The regular Session of the 90th General Assembly w ill please come to order . Will the Members please be at their desks? Will our guests in the galleries please rise? Our prayer today w ill be given by Father David Lantz, Christ the King Church , Sp ringfield , Illinois . Father Lantz.
(Prayer by Pather David Lantz)
Please rema in standing for the Pledge of Allegiance . Senator Sieben.
(Pledge of Allegiance, 1ed by Senakor Sieben)
There has been various members of the TV world that have requested permission to film today.. Is leave granted? Leave is g ranted . Reading of the Journal . Senator Butler .
Mr . P resident, move that reading and approval of the Journals of Tuesday, February 24th, and Wednesdayr February 25th, in the year 1998, be postponed, pending arrival of the printed Journal .
Senator Butler moves to postpone the reading and the approval of the Journal , pending the arrival of the printed transcript . There being no objections, so ordered. Messaqes from the House.
A Message from the House by M r. Rossi, Clerk . Mr . President - I am directed to inform the SenaEe that the House of Representatives has passed a bill of the following title , in the passage of which am instructed to ask the concurrence of the Senate , to wit: l STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCR IPT 80kh Legislative Day February 26 , 1998 House Bill 2400 . Passed the House , February 25th , 1998 .
Committee Reports.
Senator Philip, Chair of the Committee on Rules, reports the following Legislative Measures have been assigned: Referred to the Committee on Education - Senate Bills 1475: 1627 and 1647; to the Committee on Environment and Energy - Senate Bills 1389 , 1584) to the Committee on Executive - Senate Bills 1495, 1547, and Senate Joint Resolution 53; ko the Committee on Insurance and Pensions - Senate Bill 1298; to the Comm ittee on Judiciary - Senate Bills 1289, 1424, 1429, 1505 and 16457 referred to the Committee on Licensed Activities - Senate Bill 15547 to the Committee on Local Government and Elections - Senate Bill 1497 ; to the Comm ittee on Public Healkh and Welfare - Senate Bill 1339) and to the Comm ittee on T ransportation - Senate Bill 1938 .
Resolutions.
Senate Resolution 167, offered by Senator Jones and all Members, as is Senate Resolution 169 , M r. President. They dre both death resolutions .
Consent Calendar. Resolutions.
Senate Joint Resolution 54, offered by Senator Donahue . (Secretary reads SJR No. 54)
Senator Donahue moves to suspend the rules for the purpose of the immediate consideration and adoption of Senate Joint Resolution 54. All those in favor, signify by saying Aye . Those 2 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 80th Leg islative Day February 26 , 1998 opposed , Nay . The Ayes have The rules are suspended . Senator Donahue has moved for the adoption of Senate Joint Resolution 54 . Those in favor, signify by saying Aye . Those opposed , Nay . The Ayes have it. The resolution is adopted . House Bills 1st Reading .
House Bill 2400, offered by Senator Dudycz. (Secretary reads title of bill) lst Reading of the bill .
We will now proceed to khe Order of Resolutions Consent Calendar. With leave of the Body , all of those read in today will be added to the Consent Calendar . Mr . Secretary , have there been any objections filed to any of the resolutions on the Consent Calendar?
No objections have been filed, Mr. President.
Any discussion? If not, the question is , shall the resolutions on the Consent Calendar be adopted . All those in favor, signify by saying Aye . Those opposed , Nay . The Ayes have it . The motion carries . The resolutions a re adopted . Senator Burzynski, for What purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Mr. President. For the purpose of an announcement. This is to notify the Members that the Licensed Activities Commiktee scheduled for Tuesday is now canceled . Thank you .
W ill the Members please be in their seat? Will the staff please retire to the gallery? W ill the doormen please secure the doors? Resolutionsy please , Madam Secretary .
3 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCR IPT 80th Legislative Day February 26 , 1998 Senate Resolution 168, offered by Senator Jones , Democratic Leadership , President Philip and all Members of the Senate . (Secretary reads SR No. 168)
Senator Jones .
Thank you, Mr. President . l'ïou be strong z'' that 's What Penny told her family the night that she passed. And she was strong. It is significant that she would send that message, because her whole life was about strength . Strength in cha racter, not strength in numbers. Penny had a God-given courage that gave her drive , a sense of humor, her anazing ab ility to overcome and to succeed . ''Can 't'' and ''never'' were words that gave her even more incentive to succeed . Her life is a celebration of success, but she would be the last to tell you about them, just as she was the last to tell us about the illness that was affecting her. She demanded privacy on that issue, and she qot it. None of us really knew how ill she really was . I don 't believe that there is anyone in this Chamber, or in this building , who didn 't believe that Penny would walk through that door again Within the next few weeks , sit down at her desk , grab her Diet Coke r put her purse there , along with a stack of folders that she had taken home . And she would greet each of us with a hug and a pat . Her stam ina , whether it was fighting this disease or fighting to pass a bill , was and -- and is an inspiration to us all . A sharp political m ind , who knew how to debate her side of the issue w ithout burning a bridge . Penny was a consensus-builder . Penny had vision, she had hope : she had ideas for legislation that were bright and innovative , and always -- notivated by the people she served . Like Bobby Kennedy 's words , which really applied to Penny : Some people see things as they are and ask why ; I dream things that never were and ask why not. Penny truly loved her job, and 4 I STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 80th Legislative Day Feb ruary 26, 1998 meeting people was part of the job that she loved the most. And people loved her back . You could see it when she attended events . People would stand and wait and smile, with a smile on their faces, to talk to her. Tuesday at the Memorial Servtce , which was held ln Decature one of the last people to meet the family at the Civic Center made a comment that he was a very close friend of hers . This was the guy who delivered pizza to the house . Now you may chuckle at that, but -- but we a1l know that that was Penny . She made us a1l feel that we were her closest friends, her extended fam ily . It was easy to see her passion for people and her passion for this process, this institution which we serve . It came through time and time again when she spoke on this Floorz whether -- whether it was for the budqetr the State purchasing process, revenue issues, job training, economic developmente and fundin: for schools: or breast cancer initiatives. A11 of these and many other -- others were issues that Penny cared deeply about . Her legacy is one of a dedicated , carin: legislator who treated her constituency as an extension of her family. In fact, the headlines of the Decatur Herald and Review , Sunday , said l'A Death in our Pam ily ''. One of the first times I heard Penny speak on this Floor and I was sort of moved by her remarks because she quoted President John F . Kennedy . And what we had in common , that in the third grade she and her twin sister: Patty, were moved enough by John Kennedy 's campaign to get involved in politics in the classroom and -- and head the straw poll. And as a young man myself, that's how I :ot involved in politics. We Worked together on issues in the Senate Insurance Committee, when I was Chairman . We often agreed and sometimes we disagreed , but I always knew where Penny stood . When I was seeking the Leadership position , Penny was one of the first persons who came and said r ''I support you for that position.'' And in our Democratic Caucus in the meeting when we were trying to get consensus on issues, and you 5 STATE OP ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 80th Legislative Day February 26, 1998 know we have to take some tough votes, Penny would say to me , ''You 're the Leader . Which way do you want me to go?l' Her word was her bond . And when I appointed her to chief budget neqotiation -- the negotiator for the Democratic Caucus, she took that post very seriously . Nothing got in -- got by in her committee during the closed-door meetings . It didn 't matter how late or early it wasr Penny had a job to do and she was qoing to get the job done. As you may recall, in 1996, she underwent bone marrow transplant . She -- she was released from the hospital at the same time we were votin: on the budqet . She called me and asked me to have faxed to her an analysis of the document and any other figures that we had on the budget . During the comm ittee hearings on the budget, she called staff and asked that a phone be laid down in the conmittee hearing room so she could listen to the debate on the budget, and I think a few of our Members were even prompted to ask questions. She fought for what she believed in with passion , charm , tenacity , that no one could match . As the Decatur Herald and Review edito rialized Tuesday : It 's hard to believe that such a life has been stilled . Penny, perhaps more than anyone , recognized the need for government to do something on women 's health issues. She was a longtime sponsor of the Pamily Leave Act here in the Senate. She also sponsored legislation when I was Chairman of the Insurance Comm ittee to require insurance companies to cover FDA-approved drugs for a11 types of cancer. In some cases , druqs had been approved for treatment for one type of cancer and not another. And some people were denied health care coverage insurance . When Penny introduced that b ill, there was no stopping it. Members from both sides of the aisle joined in, and even the insurance industry signed on to that legislation . But her commitment to health issues went even further. Last summer -- last fall -- when my district office secretary was diagnosed w ith the same type of breast cancer , Penny called her repeatedly and 6 STATE OP ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLX REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 80th Legislative Day Februa ry 26# 1998 counseled her over and over how to deal w ith that issue . And know that she did that for many, many others. And she Would have rather taken the role of counselor than have anyone worry about her and how she was feeling . I would love to go on to say more about Penny because , as I do, it seems that she 's right here with us. But she 's actually in a better place - up there where Democrats have an equal say . And I would like to end my comments with remarks Senator Kennedy used When giving the eulogy for his beloved brother. Penny need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what she Was in life. She should be remembered simply as a good and decent person Who saw a Wrong and tried to right it, sa* sufferinq and tried to heal And those of us who have served with her -- her, who loved her, pray that what she Was to us and what she w ished for others will someday come to pass for al1 the people in the State of Illinois and all the people in this country . Our condolences and heartfelt sympathy goes out to her dad, her sister Patty, all her nieces and nephews, and brothers. We have lost a true champion . But the causes and the issues that she fought for , some have been solved , some a re still w ith usr and we are dedicated to carry out her legacy and fight for the things that she fought for.
Sena eor Geo-Karis .
Mr . President, Members of the Senate and members of the family of our late and good friend Penny Severns, I 've known Penny since she served her in the Senate , but I always found her to be a very articulate , very reasonable and very ded icated person to whatever cause she espoused . And although we were both of different philosophies politically e and we would d isagree sometimes: but she was never disagreeable. She had served a life in only fo rty-six years that others have never served in eiqhty-six years. She was STATE OP ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 80th Legislative Day February 26# 1998 the youngest delegate elected 'to the Democrat National Convention. And she was a college graduate from Southern Illinois University. She served in the United States' State Department and she was at the signing of the Camp David Peace Accords . And then she was elected to the Decatur C ity Councilg and she served well . And then she went to the Illinois Senate. She ran an election which no one thought she could win and she won it handily, in 1986. Penny was a very rare quality . I would always have a little chance to talk to her when she 'd come by my desk on her way to hers. And she 'd say , ''Hi, Geo . How you doing?'' And I 'd say : Hi, Penny. How you doing? Say, HI'm doing fine.'' And she knew what she was doing because she stud ied her wo rk very carefully . She loved the Illinois Senate . She could have gone on to Congress and other seats, but she loved being in the Illinois Senate. I -- I will always remember her saying to me: ''Geo, will you help me a little on this bill?'' And where I could, I did . And we Were cosponsors on certain bills. She did care . She cared about people . She eared about making a better life for others . And she went through a lot of pain that none of us realized . She went through pain when her mom passed awayz and yet she Was going through a bone marrow transplant. She went through pain with the eancer operations , radiation, chemo , and yet , you know z she never complained about iE. She always had a smile . She had those beautiful blaek, flashing eyes with her smile saying, l'So what? Life has to go one.'' The best thing I can say about Penny is that she w ill be missed because Penny truly was a very caring people -- person, rather, about people. She cared about others and kried to lighten their burden . And as Senator Emil Jones said so many th ings about her that I need not repeat , she fs worth every : every fine word we can say about her because she was truly a woman of the people .
8 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLX REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 80th Legislative Day February 26, 1998 Senaeor Welch .
Thank you , Mr . President . Fellow Senators, members of the Severns famfly and to Penny's good friends and advisors - Linda Hawker, Cindy Huebner, Dave Gross and Judy Erwin - 1et me just say that -- 1et me quote the works of Robert Kennedy, whom Penny loved , when he said that ''An honorable profession calls forth the chance for responsibility and the opportunity for achievement. Against these measures, politics is truly an exciting adventure .'' Ladies and Gentlemen, Penny came to Springfield as a Senator in 1986 , and she loved this Senate r as many of us do , and she loved the Democratic Party just as well. It was a great source of strenqth to her that so many people supported her in her campaigns . No matter what talent an individual possesses, vhat energy she hasg no matter how much integrity and how much honesty she might have: if she is by herself, and especially in politics, she can accomplish very littley but if she is sustained , as Penny was, by the people throughout Illinois and her distriet, a11 dedicaked to the same things that she stood for and tried to accomplish, she can accomplish a great deal. No one knew that more than Penny Severns . She Eook great pride in being a Democrat. She was very proud of being elected a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at the younq age of twenty . You know , she loved to sit here next to me and read about the Presidents - President Kennedy and Robert Kennedy especially . She often brought those new books that were Written about them to the Floor and searehed for quotations to use. Shefd ofEen ask me if I had read these books, and I told her I couldn 't read more than one book about the Kennedys every tWo years; it was just too difficult for me to get through . But every time a new book about the Kennedys came outz she seemed to be able to read it . She was a greak person-to-person campaigner . In khe 1990 election ' when I 9 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 80th Legislative Day February 26# 1998 was running for re-election and represented Northern Illinois University , she made a point of coming up to help me campaign . And as she went on the campus, she would go khrough the union hallr go through the cafeteria , and we 'd stop all of the students and interrupt them and -- and we would shake their hands, and -- and she Would ask them if they Were registered to vote . ''A re you interested in politics? This is my friend, Senator Welch. He needs your vote , and it 's very important that you support him .'' She was the only candidate I knew , in the last twenty years , Who would go around and actually slap people on the back . I know that's a cliche that we're al1 backslapping politicians, but she would actually do it and get away with it, and say hello to people. She loved to qrab people by the arm and say hello. One time when we were at NIU, we -- we campaigned through the campus and went to some classes, stood out in front of the union hall, shook hands with everybody who came in. She kept introducing mer ''This is my friend, Senator Welch. He needs your voteo'' Then she decided we were going to get on a bus. There was a bus leavin: the union hall, and I Wasn't sure where it Was going and neither was she . But the tWo of us got on . And the bus was full . And she stood near the front and to start pulling up y and I sa id , well, do you want to go and shake hands . She said , nNo .dl She stood up and started givin: a speech on the bus. And the bus is lurching back and forth , and we dre turning corners, and she 's holdin: on to a pole, and she 's swaying back and forth giving this speech . And finally she finished talking about how everybody should be registered, asked everybody if they Were registered, told them where khey could registerz told them about me g that I was running for re-election, that I supported NIU and I supported the students, and finally she got ready to introduce me . d'Th is is Senator Welch. He's going to say a few words.'' - which I didn 'k know I was going to do . Unfortunately , by the time she finished 10 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCR IPT 80th Leqislative Day February 26 , 1998 her speech and her introduction, we had reached the end of the stop for the bus and all of the students got off, and Penny and I were left on the bus . So she -- she did get my name oute but d idn 't get a chance to say anything to the students who were on the bus because she had talked so lonq . But she truly loved campaigninq. And if you ever were campaigning with her, you knew that she lived up to the words of -- of Hubert Humph rey , who said that, ''Life is meant to be enjoyed, not endured.'' And certainly she fulfilled those words throughout her life . She was so comm itted ko the issues that she believed in : ethics reform , Skate contract reform: education funding reform, women 's rights, and her last cause that she hoped to champion - adult literacy . We will miss her ideas and her strong voice on all of these issues . She loved using quotations . She brought books to the Floor and would underline them . And if you picked up one of her books to read, she would have pages doq-eared and marked with quotations that you knew she was going to use somewhere . I don 't recall her making any speeches on any major issues throughout all of the years Ehat she was here that she didn 't work in some quotation. I did find one quotation that I thought that she Would like and I think spoke very well to what I thought about her and what many thought about her. A t the 1964 Democratic National Convention. Robert Kennedy eulogized his brotherr Jack, and he did so by quoting William Shakespeare. And What he said, I'd like to paraphrase. When think of Penny Severnsr I think of what Shakespeare wrote in Romeo and Juliet: When he -- when she shall die , take her and cut her out into skars and she shall make the face of heaven so fine that a1l the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun. Penny was like sunshine in this Chamber. She was a qreat voice that has been stilled . Anyone who knew her - and especially if you Were a Democrat - loved her, and we miss her and wish she were here With STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 80th Legislative Day February 26, 1998 us today . Thank you .
Senator Jacobs.
Thank you : M r. President, Lad ies and Gentlemen of the Senate , Penny 's fam ily . You know , we all during our lifetime have given a number of eulogies, and 1, for one, have said I will do no more, because they are hard . But I felt I had to say a few things. I look at this shroud over here and don't like this shroud, because it speaks of Penny 's death, not of Penny 's life. I look at whak V ince Demuzio , Senator Demuzio , said at the tribute to Penny Severns . It was one of the better eulogies I have ever heard . It was sincere, from the heart. And when he talked about Princess SummerFall W interspring , I think he brought it all home . ïou know , she loved her life , she loved her family . And as much as she loved b0th of them , she loved this body politic . We all are enhanced by the experiences we meet and by the friends we make. We grow from that. I want to thank Penny for allowing me a little slice of her life so I could grow a little also . They say only the good die young. Penny is proof of that. And I just want to very simply say : Thank you , Penny , for allowing me into your life .
Senator del Valle . SENATOR dEL VALLE : Thank you, Mr. President. I came to khe Illinois Senate the same year that Penny came in. We were about the same age and we shared offices in the same section . Penny was a wonderful person . We all know that. It's been clearly stated here today. We a1l know that she cared very much for her constituents , her districe . She Would not cast a vote without thinking long and hard about it . I lm going to m iss very much Penny asking me , ''Miguel , what do you 12 STATE OF ILLINO IS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 80th Legislative Day February 26 , 1998 think?'l I'm sure she asked that question of many here. She cared about my opinion and she cared about the opinions of others in this Chamber. I think she felt honored , as I think all of us do , to serve in this Chamber . She realized hoW privileged she was to have the support of her constituents . I didn 't hesitate to support her in every campaign. In the last press release that I saw , that was handed to me by Carmelg I auEomatically went to one sentence in that press release . I didn lt read the top and I automatically went to it, and it said something to Ehe effect that , in principale we must challenqe our right and we must pursue our right to access to the ballot. And I just for a split second there , I said : Go, Penny . You dre fighting; you 've always fought; and you will continue to fight. I didn lt realize that it would be her last fight . But when I read the following sentence that indicated thak because of her healkh she would not be able to continue, somethinq told me, I realized, that that may be her last battle . But I think the most important thinq that can be said here today , and it has been said already , is that she was a good person a very qood person - with a big heart. She was always prepared, took her job seriously, a true professionalp a true public servant . And so , I admired her for her tenacity , yes , but I also admired her for her hard work . Being that close and knowing and seeing the flow of people in and out of her office, day in and day out, and running from meeting to meetinq , and always wanting to know ''What happened?'v never saying: ''We11, I don 't want to hear about it y'' but always wanting to know ''What happened?d', ''What did I miss?'' She cared. Wepll miss her very much . We 've lost a member of our Senate family . And to her family, I say to you, she Will always be in our hearts. Thank you .
Senator Maitland . 13 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 80th Legislative Day February 26, 1998
Thank you very much , M r. Presidents Members of the Senate r members of the Severns fam ily . We are r as human beings , a very selfish people . In the twenty years that I 've been in this Body , we have lost now eight sitting Senators. A nd it is never easy . And we are selfish because we agonize over their loss , because we are selfish . And yet, Senator Demuzio , you put it so well in the memorial service the other day , when you said there 's a step beyond that and we celebrate the life . And if you believe , as I do , we do celebrate one 's life here on earth and what those contributions are . Penny was a vibrant lady . And she was a very partisan lady . She believed very strongly in her Party . From a very early aqe , she was deeply committed to the Democratic Pa rty . And yet , she also was a believer, as I am r in the strenqth of the two-party system . And as my colleagues in th is Chamber know , time and time again r Penny Severns and I would argue strongly . Probably no two people argued more strongly on issues on this Floor , especially budget issues when she was in Leadership on the budget and I was chairing the Budget Committee - in comm ittee and on this Floor . And Penny knew , as I know y that that was the beauty of the two-party system . It 's what we are a1l about, and she brought that to the Floor of this Chamber . And as we celebrate her life - as we celebrate her life - as partisans, each and every one of us , we can remember how two peop le can argue and disagree With one common goal in mind, that of some point in the middle, reaching the common view of the eleven and a half million people of this State , because we are m icrocosms of that eleven million people , as legislators . We never Win a1l the battles . But Penny knows - Penny knew know and most of you do , when We walk out that door, We are friends and We can have dinner together. That 's how partisanship can Work and that 's what Penny lived for. ...and I served as Toll Fellows together . I don 't 14 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 80th Legislative Day February 26 r 1998 know whether any of you know what Toll Fellows are . It was listed in the service manual at the memorial service . But a Toll Fellow is a leadership program from the Council of State Governmentsg and every summer fifty leaders from around the country attend this r and Penny and I were picked the same year to be Toll Fellows - the first time ever two individuals from one state were a part of the Toll Fellowship program . And it was nonpartisan. We talked about leadership ; we interacted . And obviously , Penny contributed so very much . How many of you remember so many times when Penny would stand on the Floor and say as she debated , ''A nd quite honestly , Senator Maitland , how would people view that in Bloomington?'' When I would go to see her when she would come back from one of her illnesses: HoW do you feel, Penny? ''Quite honeskly, John, I feel great and I'm doing just very well, and thank you for the card .'' I often like to quote Stephen Covey, and one quote that perhaps you dve heard me give before goes like this : ''The best way to predict the future is to create it .'' Penny , indeed , as a leader for so many years : in so many different capacities, predicted the future by creating it . She was a noble servant . She w ill live in our hearts forever, and her soul, indeed , will rest in peace .
Senator Demuzio .
''Thank you , Mr . President and Ladies and Gentlemen of the senate.'' Those were the words that our esteemed friend and colleague Senator Penny Severns was always proud to say in this hallowed Chamber. And 1et me say to the family who is assembled with us today from -- seated in the -- the front - Don , her father, with his wife, Audine; Pattyy her sister, and Doug; her nieces and nephews , Kristinr Weston and G raham ; her brother, Rod , and Jane, Who are with us today; and Donnie, who had to return to 15 STATE 0F ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLX REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 80th Legislative Day February 26, 1998 ' Iowa - Pakky , as we were twenty-flve minutes laee this morning , almosk had the feeling that we were waiting for Penny. She loved being a Member of this great deliberative Body . Penny had an enormous respect for the legislative process and for her colleagues on both sides of the aisle . She relished that somekimes spirited give-and-take of the debake on the Floor , and she always cherished cherished the times when she had an opportunity to spar w ith John Maitland , and I say that in a friendly sense . When Penny rose to speak in this Chamber , her colleagues listened . She commanded that kind of respect and adm iration. And when Penny spoke in the Illinois Senate on the truly important issues of any given Session , she always thought long and hard ahead of time about what she was goinq to say . How many times d id all of us who are assembled her today listen to Penny when she spoke on this Floor? And we did hear her pepper her speeches with a great quote from a historical figure. She would literally scour the books in her home or -- or her office for exactly that right quote, which summed up the essence of her remarks . She took this p rocess seriously , this business of making laws which affected the lives of every citizen of the State of Illinois . And during her almost twelve years in the Senate , Penny became one of our finest orators, and we will truly m iss her eloquence in this Chamber. But I remember also that Penny loved -- she loved it when citizens from her district , or schoolchildren, or faraway visito rs would visit her in khe : Cap itol . She was very proud always to show them where she Worked . She loved to take them down to the first floor Rotunda and she would make certain that they would see the magnificent view of the dome that one sees when they look stra ight up to the heavens . She loved to brin: her guests out here on the Senate Floor and to expla in in p recise detail how the Senate worked . She loved it when kids would break into a wide grin when she would let them sit 16 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 80th Legislative Day February 26, 1998 in her chair here on this -- ùn this Floor. And she always loved meeting the new crop of Senate Pages every Session and loved introducing Pages from her district to her fellow Senators. She especially loved taking visitors down to the Governorls Office and tellin: them how proud she was when she walked through those glass doors for the first time as the Senate Democrat 's chief budget negotiator. And she loved inviting guests into her office for a Diet Coke and a long chat . Yes, everyone of us who works in this - - this majestic building is goin: to miss the sight of Penny: almost always running late , bound ing swiftly up *he sta irs, through the glass doors on the north side of the Capitol, always ready w ith a warm greeting and a smile for those that she encountered on her way to her office on the third floor. As we remember her here today, in this Chamber that she truly lovedr we dearly wish that just one more time we could sit back and listen as the honorable lady from Maconz Penny Severns, pushed her light to speak and regaled us by beginning with the remarks, HMr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate.'' Will we miss her? We know we will . PRESIDENT PH ILIP ) Senator Hendon .
Thank you, Mr. President. To the family: In khe Bible, it -- it says that when someone is saved - someone knows the Lord - and they go on to meet Him, we should rejoice. We have this thing backwards , and we should not be -- feel sorrow , but we should rejoice. And Penny truly knew God for herself. So we should rejoice today. I did not know Penny as long as some others, but we became pretty close after we had a -- a run-in. And when I went to Penny after the run-in, she said, ''Senator, don't worry about it. You know, I understandg'' 17 STATE OF ILLINOIS 90TH GEXERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 80th Legislative Day February 26 , 1998 And she forgave me , as God forgives us for our sins . And I 've loved her ever since . And when the word came to my captains who had circulated for her for Secretary of State khat she was not going to make it, we cried for a moment, but then we thought about it, just like you see Penny smiling there, she's smiling because she knew something , somethinq special , somethin: reqal - she knew the Lord . So Penny is all right. A few days after Penny 's surgery for the tumor on her brain in her head , my mother had the same surgery, and me and my wife, we prayed for both of them . And my mother was very afraid , because she 's seventy-three, but when Penny pulled through her surqeqy, I told herz I said, Mom, see my - - my friend made it. And my mother gained courage because of Penny . And my mother is still here and doinq well . And we al1 felt that it was, because Penny had made it , mom was able to find some courage . Lastly , a lot has been said , but this thought came to me: A penny is made out of copper, but this Penny was pure gold .
Senator Jones moves to suspend the rules for the purpose of *he immediate consideration and adoption of Senate Resolution 168. Those in favor w ill siqnify by saying Aye . Those opposed r Nay . The Ayes have it . The rules are suspended . Senator Jones now moves for the adoption of Senate Resolution 168 . A 1l those in favor o! this resolution, please rise. The resolution is adopted. . . . stand adjourned. 18 REPORT: TIFLDAY STATE OF ILLINOIS 98/03/03 PAGE: 001 90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 09:13:37 SENATE DAILY TRANSCRIPTION OF DEBATE INDEX FEBREARY 26, 1998 HB-2400 FIRST READING PAGE 3 SR-0167 RESOLUTION OFFERED PAGE 2 SR-0168 ADOPTED PAGE 18 . SR-0168 RESOLUTION OFFERED PAGE # SR-0169 RESOLUTION OFFERED PAGE 2 SJR-005: ADOPTED PAGE 3 SJR-005: RESOLUTION OFFERED PAGE 2 SUBJECT HATTER SENATE T0 ORDER-PRESIDENT PHILIP PAGE 1 PRAYER-FATHER DAVID LANTZ PAGE 1 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE-LED BY SENATOR SIEBEN PAGE 1 JOURNALS-POSTPONED PAGE 1 MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE PAGE 1 COHMITTEE REPORTS PAGE 2 RESOLETIOKS CONSENT CALENDAR-ADOPTED PAGE 3 ADJODRNMENT PAGE 18