Illinois Senate Floor Debate — March 9, 2023

Senate Journal of Wednesday, March 8th, 2023.

Senate Resolution 129, offered by Senator Bennett and Senate 1  STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 24th Legislative Day 3/9/2023 Joint Resolution 28, offered by Senator McClure. They are both substantive, Madam President.

Senator Castro, Chair of the Committee on Executive, reports Senate Bills 1 through 39, Senate Bills 63, 64, Senate Bills 350 through 924, Senate Bills 925 through 1224, Senate Bills 1670, 1875, 2213, 2228, 2322, and 2400 Do Pass and Senate Bills 1561, 1907, 2192 and 2368 Do Pass, as Amended. Senator Glowiak Hilton, Chair of the Committee on Licensed Activities, reports Senate Bills 199, 1250, 1716, 1785, 1889, 2057, 2059 Do Pass; Senate Bills 1296, 1509, 1590, 1713, 1717, 1866, 2058, and 2123 Do Pass, as Amended. Senator Joyce, Chair of the Committee on State Government, reports Senate Bills 1612, 1781, 1790, 1818, 1839, 1843, 1845, 1873, 1935, 2011, 2037, 2076, 2242, 2247, 2419, 2437, Do Pass; Senate Bills 58, 1553, 1560, 1613, 2146, 2292 and 2406 Do Pass, as Amended. Senator Holmes, Chair of the Committee on Local Government, reports Senate Bills 94, 1430, 1673, 1675, 1715, 1750, 1840, 1861, 1897, 1997, 2227 Do Pass; Senate Bills 1443, 1570 and 2320 Do Pass, as Amended. Senator Villanueva, Chair of the Committee on Revenue, reports Senate Bills 1320, 1705, 1850, 1880, 1963, 1988, 2047, 2287, 2315, 2324 and 23--, ope, 2356 and 2395 Do Pass; Senate Bill 74 and 2277, Do Pass, as Amended. Senator Turner, Chair of the Committee on Agriculture, reports Senate Bills 203, 1360, 1745, 1874, 1882, 2045, 2093, and 2159 Do Pass; Senate Bills 1230, 1772, and 1883 Do Pass, as Amended. Senator Morrison, Chair of the Committee on Veterans Affair-Affairs, reports Senate Bill 2005 Do Pass. Senator Simmons, Chair of the Committee on Human Rights, 2  STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 24th Legislative Day 3/9/2023 reports Senate Bill 2379 Do Pass; and Senate Bill 1446, Do Pass, as Amended. Senator Stadleman, Chair of the Committee on Energy and Public Utilities, reports Senate Bills 1711 and 1879 Do Pass; Senate Bills 76, 1398 and 1474 Do Pass, as Amended. Senator Ellman, Chair of the Committee on Environment and Conservation, report Senate Bills 1555, 1800, 1804, 1857, 1934, 2212 and 2226 Do Pass and Senate Bills 1563, 1696, and 1769 Do Pass, as Amended. And I also have a Committee Report correction on March 7th, 2023, the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, inadvertently omitted Senate Bill 1779 from its report to the Senate. Senate Bill 1779 is reported to the Senate with a Recommendation of Do Pass.

Senate Bill 2542, offered by Senator Sims, an Act concerning appropriations. 1st Reading of the bill.

3  STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 24th Legislative Day 3/9/2023 Senate Resolution 80, offered by Senator Holmes.

I have a motion to compile, filed by Senator Murphy.

Madam President, the Committee on Executive Appointments recommends that the Senate Do Consent to the following salaried appointment, to be a Member of the Prisoner Review Board, LeAnn Miller.

I want to speak to the nominee.

Thank you, as many Members of this Body know, we've -- we've had a lot of conversation about the Prisoner Review Board, and I'm very pleased to say that it seems like the Governor's appointments to this Board have -- have consisted of more and more qualified people to take on this very important task. However, this 5  STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 24th Legislative Day 3/9/2023 particular nominee is, I would say, a legacy nomination from a couple of years ago. This person has been serving unconfirmed by the Senate for quite a while. I would highlight this person is a Republican appointee to the Board. However, I stand in opposition to this--this nomination. This person has cast some extraordinarily troubling votes while serving on the Prisoner Review Board. This person voted to release a lady who murdered her two children, in two separate instances, three years apart. And more troubling than -- than just voting to release the person, the Prisoner Review Board, actually relitigated the trial and brought in facts that -- that weren't -- weren't brought up during the main trial, did not notify the judge that convicted this person, did not notify the State's Attorney that prosecuted this person and voted to release them against the wishes of all of the professionals who were involved in the trial of this person. In addition, this nominee, has cast some other very troubling votes. And I just think as a Body, if we're going to earn the trust and the confidence of the people of Illinois on matters like this, we have to be consistent. And I don't care if someone is a Democrat, or someone is a Republican, like this one. If they're casting votes that put our communities in danger, we need to make sure that we reject those -- those people. We rejected some people previously, the last couple of years, and the Governor has made nominations of some people who we'll hear today that I think are highly qualified, great nominees for this Board. This one, this Republican, however, is not a good member of the Board. I think that her votes endanger our communities. And if anything, for the consistency and the reputation of this Body, I think we need to reject this nominee like we have others. Thank you. 6  STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 24th Legislative Day 3/9/2023

Madam President, the Committee on Executive Appointments recommends that the Senate Do Consent to the following salaried appointment, to be a Member of the Prisoner Review Board, Matthew Coates.

To the Appointment Message.

Thank you, Madam President. So, we have seen, obviously, an expansion of the Prisoner Review Board's powers. We've seen the effects of the SAFE-T Act, and we've seen that crime is extremely important to the constituents that we serve all across this State. So, it's as important as ever to ensure that the people that are serving on the Prisoner Review Board are the most qualified and are going to make decisions that the people of this State would respect. Now, Mr. Coates seems like a very nice man. We had a good discussion in committee. The problem that I had -- was that he voted to release a man, a person who raped his five-year-old cousin. Okay, early. And during the discussion, I said, "Mr. Coates, why did you vote to release this person?" He said that he thought this person was rehabilitated. "Why did you think that?" "I'm not sure." "Okay, well, was there a program that he participated in while he was incarcerated that maybe turned his life around, that you can point to? Like, what did he participate in?" "I don't know." "Okay, well, in particular, how can you tell us that this man is going to be safe in our neighborhoods and our streets again? Why should he be released early?" "You know, I just thought it was the right vote, and I'll just have to get back to you." This was not a vote that he took three years ago. This was a vote that he took weeks before this hearing. Imagine if any of you were sitting on the Prisoner Review Board. You're getting paid $90,000 to sit on that Board. And you have to make extremely, we can all agree these are extremely tough decisions. If you are going to vote to release a person who raped a five-year-old, wouldn't you know why you released that person? I mean that -- that should 8  STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 24th Legislative Day 3/9/2023 be something that you think about. And the worst part about it was I asked him at the end of it. "Okay, sir. Well, I've toured several prisons in our State. How many prisons have you toured?" "None." "Okay, that's -- that's okay. What programs are available to rehabilitate people in prisons?" "I couldn't tell you," was his response. Why did he vote to release a person who raped a five- year-old? He also voted to release someone who murdered his 16- year-old stepson. If you're getting paid that much money and you can't tell us in a committee that you're prepared to be at, why you did that, I think we owe the citizens of this State to vote No. Thank you.

Madam President, the Committee on Executive Appointments recommends that the Senate Do Consent to the following salaried appointment, to be a Member of the Prisoner Review Board, Julie Globokar.

Speak to the motion.

I'd just like to -- to say to the Body that we, obviously, rejected some Members to this Prisoner Review Board in the last couple of years, and this is an example of a highly qualified 10  STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 24th Legislative Day 3/9/2023 person the Governor has appointed that I think will make this a better Prisoner Review Board and will make our community safer. I hope that we all can stand and support this nominee, and I hope that we can continue to move in a direction of a Prisoner Review Board that will prioritize victims and safety over the wishes of activists and elected officials. Thank you.

Madam President, the Committee on Executive Appointments recommends that the Senate Do Consent to the following salaried appointment, to a Member of the Prisoner Review Board, Jeffrey M. Grubbs.

Madam President, the Committee on Executive Appointments recommends that the Senate Do Consent to the following salaried appointment, to be a Member of the Mid-America Intermodal Port District Board, Cynthia Haliemun.

I would like to correct the record. I intended to vote Yes on the last appointment.

Thank you, Madam President. As it relates to Appointment Message 1020517, I intended to vote Yes on that appointment.

Yes, Thank you, Madam President. I also would like to be recorded as a Yes on 1020517.

Madam President, the Committee on Executive Appointments recommends that the Senate Do Consent to the following salaried 13  STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 24th Legislative Day 3/9/2023 appointment, to be a Member of the Illinois Commerce Commission, Ann McCabe.

Madam President, the Committee on Executive Appointments recommends that the Senate Do Consent to the following salaried appointment, to be the Director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Kristin Richards.

Madam President, the Committee on Executive Appointments recommends that the Senate Do Consent to the following salaried appointment, to be the Director of the Illinois State Police, Brendan F. Kelly.

Madam President, the Committee on Executive Appointments recommends that the Senate Do Consent to the following salaried appointment, to a Member of the Prisoner Review Board, Carmen 15  STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 24th Legislative Day 3/9/2023 Terrones.

To the appointment.

Thank you. So, of the people we've heard today for the Prisoner Review Board, this particular appointee is extremely problematic, has by far the most troubling voting record. And, you know, I think for those of us that serve on the committee that -- that sees some of these people, we get some amazing, in a bad way, letters from victims and victim's families. We do our research. We -- we actually look into these crimes. I think if you spend time, I don't know, where I come from, people that rape five-year-old kids, I question if you can even reform someone that rapes five- year-old kids over a multi-month period of time and rapes other young kids. But regardless of that, when we have people voting to release these folks that don't even understand, haven't visited the prisons, haven't interviewed these people, haven't listened to the victim's testimony, can't answer basic questions about, okay, they've been reformed, but how have they been reformed? I'd have to question if they're doing their job and if this Body allows 16  STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 24th Legislative Day 3/9/2023 these people to continue to serve, I'd have to question if we're doing our job. Not only does this person have a very troubling record of voting to release some people who have committed some very heinous crimes, they've also shown a disregard for -- for the law in general. They served in violation of State statute. You're not supposed to be able to serve on two committees like this. They decided to flaunt the rules because I guess State statute doesn't apply to them. That was finally discovered and retroactively corrected via paperwork, but that doesn't -- that doesn't change the fact that this person serves on a committee where they're supposed to hold violent criminals accountable and when reasonable, release them. But they don't apparently even think laws apply to them. So, I've voted Yes on some Prisoner Review Board people today. I voted No on a couple. But this is a very dangerous appointment, and I would challenge anybody who spends five minutes looking into the records of the person-- of the people this person has voted to release, to go home to your constituents and justify how you can continue to allow a person like this to serve in such an important position. Raping children, murdering children, doing no due diligence and then allowing these people to be released out onto the streets to cause more mayhem is a complete disregard for the duty on the Board. And if we allow this to continue, I think we are not doing our job here in the State Senate. I strongly encourage a No vote for this and I strongly encourage you to do the research on the victims and the families and what they've gone through after they've been violated by some of these criminals who are being wantonly released across the State of Illinois. Thank you.

I have a motion in writing from Senator Murphy, Chair of the Executive Appointments Committee.

Pursuant to Senate Rule 10-1(c), as the Chair the Executive Appointments Committee, I move to compile the following Appointment Messages to be acted on together by a single vote of the Senate. Appointment Message 1020221, Lottery Control Board. Appointment Message 1020262, Children and Family Services Advisory Council. Appointment Messages 1020263 and 1020271, State Board of Health. Appointment Message 1020265, Capital Development Board. Appointment Message 1020267, Kaskaskia Regional Port District Board. Appointment Messages 1020268 and 1020269, Tri-County River Valley Development Authority. Appointment Messages 1020275 and 1020276, Health Facilities and Services Review Board. Appointment Message 1020277, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Champaign County. Appointment Message 1020279, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Kendall County. Appointment 18  STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 24th Legislative Day 3/9/2023 Message 1020280, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of LaSalle County. Appointment Message 1020281, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Madison County. Appointment Message 1020282, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Rock Island County. Appointment Message 1020283, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Stark County. Appointment Message 1020284, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Vermillion County. Appointment Message 1020285, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Will County. Appointment Message 1020287, State Employees Retirement System Board of Trustees. Appointment Message 1020288, Illinois Student Assistance Commission. Appointment Message 1020289, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Kane County. Appointment Message 1020290, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Henderson County. Appointment Message 1020291, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Knox County. Appointment Message 1020292, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Warren County. Appointment Message 1020293, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Bureau County. Appointment Message 1020294, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Putnam County. Appointment Message 1020295, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Cass County. Appointment Message 1020296, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Morgan County. Appointment Message 1020297, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Pike County. Appointment Message 1020298, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Scott County. Appointment Message 1020299, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Coles County. Appointment Message 1020300, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Douglas County. Appointment Message 1020301, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Piatt County. 19  STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 24th Legislative Day 3/9/2023 Appointment Message 1020303, 1020304 and 1020310, Illinois Forensic Science Commission. Appointment Message 1020305, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Lake County. Appointment Message 1020306, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Logan County. Appointment Message 1020308, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Carroll County. Appointment Message 1020309, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Lee County. Appointment Message 1020312, Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission. Appointment Message 1020313, Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Whiteside County. Appointment Messages 1020323 and 1020414, Southwestern Illinois Development Authority. Dated March 9th, 2023 and signed by Senator Laura Murphy, Deputy Majority Leader and Chair of the Chief--of the Executive Appointments Committee.

To be a Member of the Lottery Control Board: Sara Alter. To be a Member of the Children and Family Services Advisory Council: Gabriel Foley. To be Members of the State Board of Health: John Herrmann and Damon Arnold. To be a Member of the Capital Development Board: Hipolito Roldan. To be a Member of the Kaskaskia Regional Park District Board: Mark Chatham. To be Members of the Tri-County River Valley Development Authority: Paul Flynn and Ryan Miller. To be Members of the Health Facilities and Services Review 20  STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 24th Legislative Day 3/9/2023 Board: Keith -- Kenneth Burnett and David Fox. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Champaign County: John P. Brown. To be Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Kane County: Rick Law. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for LaSalle County: Jerry Justice. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Madison County: Rene Bassett Butler. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Rock Island County: Mary Ann Brown. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Stark County: John Leezer. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Vermilion County: George Weller. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Will County: Colleen Wengler. To be a Member of the State Employees Retirement System Board of Trustees: Jameson Ramirez. To be a Member of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission: Payton Ade. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Kane County: Diana Law. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Henderson County: Chad Long. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Knox County: Chad Long. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Warren County: Chad Long. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Bureau County: Andrew Russell. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Putnam County: Andrew Russell. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Cass County: Eddie Carpenter. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Morgan County: Eddie Carpenter. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Pike County: Eddie Carpenter. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Scott County: Eddie Carpenter. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Coles County: Kenny {sic} (Kelly) Finet. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Douglas County: 21  STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 24th Legislative Day 3/9/2023 Kenneth -- Kelly Finet. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Piatt County: Kelly Finet. To be Members of the Illinois Forensic -- Forensic Science Commission: John Hanlon, Philip Kinsey, and Carrie Ward. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Lake County: Thomas Hood III. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Logan County: Robert Porter. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Carroll County: Dana Considine. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Lee County: Dana Considine. To be a Member of the Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission: Steven Block. To be a Public Administrator and Public Guardian for Whiteside County: William H.T. Lee. To be Members of the Southwestern Illinois Development Authority: Randall Harris and Rodney Caffey.

Senator Lightford, Chair of the Committee on Assignments, reports the following Legislative Measures have been assigned: Refer to Revenue Committee - Committee Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 2210: Refer to Special Committee on Criminal Law and Public Safety- Committee Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1499; Be Approved for Consideration - Senate Resolutions 52, 67, 68, 69, 75 and 82. 23  STATE OF ILLINOIS 103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 24th Legislative Day 3/9/2023 Signed, Senator Kimberly A. Lightford, Chair.