Illinois Senate Floor Debate — July 24, 2004

Thank you, Madam President. Floor Amendment No. 1 to House Bill 7307 would add a provision that would extend the current ban on contingent fees for lobbyists… 3  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004

What this language would do -- there’s currently a ban on contingency fee contracts for lobbyists who are engaged in lobbying for the legislative outcome. That’s already prohibited. What this amendment would do, would continue that ban and also make it prohibited for a contingency fee agreement to be entered into by a lobbyist that would be dependent on a -- an executive or administrative outcome or decision. Most people, frankly, think that’s already the law. It certainly is the law in regard to the Legislative Branch. What this does is it makes it the law as it applies to the Executive Branch as well. I’d be glad to take any questions.

Yeah. Thank you, Madam President. House Bill 7307, as amended, will reconstitute the Health Facilities Planning Board. The current nine-member Health Facilities Planning Board has been -- been the subject of public scrutiny as a result of State 4  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 and federal investigation pertaining to the Board’s decision on whether a new hospital should be constructed and which contractor should construct the new facility. On the 7th of this -- of July, the Governor issued an administrative order to call the -- the Board to cease and desist all of its activities pending the completion of this legislation which will reconstitute the Board. The bill, as amended -- as amended, terminates the terms of the current members of the Health Facilities Planning Board and provides that their replacement be -- reduce the membership from nine to five members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. It stipulates that only three of the five members of the Board may be of the same political party at the time of appointment and establishes a -- a tiered term structure for these new appointments. It makes clear, there are no -- if there are -- no vacancy on the Board, then four members constitute a quorum. If there are vacancies, then the majority of the Board shall constitute a quorum. It takes an affirmative vote of at least three members for passage of any action required by a vote. It requires that the new appointments must be reasonable -- have reasonable knowledge of health planning, health finance and health care at the time of appointments and will serve three- year terms following his initial appointment. It prohibits the retaining of a -- or employing a person to lobby legislative, executive or administrative action for the compensation and contingency on the outcome of that action, and it prohibits individuals who themselves, or their immediate families hold an interest or have a business relationship with a health care facility from being appointed or continuing service on the Board. This is what the bill does, in essence. There have been those who say we should abolish the Board itself, but in one sense, we don’t need a hospital every eight blocks throughout the State of Illinois. And in one sense, what it does it serves a very, very -- valuable use in cost containment, because if you have too many hospitals, too many beds, then the consumers will have to pay for those unneeded facilities. I think this is a reasonable compromise. It’s something that we must do, and I ask for a favorable vote on House Bill 7307, as amended.

Thank you, Madam President. Will the sponsor of Amendment No. 2 yield for a question?

Thank you, Madam President. Yesterday, during a hearing in the Executive Committee, I had a couple of questions that were asked of the sponsor of the amendment which he did not know the answer to and which he has indicated that he would research and get back and report. And so, if -- if I may reiterate, the question is this: Under Article II {sic} (I), Section 10 of the United States Constitution, there is a provision that the State shall not pass any legislation which impairs the liabilities under a contract. Senator Winkel, in circumstances where a person has an -- or a lobbyist has an existing contingency fee contract today, would this language by virtue of the federal Constitution preclude the implementation of this legislation -- because it may be unconstitutional?

Thank you. The -- our research has shown that there’s a -- there’s an Illinois Supreme Court case, First of America versus Netsch, and a Fourth District Appellate Court case, McAleer Buick-Pontiac Company versus General Motors, where that -- that question came up. What the courts in Illinois have said is that if a statute says expressly that it’s retroactive, then they will take that into account and it may have retroactivity in its application. In the event that it does not have that express retroactive language, it will be construed as applying only prospectively. In this case, the -- the language before us has no such express language that calls for retroactive application, and therefore, under the case law, this -- this law, if it goes into effect, would have only prospective application. And therefore, any contractual rights that are vested at the time of enactment remain in full force and effect. And therefore, the 6  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 statute, if enacted, would not have retroactive application, but only prospective.

So that it is the -- for purposes of legislative intent, contracts which exist on this date, that for -- that those contracts would not be affected by this legislation.

That’s correct. Any contractual right that is vested at the time of enactment of this language would remain in full force and effect, and this language would apply only prospectively - thus, only to future contracts.

Thank you, Madam President. I’d like to know if the sponsor would yield for a couple of questions.

Thank you. Senator Jones, is there anything in this bill that prohibits a member of the Health Facilities reconstituted Planning Board from giving campaign contributions to politicians?

No, that’s not included in the Act.

So, it would still be possible for somebody to give a large, say, twenty-five-thousand-dollar contribution one day to a political figure and get reappointed or appointed to this Board a couple of days later?

There is no such prohibition for this Board or any other board, be it the Gaming Board, be -- there is no such prohibition.

Thank you. Another line of -- another question. Senator Jones, are you aware that yesterday the Federal Trade Commission and the United States Justice Department, after two years of study and hundreds of hearings, recommend to the states, for anti-trust reasons as well as competitive pricing advantages, that certificate of need plans by the states be abolished?

I saw some -- excerpts in the paper today. I didn’t read the story in its entirety. But in my opening remarks, I still indicated that, as relate to cost containment, I don’t think we should be in a position wherein these facilities would be located wherever the health facility -- interests want to place them, because the consuming public will have to pay for it whether it’s needed or not. When you are a patient going to a hospital, for example, you pay for the cost of all that equipment, even though you may not use that equipment. So, you would be paying for those additional bed spaces even though you may not need them. I believe the Health Facilities Planning Board does a admirable job in holding down the costs and limiting the number of unnecessary hospital beds in the State of Illinois. So, just because the report is coming out of Washington, I don’t agree with everything that comes out of Washington, especially the Bush administration.

Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Senator Jones. To the bill. I rise in support of the bill because, primarily, Senator Winkel’s amendment makes this bill a lot better. It’s 8  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 always astonished me why we don’t ban contingency fees for what I call Executive Branch type of lobbying, and I think Senator Winkel’s idea is a great one. I do want to point out that twenty other states, within the last decade, have gotten rid of their certificate of need boards. Senator Rauschenberger has had legislation in, in the past, to get away with -- or, do away with the CON process here, and the American Hospital Association has issued a report which says that states which have gone away from the health facilities planning board type of model actually have as many hospital beds available and costs actually are slightly lower. We’ll re-explore this topic, I’m sure, in the upcoming years. This reconstituted Board is better than the current Board, which we have to do away with. But I think we need to continue to take a look at our certificate of need process in the future. We clearly have a real problematic situation. And I do think we need to, Senator Jones, whether it comes from the Bush administration or not, look at why other states have gone away from the certificate of need board, and we should take the Justice Department and the FTC’s recommendation of yesterday at least under advisement. So, I reluctantly support this bill, and I do so, at least for the part of Senator Winkel’s, enthusiastically. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam President. To the bill. You know, I think that this is, in my view -- like Senator Dillard, you know, I’m -- I’m a reluctant Yes on this bill today. I think it’s a -- it’s -- there’s some good elements to it, and I think the ex parte language is good, which -- which is clearly an improvement. But, you know, the notion of -- I mean, the reason that we’re here is because of allegations of potential corruption of a group of nine people. Now, under that theory, if you’re going to corrupt a group of nine people, the only amount of people that you have to corrupt is five. Now we’re reconstituting the Board and we’re actually lowering the threshold of people that you have to pluck off. Now if you’re corrupt, you don’t have to waste your time with five people. Now you just have to get three. And I think that’s a weakness 9  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 in this approach. The other thing is the bill is silent as to any changes in the vetting. We heard in -- in the course of testimony in the Executive Committee that there would be a vetting and a background process that would be reinvigorated. Well, the current “vetter” and the “backgrounder” on the Second Floor, who placed all of these individuals on the Health Facilities Planning Board, apparently completely failed in that vetting and backgrounding. This bill is silent as to any changes, any more vigorous backgrounding, more vigorous vetting, and frankly, it leaves the same amount of authority in the same person that we’re criticizing implicitly today for failing to appoint good people, allegedly. The -- Senator Silverstein raised a question that really hasn’t been answered today. In the course of the debate, he raised this question in the Executive Committee, and that was the definition of a business relationship. What is a business relationship? How is it defined? Business relationship is not a term of art in the law, and I think it needs to be more carefully defined so that somebody doesn’t get caught up in that. So, I know, Senator Jones, that this is an attempt on your part to take a complicated situation and make it better, and I respect that. My hunch is that this will be an area that we’ll continue to be working on in the months and maybe next Session, as well. And I just put those, and particularly Senator Silverstein’s question, on the record for your consideration for the future. I reluctantly urge a very weak push on the green button.

Thank you, Madam President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. I appreciate the sponsor, as well, trying to make a bad situation better, but I would point out to Members that we have -- there is in the Senate Rules Committee a bill that would abolish the Health Facility Planning Board. Twice in the last decade I’ve introduced bills to abolish the Board. I think we need to pause and think about what’s -- what’s happened. We have more than a decade of abuse in -- in that Board, not just a few years. It’s been highlighted now with cases that the federal prosecutors are pursuing. More than twenty states have 10  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 abandoned centralized planning as a way to manage their health care system. In fact, the Soviet Union, the -- the Grand Pooh- Bah of centralized planning, is now a thing of the past. I -- I think we ought to seize on this opportunity not to give a Governor who’s got his hands full and has not performed particularly well in the appointment process, not give him the responsibility to reappoint a board that doesn’t work, but we ought to eliminate it. Lower costs will be the result of market forces that take place. The protectionist process in the State of Illinois has not resulted in lower costs. In fact, our costs are higher than most of the surrounding states. I would urge the Senate sponsor to consider taking this out of the record. We have plenty of time today, as we kind of wind our way through the budget implementation bills, to discharge the bill that’s in the Rules Committee which would dissolve this Board. Thank you.

Yeah. Thank you, Madam President. In previous remarks by one of the speakers, they -- they mentioned about the vetting process that the Governor’s Office took to. Let it be understood that those mere allegations were against -- were made as regard to members who had been reappointed, and that’s the Chairman and several other members had been reappointed to the Board. And you do your level best when you go out and try to get good people to serve in that capacity. And so, this legislation is -- is in no way to say that the Governor’s Office didn’t do its proper job. They did its proper job as far as looking at the backgrounds of individuals, and many of those individuals had been previously appointed by the previous administration. So -- so, therefore, we’re trying to look for five good people. We trust that they would do their job diligently; they will be honest and forthcoming. However, this bill does not cast any aspersions on any of the current Board members because they are mere allegations. We don’t know any facts. But we wanted to have confidence in the Board that they would do the job for the benefit of all the people of Illinois. I ask for a Aye vote.

Thank you, Madam President. Will the sponsor yield?

Senator, like Senator Sullivan, I want to congratulate you. I know you’ve been passionate on this and you’ve been an advocate, and I know the Speaker has made this a priority, as well. One of the areas that has been sort of under discussion, and some of the questions came up in the Executive Committee, have you considered or was there discussion of including veterans of previous conflicts in this bill? Did you consider that at all?

Have -- was there any discussion, Senator, given to -- for example, let’s say somebody is stationed in Germany and they’re supporting the troops in Iraq. Would someone have to have lost their life -- actually physically in that theater of war that you’ve just described, or would someone who is -- is supporting the troops that are on their way to Iraq, and so forth, that loses his or her life in Germany also be included?

Thank you, Madam President. To the outstanding sponsor of this bill, I want to really give you my compliments for reaching out to the families of those who have been killed in action. This will mean a great deal to them. Money isn’t everything, but it certainly helps in certain instances. So, again, my congratulations on behalf of all the veterans and all of those serving from Illinois in Iraq. Thank you.

If I could have everybody’s attention just for a moment, and it -- and it is relevant to this. Our colleague, Dave Sullivan, just got a phone call. His nephew was just killed in Iraq. Twenty-two years old. Marine. From New Jersey. Apparently just married last year. It is his brother’s son. And David is here with us. He just got the phone call. So, how timely.

Thank you, Madam President. This is here on a motion to concur on Senate Bill 1960. What this bill does is it reverses an experiment that the State of Illinois engaged in, starting about 1996, which changed the process by which we select the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. For years before then, it had been done by statewide election and worked for many years that way. In -- around 1996 we changed that process to an appointed process. I have to say I supported that effort, and it was an experiment to see if it would work or improve that process. In my opinion and the reason why I have filed this motion to concur, in my opinion that experiment has not worked. 15  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 What we need for the University of Illinois, for the Board of Trustees, is we need our trustees to be independent, independent in their -- their trust, because that is what they are - they are trustees. They’re entrusted with the University, with its assets, with the way it’s operated and making sure that we provide quality higher education, and it needs to be independent from outside undue influence, and it needs to be independent in a way that allows these trustees to be strong and to stand up to that sort of undue outside influence. They should not be treated as if they are agency heads that are at the beck and call of the Executive Branch. Rather, it’s designed, and has been for years, - the idea - that the Board of Trustees would be an independent board that would be able to represent the best interests of the University of Illinois, the students, the faculty, the staff and, of course, the taxpayers. This is, after all, our flagship university. And what this would do is this would return us, in a phased-in way, back to the -- the statewide elections. As trustees would come up for -- as their appointed terms would end, the first round would be -- the new election would be in 2006. Then after that, it’d be 2008 and 2010. And by -- by 2010, all nine of the members would be elected, rather than appointed. So, it’d be phased in. And no appointed trustees would be replaced; rather, at the end of their term, that position would be an elected position. And, of course, we want to make sure that elected U of I trustees would continue in the requirement that they file statements of economic interests and that the candidates of U of I trustee would be nominated at the State Convention of each political party. All other qualifications and powers of the U of I trustees would remain the same. It’s not the powers or the duties of the Board that we’re seeking to change by this legislation; rather, it’s how they’re able, unimpeded, entrusted by us and the people who elect them, to execute those duties and powers. They should be able to do so in a strong and independent manner and that’s why I’m moving to concur with the House amendment on Senate Bill 1960. I’d be glad to take any questions.

Well, certainly you and I discussed this, and Senator Hendon, yesterday in committee. You’ve got my commitment. I agree with you one hundred percent. I’d rather see the elections done on a regional basis. As I said in my opening remarks on this bill, this is our flagship university we’re talking about. We’ve got people who care about the university statewide who want to be involved and want to have the opportunity to, perhaps, be a trustee, and I think the best way of making sure they have representation statewide for the U of I Board of Trustees is that we provide for the election process to be done on a regional basis. Unfortunately, as we’re presented with this today, this is a motion to concur and it would be on a statewide basis. I made my commitment to you yesterday, to you and Senator Hendon, and I would renew that commitment today on the Senate Floor, that I would be very happy to work with you on trailer legislation, a trailer bill, that would provide for the sort of regional election process that you’re -- you’re suggesting. I agree with you. And I think we should pass this legislation, send it to the Governor and get to work on a trailer bill.

Thank you, Madam President. To the bill. I’m going to support this bill because I think we should elect the trustees at the University of Illinois. I -- I do echo the concerns of Senator Shadid, though. I think it’s very important that the trustees be elected on a regional basis so that we don’t have all of the trustees from one area, because the University of Illinois certainly is a -- a concern of all the State of Illinois, and it is a university for all the State. So, I would encourage you and -- and throw my support into a trailer bill to make that happen.

Well, I appreciate the comments and concerns. I’ve expressed my agreement. And I would also point out and I would ask you to reconsider what you just said, because I think it’s time for us to put on notice in this State and in this Board and -- and the Governor’s Office that, look, we’re serious about 18  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 returning -- changing this process. You’ve got my commitment that I’ll work with you on a trailer bill. Remember, this does not go -- Senator Hendon and Senator Shadid, this does not go into effect immediately. This gets phased-in 2006, 2008, 2010. There’s time to work on trailer legislation. If we’re in agreement on this approach that we should switch back from the appointed process to the elected process, you have my commitment that I’ll work hand in hand with you to make sure we get that done. I would rather show the resolve today that we -- we change how we do this, that we go back to the elected method, that we send that message today, that we get to work on that process. To vote Present, I think, today would be -- would not be the right message to send. The message we want to send to this -- today - and I would urge you to vote Yes on this - we need to change the process. We need a strong and independent Board of Trustees that’s not treated like they’re agency heads. They are to be an independent body. Obviously, they have to be responsive to the Legislature. We do send them appropriations. But by the same way of reasoning, we need to have a strong and independent Board that looks out for the best interests of the students, the staff, the faculty, the administration and the taxpayers of this State. We need to switch to an elected process. I urge a Yes vote.

I’d like to put this on Postponed Consideration.

You can count on it. Thanks.

Yeah. Thank you, Madam President. I move to suspend the rules for the immediate consideration and adoption of House Joint Resolution 90.

Yeah. Thank you -- thank you, Madam President. Senate -- House Joint Resolution 90 is the resolution which appoints the Inspector General for the General Assembly, by the name of Tom Homer. This is to comply with the ethics laws that we passed. We must have an Inspector General, and all the Leaders met. We have concurred that Tom Homer will fill that position, and that’s what House Joint Resolution is and what it contains, and I ask for favorable consideration.

Yes. Thank you very much, Madam President. I concur with President Jones in this resolution, House Joint Resolution 90. Tom Homer is a former Member of the House. He made himself accessible and available to all of us when he was here for a couple of days several months ago. Came into our caucus. I think we all feel very comfortable with him in that position. Personally, I think it’s good to have someone who’s kind of 20  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 lived the life we live to be in that position, to understand some of the problems that we have. So I think he’s an excellent choice. I -- I recommend him highly, and hope we’ll have a unanimous vote.

Yes. Thank you, Madam President. I’d like to move to suspend all applicable rules in regard to hearing -- Senate Resolution 649, if I could.

Yes, I would, and thank you very much. This will be a tougher vote for most of you than the last one, I’m sure. We’re going to -- we want to nominate and elect Scott Kaiser, who -- Scott, would you stand up? He’s in the Well there. He’s -- we’d like to welcome Scott to the Senate. He’s not -- this is nothing new to Scott. He was on our staff for several years. From there he went to work for Governor Jim Edgar, and probably most of you recognize him as the Governmental Affairs Office Director for Southern Illinois University. Scott and his wife, Julie, are -- Scott’s actually from Tremont. They -- they live here in the area. They have two children, Jake and Laura. And as we -- we -- we’re excited about Scott’s opportunity to work with us and -- all of us, all fifty-nine of us and staff. He’ll do an outstanding job, and I’d like to place his name in nomination and -- and also want to thank Jim Harry, who -- who’s not here. But Jim Harry served -- he took the early retirement, served his seventy-five days, and then, of course, May 31st came and we were here a lot longer than what many had expected. And Jim did that without pay. He came in every time we asked and helped train Scott, and I just think Jim Harry deserves our thanks - certainly mine. And I really appreciate his work. Unfortunately, he’s not here today to -- to hear that. But this 22  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 is about Scott, and would like to have the resolution heard and voted on and certainly welcome you, prematurely I guess, as the Assistant Secretary of the Senate.

Thank you. It’s a beautiful day here today, July 24th…

I’ve -- I’ve been x-ing out the dates on my -- on my T- shirt, but anyway…

There will be a Republican Caucus in Senator Watson’s Office at the same time as yours, immediately upon recess. Thank you.

Will the Members, if you’re in your office, kindly come to the Senate Floor? We are about ready to convene Session. Senator Rauschenberger is here. The regular Session of the 93rd General Assembly, will you please come to order? Madam Secretary, Messages from the Governor.

Madam Secretary, Messages from the House.

Madam Secretary, Committee Reports.

Will -- will the members of the Rules Committee kindly convene in the Antechamber? Members of the Rules Committee, there’ll be a Rules Committee meeting, immediately. Madam Secretary, Committee Reports.

On the Order of Concurrence, on -- on -- on Supplemental -- Supplemental Calendar No. 2, is Senate Bill 73. Senator Halvorson. Madam Secretary, read the -- read -- read the motion. 26  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004

Senator Halvorson.

Senator Halvorson… Is there any discussion? Any discussion? Senator Righter.

Thank you, Mr. President. Will the sponsor yield?

She indicates she will.

Senator Halvorson, is this the legislation that deals with the change with regards to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules?

Senator Halvorson.

Senator Righter.

I have not had a chance to review what’s on our system, Senator, but is there another provision in here with regards to the construction of a bunker system with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency?

Senator Halvorson.

Senator Righter.

What -- what does -- what does -- what are we doing by that? What do you envision happening as a result of that provision?

Senator Halvorson.

Senator Righter.

Is it necessary that there be an exemption in the Procurement Code in order to go after a federal grant? I’ve never heard of that before.

Senator Halvorson.

Senator Righter.

So we want to speed up the process of procuring federal dollars by exempting some -- some part of this process from the Procurement Code, and what is it that we are hoping to get the federal dollars to do? What are we looking to build, and -- and in such a hurry?

Senator Halvorson.

Senator Righter.

Thank you, Mr. President. Senator Halvorson, what are we building?

Senator Halvorson.

Senator Righter.

Thank you, Mr. President. Last question. Senator Halvorson, what is that and why are we building it? I mean, we -- you’ve just kind of glossed right over that, and I’m -- I don’t exactly know how many of the State taxpayer dollars are going to go into building whatever it is you want to build and exempt from the Procurement Code. So, maybe you could explain that a little more, that would be helpful.

Senator Halvorson, in response.

Okay. Thank you. Senator Garrett.

She indicates she will.

Senator Halvorson.

Senator Garrett.

Senator Halvorson.

Senator Garrett.

Senator Halvorson.

Senator Watson.

Yes. Thank you very much, Mr. President. The bunker issue is a -- what we would call, I guess, a national command center that would be made available to IEMA, the State Police, National Guard, others, that would be a control center for them during a national emergency. That’s what this is -- that’s what this is 30  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 for. The JCAR language in here is wonderful. It’s -- I’m urging everybody to vote for this. So, it gives -- it gives the Legislature more authority and more power over -- over the administrative branch, is what it does. So, this is a good thing for us.

Senator Halvorson, to close. This is final action. The question is, shall Senate concur in House Amendments No. 1 to Senate Bill 73. Those in favor, signify by voting Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 49 voting Aye, 5 Nays, no one voting Present. This bill, having received -- the Senate concurs in the House Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 73, and the bill, having received the required three-fifths constitutional majority, is declared passed. On the Order of Concurrence is Senate Bill 2287. Madam Secretary, read the bill.

Senator Link.

Is there any -- any discussion? Any discussion? Senator Petka.

Thank you, Mr. President and Members of the Senate. First of all, I’d like to thank the sponsor of this legislation for 31  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 accepting this amendment. This amendment does reverse something that was done under Senate Bill 75, restores a formula for associate judges, and Will County now is treated like any other circuit in this State. I want to thank you, Mr. President, and I also want to thank the Speaker of the House for their assistance in this matter. I would urge all my colleagues for an Aye vote. Thank you.

This is final action. The question is, shall Senate concur in House Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 2287. Those in favor, vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, the -- on that question, there are 53 voting Yea, 3 Nays, no one voting Present. The Senate concurs in House Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 2287, and this bill, having received -- having received the required three-fifths constitutional majority, is declared passed. On the Order of Concurrence, on Supplemental Calendar No. 3, is Senate Bill 2205. Madam Secretary, please read the motion.

Senator del Valle, explain your motions.

Is there any discussion? Any -- any discussion? Senator Cronin.

Thank you, Mr. President. I --I rise in support of the bill and commend all those that worked on this -- this effort here. I did want to offer, if I may, just a cautionary word. This BIMP bill, this budget implementation provision, is -- changes the law as it relates to assessments, and I just want to make sure everybody knows that, a couple of years ago, we had a bill before us that won a lot of praise from both sides of the aisle, in that we were assessing our students in the area of social studies, writing, fine arts and P.E. And to a lot of folks in this Chamber, particularly on -- my friends on the Democratic side of the aisle, physical education has been quite important. The fine arts, you know. So just be aware that we are changing the law and no longer requiring assessments in those areas. Nonetheless, I rise in support of that. These are 33  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 difficult times and we have to make difficult decisions, and I join my -- my Chairman and colleague and encourage our side of the aisle to support this necessary legislation.

Senator Burzynski.

Thank you, Mr. President. Will the sponsor yield for a question or two?

He indicate he will.

Thank you. First of all, Senator del Valle, again this has been a lot of work, a long Session. We really appreciate your work as we’ve gone through this. But I have a couple of questions relative to the bill itself: When we start talking about the trust funds that are set up, and -- and I hope maybe you can help clarify me, walk me through. As I look at the bill I see three different funds. I see the federal Department of Education Fund, and I’m guessing that’s for the State Board of Education, then the State Board of Education Federal Agency Services Fund, and then one for the Department of Agriculture Fund. Why three funds, and what is the difference in the distribution of the monies collected in those funds? ‘Cause it’s basically for the same purposes.

Senator del Valle.

Senator Burzynski.

Thank you. So -- so it really doesn’t change past practices, necessarily with the exception of consolidation of funds. Is that what I understand, Senator? Or, consolidation of the trust funds.

34  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 Senator del Valle.

Senator Burzynski.

Thank you. Kind of as -- as a follow-up then, when I look at this, these are funds that are recovered from federal programs and they’ll still be distributed similarly to what they already are, or are we allowing for new or additional federal funds?

Senator del Valle.

Senator Burzynski.

And I’ll try and bring it to a close, Mr. President. I appreciate your indulgence. What I’m -- I guess my question, in -- formerly, we didn’t -- we did not appropriate these funds. Is that correct? But -- now they’re -- they’re going to be flowed through the State Board at the State Board’s discretion. In other words, did these funds go to other sources in the past and now are they being collected within the Department?

Senator del Valle.

35  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 Any further question? Any further question? The question -- this is final action. The question is, shall the Senate concur in House Amendments No. 1, 2 and 3 to Senate Bill 2205. Those in favor, vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 53 -- 56 voting Yea, no Nays, no one voting Present. The Senate concurs in House Amendments 1, 2 and 3 to Senate Bill 2205, and the bill, having received the required three-fifths constitutional majority, is declared passed. On the Order of Supplemental Calendar No. 3 is Senate Bill 2206. Senator Patrick Welch. Madam Secretary, read the motion.

Senator Welch, to explain your motion.

Pardon me a minute, Senator. It’s getting very difficult to hear, Gentlemen and Ladies. Senator Welch.

Is there any question? Any question? Senator Clayborne.

He indicate he will.

Senator Welch.

Chicago -- the Chicago Tribune and the Leaders Union asks leave so they can take photos. Is leave granted? Leave is granted. Senator Garrett.

He indicate he will.

Senator Welch.

Senator Garrett.

Senator Welch.

Senator Garrett.

Senator Welch.

Senator Garrett.

All right, Members, let’s hold it down a little bit. It’s very difficult to hear. Senator Welch.

Senator Garrett.

No. You can ask questions. That’s your job. You got to represent the…

…interests of your constituents.

39  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 Senator Welch.

Senator Garrett.

Senator Welch.

Senator Radogno.

Thank you, Mr. President. I rise in support of this bill. Any bill has a few things we -- we may not like in it, but I think on balance, that the bill that we have before us has a lot of good policy initiatives in it, and policy initiatives that strengthen the role of the General Assembly. For example, the facility closures initiative, which means that no longer are we going to hear one day this facility’s closing, the next one’s 40  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 closing, without any real study behind that -- those announcements, and without any real consideration to the impact of what that would have on the communities that those facilities have. Another issue that’s addressed here that has been of a lot of interest, I know, to a lot of our constituents was it -- it requires that any willing provider be able to provide medications for folks that are on maintenance medications. It - - they do not have to automatically, now, go through a mail- order house. I’ve had a lot of calls on that; I’m sure others of you have, as well. It also includes -- we’ve limited the fund sweeps that were originally proposed, from over five hundred million to about half of that, and eliminated some of the more objectionable fund sweeps. And finally, I want to call attention to the debt responsibility package and the minority piece of that was just being discussed. This is something that the -- that our side has argued for for some time. We think there’s a very good package in here that is going to make sure that the debt that’s issued in this State, going forward, is going to be handled in a responsible manner and paid back immediately, and that we won’t be shifting the economic burden of our decisions today onto future generations. So I am very happy to urge everyone to vote Aye on this piece of legislation.

Senator Harmon.

Senator Brady.

Thank you, Mr. President. Can I speak?

42  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 Briefly.

Thank you. I rise in support of the legislation to compliment Senator Radogno and many of the Members, who in this Chamber, who’ve been involved in this. But I do rise in -- against the provisions that have been indicated earlier. And I may not understand it as well as you, Senator Harmon, but I -- I think I grasp that by allowing seventy-five percent of these -- these bonds to be under no-bid provisions, does open up the opportunity for something to be done not in a kosher way. It creates an opportunity that the public can’t screen, that the public can’t watch. It creates an opportunity that I think we should do away with. Now, to reach the goal of minority participation, there are other ways to do that. We do that in road contracts and other ways. We could require a certain percentage of the bonds go to minority firms, I believe. I don’t know why we couldn’t. And if you’d like to respond to that, Senator Harmon, I would. But I think this provision is one that is -- opens the State of Illinois up for the potential abuse, as Senator Garrett was trying to allude to earlier.

Senator Rauschenberger.

Thank you, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. I, too, arise to tell Senator Harmon we certainly appreciate his expertise but, you now, the majority of states use sealed competitive bids to do their bonding. You don’t have to open the Tribune or the Sun-Times, anytime in the last few months, to see controversy around connected bond firms, Baer Sterns and others, and -- and the abuses that take place. I fully support this bill. I’m only disappointed that we’re limiting it to twenty-five percent to be competitively bid. There’s no question that you can optimize in business. There’s no question that when you have a CEO who’s in control, when you have a -- the interest of the shareholders at heart, that it’s okay for private businesses to do things privately. We’re in the public arena. We have the responsibility to be clear and to be clean and to be out front and open. That’s why sealed competitive bids let the one most important minority in on the 43  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 game, the public. Those -- those -- those firms that don’t go to the picnics or the golf outings or don’t have friends that show up or -- or hire connected people out of administrations, are the ones that are locked out of the system in many negotiated businesses. So, you know, I -- I’m sorry you’re disappointed. This doesn’t optimize the same way a business would, but I fully support competitive bidding. It was the practice in the State of Illinois before we changed the law at the request of the Ryan administration. It worked for four previous Republican and Democratic Governors. And I would argue this is a small step in the right direction, making sure we have a clean, honest process, and -- and, you know, to stand up and tell people that somehow this is not going to work, I just think is a mistake on the last night of Session.

Senator Roskam.

Thank you, Mr. President. Just like we practiced, I move the previous question.

It’s amazing what overtime will do. Senator Don Harmon.

Senator Schoenberg. Senator Welch, to close.

This is final action. The question is, shall the Senate concur in House Amendments 1 and 2 to Senate Bill 2206. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 56 voting Yea, no one voting Nay, no Present. The Senate concurs in House Amendments 1 and 2 to Senate Bill 2206, and the bill, having received the required three-fifths constitutional majority, is declared passed. A point of information for the Members. Our fate is in our hands. The House has completed and sent all the bills over - the BIMP bills, as well as the budget. Our fate is in our hands. And I -- I know that the various caucuses and -- and committees have discussed these issues, so our fate is in our hands. We’ll now proceed with Supplemental Calendar… Mr. Secretary, Messages from the House.

There will be a meeting of the Rules Committee immediately in the Antechamber. Senator Petka, what purpose do you rise?

Thank you very much, Mr. President.

Pardon me, sir. Could you hold it down just a wee bit?

Point of personal privilege, please, sir.

State your point.

Yes. July 27th, 1945, we were a couple of weeks from ending the Second World War in victory over Japan. Also it was a -- a date that people in southern Illinois, the Watson Family, brought a little Watson into the world by the name of Frank. And Frank -- Senator Watson has never celebrated a birthday here in Springfield because this is the latest we’ve ever been down here. His birthday -- but his birthday is on -- on Monday, and I would ask all of our Members here to join myself in wishing Senator Frank Watson a happy 59th birthday two days in advance.

Well, now we understand why we’re in overtime Session. You never had a birthday, so you wanted us to be here for your birthday. Senator Watson.

Well, there is cake down here, I understand. And cards, gifts, cash - whatever you like. My birthday is Monday and I -- I -- the last one - fifty-nine. We don’t go past sixty, do we? Don’t do that here in this business do we? So, anyway, thank 46  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 you very much. It’s a pleasure to have been with all of you all this time in June and July. Thank you.

Senator Martinez.

Mr. Secretary, Committee Reports.

On Supplemental -- Supplemental Calendar… Supplemental Calendar No. 4 is being distributed on your desks, and on that Calendar is Senate Bill 2207. Senator Link. Madam Secretary, read the motion.

Senator -- Senator Link, to explain your motion.

Is there any discussion? Any discussion? Seeing none, this is final action. The question is, shall the Senate concur in House Amendment No. 1 and 2 to Senate Bill 2207. Those in favor, vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 55 voting Aye, no Nays, no one -- 1 voting Present. The Senate concurs in House Amendments 1 and 2 to Senate Bill 2207, and the bill, having received the required three-fifths constitutional majority, is declared passed. On the Order of Concurrences on -- Supplemental Calendar No. 4 is Senate Bill 2208. Senator Trotter. Madam Secretary, read the motion.

Senator Trotter, explain your motion.

Thank you. Is there any discussion? Any discussion? This is final action. The question is, shall the Senate concur in House Amendments 1 and 2 to Senate Bill 2208. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the -- take the record. On that question, there are 56 voting Yea, no Nays, no one voting Present. The Senate concurs in House Amendments 1 and 2 to Senate Bill 2208, and the bill, having received the required three-fifths constitutional majority, is declared passed. On 49  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 Supplemental Calendar No. 4 is Senate Bill 3340. Senator Welch. Madam Secretary, read the bill -- read the motion.

Senator Welch.

Senator Trotter.

Pardon me a minute, Senator. Pardon me a minute, Senator.

Could you hold it down just a wee bit? It’s very difficult to hear. And Senator Halvorson in the Chair.

Thank you, Mr. {sic} President. In the interest of moving along tonight, and the fact that we’ve had a lot of good briefings over on our side and I know that Members over there have probably been thoroughly briefed, I just thought I would stand up and point a couple of things out. First of all, this is the longest budget that Don Trotter and I have ever worked on together. We got to spend more time together, I think, than -- ever before. And I really enjoyed that. Don Trotter is a pleasure to work with. He really knows the budget and he -- he’s been spectacular. This was a great sophomore year for Tim Anderson. He did an absolutely fabulous job representing the Senate President. The Senate President’s staff spent countless hours helping us re-rack the budget as we would get new slips of paper down from the Leaders’ meeting on a consistent basis. I’d also like to point out and thank, for his tireless work, Tim Nuding, on our Senate Republican staff. He’s kind of the dean of the budget guys. Our staff cooperated very, very well with both the Senate Democrats and the House Democrats and the House Republicans. So, all in all, kind of at the staff level, I think we really, as an institution, can be very proud of the 52  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 people that put this budget together. Because we had a lot of time, it’s probably one of the most carefully looked-at budgets that our staffs have ever worked on. And you know, I guess the -- the sixty days is a real lesson, because I think the Senate President, I know Frank Watson, the Republican Leader, and the other two Leaders from the House Chamber, got to know a lot more about budgeting than most of us that do approp work would really like. So, I just want to thank Senator Trotter for his courtesy and his kindness, and let’s all vote Yes and get the -- get -- go home.

Thank you, Madam President. Let’s see. Just a comment and then a question if the sponsor would be willing to answer it. Senator, I think that you, with the budget negotiators and the Legislative Leaders, have done a remarkable job in coming to the common ground in this budget. And I think that we all thank you very much. Question, yesterday morning I had asked in Appropriations, and then today, I’ve asked the Governor’s budget office the answer to the question: Are we living within our means? And the two questions that I asked were, “How much was the revenue last year, and then this year? And how much was expense last year and this year?” So that we can take a look at, are we not spending more than is coming in? And unfortunately, I haven’t gotten an answer to those questions after those follow-up, and I’m hoping that perhaps you have.

Thank you very much, Senator Trotter. I’m sorry. I could not hear those -- those words. In ‘05 how much is the revenue and how much is the expense? And I know that that’s -- I’m certainly not saying that it’s any problem from -- you’ve done just yeoman’s work. I was hoping to get some answer to that toward the end of yesterday, or sometime during the day. It didn’t come in. I appreciate you having those. Could you repeat 54  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 how much is the revenue in ‘04 and the expenditure in ‘04, and then the revenue in ’05 and expenditures in ’05?

Yes. Thank you very much, Madam President. Appreciate it and I, too, want to thank the President of the Senate, all the Members, for the cooperation that they’ve shown after May 31st and -- and -- when we became Members and participants in this process. This is not a perfect budget. There -- there’s no doubt about that, can’t be in times like this. But I definitely believe it’s better than the budget that was introduced on February 18th. I can tell you for sure it’s a better budget 55  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 than was introduced on February 18th, and primarily because of the people sitting in the gallery. I just want to take a moment to introduce ‘em, especially Mayor Ricky Gottman and his wife, Nita. Rick -- Mayor of Vandalia and his wife, Nita.

Larry Cable, who works at the correctional center. Larry and Matt Hall, please stand. Matt’s been here. You’ve see Matt around. They spent tireless hours here, spent many, many hours coming here to -- to Springfield, spent a lot of time with each of us to talk about the importance of the Department of Corrections and the various correctional centers throughout this State. They worked together with their fellow correctional officers and employees throughout this State to maintain the integrity of the system and keep Vandalia, Pontiac and St. Charles open. And I just want to thank them personally for their efforts and -- and what all they’ve meant to this process and make -- making this night possible. I just want to comment, briefly, about what I think is important for us as -- as a caucus on this side of the aisle. We -- we -- we didn’t have any input obviously last year. This year after May 31st, we became part of the -- of the process. And -- and I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish. And I -- I just want to kind of talk a little bit about the message that we’ve been delivering as a caucus, actually for about the last year and a half. And that’s -- that’s a message of responsibility, of pro- jobs, and making sure that we have a climate in this State that’s conducive for industry to expand and to grow and to try to attract industry and jobs to the people we represent. And that’s something that we, as a caucus, established as a goal very early on. And we rejected this year all taxes that were not concurred with by the business community. We actually succeeded in repealing many of the anti-job taxes that were placed on the business community this -- this past year. We limited spending. We are actually four hundred million dollars less than the Governor’s introduced level. That is significant. And that is responsible. And that’s what you do in your -- your own daily life, ‘cause you can’t spend more than you take in. 56  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 And we have been very consistent in trying to prioritize this spending - prioritizing and fairly funding education with a three-hundred-and-sixty-five-million-dollar increase in elementary/secondary education. And President Jones was a big part of that, as was this caucus on this side. We maintained the university systems’ integrity of funding for the -- at the ’04 level. We think that that’s very, very important for us to maintain the university systems -- our -- our responsibility to fund the university systems in a manner in which they can succeed and hold down tuition. That was a huge priority of this caucus, the Road Fund. We were tired, tired of seeing the dollars taken out of the Road Fund and diverted into other projects and other general fund responsibilities. People that pay taxes in this State at -- for gasoline, the -- the money that they pay for taxes should go to build roads and maintain roads. We established the integrity -- this caucus established the integrity of the Road Fund and making sure that those dollars will build and maintain roads throughout this State, a huge issue for us. As I said earlier, the three prisons that were unfairly targeted for closure will remain open. And we helped our nursing homes. That’s an industry that is in total possibility of collapse in this State. We established a rate increase for nursing homes in this State. We insisted -- this caucus insisted on debt responsibility - Debt Responsibility Act where we have level principle payments over the issuance of the bonds, and trying to move into a competitive environment, which -- in which bonds would be sold. We held the line on borrowing - no borrowing. We will talk about more borrowing over the -- over the rest of the summer and into the fall. And when we come back in the Veto Session, we’ll talk about school construction; we’ll talk about the possibility of a public works project that will be good for the entire State of this -- of Illinois. We kept our promise to the retirees by making sure that the pensions were adequately funded. Unfortunately, when the budget was introduced February 18th, not one dime was made available to -- the pensions. We -- we said no. So this caucus stood firm. We will not have a facility close in this State without a proper hearing. We passed -- we’re going to pass -- have passed the Facility Closure Act, which will enable communities, employees, 57  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 people of this State, the opportunity to come to Springfield and make a case for why that facility should remain open. And it also creates a responsibility by which the administration should make a case for why it should be closed. A huge issue for us over on this caucus. So we think the budget will meet the goals of what we’ve established and it’ll be good for all the people of Illinois. And the Governor, we last -- when we last met with him, the Governor signed dozens, dozens of memorandums of understanding, memorandums of understanding that will make sure -- make sure that the commitments that are made on this budget will be followed through. He also committed not to amendatorily veto or veto any issue that we have talked about as a collateral or is in this budget. I commend the Governor for that. I commend the Governor for making that promise to all of us as Leaders and all of us in this General Assembly. So, thank you, Republican Senators. Thank you, President Jones, Democrat Senators. We’re making a difference. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam President. This is the final bill of this overtime Session and I know it’s been very hard and difficult for many, ‘cause many plans have been disrupted. So I really want to thank the Members for enduring this long overtime Session. I want to thank the Secretary of the Senate for the tremendous job that she’s did with all the Special Sessions, and she had to call a record number of Special Sessions, but it was our duty to take care of the people of the State of Illinois. As I look at the budget we’re about ready to vote on today, and I look at the budget that we passed on May 31st, and that budget that we passed on May 31st, there wasn’t any borrowing in that budget, not one dime. What it did was require the business community to pay their fair share of the taxes of the State of Illinois. Not one dime in there was being borrowed to support that budget, but the two-and-a-quarter-percent reduction in the legislation that we passed, it was four hundred million dollars less than the Governor’s introduced level in February. And here we are today, several weeks into overtime, and we still have a budget that’s four hundred million dollars less than what the 58  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 Governor introduced. Having served here -- having been in the - - in this Body, in the Legislature, the priorities have shifted. Over the past twenty-five years, the priority was to build, build, build and build prisons. Build so many prisons in Illinois we can’t even fill ‘em up. In the budget that the Governor had proposed he proposed saving money. Not directed at any particular group or anything, but why have vacant prisons that the people of the State of Illinois has paid for and not being used? Close the old ones and open the new ones. That’s a wise budgetary item to do, even though it does have adverse impact. But it would have been a wise investment. That was in the legislation. But this is the compromised version. It’s a compromised budget. But it’s a strange, strange thing. Our priorities on this side of the aisle was investing in the future, investing in young people, investing in elementary and secondary education, investing in health care for the -- for the elderly, for the poor, for the kids, investing in early childhood education. All these weeks have gone by and those issues are still there. They are funded. Education didn’t get the four hundred million dollars that we passed on May 31st. But it ended up with three hundred and eighty-nine million dollars. Some said three sixty-four. But it’s a few percentage points off. The health care for families, health care for KidCare, the money for prescription drugs for the elderly, all of that’s included in this budget. And sometimes it seems as though to me like the dog chasing the tail, he’s going around and around in circles and he ended up at the same point we started off at. No one intentionally prevented the other side prior to May 31st, from being involved. You chose not to be involved. That was your choice. You didn’t have to be in the overtime Session to -- to be involved. We spent an extra three hundred million dollars to end up in the same place we started off at. I firmly believe -- I strongly believe that our children in this State deserve what the children in Iraq are getting. The children in Iraq are getting new schools paid for off of future earnings of America. Even though they are six hundred billion dollars in the hole in Washington, they are still sending money to Iraq to build new schools. If we have to borrow for the children in Illinois, we should do it. We should 59  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 build schools for our children so they can have a quality education just like everyone else. So is that being debt responsible? Yes. But we should invest in our kids. If we invest more into education on the front end, we will not have to pay for it on the back end in building prisons. That’s what it’s all about. So sometime we have misplaced values. The budget we passed was a balanced budget last -- last May. This is a balanced budget, but the priorities within how we accomplish it have changed somewhat. And not one dime in that budget was being borrowed. We shift the responsibility from the individual and said everyone must participate. Sure there were corporate loopholes that we passed that we wanted to close. This budget closed some of those corporate loopholes, but we should have closed many more. The years I’ve been here, I have seen the shift from the corporations to the individuals. One in five tax dollars that came to the treasury in the form of income tax came from the corporations twenty years ago. Today, one in nine come from the corporation. Which tell you that they have used their sharp, skilled lawyers to find loopholes to keep from paying taxes here in Illinois. We believe in children. We believe in investing in education. But it’s been a good working relationship in all those budget negotiations, sitting down there with Senator Watson, Speaker Madigan and -- and Leader Cross from the House. But sometimes, you know, when sitting there, then you get a clearer picture as to what we’re all about. And I got sort of confused at times. I was picking up the newspaper talking about the budget that we passed and all of the borrowing. I don’t recall that budget having any borrowing in it. Not one dime. We tried in May to pass legislation for five hundred million dollars in bonds for schools, for our children, which would have been paid for on future earnings of the people of the State of Illinois. You rejected that. I haven’t seen you criticize Bush for -- I haven’t seen you criticize him for being six hundred billion dollars in debt, but yet and still they find money to invest in schools, hundreds of millions of dollars in schools, in Iraq. Certainly, if you can do it for Iraq, you can do if for the children in Illinois. And -- and -- and that’s our priority. So, again, I appreciate all that you’ve done. We want to get out of here because -- we want 60  STATE OF ILLINOIS 93rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 7/24/2004 to get out of here because I know many of the Members are going to Boston and one of our colleagues, who -- who will be leaving us shortly with your help on the other side of the aisle. And - - and I know you all wish him well as he gives that great keynote address in Boston next week, our -- our own, Senator Barack Obama. So -- so -- so with that, Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s been wonderful. As we move toward the next Session, I trust that we will work sincerely together to resolve the issues of the -- people of the State of Illinois, but we will always hold onto our values. Our values are our young people. Our values are the elderly who help make this State and this nation possible. We will continue to insist that we take care of them, and also continue to invest in the future. So, again, thank each of you for your indulgence. God bless you.