PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) The regular Session of the 95th 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 Jeff Smith, of Odesto {sic} (Modesto) Christian Church, in Odesto {sic}. Jeff.
(Prayer by Pastor Jeff Smith)
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Senator Maloney.
(Pledge of Allegiance, led by Senator Maloney)
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Will all Members under the sound of my voice please come to the Senate Floor? Will all Members under the sound of my voice please come to the Senate Floor? Would all administrative assistants please let your Senator know we are on the Senate Floor? Madam Secretary, Reading and Approval of the Journal.
Senate Journal of Tuesday, July 10th, 2007.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Hunter.
Mr. President, I move that the Journal just read by the Secretary be approved, unless there are some additions or corrections to offer.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Hunter moves to approve the Journals just read by 1 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 the Secretary. There being no objection, so ordered. WCIA Channel 3 News seeks permission to videotape. Leave is granted. Leave is granted. ABC Channel 20 seeks leave to videotape. Leave granted? Leave is granted. Will all Members of the Senate please come to the Senate Floor? We’re about to go to substantial Senate action. Will all Members under the sound of my voice please come to the Senate Floor? Madam Secretary, Resolutions.
Senate Resolution 289, offered by Senator Silverstein and all Members. It’s a death resolution, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Resolutions Consent Calendar. …Secretary, Committee Reports.
Senator Wilhelmi, Chairperson of the Committee on Judiciary- Criminal Law, reports a Motion to Concur with House Amendment No. 3 to Senate Bill 1397 recommend Do Adopt. Senator Meeks, Chairperson of the Committee on Human Services, reports a Motion to Concur with House Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 581 recommend Do Adopt. Senator Harmon, Chairperson of the Committee on Revenue, reports a Motion to Concur in House Amendments 2 and 3 to Senate Bill 17 recommend Do Adopt. Senator Silverstein, Chairperson of the Committee on Executive, reports Senate Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 770 and Senate Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 849 recommend Do Adopt. Senator Ronen, Chairperson of the Committee on Licensed 2 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 Activities, reports Motions to Concur with House Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 259 and House Amendments 1 and 4 to Senate Bill 360 recommend Do Adopt. And Senator Lightford, Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Higher Education, reports a Motion to Concur with House Amendment No. 2 to Senate Bill 1446 recommend Do Adopt.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Madam Secretary, Introduction of Bills.
Senate Bill 1855, offered by Senators Harmon, Ronen and Crotty. (Secretary reads title of bill) 1st Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Will all Members under the sound of my voice please come to the Senate Floor? Will all Members under the sound of my voice please come to the Senate Floor? Senator Maloney, for what purpose do you seek recognition, sir?
Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to -- Senate to welcome a constituent of mine from Evergreen Park, Illinois, Matt Hanlon. Please welcome Matt, who is here to observe the Senate…
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Welcome to the Illinois Senate, Matt. Welcome. Will all Members under the sound of my voice please come to the Senate Floor? We are about to go to the motion of concurrences. I mean, we’re going to Senate Bills 3rd Reading. Will all Members under the sound of my voice please come to the Senate Floor? We’re going to page 11 of your Senate Calendar. With leave of 3 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 the Body, we’ll go to page 11 of your Senate Calendar. On -- on the Order of 3rd Reading is Senate Bill 849. Senator Clayborne. 849. Madam Secretary. Senator Clayborne seeks leave of the Body to return Senate Bill 849 to the Order of 2nd Reading for the purpose of amendment. Hearing no objection, leave is granted. Now on the Order of 2nd Reading is Senate Bill 849. Madam Secretary, are there any amendments approved for consideration?
Floor Amendment No. 1, offered by Senator Clayborne.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Clayborne.
Thank you, Mr. President. Floor Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 849 deletes the underlying vehicle and will allow O’Fallon School District to proceed with their bond issuance notwithstanding have -- having not published notice of the referendum in accordance with Section 12-5 of the Illinois Election Code. Floor Amendment No. 1 amends Section 19-3 of the School Code to add the -- the election held on April 17th to the existing law that only requires five days’ notice for the referendum. This has been done to remedy past situations. The bond issuance was passed by the voters by 71.9 percent. I would ask for -- oh! That explains the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, Senator Clayborne moves adoption of Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 849. All those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, say Nay. The Ayes have it, and the amendment is adopted. Are there any amendments approved for consideration? 4 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007
No further amendments reported, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) 3rd Reading. Now on the Order of 3rd Reading is Senate Bill 849. Madam Secretary, read the bill.
Senate Bill 849. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Clayborne.
Yes. I just explained the bill. This is -- they’re building a new ninth-grade center. Again, the voters approved this. The notice -- publication of the notice wasn’t done properly. We’re just allowing them to proceed with the five-day notice that they have given, which has been done in other situations. I would ask for your favorable vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall Senate Bill 849 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, vote Nay. And 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 50 voting Aye, none voting Nay, none voting Present. Senate Bill 849, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. With leave of the Body, we’re going to Senate Bill 858. Senator Maloney. Madam Secretary -- Senator -- Senator Maloney seeks leave of the Body to return Senate Bill 858 to the Order of 5 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 2nd Reading for the purpose of amendment. Hearing no objection, leave is granted. Now on the Order of 2nd Reading is Senate Bill 858. Madam Secretary, are there any amendments approved for consideration?
Floor Amendment No. 1, offered by Senator Maloney.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Maloney.
Thank you, Mr. President. The amendment becomes the bill. Be happy to explain it on 3rd Reading.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, Senator Maloney moves adoption of Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 858. All those in favor, say Aye. Opposed, say Nay. The Ayes have it, and the amendment is adopted. Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?
…further amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) 3rd Reading. Now on the Order of 3rd Reading is Senate Bill 858. Madam Secretary, read the bill.
Senate Bill 858. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Maloney.
6 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 Thank you, Mr. President. As Chair of the Higher Ed Committee, ever since I’ve become aware that forty percent of our entering higher education students are in need of some form of remediation, we’ve been -- and the negative impact this has on the retention and graduation rates, we’ve been trying to do something about this. One problem stems from the lack of communication between the colleges and the high schools, and this bill is a response to that. It establishes the College and Career Readiness Pilot Program in which the -- the community colleges would diagnose the readiness of students in their junior year of college {sic} and they would be able to put those remediation plans in their senior year in high school - senior year in high school - so they wouldn’t have to do this in their first year of college.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall Senate Bill 858 pass. All those in favor, vote Aye. Opposed, vote 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 51 voting Aye, none voting Nay, none voting Present. Senate Bill 858, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senator Peterson, for what purpose do you seek recognition, sir?
Point of information -- rather, personal privilege, Mr. President. I’d like the Body to recognize my officemate Todd Sieben. It’s his birthday today and he’s going to have cookies in his office. You’re all welcome to join him and wish him a happy birthday. 7 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Happy birthday, young man. Happy birthday, Todd. We look forward to those cookies in your office. Senator Righter, for what purpose do you seek recognition, sir?
Thank you, Mr. President, and good afternoon to you. Inquiry of the Chair, please.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) State your inquiry.
Senator Hendon, myself and I think -- myself and I think all the Members in this Chamber know how deeply respectful you are of Senator Sieben and how much you like him personally. We’ve taken a poll on this side of the aisle and we -- the inquiry is, would you be willing to sing “Happy Birthday” to Senator Sieben from the podium there?
(SENATOR HENDON) “Happy Birthday to You”. Come on everybody. (Presiding Officer leads Chamber in “Happy Birthday to You”) You are a great guy. Senator Sieben.
Thank you very much, Mr. President. It’s nice to have you leading us and that -- that singing is one of the more joyful moments that we’ve had this Session in the Illinois Senate. And over the twenty years I’ve been here, it’s a -- I don’t believe I’ve ever been able to celebrate my birthday on July 11th here in Springfield. So, it’s great to be with everybody and thank you for the -- the -- the nice comments. Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) 8 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 Thank you. It’s great to see you too and hopefully we won’t be here on your birthday next year. Moving right along. Supplemental Calendar No. 1 -- which should be -- have -- distributed on your desks, is Senate Bill 17. On Order of Concurrence, Senator Sullivan. Madam Secretary, read the bill -- the -- the motion.
I move to concur with the House in the adoption of their Amendments 2 and 3 to Senate Bill 17. Filed by Senator John Sullivan.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Sullivan.
Thank you, Mr. President, Members of the Senate. I’m -- I’m recommending that we concur with the changes that the House put in place with regard to Senate Bill 17. If you recall, this is the -- the bill that tries to come up with a fair and equitable way to assess non-farmland, land that has gone from being taxed as farmland to -- to non-farmland, recreational land, so on and so forth. The House made three major changes in the legislation. I’d like to touch on ‘em briefly. First, that they added some transition language, which I believe is more fair than what we had over here. What they did is they froze the assessment rate instead of the assessed valuation. That allows for some fluctuation as the land appreciates or depreciates. Secondly, they changed the definition of when ownership changes by including corporations, partnerships, LLC, trustees {sic} (trusts), et cetera, and states that if the -- if that ownership changes by more than fifty percent, then the transition language 9 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 no longer qualifies. And then, thirdly is that land dedicated as a nature preserve under the Illinois Natural Areas Preservation Act does not qualify for this special assessment. I’d be more than happy to answer any questions.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) There any discussion? Senator John Jones.
Thank you, Mr. President. To the motion: I just rise in support of the motion. Senator Sullivan and I have spent an awful lot of time on this issue over the last eighteen months and I think it’s -- it just goes to show - regardless of what the Governor said yesterday over at the Mansion, that he didn’t need Republicans - it goes to show you that when Republicans and Democrats work together, we can come up with good pieces of legislation and this is one of ‘em. So, I -- I think that if we’ll do a little more of this bipartisan work as we move along here in the next few days, even on the budget, great things can be accomplished.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Excellent -- excellent point, Senator. Could we have a little quiet in the Chamber? It’s a little noisy here. Senator Rutherford.
Thank you, Mr. President. Brief question for the sponsor, if I may.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) He indicates he will yield. Senator…
Senator Sullivan, help -- thank you, Mr. President. Senator 10 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 Sullivan, help -- explain a little more for clarity for me. You talked about the assessment -- the change they made with regards to assessment. I think you said something about assessment rate as opposed to some other type of definition of assessment. Can you make it a little clearer for me what that means?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Sullivan.
Absolutely, be happy to. The bill that we passed over froze the assessed valuation, and the best way to do this is give you an example. If the land was worth three thousand dollars an acre - and that’s just a figure that I’ve come up with - and the assessment rate is one percent, the assessed valuation would have been frozen at three hundred dollars, which is three thousand times one percent equals three hundred dollars. That’s the assessed valuation. Under our bill, that’s what would have been frozen. The House said that the -- they -- they decided that it would be better to freeze the assessment rate. So, for example, under the scenario I used - three-thousand-dollar-an-acre land, the assessment rate one percent - that’s still an assessed valuation of three hundred dollars. But if that land increases in value, if it goes to four thousand dollars an acre, the rate doesn’t change of one percent, but the assessed valuation could go up. In that case, it would be four hundred dollars. So it -- it accounts for appreciation and/or depreciation in the land value.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Rutherford.
11 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 If I may, Mr. President. Just a further question on it, Senator Sullivan. I don’t mean to come up with these questions at this moment, ‘cause I know it’s -- it’s -- it’s a good thing that we’ve got here compared to where we were. But this -- this does not change the assessment. I mean, we could see a dramatic increase in the assessed value of farmland and that’s exactly what we saw happen here. So we could see a dramatic increase, let’s say three thousand, per your example, that for some reason an assessment could take it to ten thousand, which would not be unrealistic in some of the scenarios we’ve seen happen across the State. That -- that understanding what could happen, you’re saying that the rate would still be at the one percent, which in fact it still does have a considerable increase in their -- in their extension of what they would pay in their property taxes.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Sullivan.
Again, we are not freezing -- we are not changing the fair market value of the property. I don’t think that we have the ability, nor would we want to do that. And that’s where the other -- and that’s where the other aspects of the legislation come into play, which we talked about when we initially passed the bill over. That’s the Conservation Stewardship Management Program. It allows landowners to put land into that program and reduce their assessed valuation down to a -- a fair and equitable level.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Further discussion? Seeing none, the question is - this is final action - shall the Senate concur in House Amendments No. 2 12 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 and 3 to Senate Bill 17. Those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, vote Aye. 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 51 voting Aye, none voting Nay, none voting Present. The Senate concurs in House Amendments No. 2 and 3 to Senate Bill 17. And the bill, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 259. Senator Demuzio. Madam Secretary, read the bill. Read -- read the motion.
I move to concur with the House in the adoption of their Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 259. Filed by Senator Deanna Demuzio.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Demuzio.
Yes. Thank you, Mr. President and Members of the Senate. Senate Bill 259 with House Amendment No. 1 creates the Interpreter for the Deaf Licensure Act of 2007. This was deleted -- the -- the bill became -- was deleted. This becomes the bill. It creates the Interpreter for the Deaf Licensure Act of 2007, which requires the licensure of deaf interpreters through the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission. It allows deaf interpreters registered with the Commission prior to 7-1-07 to be grandfathered into the Act until 1-1 of ’11. There are numerous other provisions in this bill. This bill is very similar to Senate -- Senate Bill 2292, which was passed out of the 94th General Assembly. It was passed out with 54 to 0 and it was stalled in the House. So we’re bringing this bill back. There’s 13 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 no opposition and I ask for a favorable vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Is there any discussion? Senator John Jones.
Thank you, Mr. President. I just rise in support of the legislation. It’s a -- it’s a bill that passed out of Licensed Activities unanimously and I would ask for everybody to vote Aye.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) This is final action. The question is, shall the Senate concur in House Amendments {sic} No. 1 to Senate Bill 259. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, vote 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 51 voting Aye, none voting Nay, none voting Present. The Senate concurs in House Amendments {sic} No. 1 to Senate Bill 259. And the bill, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 360. Senator Ronen. Madam Secretary, read the bill -- read the motion.
I move to concur with the House in the adoption of their Amendments 1 and 4 to Senate Bill 360. Filed by Senator Carol Ronen.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Ronen.
Thank you, Mr. President. This bill - I would ask everybody to concur - has been the subject -- has been the subject of negotiations for the past four months among the Medical Society, the Nurses Association, the advanced practice nurses, the Dental 14 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 Society, and many groups. It -- lots of hard work in the House. I want to thank Senator -- Representative Saviano for moving forward on this. There is no opposition to this. Extends the sunset on the Nurse Practice Act and the Advanced Nurse Practice Act. I would ask for a concurrence.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Is there any discussion? Senator John Jones.
Thank you, Mr. President. Once again, I want to commend Senator Ronen. She has done a tremendous job of working with all the groups in trying to get this worked out and we have come to an agreement. And I would recommend an Aye vote. And, once again, I just want to reiterate that how’s -- you know, the bipartisanship works around here. If you really work together, you can get things accomplished. So, I would encourage everybody vote Aye.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Ronen, to close.
I want to thank Senator Jones for those kind remarks and hope that he’ll help me passing my health care bill as well. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) This is final action. The question is, shall the Senate concur in House Amendments No. 1 and 4 to Senate Bill 360. All those in favor will vote Aye. All those opposed will vote Nay. And 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, none voting Nay, none voting 15 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 Present. The Senate concurs in House Amendments No. 1 and 4 to Senate Bill 360. And the bill, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 581. Senator Wilhelmi. Madam Secretary, read the motion.
I move to concur with the House in the adoption of their Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 581. Filed by Senator A.J. Wilhelmi.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Wilhelmi.
Thank you, Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. I ask you to concur with House Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 581, which creates the Community Residential Choice Programs {sic} (Choices Program) for persons with developmental disabilities, including those with autism spectrum disorder, to have increased opportunities to reside in community-based settings. Beginning July 1st, 2007, and subject to appropriation, DHS is directed to fund residential capacity around the State with the goal of no fewer than eighty placements. The placements in community-based residential programs will be for persons who meet the emergency or critical criteria under the DHS cross-disabilities database and who meet the priority population criteria as defined by DHS and whose parents -- and whose parents are over the age of sixty. A priority will be given on persons with chosen housemates, and that’s the goal of this legislation, to allow people with disabilities to choose their housemates. And allocations in -- of funds will be prioritized for individuals who choose to reside 16 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 with three or few -- fewer individuals. I ask for your support on this motion to concur.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, this is final action. The question is, shall the Senate concur in House Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 581. Those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed will vote 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 51 voting Aye, none voting Nay, none voting Present. The Senate concurs in House Amendments {sic} No. 1 to Senate Bill 581. And the bill, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 1397. Senator Harmon. Madam Secretary, read the gentleman’s motion.
I move to concur with the House in the adoption of their Amendment No. 3 to Senate Bill 1397. Filed by Senator Don Harmon.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Harmon.
Thank you, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. When Senate Bill 1397 left our Chamber, we were referring to it appropriately as our version of Jessica’s Law. The House amended it, as requested by me - and as I discussed in debate on the bill here - to incorporate several issues that Senator Brady and I worked on together to enhance and improve the bill. They’ve also used this as a vehicle to do two additional pieces of legislation. The first is a trailer bill to Senator Wilhelmi’s Senate Bill 697, which provided that child pornography 17 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 was a predicate offense to prohibit a sex offender from living within a certain distance from schools or public parks. This clarifies that aggravated child pornography is similarly contained in that prohibition. And third, it -- at the request of the House sponsor, Representative Bradley, it establishes a Williamson County pilot program on the possession of methamphetamine precursors. I’m not aware of any opposition to the bill and I ask you to join me in my motion to concur.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) WAND seeks leave to videotape. Leave granted? Leave is granted. Discussion? Senator Brady.
Thank you, Mr. President. I stand in support of the gentleman’s motion. I compliment him on being open to working on making this legislation good, good for the children of Illinois, the people of Illinois, and hopefully help other states craft legislation that would protect their children as well.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Further discussion? Senator Cronin.
Thank you, Mr. President. I rise in strong support and want to commend the -- the sponsor and any and all those that worked on this. I know that I share this experience with many of my colleagues, if not all of us here: I have received a -- a -- a - - a -- a lot of phone calls and messages and -- and inquiries from concerned citizens about, you know, what is the State of Illinois law? Why don’t we have a Jessica’s Law? And, you know, we went through some contortions to explain to people the law that we have and the virtue and the merit of it, but it’s not 18 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 exactly like Jessica’s Law and it doesn’t do the same things. And so I want to commend all those who were involved. I strongly urge the media to make sure that this message is -- is broadcast as far and wide so that the public knows that we do have this new policy and will be signed into law, I’m sure. And I’m just delighted to -- to be part of this process. And again, I commend the sponsor. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Further discussion? Senator Righter.
Thank you, Mr. President. Will the sponsor yield, please?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Yes, he will. Senator Righter.
Thank you, Mr. President. Senator Harmon, can you tell me a little more about the pilot program for the methamphetamine precursors? And the reason I’m asking is, couple years ago I was a cosponsor of the legislation that created the Methamphetamine Precursor Act and it seems like we’re moving in the direction with regards to tracking those who purchase those. I think that’s what this is. Can you tell me a little more about it, please?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Harmon.
I -- I wish that I could tell you a lot more about it. Again, as -- as I said, this was an accommodation to one of our House cosponsors who carried the bill in the absence of our lead sponsor. It -- it does in fact do that. It tracks the -- the -- 19 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 the sale and possession of the precursors. Is there a particular area you’d like to explore, Senator Righter? I’m happy to do so.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Righter.
Thank you, Mr. President. Yes. First, are the State Police doing the tracking? Is there a special -- I mean, I have a number of questions. Two, is there a special appropriation if the State Police are doing the tracking in -- in -- in Williamson County?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Harmon.
As we understand it, it’s being done by the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Righter.
Do you know, Senator, why Williamson was picked? And the reason I ask that is because methamphetamine is a problem in a lot of areas in this State and I asked our staff to pull the statistics from the -- previous calendar year which indicate that the most methamphetamine cases in Illinois in 2006 were not in Williamson County, although they had certainly their share and then some, were actually in a county that’s just north of me, represented by one of your colleagues, Senator Frerichs. Vermilion County had a hundred and twenty-one methamphetamine- related cases in 2006 - almost double what Williamson County had. Obviously, Vermilion County sits right on my northern border. So 20 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 maybe we can talk a little bit about why Vermilion County is not the focus of this pilot project.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Harmon.
Thank you, Mr. President. This is a program that was brought to the General Assembly, as I understand it, by Williamson County. It is not limited to Williamson County, but includes several of the surrounding counties. It is one of those pilot programs that is a -- a bottom-up rather than a top-down solution. We did not decide upon Williamson County so much as Williamson County came to us and asked us to support a -- a program that has much local support, as I understand it.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Righter, to conclude.
Thank you, Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. Thank you, Senator Harmon, for your -- for your forthright responses. Much like Senator Cronin said, this is a good bill. I think we’ve missed the target just a little bit here. This is State legislation authorizing the creation of the pilot program. It seems to me that before deciding which county we’re going to create that pilot program in, we should go to the county that has the worst problem, and that’s not Williamson County. Although they deserve the help and need the help, it happens to be in Vermilion County and that’s maybe where we should have gone with this. Having said that, it’s a good bill, Mr. President. Stand in support of it. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) 21 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 Senator Harmon, to close.
Thank you and just a quick response. So folks know, Williamson County does have a problem. It is not far down the list. In fact, it’s number two, after Vermilion, and I’m sure if Vermilion County were to come with us and ask for a pilot program, that Senator Frerichs and others would all have sympathetic ear. But for now we have Williamson County, at the request of the House sponsor, and I ask you to join me in my motion to concur.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) This is final action. The question is, shall the Senate concur in House Amendments {sic} No. 3 to Senate Bill 1397. Those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed will vote 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 51 voting Aye, none voting Nay, none voting Present. The Senate concurs in House Amendments {sic} No. 3 to Senate Bill 1397. And the bill, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 1446. Senator Sandoval. Madam Secretary, please read the gentleman’s motion.
I move to concur with the House in the adoption of their Amendment No. 2 to Senate Bill 1446. Filed by Senator Martin Sandoval.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Sandoval.
Thank you, Señor Presidente. House Amendment No. 2 to 22 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 63rd Legislative Day 7/11/2007 Senate Bill 1446 is -- is what we know as We Want to Learn English Initiative. It’s an initiative that will provide resources to help residents, residents in Round Lake and Des Plaines, in Aurora, in Elgin, in Joliet, and even in Beardstown, to learn English. Several changes the House has made are as follows: They have amended the bill -- or House Amendment 2 allows the ICCB to include up to fifteen million in its annual budget proposal. It also allows the ICCB to distribute funds to -- to disburse no more than -- no less than half the funds to community-based, non-for-profit, faith-based organizations. And the funds for the Initiative can only be used to provide English programs to U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and other lawful immigrants. I’d ask your favorable consideration.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, this is final action. The question is, does the Senate concur in House Amendments {sic} No. 2 to Senate Bill 1446. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, vote 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 51 voting Aye, none voting Nay, none voting Present. The Senate concurs in House Amendments {sic} No. 2 to Senate Bill 1446. And the bill, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. There being no further business to come before the Senate, the Senate stands adjourned until the hour of 1 p.m., tomorrow, July 12th, 2007. The Senate stands adjourned. 23