Illinois Senate Floor Debate — October 14, 2009

Wonderful, Mr. President.

For purpose of introduction. Personal privilege.

I have with me today two Pages for the Day. Danielle Taylor, who is a junior at Kaneland High School. She’s here with her mom in the gallery, Melisa. Also, Elliot Witt, who is a sophomore at Kaneland. And he’s with his mom, Teresa. And then they’re visiting with a lady named Lisa Wiet, who is the President of the Kaneland School Board. I just ask the Senate to welcome our guests.

I am quite fine, thank you. And how are you today?

I’m -- I’m rising on a point of personal privilege, Mr. President.

Thank you very much for the courtesy. I have with me today two of my village presidents: one from Richmond, President Lauri Olson, and one from Fox River Grove, Bob Nunamaker. They’re here today to see how government works and also to talk to you about Senate Bill 2011. So, might we give them a warm Springfield welcome? And when they call upon you, can you be courteous? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President. If I could make a few remarks, in that, I graduated from Illinois State University in 1978 and the first job I had out of college was to work for a colleague of some folks back then; it was Tom Ewing. And I remember after that election, this young State Representative by the name of 24  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 Frank Watson -- I remember his office was over in the Stratton Building. That was thirty years ago. I was an aide in that wing. And I remember getting my camera. I don’t know if it was the kind that you click, you know how it kind of rolls the photo out at the bottom of it - one of those kind of photos. It’s called a Polaroid, says the pharmacist that probably did -- wished they did develop them in their -- in their pharmacy though. And took that photo of Frank Watson. Here I was in my three-piece suit, young college guy just getting ready to kick things off, and here was this young man from Greenville, and had a lot of hair, or at least some hair at that time. And that’s when I first got to know Frank. Thirty years ago. I can’t believe it, Frank. It’s been that long ago that you and I got to meet each other and -- and I got to work in this august Body. And over those thirty years, I went on and did my own thing in the private sector and I watched Frank Watson grow and develop. I watched him leave the House and come over to the Senate. I had the chance to be a member of the House then later, and I remember one of the, perhaps, greatest accomplishments that I will think will be a part of my legislative career and that was work with the nursing home industry to fundamentally change the process on the funding formula from the old inspection of care to the minimum data set. And here’s this guy from central Illinois, not much seniority, lower Chamber, but I knew who my Senate sponsor was, and that was Frank Watson, being the assistant Majority Leader at that time. So when we sat down to negotiate with the administration and with the industry to really make a massive change, I knew I came into that negotiation with the clout of the big dog Frank Watson, and we 25  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 got that thing done. Well, then, in 2002, the Lord had a decision for our mutual friend, John Maitland, and he retired, and that brought me into this Chamber. And little did I think back in 1978 and ’79 that I would serve in Frank Watson’s caucus. So, Frank, if you recall that photo we took thirty -- that photo we took thirty years ago, I found it and I blew it up as an eight by ten, autographed it and said, “Boy, I can’t wait to someday be in your caucus”, and I stuck it in his office back here. And I think that thing sat there probably about a week or ten days before you realized it was there, and I -- and -- and when he discovered it there, it really caused a big smile on both of our faces, to remember that it’s been three decades, my friend, that you and I’ve worked together and I’m honored to have been a part of your caucus. And Frank, thank you, God bless you, Susan and your children, especially your grandkid. Thank you for all your service and we look forward to being friends for the next thirty years. God bless you, Frank.

Thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to offer a -- a quick thought here, if I may, about Frank. A big part of Frank’s legacy, I think, is that he’s a fun-lovin’ guy. And I have sort of an interesting, funny story. When I first got to know Frank shortly after I came over here to the Senate, I learned that Frank was a Purdue man and I had gone to Northwestern, and we were going to go to a football game together. I thought, I’ll get to know this guy, downstater and everything, and make a friend, and so let’s go to the football 26  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 game together. The Boilermakers are in town. We’ll go up to Evanston. So Frank was in town with his lovely wife. I think you were visiting one of your kids who lived in the City of Chicago. I was with my wife. We were going to pick up Frank in the City and then drive up to Evanston. He was a little vague on where he was going to be. You know, on the corner of Lincoln Street and Fullerton, something like that. And I said, “Well, you know, specifically where?” He says, “Don’t worry, you won’t -- you know, you won’t miss me.” So, I -- so, my wife’s never met him before, and we’re driving in the vehicle, and we got the cooler and we got the grill and we’re going to have a good time at the game. And I’m driving up Lincoln Avenue and it’s a crowded Saturday morning, people, and I look up and I see some goofball - not a goofball - I see my friend. He’s got a Purdue helmet on; Purdue, you know, shoulder pads. Julie’s like, “Where is this guy?” I said, “He’s right there.” So we picked him up; we went to the game. We had a lot of fun. People in our section - you know, we’re a very, kind of, staid North Shore kind of crowd where we were sitting - they kept wondering who the heck is that guy that keeps screaming for Boilermakers every time they get a first down. So, Frank is a fun-lovin’ guy. He’s a huge sports fan. I think that’s what I like about him best, is his fun-loving nature. We’ll always remember it, and we will cherish it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President. You know, there’s a lot of talk 27  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 here about the past. There is a current -- recent current event though that I think we need to discuss. And that would be, you know, unlike the President I actually am a Cubs fan. And I noticed where I took a lot of grief last year when the Cubs got swept in the first round in three games by the Dodgers. And of course, everybody here knows what a big Cardinal fan Frank is. And I think we can finally put to rest those Cub fan jokes about getting swept by the Dodgers in light of recent events in the National League Divisional Series. Problem, of course, with doing it this way is he gets the mike after I do. I got to -- to know Frank campaigning for the Senate in 2006. And I hadn’t had a lot of exposure to Springfield. I hadn’t had a lot of exposure to this process. And he, as the Leader, was someone who was involved, someone I got to know. And people would ask, you know, “What’s your take? What do you think about this process?” And I said, “I don’t really know what to make of the town yet or -- or the process”, but the thing that always struck me and really made me feel good about being involved was that someone as genuine and sincere, someone who so clearly cared deeply about what we do in this State, had risen to the level to be one of the five Leaders of State government. It said a lot about the process to me. But it said a lot about the man himself after 1979. This is a grinding process. Everybody in this room knows it. It can wear you down. But thirty years on, Frank Watson was as passionate and cared as much about what we do and what he could do for the State and his constituents as on day one. And that’s damned rare. I don’t know how many other people in this room are ever going to be able to achieve that. But he left a special mark on the General Assembly, was a truly 28  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 special part of it, and is a unique member of Illinois history. We’re glad to have you back. We look forward to seeing you for years to come, coming by and giving us a hard time. And I look forward to my Cubs putting their foot on your Cardinals throat next year.

Yes, Mr. President. Thank you. You know, we’ve heard a lot of great accolades already given to Senator Watson. We’ve heard a list of his awards, his accomplishments. We already know he’s a Cardinals fan, St. Louis Rams fan. We’ve heard the words used to describe him as -- as being passionate, sincere, genuine. But I think there’s one word that we haven’t heard maybe yet today - I -- I didn’t recall it - and that’s competitive. And any of you that know Frank know that he’s extremely competitive. Now, that’s whether or not it’s -- it’s politics or whether it’s basketball, where he’s all elbows, whether it’s golf, where he’s -- still extremely competitive. And, you know, this guy doesn’t know the word quit or surrender. And it’s kind of been a take no prisoners attitude, and I 31  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 certainly do appreciate him for that. I had the opportunity -- Frank gave me the opportunity to serve on his leadership team when he first became the Republican Leader in the Illinois Senate. And I will forever thank him for that, and certainly appreciate his understanding of another guy from southern Illinois that kind of moved to northern Illinois. But it’s -- it’s a little known secret that I used to live in St. Rose, Illinois, which was part of Frank’s Senate district. Now, it wasn’t part of his district when I lived there. But everything we’ve talked about with Frank really has been appreciated and has served his district well over the years. He’s a statesman. He really worked hard for his district and we appreciate that. One of the things in the resolution that said that Frank was going to spend more time with his family - and -- and, Susan, you’ve had a few months now - I’m not sure that’s a good thing - but -- but, anyway, you can tell me that later. And certainly we know that Frank’s very proud of -- of his -- his kids, his grandchild and grandchildren-to-be, and certainly Susan, and that we’re going to miss him here and that’s for sure. There is another thing that is for sure - there will never be another Frank Watson. And, Frank, we wish you the best. May God bless you and your family in whatever you endeavor to do in the future, and you’re always welcome. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President. I -- I asked Frank to write -- write down a few things that I could say about him. And -- and he didn’t -- did not do that. So I’m going to have to… You know, I -- all of us have been through a lot of these. We’ve listened to people talk about individuals who are leaving and many of you I -- I think would agree to me -- agree with me that we’ve heard things - a lot of times, very -- very flattering things - about people that we thought “That’s not the person I knew.” I mean, we -- we -- you know, it -- it certainly doesn’t 33  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 describe somebody that I knew and -- and that -- but I really believe today that you -- you know, you’re going to hear, Frank, a lot of stuff that people truly mean. In fact, a lot of good stuff. There are some things, you know, I -- I think -- this guy’s not perfect, I can tell you that. You know, I -- I want to tell you, first of all, that he’s a little cheap. He is. And -- and also, a handicap in golf - Frank believes that a handicap is enough strokes that he can win every time. And -- and he’s a very good negotiator. I don’t think I’ve ever beaten him. No, I haven’t, Frank. That’s -- you know what? As you probably know, Frank and I probably have become, at least in this Senate, best friends over the years. You know, I would not be in this business if it weren’t for Frank. There was this -- my -- the Senator that was -- many of you -- it’s amazing how -- how a lot of new faces are in here, and -- and many of you don’t even know this, but my predecessor was a -- a fellow by the name of Ralph Dunn, who was, I think, at the time about eighty-two years old and he was going to quit in the middle of his term. His wife was sick. And so they were looking for someone to -- to appoint to that position. I -- I had been interviewed by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on an -- on a sports issue and the guy had been in my home for probably an hour and we talked. I knew the fellow because I’d been involved with sports in that area all my adult life, at least, and as he’s leaving the room he’s - - and going home - in fact, he had his hand on the door - he turned around and he says, “Coach, what in the world would you do if you didn’t coach?” And I said, you know, I -- and I -- I’d taught history and government and I’d always been interested in that sort of thing and I read and watched anything I could 34  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 get my hands on. And I -- I -- I did say to the guy, “You know, I’ve -- I’ve been -- I’ve always been interested in government.” Next day in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, it said, “Luechtefeld wants to get into government.” Frank Watson, who is a sports nut, worse than I am, read that article and called me the next day and said, “Would you, by any chance, be interested in being the Senator from that district?” And, you know, I had retired from teaching already and was coaching basketball, an athletic director, and playing golf about five days a week. Now, you can’t beat that. I mean, that is -- that’s a pretty good life. And my first answer to Frank was “No, I’m not interested. “I’m just not interested.” Well, we -- we talked probably for twenty minutes or so, and he’s a very persistent person. And as we’re going along in the conversation, there was a question I wanted to ask him - and many of you will appreciate this - and it just kept coming up in my mind. I got to finally ask him. I had heard of Frank Watson. I had seen him -- I had seen his picture in the paper before. He says we’ve met, but I didn’t remember that. But, anyway, finally after about twenty minutes, I said, “Frank, before you go on, I have to ask a question. Ralph Dunn was a Republican. I’m a Republican. And you’re a Democrat, aren’t you?” That’s a fact. It -- it -- it really stunned him. But Frank kept after me for probably six weeks. He would call and say, “You know, this is something you need to do. You need to come to Springfield.” And finally I did it. Now, one of the real problems at that age -- at that age - and some of you have done this maybe a little later in life - you wonder whether it’s the right decision. Because this changes your life dramatically. There’s no question about that. And so it was a 35  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 very difficult decision to make. I made this decision and I -- and I -- and I want to say to him, and it -- for me, it was a good decision. It -- it is something that I’ve enjoyed and, you know, obviously there are good days and bad days, but it certainly turned out to be a good decision. One other story I want to tell you about him. You know, you would never want to run against Frank Watson. He has unbelievable energy. The guy can be going all over the place and you’d think on weekends he might sit down and -- and just sit down and do nothing. He might call me and say, “Let’s go to the Cardinal game” or “Let’s…” He -- just tremendous energy. So, he said to me one day in a campaign, “I’d like to come over and walk with you.” So we did. We went to Freeburg, Illinois, and we walked for about three hours. We had one car. He pulled up, saw me -- finally he was done -- done going door to door and he pulled up and he says, “Get in.” So, a lot of little towns in southern Illinois, in particular this town, has a little corner tavern. And it’s like about 4:30/5 o’clock and people are getting off from work. So, Frank drives up to the corner and he’s says, “This is a great place to campaign”. And there probably were twenty people in there - mainly men who had -- had worked during the day and were in there for a beer. As we walk in Frank says, “Drinks are on Luechtefeld.” So, we buy a round of drinks. A little bit later, Frank, who is very observant, said, “By the way, there’s a car in the parking lot with a Luechtefeld sticker on it. Which one of you is a Luechtefeld fan?” Some guy stands up and says, “That’s my car. Just bought the damned thing and it had a sticker on it.” But anyway, it -- you know, I -- I really think you’re going to hear an awful lot of good things 36  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 about Frank, obviously. You know, when you go through life, what would you like people to say about you? You know, I -- I think you’d like people to say -- all of us would like people to say that we were very good at what we did, very successful, and that we were a good person. And I -- I would agree, and I think I -- I’m right about this, most of you in this Chamber would agree with all of those things about Frank Watson. I will miss him. But, you know, a lot of people leave here and we really don’t miss them. But I really believe there are a lot of people that miss this guy. So, have a great life and I’d like to be there with you, Frank. All right. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Chamber. I think I would be remiss if I didn’t first start my remarks by extending a sincere thank you to Chad and to Susan, and the rest of Senator Watson’s family who could not be here. We’ve heard a lot and we will continue to hear a lot about Senator Watson’s work ethic and how he was everywhere all the time. And everyone in here has family. And everyone in here knows the toll that that can exact on a family. And so on behalf of the people I represent, Chad, Susan, thank you for sharing such a special blessing on us. You know, when Senator Watson made the announcement that he was going to resign from the Senate, the conventional wisdom and, of course, it was followed shortly thereafter by his public statement that -- from Senator Watson, it had to do with his health. I have a different thought. Back in 2003, I was a freshman, a newly 37  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 sworn in Senator, and I was hustling from my district over to Springfield to meet with the newly-elected Republican Leader in the Senate, Frank Watson. Wanting to make a good impression on my new Leader, I wanted to make sure and be on time. I was running late. I was driving quickly. There is, on the way from my district to the Capitol, a place that’s a gas station, a little convenience mart. It’s known as “Howie’s Lakeside”. Howie’s Lakeside is kind of a traditional pit stop. It’s about halfway between my district and the -- and the Capitol. Today was no different. Because I was late and for other reasons, I pulled my car into the parking lot, I rushed through the front doors of Howie’s, I went toward the back, toward the restrooms. I was in such a hurry that I did not pay particular attention to the women’s sign on the door that I blew through. After stopping and looking around and realizing the equipment was not quite right, I turned around and began to exit the women’s restroom, only to run into a nice little old lady who was on her way into the women’s restroom. I stopped. Of course, I had in my mind at the time, “I’m running late for Senator Watson. I’m running late for Senator Watson.” So, instinctively, I shook out -- I stuck out my hand, shook the lady’s hand and said, “Hello. My name is Senator Frank Watson.” Now, I didn’t tell the Leader that story until I later introduced him as -- at a public event. But, you know, in my part of the State and I think Senator Watson’s, the public frowns on men spending much time in women’s restroom, or any time at all, and I think that the whisper campaign has gotten to such an intense degree that Senator Watson decided to step aside. Frank, we appreciate why you did that. And the other reasons that you stated. You know, 38  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 people become leaders for many reasons. People become great leaders for many reasons. One of those is because of the time in which they are chosen to lead. Frank Watson became the Republican Leader in the Illinois Senate at a time when another elected official assumed the highest office in the State of Illinois, that of Governor. A person who we found out later would say anything and do anything, who would tell the public that you can have it all for nothing at all, that I’m a reformer and I’m here to change the way we do business in Springfield. The one legislative leader who, on a consistent basis, stood up and told the people in this Chamber and in this Capitol and in this State that the former Governor was wrong in what he was doing, was the Republican Leader in the Illinois Senate, Frank Watson. But there’s another and even more important reason why people become great leaders, and that is because of -- by sheer force of their personality and their drive and their dedication and their integrity that they will become a leader, regardless of the time in which they are elected. Frank Watson was clearly just such a person. There are many, many characteristics that make up such a person, but the one -- the one most important in a representative government is this, is that the Frank Watson that we all saw here in this Capitol Building on this Senate Floor talking about what he believed in, what his constituents believed in, what was right and what was wrong, was exactly the same Frank Watson that his constituents saw in his district day in and day out, telling them this is what I stand for, this is what I believe in, this is right and this is wrong. That is the true hallmark of a great leader. Frank Watson, I want to thank you so much for sharing that leadership with all of us. Best 39  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 wishes.

Thank you, Mr. President. It’s always difficult to go last, especially after Senator Hendon. So -- but I am last and so it’s difficult to think of something new and different to say. A lot’s been said about Frank and his service to the people of this State, and we are all grateful for everything he did for his region, for the State, and also for his leadership within this Chamber. We’ve -- you’ve heard a lot of description of that. He certainly did it very well. One word I haven’t heard though is humble, and that’s one thing I’ve always thought Frank to be, is very humble. He was always willing to listen. He was always willing, even when he thought he was right, to take some time and -- and hear another side. And -- and that I think is a very important quality. But one thing that I do want to highlight that I think I have a unique perspective on is that, for better or for worse, I’m here because of Frank Watson. And, you know, when Frank was running for Leader of the Senate, there were many people that said to me, “Boy, you don’t want that downstate conservative male as the Leader of your caucus. It’s not good for the caucus. It’s not good for the party. You know, it’s just more of the same.” And I can’t tell you how wrong those people were. Frank is someone that was more than willing to give me and I think anybody else who wanted an opportunity to be part of the team, to have that opportunity. So, I think that all the women, certainly in this Chamber and the State of Illinois, should Frank -- thank Frank Watson for helping us put this other little crack in the glass ceiling, because I certainly wouldn’t be here without -- without you, Frank, and I want to say, hope I do you proud. So… We’ll miss 41  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 you. Hopefully we’ll see you around here and there. Certainly to Susan and Chad and Kami, enjoy the time that you have together at a little more relaxed pace than we all have now. This place is not going to be the same without you. So, thank you so much.

Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that. I’ve been -- only been here thirty years. I guess that’s part of the stroke. I must have forgot it. I -- seriously, I didn’t know you -- I didn’t know you didn’t respond. Don’t -- don’t they normally?

Is that right? Well, anyway, I’m going to talk. I’m 42  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 sorry. But what -- one thing I want to hear before I leave, I want to hear from the Senate President the five reasons -- or five ways that someone leaves the Illinois Senate. Would you do that for me, Mr. President? Can you…

Well, I -- I did want to hear that just one more time. I - - I like to think I’m going out the way I should. And it was the right thing to do, because at the time, of course, after a stroke and all, I -- I needed therapy, I needed rehabilitation, and I got excellent care. And I -- I’m just a few days away from a year. Can you believe that? But it’s almost been a year since the stroke. And I’m doing pretty good. And I’m doing pretty good. So, I -- I owe an awful lot to -- to many people. But I appreciate you doing that, John. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I have -- of course, I’m joined here by Susan, who’s stood by me for thirty-some years. And our son -- our 43  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 son, Chad, who, by the way, works for the St. Louis Rams. Not having a good year. Maybe -- maybe not a good century. I don’t know. We’re -- anyway, I -- and our daughter -- our daughter, Kami, is at home and she’s watching this on the Internet, and she’s about to have a child, our second grandchild, Evelyn Lucille, in just, really, a few -- few days. So, she couldn’t come down here, but she wanted to be here. I know she’s at home watching and I -- hello, Kami. And good luck in the next few days. We’re looking forward to our second grandchild. That’s - - that’s another thing that’s happened. Nineteen months ago, we had our first. We didn’t have it, of course - Chad and Erin did. But it seems like we did. We -- that’s a joy, if you -- when you get to that point in life, it’s -- it’s truly a joy. And we’ve got a wonderful grandchild in Brennan. And -- and he’s nineteen months old. He spent a day with us and night, and we -- we enjoyed him -- enjoyed him completely. But -- and we look forward to Evelyn Lucille. Going to be “Evie”. So, she’ll be here with us in a few short days. I did want to comment about Dan Cronin, when he said about the -- the helmet. I -- I -- I embarrassed more than just half the stadium there. I -- people didn’t know who I was. You know, they didn’t care. They didn’t know who I was, but they knew who Dan was. And -- and he has pretty good seats, by the way, and it was pretty close to the President’s box, if I remember. And who was in the box, but our Lieutenant Governor at the time. And I’m walking out of the stadium, Northwestern. What was really bad about it was, the guy -- the field announcer was “First down, Northwestern”. You know, was all excited and everything. And then it was -- then it was “First down, Purdue”. So, I had to change that a little 44  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 bit. So, every time Purdue got a first down, I’m standing up with the helmet on, the jersey, the whole bit, “First down, Purdue”. And I was pretty animated about it. Leaving the stadium - they beat us, Northwestern beats us in the last second on a field goal - and Bob Kustra comes up to me and he said, “You’re not the guy that was -- had that helmet?” And I said, “Yes, I am. I’m sorry.” Yes, I embarrassed one of our former Members here. But he was sitting there wondering who in the heck Dan Cronin had at the game that had that Purdue helmet on. But I -- I -- I appreciate that and we did have a great time. I’m also joined here, by the way, with Nancy Beaty, who was my secretary for the -- six years and she worked for Pate Philip before that, and she’s a wonderful lady and worked for me and -- and did a -- covered for me like -- like no one can, and she did a great job. Nancy, please stand. And -- and when I got into the new district, when I ended up with Decatur, and I didn’t know many people up there -- and Duane Noland helped me an awful lot. He was a State Senator here and -- and he helped me a great deal in Decatur when I got into the business. But the second person is Helen Albert, who’s sitting right here. Also still works for Kyle McCarter and worked for Duane Noland. And so she’s gone through three of us. Helen Albert, please would you stand? We’re -- we’re also -- in town tonight, there’s a dinner over at the Executive Mansion. And some of you, I believe, are going to that. And I hope you -- hope you will. There are some tickets still available. John Sullivan actually was the -- this was a auction over -- last spring wasn’t it? And I’m sitting at a table, and we’re over at the mansion, and they’re auctioning off a dinner for sixteen at the mansion and 45  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 it -- I think I -- it was either you or Jim Sacia, I don’t know which. It was probably you, John. It was Jim. All right. Well, anyway, I’m talking to everybody at the table. You know, we’re all carrying on, and all of a sudden, I realize I would like to buy these sixteen dinners at the mansion. Just invite some people over and it’d be a fun thing to do. Well, what happened - “Well, I got eight, who will give me nine?” and I hear nine. I’m thinking nine hundred dollars, I’ll -- you know, I didn’t -- that’s sixteen, that isn’t bad. Sixteen dinners for nine hundred dollars. And I raise my hand. It was nine thousand dollars. So, good old John Nicolay and Senator Pam Althoff had a great idea, why don’t we just have a dinner and charge a thousand dollars a plate? And Governor Thompson -- former Governor Thompson’s going to be there. Current Governor Pat Quinn will be there. And -- and we’ll have a dinner in October, and that’s what we’re doing tonight. So, there are tickets available. They are -- they’re a thousand dollars a piece. That’s all. You can pay out of your campaign. It goes to the Executive Mansion Committee. And I think, John, you are the Chairman of that Committee or -- ex officio, kind of, with Governor Thompson. And so that is available for you this evening at 7:30 - if you’re in the neighborhood stop on by. And I think, John Sullivan, you’d better be there. You are. All right. Very good. Well, I -- I don’t have anything other to say, other than I -- this was a good -- I mean, thirty years of my life. I got through pretty good on -- to this point, and it’s always the case. But public service - there’s something to say about public service. It doesn’t matter whether you’re elected or you’re in the Knights of Columbus or the Jaycees or 46  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009 the Lions Club, or whatever it is, when you do something -- when you do something for somebody else. And -- and -- and the appreciation that you get from the people, from -- from all over the -- those back home that we represent. It doesn’t matter what we do when you do good for people and you help them individually. Could be anything. But it’s amazing the appreciation people have for you. And that’s what -- one thing about public service, you can -- we catch all the flack, we get all that, but the good things are the letters we get, the thanks we get and the appreciation from the people back home, because that -- that makes it all worthwhile. And that certainly made those thirty years worthwhile, because there were some trying times, and -- at home, as well as here in Springfield. But it - - we made it work. And I was proud to be part of this -- this Body, I’ll tell you that. It was -- when I walked in here, I was -- I was always nervous just to walk down the aisle to -- to the second row. It always -- always felt like somebody -- walking in. It -- it -- it’s just -- there’s something about it, the Illinois State Senate. And those of you who’ve been here a while know what I’m talking about. And those of you that are just joining us will know what -- what I mean in a few short years. So, thanks for everything, for all of the accolades. It was nice. Even Senator Luechtefeld had a few good things to say, except that thing about the -- that’s not true about the golf and the handicap and the -- getting the strokes and all that. But now that I’ve had the big stroke, you know, I’m coming after all the strokes I can get. So, anyway, thank you and hope to see you soon and I’ll be back up here to keep all of you at… Thank you. 47  STATE OF ILLINOIS 96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 65th Legislative Day 10/14/2009