The regular Session of the 90th General A ssembly will please come to order. Will the Members please be at their desks? Will our guests in the qalleries please rise? Our prayer today will be given by Reverend Wayne Meyer, Tallula Christian Church , Tallula , Illiqois. Reverend Meyer.
(Prayer by the Reverend Wayne Meyer)
Senato r Sieben, for the Pledge of Allegiance .
(Pledge of Allegiance, led by Senator Sieben)
Readinç o f the Journals. Sena tor Butler.
Mr . President, -- excuse me . M r. President, I move that reading and approval of the Journals of Friday , February 28th : Tuesday , March 4th ) and Wednesday , March 5th , in the year 1997 , be postponed: pending arrival of the printed Journals.
Senator Butler moves to postpone the reading and the approval of the Journals, pending the arrival of the printed transcript. There being no objections, so ordered. Resoluttons.
Senate Resolution 34 , offered by Senator Demuzio . It 's a death resolution, M r. President.
Consent Calendar.
Senate Joint Resolutton 2l, offered by Senator O 'Malley . It 's substantive .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 Committee Reports .
Senator O lMalley , Chair of the Comm ittee on Financial Institutions r reports Senate Bills 690 and 764 Do Pass; Senate Bills 406, 591, 670, 685, 794, 1044 and 1076 Do Pass, as Amended . Senator Fitzgerald , Chalr of the Committee on State Gove rnment Operations, reports Senate Bills 279 , 589 and 862 Do Pass ; Senate Bills 607, 684 and 852 Do Pass r as Amended . Senator Klemm , Chair of the Committee on Executive : reports Senate Bills 493, 1018, 1101 and 1105 Do Pass ; and Senate Bills 479 , 963 and 1019 Do Pass : as Amended . Senator Mahar, Chair of the Committee on Environment and Energy , repo rts Senate B ills 141 , 996 Do Pass ; Senate Jo lnt Resolution 14 (slcl (4) Be Adopted; and Senate Bills 347, 348, 378 , 675, 703, 949 and 1103 Do Pass , as Amended . And Senator Peterson r Chalr of the Comm ittee on Revenue , repores Senate Bills 396, 515: (715, 771) 804 and 1075 Do Pass; Senate Bills 39# 370, 535, 592, 715 (sic), 771 (stcly 785 and 909 Do Pass, as Amended ; and Senate Bill 84, the Motion to Concur With House Amendment 2, Be Adopted .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) For the Members that are still in their offices , the Chair would remind you that we will be go lng to the O rder of Supplemental Calendar No . which has been distributed . It is on the Members ' desks . Shortly , We -- we will be go ing to that order of business , so I would urge a1l Members to please come to the Floor innediately . Senato r Demuzio , what purpose do you rise?
Thank you , M r. Presldent . I'd like the record to reflect that Senator Garcia is not here due to official buslness back in his district.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) 2 STATE 0F ILL INOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 , 1997 Record will so reflect. On Supplemental Calendar No . l is the O rder of Concurrence . Senate B ill 84 . Madam Secretary .
House Amendment No . 2 to Senate Bill 84 . I move to concur with the House in the adoption of their Amendment No . 2 to Senate Bill 84. Offered by Senator Pitzgerald .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Fitzgerald .
Thank youz Mr . President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate . This is a motion to concur in House Amendment No . 2 to Senate Bill 84, and it really is trailer leqislation to House Bill 2702, which we passed in the last Session of the General Assembly , Which affects the Cook County Assessor 's Office . Senate Bill 84, as amended by House Amendment No . 2, would correct the related concerns for the overall effect on the assessment process in Cook County . It would require that specific assessment info rmation be included on the property record for each parcel. Requires the assessor to keep the assessment information for a minimum of ten years . Provides that if the assesso r does not maintakn any of the required informationr the increase ln assessment is invalid . If the assessor increases an assessment, a mailed notice to the affected taxpayer must state the reascn for the increase . This is sim ila r to current requirements in other count ies throughout the State . The amended p rovisions of this 1aw a re f irst to be effective for the 1997 assessments . And I 'd be happy to ansWer any questions .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? Senato r Severns .
Thank you, Mr. President, Members of the Senate. I just Want 3 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 : 1997 to add my voice of support and ' say to Members that th ls concurrence notion passed out of Revenue unanimously . It also is in agreement w ith Assessor Tom Hynes , and and hope that it receives a unanimous vote . Thank you .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further discussion? This is final action. The question is, shall the Senate concur in House Amendment No. 2 to Senate Bill 84 . A11 those in favor will vote Aye . Opposed w ill vote Nay . And the voting is open . Have all voted who wlsh? Have a1l voted who wish? Have a1l voted vho wish? Take the record . On that question, there are 57 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. And the Senate does concur in House Amendment No . 2 to Senate Bill 84, and the bill, havin: received the requ ired constitutional majority, is declared passed. We Will now be going to the Order of Senate Bills 3rd Reading. Senator Philip , what purpose do you rise?
Thank youp Mr . Presidents Ladies and Gentlemen of -- of the Senate . Senator Madigan is out of town on officlal business . like the record to so indicate.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Record Will so reflect . On the middle of page 7 is the Order of Sena te 3il1s 3rd Reading . Sena te Bill Senabor Bomke . Senate B l11 8 . Senato r Radogno . Madam Secretary : read the bill .
Senate B ill 8. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Radogno .
Thank you , M r . President and Lad ies and Gentlemen of the 4 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 Senate . Senate Bill 8 amends the Crlm inal Code and the Vehicle Code to lower the blood alcohol limit at which a driver is presumed to be under the lnfluence o f alcohol ...
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) I beg your pardon , Senator Radogno . Would you keep the discussions down on the Floor? W ill sEaff please remove your discusslons off the Floo r? Senator Radogno . SENATOR RADOGNO : . Tbank you . As I was saying , this bill anends the Criminal and the Vehicle Codes to lower the blood alcohol concentration at which a driver is presumed to be under the influence of alcohol from the current .10 to .08. This leglslation , if passed , w ill save llves on the roads and hlghways in Illino is. That 's not something we often have an opportunlty to do . That 's been the experience in the thirteen other states that have adopted .08 as the blood alcohol standard . Now , .08 will no t solve a11 of ou r problems with drunk d rivers . In add ition to .08 , we should consider such measures as graduated penalties , which will 1et alcohol abusers know that they will be punished y and I look forward to working on those kinds of measures . But even stand tng alone, .08 W lll work to save llves by acting as a deterrent to send a clea r message that driving while intoxicated in Illinois is not permitted and will be punished . It also makes p rosecution and convictlon of .10 offenders , which are now considered borderline , easier. Furthermore , evidence shcws that a reduction ln the blood alcohol concentra tion to .08 reduces fatalities involving drivers w ith blood alcohol concentrations over .15. In other wo rdsz heavy d rinkers are not lmmune to the deterrent effects of this legislation . This legislation does not affect social drinkers , as some have been concerned about . A couple of drinks after Work or a shared bottle of Wine with dinner will not get a person to . 08 . .. 5 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day Ma rch 6 , 1997
PRESIDTNG OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Radogno , I beg your pardon . Will staff please take your conferences off the Floor? We will have decorum on the Senate Floor, or I will ask the -- the Sergeant-at-Arms to remove all unautho rized personnel . Senator Radogno .
Thank ... I 'd like to -- I would like to repeat tha t last point because is an importane one and has ofeen come up , and eha e is that .08 will not affect social drinkers . A couple of drinks after work , sharlng a bottle of wine with d inner will not get a person to .08. It really takes a significant and ' steady consumption of alcohol in order to reach .08 . At a m inimum , it would require a hundred-and-sixty-pound person to drink four d rinks. But it doesn 't rea llv matter how many d rinks takes to get to .08. A t the heart of this matter, the real crux of the issue , is the fact that, at .08, virtua lly all drivers a re significantly tmpaired and pose a danger to themselves and othe r moto rists and pedestrians . In voting on this leg islation, please ask yourself if it should be the public policy of the State of Illinois to knowingly allow impa ired motorists to d rive on our roads . you don 't believe that 's a good public policy , then you should vote affirmatively to lower the blood alcohol level to .08 . Thank you .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any dâscussion? Senator Jacobs .
Tbank you: M r. President, Ladtes and Gentlemen of the Senate . I have a series of questions .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) The sponso r indicates she Will yield . Senator Jacobs .
Let me state by saying ee dre all in this boat together and no 6 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day Ma rch 6 , 1997 one wants to see drunk drivers on the road, and I think what you fre attempting to do, Senator, is -- is a noble effort. But I guess my first question would -- would have to be is you indicated in your comments that this is going to be a deterrent. And , I guess , lowering the blood alcohol level to .08 y how will that save lives? How will it actually save lives?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Radogno .
Well , by increasing the awareness and -- and communieating the intolerance of our State for those d rivers , it inc reases the awa reness of drivers. They use designated d rivers . does not necessarily lower consump tion o f alcohol and tha t 's been experienced in other states but it does reduce the number of folks out there who are w llltng to drive at that blood alcohol level .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Jacobs .
A re al1 drivers equally impaired at .087
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Radogno .
A1l drivers are impaired. Are they equally impalred? I don't know , but virtually a ll d rivers are impa ired . And please remember that driving is not a skill that is a single skill . So you could potentially be able to shoot a game of pooly play a game of cards, carry on a conversatlon , but those are very d ifferent skills than are required when you lre behind the wheel of a car, where you 're using several complex, interrelated skills at one time . And it 's - - it's that ability , to pull al1 that together , that is impaired .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) 7 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 , 1997 Senator Jacobs .
Is it not true that someone could be impaired at .037
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Radogno .
Yes, lt 's certa inly a possibility , and at different body Weights y you may -- you may feel a level of impa irment sooner than . 08 . But .08 is the level at which everyone 's impaired .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Jacobs.
In a recent survey, didn't Mothers Against Drunk Drlvlng (sicl (Drivers) and the advocates of the hlghway and auto safety give Illino is the highest rating in all fifty states for our efforts against drunk driving?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Radogno .
- - am being told that -- that , in fact, they d id ; however, I don 't thlnk that that should be any bar to us imp rov ing our record even further. And if we can save even one life , it 's worth doing .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Jacobs .
What was the blood alcohol level in Illlno is over the last feW years -- what is the ave rage blood alcohol level of those that are arrested for drunk driving?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Radogno .
8 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 The average level is .18 .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Jacobs .
And what is the average nationwide? Do you know that?
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Radogno .
don 't know the answer to that y Senator.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDXCZ) Senator Jacobs.
My understanding , it 's .17 : lt 's a little lower than what they a re here . If the average is , though r .18 and .17 , why Would we want to enlarge the definition of the crime? And shouldn 't we devotey as you -- as you indica ted in your own opening remarks , to go after the the real p roblem tha t we have in the State of Illino is, and that is the two-time offenders , three-time offenders, four-time offenders and the high blood alcohol level? Why don 't We concentra te on that first before we make a crime for other people?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Radogno .
Tha t's a qood question , but as I mentioned in my opening remarkse the impact of lowering the threshold level actually does have an impact on those higher-end blood concentration levels . So we are improving the problem across the board . Secondly , there are about twenty percent of drivers involved in crashes that are not at that high-end level, and we can impact those . Th irdly, as a deterrent effect r again , to lncrease awa reness and let our citizens know that driving while impaired - and againr I stress, STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 everyone is impaired at .08 - is reason alone to pass this legislatlon .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Jacobs .
What percentage of the accident -- the alcohol-related accidents are -- a re caused by drivers over .10? Is that ninety-three percent of those are those that are over .10? Is that correct?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Radogno .
It 's difficult to know that answer for sure , because not everyone who 's involved in a crash ends up belng tested .
PRESIDING OFEICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Jacobs .
Welly according to a report here T have from National Highway Trafflc Safety Adminlstration, ninety-three percent of those driver blood-a lcohol-content-related accidents a re 1 . high -- l .0 or above , and forty-three pe rcent of those are at .20. In -- in reference to the econom ics of this proposal - because everything we do in these cases does have a -- a backlash of some sort - what would you say would be the loss - jobs, lost revenues - in this State due to going to a .08? Do you have any handle at al1 on that?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Radogno .
If I may , I 'd like to add ress what you -- the other statistics you just mentioned. If khat youdre saying is accurater and I believe it isr there are still seven percent, then , of crashes 10 STATE OP ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCR IPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 that are due to folks with a blood alcohol concentratlon under .10 percent. So , aga in : there 's reason alone . We can save lives by reducing this . It will not solve the entire problem . don 't -- am not tryin: to say that. With respect to loss of jobs or economic impact of doing th is , do no t believe there will be any . As I mentioned earlierr the impact in other states that have this is that there is no change in consumption . So I think we can safely assume that what 's happening is people are , one , either consuming alcohol at home , or using designated drivers.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Jacobs .
The statlstics we have states the State of Califo rnia experienced a decrease of consumption of six pe rcent below the nationa l average. If Illino is had a similar experience, it is expected to -- to lose between eighteen thousand and twenty thousand jobs, three hundred and fifty 'million dollars in lost waqes, and seventy-five mlllton in lost tax monies. And the problem I still think existsy that it Won 't make our roads any safer, and that 's the sad part . But me ask you another question. You indicated earlier that this will not affect the casual drinker. It 's my understanding , lf you have four drinks in one hour, you 're going to be considered over .08. Is that co rrect?
PRESIDING OEFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Radogno .
ïou may be. That is the minimum that it would take.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Jacobs.
Okay . So to get back to the social drinker a little bit, if I STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day Ma rch 6 , 1997 go to -- if my wife and I go to a wedd ing reeep tion and we have two glasses o f champagne When we come in , and we sit down a little later, maybe have a couple glasses of wine with the dinner that they 're having at the wedding , and two and a half hours later or so maybe have an after-dinner drink and I get ready to go home , am I over .08?
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Radogno .
Senato r, you most likely will not be over .08 , because you 're talking abcut a period of time of four or more hours . The body metabolizes one drink per hour. So you need to not only start drinking fast and furious y but you need to keep it up in o rde r to get and maintain .08.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Jacobs .
I think the fact of the matter is, though , as you -- you drink a drink , you p ick up .025 for a drink tha t you drink and you lose less than one percent per hour. So under the scenario that pa inted, I think you Would be over .08. have a quote here from the Chicago -- I mean, excuse me , from the Decatur Herald & Review which Secretary of State Geo rge Ryan stated that .08 ...
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) I beg your pardon, Senato r Jacobs. Ladies and Gentlemen, the sponsor of the bill is indicating she can 't even hear the question. Please keep your voices down or I Will ask all staff that is not involved in th ls leglslation to leave the Floo r.
I have a quote from the Deea tur Herald & Review which Secretary of State George Ryan states that .08 Would be just - and - - and I 'm quoting here ''a first step towa rd .05,% If this b ill 12 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6: 1997 is signed into law , w ill you sponso r the Secretary 's p roposal for . 057
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Radogno .
I have no intention of sponsoring that . I would have to be convinced , as I am about .08y that all drivers are impaired and that that shculd be the public policy of this State . I don 't know or believe that about .05.
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Jacobs .
You dve seen the -- the public op inion poll that was conducted by the Sun-Times and the question was : Should the State lower the threshold for being considered legally drunk? And the numbers were Yes , eleven percent ; No , eighty-nine percent. And the only reason I bring that up , because I think that there was an allusion that this was a -- a human outcry from the public and those figures don 't seem to ind icate that, Senator . Are you aware of that?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Radogno . '
I am no t aware of that poll; however , the Kemper Insurance Company also conducted a poll that indicated that there is over sixty-percent popular support for this measure . I also think it 's important to note tbat when people know the facts and have actually -- and a number of folks in this Chanber have had an opportunity to experience this and are convinced that .08 does no t constitute social drinking and that there is clearly a level of impairment; that with that knowledge , their opinion may change .
PRESIDING OFFTCER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) 13 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 Senato r Jacobs .
I 'm -- I 'n not going to belabor this a lot longe r. In fact, thatfs bastcally my last question . But as I view this b illr 1'11 tell you what I rea lly see this bill to be . As we indicated, Illinois already has one of the best programs in the State (slc) because George Ryan and and , even before him , our -- our previous Secretary of State have done an excellent job toward reducing the problems of drunk driving , and I think they are to be applauded . But a11 of a sudden - all of a sudden MADD comes along and says y HGeo rge , you 're an A . A11 you 've got to do is give us .08 and you 're going to be an A+ .'' But and behold , this Legislature, fo r a couple of yea rs , d idn 't give the .08 . So although We 're still one of the best, Whoopsr George slips down . That 's not fair to thls Secretary of State . I think it 's the wrong d ireçtion, and I think that we are to be eommended on the job we have done in the area of drunk driving. But to the bill: In this bill, there is no treatment : there are no educational % provisions to ensure tha t we teach not only our ch ildren, but to teach our adults that they shouldn't drlve and drink or drink and drive , that they should not do that . I think that education that ls coming along the line has allowed , as see thls -- the figures , a reduetion overall in DUI because of educationy but there 's none of that in this b ill. think going after the high-end users and the repea t offenders is the way to go . But, you know , even with thaty I 'm not going to stand in front of this Body and tell you that passage of that legislation fo r tougher fines and tougher restrictions on those people will save lives, because we currently have .l0 and We 're killing people every day . So, we have not been able to deter just by doing that. I think this bill should go much further. We need to truly figure out a better solution to make sure our roads are safe from drunk 14 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day Ma rch 6 , 1997 drivers, and I honestly do not see how this action , this bill , Will do anymo re than to give the Secretary of State a A+ and a bump in MADD 'S rating and therefore , ask for a No vo te .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) WCIA and WAND have requested permission to tape the proceedings. Hearing no objection, leave is granted. Further discussion? Senator Fawell .
Thank you very much . Last night , four of us tried to go out and get drunk at a .08. I didn 't succeed . I had four bourbons in an hour and a half - four shots of bourbon , bourbon and ginger ale ; that 's al1 I could cansume , very frankly - and I got up to a . 04 . Four shots in an hour and a halfr and I got up to .04 . couldn 't -- was getting dizzy and I couldn 't drink anymore . This Was a ccntrolled test, by the way , so everythin; was measured out , and we were not allowed to drive afterwards . Senato r Cullerton and Senator Halvo rson split tWo bottles of wine . Senator Cullerton got up to a .07 : Senator Halvcrson, I believe , d id get up to a .09 . And that was over a two-hour, two-and-a-half-hour pe riod . We were a1l eating , by the way . We were -- We were eating -- We had pizza , but not that mueh, and Senato r Donahue also . And I -- I 'm not sure what she reg istered by the end of the evening , but I 'm sure she 'd be happy to to pass that knowledge on. My point is : I don 't know social drinkers that sit down for a dinner and each consume one Whole bottle of w ine over a period of d inner and not even reach what we are talking aboue. I did noe attempt the driver's test after I reached .04 . 1, frankly , was dizzy , and anyway , as I have tried to explain to my Transportakion Committee, I 'm sho rt and T couldn 'e see the cones , and they wanted me to back up . And after I attempted it , the State policeman who Was in the car w ith me suqgested maybe I -- I ouçht to -- I ought to forget it y because 15 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 , 1997 kasn't doing a very gocd job. And that was when I was cold sober. So -- but -- but the others did go out and -- and try and drive . I understand -- I think John did a -- a very good job; I think Debbie did not do quite as good a job. But the bottom line isy we were all impaired . I would hate to have gotten into my car and attenp ted to drive back at that point . I kas not allowed to , and rightfully so. And I was just ak .04. Granted, I'm not a great drlnkerr but nevertheless , I registered .04. I th ink this is indeed needed . We have heard testlmony year afker year in the Transpo rtation Comm ittee . I would suggest to anybody that questions whether that is social drinking , go and do the sane th ing . It's ktnd of a fun evening . By the time you 're through , you don 't really care whether you -- where you are y but it -- it certainly proves that you are impaired at that point. I think this is an excellent bill and is long overdue , and I urge an -- an Aye vote for it.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDXCZ) Any further discussion? Senator Cullerton .
Yes, thank you , M r. Speaker, Members of the Senate . I think that it's goqd to; perhaps, concede that there has been a little bit of an exaggeration on both sides of the -- this issue . T llstened ca refully to Senator Jacobs ' points, and I -- I think it 's true that -- that the -- the most dan:erous d rivers who are drunk are people who are at a blood level alcohol level of about 1 .5, 1 .6 , and pe rhaps we should continue to look at our laws to see if we should even make our pena lties even tougher for those people . But I've always felt that at .08 , I belteved , that people are impaired and they ought not to be d riving . I also have in my dlstrlct probably more restaurants khan anybody would have in -- in thetr district, given that I have the Loop in Chicago and the North Side , and I 'm very concerned about the fact that the 16 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 reseaurant association has been saylng that if we pass this b1ll, that people are going to no t they dll be fearful, they won 't go out and they won 't drink as much as they otherwise would , and there'll be the loss of jobs and money, as Senator Jacobs described . So , quite frankly, had never taken a Breathalyzer test, and I was very curious to see khat would happen , and that 's why we did this last night. And we tried to simulate a situation where if took my wife out for dinner and we declded whether or not we were going to have some wine , khether or not I 'd o rder a bottle of wine or whether o r not I 'd order wine by the glass , so wouldn't -- wouldn 't be able to have a full bottle . So we Senator Halvo rson played the role of my wife last night, and it was very -- it was very realistic . She started complaining about how I neve r was home , how I don 't give her enough money fo r the kids . It was -- Was very realistic . But -- but We sat down and we -- we bought a nealy and we sat and -- and ate it while We shared this bottle of kine. We first took the Breathalyzer test at 7 o 'clock . We were obviously .00 r to prove that we didn 't have anything our -- blood alcohol, and then at after finishing this bottle of wine : at 8 o 'clock We took the Breathalyzer test . She was at .047 was at .03y and we had finlshed a bottle o f wine . So we said , ''Let 's have another bottle of wine''# and we did . So then we drank the second bottle of Wine . Sa now we 've each had a bottle of wlne . At that po int, it was 9 o 'clock ; I was at .06 . I still had a couple of points left. I could have gone out drinkinq some mo re . She was at .09 and r I'd say , a little giggly. And then We went out in this car and she -- with the State trooper, and she started running over these cones . And did not want to be in that car with her drlving , unless it was under these controlled circumstances . So the bottom line is, I drank a full bottle of wine and I stopped drinking at 8 :35 . In an hour and a half, I had a full bo ttle of wine; and T Was a t .06 17 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 , 1997 NoW , some people are suspicious, so I got to tell you that when we came back in at 9:30 , I took the Breathalyzer aga tn , and I went up to .07. So that Was the maximum I got to , didn 't have anything more to drink , but the -- the alcohol got -- more alcohol got into the bloodstream . So I was at .07. Sena tor Halvorson 's came down from .09 to So at that po int r after an hour and a half, drinking a full bottle of wine - each of us - we were at . 07 . think that the -- the message here is that I don 't think that's social drinklng . We were impaired , yet I was still legal , and even under this bill , I would still be lega l, fo r me to go out and -- and drive . So , the message , I think , to the people in the restaurant industry and to the public is that you can still go out and be a soclal d rinker and thaty to me , ls rea lly a lot of alcohol - and you can still be Within the law . And fo r that reason , think we really ought to pass the blll. There -- it 's only seven percent or three percent of the people who are stopped and found to be at this level, those people -- they are not able to operate that veh icle as safely as someone who 's at who 's at a lower level. It may save some lives . It fll probably save some lives . I don 't think it 'll have the lmpact of losin: the jobs that -- that is feared, and I think, in general, When the wo rd gets out that this is really how much pecple can -- can d rtnk and still be under the law , that they 'll find that it 's -- it 's somethlng they can live with . Fo r tha t reason, I would ask for an Aye vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further d iscussion? Senator Petka .
Thank you r Mr. President and Members of the Senate . It is very dlfflcult in the morning , wa lking into the Rotunda , coming in on the north end , Where we see posters of victims of drunk drivers standing on the wall - each and every one of those faces that 's 18 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day Mareh 6 , 1997 looking back at us as we try to understand the mystery of why they uere severely injured or, in most instances, they were killed. We try to search there is somethlng that we can do or something we should have done that may have perhaps made Ehat tragedy go away . But I think that before we pass this bill out, and I do believe that right now there are votes to send this bill out, that we ought to think about *he law of unintended consequences. You may ask What I mean by tha t. That is where we pass legislation that has a certa in specific goal but we do not understand that there are certain consequences ateached to tha e which may give us the exact opposite result. A fek years back , Congress passed legislation that was going to tax the rich and they decided to tax yachts . It was fifty thousand dollars on cars and yachts . Congress , Within a period of time , realized that ninety percent of the people who We re buying those things slmply stopped buy lnq , and they put a 1ot of people out of Work . I don 't believe that this is an economic argument, but I do believe that there is an unintended consequence that will necessarily result from this . Right now , on the books in the State of Illinois , a perscn between . 5 (sicl (.05) and is in a gray area and can be prosecuted. They can be stopped by troopers and by peace officers throughout the State. They will be subjected to field tests, hauled into the police staeion and required to take a Breatha lyzer, and only at that point in time will the presumption be activated . But you may say , ''Well, so what?'' Here is where the unintended ccnsequence comes. believe that iE is irrefutable tha t those indivlduals who have been killed invariably are killed by drunk drivers whose blood alcohol reading is literally off the R lchter scale very high blood alcohol counts , in excess of .20 . prosecuted cases of reekless hom icide where the blood alcohol reading , believe it or not, was in excess of .30, where people were almost comatose and driving vehicles . This legislation w ill have noth ing to do 19 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCR IPT 18th Leg islative Day March 6 , 1997 W1th that - absolutely nothing to do . But wha t will do is require prosecution resou rces to be expended on indlviduals who are at .08 and .09 , people who inva riably wl1l try to beat the system by asking for trlals . And so what w1ll happen eo those individuals who should not be behind the Wheels of a car because they are a clear and present danger to the citizens of our -- of our State not only on the highway , but those people who are right next to the roadway? Those individuals will be able to -- because of laek of prosecution resources z they 'll be able to plea-bargain their cases . And make no mistake about it: They will simply stack up our jury trials and our bench trial calendars, and they will be able to ualk in and prosecutors will have no choice but to cut them a deal so that they can focus the resources of their office at .08 and .09. And I think this is the real danger of this legislation . Now : I understand that the sound in the d istance is that of a tra in and it 's on the track, and I simply wank to be a voice of dissent to tell ycu that in my opinion , that when this bill passes and is signed by the Governor, that it will have the unintended consequence of having people who should be prosecuted and seùerely -- and we have put in mechanisms in this State over the last several years . Senator Hawkinson sponsored one of the best anti-d runk-driving bills that we 've ever passed , and that is do ing away with court supervision in this State for a second-timer; you only çet one bite a t the apple . That , in my opinion , will have more effect on on drunk driving and prosecution of drunk driving than thls legislation . So , you know , the ar:ument may be r ''Wel1y you have a little b i* o f salt, that 's real gcod for you r but if ycu dump a 1ot of salt on the plate y it 's not necessa rily qood for you .'' My colleagues in the Senate : before you cast this vote r please -- p lease understand that the unintended consequence may be that you Will make the roads of the State of Illinois a -- even more dangerous because 20 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 people that should be p rosecuted with the full resources of the police power of this State may be able to escape . will vote No .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further discussion? Senator Shadid.
. . . Mr . President. Will the sponsor yield?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Sponsor ind icates she. will yleld . Senato r Shadid .
Senatorr do you have the numbers fo r the amount of people who are presently arrested on .08 our State?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Radogno .
No , don 't have those , and of course , those would be folks that would be arrested not at the per se level, because the per se level is still .10 . So -- and I don 't have numbers of folks that are arrested and p rosecuted at .08 right now .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Shad td .
Senator Petka talked on this , and I won 't belabor it, but he - - he also mentioned , as a former State 's attorney r that people are p resently beinç arrested for .08 . And so folks understand what goes on : When the police officer sees someone driv lng in an erratic manner or -- o r violates a minor lau : he will stop them ; he smells alcohol, he'll ask them to get out of the car and do a field sobriety test. And if they fail the field sobriety test: he takes them to the police station and qives them a Breathalyzer test , if they agree to take it . That is When it's determined whether they 're .08 or .l0 or .15. They a re arrested for DUI it 's .08 y and the State 's attorney will then make a decision based 21 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Leg islative Day March 1997 on all the evidence and the circumstances whether he 's go ing to prosecute or not. A nd I think that 's sufficient . It 's -- I Would like to see ... And I voted , by the way, for the b ill that Senator Petka mentioned , Senator Hawkinson 's bill last year, where you only get one shot at supervision r and I think that will deter it . think we shculd also be looking at graduated penalties . th ink there 's a bill com ing over from the House nou that I will suppo rt that has graduated penalties for repeat offenders . think khis is what we should be looking at, not people at .08 that can presently be arrested , and if the State 's atto rney wants to charge them , they go to trial. I don 't thtnk Ehey 've p roven the po lnt to me that reducing it to .08 is going to have that big of lmpact on DUIs . So T would encourage a No vote . Thank you .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further d iscussion? Senator Butler .
Thank you very much , M r. President. It 's kind of an interesting debate going on herer and yet I think Wedre -- Webre missin: the main po int of this whole th ing . The question is is ... Let me make several points y guess . One is , vhat is the intended consequence of this bill? The intended consequence is to save lives to save lives. And 1, like Senator Petka , walk by ' the -- the MADD d isplay downstairs every morning , and I tell you, it's enough to b ring tears to your eyes because you know every one of those persons was a live, vib rant person and their death was caused by somebody who had too much to d rink . On -- the other polnt I'd like to make is that I'm a little surprised ehat this -- that even the econom ic consequences of this have been brought up . Again , I have to go back : The intention of this btll is to save lives. Without it, do We save jobs? What kind of an argument is that, if you 'll pardon that blunt statement? The intention here to save lives, not to save -- not to save jobs. You know, if 22 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCR IPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 that we re true, lf that was a legitimate concern about saving jobs, maybe we a11 ought to walk before that MAD (sicl every once in a wh ile and say, ''Thank you . Each one of you contributed to the economic well-being of thls -- of this State . You d led for a good cause, because you saved jobs.'' think this -- I thlnk this is a -- a good bill. One more point, on education : Listen, you 'd have to have an IQ of -- the single digits the single diqits - no t to understand that when you drink -- you 're -- you 're driving and and drive , you 're drivlng impaired . Who in the world doesn 't know that? thlnk you can take any ten-year-old kid and they 'll tell you that . So We can stall this fo r as long as we want, but ultimately we 're responsible fo r damaging or even or even the even death . And think th is is -- if we only save ten livesr one life , it 's well worth it, and I dcn 't think we'll lose one job because, as Senator Fawell is a living exampley there a re people who will have fun and -- and have a reasonable , good chance of not killing anybody . So let 's vote for thls . What -- what can we do other than to save lives?
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further discussion? Senator Mola ro .
Well, thank your M r. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. would -- just a light question firstr then 1111 make comments . I assume the effectlve date of this will be after St. Patrick 's Day , March 17th . After that being said , you kncw , we dre - - we bre talking about a couple of questions like first thing is, What's impaired? I just want to make sure that the sponsor said that .04 someone may be impaired . Well , we live in a mob ile society today . Neighborhood bars are gone, nelghborhood bowling a lley . People walking to places are gone . As a matter of fact, we 've almost become partners with the liquor industry . We 've taxed so much that when -- When consumption does drop , so does 23 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 , 1997 our budget. You know , now , when -- ue used to have neighborhocd bars . You try to open up a neighbo rhood ba r in the City of Chicagow it 's next to impossible . The Mayor doesn 't van t 'em ; nobody wants these neighborhcod bars. So you kncw Where they 're a1l going? TGIF 's, Bennigan 's, al1 these places; they 're going to the malls. So if you want to open up a ba r, let 's say Wild Onion or -- or Cad illac Ranch or whatever these ba rs are , you Want to open them up in these places, to get the proper zoning , you have to have a certa in number of parking spaces or ycu don 't get the license. So if you 're golng to have a bar and the only -- only way you can get a license is you 've got to have enough parking spaces where peop le could drive to the bar to get drunk and then go back in their ca r. Now , I th ink that 's what Senator Jacobs was talking about. This issue about drinking and d riving is a very : very difficult decision in our society because we have trad itions clashlng . That's what we have here . We have these long-standing traditions about drinking in our soclety and they 're startin: to clash With the way society Wants to change thinçs . Well let 's not fool anybody here . Let's not fool anybody . If .04 is impaired in some people, then they shouldn 't be driving a ca r. So , T 'm he re to tell you , in my opinion, I don 't know lf it 's .08 : .04y .l5 to some people . The answer is and I thtnk what We 're saying tcday by vcting Yes, wh ich ... Am I go tng off and on?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Mola ro , on Senator DeLeo 's m ike .
Okay . By voting Yes today , What we 're doing is we fre saylng , ''Social drinkersr beware .'' Now : even though some of the Senators in this Chambers may have went and had a bottle of Wine and they didn 't get up to .08, that doesn 't mean other peop le do or don 't and can 't get to that level. We are say tng , ''Social drinkers , bewa re .'' It 's pretty strange that we had twc State 's attorneys in 24 I STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 our Chamber to ex-state 's attorneys and a sheriff votlng No and speaktng against it. Law enforcement people seem to be against this bill because they know what it is doins . We are telling social drinkers, ''Beware.'' We are saying the tradition of going ko a bowling alley and having four or five drinks and then go ing to drive your car, it 's over, can 't do it anymore . We dre taking the back end of these traditions - not the traditions . You still Want to go out and get drunk and Raybe get tc where you would be . 20, go ahead, but you can 't drlve a car. You want to go to a wedding and have four or five drinks , don 't drive a car. Hire a limousine . You want to go bowltng and have five, six drinksr can't do Hire a limousine. You Want to go out and just have pizza with your friends, ean 't do It's over. The party 's over. That 's the idea . We dre clashing trad itions here , and khink wha : we 're saying - and I Would have to say histo ry is going to prove the people who vote Yes risht - we 're saying in today 's society , where everything is mobile y where you can 't go walking places, here 's the thing : You want eo go drink and have fun , go ahead # but you cannot drive a car. I said this in comm ittee and think I have to repeat it here today , that thirty : forty years from now when we do get down to .02 - and that's where it's going to be ; there 's .l5y then .10, now .08, and even our sponso r said you could be .04 and be impaired it 's going to be to the day where is îo in: be zero tolerance . The liquor industry people , be prepared for We 're going there, and it 's zero tolerance , and I think history is gokng to be on our side . If you kant Eo go out and have a couple of beers o r a bottle of wine or a half a bottle of Wine, you cannot drive . Let 's not fool people and say , ''Hey , you can have a bottle of wine and still it 's okay; you 'll only be .06 or .07 .'' We can 't play those games . You Want to have wine, you can't drink (sicl. And think forty, fifty years from now , we are going to have our grandchildren say ing , 25 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL A SSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 ''Hey, you mean back in the sevenïles and eighties and nineties you were able to have w ine and beer and still legally go out and d rive?'l They 're not going to belteve us . History will show us that even if you 're the least bit impaired , you shouldn 't be -- go behind the wheel of a ca rr and I think we should vote Yes .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further discussion? Senator Hawkinson .
Thank you, Mr. Presldent . I 'm only speaklng today because some of the speakers, think, have left the impression , and certalnly much of the publicity surrounding this issue have left the impression , that today it 's okay to go out and drink if you 're at .08. Well , we 've made grea e strides over the past decade under former Secretary of State and now Governor Jim Edgar and current Secretary of State George Ryan . I sponsored and cospcnsored many of the former 's legislation to enact our summary statutory driver's license suspension, get us away frcm two tests down to one test, making it an automatic conviction now under Illinots 1aw if you blow a -- blow .10. It used to be it was only a presumption you were at .10; now it 's automatic . Some of ehe speakers have indicated that they may be impatred at .04 or .03 or . 04 or .06 or .07 and have not said so y but left the impression that, well, you dre still not çolng to be at polnt okay -- so it 's -- you fre okay . Well, it 's not . Senator Shad id and my former State 's attorney , Senator Petka , have ind icated , and I agree , that anybody Who 's impaired, at whatever level -- blood alcohol level, should be prosecuted if they dre driving , whe ther they dre at .08, . 06. If you 're impaired z you should be prosecuted , and good State 's attorneys will prosecute you if you 're at .06 today or at . 08 . Th is debate is about Whether you should be automatically guilty if you 're at .08 . It 's not whether we can p rosecute you . We can already do that, and we do . The question is, should you be 26 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCR IPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 automatically guilty at .087 that 's the issue today . So you shouldn 't go out and drink impaired at .04 o r at .06 because you will be p rosecuted . As Senator Shad id no ted , experienced police officers , When you are stopped y are going to have you take the field sobriety test, or if they smell the llquo r, or you have the bloodshot eyes, or you cannot Walk the line straigh t, o r you xcannot close your eyes and touch your nose With fingers . You will do a1l those things. There 's also the evidence of hoW you 're driving . If you dre hittlng the cones or you 're weavlng , that is also evidence that can be used to prosecute you . So everybody should be prosecuted in this State if they take any drinks , as Senator Butler suggested y and ehey a re impa ired , and they are today prosecuted . Now , there are arguments that obviously if you make it an automatic conviction, it's going to be easier to prosecute you . But at some point, soclety has to decide where to draw the line . was the sponsor of Secreta ry Ryan 's zero tolerance bill for young men and women under twenty-one because the law doesn't allow them to drive (sic) and there should be zero tolerance as a matter of public policy . But the current law states we have presumptions , we have areas o f no presumptions . But let 's be elear that you can and are prosecuted at .08 today . This is simply a debate as to where we draw the line and say you have no defense ; you 're automatically guilty a t a certain blood alcohol level. PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further discussion? Senato r Geo-Karis . SENATOR GEO-KARIS : Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate y a couple of months aço , I Was a guest at the Tavern Keepers ' dinner, and I thought, too , that their b ill of graduated penalties Would be a good one to consider. Just recently a young lady by the name of Ma rissa Mueller, of A ntioch , age eleven, who was an outstanding 27 STATE OF TLLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 gymnast, Was in a backseat of a car, the car was rammed by this drunk , Who had been in and out of -- and out and probably got by with it befo re, and kllled this llttle girl . Let me tell you , that brought it home very much. I can agree with Senator Hawkinson 's statements w but I think, as Senator Butler sald , the question here is if it 's a possib ility to save lives . might tell you that happened to be in the Transpo rtation Comm ittee waiting to have my bills heard and I heard the testimony of Senator Radogno and Representative Lyons Who testified how impa ired they Were when they were under .08, after they had six o r seven drinks . There 's no question that your -- your driving is impaired . It's -- you have to have your reflexes a1l about you , and when you fre in that position, don 't th ink you 're safe . You bre not safe for yourself . You lre not safe fo r others . think r too , that if this ccmes through witb gradua ted penalties , T 'm going to vote for that, tooe and let the Governo r choose which one he feels Will help the most. think this a bill worthwhile considering. And I apologize to my Tavern Keeper friends and to my restaurant friends, because I am going to vote for thls bill considering the fact that the ma in thing is if it 's a possib ility to save lives r We should do it .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further discussion? not , Senato r Radogno , to close . SENATOR RADOGNO : Thank you . And this haS been a really great discussion, and to be honest, there 's a loe of points that I aqree with the opposition on. We have done a great job in the State of Illinois of raising awareness of drunk driving and keeping our roads as safe as possible, but we can do a better job. think the coneept of graduated penalties, as has been discussed r is a -- is a g rea t one, and I'd be willing to Work with and sponsor legislation in tha t rega rd , in addition to .08. It 's definitely a good plan . 28 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 , 1997 There 's been a lo t of emphasis though in this discussion on how fast one gets to .08, whether it's social drinking or not social drinking , and there is a lot of variability in that. Certa inly , Shaquille O 'Neal can drink a 1ot more than Kerri Strug . But the point really isn 't how fast you get there . The point goes back to impairment. You should not be driving a car at .08 , and the reason you shouldn 't be drivins a car at .08 is because you can kill you rselfz you can kill other -- other moto rists and you can kill pedestrians. A1l d rivers are impaired . Now , Senato r Hawkinson raised an excellent po int in terms of we dre talking about a t what point is someone automatically considered guilty . Right now it 's at Many years ago We had no line of demarca tion at all . I mean r there was no blood alcohcl level at which one could be arrested and presumed to be under the influence . In some states , and frankly I don 't recall if it was Illinois, it was .l5 at one point. But as we gain more knowledge and understanding about the effects of alcohol on the body and we 're able to understand nedieal research and in -- perceptual tests better, we find that we need to adjust our thinking and we need to bring this threshold blood alcohol level in line w1th our knowledge . So , I do believe , since we know virtually a1l drivers a re impa ired at .08 and since they can people and by lowering that level we have the potential to save lives r that We should go ahead and pass this bill. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) The questlon is , shall Senate Bill 8 pass. All those in favor w1ll vote Aye . Opposed w ill vote Nay . And the vo ting ls open . Have all voted Who wish? Have a1l voted who wish? Have all voted who Wish? Take the record . On that question , there are 48 Ayes r 8 Nays, none votlng P resent. And Senate B ill 8, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. On the Order of Senate... On the Order of Senate Bills 3rd Rexding, 29 STATE 0F ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Leg islative Day March 6, 1997 Sena te Bill 16. Senato r Fawell . Senator Fawell . Senato r Philip : what purpose do you rise?
Thank -- thank you y M r. President, Lad ies and Gentlemen of the Senate . I 'd like to introduce the outstanding Secretary of State for the State of Illinois r the Honorable George Ryan .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Welcome to the Senate, Mr. Secreta ry . Senate B ill 16 . Senato r Fawell. Madam Secreta ry r read the bill .
Senate Bill 16... PRESTDING OFFICER) (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Ladies and Gentlemen , we will be continuing on the Order of Senate Bills 3rd Reading app roximately till -- till 2 o 'clock this afternoon . Madam Secretary , read the bill .
Senate Bill l6. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the btll.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Fawell .
Thank you very much . This legtslation was brouîht to me by the Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers . Actually , this ls one of our fo rmer colleague 's b ills , Babe -- Babe Woodyard .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) I beg your pardonz Senator Fawell. Senator Fawell.
Thls was a bill that Babe had orig inally , and he asked me to cosponsor it. Basically what it does is it puts ou r -- our producers of agg regate products on the same level as the coal mining ind ustry . It will allow that the new -- the -- the taxes 30 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day Ma reh 6 , 1997 for the mach inery that is used to produce the rocksy effecty in a gravel pit ki1l not be taxed, just as the machinery that is used to produce coal is also not taxed . 1 '11 be glad to answer any questions, and I would solicit an Aye vo te .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDZCZ) Is there any discussion? If not , the question is , shall Senate Bill 16 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye . Opposed will vote Nay . The voting ls open. Have all voted who W ish? Have al1 voted Whc wish? Have a1l voted who w ish? Take the record . On that question r there are 50 Ayes : 3 Nays and 3 voting Present. And Senate Bi11 16, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 20. Senator Garcia . Senator Peterson, on Senate Bill Madam Secretary y read the b lll.
Senate Bill 36 . (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Peterson .
Thank you, M r. President. Under current law , the Senio r Citizens Assessment Freeze and (sicl Homestead Exemption allcws eligible property taxpayers to claim an exemption deduction from assessed valuation in amount...
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) I beg your pardon , Senator Peterson . Senator Peterson . SENATOR PETERSON ) Thank you, Mr. President. This b ill would freeze -- deals with the assessment freeze on the homestead exemp tion . Eligible property taxpayers that are at least sixty-five years of age w1th a total household incame of thirty-five thousand or less are 31 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT I 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 eligible. Currently , the Cook County Assesso r is required to annually give notice of the application period by mail or by publication. There is no such requirement of the Chief County Assessment O fficer in any other county in Illinois . This b 111 would requ tre the other chlef assessment officers in Illinois to publish, at least sixty days bue no more than seventy-five days prior to the date on Which the application must be submitted , and the notice would appear in a paper of general clrculation in the county . I ask for a favorable roll call . PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any discussion? Senator Hawkinson . SENATOR HAWKINSON : Thank you , M r. President. Will sponsor yield for a questlon? PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Sponsor indicates he wll1 yield . Senatc r Hawkinson. SENATOR HAWKINSON : Senator - locking where you were last year - I passed a bill last week Which would -- would îive the local assessors the flexibility to change the date to make it conform with the o ther senior assessments for homestead exempelons. Just -- just vant to make sure that this bill doesn 't reset a date which would -- Would then have the effect of nullifying that legislation . 1 ... PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Peterson. SENATOR PETERSON : No , it doesn 't set a specific date . All it says ls that at -- at least sixty days but no more than seventy-five days prior to the date on which the application must be subm itted . So tha t would take care of your inquiry . PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further d iscussion? If not, the question is # shall Senate Bill 36 pass . A1l those in favo r Will vote Aye . Opposed Will 32 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Leglslative Day March 6, 1997 vote Nay. And the voting is 6pen. Have a1l voted who wish? Have all voted Who wish? Have a ll voted who wish? Take the record . On that question , there are 56 Ayes , no Nays, none voting Present . And Senate Bi11 36 r having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 55. Senator Mahar. Senate B111 56 . Senate Bill 67 . Senator Watson . Senato r Watson . Senate Bill 69 . Senato r Watson . Sena tor Watson . Senate Bill 83 . Senato r Parker. Madam Secretary , read the bill.
Senate Bill 83. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Parker .
Thank you , Mr. President , Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate . This is an income tax checkoff bill and there are two compcnents to it. One is for mental health research ; the other is for cancer research for children . This did pass this Senate Chamber last year unanlmously . The only change in this bill is for ehe second checkoff y for cancer resea rch , which is d ifferent from last year, the only difference is We have expanded it to include cancer wellness centers . There are presently only five checkoffs on the income tax form that w 1ll be avallable fo r the com ing year . There are usually at least spaces for elght. So we do think that these are two good things that we should have for checkoffsr and I Will answer any questions .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? If not, the question is , shall Senate Bill 83 pass . A1l those in favor will vote Aye . Opposed will vote Nay . And the voting is open . Have all voted Who Wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted Who wlsh? Take the record . 33 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 On that question, there are 56 Ayes , no Nays, none voting Present. And Senate Bill 83, havlng received the requlred constitutional majority, is declared passed. On top of page 8, on the Order of Senate Bills 3rd Reading, is Senate Bill 108 . Senator Burzynski . Madam Secretary : read the bill .
Senate Bill 108 . (Secretary reads title of b1ll) 3rd Reading of the bill .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Burzynski .
Thank you , M r. Presldent, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate . Basically thls bill just requires that license numbers be used when advertising for locksm iths . Be more than happy to ansker any questions .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any discussion? If notr the question is, shall Senate Bill ... Senator Hawkinson .
Will the sponso r yield?
PRESIDING OFPICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Sponso r indicates he Will yield . Senator Hawkinson .
Senator, many of us were surprised to find that We were licensing locksmiths after last year and have had a numbe r of our smaller locksmiths call and complain that they had no input, that they 're overregulated, higher bond. What new requirenents noW are we puttlng on locksmiths here that we dre going to get complaints about?
PRESIDING OFPICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Burzynski. 34 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 , 1997
That's a very good question , Senato r Hawkinson. There 's no new requirementy other than -- no financial requirement, other than when they advertise y Yellow Pages r et cetera , that they publish their llcense number along with their -- in their advertisements .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Hawkinson .
Are you willing to hold this bill to reexamine the question of some of the requirenents that we dre putting on some of the smaller locksmiths and some of the prohibitions that we 're putting on our pollce depa rtments , and perhaps consider amendment, or the alternative, to make those kinds of considerations in the House?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Burzynski.
Senator, Idd be more than happy to do that . I I1d like to move the bill out r but: yesz I think you raise some very valid kuestions. As Chairman of the Licensed Activlties Committee, agree . There are a lot of licensing thinqs going on now that agree With that perhaps we could downsize those or at least take them out of the llcensure progran . So r y'es.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDVCZ) Any further discussion? If not, the question is, shall Senate Blll 108 pass . A 11 those in favo r Will vote Aye . Opposed Will vote Nay . And the voting is open . Have a11 voted Who w ish? Have all voted Who wish? Rave a11 voted who wlsh? Take the record . On that questionr there are 49 Ayes , 4 Nays and voting Present. And Senate Bill 108, having received the requ ired constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 109. Senator Syverson. Madam Secreta ry y read the bill . 35 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCR IPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997
Senate B ill 109 . (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Syverson .
Thank you , M r. President and Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. Over the last few years this Body has done a gocd job in passing legislation to make our streets safer for our children and for our families . We 've passed programs such as truth-in-sentencing , the Sex O ffender Registration Act, drive-by shooting legislation, to increase those penaltles. We 've made progress . But one a rea that needs more wo rk is in the a rea of protecting women and children r especially in thelr own homes . Senate Bill l09 is a step in making homes safer for fam ilies . Tt 's a tool in figh ting domestic violence. Senate Bi11 109 creates a new category which provides that involuntary manslaughter in which the victim was a fam ily member or household member would become a Class 2 felony , which would inc rease the sentencing to not more than fourteen years . I think this is a good pieee of leqlslation . I appreciate all the cosponsors that we 've had on this. Be happy to answer any questions that you m ight have .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? If not, the question is , shall Senate Bi11 109 pass . A11 those in favor w ill vote Aye . Opposed will vote Nay . And the voting is open . Have all voted who wish? . Have all voted who wish? Have a11 voted who Wish? Take the record . On that question , there are 55 Ayes y no Naysy none vo ting P resent. And Senate Bill 109, having received the required constitutional majority, ls declared passed. Senate B(ll 112. 36 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 Senator Syve rson . Madam Secretary, read the bill .
Senate Bill 112. (Secretary reads tltle of bill) 3rd Reading of the b111.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Syverson .
Thank you, M r. President. Senate Bill ll2 requires that an offender who 's placed on electronic monitoring fo r alcoho l or drug offenses pay the costs for incidental monitoring of those drug tests . That is already in place . This goes on a little further just to clarify the mechanism for collecting the fees. This has been requested on behalf of the county boards . know of no objectlon to that and Would ask for a favorable roll call.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any d iscussion? not, the question is , shall Senate Bill 112 pass. A11 those in favor W ill vote Aye . Opposed Will vote Nay . And the voting is open. Have al1 voted who wish? Have all voted who w ish? Have a1l vo ted who wish? Take the reco rd . 0n that question , there are 56 Ayes r no Nays , none voting Present . And Senate Bill 112, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 113. Madam Secretary, read the bill .
SenaEe Bill 113 . (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Hawkinson.
Thank you r Mr. President . This is another small step in our 37 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Leg islatlve Day March 6, 1997 efforts to combat d runk driving and those who pve had thelr licenses suspended and continue to drive. It's an initiative of the Illinois State 's Attorneys Association that would provide that in the prosecution for agqravated driving under the influenee of alcohol or drugs o r driving when you license perm it or privilege to operate is suspended or revoked , that you m ight -- that you m ight tntroduce into evidence a certified copy of the driving abstract from the Secretary of State of the defendant as proof of any prior conviction . Be happy to try and answer questions , otherwise like to ask for your favorable support .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? If no t, the question is , shall Senate Bill 1l3 pass . A l1 those in favor w ill vote Aye . Opposed kill vote Nay . The voting is open. Have all voted who wlsh? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted Who Wish? Take the record . On that question, there are 56 Ayes, no Nays, none voting present. And Senate B1l1 113, having received the required eonstttutional majcrity, is declared passed. WICS-TV Channel 20 has requested permission to record the p roceedings . Hearing no objection, leave is qranted. Senate Bill 125. Senator Petka. Madam Secretary : read the bill.
Senate Bill 125. (Secretary reads tltle of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Petka .
Thank you, Mr. President, Members of the Senate. Senate Bill l25 is a bill tha t went through Judiciary and came out on the Agreed Bill List. What it provides is that a plaintiff in a divorce case must assert that they do not have a pend. ing petition 38 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 , 1997 for dissolution in any other county . This Was a direct result of a case which occurred in Will County in vhich a plaintiff had filed a suit in another county. It came into Will County. This is basically to cut down on the proceedlngs. It's -- for the sake of a judicial economy. It .ill require one addltional line in a -- a petition for d issolution . I know of no opposition r and would ask for an Aye vote .
PRESIDTNG OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? If not, the question is, shall Senate Bill l25 pass . Al1 those tn favor will vote Aye . Opposed will vote Nay . And the voting is open . Have all voted who W ish? Have a11 voted who wish? Have a11 voted who wish? Take the record . On that questton, there are 56 Ayes y no Nays, none vo ting Present . And Senate Bill 125, having received the required constttutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 151. Senator Mahar. Senate Bill 160. Senator Walsh . Senate Bill 164 . Senator Philip . Senate Bill 211. Senator Sieben . Madam Secretary , read the bill .
Senate Bill 211. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Readlng of the bill .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Sleben .
Thank you , M r. President and Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. Senate Bill 2ll creates the Gambling Refeiendum Act, and - - it will allow the people of the State of Illinois the oppo rtunity or the rlght to vote at the '98 gene ral electlon on this very simple question: Should the General Assembly expand legalized gambling in the State of Jllinois by either increasing the number of riverboat casinos or by authorizing additional forms 39 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 1997 of qambling such as land-based caslnos ...
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) beg your pardon , Senato r Sieben .
p . . such as land-based casinos , video lottery terminals , o r slot machines? The voters w ill have the opportunity to vote on that question with a simple answer of Yes or No. This is the same legislation that we voted on here in this Chamber on Ap ril 24th , 1995. In looking at that roll call votew see that the majority of the Members here have already voted in favor of this legislation . In fact r there were only eight No votes at that time. So I don't know that we need a considerable amount of discussion on this . It 's simply an adviso ry referendum question on the expansion of gambling r a statewide advisory . I strongly support the right of local communities ln areas like Lake County to also hold their own local referendums , which think they should do . live about twenty miles from a riverboat that 's in an area that had a local referendum and they approved it, but thlnk the essence here is thae casino gambling in this State has an impact in an area far greater than the licensing or the enabling community that allows the boat to be the re . And I can tell you numerous stories of the problem s caused in my d istrict , and I had no rlght to vote on whether there was a casino next door to the community live So I Would ask for your Aye vote . Happy to answer any questions.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? Senato r Geo-Ka ris .
W ill the sponsor y ield for a question?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Sponsor indicates'he will yield. Senator Geo-Karis. SENATOR GEO-KARIS : 40 STATE 0F ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day Ma rch 6 , 1997 Ts this an advisory referendum or is this a mandato ry referendum?
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Sieben . SENATOR SIEBEN ; This is an advisory referendum .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Geo-Raris .
Mr. Presldent and Lad les and Gentlemen of the Senate , I have the highest respect for the sponso r of this legislation r but I don't think is fair. When you already have riverboats in different areas and when we sponsored the bill fo r the . r iverboats - and I -- I voted for it with Senator Jacobs - We did it to help distressed areas. We have distressed areas in Waukegan, Illinois, in the Pox Lake area r of my county, and also North Chicago of Lake County . But when you want to pass an advtsory referendum like thisr when there other areas are having riverboa ts , like in Joliet, where they 're naking money hand over fist and they 're help ing their social services and they dre helping their schools , and yet you want to deprive my county of having a local referendum in a townshlp , I th ink you 're wrong . Let the townships decide or the munlcipalltles dec ide by referendum whether they wane to have a -- a riverboat or not, or expand any gamblinq. I don't think you 're fair when already you have a number of riverboats a11 over the State and some are not in the areas where they should be to help the distressed areas . I think it 's unfa ir , because even though it 's an advisory referendum , it 's going be taken as, ''We11 # it 's the law .'' But the people in Galena have different needs than the people have in Lake County , Illinois. The people in Joliet are doing very kell. The people in East St . Louis a re .' doing'very well with their riverboats . But why do want to dep rive 41 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCR IPT 18th Leg islative Day March 6 , 1997 our areas? Let our areas have a local referendum . As a Ratter of fact, the V illage Antioch had a referendum -- advisory referendum on that question , and I said to them if comes out favo rable 1 .11 support you r if it comes unfavorable 1 '11 support you . They decided not to have -- not to have a riverboat in their area . So I honored their comm ltment. A1l I 'm saying to you is you 're not being fair, folks, when you pass a bill like this to the other areas that should have a riverboat to help their economy. And I actually am opposed to th is bill. We should have a local option , not a statewide advlsory referendum on it.
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further discussion? Senator Mahar. END OF TAPE TAPE 2
I would move the previous question .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) There a re seven add ltional speakers . Further dlscussion? Senator Jacobs .
1'11 make my comments brlef, Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate . Just to elabo rate a little b1t on whak the previous speaker indicated. too, have the utmost respect for Senator Sieben. In fact, we 're go tng eo do a radio show a little later, the two of us. My p roblem I have with this is r We already have the gam ing in the State of Illino ls and we have nine communities that are already locked in, and noW We 're going to go 42 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Leg lslative Day March 6 : 1997 to a Statewide referendum . And J -- and I still feel that that 's a talnted referendum , Senator, because we have nine communities that could vote No or they could vote Yes just fcr the proeection of their own interests . But more importantly than that y and getting back to what the p revious Senato r said , was that -- the local option. I -- if there 's got to be a referendum y think it shculd be on the local referendum z because I do not think that the people of Cairo , Illinois should have the right to tell the people of Lake County, Illincis what they should do in Lake County . And , fo r that reason, I'm going to be a No vote .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any furthe r discussion? Senator Cullerton .
Thank you , M r. President, Members of the Senate . spoke against this identical bill that Senato r Sieben sponso red last year . This and remember asking him this -- this question . This is an adviso ry referendum as to whether or not we should expand gambling . The only body that can expand gambling is us: the General Assembly . So ke dre asking for advice . We Want to have a referendum so that the results of that referendum would give us advice . And I asked Senator Sieben, who has a riverboat in h1s d istrict and Who limits this referendum to expanston of gambllng , not whether we should have gambling at all: whether or not if the referendum passed tha t we should expand gambling r would he vote for mo re riverboats , and he said no . So it 's an advlsory referendum if it passes the way he wants , but if it doesn 't pass the Way he Wants, then an aberratlon or someth ing . So why We doing it? Why we doing it? The fact is that unde r current laW the governin: body of a munlcipallty o r a county must app rove the dockin: of a rive rboat in a municlpality . There 's local contro l. And seems to me if you want to have a referendum , let 's have a referendum on whether we should get rid of a1l these riverboats. 43 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 Governor said he wouldn 't sign the bill if he was the Governor . Very -- you knowr we've got a majority here of people, perhaps, who -- who d idn 't even vote -- suppo rt the riverboats . Maybe we can qet rid of all of 'em, includlng the one in your district. But to have this referendum it 's hypocritieal . We make the decisions down here . We vote Yes or No on these b ills. And if you Want an advisory referendum that you 're goin: to follow the advice on and you admit that up front, that would be d ifferent r but you 've already said you will only will take the advice if comes out the way you want. For that reason, think we should vote No .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further discussion? Sena tor Syverson .
Thank you , M r. President . I have been one that has been opposed to the expansion of gambling r but this is a concern to me that We are going to have the potential of people in other pa rts of the State dietatin: what goep onr either in northern Illinois or in southern Illino is . follow up on what Senato r Jacobs and Senator Geo-Karis have said. I think this sets a wrong precedent. I strongly support the idea of a local referendum . Make it mandatory or btnding if the local communities want that . We are talking about making a substantial change in a local community when you brën: in gambling , but that should be left up to the locals to do that. I could prefer tha e this legislation be changed to making lt a binding referendum on the local communities tha t are go ing to be affected and not having people in other pa rts of the State dictatlng what goes on , Whether it 's in northern or southern Illlnois or it's over in Lake County. I think just that this sets a krong precedent r and for that reasony -- won 't support this .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) 44 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 Any further discussion? Senator Halvorson .
Thank you , Mr. President and Members of the Senate . In my district , as I walked door-to-door throughout thls campaiqn r we found out that it was an overwhelm ing amount of people who wanted to have a say . In the State of Illino is, within ninety m inutes y eighty percent of the people in Illinois can get to a gambling boat, and I think it's just a matter of giving the public a say as far as what they , you know , want . I 'm glad to be a cosponsor and I do ask an -- Yes vote on this , but I did have one comment, and I would ask if the sponsor would yield .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Sponsor ind icates he will yield . Senator Halvorson .
Thank you. just wanted to ask if it would be possible to add an amendment or to consider also a county referendum being added at some later time .
PRESIDING OPFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Sieben.
think the fact that ke 're at 3rd Reading now means We 're go ing to take a vote on this bill today r and certainly as the bill moves over to the House - you know , they dve go * their own issues with th is leglslation think we could wo rk w1th the House sponsors at that time to consider that .
PRESIDING OPFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Sena tor Halvorson .
Thank you very much .
PRESIDING OPFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further discussion? Senator Link .
45 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6: 1997 Thank you , M r. President. represent the other half of Waukegan with Senator Geo-Karis, and I 've talked to the Mayor of the City of Waukegan and he welcomes a local referendum . But tbink the thing that we should realize right now is that we should save the taxpayers a 1ot of money by not even having this referendum , because I guarantee you this referendum w ill pass ove rwhelmingly in the State of Illino is because you Will have ten cities opposing us already, and that's the ten cities that have riverboats right now . And I think wha t we have to do is realize that this is here , and people like the people in Waukeqan deserve this and want this riverboat . They have spoken out and they want it. Senator Geo-Karis mentioned that Anticch, Wh ich had a local referendum r voted overwhelm ingly againsk this , and We hono red that privilege of staying away from Antioch . And encourage any other local municipality to vote aça inst it . But I think if we 're doing a statew ide referendum r all we fre doing is wasting the taxpayers ' do llars on thisz and think we should switch this bill to a local mandatory referendum y Which I Would support and I think all the other Senators Would support. But I encourage a strong No vote on a' statewide referendum .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) To the Senators who have put their lights on after the previous questton had been moved , you w ill not be recognized . The final -- final speakery Senato r Jones .
Yeah . Thank you , Mr . President . Would the sponsor yield?
PRESIDING OFPICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Sponsor indicates he will yield . Senator Jones .
Senato r Siebenr you ind icated that you have a riverboat in your district and there 's problems W ith the riverboat .
PRESIDING OFPICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) 46 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 Senator Sieben .
It 's creating some problems .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Sieben .
I -- you 're asking the Sllver Eagle in East Dubuque has had problems operating as -- as a boat?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Jones .
No . You lndicated in your opening remarks that -- a riverboat in your districtz and there were problems as such .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Sieben .
Let me clarify that polnt. There is a riverbcat that is in my dlstrlct that I represent in East Dubuquer in Jo Davless County. Where I llve Geneseo is in Henry County. Adjacent to my hometown there is the riverboat, the Casino Rock Island , which is actually in Senator Jacobs f district . Since my hometown is only twenty m iles away from Rock Island and access to ehe Casino Rock Island, along w1th the -- the President in Davenport and the Lady Luck in Bettendorf, many residents and citizens from my community go to those riverboats . A 11 right? We didn 't have an oppo rtunity to vote in any kind of a referendum , but we are now seeing the consequences of compulsive and addictive gambling on the residents in my community that a re impacted by the easy access to casino gambling. PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Jcnes . SENATOR JONES: 47 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 , 1997 Senatorr are you awa re that those licenses a re fo r a stated period of time? Do you know how -- the length of time a license is given to a rlverboat?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Sieben .
Yes . One-year term . believe that in July of every year they apply to the Gam inç Board to have the license renewed .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Jones.
Therefore , if this legislatlon passes then, and those communitles who vote for are aga inst expansion vote in favor of this resolution , then would you be in favor of the Gam ing Board not renewing those license for those current license holders? Because th ts could concelvably happen - be in Joliet , be in Peoria , be it in East St. Louis - that -- that the Gam in: Board itself may look at how those conmunities vote and decide that you no longer need a license 'cause of this referendum . This could conceivably happen. Aie you in -- are -- is that your intent?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Sieben .
think the ineent o f ehis question is to g ive the people of the State of Illinois the right to vote on any further expansion of legallzed gambling in our State . Your question to what the Gaming Board should do when they review the the renewal of licenses, can 't speak for the Gam ing Board . That 's a decision they 'll have to make based on a lo e of information thae they reviek when they look at that relicensing of an existing boat operator .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) 48 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 Senator Sieben , to close .
Thank you , M r. President . Just a couple of responses to some of the questions . The issue of local referendums y I certa inly would encourage those sponsors and those Members who spoke to wanting a binding countyw ide referendum of the people for licensing of riverboats y I would encourage you to introduce that leg islation y go forward with that idea , propose that idea, require tha t, so that we do have some type of opportunity for the people in an expanded arear rather than just in a community, to vote on the question o f whether riverboats are licensed to operate in -- in their neighbo rhood . This questionr really , is an advisory referendum and allows the peop le a chance to speak . The people that have talked to me feel like this State we have tremendous opportunity already to gamble . We have lottery terminals virtually in every store in the State of Illinois . We have racetracks or off-track betting parlors strategically located a11 over this State. And noW we have riverboats operatin: within easy d rive of every citizen of this State . Do We want to continue to be a gambling Statey increasing the access and the availability of State-sanctioned y Sta te-operated or State-autho rized , I mean , gambllng across this State? don 't think we do . I think there are a 1ot of peop le in this State that want to say enough is enough. This is their way to do ity with a vote in -- in this advisory referendum at the '98 ballot. Thank you, and I'd appreciate an Aye vote .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) The question 1s, sha ll Senate Bill 2ll pass . those in favor will vote Aye . Opposed Will vote Nay , and the voting is open . Have all voted who w ish? Have all voted Who Wish? Have a1l voted Who wish? Take the record . On that question y. there are 28 Ayes , 18 Nays , 6 vo ting Present. And Sena te Bill 211, having 49 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day Ma rch 6 , 1997 not recelved the required constitutional majority, is declared failed . Senator Sieben .
I'd request that this bill be placed on Postponed Consideration .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Sieben requests leave for Postponed Consideration . Leave is granted . Bo ttom of page 8 is -- in the O rder of Senate Bills 3rd Reading , is Senate Bill 214 . Senator Fitzgerald . Madam Secretary , read the blll.
Senate Bill 214. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading cf the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator F itzge rald .
Thank you , M r. Presldent . Senate Bill 214 would create an aluminum can recycling program ln all State buildings. The State already has a p rogram fo r high-grade khite and computer paper . It does not have one for alum inum can recycling . This bill is supported by CMS and the Illinois Environmental Council . It would be implemented in about nine months , and the prog ram should pay for itself.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? If not , the question is , shall Senate Bill 214 pass. A11 those in favor Will vote Aye. Opposed will vote Nay . And ehe Motin: is open . Have all vo ted who wish? Have a1l voted kho wish? Have a1l voted who wish? Take the reco rd . On that question , there are 54 Ayes , no Nays , none voting Present . And Senate Bill -- Senate Bill 214, havtng received the required constitutional Rajority, is declared passed. On the top 50 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 of page 9, in the O rde r of Senate Bills 3rd Readlng , is Senate Bill 222 . Senator C ronin . Senate Bill 232 . Senator Hawklnson . Madam Secretary , read the bill .
Senate Bill 232. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Hawkinson .
Thank you, Mr. President . This comes as initiative of the State 's Atto rney o f Henry County r Who 's had repeated prosecutions of one or more individuals for public indecency r and this increases the penalties for repeat offenders. The first offense remains a Class A; second and third remaln a m isdemeano r, but require some jail time; and on a fourth offense, it's a Class 4 felony . Be happy to answer any questlons ; otherwise , ask for your Aye vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? Senator Burzynski. Senato r Burzynski. The question is , shall Senate Bill 232 pass . A11 those in favor will vote Aye . Opposed wlll vote Nay , and the vating is open . Have all voted who wish? Have a11 voted who wish? Have al1 voted Who Wish? Take the record . On tha: questionr there are 54 Ayes, no Nays , none voting Present . And Senate Bill 232, having received the required constitutional majoriey, is declared passed. Senate Bill 233. Senator Hawkinson. Madam Secretary, read the bill.
Senate Bill 233 . (Secretary reads title of btll) 3rd Readlng of the bill. 51 STATE OP ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day Ma reh 6 , 1997
PRESIDING OFPICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Rawkinson .
Thank you , Mr. President . This is an lnitiative of the Chiefs of Police , the Illino is State Police , the State 's Attorneys Association and the Sheriffs ' Association designed to deal W ith the problem of fleeing and eluding in high-speed chases . The penalty will be a Class A misdemeanor for a d river who knowingly flees and eludes and requ tres a suspension fo r up to twelve months for a second convictlon . A third or subsequent conviction vill be a Class 4. It also provides that in the situation of agg ravated fleeing and eluding , and that fs Where the speed 's over twenty m iles an hour overr there 's damage to a vehicle, makes a techntcal change which says that if a -- an individual who 's fleeing and eludlng rams a police car or o ther public vehicle: tha t that is also aggravated. Right now it's just private vehicles that are rammed . And provides in the situation where there 's aggravated fleeing and eludingy that there can be a forfeiture of the vehicle. Again, it is subject to the provisions Which would p rotect innocent owners or lienholders . Be happy to try and answer questions; otherw ise, would ask for your favorable support .
PRESIDING OFPICER: (SENATOR DUDXCZ) Is there any discussion? Sena tor Cronin .
I just wanted to ask the sponsor, what if they ram the police vehicle and they dre only .08?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further d iscussion? Senator Berman .
Questlon of the -- question of the sponsor.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Sponsor indicates he will yield . Senator Berman . 52 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997
Is there a requirement that the police car be a marked police car?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Hawkinson .
I take it that -- that question is not intended to add ress the question of property damage of a police car versus a private vehicle , but rather is in the nature of fleeing and eluding element itself. This bill doesn't change the nature of the offense and there is a knowledge requirement that you know that you 're fleeing and eluding an officer of the law . So whether it ls marked , if it -- if it has either the oscillating lights or the markings , but there is a knowledge requirement .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further discussion? If not, the question is, shall Senate Bill 233 pass . All those in favor will vote Aye . Opposed will vote Nay , and the voting is open. Have a1l voted who wish? Have a1l voted who wish? Have al1 voted who wish? Take the record . On that question , there are 54 Ayes , no Nays , none voting Present . And Senate Bill 233, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 234. Senator Sieben. Madam Secretary, read the bill.
Senate Bill 234 . (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDXCZ) senator Sieben .
Thank you , M r . President: Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate . This bill comes from the Illinois Medical Society . amends the 53 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY RCGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislatlve Day March 6, 1997 Hospital District Law and would allow one member of the board of directors of a hospital district to be a member of that district 's medical staff . Know of no opposition . Ask for an Aye vote .
PRESIDING OPFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any d iscussion? If not, the question is , shall Senate Bi1l 234 pass . Al1 those in favor will vote Aye . Opposed will vote Nay, and the voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have a1l voted who wlsh? Take the record. On that question, there are 55 Ayes, no Naysr none voting Present . And Senate Bill 234, having received the requtred constitutional majority, declared passed. Senate Bill 235. Senator Sieben . Madam Secretary , read the bill .
Senate Bill 235. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the blll.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Steben .
Thank you r M r. Presidenty Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate . This legislation amends the Emergency Medical Services System Act. Changes the geographic specifications for llcensing a freestanding emerqency center to allow Trinity Medical Center in Rock Island County to accept basic life support ambulance runs . ' Senator Jacobs is my cosponsor. It affects a hosp ital in his district, and he would r sure, help answer any questions, if there are any . PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? If not, the question is, shall Senate Bill 235 pass . All those in favo r will vote Aye . Opposed will vote Nay r and the voting is open . Have a11 voted Who wish? Have a11 voted who w tsh? Have all voted who W ish? Take the 54 STAT E OF ILL INO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 1997 record . On that questlon , there are 54 Ayes , no Nays , and l votin: Present . A nd Senate Bill 235, having received the requ ired constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 236. Senato r Syve rson. Senate B ill 237. Senato r Rauschenberger. Senate Bill 239 . Senate Bill 247 . Madam Secretary , read the bill .
Sena te Bill 247. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Readin: of the blll.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Syverson.
Thank you y Mr . Prestdent. Senate Bill 247 amends the Lead Poisoning Prevention Act . Currently the law requires that a1l posittve and nesative results of lead screening be repo rted to the Department of Public Hea1th within forty-eight hours . This is becomtng a -- a bookkeeplng nightmare for many doctors ' offices and ellnics. What we 're asking in this leglslation is that We continue to report a1l positlve tests Within forty-eight hours , but this allows, on a timely manner, that the negative results be reporeed to the -- the Department. know of no objection to this, and Would ask for a favorable roll call .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any d lscussion? If noe, the question is, shall Senate Bill 247 pass . A l1 Ehose in favor will vote Aye . Opposed kill vote Nay, and the voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have a11 voted who w ish? Have a11 voted who w ish ? Take ehe record . On that question , there are 55 Ayes , no Nays, none voting Present. And Senate B ill 247 , having received the requ ired constitutional majorityr is declared passed. Senate Bill 255. Senator Rea . Senate Bill 256 . Senate Btll 258. Madam Secretary , 55 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 read the b111 .
Senate Bill 258 . (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Rea .
Thank you, Mr . Presidentw Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate . Senate Amendment l becomes the bill . It adds ratites to the definition of ''animal'' in the Meat Inspecticn Act: and the purpose of this legislation is to move closer to p roviding ratite producers an oppcrtunity to imp rove the marketing po tential of their product . It does enhance the industry . I know of no known opposition. It -- the Department of Agriculture does suppo rt it , and there has been a number of people that have joined me as sponsors . I would ask for an Aye vote .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? not, the question lsr shall Senate Bill 258 pass. A11 those in favor w ill vote Aye . Opposed will vote Nay , and the voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who W ish? Take the record . On tha t question, there are 53 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. And Senate Bill 258 , having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 292. Senator Hawktnson . Madam Secretary , read the bill.
Senaee Bill 292. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of Ehe bill. PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DDDYCZ) Senator Hawkinson . 56 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY RCGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997
Thank you , Mr . P resident. Senate Btll 292 is another initiative from the Illinois State's Attorneys Associaticn and it deals with TASC - that 's T-A-S-C - p robation . That 's a special kind of probation for drug offenders for certain offenses, and lt 's a kind of probation that even for certain felonies allows expunqement from the record . This billr however, would llm it the offenses that can be used for TASC probation by excluding the o ffense of robbery . was the feellng of the Sta ee 's A ttorneys Association that I share and my cosponso r, Senator Shadid , that robbery is a crime of violencey and you should not be ellgible for expungement. This does not, in any Wayr prohibit an ordering of drug treatment for an indivldual convlcted of robbery , but it would prohiblt this spectfic kind of probation that would allow the crime of robbery to be expunged from one 's record . Be happy to answer any questions ; otherwise , Would urge an affirmative vo ee .
PRESIDING OFFTCER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? If no t, the question isy shall Senate Bill 292 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed will vote Nay, and the votin: is open. Have all voted who wish? Have al1 voted who wish? Have all voted who wlsh? Take the record . 0n that questiony the re are 52 Ayes, Nay , none voting Present. And Senate B ill 292, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 315. Senator Watson . Senator Watson . Senate Bill 329 . Senator Rauschenberger . Senate B1ll 355 . Senator Link . Madam Secretary , read the b111 .
Senate Bill 355 . (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Readin: of the bill . 57 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Dag Ma rch 6 , 1997
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Link .
Thank you, Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate . This bill w ill autho rize a special license plate to desiqnate Child Protection plate . It provides an increase in fees that w ill be paid as grants to hosp itals provid ing pediatric care subject to the General Assembly's appropriation and the Secretary of State 's approval . A1l money of the General -- a1l the money of thls Child Protection Fund shall be paid as grants to Illino is hosp itals providing pediatrie care r and credits Child Protection Fund Advisory Board to consider the grant applica tions made by hospitals and made recommendations by the Secretary of State approval of those applications . After the after the Governor 's Budget Address yesterdayr I thtnk this plate becomes even more important , with hts consideration of ch ild care , that ue do something w ith the prlvate sector and let then pay for the bills, and I would app reciate a positive vote on this matter .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? Senator Burzynski.
Thank you , Mr. President . Will the spcnsor yield for a question?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DDDYCZ) Sponsor indicates he w ill yield . Senator Burzynski .
I have a -- thank you. I have a couple of questions for the sponsor. First of noticed you mentioned someth ing about a child protection advocacy board. Is Ehat a board that's already in existence r or is that a new bcard that we 're supposed to -- to be looking ae appo inting?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DDDYCZ) 58 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLX REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRTPT 18th Legislative Day Ma rch 6, 1997 Senato r Link .
No . That w ill be a new board appointed by the four Leade rs and the Governor.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDZCZ) Senaeo r Burzynski.
How many members Will there be? Just one from each Bcdy o r are there more than that?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Link .
Just one member . Five total.
PRESIDING OFPICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Burzynski .
W ill they have to go th rough the confirmation p rocess? Is that one of the agencies that will be confirmed by the Senate : or is çhat just an advisory commlttee not requiring Senate confirma tlon?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Link . SENATOR LINK : It will be just an advisory committee. PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) SenaEor Burzynski. SENATOR BURZYNSK I: Thank you , Mr . President . Well then then to the b1ll itself ) Senato r, do you have any idea how many speclal license plates we have already in the Sta te of Illinois? PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Link . 59 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997
R ight now there are -- the Secretary of State is administering eleven plates .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Burzynski.
Only eleven pla tes?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Link .
From the Secretary , that 's his comment. Only eleven plates that he is adm inistering righ t now .
PRESIDING OFPICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Burzynski.
Do you have any idea hoW much these plates will cost the Sta te of Illinois to produce?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Link .
. . . the question , Senator?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Buraynski.
Certainly . I -- I Was wondering -- if you knew how much it would cost eo p roduce tbese plakese to -- to sta rt up the p rocess ta implement the new license plate?
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Link.
It 's -- it 's the same p rice as a11 the other special plates right now , and that there Would have to be eight hundred and fifty 60 STATE OP ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Leglslative Day March 6, 1997 applications for these plates before we would sta rt it up .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Burzynski.
Okay . Senator, what will these plates look like? meanr you know , we have some plates that are out there now tha t -- we have a very gocd plate really emphasizing the problems We have with domestic violence and we dve been finding out now recently that these plates are be ing used as a sign of the gangs and those kinds of things . What w ill these plates look like?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Link .
This will be up to the Secretary of State , but I am sure that he will design something with the chlld ren on it so that we could indicate that -- what this plate is fo r.
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Burzynski.
Thank you, Mr. President. Do you think, Senator, there might be the possibility that we could have a -- a statew ide contest where children might , in their schools , try and deslgn a plate that would be acceptable?
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator L ink .
I think that would be a great idea , Senator, and I Would condone that idea .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDVCZ) Senator Burzynski.
Wellr 'thank you. I m lght -- I m ight find my Way to see fit to 61 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GZNERAL ASSEMBLY REGDLAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCR IPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 vote for this bill if -- if you will ae lease conslder that, Senator. Thank you .
PRESJDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDVCZ) Any fureher dlscusslon? Senator Jacobs .
Thank you , Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate . Would the sponsor yield fo r a question?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Sponsor hesitantly yields, Senator Jacobs .
Senato r, -- I 'm a little surprised . Here you are a good Democrat, just elected as a Demccrak, Democratic County Chairman, and you bring a bill like thls , which *he bill, in and c f itself r is okay . But do you realize that you have already used the Governor th ree times , the Secretary of State four times , and do you really think that that 's something that we on this side of the aisle should suppo rt your legislation wlth a voting record llke that? Do you thlnk that's something we should do?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Link . SENATOR LINK ; Senato rr we never know what 's going to happen in the future and who wl11 be sitting in those positions .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Jacobs.
I would just suggest thenr it's too bad that our -- our Leader is not here because he could chastise you for -- for being remiss , but maybe, because it is your first bill, we could forgive you, but we 'll see what happens a ltttle later.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDVCZ) Any fu' rther discussion? Senator Geo-Karis . 62 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLF REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Leglslative Day March 6, 1997
Well, M r. President and Lad ies and Gentlemen of the Sena te , I certalnly commend my colleague from Lake County fcr being wise enough to use the very good names in this A ssembly , and I 'm surprised that Senator Jacobs finds fault with that, because : you know r at least your Democrat over there is beginnlng to learn better . And we 're delighted ...
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) I beg your pardon . Senato r Geo-Karis y I beg your pardon . For this one b ill, staff is encouraged to speak on the Floor. Senato r Geo-Karis .
Mr . President, I think that we 've gone on long enough and my colleague has suffered enough , and I would certainly like to see this pass for him .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Further discussion? If not , Senator Link , to close .
I just -- I have nothing to close, but I thank my colleague from Lake County, in Senator Geo-Karis, Who has always given Me the co rrect advice on what to do in this Chamber, except for my voting record , and I would -- would hope that we would get a positive vote on thls . I thank you .
PRESIDING OPFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) The question is r shall Senate Bill 355 pass . A 1l those in favor will vote Aye . Opposed w11l vote Nay , and the voting ls open . Have a11 voted who wish? Have al1 voted Who wish? Have . all voted who w ish? Take the record . On that question, there are 56 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. And Senate Bill 355 : having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed . On the top of page 10 of your regular Calendar is Sena te Bill 371. Senator Peterson. Senate Bill 421 . Senator Berman . 63 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 , 1997 Madam Secretary, read the bill.
Senate B111 421. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Read ing of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Berman .
Thank you -- thank you , Mr . President : Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate . Th is bill does sone corrective language in the Chicago school reform bill that was passed two years ago . What it does is to delete the requ irement of the involvement o f the deans of the College of Education at the University of Illinois, and just says that the Reform Board shall ccnfer with the Couneil of Chicago-area Deans of Education . This bill came to me from the University of Illinois who requests that they not be imposed w ith that kind of respcnsibility . It passed out of comm ittee unanimously . I solicit your Aye vote .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? If not, the questiop is , shall Senate Bill 421 pass . A1l those ln favor Will vote Aye . Opposed will vote Nay , and the votlng is open . Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who w ish? Have all voted Who wlsh? Take the record . On that questionr there a re 56 Ayes, no Nays , none voting Present . And Senate Bill 421, having rece ived the requlred constitutlonal majorityr is declared passed. Senate Bill 423. Senator Fitzgerald . Senate Bill 427. Senato r Hawkinson . Madam Secretary, read the bill .
Senate Bi11 427 . (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill . 64 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 , 1997
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Hawkinson.
Thank you, Mr . President . This is an initiative of the Chicago Bar Associa tion and a p roduct o f their Matrimonial Law Conm ittee . 1* makes only a slight change . Right now a court-appointed attorney for a ch ild in a divo rce proceed ing to represent that child 's interests represents the ch ild in regard to support, custody , visitation interests and so forth . This simply adds that that court-appointed attorney for the child can rep resent ehe child 's property interests as well. I 'd be happy to try and answer questlons; otherwise r ask for your favorable support.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? If not , the question is y shall Senaee B ill 427 pass . A1l those ln favor will vote Aye . Opposed w ill vote Nay r and the voting ls open . Have a11 vo ted Who wish? Have a1l voted Who wish? Have al1 vcted who wish? Take the record . On that question, there are 56 Ayes , no Nays , none vo ting Present . And Senate Bill 427 , having received the requ kred constitutional majorityz is declared passed. Senate Bill 437. Senator Butler. Senate Bill 455. Senator Fawell. Senator Pawell. Madam Secretary , read the b ill. ACTING SECRETARY HAWKER : Senate Bill 455 . (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill. PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDVCZ) Senator Pawell. SENATOR FAWELL : Thank you very much . This bill is -- was b rcught to us by the ga rbage peop le . Right now there is a law that says that you 65 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 1997 cannot have any thing extending beyond three feet of the front wheels of a vehicle . Unfortunately -- the -- the container that picks up these great big garbage containers is longer than three feet. It 's kind of a teehnical bill. 1 111 be glad to answer any questions .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? If not, the question is z shall Senate Bill 455 pass . A1l those in favor will vote Aye . Opposed W ill vote Nay r and the votin: is open . Have a11 voted who kish? Have al1 voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the reco rd . On that question , there are Ayes , no Nays r 2 voting Present. And Senate Bill 455, having received the requ ired constitutional majority, is deelared passed. Senate Bill 460. Senator Cullerton . Senate B ill 465. Senate B ill 473 . Senator Syverson . Madam Secretary, read the bill.
Senate Bill 473 . (Secretary reads title of btll) 3rd Readlng of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Syverson .
Thank you , Mr. President . This legislatlon add s a additional circuit judge to the Seventeenth Circuit. The last time that Was done was in 1988 . Since that time , the crlm inal felony cases have over doubled : traffic cases have increased bg over ehirty thousande the population just -- or the caseload in the last year has increased by over twenty percent . We have suppo rt from the -- the Sup reme Court , plus the -- Judge Robert Coplan r who 's the Chief Judge , Who is making thls request . And 1 111 be happy to answer any questions that you might have . 'PRESIDING OFFt ICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ); 66 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Leg islative Day March 6, 1997 Is there any dlscussion? Senator Welch.
T have a question of the sponso r.
PRESIDING OFEICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Sponsor ind icates he will yield . Sena tor Welch .
Senator Syverson, these additional judges always seem to be a hit-and-m iss thing , depending on -- on who requests them . Is there a list or a set of criterion -- criteria used by the courts that when a certa in number of cases are hand led by a circuit , they therefore are entitled to a full circuit judge or an associate. And if that 's true , isn 't there -- wouldn 't there be a list created that we could see showing every circuit, hcw many cases they have pending , how close they a re to being allowed a nek judge, so that thls stuff Won't just come up kind of out of the blue?
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Syverson.
That's a good idea . At thls -- a: this poiht, don 't. th ink there is. All we know y that there is a -- a large number -- or , there 's a -- there 's a la rge need for this in the Seventeenth circult. has the second htghest caseload in the State , and I think currently the Supreme Court does look at the caseload of these -- of these -- of these circuits . And this circuit happens to be northern Illinois where there has been a 1ot of growth and a lot of increases in cases, and there is definitely a need for this position. We do have a list of those additional circuit judges that have been added out of this Leglslative Body the last few years, and again, this just goes into -- into line with What We have done in the past . PRESIDINGkOFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) 67 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 , 1997 Senatc r Welch .
But -- buty Senator Syverson, merely the fact that it has the second largest caseload , it may also have the largest number of circuit judges. I mean, just the caseload, to me, doesn't seem to - - to be the criterion . Could you tell me what counties are in the Seventeenth circuit? I 'm not fam ilia r with where the seventeenth is .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Syverson .
Has Boone County and Winnebago County , wh ich would be mainly the City of Rockford .
PRESIDING OPFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Weleh .
Wellr how did this did the Chief Judge ask you to sponsor this, or was this your idea, or how -- how did this come to pass that suddenly Winnebago County needs a new judge? Idm just curious as to hoW this happens. PRESIDING OPFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Syverson . SENATOR SYVERSON : Yes. The request was on behalf cf the Chief Judge of the Seventeenkh Circuit. We have an exeremely large backlog of cases ln our dlstrlce, and we have an overcrowded jail. Tt has a number of -- of lawsuits pending against it from the overcrowdedness. This is just one additional Way to have the the judge that we need to help take care of this backlog of cases y but the request has come on behalf of the Chief Judge . PRESTDTNG OFFICER ) (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Welch . 68 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 , 1997
Well, I -- I$m not saying you don't need one. It just seems to me that these things come up in a helter-skelter fashion whenever somebody decides they need a judge, and there never seems to be any real rational basis comparing each of the circuits as to when a judge is -- theypre entitled to a judge. I nean, just because Supreme Court says, ''Hey, we need one more judge''# well then all the taxpayers the Sta te have to pay for it. So think that the -- the committee -- the -- our Judicia ry Comm ittee probably should try to work out some basis for when judqes are appointed, instead of just having a Hfavorite son'' legislator introduce the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further discussion? Senator Cullerton . SENATOR CULLERTON J Will the -- will the sponsar yield?
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Sponsor indicates he w ill yield . Senator Cullerton .
Senator, I understand itr the Supreée Court is authorized now to appoint judges to circuits where there is a need for additional judges. In this particular circult, has the Supreme Court appolnted an extra judge at their own discretion to help take up ehe slack?
PRESIDING OPFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Syverson.
Appoint an associate judge? Is that what...
PRESIDING OPFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Cullerton .
Ye s .'. 69 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Leg islative Day March 6, 1997
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Syverson.
Yes. They appointed an associate judge last year. One of our circuit judge was -- has been assigned -- one of our clrcuit judges now have been assigned to the Appellate Court, which has -- which has left us , again , with a over caseload , and that 's one of the reasons why this request is beinq made.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Cullerton .
Ycu mean the Supreme Court appoineed a circule coure judge, then somebody go t moved up to the Appellate Court, so then the Supreme Court didn't replace that circuit court judge with another circuit court judge, which is what they are authorized by law to do? And I would point out, of coursey as you know , that the associate judges are paid less than the full circuit judges.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Syverson.
The -- the judge that has been -- been asslgned to the Appellate Court has not that seat is left open. And again , not -- I 'm not a lawyer, but in my understanding that stays open because he did not run for that appellate seat; he is just assigned to that seat, and so that seat is left open for him in the future , for him to go back . So that slo t is not -- does not :et filled by the Supreme Court.
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Cullerton .
Well, a1l I 'm say ing is that -- that I know that the Supreme Court -- I 'm not -- I don 't knaw , like Senato r Weleh , Whether or 70 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day Ma rch 6 , 1997 not this is a good ldea or no t. There is no crite ria . The only point I 'm making is that the Supreme Cou rt has the authority . there 's a pa rticular problem ln any circu it , they can temporarlly appoint extra judges to that subcircuit -- or, that circuit to see if they -- to alleviate the overcrowding. And just was wondering , in this pa rticular case . if the -- if that -- if your Chief Judge, who 's asked you to sponsor the bill, also asked the Supreme Court to make an appointment of -- of scme circuit judges. They can ask for two or Ehree of them if they need A nd I believe the 1aw would allow that .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further discussion? Senator Karplel .
Well, thank you, Mr. President. I'm just standing in support of this bill. Last year I sponsored a b ill fc r an add itlonal tWo judges - circuit judges in Rane Countyr in -- in that district, and believe we had ano ther one , or a couple , put in for Dupage . We do this routinely and regularly for different clrcutts the State, and always been done this way . I don 't know why everyone's making such a big fuis about thls. The chief judge of the circuit comes up and says that they have this case back load , they want another judge,'they need another judge. has to be okayed by the Supreme Caurt member from their -- their district, and if that is done, then -- and if we can pass legislation to do it, that 's the way it 's been done . Now , if somebody has ldeas r fenator Welch , to do iE in a different way , I don dt Ehlnk you have a bad idea . think pe rhaps there should be criteria on how we -- on how ehis is assessed , and look at the caseload , and look at the number of judges, and look at the populatlon, and et ceteray et cetera . And I think this could either be done by rule by the -- with the Supreme Court, or by legislation r but at this point in time,'it isn 't dönê that way , and it hasn 't been done that way and 71 STATE OF ILLINOTS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Leglslative Day March 6, 1997 I don 't see wby we should give Sena tor Syverson a big p roblem on this. We've all gotten judqes for our circults in the past with thls process .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further discussion? Sena tor Welch , fo r the second time .
Well, 1et me just respond. I wasn't giving Senator Syverson a problem; I just wanted to point out that ln some areas, such as mine, uhere we have a Democratic chief circuit judge, We have asked for a judge, and Justice Heiple has not seen fit to give us one. An adjacent circuit that has a Republican chief judge just happened to qet a new associate judgeship approved by Justice Heiple. So I'm saying that there ls a lot of politics involved in the issue of associate judgeshtp and judge appointments. And I was suggesting to Senator Syverson - I was under the m istaken impression he was on Judiciary Conmittee - that maybe We should have some basis to select judges other than who is the favorite of your -- you r Supreme Court Judge and allows you to do this, Senator. That 's all; I was making a po lnt.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further discussion? If not, Senator Syverson, to close .
I think the point that Senator Welch makes is certa inly well , and I -- tha t's -- that may be someth ing that the Supreme Cou rt may Want to look at doing o r we as a legislative Body could look at doing, to show those cases, to prove that ehere is a justification for those. The Rockford area and Boone County is the second fastest-growing county in the State. There is a large amount of growth . Unfortunately , Rockford has a very high crime rate, and there is a -- a need for this position. And for that reason: I'd ask for a favorable roll call.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) 72 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 , 1997 The questlon is , shall Senate Bill 473 pass . A 11 those in favor will vote Aye. Oppased will vote Nay, and ehe voting is open . Have all voted Who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have a1l voted who w ish? Take the reco rd . On that question y there 56 Ayes , no Nays , none votlng P resent . And Senate Bill 473 , havlng received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 484. Senator -- Severns . Senate Bl11 490 . Senator Madlgan . Senate Bill 501 . Senator Fawell . Sena te Bill 506 . Senator Parker. Madam Secretaryy read the bill . ACTING SECRETARY HAWKER : Senate Bill 506. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the blll . PRESIDTNG OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDVCZ) Senator Parker. SENATOR PARKER : Thank you , M r. President and Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. The Crime V ictims Compensation Act does not address the special needs of victims who become dlsabled as a result of a ' crime of violence . 506 amends the Crime Victins Compensation to perm it the payment of funds for use in retrofitting the homes or vehicles of crime victims to make them accessible to victims who a re disabled after the crime . This was on the Ag reed Btll List frcm Judiciary Ccmmlttee . I Would answer any questlons , and ask for a favorable vote . PRESIDING OFFICER; (SENATOR DUDVCZ) Is there any diseussion? If not , the question is , shall Senate Bill 506 pass . A11 those in favor Will vote Aye . Opposed w111 vote Nay, and the voting is open. Have a11 voted vho wish? Have a11 voted Who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record . On that question, there are 53 Ayes , no Nays, none voting Present . And Senate Bill 506, having received the required 73 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 1997 constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 510. Senator Petka . Madam Secretary , read the bill .
Senate Bill 510 . (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Readin: of the bill .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Petka .
Thank you, M r . President y Members of the Senate . This bill is a -- Senate Bill 5l0 is an outgrowth on the Gove rnor's statewide Commission on Gangs . The net result here is that We are increasing the penalty of obstructing justice from a Class 4 to a Class 3 where we are dealing with -- when the crime is comm itted in furtherance of streetgang activity . It came out on the Agreed Bill List . know of no oppositlon . I 'd move for an Aye vote .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? Senator Smith. The question isy shall Sena te Bill 5l0 pass . Al1 those in favor will vote Aye . Opposed will vote Nay, and the voting open . Have all voted who wish? Have a1l voted Who wish? Have a1l voted Who Wish? Take the record . On that question , there are 55 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present, and Senate B ë11 510, having received the required constitutional majorityw is declared passed. Senate Bill 511. Senato r Petka . Madam Secretary , read the blll .
Senate Bill (Secretary reads title of blll) 3rd Reading of the bill .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Petka .
74 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Leg islative Day March 6, 1997 Thank you, again, M r. President, Members of the Sena te . Senate Bill 511, again, is an initiative on the from the Governo r's task force on -- Comm isslon on Gangs . The net result of this bill is that the recovery that is permitted under the Parental Responsibillty Law is raised from a thousand to twenty-flve hundred dollars. This is consistent w ith the jurisdictional amount we now have in small claims actions. And I Would once again , this bill came out on the Agreed Bill List, and I would move for an Aye vote .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? not , the question is, shall Senate Bill 5ll pass . All those in favo r will vote Aye . Opposed w ill vote Nay r and the voting is open . Have a11 voted Who w ish? Have all voted who wish? Have all vo eed who wish ? Take the record . On that question, there are 56 Ayes , no Nays, none voting Present . And Senate Bi11 511, having received the required constitutional majorfty, is declared passed. Senate Bi1l 516. Senator Fitzgerald . Madam Secretary , read the bill .
Senate Bill 516. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Read ing of the b ill. PRESIDING OFFICER) (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Fitzgerald .
Thank you, Mr. Presldent , Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate . Senate Bill 516 is an initiatlve of the State Comptroller 's O ffice . The --.this legislation W ill promote electronic funds transfer and info rmation sharing between the Comptroller and State ageneies . Bo ttom line is it 'll bring the Comptroller 's Office mo re into the electronic era to allow digital signatures y electronic transfer of information between T reasurer and 75 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 , 1997 Comptroller, and I'd be happy to ànswer any questions.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? If not , the question isy shall Senate Bill 516 pass. those favor will vote Aye. Opposed will vote Nay , and the voeing is open. Have al1 voted who wish? Have a11 voted who w ish? Have a1l voted who wish? Take the record . On that question, there are 56 Ayes, no Nays , none voting Present . And Senate Bill 516 , having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. On the top of page 11 of your regular Calenda r is Senate Bill 517. Senator Eitzgera ld . Madam Secretary , read the bill .
Senate Bi11 517 . (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Readlng of the bill .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Fitzgerald .
Thank you, M r. President , Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate . This bill is also part of the Comptrdller's administratlve package . It ehanges references from the Department of Personnel to the Department of Human Resources.wlthin the Comp troller Merit Employment Code . The Comptroller's Records Act is amended to reduce the retention period fo r vouchers and warrants from flve to three years: and provides for wa rrants , prior to the ir destruction , to be sto red via an electronic media . This passed , I believe , unanimously out of Senate commlttee , and I'd appreciate a favorable roll call.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? Senator Link.
Yes. Will'the spönsor kield? 76 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION I SENATE TRANSCRTPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 , 1997 PRESIDING OFPICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Sponsor indicates he wl11 yield. Senator Link. SENATOR LINK : My question is on th is , is that we asked this in comm ittee and we got the insurance from the Comp troller 's Office, and I asked the sponsor for the same insurance , that the only thing this is is a name change , and we dre not trylng to change something for the purpose of laying off people in the future . Is that co rrect? PRESIDING OFPICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Fitzgerald . SENATOR FITZGERALD : Yes. That is correct. PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further dlscussion? If not, the question is , shall Senate Bill 517 pass . A11 those in favor kill vote Aye . Opposed Will vote Nay , and the voting is open . Have al1 voted who wish? Have a1l voted who wish? Have a1l voted who w lsh? Take the record . On that question , there a re 55 Ayes , no Nays , none voting Present. And Senate Bill 517 : having recetved the required constitutional majorlty, is declared passed. Senate Bill 532. Senator Walsh. Senate Bill 536. Senator Walsh. 538. Senaty Bt1l 548 . Senato r O 'Malley . Senate B ill 551 . Senato r Pa rker . Senate Bill 555 . Senato r Bomke . Madam Secretary , read the bill. ACTING SECRETARY HAWKER : Senaee Bill 555. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill. PRESIDING OFPICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Bomke . SENATOR BOMME : Thank you , M r . President r Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate . This legislation would allow Unit School District No . l6 , Which is 77 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLV REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 1997 the only school d lstrict in Sangamon County that is not part o f the Sangamon Area Special Ed Co-op to withdraw from the Pour Rivers Special Education Co-op, and join the Sangamon Area Special Education Co-op . By not -- by no t be ing a pa rt of the Sangamon Area Special Education Co-op the children are losing many servlces which they are legally entitled to. And just to mention a few: M id West Five Educational Service Center; Regional Regional Superintendent ; Local Agency Network No . 15; Local Interaqency Council Sangamon service a rea r Which is mandated by PL 99-475 ; Cap ital Area Vocation Center; Sp ringfield A ssociation Retarded Citizens for early childhcod staffing coo rdinakion; future alterna tive -- school p rograms; and reciprocal agreements with other special education co-ops . Thank you .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? not, ehe question is , shall Senate Bill 555 pass. Al1 those in favor Will vote Aye. Opposed will vote Nay , and the voting is open . Have a1l voted who wish? Have al1 voted who w ish? Have a11 voted who w ish? Take the record . On that questlon , there are 53 Ayes, no Nays , none voting Present. And Senate Bill 559, having received the required constitutional majority# is declared passed. Senate Bill 556. Senator O 'Malley . Madam Secretary, read the bill.
Senate Btl1 556 . (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r O 'Malley . SENATOR O 'MALLEY : Thank you y M r . President y Members of the Senate . Senate Bill 556 supplements the legislation that became 1aw last year concerning charter . schools. simp ly provides that charter 78 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCR IPT 18th Legislative Day Ma rch 6 , 1997 schools shall receive one quarter of their total annual fund lng on or befo re August November Februa ry 1 and May 1, unless the charter agreement p rovides for a d ifferent schedule . I 'd appreciate an affirmative roll ca ll .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussicn? If no t, the question ls , shall Senate Bill 556 pass. A1l those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed w ill vote Nay, and the voting is open. Have a11 voted who wish? Have a11 vo ted who wish? Have a1l voted who wish? Take the record . On that question, there are 55 Ayes, no Nays r ncne voting Present. And Senate Bill 556 , having received the required constitutional majorlty, is declared passed. Senate Bill 557. Senator Cronin . Senate Btll 568 . Senator Watson . Sena tor Watson . Senate Bl1l 619 . Senator Berman . Madam Sec retary, read the bill.
Senate Bill 619. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Read ing of the b ill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUbXCZ) Senator Berman .
Thank you . Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate , the reason fo r this btll is that there Was a case that got wide publicity of a woman that lived in the north end of Chicago . She had to go in the hospital. She allowed her child to be helped by a couple that befriended her and *he couple then decided to try eo adopt the child without the knowledge of the nother . In the process : it Was - - it was disclosed tha: the Juvenile Court Act requires notice to be given to the natural parent . The Adoption Act d 1d not . This was an -- an erro r. It shculd have required notice to the natural parent . d That's what this bill doès .' I 'd solicit your Aye vote . 79 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL A SSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 , 1997
PRESIDING OPFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Ts there any discusslon? Senaeor Fauell.
Thank you very much . Will the sponsor yield for a question?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Sponsor indicates he wtll yield. Senator Fawell.
I don't have the bill right in I mean , I do y but haven 't read it . Can you tell me , does this -- this doesn 't affect people Who have: ln effect, deserted their children, and we are trying to get them adopted , does it?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Berman .
No , it does not . The -- what this addresses is that the natural pa rent must be given notice when the adopting parents know the -- the natural parent and this is without the consent of the natural parent . And that 's what gave rise . It was a situation where the -- the -- the couple that wanted to adopt this child, the mother didn't have àny notice of untll it became a big publicity issue in the papers. As it turned out: the child is now back with the natural mother, but this is just to fill the gap in the Adop tion Act, similar to the Juvenile Court Act.
PRESIDING OFPICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any further d iscussion? If noty the questton is, shall Senate Bill 6l9 pass . A1l those in favor Will vote Aye . Oppcsed y vote Nay . And the vo ting is open . Have a1l voted who wish? Have al1 voted who Wish? Have all voted Who W ish? Take the record . On that question , there are 56 Ayes, no Nays , none voting Present . And Senate Bill 619 : having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 646. Senator O'Ma11ey. Madam Secretary , read the bill. 80 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Leg islative Day March 6, 1997 ACTING SECRETARY HAWKER : . Senate Bill 646 . (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Read ing Lf the bill .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Sena tor O 'Malley .
Thank you , Mr . President and -- and Members of the Senate . Congress is plannin: to merge the Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings Association Insu rance Fund, Which together nake up the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In conjunction with this - - With thlsr the federal savings and loan charter Will be summarily eliminated . The federal leg islation w ill perm it current federal -- current federal S&L charters to convert automatically to elther a national bank or a State financial inskitution . Wha t Senate Bill 646 does, and is intended to do , is provide for this contingency so that those federal charters wishing to convert to State savings banks or S&Ls may do so on an expedited basis . I 'd be happy to answer any questions there might be # but would request your support .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ ) Is there any .discusslon? If not, the question is , shall Senate Bill 646 pass . Al1 those in favo r will vote Aye . Opposed w ill vote Nay y and the voting is open . Have al1 voted who wish? Have al1 voted Who wish? Have all voted Who Wish? Take the record . On that question , there are 54 Ayes : no Nays , 1 voting Present . And Senate Bill 646, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 697. Senator Syverson . Madam Secretary , read the bill.
Senate Bill 697 . ' (Secretary reads title of bill) 81 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day Ma rch 6 , 1997 3rd Reading of the bill .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Syverson .
Thank you, M r. President. Senate Bill 697 is on behalf of the personal care attendants in Illinois, who are currently the most cost-effeetive workers this State has. This leg lslation autho rizes a fifteen cent pay raise for these ind ividuals . greatly appreciate the suppo rt we 've had from Senator Smith on thisr and be happy to answer any questions that you might have . Otherwlse. just ask for a favorable roll call.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? If not, the question is r shall Senate Bill 697 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed vill vote Nay , and the voting is open . Have al1 voted who wish? Have a11 voted who wish? Have a11 voted Who w ish? Take the record . Qn that question , there are 55 Ayes , no Nays r none voting Present . And Senate Bill 697 : having recelved the requlred constitutional majorityr is declared passed. Senate Bill 698. Senato r Syverson. Sena tor Syverson . On top of page on the Order of Senate Bills 3rd Reading , Senate Bill 805 . Senato r O 'Malley . Madam Secretary , read the b ill .
Senate Bill 805. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator O 'Ma11ey .
Thank you, Mr . President, Members of the Senate . Senate Bill 805 is an initiative of the Department of Financial Institutions . has many prov isions and 1 911 try and summarlze some of them for 82 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCR IPT 18th Legislative Day Ma rch 6 , 1997 you . Adds llmited liabillty companles to those entities entitled to establish currency exchanqes . Changes the title of the Financial Planning and Managenent Act to the Debt Management Services Act. Adds credit unions, savinqs banks, and Consumer Installment Loan Act ltcensees to those organizations authorized to establish debt counseling services . Raises bonding requirements from seventy-five hundred to twenty-five thousand dollars. Perm its the Department of Financial Institutions to approve additional temporary licenses fo r business -- business locations other than the princ ipal place of business . There a re other provisicns to this legislation , and T 'd be happy eo answer any questions ...
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any d tscussion? If not, the question is , shall Senate Bill 805 pass . Al1 those in favor will vote Aye . Opposed will vote Nay , and the voting is open . Have a1l voted who wlsh? Have al1 voted who W ish? Have a11 voted Who wish? Take the record . On that question , there are 55 Ayes , no Nays , voelng Present. And Senate Bill 805, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 844. Senator Cullerton. Senate Bill 851 . Senator Geo-Karis . Madam Secretary , read the bill .
Senate Bill 851 . (Secretary reads tltle of bill) 3rd Readin: of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Geo-Karis .
Thank you , M r. President . Mr . President and Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate, Senate Bill 851 amends the Chapters 725 and 730 related to the transportation of defendants placed in the 83 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 custody of the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Dlsabilitles to court appea rances r and it also amends definitions to allow the approp riate DMHDD personnel to appear -- testify in court , as opposed to the facility director who may not be involved with the resldent treatment p lan. It applies to crim inal offenders, and I ask for a favorable vote .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? If not, the question is r shall Senate Bill 85l pass . A11 those in favor will vote Aye . Oppcsed will vote Nay y and the voting is open . Have a11 voted Who Wish? Have all voted who wish? Have a1l voted who wish? Take the reco rd . On that question r there are 56 Ayes , no Nays, none voting Present. And Senate B tll 851 , having received the requ ired constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bi11 856. Senato r Peterson . Madam Secretary , read the bill.
Senate Bill 856. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the blll.
PRESIDING UFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Peterson .
Thank you r M r. President . Senate Bill 856 is an adm inistration bill for the Department o f Revenue . has eight provisions. The most p rom inent has to do with ch ild support collection paymenEs . Current 1aw allows the Department to collect delinquent chlld support payments in any manner authortzed for the collection of a delinquent personal income tax liability . Senate Bll1 856 expands that authority to allow the Depa rtnent to collect child support delinquencies in any manner authorized by any State administrated by -- any tax adn inistrated by the Departnent ; for example , revocation of a liquor license or a lottery license o r 84 STATE OF ILL INO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6 , 1997 any other avenue that Would come befo re the Department in order to collect delinquent chlld support payments . I ask fo r a favorable roll call.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? If not , the question is , shall Senate Bill 856 pass . Al1 those in favo r will vote Aye . Opposed will vote Nay , and the vo ting is open. Have a1l voted who Wish? Have al1 voted Who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record . On that question , there are 56 Ayes, no Nays , none voting Present . And Senate Bill 856 r having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 894. Senator Jacobs . Madam Secretary , read the bill.
Senate Bill 894 . (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Jacobs. SENATOR JACOBS ) Thânk your Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. Senate Btl1 894 allows the Depa rtment of Natural Resources to i ease o r permit the use of surplus waters at all Department-owned dams, and lease or permit the use of land or p roperty interests for hydropower development or the power developed from for a period not to exceed fifty years . Supported by the Depa rtment of Natural Resources . I know of no -- no known opposition and ask for your suppo rt .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any discussion? If not , the question is# shall Senate Bill 894 pass. Al1 those ln favor will vote Aye . Opposed w ill vote Nay , and the voting is open . Have a1l voted Who N ish? Have a11 voted who wish? Have a1l voted who wish? Take the 85 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 record . On that question , the re are 53 Ayes , l Nay , none voting Present. And Senate Bill 894 , having received the required constitutional majorlty, is declared passed. Senate Bill 942. Senator Dillard . Senate Bill 956 . Senator Walsh . Madam Secreta ry , read the bill . ACT ING SECRETARY HAWKER : Senate Bill 956 . (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Read ing of the bill. PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Walsh . SENATOR WALSH : Thank you, Mr. President and Members of the Senate . Senate B ill 956 makes several changes to the Department of Mental Hea1th and Developmental Disabilities. It requires DMHDD to require certain job applicants in State-operated facilities to undergo a criminal background check r makes licensure changes r eliminates the Community Funding Advisory Comm ittee r elim inates the requirement that DMHDD assist families in the funding of private residential seivices for minors with mental health services, and it makes several other changes. And it's supported by the -- by the ' Department r and I 'd ask a favorable vote . PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any dlscussion? Senato r Smith . SENATOR SMITH : I'd like to make a -- I would like to ask if you 'd be kind enough to register me fo r Senate Bill 894. I didn 't get a chance to vote on that, but I wanted to be recorded as having voted Yes . . PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) The record -- the record will reflect your intent, Senator. SENATOR SMITH : Thank you kindly , sir . p . 86 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGDLAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day Ma rch 6, 1997
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Is there any further discussion? not, the questlon is # shall Senate Bill 956 pass. A1l those in favor w ill vo te Aye . Opposed w11l vote Nay , and the voting is open . Have a1l voted Who wish? Have al1 voted Who wish? Have al1 voted who wish? Take the reco rd . On ehae question, there are 54 Ayesy no Nays , none voting Present. And Senate Bill 956, having received the required eonstitutional majority, is declared passed. Senator DeLeo, what purpose do you rise? SENATOR DeLEO : Thank you, Mr . President. Just a couple moments ago Senate Bil1 805 , by Senato r O dMalley, Was presented . I was off the Ploor . Somebody lnadvertently pushed me Yes . I 'd like the reco rd to reflect, because of a potential conflict of interest, would have been voting Present. Senate Bill 805.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) The -- the reco rd shall so reflect, Sena tor. On the -- on the Order of Senate Bills 3rd Reading , Senate Bill 1100 . Senato r Cronln . Senator -- Senator Dillard , what purpose do ycu rise?
Just a -- if we 're finished uith the Calendarr M r . President: just an announcement that tbe Special Committee on Elections Contests will meet momentarlly after adjournment in Room 212.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Syverson, what purpose do you rise?
Thank you , Mr . President. Just an -- also an announcement. The Senate Public Health Ccnmittee : the Subcommittee on Welfare, will meet Monday at l o 'clock in Room 212.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Burzynski, what purpose do you rise? SENATOR BURZYNSKI: 87 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCR IPT 18th Leg islative Day March 6, 1997 Thank you, Mr. President . For the purpose of an announcement . The Senate Licensed Activities Comm ittee is scheduled to meet at 1 o 'clock next Tuesday . Due some scheduling conflicts , We probably will not be convening until 2 p.m. I just Want to make that announcement.
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senato r Radogno , what pu rpose do you rise?
I just wish to announce that the Subcommittee on Tax Increment Financing Will be meeting on Monday in Room 400 from 1 until 5, and this Will be for testimony only .
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Messages from the House .
Message from the Hcuse by M r. Rossi: Clerk . Mr. President I am directed to info rm the Senate that the House of Representatives has passed a bill of the follow ing tltley in the passage of which I am instructed to ask the concurrence of the Senate , to wit : House Biïl 229. Passed the House, March 5th , 1997.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Consent Calendar. We will now p roceed to the O rder of Resolutions Consent Calendar. With leave of the Body , a11 those read in today will be added to the Consent Calendar. M r. Secretary, have there been any objections filed to any resolution on the Consent Ca lendar?
No objections have been filed' Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Any discussion? If not, the question is y shall the resolutions on the Consent Calendar be adopeed . Al1 those in 88 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 18th Legislative Day March 6, 1997 favor, say Aye . Opposed , Nay . The motion carries and the resolutions are adopted . House Bills lst Reading .
House Bill 204, offered by Senato r Syverson . (Secretary reads title of bill) And House Bill 229 , by Senator Philip . (Secretary reads title of bill) lst Reading of the bills .
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Messages from the House .
Message from the House by M r. Rossi, C lerk . M r. President I am directed to inform the Senate that the House of Representatives has adopted the following joint resolution r in the adoption of which I am instructed to ask the concurrence of the Senate , to w it : House Joint Resolution l6 . (Secretary reads HJR No. 16) Adopted by the House, March 6th , 1997.
PRESIDING OFFICER : (SENATOR DUDYCZ) Senator Donahue moves to suspend the rules for the pu rpose of the immediate constderation and adopti on of House Joint Resolution 16. Those in favo r say Aye . Opposed , Nay . The Ayes have it . The rules are suspended . Senator Donahue has moved fo r the adopticn of House Joint Resolution 16 . Those in favor, say Aye . Opposed , Nay . The Ayes have 1t, and the reso lution is adop ted . Is there any further business to come befo re the Senate? If not, pursuant to the adjournment resolution, Senator Geo-Karis moves the Senate stand adjourned. 89 REPORT : TIFLDAY STATE OF ILLIMOIS 97/04/10 PAGE: 001 90TH GEVERAL ASSEHBLY 12:35:43 SENATE DAILY TRàNSCRIPTION 0F DEBZTE INDEX HàRCH 06, 1997 HB-020R FIRST REZDIMG H8-0229 FIRST REZDING SB-0008 THIRD READIMG :B-0016 THIRD READING SB-0036 THIRD READING :8-0083 THIRD READING SB-008q CONCURRENCE SB-0108 THIRD READING SB-0109 THIRD READING SB-0112 THIRD READING sB-0113 THIRD READING SB-0125 THIRD READING SB-0211 THIRD REâDING SB-021R THIRD READING :8-0232 THIRD READIMG 53-0233 THIRD READING 58-023: THIRD REZDING 38-0235 THIRD REZDING 58-02)7 THIRD READING 38-0258 THIRD REâDING 58-0292 THIRD READING 58-0355 THIRD REZDING SB-0421 THIRD REZDING SB-0M27 THIRD READING SB-0R55 THIRD READIMG SB-Ok73 THIRD READING :8-0506 THIRD REZDING SB-0510 THIRD REZDING SB-0511 THIRD REâDING :8-0516 THIRD READING SB-0517 THIRD READING s8-0555 THIRD REZDING 58-0556 THIRD READING :8-0619 THIRD REâDING :8-06:6 THIRD READING 58-0697 THIRD REZDING SB-0805 THIRD READING 58-0805 OTHER SB-0851 THIRD READING 58-0856 THIRD REZDING 88-089: THIRD READING SB-089R OTHER 58-0956 THIRD READIMG SR-003k RESOLUTICN OFFERED HJR-0016 ADOPTED HJR-0016 RESOLUTICM CFFERFD SJR-0021 RESOLUTION OFFERED SUBJECT MATTER SENATE TO ORDER-PRESIDENT PHILIP PAGE 1 PRâYER-THE REVEREVD KAYNE HEYER PAGE 1 PLEDGE OF âLLEGIANCE-LED BY SEMATOR SIEBEN PâGE 1 JOURNZLS-POSTPONED PâGE 1 COMMITTEE REPQRTS PAGE 2 HESSAGE FROH THE HOUSE PAGE 88 RESOLUTIONS CONSENT CALENDAR-ADOPTED PAGE 88 HESSAGE FROH THE HOUSE PAGE 89 ADJOURNHENT PZGE 89