PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) The regular Session of the 100th General Assembly will please come to order. Will the Members please be at their desk? Will our guests in the galleries please rise? The invocation today will be given by Reverend Jacson Moody, Grace Lutheran -- Grace United Methodist Church, Kumler United Methodist Church, Springfield, Illinois.
(Prayer by the Reverend Jacson Moody)
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Please remain standing for the Pledge Allegiance. Senator Cunningham.
(Pledge of Allegiance, led by Senator Cunningham)
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Blueroomstream.com seeks permission to videotape. Leave is granted. Mr. Secretary, Reading and Approval of the Journal.
Senate Journal of Wednesday, May 16th, 2018.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hunter.
Mr. President, I move to -- to postpone the reading and approval of the Journal just read by the Secretary, pending arrival of the printed transcript.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hunter moves to postpone the reading and the approval of the Journal, pending the arrival of the printed transcript. There being no objection, so ordered. Mr. Secretary, Resolutions. 1 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018
Senate Resolution 1747, offered by Senator Bennett and all Members. Senate Resolution 1748, offered by Senator Muñoz and all Members. Senate Resolution 1749, offered by Senator Murphy and all Members. Senate Resolution 1750, offered by Senator Koehler and all Members. Senate Resolutions 1751 through 1753, offered by Senator Haine and all Members. Senate Resolutions 1754 and 1755, offered by Senator Link and all Members. And Senate Resolution 1756, offered by Senator Barickman and all Members. They are all death resolutions, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Resolution Consent Calendar.
Senate Joint Resolution 75, offered by Senator Manar. It is substantive.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Mr. Secretary, Committee Reports.
Senator Jones, Chairperson of the Committee on Licensed Activities and Pensions, reports Senate Amendment 3 to Senate Bill 370 Recommend Do Adopt; House Bills 5137, 5177, and 5342 Do Pass; and House Bills 5212 and 5502 Do Pass, as Amended. Senator Landek, Chairperson of the Committee on State 2 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 Government, reports Senate Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 276 Recommend Do Adopt; Senate Resolution 1668 and Senate Joint Resolution 70 Be Adopted; Senate Amendment 2 to House Bill 4751 Recommend Do Adopt. Senator Mulroe, Chairperson of the Committee on Insurance, reports House Bill 5351 Do Pass. Senator Sandoval, Chairperson of the Committee on Transportation, reports House Bills 4944 and 5057 Do Pass; House Bill 4472 Do Pass, as Amended; House Joint Resolutions 21 and 67 Be Adopted. Senator Harris, Chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture, reports House Bill 5440 Do Pass; and Senate Amendment 1 to House Bill 4234 Recommend Do Adopt.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Mr. Secretary, Introduction of Senate Bills.
Senate Bill 3612, offered by Senator Martinez. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 3613, offered by Senator McGuire. (Secretary reads title of bill) 1st Reading of the bills.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Mr. Secretary, Messages from the House.
A Message from the House by Mr. Mapes, Clerk. Mr. President - I am directed to inform the Senate that the House of Representatives has adopted the following joint resolution, in the adoption of which I am instructed to ask the concurrence of the Senate, to wit: House Joint Resolution 90. 3 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 Offered by Senator McCarter, and adopted by the House, May 8th, 2018. We have received a like Message on House Joint Resolution 99, offered by Senator McCarter, and adopted by the House, May 8th, 2018. Timothy D. Mapes, Clerk of the House. They are both substantive, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Will all Members at the sound of my voice please come to the Senate Floor immediately? Will all Members at the sound of my voice please come to the Senate Floor immediately? All Members at the sound of my voice, please come to the Senate Floor. We will be going to 2nd Readings and then to 3rd Readings - and we will be going quick. With leave of the Body, we'll turn to page 18 of the printed Calendar, Senate Bills -- or House Bills 2nd Reading. House Bill 128. Senator Jones. Senator Jones. House Bill 1190. Senator Sandoval. Senator Sandoval. House Bill 4191. Senator Connelly. Senator Connelly. House Bill 4208. Senator Lightford. Senator Lightford. House Bill 4226. Senator Raoul. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4226. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4259. Senator McConchie. Senator McConchie. House Bill 43 -- 4340. Senator Connelly. Senator Connelly. Senator Aquino, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Mr. President. Point of personal privilege, 4 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 please.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.
I want to make an introduction of a group that is in the President's Gallery right now. They are members -- teenagers that attend Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School, an alternative high school in the 2nd District. And they presented to me this -- this year an award that they received for five thousand dollars in -- they were first place in the 2016-2017 Next Generation Civics Engagement. They were -- won the Best Grassroots Work. They came last year for some advocacy and did a video and some presentation on this and won first place. So I want to give them a round of applause on their work. And thank you, again, for all your work.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) House Bill 4348. Senator Muñoz. Senator Muñoz. House Bill 4412. Senator Sims. Senator Sims. House Bill 4420. Senator Harris. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4420. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. The Committee on State Government adopted Amendment No. 1.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?
No further amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 5 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 3rd Reading. House Bill 4442. Senator Lightford. Senator Lightford. House Bill 4469. Senator Aquino. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4469. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4516. Senator Morrison. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 44 -- 4516. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. Committee on Insurance adopted Amendment No. 1.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?
No further amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4536. Senator Castro. Senator Castro. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4536. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported. 6 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4569. Senator Koehler. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4569. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4578. Senator Tom Cullerton. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4578. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4643. Senator Mulroe. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4643. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4650. Senator Morrison. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4650. 7 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4658. Senator Koehler. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4658. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4661. Senator Holmes. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4661. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4688. Senator Martinez. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4688. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4689. Senator Althoff. Senator 8 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 Althoff. House Bill 4724. Senator Fowler. Senator Fowler. House Bill 4736. Senator Koehler. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4736. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. We'll skip over House Bill 4742. House Bill 4743. Senator Lightford. Senator Lightford. House Bill 4751. Senator Cunningham. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4751. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?
Floor Amendment No. 2, offered by Senator Cunningham.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Cunningham, on your amendment.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that we adopt the amendment and I'll discuss it on 3rd Reading.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it, and the amendment is adopted. Are there any further Floor amendments approved for 9 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 consideration?
No further amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4768. Senator Holmes. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4768. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. The Committee on Education adopted Amendment No. 2.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?
No further amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4781. Senator McGuire. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4781. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4790. Senator Koehler. Senator Koehler. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4790. 10 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4799. Senator Hunter. Out of the record. House Bill 4811. Senator Mulroe. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4811. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4821. Senator Morrison. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4821. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. The Committee on Insurance adopted Amendment No. 1.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?
No further amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4843. Senator Holmes. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
11 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 House Bill 4843. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4848. Senator Althoff. Senator Althoff. House Bill 4849. Senator Schimpf. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4849. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4855. Senator Muñoz. Senator Muñoz. House Bill 4860. Senator Connelly. Senator Connelly. House Bill 4879. Senator Oberweis. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4879. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4907. Senator Syverson. Senator Syverson. House Bill 4965. Senator Hutchinson. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4965. (Secretary reads title of bill) 12 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 5005. Senator McConnaughay. Senator McConnaughay. House Bill 5029. Senator Schimpf. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 5029. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 5069. Senator Nybo. Senator Nybo. House Bill 5122. Senator Castro. Senator Castro. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 5122. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 5180. Senator Stadelman. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 5180. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 13 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 3rd Reading. House Bill 5206. Senator McConnaughay. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 5206. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 5245. Senator Morrison. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 5245. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. The Committee on Human Services adopted Amendment No. 1.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?
No further amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 5303. Senator Cunningham. Out of the record. House Bill 5477. Senator Holmes. Out of the record. House Bill 5490. Senator Bivins. Senator Bivins. Out of the record. House Bill 5636. Senator Schimpf. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 5636. (Secretary reads title of bill) 14 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 5682. Senator Schimpf. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 5682. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 5690. Senator Schimpf. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 5690. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 5752. Senator Holmes. Out of the record. House Bill 5754. Senator Murphy. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 5754. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 5770. Senator Bush. Senator Bush. 15 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 5770. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4442. Senator Lightford. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4442. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 4743. Senator Lightford. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4743. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. With leave of the Body, we'll turn to page 4 of the printed Calendar, Senate Bills 3rd Reading. Senate Bill 2354. Senator McGuire. Senator McGuire seeks leave of the Body to return Senate Bill 2354 to the Order of 2nd Reading. Leave is granted. Now on the Order of 2nd Reading is Senate Bill 2354. Mr. Secretary, have there been any Floor amendments approved for consideration? 16 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018
Floor Amendment No. 1, offered by Senator McGuire.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McGuire, on your amendment. SENATOR McGUIRE: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate, I move for the adoption of the amendment, which I'll explain on 3rd, please.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it, and the amendment is adopted. Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?
No further amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. Now on the Order of 3rd Reading is Senate Bill 2354. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
Senate Bill 2354. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McGuire, on your bill. SENATOR McGUIRE: Thank you, Mr. President, Members of -- Members of the Senate. Senate Bill 2354 is a product of the bipartisan, bicameral Higher Education Working Group. It is an attempt to improve articulation and reduce excess academic credit hours, beginning with the 2019- 2020 academic year, by requiring each public institution to make 17 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 a reasonable attempt to inform a student of the prerequisites for the degree program offered by the institution of interest, upon the student's completion of thirty academic hours. I know of no opposition and I ask for a Yes vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall Senate Bill 2354 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 48 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. Senate Bill 2354, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senator Hutchinson, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Mr. President. Point of personal privilege.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.
Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. I have with me a very special Page for the Day today. I'd like to introduce to you my Chief of Staff in my office - she's four years old and actually runs my office. Her mother is actually my Chief of Staff and her name is Kelly Evans. But standing next to me is Miss Noa Evans, who's four years old and goes to Morgan Park Academy, and her favorite thing to do is gymnastics and sit in my chair and tell people what to do. So she does a wonderful job being trained to already be the Senator. So everybody please give a warm welcome to Miss Noa Evans.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 18 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 Senate Bill 2892. Senator Manar. Senator Manar seeks the leave of the Body to return Senate Bill 2892 to the Order of 2nd Reading. Leave is granted. Now on the Order of 2nd Reading is Senate Bill 2892. Mr. Secretary, are there any Floor amendments approved for consideration?
Floor Amendment No. 2, offered by Senator Manar.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar, on your amendment.
Thank you, Mr. President. I would move for the adoption of the amendment, which becomes the bill. Be happy to take questions on 3rd Reading.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it, and the amendment is adopted. Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?
No further amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. Now on the Order of 3rd Reading is Senate Bill 2892. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
Senate Bill 2892. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar, on your bill. 19 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018
Thank you, Mr. President. This bill updates -- seeks to update the minimum teacher salary for licensed teachers. In the State of Illinois currently, which was quite shocking to me once I became aware of this, law states that a full-time teacher should be paid no less than nine thousand dollars per year. That's right - nine thousand dollars per year. It was established in 1980. This bill simply affixes the Consumer Price Index to that number that was established almost three decades ago and applies that rate and resets the salary at what it would be today had CPI been adjusted. And that number would be, excuse me, thirty-two thousand seventy-six dollars. This would take effect next school year, in 2019-2020. I'd be happy to take any questions, Mr. President. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Senator Weaver, for what purpose do you rise?
Yes, to the bill, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
Yeah, thank you very much. And, Senator, I understand what you're trying to accomplish here. You know, we're all very concerned about the teacher shortage in our State. I think it's one of the biggest crises we're facing. I know there's a number of bills running right now to try to correct that problem. We need to continue to work on that. And I know that we feel that one of the greatest solutions to that may be just strictly focusing 20 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 on teachers' salaries. We know that we've added three hundred and fifty million dollars last year to the amount of money we're going to spend on education. We also know that that's in anticipation for that to happen again this year, and we see that happening into the future. Those dollars are going to allow school districts, especially those in Tier I and Tier II, to have more dollars available to pay their teachers. We expect that can happen and that will happen. But this bill is going about this the wrong way by mandating that we're raising -- we're forcing school districts to pay more per district. That's clearly an area that needs to be focused on local control. A lot of our districts, I -- I feel are doing the very best they can to pay the best they can. And for us to add this additional burden to local school districts when they understand their districts better than we do, I think is totally inappropriate. When we talk about unfunded mandates, sometimes those are very minor costs. In this case, it's not a minor cost. And though all -- I agree and I think everybody in this room agrees with the importance of salaries that must be paid, I think that's still something left to local districts. And I aggressively -- request a No vote on this bill. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Righter, for what purpose do you rise?
Will the sponsor yield, please, Mr. President?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Indicate he will.
Thank you, Mr. President. Senator Manar, I -- for small rural districts that are already operating on a thread, for whom this 21 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 would be a significant unfunded mandate, and cannot access a property tax increase, what's the remedy, other than reducing their current -- laying off other teachers, in order to meet the forty- thousand-dollar mandate? What do you say to those small school districts, who simply do not have the money to start paying everyone this minimum salary?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.
Thank -- thank you for the question. I would say a couple of things. Number one, by the time this goes into effect, we would be in the third fiscal year under the evidence-based model. So, right now, as you know, Senator Righter, we've devoted three hundred and fifty million dollars to that new formula. In large part, most of those districts you described are in Tier I and II. I -- I would say there are, without the data in front of me, there are very few exceptions to that for those small rural districts. I believe, if things keep going in the right direction, there is a firm commitment from both the House and the Senate, both sides of the aisle, to reaffirm that financial commitment next fiscal year, so that would be another three hundred and fifty million dollars, so that would be seven hundred million dollars on top of where districts were just a few months ago. And then when this bill kicks into effect, I would presume we would have another debate about a third installment under the evidence-based model, which, by that time, theoretically if it was another three hundred and fifty million dollars, would be over a billion dollars into the new funding formula. That is intended to help the poorest districts in the State, which is a debate we had for five years. 22 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 The previous comments from the Minority Spokesperson on the Senate Education Committee articulated the need for addressing teacher shortage, which is also being described in grave detail by those small rural districts. I think this is a component of that. So I would -- I would hope -- again, this is updating current law and it would work together nicely with the work that we've done on evidence-based funding.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Righter.
To the bill, if I might, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
Thank you very much, Mr. President. Senator Manar, thank you for that answer. Ladies and Gentlemen, if you are looking for the unfunded mandates of unfunded mandates, it is before you right now. The notion that our small school districts back home, already struggling to survive, who have been given a breath -- a breath of hope by last year's funding change, are supposed to take this and say we will be fine because we believe in the promise of Springfield, because the promises of Springfield have always been kept when it comes to education funding. No one in the Chamber - - I really believe no one in the Chamber disagrees with the notion that teachers should be paid better than they are being paid today. And maybe everyone in the Chamber believes that this actually should be the minimum number, but the bottom line is, for the people back home, who actually have to make the decisions on what the budgets will be, how many teachers can they hire, how do they 23 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 fill the slots they already can't fill, as Senator Weaver talked about, what -- sports program should we get rid of, those are the choices that your school officials back home are going to have to deal with if we say, by the way, you're going to have to pay everyone at least forty thousand dollars. The simple fact is, promising that over the next ten years we will get these school districts five billion dollars, which is the amount of money you have to get them over ten years in order to get Tier I and Tier II to adequacy, telling them they should have faith in our promise that we will deliver year after year after year as long as they accept this mandate right now is completely without credibility based on this State's track record, not to mention the fiscal realities. I urge a No vote. Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCarter, for what purpose do you rise? SENATOR McCARTER: Question of the sponsor.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Indicates he will yield. SENATOR McCARTER: Senator, is -- was there a fiscal note requested on this bill?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.
No.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCarter. SENATOR McCARTER: What is the fiscal impact on this if this bill passes and 24 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 becomes law? On -- on the State of Illinois.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.
There -- there's no direct fiscal impact on the State budget. As I mentioned earlier, though, I think there's an overly credible argument to be made that our efforts to better prioritize money to underfunded districts in the new funding formula work well with this legislation. There's a delayed effective date. It -- it's phased in over time. But there is no direct impact to the State, other than, I believe, it will reinforce the need to continue down the path toward greater equity. That's an indirect effect, but there's no direct effect.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCarter. SENATOR McCARTER: Senator, will -- what about our share of their pensions? Would that not increase? Would that not be a greater burden on us as their salary increases?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.
It would be no different than -- than if a school district makes the -- the choice to do it on their own. But the answer to your question would be yes. If a -- if a teacher's salary goes up, then there's a corresponding pension increase as well.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCarter. SENATOR McCARTER: 25 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 To the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill. SENATOR McCARTER: So the answer is, yes, more burden on us. So instead of reforming pensions, which we should have much earlier than today, we're going to add a mandate that increases the wages on good teachers and bad teachers and put more burden on us for pensions, instead of doing what we should be doing, and that is, making a promise that we can keep. We can't even make the promise that we've made -- we can't keep that promise right now. We're so underfunded, why would we add more burden at this time? What we should spending -- be spending our effort on is being honest with these folks and saying, listen, this is what we can afford and we want to sit down and talk about a cost-of-living increase, we want to talk about what we can really do for you. Instead, we go on year after year after year not being willing to take up the tough, hard, difficult conversation of pension reform. We just hope that it'd all get better. Economists in Chicago say, well, let's just tax people one percent more on all their property, that'll fix it - instead of us doing what we should be doing. If we don't get serious about some of these tough issues, some of these -- some of these people's pensions are going to be bankrupt. A modified pension is a lot better than a bankrupt one. And you know who it'll hurt, it'll hurt that teacher who retired at thirty thousand dollars. What about them? When that goes belly up, what are they going to do with no Social Security? We need to be thinking about this. This is -- this is -- if -- if you want to fix pensions first and then go to this, fine. But I -- but I dare you to take 26 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 up the challenge of reforming pensions now. Right now, this should be a No vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Barickman, for what purpose do you rise?
Question of the sponsor.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Indicates he will yield.
Thank you, Mr. President. Senator, I want to -- I want to expand on the discussion that you had recently here with Senator Righter on the Floor. You and he discussed at a little bit of length your stated aspirational goal that the State would continue to make continued increases in funding to our K-12 school systems as a mechanism to offset the impact that this legislation may have on some of our especially poorer school districts, which you and I may classify as our -- refer to as the Tier I and Tier II schools. You and I have worked at length on school funding issues. I'm -- I'm curious whether you know the cost that the State -- the amount of money which the State of Illinois would have to increase its education funding to offset the impact of this legislation's effect on Tier I and Tier II schools. Do you know what that number is?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.
The answer is -- the answer is zero. The answer is zero. We don't -- as you know, in the evidence-based model, we don't calculate disparity in teacher salary today. It's not a element. It's not a factor. We don't even recognize in the funding formula 27 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 there's a shortage of teachers in Illinois. So there -- there's nothing that would have to be done to offset the cost of this bill for, keep in mind, a school district that's paying a teacher less than thirty-two thousand dollars - a full-time teacher, less than thirty-two thousand dollars. So the answer is, there's nothing that -- that -- that -- that could be calculated to offset the cost. If we want to start measuring the impact of disparity in salaries, I'm open to that conversation, but there's nothing in the formula today that does this. This would say that the law today, that's nine grand, nine grand - the law says nine thousand dollars for a teacher; that's the minimum wage in Illinois - should be updated to what it would reflect today had there been a CPI Index applied to it.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Barickman.
Let's try it this way. I -- I agree, there's nothing in the formula that addresses the teacher shortage; there's nothing in the formula related to the points you address. But there is, and I -- I presume you would concede this fact, there is an impact by the State of Illinois mandating an increase in the wage paid to teachers. There's an impact on schools who don't -- who today do not pay that minimum wage to some of their employees. So -- so let's take an example here. I asked one of my school districts, one of those central Illinois school districts that we talked about helping, I asked them -- I asked them how much money -- this is a Tier II school in central Illinois. I said, how much money are you receiving this year in increased funding through the -- through the model? Tier funding. Their answer, twenty-five thousand 28 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 dollars. I asked them, what would be the impact of this legislation on their district? In other words, how much more money would the district have to come up with to satisfy this mandated increase in pay? Their answer was - they looked in their contract - their answer was, over one million dollars over four years. So -- so their analysis is this: Springfield is trying to help me with the new funding formula in additional resources, which are generating in its first year twenty-five thousand dollars to the district, but Springfield, on the other hand, is passing along a new mandated salary schedule, which is going to cost me over a million over four years. My question is, if you aggregate those numbers for all our Tier I and Tier II schools, what does that gap look like? In one school district in central Illinois, the gap is nine hundred thousand dollars - a million-dollar mandate offset by twenty-five thousand dollars a year in new funding. That's a nine- hundred-thousand-dollar gap. My question is, what's the gap for the remaining Tier I and Tier II schools? Do you know that number?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.
No, we don't. And as a matter of fact, believe it was Senator Lightford and I sent a letter to the State Board of Education a few months ago and we asked them to speed up their study of teacher shortage in Illinois - we didn't get a response - because that's a critical component. Pay is a critical component in that discussion. I hear what you're saying. I'm not insensitive to it. I would say, this is something that we anticipated when we had the debate on Senate Bill 1947. That's why we have a review panel. That's why it's made up of professional educators, not 29 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 elected officials. And if that's an element that needs to be accounted for, measured, put in place, using best practices and evidence, then I would be glad to join you or anybody else who wants to go to that first meeting and say, let's put this one on the table and let's -- let's have a debate about how disparity in pay and low pay, which are two things kind of the same, but a little bit different, factors into success at a local school district.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Barickman.
To close. To close.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
To the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) You don't get to close. To the bill.
Thank you. Thank you for that clarification. I -- I think the -- the exchange -- look, I appreciate what the sponsor of the bill is trying to do here. I think for all the Members here, though, who have weighed in and heard from their districts at home, I implore to you to ask your school districts the impact of this legislation. The -- as I outlined in my -- in my questions with the sponsor, one school district in central Illinois, who we all purport to be the type of school district that we are trying to help, one school district is going to have a negative nine-hundred- thousand-dollar impact over four years as a result of this bill. 30 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 So I would encourage the Body to consider at length the -- the impact of this legislation, recognizing we all want to do more to address the teacher shortage in our State, but in doing so, we don't want to create unintended consequences and aggravate an already cash-strapped school system that exists among all of our Tier I and Tier II schools. I'd urge the Body -- a No vote. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Bertino-Tarrant, for what purpose do you rise?
To the bill, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
I stand in support of this piece of legislation. Again, I - - I can appreciate the thoughts on how are school districts going to maintain this level, but as I've gone through the State and talked to school districts, I'm very fortunate to have these discussions. And right now, the average in Illinois is forty-five thousand dollars, the average teacher's salary. And so this is way below what our average is. I understand that even in some of the poorest schools, we're looking at thirty-two thousand dollars at -- their starting salary is. So I don't think we're making that big of a -- of a leap here. We have to remember, these are the people that we entrust our children to on a day-to-day basis for eight hours, and we're asking to raise their salary to thirty- two thousand dollars -- from thirty-two thousand. Thank you. We are asking for us to give them some credibility for the hard work they do, because although they're here -- in school for eight 31 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 hours, their day goes way beyond the eight-hour day. These are our most precious cargo and the teachers deserve this minimum salary. So thank you for this bill, Senator Manar. I urge an Aye vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Lightford, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Mr. President. To the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
Thank you, Mr. President, again. I -- I've heard a lot of conversation and debate over this issue. And a lot of times we try to put it in a vacuum. It's not only just about teacher shortage, and we do know we have one. And we've spent a lot of time on discrediting the teacher profession and saying teachers don't make enough money. We encourage young people not to go to school to get a teaching degree because it just doesn't pay well. Why don't you go into science or engineering or nursing or be a doctor or a lawyer? But we're not really encouraging people to take on a degree that teaches our generations to come. And so what do we really want here? Do we want to continue to put pressure on young people, to say, go on, earn a degree, and then we're not going to pay you anything? You'll struggle in your life trying to meet your everyday basic needs because you care enough to be in a classroom providing quality services to our children. They may not be our children that we birth, but they're our family members' children; they're -- they're the community. It's what make up our State. And if we don't want to pay the profession, then we'll 32 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 definitely lose out on quality -- quality candidates as we move forward. So actually ask yourselves, who do you want teaching the kids in your school districts? It's just that simple. I think one of the points that was made about the rural State of Illinois -- you know, when we did that education school funding formula, the tiers is broken up based on need. So there's going to be schools that are in downstate Illinois that are part of the Tier I system, as well as schools in suburban Illinois and in the northern part of the State. So there isn't this just focus on how can we destroy the rural States -- I mean the rural school districts. And I know the sponsor loves his district, loves his children, loves the school district, and in no means trying to do anything that will cause them a hardship, but just to help in the education system. When I look on my notes, I see that the Illinois Association of Vocational Agriculture Teachers are a proponent. I don't see that the agriculture community is opposed in paying teachers quality pay. But what I do note is the opponents, who are the Illinois Association of Superintendents, who get paid on average five times more than the teacher, who's actually in the classroom with the kids teaching them on a daily basis. And I also see the School Management efforts here - the managers, the principals, they all making three, four, five times more than the teachers. So it's really easy for them to oppose what doesn't affect them. But I think if they opened up their hearts and minds a little bit more, they would want the best teachers in their school buildings teaching their children in the community as well. It wouldn't just be about their own particular salaries. To the bill directly, I want to thank the sponsor for doing a phase-in, because I think a phase-in is really important, and when we look 33 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 at the percentages, it's a small amount to increase from thirty- two to forty over a four-year period. So we're talking somewhere around two thousand dollars a -- a school year. That's not a whole lot to ask for, when we know if you're in a hospital setting, the president or CEO in a hospital can get a hundred-thousand-dollar bonus in one year. We know that. But, yet, we don't want to pay our teachers on average the basic living standard, keeping up with the minimum wage, the basic CPI. So I rise in support of this legislation. I don't know that we're making differences in rural State of Illinois versus central Illinois, Chicago, any of that. This is really about who do we want teaching our children from now moving forward? How can we attract young people to go on and earn a four-year degree and put them in a setting where they don't make enough money to afford them a family? How can we expect men to be in the classroom when they can't be the head of their household because they make thirty-two thousand dollars a year? Just ask yourself that question. I commend the sponsor's work. I commend those who brought it forth. I know that teachers are deserving. And then I ask for an Aye vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCann, for what purpose do you rise? SENATOR McCANN: To the bill, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill. SENATOR McCANN: I would like to thank the sponsor for bringing the bill. I rise in support of the bill. The -- the Book of Matthew in the New Testament tells us that where you place your treasure, your 34 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 heart is there also. So as the previous speaker alluded, this is really not just about teachers. This isn't really just about school districts and this really isn't just about this year, next year, or the following year or phase-ins. This is about the future of our school districts, our counties, our very State, and ultimately our great nation. And so if we really believe that we are going to be that city on a hill for infinity, we have to invest in that next generation, and that means that we cannot leave our teachers, our educators, in the dust. We already are facing a dire shortage of teachers, primarily due to the -- the Tier II pension plan, the very flawed Tier II pension plan. This at least addresses the fact. It says we believe in Illinois that teachers are worth more than nine thousand dollars a year. So when you vote No to this bill, you're essentially saying you believe that teachers are worth nine thousand dollars a year. Teachers are worth infinitely more than that. Thank you to the sponsor for bringing the bill. I urge a Yes vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Oberweis, for what purpose do you rise?
To the bill, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
I have a little information for this group and it's neither favorable nor unfavorable towards the legislation. It has some merits to both sides. For those of you who don't know, I started out as a teacher and was earning six hundred dollars a month in 1969. I've -- while I've been sitting here, I went to the Bureau 35 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 of Labor Statistics, calculated the change since that time. The CPI base was 35.6 at that time and is now 247. When I divided the 247 by the 35.6, comes up with 6.9. If I multiply what I was earning in 1969 times 6.9, it comes out to forty-nine thousand dollars. So that is significantly above the proposed forty thousand dollars. Now, I'll also mention a couple on the -- things on the other side. That was in Aurora, Illinois, at which I assume higher rates are being paid than some of the central Illinois or downstate districts. And secondly, the pension benefits and fringe benefits at that time were relatively minimal compared to what's happened since then. So as I said at the beginning, this doesn't necessarily argue in favor of or against the bill, but it provides an interesting viewpoint to the legislation. Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Can we keep the noise down a little bit on the Floor? Senator Manar, to close.
All right. Thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate the debate on this bill. I think I would start here, I think that we -- we should have a debate about teacher shortage more often here, frankly, because it's a real thing. It's more profound in some parts of the State than the other parts of the State. But I want you to ask yourself the question - it's pretty simple - is a teacher worth thirty-two thousand dollars? Is a full-time teacher worth thirty-two thousand dollars? That's the question that this bill proposes. And I believe the answer is an emphatic yes. Point number two, there are teachers in the Senate district that I represent that live below the federal poverty level today. That's 36 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 a fact. It's indisputable. Teachers all over Illinois live below the federal poverty level. Yet, we ask them to do more. We ask them to kill -- or cure the ills of society. We ask them to give more for their own pensions. We've chipped away at this over time, and if we don't guarantee a salary for a college graduate, we're not going to get the right folks to go into the teaching profession in the first place. I would also remind everybody here, there's a -- there's a set wage in statute for legislators. That's in the law today. So this bill simply says, let's make something a little more competitive for teachers. It's a good step in the right direction. I do want to clarify, it's not forty thousand dollars in this bill, it's thirty-two - phases it in over time. That was a previous version. This one seeks to delay the implementation so that we have three years under our belt under the new evidence- based model, phase it in over a number of years. That alone, that change alone would be a big step in the right direction to answering the questions that we're all getting asked about why aren't enough talented young people going into the profession of teaching. I think this is a big boost for the profession and I ask for an Aye vote. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) The question is, shall Senate Bill 2892 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 37 Ayes, 16 Nays, no -- none voting Present. Senate Bill 2892, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senator Raoul, for what purpose do you rise?
37 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 Mr. President, for a point of personal privilege.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.
Mr. President, I'd like to thank Senator Manar for bringing that bill and having this debate on education. I have from my district some students from St. Philip Neri Elementary School, who had the benefit of listening to this debate. They are twenty-five sixth to eighth grade students. And their teacher, who's there - - who's here with them, is Ms. Diane Asberry. I'd like -- like for -- they're standing above. If you can give 'em a warm Senate welcome, I would appreciate it.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Welcome to Springfield. Senator Hastings, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you -- thank you, Mr. President. Point of an introduction, please.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.
I want to introduce Mr. Elliot Robinson. Elliot, if you wouldn't mind please rising in the gallery. Elliot is an electrical engineering student at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, where he's receiving high marks. He plans on working in our energy sector. He's an extremely bright and hardworking young man. And he's the son of Howard Robinson, who is the Command Sergeant Major of the Illinois National Guard, and his mother, Deborah Robinson, who are awesome, awesome 38 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 constituents and friends of the 19th District. I was hoping we can give him a warm Springfield welcome. Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Martinez, for what purpose do you rise?
For a point of personal privilege.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.
Today in Springfield, we have the honor of being visited by many young men and women from the Charter School Network. They are all over the gallery. Can you please welcome them to Springfield?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Welcome to Springfield. With leave of the Body, we'll turn to page 11 of the printed Calendar, House Bills 3rd Reading. House Bill 4746. Senator Rose. Senator Rose. House Bill 4748. Senator Rezin. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4748. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Rezin, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President. This bill amends the County {sic} (Counties) Code. It provides that the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning do the following as it carries out its currently required duty of setting minimum standards for floodplain 39 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 management: the emphasis -- to emphasize the use of cost-effective solutions to flooding problems and evaluate and address the flooding problems that exist in urban areas as the result of urban flooding. This is a bill that we worked hard on last year that was a bipartisan, bicameral collaborative effort with many parties involved. It passed out of the House and Senate and we are asking for a vote in support of the bill again this year.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Senator McCarter, for what purpose do you rise? SENATOR McCARTER: Question of the sponsor.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Indicates she will yield. SENATOR McCARTER: Senator, does this allow an entity, any taxing entity, to charge fees or taxes?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Rezin.
Before the stormwater planning council goes to referendum for a tax increase, the following conditions have to be met: The county must pass and enforce floodplain management or stormwater management ordinances that's approved by the IDNR, which is a very, very high standard. Also, the county must designate and have a certified floodplain manager on staff, which, once again, is a very high standard. A -- a certified flood manager has to attend a weeklong school and pass a very rigorous test in order to be certified as a floodplain manager. And third, the county must 40 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 join FEMA's flood insurance program. So the three areas that I just recommended before a county can go to referendum are very, very high standards before they can go back to the taxpayer and ask for a levy -- increase in the levy, and the increase in the levy then would be used only for grants that would be used to implement the flood plan of that county.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCarter. SENATOR McCARTER: To the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill. SENATOR McCARTER: Ladies and Gentlemen, I understand the intentions of the bill - deal with some issues on stormwater management. But if you give new taxing body -- or you give new -- new entities the ability to tax, you did that for one reason - so they can tax. And they can say they won't tax, but the next time you get a constituent saying, my property tax is too -- too high, I've paid my -- I've paid my home off and I still have property taxes coming in and I can't handle the burden, think about this. If you give government entities the ability to tax, they will tax. For that reason, I oppose the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Haine, for what purpose do you rise?
A question of the sponsor.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) She indicates she will yield. 41 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018
Senator, Madison/St. Clair counties are included already. This doesn't disturb the tenth of a cent sales tax provision in the current law, does it?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Rezin.
No, that's not our understanding.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Haine.
To the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
In answer to the previous speaker, local taxes that are implemented by citizens locally, by referendum, provide money to mitigate problems that the local citizens have with their particular area. In this case, it's surface water flooding. We had a bill some years ago, which -- in -- on which I worked closely with the previous speaker's predecessor, the Minority Leader Frank Watson, that implemented a one-quarter of a cent tax, without referendum, by the way, but with the county board's vote, that allowed for the reconstruction of the levees, and it is currently coming to fruition and our levees will be five-hundred-year flood proof. The area, which was threatened by decertification by FEMA, will be certified, which means our industries are going to be secure for investment. Without that -- that flood plan, that levee plan, implemented with a new tax, ConocoPhillips would not have 42 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 put four billion dollars into a CORE Project, which transformed the refinery into a booming entity. The United States Steel Mill would not have put seven hundred and fifty million into its plant, which preserved it from closure during the era of dumping by Chinese Steel and others. So those are only two examples. Surface water flooding affects businesses, commerce, citizens traveling the highways, and it's mitigated by, guess what, having the resources, the money to implement planning and construction of things which mitigate the surface water flooding. It's the essential role of local government. People want to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. Right. People want to have flood surface water protection and certified levees, but some people do not want to pay the taxes. They want the man in the moon to come in, I guess, and rebuild them. This bill provides a mechanism for local people to address local problems by implementing the resources from their own pocketbooks to mitigate the problem. It's a great bill and it should be given an Aye vote. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Any further discussion? Senator Rezin, to close.
Thank you to the previous speaker for giving my closing argument. So I appreciate that. And, yes, by spending some money on the front end for flood mitigation, we have learned that there's a significant savings on the back end after the flooding. And, yes, companies do look at counties that have certified flood managers, that do have flood plans in place, and look at counties that are passing, enforcing flood ordinances as to where to invest. As we all know, when the water rises, when we have a flood, costs millions of dollars' worth of damage. And I talked about years 43 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 ago, in 2013, when I first came into the Senate, we had a major flood throughout my district because my -- I represent a hundred and forty miles' worth of river, and at that time, the damage from that particular flood was a hundred and fifty million dollars plus worth of damage. Then we go to the State and we asked -- money from the State to help us fix after the flooding happens. This is -- what I've learned from that though -- there was one community that had done everything that I've listed. They've implemented their flood plan, passed and enforced flood ordinances, have a certified flood manager in place, and because, over their ten-year plan, they have planned for flooding and they have used local money to mitigate for flooding that that was the only community during that very large flood that had zero damages -- zero dollars' worth of damage during that major flood event. So this program does work. Yes, there is a referendum, but it's a front-door referendum during a general election and it can only be placed on the ballot if we pass and enforce flood ordinances, we have a certified flood manager, and the community belongs to the flood insurance program by FEMA. And because of that, I ask for an Aye vote. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) The question is, shall House Bill 4748 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 42 Ayes, 3 Nays, none voting Present. Senate {sic} Bill 4748, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4754. Senator Bennett. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4754. 44 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Bennett, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President. 50 -- 4754 is actually identical to Senate Bill 2660, which passed out with unanimous support, maybe last week. It would provide that a court or a disabled person may assign resources to an ABLE account or a discretionary trust. And also, upon the death of the beneficiary of one of those ABLE accounts, the proceeds of the account can be transferred to the estate of the decedent. I know of no opposition.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4754 pass. All those in favor, vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 52 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4754, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4771. Senator Tracy. Out of the record. House Bill 4783. Senator Weaver. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4783. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Weaver, on your bill.
45 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 Thank you, Mr. President. This is a DNR bill. It combines youth hunting and trapping licenses in the Wildlife Code to make administering the Act simpler for the Department. It sets the license at seven dollars. And it cleans up some other Sections. There's no known opposition. I'd request an Aye vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4783 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 54 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4783, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4795. Senator Syverson. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4795. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Syverson, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President. This is similar to a bill we passed out of the Senate previously. It is the DASA rewrite bill, which makes a number of significant changes in the -- in the DASA law. Be happy to answer any questions. Otherwise, again, something we have debated and passed unanimously previously.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4795 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, 46 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 54 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. Senate -- House Bill 4795, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4796. Senator Hunter. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4796. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hunter, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President. House Bill 4796 expands the availability and protections of the State's current order of protections to adoptive parents, prospective adoptive parents, foster parents, and appointed guardians or custodians, who are caring for a child and being abused by that child's birth parents, family members, or previous households. This is an -- a joint initiative by the Chicago Bar Association and the Cook County Public Guardian. I know of no opposition and I would ask for an Aye vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4796 pass. All those in favor, vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 54 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4796, having received the required constitutional majority, 47 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 is declared passed. House Bill 4805. Senator Rose. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4805. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Rose, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President. House Bill 4805 is an initiative of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. It amends the TOMA Act, and for those of you who might be paying attention right now, that is the Transmitters of Money Act. TOMA applicants or licensees shall post a bond in the amount of fifty thousand dollars, instead of the current one-hundred- thousand-dollar bond, on {sic} (or) an amount equal to one percent of all Illinois -- activity -- -based activity, excuse me, whichever is greater. This has previously passed the Illinois Senate, 57 to 0, as Senate Bill 3084 earlier this year. Therefore, I would respectfully request that we do the exact same thing again and -- except this time, I get 59 to 0. Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Senator Haine, for what purpose do you rise?
A question of the sponsor.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Indicates he will yield.
48 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 What is the root of the word "greater"?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Rose.
I'm not sure where this is going, but it's not going to be good for me. I already know that.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any further discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4805 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 52 Ayes, 1 Nay, none voting Present. Senate Bill -- House Bill 4805, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4822. Senator Rose. Out of the record. Senator Koehler, for what purpose do you rise?
Point of personal privilege, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.
Today we have joining us in the gallery, and they're just marching in right now, students and teachers from Washington Gifted School in Peoria. And I think they're on both sides of the -- the Chambers here. But -- and one of them is my granddaughter, Georgia, so it's kind of a special occasion for me. But would the Senate please give them a warm welcome to Springfield?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Welcome to Springfield. House Bill 4847. Senator Martinez. 49 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4847. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Martinez, on your…
Thank you, Mr. President. House Bill 4847 expands persons who Adult Protective Services can investigate claims of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation to include adults who reside in assisted care facilities if the suspected abuser is a non-employee, including family members, and the abuse occurs outside the facility. Currently, the Office of the Inspector General investigates ANE if the adult resides in an assisted care facility, but statute does not specify which entity investigates ANE if the person experiences the abuse outside the assisted care facility but normally resides at the assisted care facility. And I'll be happy to answer any questions.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4847 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 54 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4847, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4858. Senator Syverson. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
50 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 House Bill 4858. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Syverson, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President. This legislation amends the Industrial Development Assistance Law. And what it does is it expands to allow local school districts and community colleges the ability to receive grants and acquire land and purchase equipment that is tied to the instructions of manufacturing, so broadening their manufacturing instruction programs. I'll be happy to answer any questions. Otherwise, ask for your support.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4858 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 54 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4858, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senator Righter, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Mr. President. I rise on a point of personal privilege, if I might.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.
Thank you very much, Mr. President. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Chamber, in the balcony right above my head, we have a big 51 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 section filled with students from Mattoon's elementary school, Riddle School. I'd ask them all to get up. They're here to watch us do the process on the front lines. I would ask everyone if they'd be willing to give them a big Senate welcome. Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Welcome to Springfield. House Bill 4867. Senator Syverson. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4867. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Syverson, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President. This amends the Guardians and Adults With Disability {sic} (Guardians for Adults With Disabilities) Article of the Probation {sic} (Probate) Act. Provides that a court may not appoint an individual as a guardian of a person or an estate of an adult with disabilities before the would-be guardian discloses to the court the number of adults with disabilities which he currently is appointed guardian over. Be happy to answer any questions. Otherwise, seek a favorable support.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4867 pass. All those in favor, vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that 52 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 question, there are 54 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4867, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. WCIA Channel 3 seeks permission to record video. Permission granted. House Bill 4870. Senator Castro. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4870. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Castro, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President. House Bill 4870 establishes Ashley's Law, which would allow the administration of medical cannabis infused product on school premises or on the school bus to a student who is a qualifying patient under the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act. This -- this -- the product would be administered by the student's parent, guardian, or any other individual registered with the Department of Public Health as -- as designated caregiver of the student. This law came about of a young lady, who is eleven years old, named Ashley, and that's why the bill is named Ashley's Law. Ashley had to sue School District 54 to utilize the product. Ashley has battled leukemia all her life and had severe epilepsy, and with the patch that she uses, has been able to act and -- as a normal eleven- year-old. So I ask and I urge the Body for an Aye vote and support this measure. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Any discussion? Senator Weaver, for what purpose do you rise? 53 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018
A question for the sponsor, please.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Indicates she will yield.
Yeah. Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like folks to -- just kind of get with me on this, because I'm going to ask questions about things I don't fully understand. I think we're dealing with something very important here. We're dealing with the question of THC and the availability of that product to students in a school setting. Now, this bill -- I know what the sponsor's trying to accomplish. She's trying to deal with CBD. And by the way, Ashley, we're glad you're here today, and Ashley's parents, and you did a wonderful job testifying the other day. And the sponsor's trying to accomplish exactly what you folks need and want, and I think it's totally appropriate what she's trying to do with that. But that's the product of CBD. First one, just real quick question. CBD's typically found in an oil form. Is that correct?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Castro.
Yes.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Weaver.
Thank you, sir. Now, we -- you and I have had discussions about the availability of THC in this -- in various products that could be the subject of this bill. How can you give us comfort 54 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 that THC…
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Excuse -- excuse me, Senator Weaver. Can we keep the noise down on the Floor and the conversations? Please. This is debate on final action. Thank you.
Thank…
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Thank you, Senator Weaver.
…you, Mr. President. Thank you. What comfort can you give us with regard to the likelihood that THC will be able to be used in the school setting and any limitations that this bill has with regard to THC? And we understand the distinction. THC is the product that will make people high versus CBD does not.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Castro.
So, Senator Weaver, yes, we've had great discussions and I appreciate the question. When you -- not everyone needs THC. THC is determined based on the individual. So, for example -- and also, it's based on the height, weight, and the severity of the condition of the specific individual requesting it. So, for example, I -- I know someone who has a son with severe autism who has -- who uses the oils that has THC, but it's specifically geared to him. He has to be tested regularly, because obviously - I understand your concern - you don't want to have super high levels of THC either, because then you get them in kind of a high-type state, right? So this is very -- you need two physicians' 55 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 approvals and it is monitored very closely. When you talk about school grounds, school administrators are not administering the product. It is a parent -- as I mentioned, the parent, a guardian, or someone who's approved by the Department of Public Health.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Weaver.
Thank -- thank you, Mr. President. I want to just go ahead and talk to the bill for a moment, if I may.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
Yeah. Once we start going over these lines, they're impossible to come back. And, you know, we've made a big stride with regard to medical marijuana in our State. Of course, there's talk about recreational marijuana that's coming. CBD, in my opinion, is a product that should be manufactured on a -- by pharmaceutical companies, where we can have complete control. When we're getting into other things with THC and the way we're doing our State, there's very little control over how much THC is available in products. We're now talking about THC in a school setting. And we also know that the industry behind this is very aggressive with how they sell it. We have very big concerns over how well it will be monitored. Right now, for example, what's actually being done to monitor this with regard to various levels of THC? And I'm going to personally be a No vote on this and mainly -- and I would encourage other people to do the same, mainly to just pump the brakes on this issue. I think it's totally correct with -- with regard to what you're doing with CBD. I would 56 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 encourage you to keep on that. The pieces of this bill that do that I think are totally appropriate. I just wish we had a cleaner bill that was somehow making sure we're not now allowing THC in a school environment, when we're still uncertain what the abuses are going to happen in our State. And I'd request an -- a No vote. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Barickman, for what purpose do you rise?
Sure. To the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
Thank you, Mr. President. We heard this bill in committee and I want to commend the sponsor on her work on -- on this piece of legislation. You know, we heard incredibly compelling testimony from a family who faces a real-world problem that any one of us as parents or decision makers in this State should accept as one of the challenges, one of the problems that we are sent here to help solve. The -- I think the Senator has put forward a reasonable solution here. I think that the family has brought forward a scenario that is -- it is a difficult one for them, but is not unique to them. Other families are -- are facing and will face circumstances similar to this family. We -- you know, I -- when I'm in my district, I talk about our principal job here is solving problems, and I think that the sponsor, with this legislation, has put -- put forward a reasoned solution to a real problem facing families in our State and would urge an Aye vote for that. Thank you. 57 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Martinez, for what purpose do you rise?
To the bill, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
I -- I want to commend Senator Castro on this bill. And I want to just thank the family that came down with their testimony. It was a very, very heartfelt testimony. But a few years ago, I was the sponsor of the bill of the CBD oil for children with epilepsy. And let me just say this, we went through a whole trial of -- of just questions about CBD oil and what the TH level would be -- THC level would be. And it's like -- I think that, like Senator Castro said, it's all based on the doctor's prescription on the weight and height of that child and how much of that THC level should be in that -- in that CBD oil. So it's all based on that. But we have to also remember that when parents come down here to Springfield to talk about -- the way the -- my -- my constituents had come down to Chicago -- from Chicago to -- to Springfield a couple years ago, because they were moving to Colorado because their child had epilepsy and the only way that they can get the CBD oil without any -- any real problems was in Colorado. Let me just say this, that doctors that do this prescription are always making sure that the THC level is at a -- at a -- at a level that will not comatose this child or keep this child looking like a zombie or sitting there completely, you know, incoherent. And so let's give the parents the benefit of the doubt. And there's -- so much has happened with the industry, 58 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 with the patches that have come out now, like that -- like Ashley has, is the patch, with a little bit of the THC. Again, this is at the discretion of the doctors and the prescription that they are writing for these parents with children with epilepsy, children with leukemia, children who need -- who need the CBD oil and the THC. So let me just say, Senator Castro, great job, because, you know what, this is an industry that is continuing to see so much changes. There are a lot of creations that are coming out of the CBD oil and making sure -- but it is proven, it has been proven over and over again that children that suffer from epilepsy, children like Ashley that has this -- that has this condition, where the parents have said that their child from -- their child now is responsing {sic}. Look at -- look at the way she is moving around and hugging her mom. And this is what we're talking about. Let's give the parents that -- you know, let -- let them be the ones to say I want my child to have this because it's been prescribed, and the school districts should respond to that parent's need when it comes to the medical needs of their child. So, Senator Castro, good job. And I urge an Aye vote on this bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Anderson, for what purpose do you rise?
To the bill, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
I rise in support of the Senator's legislation. As -- as we all know, I carried a bill here just a few weeks ago that clarified in -- in State statute that CBD oil can be bought and used for 59 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 consumption if under .3 percent THC. And to this, you know, I think we really need to -- to focus on, especially those that are considering a No vote on this. You know, this bill provides more regulation for a plant than we do for regulation for the same patient taking an opioid, a prescribed opioid. We have a huge opioid epidemic in our State, but yet we try to solve these problems with an alternative source that works that is a plant, but yet we provide less oversight in statute for prescribing opioids. So just, everybody that's considering a No vote, keep that in the back of your mind. As a paramedic, we carry morphine in our drug bag. That's -- that's heroin, is what it is, and it can be used for good. But we are literally talking about a plant that is helping people and helping this young lady in the gallery. So, Senator, I -- I appreciate your -- your bill and I am proud to -- to support it. And I urge an Aye vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCarter, for what purpose do you rise? SENATOR McCARTER: Question of the sponsor.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Indicates she will yield. SENATOR McCARTER: Senator, can you just clarify one thing for me? The -- there's talk of the CBD and the THC. There's talk about the CBD oil with THC. In the bill, does it talk about it that way, or does it say it could be either/or?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Castro.
60 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 It's not in the bill. What the bill addresses is -- the biggest thing it addresses is the fact that, right now, under -- on State law, it's the -- medical marijuana, the patch, the oils, any kind of the infused products, are prohibited on school grounds or school busses. So it doesn't specifically answer to, like, levels and things like that.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCarter. SENATOR McCARTER: So -- so it -- so it does not specify. So it could be CDB {sic}, could be THC, or it could be a combination?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Castro.
Senator, if you look at the Medical Cannabis Act, again, it goes back to what Senator Martinez had mentioned and what I had mentioned - not -- not everyone uses THC; not everyone needs to use THC; sometimes CBD is fine. But again, it goes back to the individual patient - the height, the weight, and the severity of the condition that patient has. They are prohibited -- as a child, they're prohibited to have the flower. So it's -- that's why it's kind of hard to define it, because -- they have to have two physicians' prescriptions, they have to be tested regularly. I don't know if that answers your question.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCarter. SENATOR McCARTER: So I'll just speak to the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 61 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 To the bill. SENATOR McCARTER: So the answer to the question is, it could be one or the other or a combination if you revert back to the Medical Cannabis law. And that's the answer to the question. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Castro, to close.
There's been a good healthy debate. It is obviously a law that is needed. Back to Ashley, Ashley has now been able to live the life of an eleven-year-old. And as Senator Barickman had said, we are here to solve problems and hearing these -- hearing our constituents talk about these problems they're solving. They live this; they've lived this for all her life. I ask and urge an Aye vote of this Chamber. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) The question is, shall House Bill 4870 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 50 Ayes, 2 Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4870, having received the required constitutional requirement, is declared passed. Senator Castro, for what purpose do you rise?
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Chamber, I would like to invite Jim Surin, Maureen Surin, and Ashley Surin, who we just -- whose law we just passed. Welcome to Springfield.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Welcome to Springfield and congratulations. Senator Rose, 62 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 for what purpose do you rise?
Point of personal privilege, if I may.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.
Ladies and Gentlemen, in the Republican side of the gallery up here, we've got some eighth grade students from Arcola, Illinois. They're down visiting with us today. They had a project that they -- that earned them a trip to Springfield and that was to have a -- a Senior Prom, but not for -- for seniors in high school, but for seasoned Senators like our esteemed President right there. And they're very happy. They had numerous people that came out and they got to interact with the junior high schoolers and they reported they had a great time. And, anyway, if we could welcome them to Springfield, that'd be great.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Welcome to Springfield. Senator Van Pelt, for what purpose do you rise?
For -- for the purpose of an announcement, Mr. Chairman.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your announcement.
President. Okay. I have today here Darius Newsome. Can you please stand up? Darius is a -- currently a graduate student studying Public Administration at UIC. He was recently elected as the student trustee to represent the UIC campus. So he'll be one of a couple of young people that are on the -- the Board of Trustees 63 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 representing the U -- UIC campus. Darius was born and raised on Chicago's west side and he still resides there. So I would like to ask everyone to please welcome him with a -- with a warm welcome.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hastings, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Mr. President. Purpose of an announcement.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.
Well, I haven't got much to say, but last year we played a great game, a great game. And I guess we just can't expect to win 'em all. And I'm going to tell you something that I've kept to myself for a while. Some of you know Senator Murphy; he was long before your time, but you -- but you all know what kind of person he was here in the Senate. And the last thing he said to me was, "Hastings, sometimes when the team is up against it and the brakes are beating against the boys and girls, tell 'em to go out there with all they've got and just win one for the Murphy." Mr. President, tonight the Senate will take on the House at 5:30 at Lincoln Park for the annual House versus the Senate softball game. The game starts at 5:30. I would just ask for us old, decrepit Senators to be there at 4:45 so we can properly stretch and not endure the "murphies" that take place there. Thank you, Mr. President, for your time.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) We -- remember, we got committees to get done by that time. Senator Koehler, for what purpose do you rise?
64 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 For -- thank you, Mr. President. For a point of personal privilege.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.
I also have a group here from Trewyn School in Peoria. So I'd like to ask the students and the teachers to stand. And ask the Senate to give them a very warm welcome to Springfield.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Welcome to Springfield. Senator Sims, for what purpose do you rise?
Point of -- point of personal privilege, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.
Mr. President, in 2019, the Council of State Governments' Midwestern Legislative Conference will return to Illinois since - - since the first -- the first time since 2006. I have the honor of chairing that conference next year. But we were -- we're going to kick off the -- the conference next week with a -- with a reception at the Sangamo Club on Wednesday, May 23rd, from 6 to 8 p.m. So I'd like all of my colleagues to join me as we kick off the celebration for hosting our colleagues from around the Midwest in the Midwestern Legislative Conference of the Council of State Governments. Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) WICS Newschannel 20 seeks permission to record video and take pictures. Leave is granted. House Bill 4882. Senator Martinez. 65 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 Out of the record. House Bill 4883. Senator Weaver. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4883. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Weaver, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President. This is the House version of Senate Bill 2877, which already passed the Senate. It's an initiative of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association with the objective of allowing individuals seeking a license under the Act to take their State licensure examination after completing eighty percent of their educational studies. There's no opposition and I'd request an Aye vote. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4883 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 52 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4883, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4885. Senator McGuire. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4885. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill. 66 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McGuire, on your bill. SENATOR McGUIRE: Thank you, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. House Bill 4885 amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. It adds families with children under the age of five who have an open intact family services case with DCFS to the categories of families eligible for the Child Care Assistance Program. What this essentially does is adds children five and under whose parents are receiving intact family services from DCFS because of an allegation of abuse or neglect, it makes them eligible for the CCAP program. I know of no opposition and I ask for your -- for an Aye vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4885 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 54 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4885, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4887. Senator Morrison. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4887. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Morrison, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President. This bill requires the Department 67 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 of Children and Family Services to assist a youth in care in identifying and obtaining documents necessary to function as an independent adult prior to the closure of his case. That would include things like State ID card, driver's license, social security card, medical records, Medicaid card, et cetera.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4887 pass. All those in favor, vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 54 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4887, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4888. Senator Castro. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4888. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Castro, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President. House Bill 4888 mandates the Illinois Department of Corrections collect and publish the following data quarterly: number one, violence within correctional institutions and facilities; two, the release and status of previously institutionalized persons. It requires an executive team with IDOC to review and analyze the data in order to reduce violence. This bill passed out of committee with no opposition. I urge an Aye vote. 68 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4888 pass. All those in favor, vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 54 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4888, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4892. Senator Harris. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4892. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Harris, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President, Members of the Senate. House Bill 4892 amends the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act. Had bipartisan support in committee and I request a favorable vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4892 pass. All those in favor, vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 54 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4892, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4908. Senator Steans. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
69 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 House Bill 4908. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Steans, on your bill.
Yes, thank you, Mr. President and Members of the Senate. This bill requires children entering ninth grade of a public, private, or parochial school to have a dental examination. Currently, they're required to in kindergarten, second, sixth grades for the health {sic} exams. Health exams are also required at those grades as well as ninth. So this is aligning the dental exams the same as the health exams. And I would urge an Aye vote. I don't know of any opposition to the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4908 pass. All those in favor, vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 50 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4908, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4909. Senator Biss. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4909. (Secretary reads title of bill)
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Biss, on your bill.
70 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 3rd Reading of the bill.
Thank you, Mr. President, Members of the Senate. House Bill 4909 allows birth record fees for individuals who were children - - who were children who were youth in care to be waived up until the person is age twenty-seven. I know of no opposition. I'd appreciate your support.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4909 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 49 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4909, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4911. Senator Weaver. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4911. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Weaver, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President. This is a very simple bill. It adds ambulatory surgical treatment facilities to the Health Care (Services) Lien Act. There's no opposition. I request an Aye vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall 71 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 House Bill 4911 pass. All those in favor, vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 54 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4911, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4920. Senator Koehler. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4920. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Koehler, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President, Members of the Senate. This bill is a technical cleanup bill that provides that proceeds from the sale of oil or gas from non-coal formations be held in nontrust estates by legal tenants and that it shall be deemed as income. It's a cleanup bill. I know of no opposition. Appreciate an Aye vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4920 pass. All those in favor, vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 53 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4920, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4922. Senator Castro. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill. 72 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018
House Bill 4922. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Castro, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President. House Bill 4922 is actually similar to a bill that I passed, Senate Bill 3102. It prohibits the sale or issuance of a rebate that is provided on a stored-value card that charges dormancy fees or other post-issuance fees under the Consumer Fraud and -- Deceptable Business Practice {sic} (Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices) Act. Under current law, a person who offers retail rebates to consumers on merchandise must noticeably display and clearly disclose to the consumer the type of rebate being offered, whether additional fees my apply on the rebate offered, and the form of remittance that will be provided to the consumer. Though Illinois has banned post-purchase fees on gift cards in 2008, those do not apply to rebates offered on stored-value cards. The Retail Merchants were neutral on this bill. I -- and we worked with the some of the banks. Although they're philosophically opposed to this, they also helped with the language of the bill. I ask for an Aye vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion -- discussion? Senator Schimpf, for what purpose do you rise?
To the bill, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 73 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 To the bill.
Yes, thank you, Mr. President, Members of the Senate. This is a -- without wanting to prolong the debate, because we talked about it the last time, this is just -- this is -- while I -- while I believe the -- the sponsor is well -- is well-intentioned and the idea is well-intentioned, this is still something that would outlaw what has been a successful business model. I would ask for -- for a No vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hastings, for what purpose do you rise?
Question of the sponsor, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Indicates she will yield.
Senator Castro, is it true that under federal banking law, federally chartered banks can issue prepaid cards to include rebate cards? And would this bill apply to both national and State banks and savings associations?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Castro.
That's a good question. You know, the answer is yes.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Castro.
Yes, and it applies to both. Sorry.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 74 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 Senator Hastings.
Under this bill, would it restrict the terms of rebate cards that the national bank customers can offer to consumers?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Castro.
Well, Senator, what it does is -- one of the things is -- and I'll talk about what we did in committee. The answer to your question is no. But what it addresses is a rebate card that -- we -- rebate cards are issued, correct? And we had in debate a third party who talked about how he -- how they intentionally, when dormancy fees are issued, they actually take those dormancy fees, and they pretty much justified the bill, that, yes, we steal from one consumer, but that's how we're able to offer these benefits to other consumers - pretty much justifying the bill. And so this is what we're trying to address. So in -- really what the merchants -- merchants offer that right now. So it kind of levels the playing field, because they have to abide by some of these rules. You know, I don't -- one of the things, this is a very good consumer protection bill, and we need to protect our consumers. If someone is issued a rebate card for fifty dollars, it should be fifty dollars. Now, some of the arguments that were presented in committee were -- said, "Well, businesses are going to leave the State. No one's going to want to do business in Illinois." That's not true. There is no -- there was no -- there is no -- you can charge a fee upfront. You can also charge a fee to reissue the card if it's lost. You saw this law was introduced in 2008 with -- when it comes to gift cards. I have not seen any businesses 75 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 pull out because of gift cards. So that's the premise of the bill. But, no, the national banks won't be affected.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hastings.
So being that a rebate card is a type of loyalty award or promotional gift card that is used as a means of a rebate payment, under your legislation, this bill would prohibit any person from charging dormancy or any post-issuance fees when offering consumers a rebate card as a part of the rebate program operated or administered by a merchant or a product manufacturer. So, if not directly, would this bill indirectly then regulate a rebate card that could be potentially issued by a national bank?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Castro.
Again, it does not directly regulate national banks.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hastings.
The question was, because you're prohibiting dormancy and post-issuance fees on rebate cards, would this bill potentially have the impact of indirectly regulating a national bank-regulated product?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Castro.
Senator Hastings, are your referring -- it does not regulate the fees themselves, if that's what you're trying to get at. 76 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hastings.
The purpose of this bill is to prohibit charging a dormancy or other post-issuance fees when offering consumers a rebate card; therefore, indirectly, this would be regulating a federally regulated national bank product. Is that correct?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Castro.
So, I think you're talking about something that was brought up. I think -- if I'm not understanding correctly, are you referring to a memo that was drafted and passed around? So HB 4922 does not attempt to regulate the fees that national banks charge. So it is not in conflict with the national bank. The only other ways that HB 4922 could be preemptive would be, one, if Congress expressly preempted this type of consumer protection law - it has not; or two, if the law occupied the entire field, but the Dodd-Frank Act in the Section titled "State law preemption standards for national banks and subsidiaries clarified" explicitly provides that this title does not occupy the field in any area of State law.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hastings.
Thank you, Senator, for your answer; however, because your bill applies to a product issued by a national bank or affects the relationship between the consumer, can you explain to me why your bill would not be subject to the National Bank Act -- Act and 77 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 regulations issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Castro.
Well, obviously, in the -- in the Dodd-Frank Act that was in 2012, it allows for State regulations that are more protective of. So, for example, let me draw your -- your attention to a 2012 case from New York, Sharabani versus Simon Property Group. The Sharabani decision is from 2012 after the passage of Dodd-Frank and dealt directly with litigation about post-issuance fees on a gift card issued by a national bank. The court explicitly found that the federal banking laws do not preempt State contract or consumer protection laws of general application. In fact, the specific New York statute at issue was the Consumer Protection From Deceptive Acts and -- Practices Article of the General Business Law - in other words, the New York law that is similar to the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practice {sic} (Practices) Act; thus, the law HB 4922 seeks to strengthen.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hastings.
To the bill, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
First, let me start by saying thank you for the indulgence of this Chamber. I want to say thanks. I support this bill and I support the Senator's efforts to protect Illinois residents from 78 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 fees that may not be warranted or deemed oppressive. However, I do have concerns with certain subject areas of this bill. Because of the fact that the bill is relating to a national bank product or the relationship between a customer, this may be regulated and preempted by federal law in a court opinion issued by the Federal District Court. So -- however, I urge an Aye vote, because the sponsor is a tenacious sponsor. And thank you, Mr. President, for your time.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Oberweis, for what purpose do you rise?
Question of the sponsor, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Indicates she will yield.
Senator, I'm trying to understand more about what this bill actually does. Let me just ask an example. Costco, for example, sells two types of memberships. One is thirty dollars; the other is sixty dollars. And the sixty-dollar one gives you a two percent rebate at the end of the year. They issue that rebate on a little rebate card, which you can use to buy goods in Costco. If that, and I'm not sure it does, but if that rebate card requires that you use it within a year or two years or if there is some eventual charges against that card if not used in a period of time, would this law change Costco's ability to administer that rebate program in that fashion?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Castro.
79 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 It does not. That is a gift card under Illinois law, so it does not affect them.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Oberweis.
You may be giving me new information, but let me repeat that 'cause I'm not sure that that was accurate. If they issue a rebate card that is a rebate of some of their sales proceeds and if it must be spent within one-year period of time or it becomes worthless, that is not a rebate card?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Castro.
It's because -- again, it does not affect Costco, because the Costco rebate card can only be used at Costco. It is not affected by this bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Oberweis.
Okay. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Castro, to close.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I -- I appreciate the robust debate, as we did the last time. This is a great consumer protection bill. You know, when you buy something, whether it's a cell phone, and you get a rebate card - we all are -- we all are guilty of it - we forget it. You remember about it, you go use it, and then you realize it's only got twenty dollars instead of fifty dollars. 80 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 Imagine our consumers, imagine our constituents who do this, who get this, and are like, oh, I'm going to go spend money locally. And, you know what, it's just -- it's wrong for someone to take money that you have felt you have rightfully earned. So let's protect them. I ask an Aye vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) The question is, shall House Bill 4922 pass. All those in favor, vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 35 Ayes, 17 Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4922, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4508. Senator Clayborne. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4508. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Clayborne, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President, Members of the Senate. Senate {sic} Bill 5 -- 4508 extends the sunset on a very successful program that has helped several communities across the State provide their residents clean, safe, reliable water while protecting consumers. This bill is supported by -- a bipartisan coalition, including some cosponsors on -- on -- in the Senate. It is also supported by business and labor, including Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Manufacturers' Association, the AFL-CIO, the Illinois Pipe Trades, and the Operating Engineers, amongst others. This - 81 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 - bill -- this bill extends the sunset on the law, opens the program to all municipalities, and adds consumer protections. I would ask for your favorable vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Senator Rezin, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Mr. President. To the bill, please.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
Thank you. I stand in opposition to this bill. We have passed in the past numerous pieces of legislation that helped to update infrastructure in the Energy Commission. We've passed the Smart Grid bill. We've passed a bill to help update infrastructure for natural gas companies. We've passed legislation to identify nuclear as clean energy. And all of those infrastructure updates include hard price caps to protect the consumer. In this bill, there's a price cap, but it's only for existing customers. So if you're already a member or if you're already a customer of the company, you are protected until the next rate case from a price increase - anything over and above five percent. So you can have a price increase up to five percent as your hard cap until the next ICC case. If you're a new customer - meaning if this company comes in and buys your water -- municipality's water system, you're considered a new customer - you are not protected from rate increases. Also, the -- the accounting method that is used to appraise the actual municipality, in my opinion, is not the appropriate accounting method that should be used. So when the 82 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 company comes in to purchase the water system, they are using a fair market value, which is the current value of an updated system. So if the infrastructure has been updated, they would use the fair market value, which is a much, much higher rate, which now is passed on to ratepayers, versus a depreciated accounting method, which gives the true cost of an old water system that's been depreciated and not -- not updated over years. So by using and writing into law that this accounting method, the fair market value method, would be used, yes, the cities and municipalities receive substantially more for their systems, but that cost is passed on directly to the new customers of the companies. We also have oversight by the CC currently. Many of the rate cases for all utilities go before the ICC. Unfortunately, in this bill, it's written that the majority of expenses that are presented in this bill to the ICC have to be passed on to the new customers and already existing customers. So it provides little -- very little oversight, but more important, very little -- well, very little oversight by the ICC. This particular bill was only written, as well, for two companies, two private companies to go into a community and purchase a water system at a very high cost and to allow that cost to be passed on to the new customers. Currently, there are municipalities in the past that have entered into these contracts, that consider the decision to sell their assets, their water systems, to private companies as a bad decision, because the rates -- their rates -- they've seen their rates go up at every rate case, by double digits sometimes. So, currently, you have Bolingbrook, Romeoville, Homer Glen, communities in Will County and Grundy County that have had buyers' remorse. In closing, I'd like to just add that in 2007, when one of the two companies that 83 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 this bill was written for went before the ICC, asked and received for Pekin, Illinois, a twenty-one percent rate increase; for Champaign, a forty-seven percent water increase; Sterling, a twenty percent increase; downstate towns, a fourteen percent water increase. In 2009, the rates for Chicago Metropolitan water, asked and received twenty-six percent rate increases, seventy percent sewer increase; Pekin, twenty-three percent rate water increase; Lincoln, twenty-five percent water increase; and Zone 1, twenty- two percent water increase. In 2011, Chicago Metropolitan asked and received a three percent -- or, excuse me, four percent increase; Pekin, a seventeen percent increase; and Lincoln, a twenty-four percent increase. And lastly, in 2016, the cases before the ICC, this company asked and received for the Chicago Metro area a forty-two percent water rate increase; for Pekin and Lincoln, a three percent increase; and for Zone 1, a fourteen percent rate increase. Ladies and Gentlemen, we understand that infrastructure needs to be updated for water systems, but unlike all of the other utility bills that we have passed in a bipartisan manner, this particular bill is lacking two things. One is oversight, meaning caps, to protect your ratepayers. Your ratepayers who receive these bills receive sticker shock when they open up their bills. So we're asking for hard caps for the ratepayers and we're asking for better oversight from the ICC when -- when deciding what expenses can and cannot be passed on to the ratepayers. Because of that, I ask for a No vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Haine, for what purpose do you rise?
To -- to the bill. 84 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
The cost of this infrastructure improvement on an old city is astronomical. The rate increases, as outlined by the previous distinguished speaker, would pale in comparison to the property tax increases and the water rate increases of the city or the village that is operating its own water system - to meet federal standards, to remove lead. My hometown, for example, of Alton was platted in 1818. Many of the sewers are being repaired now, consistent with federal requirements that the sewers and the wastewater be separated. A century ago, they just dumped it all in the river, the Mississippi River, which is intolerable now. But these costs are absolutely astronomical. So the city fathers maintained that they were too much to bear; they just sold the entire water system to Illinois American Water for fifty million in cash. They intend to spend fifty million in capital improvements just in the city. If the taxpayers would have to pay for that - the taxpayers are the ratepayers - it would probably be worse because it would be -- the -- the construction would be done by a public entity, which operates somewhat differently than a private entity as far as costs. And I -- I would urge an Aye vote. It seems to be up to the local authorities whether to sell and on what terms. They can add terms as they wish. And in -- in -- in this case, they got fifty million in cash, which allows them to pay a huge debt on their police and fire pensions, which had threatened them with considerable cutbacks in -- in the coming years. So this is a balanced bill. If there's some improvements that need to be made in the future as to caps, the Commerce 85 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 Commission oversight, by all means people would join with the previous speaker and cosponsor that bill and get it passed. But this bill is an initial step for fiscal solvency for local communities facing astronomical maintenance and construction costs on aging water systems. I would urge an Aye vote. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Nybo, for what purpose do you rise?
To the bill, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
I appreciate the remarks that were just made and -- and I think it's important for people to understand what's going on here. So analogize it to selling your house or -- or selling your car. What this bill says is, if you're going to sell your house or your car or your water system, you go out there and you get fair market value from three different appraisers so that you can -- you sell it for a fair price for the municipality that's selling off the water system. But imagine if you operated in a system where you couldn't get fair market value for your house or your car or piece of property, but instead you had to have certain adjustments for depreciation, and so you were forced to sell your car not for what it's actually worth, or your home for what it's really worth, but really you had to do, in my opinion, artificial adjustments because of accounting rules. And that really, in -- in my opinion, that penalizes a municipality that's seeking some relief here, to artificially force them to put a -- a lower value on the asset that they're trying to sell. Now they're trying to sell it for a 86 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 reason, the cost of -- of improvement and maintenance and maybe the municipality's in a situation where they do need some, you know, extra financial help. For whatever the reason, if we force them to artificially deflate the value of the asset, we're -- we're -- we're hurting the municipality and we're taking away the -- the incentive for them to go out there and -- and sell the asset for a variety of different reasons. I just think it's unfair to municipalities. I think we should give them the tools to be able to sell assets in a fair way, and that's fair market value. So I support this bill. I think it's a reasonable approach and I encourage a -- a Yes vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Koehler, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Mr. President. To the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
Yes, I -- I agree with the last two commenters on that and I wholeheartedly concur with what Senator Haine says. I'll just add briefly to the discussion. A community in my district, Farmington, just recently sold its water company to a private entity. What this allows is small cities, who are really strapped for resources to invest in really old, dilapidated utilities, some opportunity to, you know, have the best water service for their customers. I -- I think it's a -- it's a -- it's a good plan. Communities have to do their due diligence and every community is going to be different. And for some communities, it's going to make sense, and for other communities, it may not, but there are plenty of 87 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 experts and consultants who can advise them on, one, the age of their infrastructure and whether it's going to be more costly in the future. But it -- it really allows that decision to be made locally. No one's forcing them into this. And so I wholeheartedly support this bill, just as an option that communities can use to continue to make progress in -- in the quality of life in their community.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Clayborne, to close.
First of all, I want to thank the speakers that got up and spoke in favor of the bill. And to my colleague with -- who I respect dearly in her position: You know, I've been here twenty- three years and -- and I've heard two primary concerns from my colleagues on the other side, free market and local control. This bill allows free market, local control, and takes the burden off of the local taxpayers in terms of -- of, as one of my colleagues says, raising the property taxes. This is a good bill for those municipalities or units of government that decide that they want to issue an RFP to look at selling their water system. I ask for your favorable vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) The question is, shall House Bill 4508 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 39 Ayes, 6 Nays, 1 voting Present. House Bill 4508, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4923. Senator Biss. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill. 88 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018
House Bill 4923. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Biss, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President, Members of the Senate. This is the annual Illinois Secure Choice retirement savings program technical corrections bill. I would appreciate your support.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4923 pass. All those in favor, vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 52 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4923, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4936. Senator Bivins. Out of the record. House Bill 4949. Senator Steans. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4949. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Steans, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President, Members of the Senate. This bill bans the practice known as patient brokering, where companies use 89 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 false or misleading advertising to direct patients to mental health or addiction recovery facilities outside the State. Frequently then they don't take the insurance from the State. This is an initiative of the Illinois Association for Behavioral Health Care {sic} and I don't know of any opposition.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4949 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 53 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4949, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4951. Senator Raoul. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4951. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Raoul, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. House Bill 4951 requires that a written residential lease, costs associated with the damages to the property must be for damages beyond normal wear and tear. Additionally, the cost must be reasonable to return the property to its initial condition when the lease began. I know of no opposition and I would urge your Aye vote on the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 90 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4951 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 54 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4951, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4953 -- excuse me. Senator Martinez, for what purpose do you rise?
Mr. President, my intentions were to vote Yes on -- on Senate -- on House Bill 4949. Can the record please reflect that?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Your -- the record will reflect your intention. House Bill 4953. Senator Bush. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4953. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Bush, on your bill.
Thank you very much, Mr. President. House Bill 4953 requires the Department of Financial and Professional Regulations {sic} (Regulation) to provide a sexual harassment training program and require each applicant and license renewal applicant to complete this training. This mirrors the requirements added to the State Officials and Employee {sic} (Employees) Ethics Act regarding sexual harassment that's placed on constitutional officers, legislators, lobbyists, and staff. I know of no objections and I 91 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 ask for an Aye vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4953 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 51 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4953, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4954. Senator Fowler. Mr. -- Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4954. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Fowler, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President. House Bill 4954 designates November the 4th as the "G.I. Bill of Rights Day". It is a day in recognition of the landmark legislation that provided benefits to World War II veterans and would serve as the basis of future legislation to extend benefits to all serve the -- that all serve the United States Armed Forces. This bill passed the House 104 to 0 and I encourage an Aye vote for this important bill. Thank you very much.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4954 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted 92 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 52 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4954, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4990. Senator Murphy. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 4990. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Murphy, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President. House Bill 4990 extends the sunset of the municipal convention center and sports facility attraction grant to July 1st, 2022. It allows the grants awarded to the units of local government, municipal convention centers, or convention center authorities to use the awarded grant money appropriated from DCEO in any fiscal year, even if the obligations occurred in a previous fiscal year. I know of no opposition and I ask for an Aye vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4990 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 52 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4990, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senator Haine, for what purpose do you rise?
93 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 Purposes of -- a purpose of introduction, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.
Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate, sitting above the President's dais, I have another group of grandchildren. They're touring the Capitol and they're on their way to Lincoln's Home and Lincoln's Tomb. This is my daughter Elizabeth's family - my second daughter. She has eight children. Her husband's a professor, a tenured professor at Hillsdale College. There's Judy Anna - the youngest, Margaret, Mary, William, Helen, Emil, Karol, and Leo. Did I miss anybody? And they're -- they're from Lake Wobegon, Michigan, where all the men are good-looking and the women are above-average. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Schlueter family. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Do we only have ten more groups to meet in the future? Senator Haine.
No. I -- this is it - for now. And -- and I just want to say they're in town and I don't know what their formal political affiliation will be in the future, but they're -- they're certainly true Democrats - tax and spend.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) I just want to make one announcement. At 3 p.m., Telecommunications and Information Technology will be -- in Room 212 and Environment and Conservation, in 409, will be meeting at 3 o'clock. That's when the big hand's on twelve and the little one's on three. There being no further business to come before 94 STATE OF ILLINOIS 100th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 125th Legislative Day 5/17/2018 the Senate, the Senate stands adjourned till the hour of 9 a.m. on the 18th day of May 2018. The Senate stands adjourned. 95