PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) The regular Session of the 95th General Assembly will please come to order. Madam Secretary, Reading and Approval of the Journal.
Senate Journal of January 9th, 2008.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hunter.
Mr. President, I move that the Journal just read by the Secretary be approved, unless some Senators has additions or corrections to offer.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hunter moves to approve the Journals just read by the Secretary. There being no objection, so ordered. WLS-TV in Chicago, WBBM-TV in Chicago, AP -- and ABC Channel 20 requests leave to tape proceedings and AP requests to take photos. Seeing no objection, leave is granted. Madam Secretary, Resolutions.
Senate Resolutions 424 and 425, offered by Senator Link and all Members. Senate Resolution 426, offered by Senator Koehler and all Members. Senate Resolutions 427 and 428, offered by Senator Haine and all Members. Senate Resolution 429, offered by Senator Demuzio and all Members. Senate Resolution 430, offered by Senator Kotowski and all Members. 1 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 Senate Resolutions 431 through 434, offered by Senator Link and all Members. Senate Resolution 435, offered by Senator Kotowski and all Members. Senate Resolution 436, offered by Senator Koehler and all Members. Senate Resolution 437, offered by Senator Collins and all Members. Senate Resolutions 438 through 440, offered by Senator Haine and all Members. Senate Resolution 441, offered by Senator Wilhelmi and all Members. Senate Resolution 442, offered by Senator Haine and all Members. Senate Resolution 443, offered by Senator Dillard and all Members. Senate Resolution 444, offered by Senator Koehler and all Members. Senate Resolutions 445 through 449, offered by Senator Link and all Members. Senate Resolution 450, offered by Senator Bomke and all Members. Senate Resolution -- 451, offered by Senator Lightford and all Members. Senate Resolutions 452 and 453, offered by Senator Link and all Members. Senate Resolution 454, offered by Senator Lightford and all Members. Senate Resolution 455, offered by Senator Kotowski and all 2 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 Members. Senate Resolution 456, offered by Senator Lightford and all Members. Senate -- Senate Resolution 457, offered by Senator Harmon and all Members. Senate Resolution 458, offered by Senator Emil Jones and all Members. Senate Resolution 459, offered by Senator Haine and all Members. Senate Resolution 460, offered by Senator Meeks and all Members. Senate Resolutions 461 and 462, offered by Senator Lightford and all Members. Senate Resolution 463, offered by Senator Koehler and all Members. Senate Resolutions 464 and 465, offered by Senator Haine and all Members. Senate -- Senate Resolutions 466 and 467, offered by Senator Forby and all Members. Senate Resolutions 468 and 469, offered by Senator Link and all Members. Senate Resolution 470, offered by Senator Crotty and all Members. Senate Resolution 471, offered by Senator Hunter and all Members. Senate Resolution 472, offered by Senator Clayborne and all Members. Senate Resolution 473 and 474, offered by Senator Hunter and all Members. 3 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 Senate Resolution 475 and 476, offered by Senator Emil Jones and all Members. Senate Resolution 477, offered by Senator John Jones and all Members. Senate Resolution 478, offered by Senator Harmon and all Members. Senate Resolution 479, offered by Senator Collins and all Members. Senate Resolution 480, offered by Senator Kotowski and all Members. Senate Joint Resolution {sic} (74), offered by Senator Harmon and all Members. They’re all death resolutions, Mr. President. Senate Resolution 481, offered by Senator Hunter. Senate -- Senate Resolution 482, offered by Senator Althoff. Senate Resolution 483, offered by Senator Martinez. Senate Resolution 484, offered by Senator Hultgren. And Senate Joint Resolution 75, offered by Senator Maloney. They’re substantive, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Madam Secretary, Introduction of Bills.
Senate Bill 1871, offered by Senator Wilhelmi. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Resolution {sic} 1872, offered by Senator Harmon. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1873, offered by Senator Clayborne. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1874, offered by Senator Forby. 4 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1875, offered by Senator Demuzio. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1876, offered by Senator Rutherford. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1877, offered by Senator Demuzio and Forby. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1878, offered by Senator Martinez. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1879, offered by Senator Collins. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1880, offered by Senator Haine. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1881, offered by Senator Haine. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1882, offered by Senator Silverstein. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1883, offered by Senator Althoff. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1884, offered by Senator Bomke. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1885, offered by Senator Bomke. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1886, offered by Senator Radogno. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1887, offered by Senator Haine. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1888, offered by Senator Bomke. (Secretary reads title of bill) 5 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 Senate Bill 1889, offered by Senator Maloney. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1890, offered by Senator Haine. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1891, offered by Senator Koehler. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1892, offered by Senator Wilhelmi. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate -- Senate Bill 1893, offered by Senator Koehler. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1894, offered by Senator Althoff. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1895, offered by Senator -- Althoff. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1896, offered by Senator Althoff. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1897, offered by Senator Crotty. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1898, offered by Senator DeLeo. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1899, offered by Senator Risinger. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1900, offered by Senator DeLeo. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1901, offered by Senator Risinger. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1902, offered by Senator Risinger. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1903, offered by Senator Trotter. 6 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1904, offered by Senator Haine. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1905, offered by Senator Collins. (Secretary reads title of bill) Senate Bill 1906, offered by Senator Crotty. (Secretary reads title of bill) 1st Reading of the bills.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Madam Secretary, House Bills 1st Reading.
House Bill 119, offered by Senator Ronen. (Secretary reads title of bill) 1st Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Madam Secretary, Committee Reports.
Senator Crotty, Chairperson of the Committee on Local Government, reports a Motion to Concur with House Amendment No. 2 to Senate Bill 513 and House Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 775 recommend Do Adopt. And Senator Maloney, Chairperson of the Committee on Higher Education, reports Senate Amendment No. 2 to House Bill 1334 recommend Do Adopt.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be going to Supplemental Calendar No. 1, on the top of your Calendar in Order of Concurrences.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) 7 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 Senator Hendon in the Chair. On the Order of Concurrence -- Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate, we are taking action here. I just want to get your attention to that. If you want to continue your conversations, it is up to you. But we are about to vote. On the Order of Concurrence of Senate Bills is Senate Bill 513. Senator Link, do you wish to proceed? Madam Secretary, please read the motion.
I move to concur with the House in the adoption of their Amendment No. 2 to Senate Bill 513. Filed by Senator Terry Link.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Link, to explain your motion.
Thank you, Mr. President. This is basically an -- adding 8.8 acres of land in -- a business development in Hoffman Estates, to the Water -- to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. I know of no opposition.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Is there any discussion? Senator Righter.
Thank -- thank you very much, Mr. President. Will the sponsor yield, please?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) He indicates he will. Senator Righter.
Thank you. Senator -- Senator Link, I apologize. It’s -- it’s a little noisy in here and I may not have heard all of your explanation. 8 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Excuse me, Senator Righter. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate, we need some kind of -- of calm in this building. The speaker just said it’s too noisy for him to even ask his question. I would ask if you would please take your conversations to the back of the room so Senator Righter can be heard. My good friend, Senator Righter.
Thank you, Mr. President. Senator Link, I apologize if you already addressed this issue, but the annexation has to do with property owned by Hoffman Estates. Can I -- can we all safely assume that that municipality is in favor of this legislation?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Senator Link, is Hoffman in favor of the legislation?
Yes, they are.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR HENDON) Any further discussion? Seeing none, this is final action. The question is, shall the Senate concur in House Amendments {sic} No. 2 to Senate Bill 513. 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 56 Ayes, no Nays and none voting Present. The Senate concurs in House Amendments {sic} No. 2 to Senate Bill 513. And the bill, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Chicago Tribune seeks leave to take photos. Seeing no objection, leave is granted. Senate Bill 775. Senator Haine, do 9 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 you wish to continue? Madam -- Madam Secretary, read the motion.
I move to concur with the House in their adoption of Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 775. Filed by Senator William Haine.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Haine, to explain your motion.
Thank you, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. This -- this bill, as amended, establishes a Small Fire- fighting Equipment Grant Program, Fire Service and Small Equipment Fund program. It grew out of a bill that we passed - both Chambers passed - last year - I mean this past year - that took a percentage of the cigarette tax that established these funds. Subsequent to the Governor’s veto - the Governor was correct on this - and the House override, the Governor’s Office contacted me and Representative Moffitt, the House sponsor, and we had a meeting, and it became apparent that the Governor was correct in his veto, that this would cause problems for the long- term care facilities and the nursing homes. It would have the unintended consequence of competing for money with them. So, we crafted a bill that met the objections of the -- the Governor’s Office, with the assistance of the State Fire Marshal, and actually has more money in it, based upon a -- a -- a charge to the serious traffic offenses of the State and a one-time transfer of funds in the amount of fifteen million dollars to this fund to get it going immediately. So it’s much better for the fire services. They are very enthusiastic about it and this is a rare kumbaya moment which we don’t want to lose given the past twenty- 10 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 four hours and I would ask for an Aye vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Althoff, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Mr. President. To the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.
Sharing in this kumbaya moment, I would just like the Body to recognize that this bill did pass out of committee unanimously. It is a good program for many of our rural fire departments and I would urge an Aye vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hendon, for what purpose do you rise?
Will the sponsor answer -- I just -- I -- will the sponsor yield for a question?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Sponsor indicates he will.
Senator Haine, just real quick, I heard you say the word tax. Did I hear you say tax, as in t-a-x, as in funds are being -- somebody’s paying a tax so -- you can do this?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Haine.
Thank you, Senator Hendon, for that question. No, there’s not a tax. This is a charge put on serious traffic offenses - reckless driving, DUI, things of that nature only. It‘s not a 11 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 tax. The initial bill did take a percentage of the cigarette tax and that caused a problem, according to the Governor’s Office, and we eliminated that.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hendon.
Okay, but you were for the initial bill that took a tax to solve a problem. Is -- is that -- am I right?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Haine.
No, sir. The initial bill took a portion of an existing tax, but no -- no, it didn’t raise any taxes.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hendon.
I understand that, but I’m saying you still were taking some tax money to address a problem that you have in your area and I was just -- brought it up so you know that it’s kind of similar to what I’ll be doing in a few minutes, because sometimes tax money is necessary to do the things we need to do. I voted for you in the past and I’m going to vote for you -- with you today. But I just wanted to point that out to my esteemed colleague.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Haine, to close.
That was a point well made. And I would again ask for an Aye vote. It’s a good program. It helps public safety and doesn’t involve a tax increase. Thank you. 12 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) This is final action. The question is, shall the Senate concur with House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 775. Those in favor will vote Aye. Those 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 57 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. Senate Bill 775, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senator Righter, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Mr. President. For purposes of an announcement.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your announcement.
Thank you, Mr. President. It is my pleasure to announce today, for those of you who are not already aware, and you should be, because when you came onto the Floor today, you should have found on your desk some goodies provided by Senator Dale Risinger, today is his birthday. It is proof that even engineers grow older. So happy birthday to our colleague, Dale Risinger.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Happy birthday, Senator. Could we please have it -- the noise keep down a little bit? We are doing final action on bills here. Please keep the noise down. We will be going to House Bills 3rd Reading. House Bill 1334. There’s been change in sponsorship. Senator Martinez seeks leave of the Body to -- seeks leave of the Body to take Senate -- House Bill 1334 to 2nd Reading for the purposes -- amending. Hearing no objection, leave is granted. Now on the Order of 2nd Reading is House Bill 13 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 1334. Madam Secretary, are there any amendments approved for consideration?
Yes, Mr. President, Floor Amendment No. 2, offered by Senator Martinez.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Martinez, to explain your amendment.
Thank you, Mr. President, Members of the Senate. Floor Amendment No. 2 deletes the underlying bill and creates the Golden Apple Illinois Future Teachers Corps Partnership. The Golden Apple Illinois Future Teacher Corps Partnership is a public/private partnership stemming from the consolidation of the Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching and the Illinois Future Teachers Corps. These programs are charged with providing assistance and guidance to prospective teachers who will staff the State’s hard-to-staff school. As established in this amendment, State appropriations in the Illinois Future Teachers Corps shall be transferred to the Golden Apple -- Foundation over the next three years. Rules for the combined program will be established by the Golden Apple Foundation. This bill also makes technical changes.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, Senator Martinez moves Amendment 2 to House Bill 1334. All those in favor, say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it. The amendment is adopted. Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?
14 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 No further amendments reported, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. On the Order of Postponed Consideration, on page 4, House Bill 656. As the bill has already been presented and debated, the Floor -- this bill is limited to one proponent and one opponent. Senator Righter, as the opponent of the bill.
Thank you, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Chamber. Not much has changed in -- few things, but not much has changed since we took this vote. It seems like just a few hours ago. The bill still contains -- the law still contains an embarrassingly low participation rate from the City of Chicago and Cook County, much, much lower than other large metropolitan transit systems across the country. The bill still contains, for the first time in this State’s history, the authority for a municipality to impose a real estate transfer tax on its citizens without the citizens first saying it’s okay for you to raise my property taxes. And that’s going to happen, Ladies and Gentlemen, in a municipality that already has property tax rates that could only fairly be described as punitive already. What hasn’t changed: The fate in the House. Sometimes I think we act like, oh, if we do something here in this Chamber, that we’ve solved the problem. But we haven’t solved the problem. We don’t have any idea what’s going to happen in the House. In fact, chances are pretty good that by the time we get done with this bill, the House is going to be on their way home. And, so, our rush to address a crisis will not be of much value. What hasn’t changed are the commitments that have been made by Members on both sides of the aisle, in writing and in public to the media 15 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 and to our constituents, that until we reach a level where we can vote on a comprehensive statewide one-hundred-and-two-county solution to our transportation needs, we’re not going to move to address a situation in one corner of the State. Now, one thing has changed - one thing has changed - and that is last night during the debate, one of the speakers got up when the question was asked about whether or not the Governor was going to sign this -- one of the speakers said, “Governor’s going to sign it”, “The Governor’s going to sign it.” And what is hugely ironic about this is that just about the time that that was being said, a spokesperson from the Governor said, “No, if it comes to our desk, we are going to improve the bill.” They’re going to change the bill. You’re voting for a tax increase that will not become law because the Governor will not sign this bill as it’s written, if it ever gets to his desk. Ladies and Gentlemen, we all know - anyone who’s been here for longer than a week knows - that we make our share of mistakes in this Chamber and some of those are mistakes that were unavoidable and some of those mistakes are clearly avoidable. More often than not, we make those mistakes when we are rushing to meet someone else’s deadline or when arms are being twisted and commitments are being broken. This is one of those times. Let’s not go down this road. Let’s not make this mistake. Vote No. Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hendon, as the proponent.
Thank you, Mr. President. Well, Senator Dillard, I -- I mean, Senator Righter, I am the one who said the Governor will sign the bill, and he better sign the damn bill. I’m going to 16 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 send it down there to him. I’m going to go down there and see him and I’m going to convince my friend to not desert his friend. I’ve been his friend. I’ve defended him on -- on this Senate Floor time and time again. We send it to him, he’s going to sign it. I’m going to make sure he signs it. I’m going to demand that he sign it. The people deserve him to sign it. So, yeah, I said he’s going to sign it. I know he’s listening right now. Governor Blagojevich, my friend, you need to sign this bill. I don’t have to be his friend, you know. I choose to be his friend. I choose to be loyal supporter of his. I pass it, John Cullerton pass it, with Dillard’s support and the other Republicans over there - he’s going to sign the bill. You also said we’re dealing with somebody else’s self-imposed deadline. This is not CTA’s deadline. This is not the union’s deadline. This is the passengers’. Think about the people for once. Now, Senator Righter, you know we are friends and I love you. But, you are so wrong on this. I care about capital as much as anybody in this building. I’ve said it time and time again. I read in the Daily Herald and the Southtown and the Trib that the worst bridge in the State of Illinois is in my district. You think I don’t want to solve that? You think I want people plunging down into the water? Can you imagine the lawsuits that the State will face and the City will face, knowing that that bridge is about to collapse and we do nothing? You think you’re going to be able to hide behind you voted for your district and we’re -- got caskets and people being buried because we took no action. I am for a capital bill. So, to act like, “Well, we can’t do this because the two are no longer linked”, that is ludicrous. We’ve done all we can. President Jones negotiated in 17 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 -- in good faith. Leader Watson negotiated in good faith. And we will continue to do that. We need a capital program, no doubt about it. Unfortunately, the clock ran out. There are two -- there are two Chambers here. Clock ran out. Now we have this doomsday coming and you can’t keep saying, “It’s coming, it’s coming” and you think it’s not going to happen. It’s going to happen. And Chicago doesn’t just lose. Guess what? If Chicago gets the Olympics, it helps the entire State of Illinois. But guess what? If the Olympic Committee sees that we can’t even have a world-class transportation system, public transportation system, why come here? We all lose. Chicago lose. The whole State lose. RTA lose. The whole State lose. I am sick and tired of people being selfish around here. I vote for all kinds of stuff. Downstate wants it, fine; up north, fine. When my friend Syverson said he wanted a chance to get a boat up in his area, I said, “Fine.” I used to walk on that side of the aisle when Pate Philip was President all the time, because we need bipartisan cooperation. The people deserve bipartisan cooperation. I urge you to support this today. I don’t have to tell you all the details in the bill again. But think about the busses and the trains that are going up and down the streets and on the tracks that are dilapidated and about to fall over. We need those busses and those trains to -- to be safe for the passengers, as well as for the drivers, as well as for the bus drivers and the train engineers, as well as for the rest of us that -- that -- that have to ride along the roads with them. John Cullerton mentioned the environment the other day. We haven’t even talked about that. A world-class public transportation system is good for the environment. Look at 18 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 what’s happening in Florida right now with fog all over the highway and people can’t see with the smog and the fog and the pollution that’s in the air. So, if we got to have all these cars on the road because we don’t have a world-class public transportation system, we will be just as bad as Florida and other places. Do the right thing. Don’t do something -- don’t be selfish and don’t be condescending in -- the Governor’s going to be a flip-flopper. No, he will show that he is an intelligent man if he signs this bill. We’re going to send it to him. The House is waiting for it, right now. I urge an Aye vote. Do the right thing for the State, not just looking out for yourself.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Dillard, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Mr. President. My name was used a couple of times in the early debate and was wondering whether I can speak on this, please.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Let me check on that. One second. It is customary that we usually only have one opponent and one proponent. But, since your name was mentioned in debate and it is customary in this Chamber that when a person’s -- a Senator’s name is mentioned in debate that he is allowed to speak, so we will allow you to speak at this moment.
Thank you, Mr. President and Members. You know, Tip O’Neill, the former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, once exclaimed that all politics is local. There’s been a little focus on a couple of us -- three of us from 19 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 DuPage County on this bill. And I want to explain to the Membership that I come from an urbanized county of one million people that has its own budget issues and problems. And frankly, this bill helps take care of those problems for my county. I come from Naperville, the fourth-largest city in the State of Illinois. Its Chamber of Commerce and its local newspaper are for this bill. Four of the five busiest Metra train stops are in my Senate district. A. J. Wilhelmi and I represent Will County, the northeast part, fastest-growing county in America. Two million people a day ride the RTA, that’s one in six people in this State. And to all my downstate friends, Senator Sullivan and my colleagues on this side of the aisle, I would love to hold out and use this for leverage for a capital bill for my area - I support it; it’s badly needed - and for your area. But frankly, the chances of passing a capital bill with gambling as its component revenue source are probably as great as the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series in the next ten days, and I’m a Cubs fan. So, you know, I wish they were there. But all politics is local. I agree with Senator Hendon that if you’re going to keep Chicagoland a world-class center, you got to have a world-class transportation system. We have the second-worst traffic congestion in America. And for every person that rides the RTA, that’s one less person on the road. I mean, that’s good for everybody. So, all politics is local. That’s why I’m for this, plain and simple, and I appreciate you listening to why I’m going to cast an Aye vote. Thank you, Mr. President and Members.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) The question is, shall House Bill 656 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have 20 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 30 Ayes, 25 Nays, 1 Present. House Bill 656, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. The Senate will stand at ease. We feel that we may be done for the day, but we’re waiting until the paperwork gets over to the House. But we are standing at ease for right now until the paperwork gets to the House. (SENATE STANDS AT EASE/SENATE RECONVENES)
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Madam Secretary, Resolutions.
Senate Resolution 485 and 486, offered by Senator Haine. And Senate Resolution 487, offered by Senator Demuzio. They’re all death resolutions, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Resolution Consent Calendar. We will now proceed to the Order of Resolution Consent Calendar. With the leave of the Body, all -- those resolutions read today will be added to the Consent Calendar. Madam Secretary, have there been any objections filed to any resolution -- Consent Calendar?
No objections filed, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? If not, the question is, shall the resolutions on the Consent Calendar be adopted. All those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it. The 21 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 119th Legislative Day 1/10/2008 motion’s carried. The resolutions are adopted. Madam Secretary, Introduction of Bills.
Senate Bill 1907, offered by Senator Kotowski, Harmon, Millner, Garrett and Schoenberg. (Secretary reads title of bill) 1st Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) There being no further business to come before the Senate, the Senate stands adjourned until Wednesday, January 16th, 2008, in perfunctory Session and each Wednesday thereafter in perfunctory Session, until such time as the Senate assembles in regular, Veto or other Session pursuant to the schedule established and published by the Senate President. The Special - - or, the regular Session of the Senate stands adjourned. 22