Illinois Senate Floor Debate — September 9, 2015

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) The regular Session of the 99th General Assembly will please come to order. Will the Members please be at their desk? Will our guests in the galleries please rise? The invocation today will be given by Pastor Shaun Lewis, Civil Servant Ministry {sic} (Ministries), Springfield, Illinois.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Please remain standing for the Pledge Allegiance. Senator Cunningham.

(Pledge of Allegiance, led by Senator Cunningham)

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 7  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 Mr. Secretary, Reading and Approval of the Journal.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Koehler.

Thank you, Mr. President. I move that the Journals just read by the Secretary be approved, unless some Senator has additions or corrections to offer.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Koehler moves to approve the Journal {sic} just read by the Secretary. There being no objection, so ordered. Mr. Secretary, Approval -- Reading and Approval of the Journal.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Koehler.

Thank you, 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 Koehler moves to postpone the reading and the approval of the Journal, pending the arrival of the printed transcript. There being no objection, so ordered. Mr. Secretary, Resolutions.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Resolution Consent Calendar. Mr. Secretary, Introduction of Senate Bills.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Mr. Secretary, Committee Reports.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Mr. Secretary, Communication from the Secretary of State.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Mr. Secretary, are there any motions on file?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Mr. Secretary, please -- please place those motions on the Calendar. Senator Hunter, for what purpose do you rise?

Point of personal privilege, Mr. President.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.

In the gallery, we have some very important guests visiting with us today, advocating for the Community Care Program and other senior programs, that I'd like to recognize. From my district, we have the Minnie Riperton Apartments here. And from Senator Harris' district, we have the -- the Bernadine Manor, and from -- the Victory Christian Assembly, Senator Hastings' district. So we'd 10  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 like to welcome our guests here who visit us today.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Silverstein, for what purpose do you rise?

Purpose of an announcement, Mr. President.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your announcement.

Just announcing there will be a Democratic Caucus for a half hour in the President's Office after -- upon recess.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Althoff, for what purpose do you rise?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senators Silverstein and Althoff move that the Senate recess for the purpose of a Senate Democrat and Republican Caucus, lasting thirty minutes. Seeing no objection, the motion is granted. The Senate now stands in recess to the call of the Chair. After the Democrat and Republican Caucuses, the Senate will reconvene after the committee meetings {sic} for the purpose of 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 come to order. Seth Perlman - State {sic} 11  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 (Station) Affiliation, Associated Press - requests permission to take photos. Leave is granted. Paul Elders, WICS, requests permission to record video/audio. Leave is granted. Matt Porter, WCIA, requests permission to film. Leave is granted. And Tony Yuscius from the Blueroomstream.com requests permission to videotape. Leave is granted. Mr. Secretary, are there any motions on file?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Mr. Secretary, please place those motions on the Calendar. Would all Members please come to the Senate Floor? We will begin with veto overrides, Floor action. Would all Members please come to the Senate Floor for Floor action? On the Supplemental Calendar No. 1 is the Order of House Bills 2nd Reading. Senator Tom Cullerton, on Senate {sic} Bill 800. The gentleman indicates he wish to proceed. Please read the motion -- the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) 3rd Reading. Senator Althoff, for what purpose do you rise?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Yes, please state your point. 12  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Please rise for a moment of silence. (Moment of silence observed) Thank you. Now on the order of page 2 of the Supplemental Calendar, Override Specific Recommendations to House Bills, House Bill 1. Senator Kotowski. The gentleman indicates 13  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 he wish to proceed. Please read the motion.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski.

Thank you very much, Madam President. I move to override the Governor's amendatory veto of House Bill 1 because it changes the original intent of the legislation and it deprives support for people who are addicted to heroin and the challenges they face, who require Medicaid in order that they may be able to confront the challenges they face. I want to say before I begin that this is a byproduct of a great deal of effort and time on behalf of Leader Lang from the House of Representatives. He's worked for, I believe, over a year on this and put together a task force to come together to address all the components dealing with this scourge of heroin that we have in the State of Illinois. And it's a piece of legislation that has -- it's a long time coming. We have too many young people who've died in our State. And, particularly, I wanted to highlight the hard work of Chelsea Laliberte that she's done on behalf of the memory of her brother, Alex, who died from heroin and is no longer with us. There's been too many young men and women, as I've said, who are not here with us today. And we can do more and make sure that there's support available for those who are living and facing the challenge of heroin. One of the disagreements that's been raised is that by providing these resources through Medicaid that it is going to 14  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 cost the State money. It will. It will cost taxpayers money, but it will save money in the long term. It'll save in the first year a net savings of about fifty-eight million dollars. That's very important. So not only will it save taxpayers money, it'll save lives. Because if you don't provide this service, young men and women will end up being in emergency rooms, they'll be incarcerated, they'll be homeless, and the lost productivity to our community and our State will be immeasurable. So I would ask for your support in overriding the Governor's amendatory veto to House Bill 1 and I look forward to any questions that you may have.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Is there any discussion? Senator McCarter, for what purpose do you rise? SENATOR McCARTER: To the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) To the bill, Senator. SENATOR McCARTER: Ladies and Gentlemen, I -- I originally voted for this bill because I wanted to do whatever I could to have an opportunity for young people to be saved, knowing how difficult it can be as a parent to lose a -- a daughter to a heroin overdose. What I did say in addition to that was that I requested and appealed that we could find the fifty-eight or sixty million dollars that was needed to pay for this program. And here we are months later and we didn't do that. And I say "we". I'm not saying "you". I'm not saying your party; I'm saying we. "We" didn't do that. I mean this is a -- you know, it's a game, in a way, that we go back and forth to settle this budget, you know, issue, but we didn't do it. 15  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 And I'm including myself in this. No one's exempt. We're all responsible. We didn't do it. That's what I asked for; that's what I wanted. I believe the -- the changes that the Governor made do -- do make it logistically probable to implement. Currently, that's not true. And, you know, there are not too many -- unfortunately, you can't just throw money at issues like this and hope they are resolved. The other task force that I was on never actually came out with their report. This issue was politicized. I know we care, but it was still politicized. I'm -- I'm going to be voting No.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Further discussion? Senator Raoul, for what purpose do you rise?

To the bill, Madam President.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) To the bill, Senator.

I'm rising in support of the sponsor's bill. You know, a couple of years -- and I'm -- I'm happy to see that the House, on a bipartisan basis, voted to override. I do want to point out that we, as society at large, tend to ignore problems when they're quarantined to low-income areas and -- until they seep out of those areas into neighborhoods that we would never imagine them seeping into. The heroin epidemic is one of those issues. A couple of years ago, I worked with former Representative Reboletti on enhancing penalties. And you all know I'm normally the last person to be the chief sponsor of a bill that enhances penalties, but acknowledging that heroin was being dealt in smaller doses, being 16  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 carried in smaller doses in order for dealers to avoid stiffer penalties, we enhanced the penalties on carrying smaller doses. But to the extent that we acknowledge, as been -- has been acknowledged in the House, that we cannot just do -- offer treatment for communities that are -- that have resources, that, you know, we -- we have to make an exception for low-income communities - which I applaud the sponsor for making sure we do this - to extent that we on a bipartisan -- basis acknowledged that in the House, we also have to acknowledge that if we're making this exception, we have to make this exception for breast and cervical cancer, for the programs that would go a long way towards stopping the gun violence in communities like mine. Last time I was here, I - it was actually in July - I responded to a call of a shooting outside of my home, where two young men were shooting at each other, and since then, there have been two or three shootings with -- within a half-mile radius of my home. And some of the things that we say aren't priorities and that we can't do right now, they're epidemics as well. And so, to the extent that we can make this exception because this has -- this has seeped out into suburban areas, don't shut your eye to the other problems that are currently quarantined to low-income neighborhoods. If we can find resources for this, we can find resources for everything else. And I agree with the previous speaker, "we" must do it together. I urge an Aye vote.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Further discussion? Seeing none, Senator Kotowski, to close.

Thank you very much, Madam President. Just a couple things I -- I wanted to highlight based on what was brought up in the 17  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 course of our debate here today. Illinois is forty-seven out of fifty states currently when it comes to providing funding for heroin addiction prevention and that is a designation that we should not be proud of. Without this bill, Illinois will be the only state to reduce and not increase providing treatment for heroin - the only state. Couple things, too: We talked about this as it relates to the budget and my colleague who referred to the costs related to this and, you know, we've had a lot of conversations about this and I -- I respect where you -- you come from and -- and your -- your point of view on -- on this situation and I know you've lost a tremendous amount and -- and you've suffered through something I would never want to go through. And you're often on my mind when we talk about things like this, so I appreciate the concerns you raised, and just -- just keep in mind when you consider thinking about whether or not you're going to vote to override this that, for inpatient treatment, this bill provides a hundred-and-seventy-dollar savings per Medicaid member per month; for outpatient treatment, two hundred and fifty dollars' worth of savings per Medicaid member per month; and methadone treatment, two hundred and thirty savings per Medicaid member per month. So I -- you know, I -- I -- I implore people to consider what we're attempting to do here. When we -- when we -- when we put money and invest it on the front end, of course it is going to cost. It's going to cost taxpayers money. But the -- the payoff is that there's a net savings of fifty-eight million dollars and there's a -- there's a net savings in the fact that we're going to be able to reinvest these dollars back into programs like this and we're going to see, most important, that lives will be saved. So I just ask you to consider that as we move forward. I want to, 18  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 again, emphasize and underscore the hard work of Leader Lou Lang. He's in the Chamber here today. I appreciate his leadership on - - on this measure and so many others and appreciate his guidance and hard work. I know Senator Bush has worked very, very hard on this initiative and she deserves a tremendous amount of credit and -- for all of her efforts. And I quite simply would ask for your support, 'cause we have an opportunity to make sure that we do something good and something positive and that's going to save lives and do something good for the young people in our State, regardless of where they live. Thank you very much.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) The question is, shall House Bill 1 pass, notwithstanding the specific recommendations of the Governor. 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 44 voting Yea, 11 voting Nay, 0 voting Present. House Bill 1, having received the required three-fifths constitutional majority, is declared passed, notwithstanding the specific recommendations of the Governor. Ladies and Gentlemen, please turn your Calendars to page 11, Senate Bill 2046. On page 11, Senate Bill 2046. Senate President John Cullerton. He indicates he -- excuse me, Senator Steans will be handling the manner {sic}. Senator Steans seeks leave of the Body to return Senate Bill 2046 to the Order of 2nd Reading. Leave is -- is granted. On the Order of 2nd Reading is Senate Bill 2046. Mr. Secretary, are there any Floor amendments approved for consideration?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Steans.

Yes, thank you, Madam President here and Members of the Senate. So Senate Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 2046 is an appropriation bill that appropriates about 1.8 billion General Revenue Fund for human services programs and about two billion in other State funds for human services, motor fuel tax payouts, and the lottery awards. We've been hearing - and -- and I don't know about other Members here, but I get calls almost every day - about what's happening to the human services infrastructure throughout the State. While we don't have a budget, through consent decrees and other federal court orders, much of the budget is going out the door. Who's not getting paid -- oh! We're -- we're going to adopt the amendment. I'll talk about it on 3rd. Sorry.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Is there any discussion on the amendment only? There are a couple blinking lights. Is that discussion for the amendment? Or -- please, until we get to the bill. 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?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) 3rd Reading. Now on the Order of 3rd -- Reading, excuse me, Senator -- Mr. Secretary, read the bill, please.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Steans.

Yes, sorry, I apologize for that. So every day, pretty much now, and we've been hearing in the Human Services committees yesterday and today about social service providers closing down programs on themselves, closing down entirely, not getting paid, doing many layoffs. One service area provider alone -- association says that of the senior service programs throughout the State, forty-three percent say they're going to have to close -- losing a total of seven hundred jobs. This is going on and on throughout all parts of the human services budget. Those are pretty much the only area that's not getting paid at this point across the board because of not having a consent decree or court order for it. We need to protect the human service infrastructure throughout the State. We, the State, rely on them as partners in providing services that we authorize and put in statute. This is -- this amendment will ensure that they have the appropriation authority to be able to include them in the providers that are getting paid. I would very much urge an Aye vote on this. This will also ensure things like -- some of the other State-funded programs will go out the door. Money is sitting in these funds. Motor fuel services, for example, to provide improvements to the roads, sewers, all the other ways the municipalities, counties are authorized to make payments from the Motor Fuel Tax Fund. This will enable them to get those funds. And it also makes payments to the Court of Claims for people who have won awards and they just can't access their payment and to the Lottery. We've been reading - and we've been 21  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 getting sued - that we're not making awards to the prize winners. This will provide the appropriation authority to make sure prize winners can get their awards. I would urge an Aye vote. Thank you.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Thank you, Senator. Is there any discussion? Senator Murphy, for what purpose do you rise?

Question of the sponsor.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) The sponsor indicates she will shield {sic}. Senator Murphy.

I feel like I'm being punked. I mean, so the budget that you passed in May was four billion out of balance; we're here four months later and now you want to put it to six billion out of balance. How -- we don't -- we're already spending -- I think the last time we were down here, we heard that we were spending already, without a budget, more money than we project to take in, and now we're going to appropriate how many more billion - four, six, whatever this is. Where's the money come from? That was my question.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Okay. That was the -- he's being punked. That's the question. Senator Steans.

So, as we all know, we are -- we don't have a budget. We're at a budget impasse. We have revenue coming in the door for the General Revenue Fund of about thirty-three billion. We have probably getting spent right now through court orders and consent 22  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 decrees what we estimate to be about 34.5 billion. This will add additional on top of that. What we've actually passed in spending authority is about fourteen billion. That includes -- and -- between spending authority and the education bill that the Governor signed and continuing appropriation bills. This does -- simply adds in another group of providers who can be on the list to get payments. We clearly are at an impasse and we need an overall budget. We passed one in May. Governor did not choose to amendatorily line-item veto it. He just vetoed it outright. We haven't seen any other budget bills presented by the Governor or the Republicans. We're trying now to make sure that human service agencies are not entirely decimated and put out of business because we are at a budget impasse.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Murphy.

To the bill, Madam President. And I -- I guess I -- I'm -- I'm baffled by it. The only thing that can explain this action in my mind right now is there's pressure building in your districts and people want to see that you're actually doing something. That's the only thing that makes any sense here at all. 'Cause this is Groundhog Day. This -- this is actually a two billion dollar richer Groundhog Day. This has already been tried and the money isn't there. And we've had this conversation over and over again. Just appropriating money that isn't there, it isn't giving comfort to people. It's leading them down a path, because somebody is not going to get the money. This doesn't change the fact that we're going to have thirty-two to thirty-three billion in revenue. Doesn't change it at all. Just adds a few more billion of people 23  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 who think they're going to get paid - but aren't. We tried the "just raise taxes and don't really cut anything" approach in 2011. Saw the largest spike in unemployment of any state in the country. It didn't get rid of the deficit like you said it would. We have to do things differently. We've been saying this since we're blue in the face all spring. I think some of you understand it, which is what makes this so frustrating, that you're just going to go back and revert to more tax and spend without any reform when you saw that didn't work. The Governor came in in good faith, and continues to this day in good faith, to offer to be willing to talk about the revenue necessary to fund priorities as you see them in exchange for reforms that can make us more competitive, make more job growth possible here, and bring the overall cost of doing business for governments in Illinois and businesses in Illinois lower. But so far there has been no ability whatsoever, despite, frankly, I think the best intentions of your caucus, because the Speaker still rules the roost. There has been zero - zero - progress because the -- the Speaker's version of compromise is, "No, I don't meet you in the middle; you capitulate completely to me." And, of course, you all know that 'cause you've lived with him for all these years. The Governor is working in good faith to try to resolve this. I think you are too. I don't know how this fits into it, but I do think you are too. We're going to get somewhere when we finally get reforms that can bring the cost of doing business down and get the Governor on board with a budget. But continuing to put this out so you can go home and tell people you did something for 'em, when everyone in this room knows you didn't do a thing with this bill, is cynical politics. May make you feel good on the ride home, but it doesn't do anything for the 24  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 people back home you say you're down here helping. Please, let's -- let's get back to the drawing board, get serious about reform, and stop playing these games, 'cause they aren't helping anybody. I urge a No vote.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Well, Senator, you sure are being punked. You lit up the board. Thanks. Senator Biss, for what purpose do you rise?

To speak, without using the word "punked", to the bill, Madam President.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Please punk 'em.

So I rise this afternoon as someone who did not vote for the budget that the General Assembly passed back in May. And that was a tough call, reasonable people could have disagreed, but my view was that budget wasn't in balance and I thought we could do better. I thought we should try to do better and so I didn't vote for it. Then the budget was vetoed. Nobody asked my opinion about whether that should happen. I personally disagreed with that decision, but you could sort of understand why that happened as well. Right? The -- the feeling was, hey, that budget was out of balance; we're going to just scrap it, start again, and wait till we can get to a balanced budget. You can imagine a person coming to that conclusion and saying we should have a balanced budget or no budget. But -- so now we're sitting here on September 9th and I guess we don't have a budget, but money's going out the door, as we all know, but I think we should maybe focus on it a little bit because it's incredible. Even though we don't have a budget, more 25  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 money's going out the door than is coming in the door. The bill backlog is increasing. The State is kind of on autopilot as the Governor's budget director said in committee yesterday. That ship's sailed. There isn't a shutdown. There isn't a create the conditions where people understand what government means and what its absence means and use that as pressure to pass a budget. There's just autopilot, moving on, deficit mounting, debt mounting, except some people are being left behind and they're being hurt - badly. We spent the last two days in the Human Services Committee hearing testimony about the human consequences of what is not currently authorized as a consequence of either continuing appropriations, the one budget bill that was signed, court orders or consent decrees. And those human consequences would curdle your blood. So is this situation -- this bill before us the best possible situation? No - of course not. We should pass a balanced budget in a way that's sustainable and funds our priorities and has adequate revenue to do that. Of course, we should do that. But I don't see a bill that's going to do that today. I see this bill. And this bill doesn't change the status quo of us not having a sustainable budget. It doesn't change the status quo of us having more money go out the door than comes in. What it changes is the fact that there is an important slice of the most vulnerable citizens in Illinois who are being harmed viciously for no reason while we fight about it. And this bill has the opportunity to slow that down - not to solve the long-term budget problem, but to allow money to start going out the door to those service providers to help the people they serve so that we don't have the tragic consequences that otherwise will happen as the human service infrastructure of Illinois begins to dissolve 26  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 this month. That's what this bill does. I have to say I'm -- I don't often say this, but the person on that side of the aisle who's made the most sense so far today comes from Lebanon and what he said that I found very compelling was, hey, we got a big budget problem here, and it's not my fault, it's not your fault, it's not one branches fault, it's not one Chamber's fault - it's all of our fault. It's all of our fault. Let's cut the self-righteousness. Let's all look inside of ourselves. Let's recommit ourselves to sitting down and working this out, solving it. Solving it in a way that's sustainable, that has adequate revenue to fund the priorities we need to fund. Let's do that quickly. Let's do it effectively. Let's do it constructively. Let's do it well. But until we get there, let's not hurt people for no reason. Today we should vote Aye.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Nybo, for what purpose do you rise?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) To the bill, Senator.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Thank you, Senator. Senator Hastings, for what purpose do you rise?

To the bill, Madam President.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) To the bill, Senator.

Just want to bring your attention to a part of the bill that funds DHS and some of the programs involved, and early intervention is one of 'em. And I've received a lot of phone calls to my office from some very special people who treat kids who have developmental disabilities as they move forward. They can't speak as fast as other children. Laurie Daniels, Melissa Merino, and JoAnn Serio - these are angels in our community that provide services to these children that allow them to become competitive when they go to 28  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 school. So I just want to say thanks. And this appropriation would appropriate money to them and to a bunch of numerous other services that are well needed in the south suburbs. But maybe I'm being punked, because I see previous speakers voting on bills, like the one previous, House Bill 1, that authorized to spend money. I see the Governor spending money on various State fairs and spending money on other things that they want to see fit because that's maybe what their priority is. So I just want to urge people on the other side of the aisle stop being hypocritical about what we can spend money on and what we can't, 'cause there's a lot more important areas to spend money on outside of the State fair, like early intervention, so that people like Laurie Daniels, Melissa Merino, and JoAnn Serio don't have to worry about whether or not they're going to get paid, whether or not they can continue treatment to these kids who really need it. So I urge an Aye vote. Thank you, Madam President.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Righter, for what purpose do you rise?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) She indicates she will. Senator Righter.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Steans.

29  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 No. The GRF appropriation in the bill's about 1.8 billion and there's about 2.8 -- 2.0 billion in other State funds being appropriated.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Righter.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Steans.

Yeah, about a billion in other State funds is for payout of prizes, more that will likely be spent, but about a billion in other State funds. So that -- that's generally. That's at the level that we had passed in the May budget. Generally, we over- appropriate in lottery prizes just to ensure we have the appropriation authority to make those awards as they come in. It's about a billion dollars in other State funds for lottery prizes. And we're concerned - you know, lottery brings in about eight hundred million in revenue to the State - that if people aren't getting paid out in prizes, that people will stop buying tickets.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Righter.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Steans. 30  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015

The lottery revenue that comes in helps support education primarily. I certainly don't think we want to discourage the revenues and people continuing to buy lottery tickets and not have the dollars then available to make payments to our schools that are supported by it.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Righter.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Yes, please, to the bill, Senator.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Sullivan, for what purpose do you rise?

Thank you, Madam President. I'd like to speak to the bill, please.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Yes, please, Senator, to the bill.

Thank you. First of all, I want to echo several of the comments that have been made today about the fact that we need a balanced fiscal year budget. There's no question about it. The way that we're going about it, trying to put this together a piece at a time, it's -- it's not perfect, not by any means, not by any 32  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 stretch of the imagination, but we're trying to move - to use a metaphor - we're trying to move the ball forward here. We're trying to -- we're trying to get to a place where we can finally have those discussion {sic}. That's why I compliment Senator Steans for bringing this legislation to the Floor. First of all, we've -- I'm not going to speak to the human services part of this legislation because several others have already and we've all heard from our human service providers. I do want to speak to the -- I hope that many of you have also heard from your county and township road districts. Because in this bill, there is an appropriation of five hundred and eighty-two million from the Motor Fuel Tax disbursements to go to local units of government. I want everybody to understand that that money is - currently every time you fill your car up with fuel, a portion of that price at the pump goes into a fund, into the Motor Fuel Tax Fund - that money is being collected as we sit here today. That money is growing in that fund. That money cannot be used for anything else except to go to maintain our roads. Our local townships and county units of governments are sitting there; they are not receiving that money, even though it's sitting in a fund. It's all distributed by a formula. It's not going to be used somewhere else. It's sitting there. This money needs to be sent out to these road districts because we're losing - guess what? - we're losing a construction season here. I've had numerous calls from my township road commissioners saying we want to -- you spend this money. We know we're -- we hope we're going to get this money, but we need to put the supplies and the services and maintain our roads, we need to be doing that right now. We can't wait until its November or December or January, because obviously we've lost that 33  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 construction season. So that is a very important part of this legislation and -- and another reason why we should be supporting it. Lastly, several people have commented about the lottery. The last time I knew -- I looked at these numbers, the lottery generated six hundred million dollars for education. That money goes to education. Six -- it nets six hundred million dollars. If we stop paying the winners for their prizes, they're going to stop -- playing the lottery, and that's going to be counterintuitive to the money that comes and gets used for education. The last thing that I want to say is - Governor, I hope you're listening - it's time to bring the four caucuses together and sit down and have a discussion about this budget. It's gone on too long. Show some leadership, bring everybody together, bring 'em down, sit down, and let's work this out. If you're not hearing this from your constituents, like I'm hearing from mine, Ladies and Gentlemen, you're not listening. We need to find a long-term budget solution. Let's sit down, let's do that, and let's do it right now.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Kotowski, for what purpose do you rise?

Thank you very much. Just a couple of reasons why I think it's important to move forward on this legislation: I think it - - it sends a very strong signal that we're not going to be governing by court order or consent decree. We have an appropriation process. And that appropriation process, when you add it up, based on what the Governor signed into law and based on the continuing appropriation, is about fourteen billion dollars, fourteen billion of the thirty-three billion which was projected to be available to 34  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 spend. Fourteen billion dollars. One of our colleagues pointed out the fact that we are spending money. We're not spending money. The Governor's spending money right now. He's spending money. He's making decisions to spend money. These court orders and consent decrees do not require a specific appropriation. We have an appropriation bill before us right now which would allow for the funding of programs for developmental disabilities, for autism, for people with special needs, to help eventually fund education, as the previous speaker talked about. But this is about taking back control from the courts and these consent decrees and doing what we need to do and following through on the appropriations process. We passed bills in May, appropriations bills. The Governor could have made a decision to spend or not spend. He decided to veto it outright. That was his decision. But there's a slight difference of opinion here, and some would call it major. There is spending that's going out the door independent of an appropriation. We are building a budget piece by piece. We did it a couple weeks ago with MAP dollars for students so they could go to school. We have an appropriation here for human services. We are building it piece by piece, independent -- independent of an overall budget. So I would rise in support of this, because it gets us to about fourteen billion right now. We're moving forward and we will continue to do. And I look forward to having more items of legislation to vote like this in the future. Thank you.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Raoul, for what purpose do you rise?

First, Madam President, to apologize to you for rising twice 35  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 today. But since I came down here instead of going to New York, I'm going to speak.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Speak, Senator. To the bill.

I'm -- I'm -- I'm going to cut it short by saying what he said, he said, he said, some of what he said. The part that I'm going to disagree about what he said is the characterization of garbage. Child care services, autism, services for homeless, epilepsy, homeless youth services - it's not garbage. The part I'll agree about is that we should be sitting down on a bipartisan basis talking about the budget and just the budget, not Scott Walker's turnaround plan - just the budget. Not redistricting that's not going to take place -- years from now - just the budget. Not term limits that has nothing to do -- has no fiscal impact - just the budget. And the hypocrisy in here is deafening, if I'm not. I look at the roll call, as Senator Hastings did, and the previous speaker that talked about we -- we shouldn't be spending money we don't have, just minutes ago voted to do just that, because it impacted his community. We'll there's things in here that impact mine. So let's sit down, let's talk - let's not talk about all that other garbage - let's talk about the budget.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Oberweis, for what purpose do you rise?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) To the bill, Senator?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) To the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Lee Milner, Illinois Times, requests permission to take photos. Leave is granted. Senator Bivins, for what purpose do you rise?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) To the bill, Senator.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) 37  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 Thank you, Senator. Senator Steans, to close.

Well, I -- I appreciate the conservation we're having here. And I think the thing that everyone in this Chamber agrees to is that this is no way to run the ship. The last time the Governor has had the four Leaders sitting down in a meeting is May. Pause on that, folks. They haven't met for months. And what is that about? That ain't leadership. This is not the way to run the ship. We should not be passing piecemeal budgets like this. This is what we're left to because we don't have conversations even, dialogue even going on in this Capitol building. It's appalling. We are not doing our job. Every day I'm hearing from human services providers that they are closing down, shutting doors, not providing services. Many of these, by the way, have contracts; they're just not getting paid. Governor's making payments to fund State fairs, but contracts that he's let aren't getting paid. We're not doing our jobs if we don't at least provide the appropriation authority to put these human service providers in the queue to be able to make some payments to them. It's not right. We ask them to do these services, yet we're not appropriating the dollars to get to them. We need to make some really hard decisions under this dome, and it's not going to happen if we don't actually have people sitting down and talking together. It's appalling. So, in the absence of that, we're going to make sure our whole human service infrastructure is not decimated. I think that's something we should be standing up and taking a strong stance to do. This is anything but garbage. It is providing services to the neediest. Child care providers - I'm sure every single person here has child care providers in their districts that are closing down. We heard 38  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 today about foster families are going to have to close down because they rely on child care provider dollars to get funding. Human service providers who take care of our seniors and our neediest, they are not getting paid. The largest part of these dollars in this budget are going to provide community care programs to seniors in their homes. They're not getting paid. They're going to stop getting those services. On and on the list goes, anything but garbage. We need to make sure our infrastructure for human service agencies is maintained. Ultimately, we need to actually have dialogue going on here, getting to an overall budget agreement. I would certainly urge folks to have those dialogues and conversations. In the interim, I certainly urge an Aye vote on this budget. Thank you very much.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) The question is, shall Senate Bill 2046 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 36 voting Yea, 19 voting Nay, 0 voting Present. Senate Bill 2046, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Please remain on page 3 on the Senate Calendar, page 3, for Senate Bill 163. Senator Silverstein. The gentleman indicates he wish to proceed. Senator Silverstein seeks leave of the Body to return Senate Bill 163 to the Order of 2nd Reading. Leave is granted. On the Order of 2nd Reading is Senate Bill 163. Mr. Secretary, are there any Floor amendments approved for consideration?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) 39  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 Senator Silverstein.

Thank you, and something a little more exciting than last bill. This amends the Probate Act to remove the ability of a petitioner to request the appearance of a person with whom the petitioner believes may be liable to the estate pursuant to any civil action. We did pass a bill last -- last Session allowing this, but apparently some of the judges in Cook County and others have stated it's unconstitutional. So we're just going back to where it was before. So this is a do-over. I'll take any questions.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall -- 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?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) 3rd Reading. Now on the Order of 3rd Reading is Senate Bill 163. Senator Silverstein. Mr. Secretary. The sponsorship has been changed to Senator Silverstein. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Silverstein. 40  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015

Again, this is as I said. I explained the bill when we adopted -- the amendment we adopted became the bill. It's just a -- a redo of what we did before. We're just going back in time so there's no constitutional problems and I ask for a favorable Aye vote.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall Senate Bill 163 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 56 voting Yea, 0 voting Nay, 0 voting Present. Senate Bill 163, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate, please direct your attentions to the Supplemental Calendar No. 1, the Supplemental Calendar No. 1, on the order of Senate Bill 1854. Senate Bill 1854. Senator Link. On the Supplemental Calendar No. 1. He indicates he wish to proceed. Please read the gentleman's bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Link.

Thank you, Madam President. This override is -- I'm still trying to figure out why it was vetoed. But in this case, it's allowing local North Shore Water Reclamation District trustees to 41  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 raise their own pay. It would take it out of our hands. And then on -- on top of that, we switched it to a four-fifths vote. So, you know, I am sure every -- all those on the other side would like this to be here the same way. But we have a four-fifths vote to pass any type of raises that they would want. But, also, this thing passed out of here 54 to nothing out of the Senate and I see no difference with the bill today. I would ask for an affirmative vote.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall Senate Bill 1854 pass, notwithstanding the specific recommendations of the Governor. 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 37 voting Yea, 16 voting Nay, 0 voting Present. Senate Bill 1854, having received the required three-fifths constitutional majority, is declared passed, notwithstanding the specific recommendations of the Governor. Senator Muñoz, for what purpose do you rise? SENATOR MUÑOZ: Thank you, Madam President. Point of personal privilege.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Please state your point, Senator. SENATOR MUÑOZ: Thank you, Madam President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. I have an individual here with me, standing here next to me on my left here in the Senate Chambers. He is retiring after twenty-eight years of service as a State Trooper, full-bird Colonel Zerbonia. I know we always have people here when we acknowledge 42  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 'em -- some of 'em when they pass and, you know, it's -- now it's good when we have someone here that's retiring with full honors, accomplished full colonel and as a State Trooper. I'd like for you to welcome him. But before we do that, he has another good friend, Senator Harris. Napoleon will say a few words, if -- if you'll let him, please, Madam President. He is…

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator… SENATOR MUÑOZ: He is also the Assistant Adjutant General for the Army here at Camp Lincoln. He has been in the military for thirty-two years, a Brigadier General, which is a one star general. So not only did he do a service here in the State of Illinois as a trooper, but also for our great country. It's my honor and pleasure to have him on the Senate Floor. And now I will turn it over to my colleague.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Harris.

Thank you, Madam President. Today is a special day, as we honor retiring Colonel Z, who's done exemplary work here in the great State of Illinois and also serving our country. He's had tremendous tours of duty. He was in Iraq. I can't name all of 'em, he was in so many. He was -- he's been there for thirty-two years. He was over in Afghanistan and the list goes on and on. But when you look at his record of service, as far as being in the Army, as well as his service here at the State Police, his record has been superb. And on another note, what makes him exceptional is the fact that he's also a bigtime Oakland Raiders fan. And 43  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 when I first got here, he was one of the first people to come -- to come and greet me and welcome me here with open arms. And I just want to say, Colonel Z, thank you for your service to the United States and thank you for your service here in the great State of Illinois, and we wish you nothing but the best. Everyone, would you please stand and rise with me and my colleague Senator Muñoz in giving a congratulatory welcome to Colonel Z for his outstanding tenure in the State of Illinois.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Thank you for all your service to the State of Illinois and to the United States of America. Thank you. On the Order of 3rd Readings on the Supplemental Calendar -- on -- on the Order of Motions, excuse me, Order of Motions in Writing to Override the Total Veto of the Governor, please direct your attentions to Senate Bill 763. Senator Sandoval. He indicates he wish to proceed. Please read the gentleman's motion.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Senator Sandoval.

Thank you, Madam President. In the spirit of efficiency and expediency this evening, I'd like to override the Governor's veto of Senate Bill 763. This is a matter that was tailored to a specific municipality in my district, the Village of Bedford Park, and it's simply just to give a equal footing and benefits to police and firefighters that were left out of a certain retirement 44  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 66th Legislative Day 9/9/2015 program. I'd ask a favorable vote. This passed out of both Chambers unanimously.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall Senate Bill 763 pass, notwithstanding the veto of the Governor. 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 42 voting Yea, 10 voting Nay, 0 voting Present. Senate Bill 763, having received the required three-fifths majority, is declared passed, notwithstanding the veto of the Governor. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate, we will now proceed to the Order of Resolutions Consent Calendar. With leave of the Body, all those resolutions read in today will be added to the Consent Calendar. Mr. Secretary, have there been any objections filed to any resolutions on the Consent Calendar?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LIGHTFORD) Is there any discussion? If not, the question is, shall the resolutions on the Consent Calendar be adopted. All those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it. The motion carries, and the resolutions are adopted. There being no further business to come before the Senate, pursuant to the House Joint Resolution 85, the Senate stands adjourned until the 6th day of October 2015, or the call of the President. The Senate stands -- October 6th. The Senate stands adjourned. 45