Illinois Senate Floor Debate — April 15, 2003

The regular Session of the 93rd General Assembly will please come to order. Will the Members please be at their desks? Will our guests in the galleries please rise? The invocation today will be given by Reverend James Meeks, Pastor, Salem Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois. Reverend Meeks.

Please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Senator Link.

Madam Secretary, Reading and Approval of the Journal.

Senator Woolard.

Senator Woolard moves to approve the Journal just read by the Secretary. There being no objection, so ordered. Senator Woolard.

Senator Woolard moves to postpone the reading and approval of the Journals, pending arrival of the printed transcripts. There being no objection, so ordered. Senator Halvorson, for what purpose do you rise?

State your point.

Will our guest please rise and be welcomed by the Illinois Senate? Madam Secretary, Resolutions.

Resolutions Consent Calendar. Senator Shadid, what purpose do you rise?

State your point.

Will our guests in the gallery please rise and be recognized by the Illinois Senate? Madam Secretary, House Bills 1st Reading.

Madam Secretary, Introduction of Bills.

Senator Rutherford. Senator Rutherford.

Mr. President, thank you. I -- I would like to make an introduction to one our former colleagues in the Illinois General Assembly who’s with us here today that represents both Senator Winkel, Senator Brady, Senator Risinger and Senator Woolard and myself, a former Member of the State House of Representatives, a Member in the United States Congress, who’s visiting us here today. Please welcome to the Illinois Senate the Honorable Tim Johnson.

Congressman, welcome to the Senate Floor. I know the Congressman is bringing us some well wishes from Washington, as well as some appropriations. Now to the committee chairmen making their announcements as relate to their meetings this afternoon. I'd like to inform the Body that tomorrow we will 4  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 34th Legislative Day 4/15/2003 have committee hearings. There’ll little action. There are no committees scheduled for Thursday. So, we will cancel Thursday’s Session, prior to the spring break. When we return from the spring break, there will be committee hearings and then we have quite a number of House bills to deal with that following week and I’m quite sure the committees will do their duty. So there will be no Thursday Session, but there will be committee hearings tomorrow, as well as this afternoon. Senator Crotty, what purpose do you rise?

State your point.

Will our young guests please rise and receive the welcome of the Senate? Senator Crotty.

Will our guests in the gallery please rise and be recognized? Senator Larry Walsh.

State your point.

Will our guests in the gallery please rise and be welcomed by the Senate? Senator Jeff Schoenberg.

State your point.

Will our guests rise and be welcomed by the Senate? Senator Roskam, what purpose do you rise?

Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. President.

State your inquiry.

Mr. President, on the Calendar today are a number of bills where the -- the deadline was -- has actually lapsed. There’s about a hundred and eighty bills printed on the Calendar that indicate an April 9th deadline. And my question is, do those -- is that a misprint? Do those go back to Rules or what -- what is the -- what is the plan for those bills?

As to your inquiry -- and your -- your inquiry, Senator, they will no longer appear on the Calendar. As of tomorrow, they will be off the -- not unless you want to extend the deadline, sir. Senator Woolard, what purpose do you rise?

State your point.

Senator Jacobs, what purpose do you rise?

Senator George Shadid.

Senator Hunter, what purpose do you rise?

State your point.

Senator Haine.

Senator Larry Walsh.

Senator James Clayborne. 7  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 34th Legislative Day 4/15/2003

Senator Cullerton.

Senator Donne Trotter.

Senator del Valle. Senator Hendon.

Senator Larry Walsh. Senator Demuzio.

Senator George Shadid.

State your point.

Will our guests in the gallery please rise and be recognized by the Senate? Senator Watson.

Yes. Thank you very much, Mr. President. You and I had a short discussion on the phone about the Executive Appointment Committee tomorrow and the ability of Members of that Committee to ask for non-salaried personnel to be called into Committee and be questioned. Normally I understand the procedure would be that non-salaried people are not asked to come into Committee unless - unless - one of the Members requests.

Pardon me, Senator. Will the Members please tone it down a bit so that the Senator could be heard? I’m sorry. Proceed.

Well, thank you very much. I’ll just reiterate what I just said. You and I, Senator Jones, President Jones, had a conversation about tomorrow’s Executive Appointment Committee and the policy -- the policy of that Committee in regard to non- salaried appointments and the past considerations that had been given to the fact that those people don’t necessarily have to show up to the Committee, only non-salaried. But if a Member of the Committee requests -- if a Member of that Committee would request that a non-salaried individual be present for some public questioning, that the Chairman of the Committee would give consideration to that and that in hopes that that non- salaried individual would come before the Committee. And the reason that I say that is that two of ‘em -- tomorrow I think we 9  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 34th Legislative Day 4/15/2003 have the University of Illinois trustees and we have the Investment Board appointments to be made. University of Illinois trustees, obviously a public policy position that many Members would like to have just what your attitude about higher education -- what is your attitude and your philosophy about tuition… Those are questions that ought to be able to ask the individual with the University of Illinois trustees. And then there’s an Investment Board appointment, I think two members, and those individuals are obviously going to be part of investing the bond authorization that we just made available and we have, and I think all of us should have, all fifty-nine Members should have, some concern on the attitude and philosophy of those members in regard to how they think the bond authorization procedure should go forth. So we think, on our side, that those members who are maybe non-salaried but are in very sensitive areas of public policy should be brought to the Committee, if the Members request, should be brought to the Committee to answer questions. That’s what I said a moment ago. I said it twice now. Thank you.

Yeah. Thank you, Senator Watson. We did have that discussion and I -- I will give you Senator Hendon, the Chairman of Executive Appointment Committee, to respond.

Senator Demuzio.

Senator Burzynski.

Thank you, Mr. President. To this issue if I might. I chaired the Executive Appointments Committee for a couple years and, you know, I -- I tried to recall what our policies and procedures were and I don’t think I have anything down in writing. And certainly what we tried to do was to afford every Senator who had a question of an appointee, whether they were salaried or non-salaried, the opportunity to visit with them and to get their questions answered. You know, this is a learning process as well, and it seems to me that when we’ve got people that are making the kinds of decisions that they are, that if there is a question about philosophy or anything else, perhaps it is appropriate to have them appear in front of the Executive Appointments Committee. Certainly I know that we always honored requests, regardless of what they were. If a Senator was not satisfied with an answer that he got from an individual, we did not call them until they were satisfied or until whatever activity was necessary was completed. So I would just encourage 11  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 34th Legislative Day 4/15/2003 you to rethink that. I don’t -- I don’t think this would happen very often, but certainly we do have some major appointees that are in non-salaried positions that are more powerful than those that are in appointed positions, and it just seems appropriate that they would appear. Thank you.

Senator Petka.

Thank you, Mr. -- thank you, Mr. President. Just a -- a comment and I very much appreciate Senator -- the Majority Leader’s reading of the protocol that we had adopted and -- and -- and -- to the extent that that did reflect a -- a policy. However, through the -- the years that I served as Chairman and then Co-Chairman of that Executive Appointments, in addition to having the -- the protocol that you’ve let out, anytime that a request was made from a Member for either having an opportunity to further explore the qualifications or to ask for a delay in it, it -- it was honored. And in those -- in a couple of very rare instances, especially, as I recall, nominations to the Gaming Board and -- entire -- in times passed also to the State Board of Education, requests that were made to the -- to the Chair for having those individuals appear before the Committee were honored. All I’m suggesting is that the -- the use of that -- that courtesy that has been extended will be limited to very, very specific areas where, as -- as our Minority Leader pointed out, that we think that there is -- that the position that they’re filling is -- is a very, very important decision and very, very important position and that it’d be vital, in -- in our opinion, that the entire Committee and, for that matter, the entire Chamber have access to the answers that were given.

Senator Hendon.

Senator Winkel.

Thank you, Mr. President. I rise in strong support of Senator Watson’s request. I mean, aside from your reading of the letter of the law, certainly the spirit and the courtesies that -- although I have not personally experienced over the years in this Chamber, do appear to be ignored. But aside from all that, which all of -- all of which is very important, we’re talking about positions here on the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, which I’m intimately -- intimately aware of and involved with and represent that great, august Body. You’re talking about trustees who represent a university that’s a three-billion-dollar operation. And to think that you would move forward without giving the opportunity of all the Members to ask questions and to have them appear before your Committee, I think is -- is irresponsible, and I -- I do wish that you would extend those -- those courtesies that are being requested.

Senator Demuzio.

Senator Watson.

Well, I guess I would agree. What is the brouhaha here? I -- I -- I don’t understand this. I don’t understand it at all. We had Gaming Board Commission members, who are non- salaried, have come before this Committee. That’s a perfect example, not only the Gaming Board, but we’re talking about the Investment Board, University of Illinois Trustees, and the fact that Senator Hendon mentions that this is the first time that we’ve brought this up, that is not accurate. And, Senate President, you know that because I’ve asked you on several occasions about this very issue and we are very concerned about not only -- I -- I don’t know -- we’re -- we’re not on some witch-hunt over here. That’s not what this is all about. We’re on -- what we’re talking about is an open process. We’re talking about sunshine. We’re talking about letting the public know what goes on here in Springfield. That’s what this is all about, and we’ve got some very sensitive appointments that are going to be considered tomorrow that we’re not even getting opportunity to be heard. We’re not going to be able to have the opportunity to question these people, to talk to ‘em about their individual philosophies, about what they want to do once their - - appointed to these boards. What are you trying to hide from here? All we want to do is make the sunshine bright here in Springfield and give everyone -- all fifty-nine Members, if so be it, want to come in and ask some questions of these people, why not let ‘em have the opportunity? I don’t understand this at all. If I sat over there, if I sat on that side, I'd want to know this -- the answer that I’m about to ask: What are you 14  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 34th Legislative Day 4/15/2003 trying to hide? What are you trying to hide here? That’s what -- give us a good answer. So far I haven’t heard it.

Senator Hendon.

Senator Watson.

Yes. Thank you, and I appreciate that, Mr. President. It’s not about rules; it’s about respect and it’s about protocol and it’s about honoring the request of one Member, one fifty- ninth of this Senate Body, who may request courtesy from the Chairman and the process by which these rules are implemented. It’s not the rules; it’s protocol. There is a difference, Senator. There is a difference. And I’ll go back to what I said a moment ago. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want -- you wouldn’t want to be a part of requesting some responses from people we’re going to put in a very sensitive position of State government. I don’t understand it.

Senator Winkel.

Thank you, Mr. President. The -- the point about being irresponsible is not that -- well, it seems to be the mantra 15  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 34th Legislative Day 4/15/2003 that we hear time and again that, gosh, you guys did it first and it’s your rules and so it must be okay. I don’t know about all that. I wasn’t here before. But I can tell you now that -- I can tell you that this is a three-billion-dollar operation at the University of Illinois. It makes perfect sense to have the people who you’re considering appointing to positions of power and trust to be before the Committee for questioning in public on the record. And let me just say again, to not do so, I believe is irresponsible.

Senator Roskam, what purpose do you rise?

Well, a brief comment in light of these comments that were made, Mr. President. You know…

State your brief comment.

Thank you. Mr. President, last week there was an error that was made and I think acknowledged on the other side of the aisle by some private conversations that I’ve had with folks that were in the Chair and so forth, and that was the extinguishment of the debate on a person with a criminal background that’s now confirmed as Secretary of the Department of Labor. We had tried to have a debate on the Senate Floor about this gentleman’s criminal background, his criminal conduct that was related to the very nature of the office that he was going to be installed in, and we were cut off. Now, whether we were cut off I -- and I -- I accept the -- the explanations that it was -- it was an error and so forth, but what I’m saying today is, let’s not make the same error twice. This is an opportunity. I think we can take Senator Watson’s comments and his observations at face value that what he’s trying to do is to ask fundamental questions about leaders of an enormous institution, the University of Illinois. I think we can take Senator Winkel’s comments at face value that these are about inquiries of people that are going to be investing and overseeing tremendous sums of money, and -- and requesting that they come to give testimony in public is not -- is not crossing the line. It’s an appropriate Senate oversight and I would urge 16  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 34th Legislative Day 4/15/2003 the Majority’s reconsideration of the position that it’s taking. Thank you.

This issue has been thoroughly debated. Senator Watson and I did have conversation, not only today, but on previous occasion as it relate to the non-salaried appointments, but I feel the Chair must respond in this manner, whether or not our Chairman, Senator Hendon, was doing anything different that has not been done in the past. This is not the first time that the University of Illinois trustees has been presented for confirmation and I asked him that question. I asked Senator DeLeo, who was also the Co-Chair of the -- the Executive Appointment Committee, and he said this has been the practice. So we followed past practices as relate to non-salaried appointments, and we haven’t diverted from that. Now, if you’re saying that your practice in the past was wrong, I haven’t heard anyone on your side of the aisle saying what we did in the past was wrong. You haven’t said that. So, we’re following the practice that have been given over the past several years. I raised that question with my chairman and asked that question. They adopted the same, identical rules, and the University of Illinois trustees -- individuals in the past have been appointed and I know quite certain Members had questions but they were not compelled to appear before the Executive Committee. So why all of a sudden you’re going to change? If your rules were -- and procedures were bad in the past or wrong, if you was -- think that, maybe we’ll modify it, but you have not said that. These are the identical rules, and so that issue is mute. The issue is mute. Senator Watson.

Well, if that’s your decision and that’s the decision of the Chairman, then I think it’s very unfortunate. The policy and the rule of the Committee -- I -- and I haven’t served on it. I wasn’t chairman of it. But I have talked to Senator Burzynski and Senator Petka, who both were chairmen of the Executive Appointments Committee, and if the rules were as you said, that -- that’s fine. It’s a -- it’s a matter of protocol and it’s a matter of what has happened in the past. And if you look in the records, you will find that the Gaming Board is one 17  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 34th Legislative Day 4/15/2003 of those positions that’s non-salaried, and if you tell me that we are not going to have the -- a member of the Gaming Board come before the Executive Appointments Committee and ask -- be asked questions about, I’m sure, very sensitive issues because it’s a very sensitive position, if we’re not going to allow that happen, I think that is irresponsible and that is not what we’ve done over the last ten years. When a Member asked -- when a Member asked for a -- the non-salaried appointments to come before the Committee to answer questions, it didn’t matter whether it came from your side or it came from our side, that request was honored. And I -- I don’t know for sure why you would persist in this. I -- I really -- I’m at a -- at a loss. I am at a loss as to why you would want to rule in such a way and have your Committee structure follow the manner in which it’s about to follow. I think it’s leading down a dangerous path and a very concerning path of the people that -- who will be appointed to some of these positions of public policy that we ought to have the opportunity to request answers of -- from the Members of the Committee.

Madam Secretary, Committee Reports.

Madam Secretary, Resolutions.

Resolutions Consent Calendar. A clarifying point as relate to those Senate Bills on -- on the Calendar: What will be taken off would be, not the bill in its entirety, but the expiration date will be removed from those bills that currently are on the Calendar. I want to make that clarifying point. Senator Roskam.

Just -- just to follow up so that I understand. Mr. President, in other words those bills, do they have no deadline whatsoever or will they have a deadline that’s extended to a date certain or will it be a deadline to December 31st, 2003?

We’ll only be removing the notation for the expired deadline. That what we’ll be… Senator Roskam.

So, Mr. President, what is the deadline on those bills?

The deadline has passed on those -- bills who have not been extended. So they’ll just remain there for your observation. Senator Crotty, what purpose do you rise?

There being no further business to come before the Senate, the Senate stands adjourned till the hour of noon on Wednesday, April 16, 2003. The Senate stands adjourned. 19