PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) The regular Session of the 98th General Assembly will please come to order. Will our Members please be at their desk? Will our guests in the gallery please rise? The invocation today will be given by Father Keith Roderick, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Springfield, Illinois. Father.
(Prayer by Father Keith Roderick)
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Please remain for -- standing for the Pledge Allegiance. Senator Jacobs.
(Pledge of Allegiance, led by Senator Jacobs)
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) E. Jason -- E. Jason Wambsgans, Chicago Tribune, seeks permission for still photographs. Seeing no objection, permission granted. Mr. Secretary, Reading and Approval of the Journal.
Senate Journal of Tuesday, May 28th, 2013.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hunter.
Mr. President, I move to postpone the reading and approval of the Journal just read by the Secretary, pending arrival of the printed transcript.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hunter moves to postpone the reading and the approval of the Journal, pending arrival of the printed transcript. There being no objection, so ordered. Mr. Secretary, Resolutions. 1 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013
Senate Resolution 339, offered by Senator Hunter and all Members. It is a death resolution, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Resolution Consent Calendar. Mr. Secretary, Committee Reports.
Senator Kotowski, Chairperson of the Committee on Appropriations II, reports Senate Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 2555 and Senate Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 2556 Recommend Do Adopt. Senator Hunter, Chairperson of the Committee on Human Services, reports Motions to Concur: House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 626, House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1197, House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1599 Recommend Do Adopt. Senator Raoul, Chairperson of the Committee on Judiciary, reports Motion to Concur: House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1044, House Amendment 2 to Senate Bill 1358, House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1565; Senate Amendment 2 to House Bill 33 -- House -- Senate Amendment 2 to House Bill 3390 and Senate Amendment 3 to House Bill 3390 Recommend Do Adopt. Senator Delgado, Chairperson of the Committee on Education, reports Motion to Concur, House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1307 and Motion to Concur on House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1931 Recommend Do Adopt. Senator Sandoval, (Vice) Chairperson of the Committee on Local Government, reports Motion to Concur: House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1456 Recommend Do Adopt. Senator Noland, Chairperson of the Committee on Criminal Law, 2 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 reports Motions to Concur: House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1192, House Amendment 2 to Senate Bill 1192, House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1848 {sic} (1843), House Amendment 2 to Senate Bill 1852, House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1872 and House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 2380 Recommend Do Adopt.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Mr. Secretary, Introduction of Senate Bills.
Senate Bill 2585, offered by Senator Kotowski. (Secretary reads title of bill) 1st Reading of this Senate bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Althoff, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you very much, Mr. President. The Senate Republicans would like to caucus immediately in Room 400 for about an hour.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Althoff, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Mr. President. For clarification. The Senate Republicans would like to caucus immediately upon recess for about an hour in Room 400. Thank you, sir.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Seeing -- seeing no objection, motion is granted. Mr. Secretary, Resolutions.
Senate Resolution 340, offered by Senator Brady and all Members. It's a death resolution, Mr. President. 3 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Resolution Consent Calendar. Senator Manar in the Chair.
If I could have the attention of my colleagues on the Senate Floor. It is with great pride that Senator McCann and I, who -- who are privileged to represent the City of Springfield and District 186 here in the State Senate -- to introduce and recognize the Springfield Southeast High School Girls Track and Field team. This group of ladies had a great year, highlighted by capturing their fourth straight IH -- IHSA Girls 2A Track and Field State Championship. Fourth straight - I want to say that one more time - by a twenty-seven point margin. First year coach, Mrs. Barb Montgomery, who's here with us today, to my left, and her staff did a wonderful job after taking over for longtime legendary coach, Tom McBride, who retired last summer and who was here in the Senate Chamber last year. Some of their season highlights included being the Springfield City Champions, the Central State Eight Conference Champions and Sectional Champions. Other accomplishments, including the ladies breaking records in the eight-hundred-meter relay and Charday Crawford, who was the two-time State Champion in the one-hundred-meter dash, breaking the record, and Brion Portis becoming a two-time State Champion in the triple jump. And in addition to their achievements on the field, they also are academic stars in their individual right, which I think is very important. So with that, I would invite Coach Montgomery to introduce the ladies. Coach Montgomery.
(Remarks and Introductions by Coach Barb Montgomery) SENATOR McCANN: 4 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 I want to say congratulations to these young ladies and the coaching staff. They have proven what happens when you -- when you dream big but follow it up with a lot of hard work. It's the -- it's the second step in that dance that vexes a lot of folks and these young ladies have over -- already overcome that. So I wish you many years of great success and thank you for joining us here today.
In closing, yesterday was -- were -- were these young ladies' last day of classes at school, so I appreciate them coming in to the Senate, and we offer our recognition and we congratulate you on, again, a fourth straight title in Class 2A Track and Field for the ladies. Let's give them one more round of applause.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Will the Committee on Assignments please meet in the President’s Anteroom immediately? The Committee on Assignments, please meet in the President’s Anteroom immediately. Senator Brady, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Mr. President. For a point of introduction.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your introduction.
Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to introduce my Page for the Day. His name is Noah Bright. He lives here in Springfield, Illinois. He's a -- attending Blessed Sacrament and he plays basketball, baseball, soccer. Enjoys the Boy Scouts and hopes to be an Eagle Scout someday. His parents are Joseph and Jennifer. His father is in the National Guard and serves us well in Illinois. 5 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 And he hopes to go to West Point and serve his country. If you'd please join me in welcoming this aspiring young man.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Welcome to Springfield and good luck on everything. (at ease) Mr. -- the Senate will come to order. Mr. Secretary, Committee Reports.
Senator Clayborne, Chairman of the Committee on Assignments, reports the following Legislative Measures have been assigned: Refer to Education Committee - House Joint Resolutions 33 and 36; refer to Executive Committee - Motion to Concur on House Amendments 1 and 2 to Senate Bill 1584, Motion to Concur on House Amendments 1 and 2 to Senate Bill 1912, Motion to Concur on House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 2136, Motion to Concur on House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 2234, Motion to Concur on House Amendment 1 {sic} (1, 2, 3) to Senate Bill 2371; refer to Revenue Committee - Motion to Concur on House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 2326; refer to Transportation Committee - Floor Amendment 3 to House Bill 2764. Signed, Senator James F. Clayborne, Chairman.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) The Senate will now stand in recess to 1:50. After the Senate Republican Caucus, the Senate will reconvene for further Floor action. The Senate stands in recess to the call of the Chair. (SENATE STANDS IN RECESS/SENATE RECONVENES)
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) The Senate will now come to order. Will all Members please come to the Senate Floor for Floor action? Will all Members at 6 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 the sound of my voice please come to the Senate Floor for Floor action? Ed Cross, WAND-TV, requests permission to video. Leave is granted. Will all Members please come to the Senate Floor for Floor action? Please come to the Senate Floor. Legislative Assistants, please contact your Member and suggest to them that they immediately come to the Senate Floor. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate, we have special guests. Senator Connelly is here to present. Senator Connelly in the Chair.
Today's a big day for those of us in the 21st Senate District in western DuPage County. I'm very excited to have not one, but two State Championship teams from St. Francis High School in Wheaton. The 2012 Soccer State Champs and the 2012 Girls 3A Volleyball Champs. Now when you think of St. Francis High School, at least out where we live, we think of academic excellence -- an athletic powerhouse. It's also the alma mater of Senator Darin LaHood's mother. But most importantly, it's the alma mater of President Cullerton, and he's extremely proud of his alma mater. I want to first talk about the soccer team. The 2012 St. Francis Girls Soccer Team won State by defeating Glenwood Chatham in the finals. Coach Jim Winslow, in only his third year as the soccer coach, took a fledgling program all the way to State to win its first State title ever. I'd like to introduce the girls soccer team. Head Coach Jim Winslow - and please wave when I say your name - and hold your applause, please. Assistant Coach Kristin Keigley, Jenna DiTusa, Katherine Roback, Andrea Ravlin, Taylor Van Thournout - I hope that's how it's pronounced - Anna Vonderhaar, Brianna Miulli. Now let's talk about the other State Championship team - the girls volleyball team that won State in 2012, defeating 7 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 Richmond-Burton in the finals. I'd like to introduce Coach Peg Kopec, Sam Dubiel, Natalie Murison, Lisa Mordell, Anna Melka, Kate Keegan, Becca Shearer, McKenna Kelsay, Mary Boken, Michelle Mclaughlin, Sophie Koslowski, Kristin Acciavatti and Maddie Haggerty. I want to first -- I -- I now want to talk about the head coach. Some of you have probably heard this from me before, that I played for the finest high school basketball coach in the history of the State of Illinois, Coach Gene Pingatore, at St. Joe's. And I thought Coach Pingatore had one heck of a record as a coach. And then I started doing research about the St. Francis Girls Volleyball Coach, Peg Kopec. Folks, she's the all-time winningest coach in Illinois history, with a record of one thousand ninety-four wins and two hundred and twenty losses. That's remarkable. She's had nine State championship teams and has coached countless, countless girls to Division I full scholarships in the NCAA. I want to introduce Coach Jim Winslow and Coach Peg Kopec to say a few words.
(Remarks by Coach Jim Winslow)
(Remarks by Coach Peg Kopec)
How about a hand, folks? Senator Lightford in the Chair.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Noland, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Madam President. Serving as Page -- my Page here for today is somebody who's been here a number of times before, Frank Vaughn, son of Margaret Vaughn, whom we're all familiar with. 8 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 Frank is a sophomore at Lemont High School, where he plays on the boys volleyball team and one day would like to referee to make some extra money as he's working his way through college, perhaps. He's also an aspiring thespian. Plays -- he's often in the school play. He hopes to run for Senate one day, which is in Senator -- Leader Radogno's district. But I told him in order to take that position, of course, he was going to have to learn the budget and to develop some high-level leadership skills. But he's up to the task and I ask that we all give him a warm Senate welcome, if you would, here today, please.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Please welcome Senator Noland's Page for a Day. Senator Oberweis, for what purpose do you rise?
Point of personal privilege.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Please state your point, Senator.
I am very pleased to mention that I have not one and not two, but three Pages for the Day, all of whom happen to be my grandchildren - Trish, Jack and Emily Roberts, from Sugar Grove/Aurora, Illinois. And also, in the balcony, my wife, Julie, and daughter, Jenny, who happens to be these three children's mother. So I'd like to extend a warm welcome to the Illinois Senate to all of them.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Please rise and be welcomed to the Illinois Senate. Welcome all of Senator Oberweis' family to the Chamber. Senator LaHood, for what purpose do you rise? 9 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 SENATOR LaHOOD: Thank you, Madam President. Point of personal privilege.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Please state your point, Senator. SENATOR LaHOOD: Thank you, Madam President. I am honored today to have my honorary Page of the Day, Stephen Lamb. Stephen is just finishing his sophomore year at Notre Dame High School in Peoria. He has a great interest in politics and government. His father is a police officer in Peoria. And this is his second time here paging and like everyone to give him a warm Springfield welcome. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Welcome, Peter {sic}, to the Illinois Senate. The Senate will stand at ease for a few minutes to allow the Committee on Assignments to meet. The members of the Committee on Assignments, will you please come to the President’s Anteroom immediately? The Senate will stand at ease. Senator Silverstein in the Chair. (at ease)
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR SILVERSTEIN) Leader Radogno, what purpose do you rise?
Point -- a point of personal privilege, please.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR SILVERSTEIN) Please state your point.
Yes, thank you, Mr. President. You know, we have a lot of great staff that comes and goes through this Body, but I want to call special attention to a young man that has worked with us for a while and that is Carlos Ortega. And Carlos has a rather unique 10 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 story and he's going to be leaving us June 2nd. He's going to be serving in the Peace Corps, which, as you know, is a very competitive endeavor. He's going to be serving in Kenya and East Africa as a health educator. Carlos first came to us in 2006 - he was still in high school at that time - as a part-time Senate Page. He has completed his degree, and in 2011, joined us as an intern and has become an outreach coordinator and now in our communications department. So Carlos is ready to move on to the next and very exciting chapter in his life and I know that we all want to wish him well in the great things he's going to be doing. So, thank you, Carlos.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR SILVERSTEIN) Congratulations, Carlos -- Carlos, and good luck to you. Senator Sullivan - what an improvement over there on that side - what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Mr. President. The improvement is in your chair, if you might note that. I rise for a point of personal privilege.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR SILVERSTEIN) Please state your point.
Thank you, Mr. President. Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a very special guest with me here today. The reigning Miss Macomb is -- Layni {sic} (Rayni) Lasley. She is the -- she is actually from Springfield here. She lives out by the fairgrounds. I don't know -- Senator Manar or Senator Brady, the fairgrounds area is actually where her family is and lives. I'm not sure which of you -- which district she actually lives in. But she is a senior -- she will be a senior at Western Illinois University this -- this 11 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 fall, majoring in family and consumer sciences. Her platform for -- she's obviously won Miss Macomb and will be entered in the Miss Illinois Pageant, which starts June 26th through the 30th in Marion, Illinois. Her platform is "Stand by Me": Teen Suicide and Cyber Bullying Prevention. And she has an identical sister, Annicka. And I'd just like everybody to welcome Miss Macomb here to the Illinois State Senate today.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR SILVERSTEIN) Welcome to Springfield, Miss Macomb. Thank you very much. Senator Lightford back in the Chair.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) The Senate will come to order. Mr. Secretary, Committee Reports.
Senator Clayborne, Chairman of the Committee on Assignments, reports the following Legislative Measures have been assigned: Re-refer from Transportation Committee to Executive Committee - Floor Amendment No. 3 to House Bill 2764. Signed, Senator James F. Clayborne, Chairman.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Seth Perlman, Associated Press, requests permission to take photos. Leave is granted. Executive will meet in Room 212 today at 3:40 p.m. Executive will meet in Room 212 today at 3:40 p.m. Senator Brady, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Madam President. I move to waive all applicable Senate rules so that Senate Resolution 70 can be heard in the Senate Executive Committee today at 3:40.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) 12 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 Senator Brady moves to waive all notice and posting requirements so that Senate Resolution 70 can be heard today at 3:40 p.m. in the Senate Executive Committee. All those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it, and the notice and posting requirements have been waived. Thank you, Senator Oberweis {sic} (Brady). Senator Rezin, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Madam President. A point of personal privilege.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Please state your point, Senator.
Thank you. I'd like to extend a welcome to one of our former colleagues who is here today, Suzi Schmidt, who is here in the back. If you have a chance, stop by and say hello to her. And like to give her a warm Springfield welcome. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Hi, Suzi. Welcome back to the Illinois Senate. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate, if you can please turn your Calendars to page 4, Senate Bills 3rd Reading on page 4. Senator Steans has permission to -- Senator Kotowski has permission to present Senate Bill 2555. He indicates he wish to proceed. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill. Senator Kotowski seeks leave of the Body to return Senate Bill 2555 to the Order of 2nd Reading. Leave is granted. On the Order of 2nd Reading is Senate Bill 2555. Mr. Secretary, are there any Floor amendments approved for consideration?
Floor Amendment No. 1, offered by Senator Kotowski.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski, on Floor Amendment No. 1. 13 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013
Thank you very much, Madam President. Floor Amendment No. 1, do we -- do we move -- can I address it on 3rd or -- why don't we address it on 3rd.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it, and the amendment is adopted. Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?
No further amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) 3rd Reading. Now on the Order of 3rd Reading is Senator Kotowski on Senate Bill 2555. Mr. Secretary, please read the gentleman's bill.
Senate Bill 2555. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
Thank you very much, Madam President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. This is the first in a series of budget bills that we have negotiated with the House and been working on for a series of month -- months. This addresses -- this addresses programmatic line items in the Illinois State Board of Education's budget. This is a -- a byproduct of, as I said, some discussions and work that we've done to make sure we address key priorities in the education 14 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 budget, such as making sure we continue to fund education, especially general State aid, at a level that's consistent from last year, which is a hundred and fifty-six million increase. We're funding transportation, which impacts -- it's very -- has a very beneficial impact, I think, on folks in the downstate area. We're addressing bilingual education. We're keeping early childhood funding flat and we are making sure that we continue to do what we need to do to address some of the current challenges that have existed in some areas; for example, the East St. Louis School District that was taken over by the State Board of Education. This is a -- this is a -- a good budget, because, overall, you'll see a recurrent theme in dealing with this that's confronted with our spending, is that this budget, this year, pays our bills. It takes care of spending pressures in the budget to make sure -- reduces the liabilities that we have and it funds a key priority. The most tangible evidence that we have in our State is the result of the funding that we put in education, so our kids have an opportunity, not just get -- to critically think, but have an opportunity to get work when they do graduate. So I'm more than happy to answer any questions. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Is there any discussion? Senator Rezin, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Madam President. A question for the sponsor.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) The sponsor indicates he'll yield. Senator Rezin.
Thank you. We have passed -- or talked about in the past 15 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 several months about the inequity in school funding. If you look at the foundation level grant in 2000, eighty-eight percent -- approximately eighty-eight percent of our education funding was in foundation funding. Currently, foundation funding is fifty-three percent. If you look at poverty grants for CPS, we have -- who has thirty-one percent of the students, but still receives forty- seven percent of the funds, which is an additional, in our opinion, two hundred and fifty-five million dollars annually going to CPS, taking -- taken away from downstate. If you look at the PTELL adjustment grant, which has increased over twelve hundred percent in the last several years, again, eighteen percent of the students in Chicago are receiving forty-nine percent of those funds, which is an additional hundred and ninety-six million dollars going up to CPS, away from downstate. If you look at CPPRT, again, eighteen percent of the students in Chicago is receiving twenty-seven percent of those funds, an additional sixty-seven million dollars going to Chicago. And then, again, if you look at special ed funding, seventeen percent of the students at CPS are receiving thirty percent of the funds, which is an additional hundred and ninety-seven million dollars, in our opinion, that's going to CPS. And, lastly, early childhood development, eighteen percent of the students in Chicago are receiving thirty-seven percent of the education dollars for early childhood development, which is an additional fifty-seven million dollars, in our opinion, that's going to Chicago. Those are precious dollars again taken away from -- or going up to Chicago. Is there anything in this budget that changes how education funding is distributed throughout the State?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) 16 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 Senator Kotowski.
No.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Rezin.
Why not?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
Thank you. I was waiting for the speak button. This simply acknowledges the fact that we needed to keep education funding consistent from last year to this year. There has been a general acknowledgement in this Chamber that we need to work to improve the -- the formula that exists for funding education. We'll work to continue to do that. This just, quite simply, keeps it -- education level funding from last year to this year.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Rezin.
Thank you. Will that funding, though, be handled in this budget or do you see it in -- in the future?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
Well, it -- it's -- the -- the funding is for fiscal year '14. That's what the -- the dollars are allocated for. So, if there's a -- if there's a change in statute that has an immediate impact, you know, that -- that -- you know, that -- that may change 17 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 things in the future, but, right now, this -- this is addressed to the -- currently the way education is -- is funded in our State. While, you know, like I said, we've acknowledged we need to -- we need to seek to work to improve the way it currently is funded.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Further discussion? Ladies and Gentlemen, please lower your voices. We are debating the budget. Please lower your voices or take your conversations off the Floor. Thank you. Senator McCarter, for what purpose do you rise? SENATOR McCARTER: Question of the sponsor.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) The sponsor indicates he'll yield. Senator McCarter. SENATOR McCARTER: Senator, I -- I -- I remember one word you just used, "consistent"; second word used, "level". Now let me -- with those, I think status quo. I think you're insinuating that what we did last year is good enough. Is that how I should interpret this, that what we did last year is good enough for education?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
No.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator McCarter. SENATOR McCARTER: Why not?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski. 18 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013
This budget merely reflects the goal, I think, that -- that we have to make sure that we're funding -- funding our districts at a eighty-nine percent prorated level. What you're referring to is going to take a -- a change in statute in order to improve the way we currently fund education and -- and possibly address some of the challenges that have been brought up by the previous speaker. But, currently, we still have challenges in our State that have been brought up through the series of witnesses who have testified in our committee, but also people who are -- are represented on the committee as -- as servants of the districts they represent, to make sure we fund education and we keep -- we keep it level and we make sure that school districts don’t have to suffer any cuts while we move forward on -- on improving in other areas.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator McCarter. SENATOR McCARTER: Like to just speak to the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) To the bill, Senator. SENATOR McCARTER: Let -- let me say this, consistent and level is the status quo. And, yes, we do change things; we make things fair by statute. That's why we're here. Was it done in this -- this Session? No, it wasn't. We put it off to a task force, a report due in February of '14. You know, there's a dumb little saying about the heart bone's connected to the wallet bone. You -- you put your money where your concern is and you spend money on what is important to 19 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 you. And I take your endorsement of the status quo, your "consistent" as being the best you can do, your "level" funding as the best you can do, as being a lack of concern for downstate kids. That's the way I take that. I've said this before. The schools in my district have had bake sales. They've had band concerts. They've done everything they can. They've run referendums. When's the last referendum that took place in Chicago? I don't know. Not sure if anybody does know. But we've done everything we can and all we do is get cut. All we're asking for is a hundred percent of the State general aid. That's it. But, again, you take away eleven percent. You take away the transportation money. I don’t care what side of the aisle you're on, if you -- if you represent downstate schools, you ought to be standing up against this. This is wrong. We've done everything we can do. We've made every cut we can make. You can't just blame it on, we can't do it because we do that by statute. That's why we're here to change statute, make it right and right for the people. If you really -- if this was really a priority for you, we would have done more than a task force.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Further discussion? Senator Rose, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you. Quick question of the sponsor, if I may.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) The sponsor indicates he will yield. Senator Rose.
Thank you. Ladies and Gentlemen, earlier in committee, the -- we had a discussion, a very good discussion, and it was noted 20 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 that fiscal year '14's budget will borrow some money from the -- the April additional tax receipts to pay down some bills and the statement that was made - not by the sponsor standing here today, but by another member of the committee - was that would be ninety million dollars and that was it. It was going to come from fiscal year '13 to underwrite fiscal year '14. The reason that's important is that there was approximately a billion three in additional bills -- in additional tax receipts, excuse me, that have come in and you'll see, probably tomorrow, a supplemental that will spend about a hundred -- or eight hundred and eighty- one million of those, leaving three hundred and thirty million, give or take/three hundred and forty million, give or take, of money that would have gone down to spend -- to pay down the backlog of the State's bills, which is some seven and a half billion dollars. The question for the sponsor regarding this is, is any of that additional money being used to underwrite this budget?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
Thank you for your question, Senator Rose. And it was -- yeah, we did have a good discussion today, earlier. So, you did identify the ninety million dollars that was going to be -- you said we had available - I wouldn’t use the word that you used - that we had available now and dedicated towards '14 so we could relieve pressures on fiscal year '14 and have funds available. You know, currently, what we have in the framework for the budget is to have another six hundred and fifty million, I believe, proposed to -- to pay off bills that we have in the -- in the framework of the budget. So when you look at the -- the revenues 21 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 that we have to shore up -- it's going to go towards -- you know, across the -- across the board, but we were able to have the revenue available to address challenges that we face in education, to keep it level, as I said, to fund transportation at a -- at the same -- at the same dollar amount that was funded last year, to fund early childhood education at the same level, and to fund bilingual education at the same level.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Rose.
I -- if I may, to the bill, Madam President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Absolutely. To the bill, Senator.
So, the reason I asked that question - this is very important - the statement was made in our Approp Committee this morning that only ninety million dollars was coming out of last year, fiscal year '13, revenues that could have gone to pay down that backlog of bills into fiscal year '14, but yet today, today's News-Gazette quotes some of the House budget folks as saying that there's another thirty-five million being diverted from what would have been higher ed's share of this additional money to shore up this part of the budget. And the only reason I note that -- the only reason I note that is this, we are looking at one snapshot of one piece of the overall pie. The sponsor was very forthright with me this morning when I asked him, "Is there a BIMP bill yet?" He said, "Well, we don't have one yet. I just checked with our Chief of Staff. We haven’t seen one being filed." For those of you who are new here, the reason a BIMP bill is important is that's how 22 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 you square this puzzle, that's how you know where everything's going, that's how you know what the transfers are, how many -- how much money is coming out of special funds to pay for this or that - as well intentioned as some of these things may be or, frankly - I'm going to get to it in a minute - a few things that we probably don’t need. But the reality is we're being asked to vote on something without seeing the full picture of what's out there. Without that BIMP bill to know how things are being paid for, I don’t know how you can possibly evaluate whether this budget is a good budget or a bad budget, notwithstanding the fact you're being asked right now to vote on a small component of the total pie. For example, we have a seven-and-a-half-billion-dollar backlog of bills. That's what Comptroller Topinka's Office says we're going to have. How much of this is going to pay down that? And -- and I might add that there was a comment made in committee this morning that it was going to be paid down substantially and I just -- I don’t buy it, based upon what's been put out here. But let's talk about education funding for a moment, 'cause that's the bill in front of us. We're going to leave it at sixty-four percent proration, transportation, which no doubt is a vast improvement from the Governor's introduced, absolutely no doubt on that point. But we filed an amendment to this, Amendment 2, which would restore the hundred and fifteen million dollars it would take to go up to that. And, quite frankly, it wasn't hard to get that hundred and fifteen million dollars. We just didn’t spend the ten million on the new after-school program that's in this bill, the twenty million dollars for the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative, the thirty million dollars for -- that CJIA gets for another new program, and at the end of the day, we got to that number and we 23 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 get this number up from sixty-four, which granted is a vast improvement from nineteen of the Governor, but we get it back to a hundred percent. If people don’t like it at a hundred percent of transportation, put it in GSA. That won’t cover the full amount of GSA, but I bet there's many more like 'em - like Grow Your Own, for example. Getting back to this BIMP issue, the reason that BIMP's important is, in this budget, we're now transferring five hundred and fifty thousand dollars from Downstate Transit Improvement Fund to help underwrite ag education. And I don't -- and that's just one example. In the committee this morning, there were other examples of transfers listed. And I don’t know how you evaluate if something's good or bad until you see the full package. And the bottom line of this for anybody is - got to be - you have a billion three in new tax collections that are coming in. You've only accounted for about eight hundred and eighty-one million of 'em in your proposed supplemental. There are statements that ninety million of it is going to go into FY'14. There are other statements from folks on the other side of the -- the legislative Body that say thirty-five million is going to something else. We haven't seen the full picture and, yet, we're voting here today. And I haven't seen enough to support this bill. I certainly haven't seen enough to support this bill knowing that we could fully restore the transportation piece, which would be a big benefit to all downstaters and -- and, frankly, suburbanites, for that -- for that matter, basically by cutting new things that are in this budget. And with that, I appreciate the indulgence of the President. I would urge a No vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Hutchinson, for what purpose do you rise? 24 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013
Thank you, Madam President. I move the previous question.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Thank you. Senator Hutchinson moves the previous question. We have eight speakers. Senator -- pick one. Senator Luechtefeld, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Madam President and Members of the Senate. You know, we, on both sides of the aisle, represent -- we say at least that we represent schools and -- and I've -- I really have heard very few legislators in my career that education wasn't the number one thing. I mean, we all go around saying that it is the most important thing to us in -- in the budget. And -- and -- and I - - you know, you are very proud that you say you've held the line this year with regard to what we're spending on education. First of all, I -- I think many of us would agree, and I think on both sides of the aisle, that much of that that's being spent is not - - not a lot of equity there, you know, and -- and I think some of those issues have been -- been made public and I am disappointed that there has been very little effort from the -- certainly from the ruling party in this -- in this Body to even make an attempt to -- to straighten those things out. Let me ask you a question - question of the sponsor - and that would be, are we spending more money next year overall in the budget than we are this -- than we have spent this year, please?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) The sponsor indicated he will yield. Senator Kotowski.
No. 25 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Luechtefeld.
Senator, our -- our staff says were spending about 1.7 billion dollars more this year than last year, and -- and the reason that you can say we are not is because of back-loading this year's with supplementals to raise the amount that we're going to spend this year to make it -- and, you know -- and -- and it will then appear that we -- we are not spending more money next year. But certainly over what we anticipated spending, would you agree, we're spending a lot more money this year than last?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
No. There -- the -- there's existing -- what we did - and I think it was -- it's very important that we all pay close attention to this - we took the revised revenue estimates and we addressed current bills that we have, aside from what was raised earlier, the ninety million that we -- we -- we spent out that we transferred on the Healthcare Provider Relief Fund, to reduce cost pressures in fiscal year '14. So we addressed our current bills, you know, pressures that we have on the budget, and -- to make sure those bills didn’t carry over to next year, 'cause some of those line items, you know, in -- in the budgets would reflect that, would reflect not just the cost of the program, but also the bills accrued. So, as a result, we have less bills and the costs go down. So we're able to address those pressures and we're able to have funds to take care of these priorities that we've talked about - education, you know, being one of them. This is the -- the bill 26 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 that I'm -- I'm addressing right now, general State aid and making sure we take care of the transportation issue and bilingual education. But it's very important because I -- I think this -- it reflects a commitment to address bills that we have, you know, existing bills, pressures that we face in the budget, and so we can make sure that we reduce the -- the costs in the upcoming fiscal year that we're doing the budget for.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Luechtefeld.
But -- but, again, Senator, in -- in everything you just said, you basically are saying that more money came in than we thought, so we're going to spend that on back bills. We're going to do supplementals. We're going to spend that on this year's budget, and in the process, what -- what -- you're not really being upfront. Our staff says straight out that it's about 1.7 billion dollars bigger than last year. And -- and I -- you know, I think that when it comes to numbers, they're -- I know you can move 'em around and you have moved them around to -- to give the answer that you -- you have, but, you know, we -- we -- if education is that important, why would we be spending more money this year - and -- and I -- I contend that we are - than our budget was last year and -- and -- and to hold education flat? If it's -- if it's that important to us and to you, why would that be the case?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
Great -- great question, Senator, and -- and -- and with great respect for you, 'cause these are current pressures that we face 27 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 in the budget. They're entitlement programs that we're seeing, you know, growth in and we have to address the need and we have an increase in -- in bills as a result of it and liability, so we're focusing on addressing those so we can, you know, reduce those costs next year and -- and have money to fund education. So, great point. I mean, this is -- this is real transparent. We want to make sure that we have a budget that reflects, you know, what our challenges are and what our needs are in the -- in the State. And this is what we're -- we're seeking to do here.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Luechtefeld.
Senator, would you agree that there are some real inequities in the way money is spent on education in this State? And I think many of those have been brought to light. Or you do -- or you do or do not agree with that?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
Sure, I -- you know, I've -- I actually had a bill a couple years ago that dealt with fixing the PTELL, the way we -- the way we deal with the PTELL issue, because of -- there's been a -- kind of a patchwork in the way in which we've addressed this in the past. I agree it needs to be improved. I think there's a general bipartisan recognition of the fact that it needs to be improved, but I don't think we should punish existing school districts because we haven’t completely improved and reformed the formula. So that's why I think it's important to keep the funding level consistent, where -- it -- it costs us a hundred and fifty-six 28 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 million more from last year to this year to do that, but I think it's very important to do it. You know, without question, there's a general recognition that we should seek to and work to improve the way in which we fund education and I'll be glad to be a part of that effort.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Luechtefeld.
So -- so you do agree that -- but -- but would you say this, nothing has been done this year to address any of those issues? Is that a fact?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
Thank you, Senator Luechtefeld. I -- I -- I -- I will agree with the statement that there's a task force that's been put together to -- that's addressing the -- the challenge that we've all recognized before us, to try and improve and -- and reform the formula. I completely agree with you - we need to do that.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Further discussion? Senator Murphy, for what purpose do you rise?
To the -- to the -- to the bill, Madam President. The…
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) To the bill, Senator.
You know, there's a -- there's a Groundhog Day component to this, because we've been pointing out ever since you passed the 29 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 sixty-seven percent income tax hike back in January 2011 that keeping your promise that that would be temporary would require meaningful steps along the way. And we have noted in the first few years that not only did you not take meaningful steps in the right direction, you continued to bound aimlessly in the wrong direction. Well, here, yet again, is another great, giant leap forward toward a permanent tax increase or, maybe, as some of you have proposed, the almighty progressive income tax. Hear! Hear! That's right, let's hear it. So, let's see, what does this budget do? What does this wonderful budget do? Well, the first thing it does and make no mistake, regardless of the rhetoric, this budget in total is a record amount of spending in the history of the State of Illinois. You're to be commended. You have never spent as much as you propose to do here. I guess it took getting the House Democrats and the Senate Democrats together to finally spend more money than had ever been spent before. To say our fingerprints are not on this, would be an understatement. Now, I have heard - - I heard in committee the suggestion, "No, spending's really going to go down. This is -- this number is lower." It's gimmicks. Please, provide a little amount of intellectual honesty. You've done some decent things here in terms of process. Have the intellectual honesty to level with people. You spent some money in FY '13 that's '14 money. You're taking money for -- that used to be GRF and taking it out of another fund. Senator Rose is absolutely right - spending is going up. It's the third year in a row since the tax increase that spending is going up. And I saw the feverish writing of notes and I eagerly await - more than waiting - the thank you for my comments, which I treasure. More than that, I'm awaiting the response that was feverishly written 30 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 down. Spending is going up. The other thing, and this has been touched on, no education funding fix. At least the last few years you had the excuse of not knowing what you were doing to every -- every area of the State, other than Chicago, when you passed the education budget. But I assume nowhere in here, by the way, will we outline how much is for poverty grants and how much -- how much is for poverty and how much is for PTELL. Although we passed that bill, we're not going to have that -- that transparency in this budget. But I do appreciate, Senator, that you acknowledged in committee that nothing has changed in the way this budget was put together for education funding compared to the last twelve, where most of your districts on that side of the aisle saw your money leave your district and your taxpayers and go up to Chicago to fund theirs. That's not changing. You're going to do it again. But when you do it this year, you do it without the excuse of ignorance. So, eyes wide open - that green button's right in front of you - in just a few seconds. You know, I -- I hate to touch on the tax increase. Oh, that it were never passed. But this budget goes to a fundamental promise that was made with such earnestness on the Floor. When you decided to take one week's pay per year from the working families of Illinois, you promised with all the earnestness you could muster that three things would happen: Spending would go down - you know what, we're going to take more from you, but we're going to cut spending. Really? This is year three. You're three for three on spending going up, by -- by 1.7 billion over the budget that passed this General Assembly last year. Promise number two: the backlog of bills - which, by the way, every other person in the civilized world calls it deficit, but since we have a balanced budget amendment, we call it bills we 31 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 incurred last year we're going to pay next year on a backlog of bills or what other nonsense we call it. It's a deficit. From the time you passed the tax increase, you said the deficit is going to go down; we're going to use that money to pay down that backlog of bills, that deficit. The backlog is higher three years in than it was when you passed the tax increase - promise not kept. Finally, you said, "Don't worry. We know we're inflicting pain on you, taking that paycheck a year in this tax increase, but it's only temporary. We're going to let that lapse." Well, where's the plan? Where's the evidence of any thought on your side of the aisle for addressing the fact that January 1, 2015, is coming? COGFA told us that they have about 31.5 to 31.7 billion is the estimated revenue in 2016, the first fiscal year that this tax increase goes away. You guys are about to spend well over thirty- five and a half billion dollars in this budget and you're still going to try and look the people in your district in the eye, that you promised with such earnestness that this would be temporary, and say, "Don’t worry, we have a plan." Well, any time you want to let us know what it is, we'd love to see it, 'cause the crash from going to thirty-five and a half to thirty-one and a half in two years is going to be quite a sight, quite a sight, one we warned you about for years, but you've ignored us. So, so far there's no plan, whatsoever, that's discernable for this tax increase to go away, three years on. You've never admitted, and we've asked, we've asked you to just come clean and say, "You know what? That temporary thing's not going to happen." But you've never -- it's not going to happen -- well, where's the mike? Come on, get on the mike. Give us the majority. Let us know.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) 32 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 Senator Murphy. I -- I…
I'm almost finished, Madam President. I'm almost there.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Actually, I just -- I want you to speak to the bill. We're not talking about the tax increase. We're talking about this budget bill right now. To…
Well, I…
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) To -- to the bill, Senator.
Yes, yes, ma'am, absolutely. The -- one final point on that. As this budget is the third and -- and close to final piece of cementing that tax increase in place, I guess the question that people would want to know is, when does the failure to acknowledge a glaring -- and admit a glaring truth become a lie? This bill - - this budget continues down a path of higher spending, high deficits, a lower bond rating, a skyrocketing unemployment, and a permanent tax increase that is systematically crushing opportunity in this State. This is the first piece of your budget that continues down a path - that of tax, spend, borrow - that has crushed opportunity for people in this State and drove many to leave. Before you go further down this road -- I commend you, we're actually here on Wednesday at a reasonable hour to start this process. You still have time to get it right, Senator. What do you say you pull this out of the record, go back to the drawing board, and maybe the -- maybe the Speaker will give you a little advice on how to do this a little bit better? In the meantime, I 33 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 urge a No vote on another job-crushing budget out of the Senate Democrats.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Further discussion? And please hold your comments, otherwise I will turn on the light {sic} switch, and speak to the bill. Senator Sullivan, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Madam President. I'd like to speak to the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) To the bill, Senator.
Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen. I -- I wasn't going to get up and speak to the bill, but -- or speak about the bill, but with some of the rhetoric going on on the other side, I just -- I couldn’t refrain myself, you know, with the political speeches that are taking place across the aisle. The -- I represent one of the largest school -- or, Senate districts in the State. I think I have about thirty school districts in my Senate district, and over the course of the spring and -- and the early winter, late winter, I met with, I think, each and every one of those districts and talked to them about the State budget and the situation that we were in. And they certainly understand the difficult situation that the State is in and they -- their plea to me was, "Granted we'd love to have additional money, but do everything that you can to avoid further cuts to the general State aid and to the transportation line items." And so, with the commitment of many of us on this side of the aisle, and certainly the downstate Members of the caucus, we fought for and -- and avoided further cuts to those two line items. As a matter of fact - and I think 34 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 this has been glossed over - but to -- to keep the general State aid at the level that it is and to keep it at the proration that it is, took, I believe - Senator Kotowski, correct me if I'm wrong - a hundred and fifty-six million dollars of additional money to do that. So there was additional money put into the budget just so that we could hold 'em level based on the formula and the funding formula that takes place. Our districts and the -- and the -- and education - we can all talk about how important it is - we've worked very hard to maintain funding for our districts at the levels that they've had. In the future, can we add to that? Yes, I hope so. The last thing I want to make, it's so easy for the other side to stand up and say, "You did this and you did that" - I'd still like to see your budget. You've got the ability to introduce a budget. Where's your budget numbers that fully funds all these programs? And how are you going to pay for 'em? You've not put that forward. I think it's hypocrisy at its best. I ask and urge an Aye vote and certainly appreciate, Senator Kotowski, for your hard work.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Duffy, for what purpose do you rise?
Question for the sponsor, Madam President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Sponsor indicates he'll yield. Senator Duffy.
Senator, thank you very much for all your hard work. I know how difficult this must be putting together a budget and working with both sides of the aisle like you've been doing. But, you know, I have a question for you. Now, this is going to be one of 35 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 a series of bills that make up the budget. How many bills are there going to be coming through here over the next couple days to make up the budget?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
That's a good question. We have this bill and we have the higher education bill. Think we have human services, then public safety, and then the -- the BIMP. Six -- six or seven.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Duffy.
All right. Obviously, when we take a look at all these bills and we think about the budget, it's obviously so critical because so many companies and people are leaving this State because of things such as the tax increase and the pensions. And when I think about education and when educators talk to me, what they talk to me about is their pension, because year after year, the State of Illinois, the Majority Party, spends more money than we take in, and because of that, we cannot pay the pensions that we promised the hardworking teachers and other people of the State of Illinois. So, once again this year, in order to solve that problem, what are we doing? You’re proposing a 35.4-billion-dollar budget, which increases our spending by roughly 1.5 billion dollars. So, once again, we're going to guarantee that we're going to cut teachers' pensions, that there is no way we're going to live up to the promises that you've made, because year after year you continue to spend more money on pork projects and continue to add new programs when we can’t pay our bills, even though we have 7.5 billion 36 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 dollars in unfunded bills right now. We have one hundred billion dollars in unfunded pension liabilities. We're adding seven hundred thousand dollars every hour in new interest on our pension liability. We're adding seventeen million dollars a day in new pension debt in interest, and yet you're ignoring that and adding more money. So let me just go to some areas that I think stand out the most, and there's a lot of pork in this budget, but in order to save time, let me just specifically focus in one area. Again, why are we spending new money on new programs when we can’t pay our bills now and when we can’t pay our pensions now? So my question is, do you know what this -- there's ten million dollars in this budget -- in this bill associated with a after-school program for use of the State Board of Education. Do you know what that ten billion -- I'm sorry, that ten million dollars -- that ten million dollars is going to be used for? What is that after- school program about?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
I don’t know what you're referring to, Senator Duffy. That's not in this bill here.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Duffy.
It -- it most definitely is in the budget and I'll be happy to -- to come over and show you where that's at. But, again, my -- my main point is that we can sit here and talk about pork in this budget all day, but, please, I encourage a No vote on this bill, if nothing else, to help support the hardworking teachers 37 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 and other people in your district that you are hurting, that you are cutting their salaries, you're cutting the money that you promised them, because you are adding new programs and new pork projects to this budget at a time when we can't pay our bills. Thank you very much and I encourage a No vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Oberweis, for what purpose do you rise?
Question of the sponsor.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Sponsor indicates he'll yield. Senator Oberweis.
Thank you, Madam President and all of our colleagues here. If -- if I might ask for a little latitude, Madam President. I don’t speak very often and, when I do, it comes from my heart, so I hope you'll just give me a little latitude. Senator Kotowski, I am sure that you know a lot more about politics than I do and I believe that most of our colleagues here in the Senate know a lot more about politics than I do and probably a lot more about social services than I do. But what I do know about is turning around a failing business, because I've done that. And when you go into a failing business, you ask people where you can cut and they say, "No, you can’t cut here. No, you can’t cut there, and certainly you can't cut that." And then you cut all those things and you find out, well, actually, you could and you still survive, and that's the way eventually you turn a business around. And, quite frankly, when I was elected five months ago, I believed I was coming to Springfield to help turn around a failing State. And I found here, we don’t have the sense of urgency. We don’t have a 38 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 high priority of establishing a more business-healthy climate in order to create jobs and opportunities for people here in this State. This year we've talked about a little surprising increase in revenue that has come in that we weren't expecting and I would like to hypothesize about where I think that might be coming and see if you agree with me. While most of us earn money on a W-2 through salary, some others don’t. With a change in federal tax rates that we had beginning this year, many people realized capital gains last year that they wouldn’t have otherwise realized if rates weren't going up this year. Many businesses chose to not take deductions that they could have taken because tax rates were going to be higher this year. The net result of that is, federal income taxes for 2012 were higher than they would otherwise have been in order to help to avoid taxes this year. And the result of that for people like me who don’t have a W-2, because I retired a couple years ago, but still have to pay estimated taxes, the net result is I have to pay much larger estimated taxes. So the State of Illinois in April benefited by people in positions like me paying higher taxes because we realized more income, but get a double hit because then I have to also turn around and pay higher estimated taxes. And I will tell you, I'm paying triple the estimated taxes April 15th and I will again June and September and December over what I paid last year. So the State gets a short-term benefit from them and I'm going to hypothesize that that's one of the reasons we had extra revenue. But the bad news is that all reverses next April 15th, because next April 15th I don’t have an increase in income and, by the way, I've already paid my full year's taxes. So not only don't I have to pay a higher estimated tax, I might not have to pay any estimated tax and I might not even have to pay 39 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 any tax at all on April 15th. And I'm very concerned that here in Illinois we're spending that extra revenue instead of saving it, instead of paying down our bills so we're in a position to absorb that lower revenue that -- that we're going to experience next year or may experience next year. And then couple that with the fact that we have made a -- not we, you, those who -- of you who have been here for a couple of years, have made a promise to the citizens of Illinois that we passed a temporary tax increase that's going to go away. We need to be planning for that now. So I'm trying to understand. My question to you is, how does this budget reflect those realities? Are we really and truly planning for the taxes -- rates to go back down and for our tax revenue to be less for the two reasons that I was talking about, future lower income tax rates coupled with the fact that we paid more estimated taxes that are a temporary factor?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
And thank you, Senator Oberweis. I -- I appreciate the fact that you're speaking from your heart. I think that's, you know, something we all share here, because we -- you come from a business background and you want us to have a responsible course that we're following and I think you'll appreciate the fact that, as I indicated earlier, the revised revenue estimates that -- that we're looking at are addressing current obligations and current bills. So, we're not talking about new spending. See, one of the things that's happened in the past here is that some of the -- our appropriated line items may not have reflect -- reflected the overall impact on the budget. So you can always lower 40 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 appropriations, but the -- the overall spending still increases, and this is a truer, more accurate, transparent budget and that's what we've been moving forward over the past few years, to make sure it reflects the fact that we actually have these -- these burdens, we have these costs, we have these liabilities, and we're going to make sure that we address 'em. So, the -- the revised revenue estimates that you talk about - and -- and thank you for your contribution to that - to make sure it's -- it's going towards addressing these challenges we have in our budget. So I -- I mean, we also have -- we have a -- a plan that requires the State to live within its means, to spend the money that it has on hand, and to fund programs based on their priorities and -- and based on their impact, and we're in the third year of doing that, but -- you know, look, we're in the -- we're in the stage of turning around -- turning around an ocean liner in the middle of the Chicago River. It's a little difficult, right? But we've been - - we've been making progress when it comes to that. So, I mean, if you look at the supplemental when we -- when we present it -- when Senator Steans presents on it, you know, tomorrow, you'll see that the amount of money, this -- this close to nine hundred million dollars, is going towards honest to goodness obligations they have, whether it's developmental disability or aging or developmental disability transition, addiction treatment, group health costs, current obligations that we have. So, you know, people may say that it -- it looks like it's -- it's an increase in spending when it actually is we're -- we're absorbing and taking care of the bills in those discretionary line items, which is really, really important and that frees up resources for the coming year, and -- and that's why you see the budget you have that 41 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 provides the dollars for -- for education and provides the dollars for transportation costs and bilingual education and early childhood education. So, that's why we have this bill that you have before you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Oberweis.
Senator, thank you and I'm -- I'm just about done. And -- and to the degree that all that's true, I -- I -- I want to thank you and -- and thank the people who've put this budget together. I -- I -- I have to admit, I'm still learning how this appropriations process work -- works and the budgeting process works, but I -- I have this overriding concern that we aren’t taking this seriously enough. I -- the budget, I -- I think, is something that -- for general revenue is something like 35.4 or 35.5 billion dollars, but we're looking at revenue a year or two out that might be 31.5 or something like that with the drop in the tax rates and -- and are we -- are we adjusting for this, anticipating for this, recognizing this and building this into our plans?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
What -- what we are building into our plans is that you're going to see some of these line items that would have grown, these costs grown, to reduce, because we've made changes -- significant changes in areas of the budget, whether it be in Healthcare and Family Services, in Medicaid reform. If we didn't make those changes, we would've carried twenty-two billion dollars' worth of 42 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 bills over the next five years. Now we're required to pay for those bills in the year that we owe them. In the first year, we can carry over seven hundred and used to be able to float them - seven hundred million - used to be able to float them year after year, and the next year's would be only a hundred million dollars that you can carry over. So we're doing a really -- a much better job of paying those bills at the -- you know, at the time that they're owed, especially as it relates to Medicaid. You know, in particular, we've talked a lot about bills that are owed and I -- I think the projection for '14 is 5.9 billion, if you talk to the -- to the Comptroller's Office. And the vast majority of these bills that are owed are -- are bills that are owed that are thirty -- within thirty days. So we've made significant progress and we've reduced the amount of bills that we owe by about three billion dollars over the last few years. So we've made a lot of progress.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Oberweis.
Senator, thank you for your explanation, your help, your -- your work on this issue. Obviously, on our side, we're getting a little different information than you are. The information I believe the Comptroller has released and said that the unpaid backlog of -- of bills at -- at the end of this month is expected to be about seven and a half billion dollars, actually showing some increase. Now we had this -- this -- this huge sixty-six percent tax increase that was supposed to all go to pay down bills and yet our unpaid bills are rising. That -- that isn’t the way it's supposed to work, in my opinion. Thank you for your -- for 43 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 your help.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Thank you, Senator. Senator Connelly, for what purpose do you rise?
Brief question of the sponsor, Madam Chair.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) The sponsor indicates he'll yield. Senator Connelly.
Madam President. First of all, Senator, I don't know how Senator Murphy can see you writing anything down feverishly, 'cause I just see a glare because of the backdrop there. So I don’t know how he's -- what he sees up there. That's for him to answer. I want to commend you too for the work you and Senator Steans put and all the members of the Appropriation Committees. We meet in Chicago. We meet here at different times - early times, late times - and we put a lot of work into this, so I -- I want to commend you for that. One brief question and it's something that's near and dear to the heart of -- we're both suburban legislators and whether we're leaving church or getting a gallon of milk at Jewel or Dominick's, people will grab us and say - not at Oberweis Dairy, frankly - but we'll get people and they'll pull us aside and say, "Mike, our property tax bill is -- is -- is -- is going through the roof", and it's that line item on a property tax that relates to education. And there's talk on the other side of the building about shifting the cost of the education line item for pensions onto our local property tax bill. And it's -- in fact, Speaker Madigan has said it's not if, but when. And those of us who've served in the House when Speaker says it's going to happen, it 44 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 typically happens. And there's apparently a bill moving right now that's going to shift some of the cost onto the local property tax bill. So my question, as it relates to this bill, is does this budget assume that some of those current State costs are going to go away in -- in this budget?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
I'm sorry, I was a little bit -- I was a little bit distracted. You look so much like my grandfather. The -- well, you got -- what, a guy can’t -- you can make a bald joke and I can’t make an old man joke? Come on, it's bipartisan. So -- oh, you -- oh, you missed the bald joke? So -- yeah, I haven’t seen that bill yet, Senator Connelly, and, you know, I -- I imagine that if we have it before us, I'll have an opportunity to review it. But this -- this bill doesn’t include any of the projected savings that you talk about or the impact from any kind of a cost shift.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Connelly.
Grandpa only has one follow-up to that. You said earlier that you don’t want school districts to incur any additional costs and a -- and a cost shift would put additional costs onto our local school districts. Wouldn’t you agree?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
You know what? I would -- it depends on what the bill looks like, Senator Connelly. So I -- I -- I don’t know what bill you're 45 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 referring to. I don’t know the -- the duration of it. I -- and so I'm just speaking to the -- the legislation here. I appreciate your -- your interest in that issue, but this -- this -- this bill doesn’t reflect any of that.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Connelly.
And I appreciate your answer and I appreciate that you're concerned about it. It's something we all need to be concerned about in the next seventy-two hours. But thank you for your time.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Manar, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Madam President. Will the sponsor yield for a few questions?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) The sponsor indicates he will yield. Senator Manar.
Senator Kotowski, could you -- for -- for the Body, could you describe the State Board of Education's budget as it came to us when the Governor proposed it versus what it looks like today in Senate Bill 2555?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
Thank you very much. I believe the Governor's budget was -- would have resulted in an eighty-two percent proration. So the introduced -- introduced costs -- or the introduced expense on the budget was sixty-two -- sixty-two forty-one, one one four and the 46 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 proposed budget you have before us is six billion six eight six. So it's a differential of about a hundred and thirty-seven million.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Manar.
And the -- the additions to the State Board of Education's budget specific for general State aid and for transportation, which are the two largest components that increased from where the Governor introduced that level back in -- in February, those things have been added in this bill and they are within a balanced budget framework. Is that -- is that correct?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
Yes, sir.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Manar.
Is there anything else in this bill or corresponding bills that will be coming before the Senate before Friday where programs have received as much of an increase compared to where the Governor introduced them in the overall budget of the State?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
I don’t believe so.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Manar.
47 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 Thank you, Madam President. To the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) To the bill, Senator.
I -- I appreciate the debate that we've had on -- on this budget bill, but I want to remind my colleagues what are we actually -- what are we actually debating here. Budgets don't change the law and we've had discussions on both sides of the aisle about flaws in the mechanism of the law that takes money from an appropriation bill in the budget and gets it out to school districts. This bill doesn’t change that, but as we had a debate a few weeks ago, it's time to change that mechanism, and hopefully at the beginning of next year, we will have a bill to do that. But, as a previous speaker said, a budget is a list of priorities. It's -- it's a list of values, what do we value as Members of the Senate. And I think the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee has done a fantastic job in reflecting the values in terms of how important education is to this State, because there's nothing else in this budget that has increased more from where the Governor introduced it than the two line items that he just mentioned. There has been a back-and-forth about whether or not we should cut more from the State budget or whether we should increase money to the State budget and I want to read two lines from the Reality Check plan from the Senate Republican Caucus from 2011 and the plan calls for an option including freezing the general State aid contributions at last year's level, saving two hundred and sixty- two million dollars. That is what has happened to general State aid and that has resulted in much of the debate that we have had here today, because not only is general State aid inadequate, it's 48 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 also distributed in an inequitable manner and so it's compounded. So, the debate we should have on this bill is does this work in a budget framework? Does this provide enough for us in a framework of a -- of a multi-billion-dollar State budget? And the answer to that question in my estimation is it does. Does it address equity? No. Do we still have districts that spend twenty-five thousand dollars per student and some that spend five? The answer is, yes, and it's getting worse. That debate we will have on this Floor, hopefully, next February. And I would like my colleagues to remember the debate we've had today, so that when that bill comes up to change the law, which is going to be difficult to do, but it's something that, again, we have reiterated today, it has to be done. This is a bill that gets us to that point. It is adequate for what we are facing today in this State. There should be all green lights on this bill. Thank you, Madam President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Righter, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Madam President. Will the sponsor yield, please?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Sponsor indicates he'll yield. Senator Righter.
Thank you, Madam President. Senator Kotowski, my first question is going to seem a little off subject, but I'll circle back around so quickly the Senate -- that -- that Madam President won't even notice that I was off subject for just a moment. What school districts do you represent in your Senate district, Senator Kotowski?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) 49 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 Senator Kotowski.
Do you want to go -- me go through the -- the entire… Okay. Sixty-four, School District 207, District 211. Those are a few of them.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Righter.
What -- are any of those the Chicago Public School District?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
No, sir. I -- I think I -- the bulk -- the vast majority of 'em are not. I have four precincts in the City of Chicago.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Link in the Chair. Senator Righter.
Thank you, Madam President. Then, Senator, I'm compelled to ask why you would write and carry a budget that continues the gross inequities in general State aid funding that have gone on for the better part of the last decade? Why would you carry this bill that sends disproportionate shares to a school district which you represent none or very little of? Why?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Kotowski.
Well, I -- I'm glad you asked that question. I -- I think - - I think -- I'm a public servant and there's districts that require more assistance than other districts and there are some 50 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 districts that get a disproportionate share as a result of their local property taxes and they do quite well and there are other districts that don't have a great commercial tax base or a property tax base and, you know, there's no question we need to, you know, address some of the challenges that were raised in the context of the debate today, but, you know, what -- what my commitment is as a Senator is to make sure that we, you know, fund education and do our best to fund some of those schools that -- that need the most support. That's something I look at and -- while also fighting and advocating for the schools that are within the district that I represent.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Righter.
Thank you, Mr. President. Senator Kotowski, according to the State Board of Education, while the Chicago Public School system enrolls eighteen percent of the students in the State, it receives twenty-seven percent of the corporate personal property replacement tax grant. It receives thirty percent of the special education grants. It receives thirty-seven percent of the Early Childhood Block Grants. And while it educates thirty-one percent of the students who are classified as being in poverty in this State, it gets a whopping forty-seven percent of the poverty grants in this State. So, my question, Senator Kotowski - and let's just talk about the lack of -- last ones - do you think that a child who is in poverty in the City of Chicago is worth more than a child who is in poverty in Park Ridge or Mattoon or Moline or Macomb? Do you believe that? Because the budget that you've written makes that statement. A previous speaker made the statement that a 51 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 budget reflects our priorities and our values. I agree. Is that what you believe then?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Kotowski.
No, I -- I don't, and I don’t have any, you know, by the grace of -- grace of God and people's situation, I don't have any children and students living in poverty in Park Ridge.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Righter.
Does that mean you're not worried about 'em? It doesn’t matter; I don’t have any kids who aren't in poverty. So why? Then why are you doing it? Tell me that what your answer wasn't just then is because I don’t personally have any kids that are impoverished. That's not what you meant. Why do they get forty- seven percent of the poverty grant funding in this budget when only thirty-one percent of the kids who are classified as poverty go to Chicago Public School District? It's your budget, Senator Kotowski. Why?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Kotowski.
I think we've been through this discussion before and I appreciate your passion for wanting to fund education and fund it equitably and make sure that we have the resources to do that. I'm sure you're voting record reflects that. This is a challenge that we face in order to make sure that we -- we seek to improve the -- the formula that we have. There's a general bipartisan 52 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 acknowledgement of that. I think, you know, your own Members of your own caucus filed an amendment that said that we should keep education level from last year to this year at an eighty-nine percent prorated level. So there's -- there's people on your side of the aisle that share that concern, but I don't think we should completely throw the baby out with the bathwater. This is a spending plan. It doesn't change any statutes. I agree with you. It doesn't -- I agree that we need to look at the formula and look at ways in which we can fix it and make sure that we -- we provide help for people who are poor, regardless of where they live. It's something I -- I look forward to being a part of.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Righter.
But, Senator Kotowski, that's my point, is -- your rhetoric is great: We’re going to be there for education. And you've talked about bilingual education. I mean, you've talked about every education program there is, but if you believe that we should be concerned about kids who are in poverty all across the State, then why does the budget that you've written and you're carrying here on the Floor today reflect the value that some kids in some areas that are impoverished are more important than some kids in other areas who are impoverished? Senator Kotowski, I'm going to ask this question as many times as the Presiding Officer will let me until I get an answer. Why are you doing this?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Kotowski.
Yeah, I -- I -- I believe I answered the question. I -- I - 53 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 - I don’t know what else I can do to satisfy -- I mean, if you -- if you look at the -- the breakdown of the budget and where the dollars go in the -- the Board of Education, you know, there's -- you know, there's funding levels that go across the State. They go downstate. They go upstate. They go in the suburban levels. I mean, if you look at the education budget, we're funding mandated categoricals to make sure we have the -- a maintenance of effort. That really impacts the suburban areas. We have a lot of children who are, you know, who are living and going to school with autism, who have developmental disabilities. You know, this education budget's not a perfect budget, but it's the best that we have at this point, and, you know, I'm not going to advocate for a budget that cuts school districts again for another year. I'm -- I'm glad we have a budget before us that provides a consistent level of funding from last year to this year.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Righter.
Actually, Senator Kotowski, you are standing up and presenting a budget that cuts education funding in one critical area, one area that actually the formula was designed to lift up poor school districts, and that is with regards to the foundation formula. Senator Kotowski, your budget, the one you've written and you're standing and presenting on the Floor here today, will appropriate less money to -- to the foundation formula part of our budget than was appropriated in 2000 - twelve years go. Your budget is going to spend less on the poorest school districts in this State than we spent twelve years ago. Why are you doing that?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 54 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 Senator Kotowski, for the last time on this question.
Again, I'm advocating for this budget because of a strong commitment of our caucus to funding education; to make sure we -- we keep it level; to make sure we fund transportation, which has an impact in the suburbs and downstate; which -- make sure we fund bilingual education, which impacts people across the State; make sure we fund early childhood education, which impacts, you know, young people across the State of Illinois. I -- I look forward to continuing to work on a -- a statutory change, but this is -- you know, this is the budget that we have before us and that's the -- that's what we're advocating for today.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Righter.
I sense, Mr. President, that you'd like me to move on, so how about to the bill?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
Great. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Chamber, this is a reflection of some people's values and some people's priorities. I don’t know why Senator Kotowski is carrying a budget that's not just adverse to the overwhelming majority of children who go to school in his Senate district, but the overwhelming majority of children who go to school in most of your districts as well - districts like Alton and Marion and Benton and Taylorville; Park Ridge, as I mentioned earlier; Urbana; Moline; Macomb; Pleasant Hill; Elgin. They're all getting taken to the woodshed 55 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 in this budget and here's why, here's why, is because, year after year, your Leadership, which has convinced your Members to carry these budgets, has changed the funding formulas to funnel more and more and more education money to the Chicago Public School District. That's the reason the Chicago Public School Districts get forty-seven percent of poverty grants when only thirty-one percent of those kids live there. There are four or five other areas just like that. Now, if that's what you want to do, that's what you want to do, and the press can listen to it and they can write about it. There was an examination done by our side of the aisle, by our staff, about this school funding issue. And the reason I'm holding it up is because Members on your side of the aisle, in an act that was not only hugely ironic, but a salute to our staff, not to mention a salute to the truth, have stood up and said, they're right, they're exactly right, and we've got to do something about this. But rather than taking your forty votes, rather than taking your supermajority and saying, you know what, we're not going to do this anymore -- a child who is in poverty or a child who is special needs or a child who needs the help of the Early Childhood Block Grant in Chicago is worth no more than one who goes to school anywhere else across the State. I am going to say, once again, that one of the previous speakers hit it right on the head. A spending plan is a reflection of your values and your priorities. And this education spending plan evidences a priority to continue to serve your Chicago leaders even if - even if - your school kids in suburbia and downstate suffer for it. Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Lightford, for what purpose do you rise? 56 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013
Thank you, Mr. President. To the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
You know, Mr. President, as I presided a short while ago, I was behooved {sic} by this debate. It amazes me. My heart is speaking, just as one of the previous speaker's heart spoke. It amazes me that the Republicans took a one-hour caucus to come up with the concept that they finally care about poor children. They took a one-hour caucus to finally come up with the concept that more money needed to go into the GSA line. You have fought against every single education budget in the last decade. No one has put money in the budget for education since George Ryan was in the Governor's Office. That's the last time a Republican ever voted to fund education. So let me remind you, on your Reality Check, you wanted to reduce the GSA line. But, all of a sudden, you guys realize you have poor kids in your district? What's happening? Your kids aren't meeting AYP? Is that what's happening? This is the argument that I stand on this Floor and fight for every single year - more education funding - and none of you have ever lined up with me in that argument, none of you. But now it's touching home. It's affecting your children and now you're pitting poor kids downstate against poor kids in Chicago. Last time I checked, poor is poor. Doesn’t matter where the heck you live in the State. If you're not being educated properly, there is a problem. There's a huge problem. And, Senator, you keep having this tax argument. Wake up. You guys have lost the tax argument. That's why you have nineteen and we have forty. It didn’t work in the last 57 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 campaign. Stop using the tax argument - it's not benefiting your party. And let's talk about transportation. All of a sudden - and I have to say this to my own downstate colleagues too - now you care about transporting your kids all of a sudden. Why can’t we care about all kids at all times in this State? Why is it when -- it becomes so selfish where it's the individual person? And, Senator Oberweis, I have to say your name, because you can’t use your business concept in this Chamber. You cannot. There's no profit sharing here. The people that are losing are our children. That's who's losing. And to the bill, you should vote for the bill. You know why? Because you've never put any money in GSA in the last decade and we finally have a bill that moves us from a eighty-two percent proration to eighty-nine. It's not perfect. I don’t love it. We need to be at a hundred percent. We need to be funding our schools at one hundred percent. We're finally moving in the right direction and it took you a whole hour to figure out your argument will be lukewarm. It will be over poor children. Shame on you for that. Shame on you for framing this argument around kids who don’t have an opportunity. Many of you stand up and you fight against free or reduced lunch. You fight against everything that don't particularly pertain to you. But now you must be hearing from your school districts finally, that they're struggling to meet some of the requirements that many school districts have struggled with over the last couple years. Welcome to the party. And, finally -- and, finally, I have to say this, because when you continue to divide this State and it's Chicago against the rest of the State, you're causing us to be a divided State, a divided community, and we can never grow. That's why, across this nation, we're viewed as lackluster in so many areas, 58 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 because we don’t know unity. We have a divide against economics. We have a divide against racism. And it sucks. It sucks. Once we begin to say we are one State of Illinois, we care about all our children, regardless if they're wealthy or not, and we want all of them to receive a quality education, then you become a statesman in this State. Until you're ready to do that, until you're ready to do that, stop your lackluster arguments that make absolutely no sense. It doesn't address the bill at all. We're speaking to a budget that will finally bring GSA to the best position it's been in in the past five years. I have voted No against our education budget for the past five years, but I'm going to vote Yes on this budget because we're finally moving in the right direction. But I will still urge my colleagues, all forty of us, to get on the same page and realize we have to fund education at one hundred percent, Senator, and I urge an Aye vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Kotowski, to close.
What she said.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Kotowski.
Now this is not a reflection on what you just said. We have to pull it out of the record because I believe we have a technical amendment and we'll be coming back.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Out of the record. Will the Committee on Assignments please meet in the President’s Anteroom immediately? Committee on Assignments, please meet in the President’s Anteroom immediately. 59 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 The Senate stands at ease. (at ease) Mr. Secretary, Messages from the House.
A Message from the House by Mr. Mapes, Clerk. Mr. President - I am directed to inform the Senate the House of Representatives has concurred with the Senate in the passage of a bill of the following title, to wit: Senate Bill 56. Together with the following amendments which are attached, in the adoption of which I am instructed to ask the concurrence of the Senate, to wit: House Amendments 1 and 2 to Senate Bill 56. We have received like Messages on Senate Bill 1221, with House Amendment 1; Senate Bill 1330, with House Amendment 1; Senate Bill 1495, with House Amendment 1; and Senate Bill 1664, with House Amendment 2. Passed the House, as amended, May 29th, 2013. Timothy D. Mapes, Clerk of the House.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Lightford in the Chair.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) The Senate will come to order. Mr. Secretary, Committee Reports.
Senator Clayborne, Chairman of the Committee on Assignments, reports the following Legislative Measures have been assigned: Refer to Education Committee - Motion to Concur on House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1221; Be Approved for Consideration - Floor Amendment 3 to Senate Bill 2555. Signed, Senator James F. Clayborne, Chairman. 60 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Mr. Secretary, Messages from the House.
A Message from the House by Mr. Mapes, Clerk. Mr. President - I am directed to inform the Senate that the House of Representatives has concurred with the Senate in the passage of a bill of the following title, to wit: Senate Bill 1674. Together with the following amendment which is attached, in the adoption of which I am instructed to ask the concurrence of the Senate, to wit: House Amendment 4 to Senate Bill 1674. We have received like Messages on Senate Bill 1772, with House Amendment 2; Senate Bill 1968, with House Amendment 1. Passed the House, as amended, May 29th, 2013. Timothy D. Mapes, Clerk of the House.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski seeks leave of the Body to return Senate… Now on the Order of 3rd Reading is Senate Bill 2555. Senator Kotowski seeks leave of the Body to return Senate Bill 2555 to the Order of 2nd Reading. Leave is granted. On the Order of 2nd Reading is -- Senate Bill 2555. Mr. Secretary, are there any Floor amendments approved for consideration?
Floor Amendment No. 3, offered by Senator Kotowski.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
Thank you very much. Floor Amendment No. 3, with reference 61 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 to page and line numbers of Senate Amendment No. 1 on page 6, line 9 by inserting "1" immediately after "July". So that means the effective date -- this Act will take effect July 1st, 2013.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Thank you, Senator. Is there any discussion? Senator Dillard, is that for discussion on this amendment? Seeing no discussion, all those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it. The amendment is adopted. There any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?
No further amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) 3rd Reading. Now on the Order of 3rd Reading is Senate Bill 2555. Senator Kotowski indicates he wish to proceed. Mr. Secretary, please read the gentleman's bill.
Senate Bill 2555. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
I -- the -- with just the amendment, it makes the -- the date -- the effective date July 1st, 2013.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Is there any discussion? Senator Dillard, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Madam President. I wasn't going to speak on this 62 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 bill 'cause my colleagues reflected our side of the aisle's intentions pretty clearly, but I do take offense when it is characterized that we don't care about the poor children of the State of Illinois. Our side of the aisle cares greatly about those who are impoverished. SIU President Glenn Poshard and both Gery Chico, the State Board of Education Chief, and you, Madam President, said a poor child is a poor child. But I don’t know in a system where a poor child is -- is given a grant of three thousand dollars in Chicago but a poor child in Mt. Zion only gets three hundred and fifty, if that's fair. And I want to point out that our side of the aisle spent an incredible amount of time, or at least our staff did. You know, it wasn't a one-hour caucus. They spent months, months, uncovering the fact that we do not have a system of fairness - and this is about fairness - for those who are in poverty. The Washington Post reported this week, not necessarily a conservative newspaper, that there is more poverty today in the suburbs of America than in the cities. So, you know, Senator Kotowski, you and I have districts that are quite similar. Poverty is at an all-time high in the suburbs, and for the first time in American history, there are more poor children in the suburbs than there are in the cities. But I want to make it clear, I care the same about a poor child in Carbondale or in Maywood or in Downers Grove and I love and will do anything for poor children in the City of Chicago or Peoria. But do not cast us over here, 'cause this is about fairness; it's not about the bottom line on poverty. But there are more poor kids in the suburbs than there are in the City of Chicago. And your formula is just unfair. So, I reluctantly, for a number of reasons, but including the fact that I think my poor children deserve more, I'm going to recommend 63 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 a No vote. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski, to close.
Thank you and I appreciate the previous remarks. The fact is the formula was created by the party on the other side of the aisle. It was created at the end of the 1990s and that's why we have the problem that we have right now. And now we have an opportunity to fix it. Well, look, you can’t -- people give a lot of shots out here and they say a lot of things, but -- but you can’t deny history. So we're trying to fix it. We're seeking to fix it. The -- the great challenge that I have here is there's a -- there -- people talk a really good game about their concern, but they don't vote for the funding nor do they vote for the spending. So who do you care about? Sometimes you got to step up and do things, even though it's difficult, even though you got to go back to your district and explain that, you know what, we had to increase funding and we had to look at spending that took care of the key issues as it related to education. The fact is, if you talk to the business community, they'll say they want the children of the people who work at their businesses to have a world-class education. A world-class education - that's what they support. That's what they talk about. That's why they come to the State of Illinois. But the fact remains, if you keep on saying that -- every time we're here, it's no, no, no, no. "I don’t vote for the spending, I don’t vote for the funding, but I really care." You can't have your cake and eat it too. You just can't. Vote Aye on the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) 64 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 The question is, shall Senate Bill 2555 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 40 voting Yea, 19 voting Nay, 0 voting Present. Senate Bill 2555, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senator Kotowski, on Senate Bill 2556. He indicates he wish to proceed. Senator Kotowski seeks leave of the Body to return Senate Bill 2556 to the Order of 2nd Reading. Leave is granted. On the Order of 2nd Reading is Senate Bill 2556. Mr. Secretary, are there any Floor amendments approved for consideration?
Floor Amendment No. 1, offered by Senator Kotowski.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair {sic}, and thank you to the Ladies and Gentlemen of the Body. Senate Bill 2556, as amended, appropriates one billion four hundred and thirty-two million nine hundred and forty-seven thousand to Chicago State University, Eastern Illinois University, Governors State University, Illinois State, Northeastern, Northern Illinois, Southern Illinois, University of Illinois, Western Illinois, and the Illinois Community College Board. It is -- the funding levels are -- they're level for all agencies, prior to the application of performance-based funding. The performance-based funding reallocates .5 percent of the fiscal year 2014 budget level and is calculated by the Board of Higher Education using ten criteria. For the most part, the bulk of the -- for the State universities, 65 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 the funding is level. Some have minor decreases and minor increases. And I'd be more than happy to answer any questions, but this is a budget that reflects, again, consistent commitment to funding higher education in our State.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Is there any discussion on the amendment? Senator Rose, would you like to rise on the amendment? All those in favor will say - - seeing none, all those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it. The amendment is adopted. Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?
No further amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) 3rd Reading. Now on the Order of 3rd Reading is Senate Bill 2556. Senator Kotowski indicates he wish to proceed. Please read the gentleman's bill.
Senate Bill 2556. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
Madam President, thank you very much. I indicated in the explanation of the amendment what's in the amendment {sic}. I'd be more than happy to answer any questions on the Floor. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Rose, for what purpose do you rise? 66 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013
Question of the sponsor, if I may.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Sponsor indicates he will yield. Senator Rose.
Thank you. Senator Kotowski, let me just start -- these long days and weeks here, sometimes tempers flare, and so let me just begin by saying how much I appreciate the time that you've put into this and all your colleagues on your side on the Appropriation and moreover the staff and the amount of time they've put into it. And I do appreciate it very much. I think you've been very forthright and honest. And times you come over and clue us in to kind of what might be coming down the pike and -- and I appreciate that. And this flat funds, ostensibly, most of the universities at last year's levels. Is that -- is that kind of the -- the -- the gist of this bill?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
Yes, sir.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Rose.
Do you know how much we still owe the universities from last year?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.
No, I do not. 67 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Rose.
Well, I -- I called the U of I today, this morning at 7:30, and found someone and I asked 'em. I said how much do we still owe you? One month left, we owe 'em about forty percent of last year's money. So there's one month left. We still owe 'em forty percent. It's two hundred and fifty million dollars. If this was a one-twelfth basis, we'd actually owe 'em 8.3 percent, given there's one month left, but we still owe 'em forty percent. And this may be better framed to the bill, Madam President. But this is the problem, and -- and with absolutely no disrespect to the - - the sponsor, we can sit here and say we're flat funding this or we're flat funding K-12 in the last bill, but when you don’t pay people, it really doesn’t matter. And here we are in the current year still owing the U of I, pick one, forty percent, but we're going to say, don’t worry, we're going to flat fund you next year, just like last year and the year -- actually last year they got cut and we still didn’t pay 'em. And this brings me very much back to my original comment about not having the big picture here, folks. We don't know what the BIMP bill is. This is one bill purporting to deal with higher education. There's another House bill that deals with IBHE, which makes separate grants to higher education. And then earlier in committee today, we talked about other things that may or may not be good for one university, Chicago State, but not others. And when you're dealing in a vacuum without all the pertinent pieces of information, how do you possibly come to a conclusion that this is good or bad? Case in point - and with -- again, with absolutely no disrespect to the 68 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 sponsor - in less than twenty-four hours, we've now had three different statements from budget leaders about whether any of the April tax surprise is going to be used in fiscal year '14 to underwrite those budgets. And before you say I'm not being germane, I'm speaking to the Higher Ed budget. Representative Dunkin said they were using some of that April money that was supposed to go to pay down bills to underwrite this Higher Ed budget, and that may be okay, but then we had Senator Kotowski say another thing just in the last debate and another Senator this morning in committee say something else completely. What I know is that the Comptroller tells us we're seven and a half billion dollars behind in paying our bills. That's all bills - universities, nursing homes, school districts. And so I would just caution everyone, before you go home and tell people, "Oh, don't worry, you were flat funded", I would tell them also "Don’t spend it till you get the check." And with that, I'd urge a No vote.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski, to close.
Thank you very much and thank you for the -- the kind words, Senator. I appreciate working together with you. I find -- I find you to be very reasonable and I -- I just want to, I think, clarify. We've talked a lot about this bill issue and, you know, projected at the end of this year, the Comptroller says about 6.4. 4.2 billion at the Comptroller's Office. Again, seventy-five to eighty percent of those dollars are bills that are within thirty days. You know, look, we've had a lot of challenges in this Chamber. I -- I come from a -- a background -- my father taught 69 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 community college, higher education. He retired at the age of eighty-one last year. So, devoted his life to public service and making sure people had an opportunity to get a world-class education and get a job. And I remember very clearly and distinctly him coming home and my mother, like, looking at a credit card statement and he would -- used to pay the tuition of some of the students who went to community college and that was the -- the type of person that he was. And so coming in here and a lot of this rhetoric we hear, it's, like, "Well, why wouldn’t you be concerned about somebody living in another part of the State?" Well, the fabric that I was raised in and I think a lot of us are - I think we all share that - is to be concerned that everybody has a chance to get a world-class education. Now here are the facts. If we don’t fund education, higher education, and if students don’t get degrees, the unemployment rate goes through the roof. If you don’t have a college degree in the State of Illinois, the unemployment rate is twenty percent - twenty percent. It's off the charts. But if you do have a college degree, it's six percent. People get -- get jobs. They get an opportunity to grow and they get opportunity to get productivity and be viable taxpaying citizens and leave a legacy for their own family. So I simply ask for an Aye vote. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) The question is, shall Senate Bill 2556 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 40 voting Yea, 19 voting Nay, 0 voting Present. Senate Bill 2556, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senator 70 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 Link in the Chair.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) With leave of the Body, we'll go to House Bill 2418. Senator Harmon seeks leave of the Body to return House Bill 2418 to the Order of 2nd Reading. Leave is granted. On the Order of 2nd Reading is House Bill 2418. Mr. Secretary, are there any Floor amendments approved for consideration?
Floor Amendment No. 2, offered by Senator Harmon.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator -- Leader Harmon, on your amendment.
Thank you, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. Floor Amendment No. 2 becomes the bill. I move for its adoption.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, 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?
Floor Amendment No. 3, offered by Senator Harmon.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Harmon, on Floor Amendment No. 3.
Thank you, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. Floor amendment -- the underlying bill is the election law omnibus bill. Floor Amendment No. 3 removes those provisions relating to the Lieutenant Governor as a salute to Senator Murphy.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 71 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 Is there any discussion? Seeing none -- Senator Murphy, on the amendment? Okay. Senator Althoff, on the amendment? Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it. The amendment is adopted. Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?
No further amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. Now on the Order of 3rd Reading is House Bill 2418. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 2418. (Secretary reads title of bill) 3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Harmon, on your bill.
Thank you, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen. As I indicated in presenting the -- the second of the two amendments, this is the election law omnibus bill. It includes a great number of provisions. I'd like to highlight just a couple of them. First of all, this bill permits voters to register to vote online. We are taking a -- a bold step into the electronic world. I do want to note the -- the broad support I have seen for this. I've had hundreds of people sign a petition online to recommend this. We also have worked with some terrific organizations of young people who are getting engaged in the process, including Chicago Votes. I highlight that because this really is the key to getting young people engaged in the electoral process. We're also responding to 72 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 concerns raised by some that it's too difficult to get on the ballot by consolidating local electoral boards for schools at a centralized county location and eliminating some of the artificial barriers to accessing the ballot, as well as additional electronic communications efforts. We have removed the provision in the original bill relating to the selection of Lieutenant Governor. We're going to proceed with the -- the new model we adopted not too long ago, where a candidate for Governor and Lieutenant Governor run together from the onset. So, just want to be clear with the Body, I have, with the second amendment, removed the provision that would have modeled it on the federal regime, where the nominee selects a running mate after the primary election. There are many things in the bill. I'm not sure what Members would like to talk about. So, with that, I'd open it up for questions and hope that I can be responsive.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Jacobs, for what purpose do you rise?
Mr. President, I rise to move the previous question.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) There are three speakers. Senator Duffy, for what purpose do you rise?
Question for the sponsor, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Indicates he will yield.
Senator, this bill kind of came up fast and furious here, so I'm just trying to understand. How many counties does this impact? 73 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Harmon.
One hundred and two, I believe.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Duffy.
Within this bill, if I'm reading it right, it says that in - - solely in the -- the County of Lake, it converts the Lake County election authority to the board of election commissions {sic} (commissioners). So it creates a commission in Lake County and takes the election responsibilities away from the -- the -- the county clerk. Is that correct?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Harmon.
Thank you, Mr. President. Yes, Senator, we are doing two things in that vein. In Peoria, we're permitting the creation of an electoral board. And in Lake County, we are doing that by statute. It will make Lake County like DuPage County and three of our largest cities - Chicago, Aurora and Rockford - that have independent electoral boards.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Duffy.
But the way I look it at {sic}, Peoria has a referendum and in Lake County, you're going do that through this statute. Why - - why isn't it that Lake County -- why don't they do this via referendum also? 74 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Harmon.
Peoria has been requesting this for the last seven years and we have -- we have not reacted. We -- they have -- Peoria County already has a board of election commissioners that oversees -- I'm sorry, the -- Peoria County would replace the -- the city electoral board and oversee all of Peoria County. And in Lake County, we're doing it by statute because that seems to be the political will.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Duffy.
Now, Senator, when you say it's the political will, I've had -- so far in the past twenty-four hours, I had, you know, the top leaders -- lawmakers in Lake County -- the Lake County State's Attorney, Mike Nerheim, contacted me in opposition to this. The Lake County Sheriff Department has contacted me in opposition to this. The Lake County Board, the Lake County Board President and the Lake County Board members, the majority of the members, are extremely opposed to this. So nobody in Lake County -- I represent Lake County, a -- a large portion of Lake County, and Lake County and the leaders are adamantly opposed to this. So, I guess, my question is, who asked you to do this? Why are you including Lake County in this?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Harmon.
Thank you, Mr. President. Senator, I -- I believe that there is a divide among the -- the representatives of Lake County. Some 75 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 would like this; some, obviously, are opposed to it. This is democracy. If the bill gets thirty votes, it -- it will -- it will pass. If it doesn’t, it will not. And I'm -- I would encourage you to vote against it, if that's your take on -- on your district.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Duffy.
To the bill, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
You know, here we go. You -- you definitely -- you know, when you say it's up to political will, it is, because this is a pure power play. Lake County does not want this bill. The majority of Lake County officials are opposed to this and they don't want this to happen. What we should do, if you think that there's interest in this and in Lake County being involved with this, is there should be a referendum. Let the people pick. Instead, once again, the political powers to be are taking this out of the hands of the people in Lake County and you're putting it in your own hands. On top of that, we're creating a whole nother layer of government in Lake County and in the State of Illinois. We already have the most layers of government of any state in America and here we are going to add another layer of government in Lake County. With -- quickly with the figures that have been estimated, what this will cost Lake County and Lake County taxpayers -- because of this, not only are we not going to give Lake County voters a choice in this matter, but we're also going to add a 76 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 minimum of six hundred thousand dollars that they're going to have to pay for this and add a whole nother layer of government to Lake County. I strongly urge a No vote. Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Althoff, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Mr. President, and I do appreciate the consideration. To the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.
I'm relatively new to Lake County with the redistricting, but I do have a small portion, and because of that, I feel the need to respond to constituents, as well as many of the Lake County elected officials that have contacted me with regard to this legislation. And I'm going to point out to the Body a couple things. As Senator Duffy already stated, this is a mandate. It has an additional cost to it to Lake County. It's a situation that we typically in this Body don’t take. We usually allow local government to take care of local government. Peoria came to the General Assembly and requested action. In this case, Lake County did not come to the General Assembly. There may have been individuals, but there was not a consensus from the county board or any constitutional officer from Lake County requesting this action. If individuals from Lake County wish to create this, so be it, run a referendum. That's how we have always -- we, this General Assembly, has always treated local units of government. We have given them the courtesy and the credibility of deciding for themselves what they wish to do and how they wish to represent the constituency that elected them 77 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 to those offices. We are mandating this action on a body and no other body - one county. We are requiring them to follow this action. The problem with what Senator Harmon, the sponsor of this bill, suggested is, just to vote No, is there are some pretty good provisions in this legislation that many of you are going to support. But this individual Section harms one county. And so what we're doing, again, with this legislation is we're going to make a decision that affects a specific group of people and we're going to do it because generally the whole bill is not a bad bill. It's unfair and it really is unprofessional by us in this Chamber to take that action. We don’t do it. We take great pride in the fact that we allow locals to deal with their issues. I have an e- mail in front of me from the county board chairman, who was sitting here telling me six hundred thousand dollars. In addition, DuPage ran that referendum. It is not done like this. It is different, the form, and they also allow the county clerk to serve as a commissioner on their board. Why don't we have that provision in here? Why did we choose the template of Cook, as opposed to -- or the City of Chicago, as opposed to DuPage? There are several problems here, again, with this specific Section. And I would truly ask the sponsor to consider taking that provision out, running the bill without that provision and dealing with this as a separate entity, and then maybe we can take a vote and see whether or not we really want to support something. It sends a bad message to every single one of your counties. It says we, here in the General Assembly, we'll decide when and when not to make decisions that affect one of you, not all of you. This is not a uniform bill and I would strongly, strongly request that the sponsor consider very much removing that provision that affects 78 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 Lake County. And I certainly would ask my Lake County representatives to stand with me and do that for your constituency. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Harmon.
Thank you, Mr. President. Parliamentary inquiry. May I get a copy of the transcript of this debate for the concealed carry debate?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) We are working on that already. Senator Murphy, for what -- oh! Leader Harmon, I'm sorry.
Thank you, Mr. President. I do want to clear up one thing. There have been some wild estimates thrown around, not in the debate, but it was referenced here about the cost of this. There -- there is no cost associated with this consolidation in the bill. It is left up to statute to the county board to set compensation for the electoral board commissioners. It can be a salary or a per diem. So unless the Lake County Board has some wildly inflated idea of what electoral board members should be paid, the estimates that I've heard seem to me to be way off base. And, again, there is no cost in the bill, as I understand it.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Murphy.
Question of the sponsor, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Indicates he will yield. 79 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013
Senator, the -- there's one other distinction, I think, that has not been identified between what's done in DuPage and what you propose here, and that is, who will be in charge of this -- filling this board? In DuPage, that is the county board chair. And under your legislation, in Lake, that will be the chief of the circuit -- chief judge of the circuit court. Is that correct?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Harmon.
Thank you -- thank you, Mr. President. Yes, Senator, that's correct. The -- the chief judge would select, just as the chief judge does for the Chicago, Aurora and Rockford electoral boards, and would in Peoria should that be implemented.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Murphy.
To the -- to the bill. I -- I…
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) …the bill.
I rise to -- to support the comments made by my colleagues on this side of the aisle. It ought to be rather chilling to people, regardless of where you sit, because every once in a while everybody down here can fall out of political favor. And will you or somebody that you represent be singled out like this next? Something to keep in mind as you decide whether you're going to participate in this now. This is clearly special legislation targeted at one county with no, frankly, justification at all, no 80 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 rational basis, no explanation, just a legislative mandate that treats the voters of Lake County differently than the voters of any other county. I think Senator Althoff said it well. There are aspects of this that -- that would be helpful. As I said in committee, Senator, I wish you would have left the Lieutenant Governor component in. I think it left the state of the law in a better condition than it is right now. But as this bill stands, I have to urge a No vote, despite some of the aspects of it that may be beneficial to our process.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Harmon, to close.
Thank you, Mr. President. I -- I do want to close briefly. The debate has focused on one small component of this bill. I want to emphasize for all of my colleagues that this is a much broader bill and does a great number of important things that clearly, in my view, warrant voting for it. In addition to the online voter registration and improvements to our online interfaces, we're improving the rules for early voting and college early voting centers. We're improving the provisional voting requirements and the absentee ballot requirements, grace period voting. We're -- we're dealing with the loophole for self-funders and independent expenditures, cracking down on excess political spending. We are dealing with improving access for poll watchers, the school board electoral consolidation, the school board petitions, just an awful lot of really solid election law improvements. And I don’t want folks to get distracted by comments and concerns over one small area of the bill. This is a good election law bill and I urge you to vote Aye. 81 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) The question… The question is, shall House Bill 2418 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 32 Ayes, 20 Nays, 3 voting Present. House Bill 2418, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. I'd -- I'd just like to make some committee announcements. Agriculture and Conservation will meet at -- or, no. I'm sorry. Education will meet in Room 400 tomorrow at 9 a.m. Insurance -- or, Revenue will meet in Room 409 tomorrow at 9:30. And Energy will meet in Room 212 tomorrow at 10 a.m. Senator Jacobs, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Mr. President. I -- I rise for a point of personal privilege. I would like…
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.
I would like to introduce Miss Dawn Shelton, who is my Legislative Assistant. She's in the audience with her wonderful daughter, Alyssa. And Alyssa was actually raised in my father's office. And Alyssa will one day -- she's graduating from college and one day will rule the world. I am quite sure of it. And for those who wonder how I got here, I'd like Dawn Shelton and her daughter to stand up so you can see how I actually got here.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Welcome to Springfield. Senator Forby, for what purpose do you rise? 82 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013
Point of personal privilege.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.
Today I have with me a young man - cuts his hair real short because he's a ballplayer. He -- he's a -- are you a pitcher? First base. He says he's first base. I thought he was pitching. His name is Seiger Miller {sic} and his mom is up in the audience up here and she works for the State of Illinois. So here to visit. "And someday", Seiger says, "I want to come and sit in your seat, Gary, so I can push all them green buttons." He says that's the only button I know how to push, is the green button. So, I think he'll work out fine over here on this side. How about Shannon Miller {sic} stand up, and Seiger, give a great big hand for 'em?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Welcome to Springfield. Senator Murphy, for what purpose do you rise?
For purpose of verification of the roll call of the previous bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Murphy requests a verification. Will all Members please be in their seat? The Secretary will read the affirmative votes.
Bertino-Tarrant, Biss, Clayborne, Collins, Tom Cullerton, Cunningham, Forby, Frerichs, Haine, Harmon, Hastings, Hunter, Hutchinson, Jacobs, Jones, Koehler, Landek, Lightford, Link, 83 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 Manar, Martinez, McGuire, Mulroe, Muñoz, Noland, Raoul, Sandoval, Silverstein, Steans, Sullivan, Trotter and President Cullerton.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Murphy, do you question anybody present on any Member voting in the affirmative?
No, Mr. President. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) By a verified vote, House Bill 2418, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senator Van Pelt, for what purpose do you rise?
Mr. President, I -- I would like to vote Yes on that bill. I had planned to vote Yes on it. I would like it reflected in the record.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) The record will reflect your intentions. Now on -- we will be going to page 8 on House Bills 2nd Reading. House Bill 206. President Cullerton. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 206. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 208. President Cullerton. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 208. 84 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 213. President Cullerton. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 213. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 214. President Cullerton. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 214. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 215. President Cullerton. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 215. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 1154. President Cullerton. Mr. 85 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 1154. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 1165. President Cullerton. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 1165. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 1166. President Cullerton. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.
House Bill 1166. (Secretary reads title of bill) 2nd Reading of the bill. No committee or Floor amendments reported.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. Senator Steans, for what purpose do you rise?
I move to waive all notice and posting requirements so that House Joint Resolution 36 can be heard tomorrow at 9 a.m. in the Senate Education Committee.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 86 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 Senator Steans moves to waive all notices and posting requirements so that House Joint Resolution 36 can be heard in -- tomorrow at 9 a.m. in the Senate Education Committee. All those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it, and all notices and posting requirements are waived. Senator Lightford - - or, Leader Lightford, for what purpose do you rise?
Thank you, Mr. President. Point of an announcement. I move to waive all notice and posting requirements so that House Joint Resolution 33 can be heard on tomorrow at 9 a.m. in the Senate Education Committee, please, sir.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Lightford moves to waive all notices and posting requirements so House Joint Resolution 33 can be heard in -- tomorrow at 9 a.m. in the Senate Education Committee. All those in favor, say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it, and all notices and posting requirements are waived. The Senate will now stand in recess to the call of the Chair. After committee meetings, the Senate will reconvene to receive committee reports and for potential further Floor action. The Senate stands in recess. (SENATE STANDS IN RECESS)
May I have your attention? The Senate Transportation Committee will meet in Room 400 at 5 o'clock - Room 400. (SENATE RECONVENES) 87 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) The Senate will come to order. Mr. Secretary, Committee Reports.
Senator Martinez, Chairperson of the Committee on Licensed Activities and Pensions, reports Motions to Concur: House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1921 and House Amendment 2 to Senate Bill 1921 Recommend Do Adopt; House Bill 530 Do Pass. Senator Sandoval, Chairperson of the Committee on Transportation, reports Motions to Concur: House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1479, House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1530, House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1828 and House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1929 Recommend Do Adopt; and House Bill 2776 Do Pass. Senator Harmon, Chairperson of the Committee on Executive, reports Senate Resolution 70 Be Adopted, as Amended; Motions to Concur: House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1474, House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1584, House Amendment 2 to Senate Bill 1584, House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1603, House Amendment 3 to Senate Bill 1603, House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1718, House Amendment 2 to Senate Bill 1718, House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1912, House Amendment 2 to Senate Bill 1912, House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 2136, House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 2234, House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 2371, House Amendment 2 to Senate Bill 2371, House Amendment 3 to Senate Bill 2371 Recommend -- Recommend Do Adopt; Senate Amendment 2 to House Bill 1573 and Senate Amendment 3 to House Bill 2764 Recommend Do Adopt.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Mr. Secretary, Resolutions. 88 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013
Senate Resolution 341, offered by Senator Link and all Members. Senate Resolution 342, offered by Senator Link and all Members. Senate Resolution 343, offered by Senator Link and all Members. Senate Resolution 344, offered by Senator Link and all Members. Senate Resolution 345, offered by Senator Link and all Members. Senate Resolution 346, offered by Senator Link and all Members. Senate Resolution 347, offered by Senator Link and all Members. Senate Resolution 348, offered by Senator Link and all Members. And Senate Resolution 349, offered by Senator Forby and all Members. They are all death resolutions, Madam President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Mr. Secretary, Messages from the House.
Message from the House by Mr. Mapes, Clerk. Mr. President - I am directed to inform the Senate that the House of Representatives has concurred with the Senate in the passage of a bill of the following title, to wit: Senate Bill 1723. Together with the following amendments which are attached, in 89 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013 the adoption of which I am instructed to ask the concurrence of the Senate, to wit: House Amendments 2 and 3 to Senate Bill 1723. Passed the House, as amended, May 29th, 2013. Timothy D. Mapes, Clerk of the House. Message from the House by Mr. Mapes, Clerk. Mr. President - I am directed to inform the Senate that the House of Representatives has refused to concur with the Senate in the adoption of their amendment to a bill of the following title, to wit: House Bill 3272. Which amendment is as follows: Senate Amendment 1 to House Bill 3272. Non-concurred in by the House, May 28th, 2013. Timothy D. Mapes, Clerk of the House. A Message from the House by Mr. Mapes, Clerk. Mr. President - I am directed to inform the Senate that the House of Representatives has adopted the following joint resolution, in the adoption of which I am instructed to ask the concurrence of the Senate, to wit: House Joint Resolution 37. Offered by Senator Righter. And adopted by the House, May 29th, 2013. Timothy D. Mapes, Clerk of the House.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) House Bills 1st Reading.
House Bill 1324, offered by Senator Trotter. (Secretary reads title of bill) 1st Reading of the bill. 90 STATE OF ILLINOIS 98th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 60th Legislative Day 5/29/2013
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Mr. Secretary, Introduction of Senate Bill.
Senate Bill 2585 {sic} (2586), offered by Senator Steans. (Secretary reads title of bill) 1st Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) There being no further business to come before the Senate, the Senate stands adjourned until the hour of 11 a.m. on the -- 30th day, May, 2013. The Senate stands adjourned. 91