you will receive some compensation under Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act." Wheeler, K.: "Right. I guess the problem we have is that when a… an employer is 100 percent responsible for the cost of an injury, foolish that only 1 percent responsible, that also seems out of balance. And I hope someday, Jay, we can find a better balance than the one we are presenting today and the one we’re using in current case law right now. I’d like to 09900156.docx 92  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 move along though, if that’s okay, and just talk about the fact that… that if there’s… you really believe that there’s an issue with the insurance companies, all 332 of them not passing along the savings that you expect because of an analysis somebody else did, then that would be collusion, wouldn’t it? If they’re all co… they’re all raising prices to gain a better profit together. That’d be collusion; that’s illegal. And I’m amazed that that’s the case that you’re actually taking that stand that no one’s filed a lawsuit the Department of Justice wouldn’t take up and say this is an anti-trust violation in Illinois. They should go after this. Why hasn’t that happened if this is the case?"

"I would… I wouldn’t know I’m not an anti-trust attorney." Wheeler, K.: "Neither am I, but it seems on its face that you’re assuming that 332 companies can collude, pretty hard to do. To the Bill. This is not going to solve Illinois workers’ compensation issues when it comes to competing with other states. Let’s go back to the drawing board and get it right. Thank you."

"Last speaker is Representative Ives."

"Mr. Hoffman to briefly close."

"Thanks for the admonition. Let me just say three things that we want to do on this side of the aisle. Number one… number one, we want to make workers’ compensation premium rates comparable to other states. That is why we would provide 09900156.docx 94  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 156th Legislative Day 1/9/2017 for pre-existing approval of rates, like Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri. In addition, we want to make sure that fraud is taken out of the system and people who commit fraud are prosecuted and punished. And finally, we want to ensure that the families of working people, who are injured on the job, aren’t in danger of losing their homes; they aren’t in danger of going on public welfare; they aren’t in danger of going on public assistance. That if you are truly injured on the job, you as a worker and a family are at adequately consen… compensated. I ask for an ‘aye’ vote."

"Those in favor 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? Chapa LaVia, DeLuca. Mr. Clerk, please take the record. On this question, there are 65 voting ‘yes’, 45 voting ‘no’. And this Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. On Supplemental Calendar #1, House Bills- Second Reading, there appears House Bill 6630, Mr. Batinick. Please read the Bill."

"Third Reading. Attention. Members. Members who are returning for the 100th General Assembly, your inaugural pins will be distributed on the House Floor tomorrow, make sure you pick that up. Mr. Clerk, committee announcements."

"And now, leaving perfunctory time for the Clerk. Leader Currie moves that the House stand adjourned till Tuesday, January 10, at the hour of 9:30 am. Those in favor say 'yes'; opposed 'no'. The 'ayes' have it. And the House stand adjourned."