Illinois Senate Floor Debate — March 17, 2016

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Regular Session of the 99th General Assembly will please come to order. Will the Members please be at their desks? Will our guests in the galleries please rise? The invocation today will be given by Pastor Beth Wagner, First Presbyterian Church of Springfield, Illinois. Pastor.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Thank you, Pastor. Pledge of Allegiance. Senator Cunningham.

(Pledge of Allegiance, led by Senator Cunningham)

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Mr. Secretary, Reading and Approval of the Journal.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Hunter.

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

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Hunter moves the approval of the Journals just read by the Secretary. There being no objection, so ordered. Mr. Secretary, Reading and Approval of the Journal.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) 1  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 Senator Hunter.

Mr. President…(microphone cutoff)…postpone the reading and approval of the Journal just read by the Secretary, pending arrival of the printed transcript.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Hunter moves to postpone the reading and approval of the Journal, pending arrival of the printed transcripts. There being no objection, so ordered. Mr. Secretary, Resolutions.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Resolutions Consent Calendar.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Introduction of Senate Bills.

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

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Lee Milner, Illinois Times, requests permission to take photos. James Carder, Bluestream.com {sic} (Blueroomstream.com), requests permission to the videotape. Ed Cross, WAND, requests permission to videotape. Seth Perlman, Associated Press, requests permission to take photos. Sherrie Phillips {sic} (Phipps), WICS, requests permission to videotape. There being no objection, leave is granted for all. Senator Holmes, for what purpose do you seek 3  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 recognition?

If I can get these two tall men to move, I would request a point of personal privilege.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Please proceed, Senator.

I want to have us all wish a very happy birthday to one of my dearest friends here on the Senate Floor. Senator Melinda Bush will be turning -- wait a minute. This is one of these milestone birthdays. And she's going to love me for announcing this on the Floor. She's turning sixty tomorrow, which you can't tell by looking at her. So let's wish her a very, very happy birthday, my dear friend.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Happy birthday, Senator. Wish you many more. If all Members would report to the Senate Floor. We will be taking Floor action shortly. Soon as we can get the Floor action done, we can all be on our way. Please report to the Senate Floor. 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 come to the President's room -- Anteroom immediately. The Senate will stand at ease. (at ease) Mr. Secretary, Committee Reports.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Will all Senators please come to the Floor? We will be going to final action in two minutes. Senator Cunningham, for what purpose do you seek recognition?

A point of personal privilege, Mr. President.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Please proceed, Senator.

Mr. President, I would like to welcome a group of constituents to the gallery that've joined us here today. It's a group of students from the Chicago High School of (for) Agricultural Sciences in my district. They're here with their Principal Bill Hook. Joining him is Andrew Peterson, Amer Shalabi, Nicholas Graves, Estefania Martinez, and Destiney Cooper. They're in the President's Gallery. If they could stand and if the Chamber could give them a warm welcome to Springfield, please.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Will our guests in the -- gallery please rise? Welcome to the Senate. Senator Murphy, for what purpose do you seek recognition?

Point of personal privilege, Mr. President.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Please proceed, Senator.

I'd like to welcome the Fremd High School Debate Team and their Head Coach Martin Zacharia here. They are in the Republican 5  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 gallery. They're going to be competing next weekend in the IHSA State Debate Tournament. I think fortunately for us they're up there instead of down here. But I would appreciate it if everybody would please give a warm Senate welcome to the Fremd Debate Team. Thank you all for being here.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Will our guests in the gallery please rise? Congratulations and welcome to the Senate. Senator Sullivan, for what purpose do you seek recognition?

Thank you, Mr. President. A point of personal privilege.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Please proceed, Senator.

Thank you. Ladies and Gentlemen, as you all know, today is St. Patrick's Day and, of course, that means that it's time or very -- getting very close to the time for the 14th Annual Sullivan Caucus St. Patrick's Day Celebration - which normally we would have done it this week, but, of course, the House is not here. So we're going to do it when we come back and it is on Wednesday, April the 6th, at Floyd's here in town. And Representative Eddie Sullivan and myself and many of the other Sullivans around the Capitol here are hosting this, and make sure you mark -- mark it on your calendars. We hope to see you on April the 6th. Thank you.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) We will now proceed -- final action. On the Calendar, page 6, 2160. Senate Bill 2160. Senator Sullivan. Indicates he wishes to proceed. Mr. Secretary, read the bill. 6  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Sullivan.

Thank you, Mr. President, Members of the General Assembly here. This is -- under current law, a land owner can put a filter strip around the edge of a field where it's subject to erosion, and -- and if they do that -- as an incentive to do that, there will be an reduced assessment -- assessed valuation on that strip of land. And this has been in place for a number of years. And all this legislation does is that -- that legislation sunsets at the end of this year and we extend it till December 31st of 2026. Be more than happy to answer any questions. I -- I know of no opponents.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Is there any discussion? Any discussion? There being none, the question is, shall Senate Bill 2160 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 Aye, 0 voting Nay, 0 voting Present. Senate Bill 2160, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. We'll now proceed to Calendar, page 10, on the top, House Bills 3rd Reading, final action. 5913. Senator Harmon. Indicates he wishes to proceed. Mr. Secretary, read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Harmon.

Thank you, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. House Bill 5913 amends the Plumbing Licensing {sic} (License) Law and codifies the existing rules today relating to continuing education for plumbers. I'd be happy to answer any of your questions.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Is there any discussion? Any discussion? There being none, the question is, shall House Bill 5913 pass. Leader Radogno, for what purpose do you seek recognition?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Sponsor indicates he will yield.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Harmon.

Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Leader, for your -- your question. Yes. This codifies in statute the existing rules relating to plumbing continuing education, which requires the 8  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 course to be supervised by a licensed plumber.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Leader Radogno.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Harmon.

Thank you, Mr. President. Codifying the existing rules would maintain the status quo. It would preclude future rule making inconsistent with the statute. And in -- in the specific case you mentioned, yes, it would -- it would preclude an architect or an engineer from teaching a plumbing continuing education course. And in conversations, I did ask the architects if they would like plumbers to teach architectural continuing education and they didn't seem to be too excited about that prospect. So it struck me as a fair and reasonable way to deal with this.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Leader Radogno.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Harmon.

It would require a licensed plumber to be the supervisor of the course.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) 9  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 Leader Radogno.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Harmon.

Thank you, Mr. President. Senator, to your point, I think you misunderstood the bill. The existing practices would be codified by the bill. And I agree with you one hundred percent, they are working just fine. There's no need to change it to a different model, whether by administrative rule or by statute. So I hope you'd reconsider and urge an Aye vote since this bill does exactly what you just urged us to -- to do. This maintains the status quo of the practice that's been working.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Leader Radogno.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Righter, for what purpose do you seek recognition?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Sponsor indicates he will yield.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Harmon.

Thank you, Mr. President. Under the rules today, as they exist and as I propose to codify them, each instructor participating in the program shall be considered qualified if they meet the requirements, including the instructor's a -- Illinois licensed plumber.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Righter.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Harmon.

Thank you, Mr. President. I recognize that we can have fun with line drawing. I would say a plumber who retired twenty years ago may well not be versed in the current practices or the requirements, eighteen months ago maybe not, but if that person wishes to continue to -- to be teaching continuing education of plumbers, he or she could simply maintain their license. It's a question of line drawing. I think it's appropriate to draw the line at licensed plumbers.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Righter.

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

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Harmon, to close.

Thank you, Mr. President. I -- I -- I really appreciate the consistency and the -- all the speeches I've heard about protecting executive prerogative today that were issued by the same folks two years ago. This is just a question of delegation of authority. We in the General Assembly pass statutes. We delegate to the agencies the rule-making authority to implement them, but we draw the lines. We determine what is appropriate for statute and what is appropriate to delegate to rule making. It is my judgment, and I hope it's the judgement of a majority of this Chamber, that this item is an appropriate question for statute. We'll still be delegating rule-making authority. We're just constraining some of the elements of that rule-making authority. It's no big deal. I ask for your Aye votes.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) The question is, shall House Bill 5913 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 Aye, 13 voting Nay, 0 voting Present. House Bill 5913, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 2059. Senate Bill 2059. President Cullerton, do you wish to proceed? President Cullerton seeks leave of the Body to return Senate Bill 2059 to the Order of 2nd Reading. Leave is granted. On the Order of 2nd Reading is Senate Bill 2059. Mr. Secretary, are there any Floor amendments approved for consideration? 13  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Steans will be speaking on the amendment. Senator.

No. 2. We -- we do not want to adopted Amendment No. 1. We want Amendment No. 2.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) There any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Steans, on Amendment 2.

Yes, we'd like to adopt this and I'll discuss it on 3rd.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Is there any discussion? There being none, all those in favor, 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 MUÑOZ) 3rd Reading. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Steans.

Yes, thank you, Mr. President, Members of the Senate. This bill, as amended, is an -- is an appropriation bill to a number of different agencies, totaling 3.8 billion in all funds, 3.1 billion in GRF. It's very similar to the bill the House passed a couple of weeks ago. It makes a few additions to that, that I will just mention - for Lincoln's ChalleNGe; for mental health grants; for waste management grants; for re-enrollment of student programs in ICCB, as well as a training program in ICCB; the Poison (Control) Center in Department of Public Health; Adult Redeploy in ICJIA; operating grants to libraries under the Secretary of State; soil and water conservation districts in Department of Agriculture; some local tourism grants from DCEO; some payouts for unjust imprisonments for Court of Claims; a couple of programs in DCEO and IDOT, including Amtrak and Latino Family Commission, as well the African American Family Commission and job training in DCEO; some grants -- lump sum grants in the Board of Higher Education and some for prostate cancer, Department of Public Health; and the Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois, which does surveys on weather and other geological issues; and student assessments at the State Board of Education. Again, this is continuing to give appropriation authority for a number of programs now that have been not eligible to get any funding in this point in time. So giving the appropriation authority now will enable these programs to get in the queue that -- so the Comptroller can in fact, when dollars are available, actually help fund these programs that are not part of any court order or have not gotten 15  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 any appropriation authority to date. I very much encourage an Aye vote so that we can ensure that places like the universities, all of our social service agencies right now who have signed contracts that are not able to actually get any payments to them, MAP grants, and numerous other programs are actually able to get paid with appropriation authority. Again, the Comptroller, as she said this morning in our committee meeting, acknowledged that there's no legal authority for her to make any of these payments. We want them to be able to be eligible and in the queue. Urge an Aye vote.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? There -- Senator Rose, for what purpose do you seek recognition?

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

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Trotter, for what purpose do you seek recognition?

Thank you very much, Mr. President. To the bill. 17  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016

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

Seemingly, at least to me, I was in a different meeting this morning in Appropriations II when the Comptroller, I think, clearly stated, because she was asked a couple of times to be clear, that in fact if -- nobody gets paid if they're not in the line, no matter what. So you have to be in line to get paid. And I think she was equally as clear when she stated right after that, that even if you're at the back of the line - so it's not first in, first paid - if there are smaller bills, smaller bills will get paid. So, like those dollars that would go to the homeless, those dollars -- that's seven million dollars we'll pay folks. So -- and it's feasible to think that the 6.7 million dollars for sexual assault programs will get paid for. That's what she said this morning - at least that was the meeting I was in - when she was talking about how the bills would get paid. But she was absolutely clear, clear, and I want everyone here to be clear, that you won't get paid, bank closed or open, if you're not in line. This gives the authorization to the Governor {sic}, when we have dollars coming in at whatever level, that, in fact, you will get paid. It's no different if there's a class action suit. They're saying, we give you a month to sign up, but if you don't sign up, you're not going to be part of the action. This is giving these unfunded programs, the thirteen million dollars for afterschool programs, giving them at least a chance when -- once the other side stops changing the dialog of committees and the Governor starts paying for something that he says he's going to pay for. Because if they're talking about all the time -- or the Governor is talking, 18  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 maybe not you guys, all the time, then why does the Governor continue to -- to make contracts, like he just did with Amtrak, promising them that they'll get paid. You can't sign contracts, promising people that they're going to be part of the great things this State has to offer, if you don't anticipate some money's coming in. So this -- this always what we're keeping is gloom and doom about things not happening is crazy. We also did -- well, one, in the same meeting, we heard from the U of I, as pointed out by the last speaker, and the U of I has signed on to this bill, because they know they're part of that ten percent that the courts, who said through court decision -- or -- or consent decree, said they had to get paid. They're part of that ten percent that wasn't paid. So they're saying put me in that line. The president was -- was very dogmatic, very adamant, "put me in that line", and so did the other eight presidents of the universities throughout our great State. But he was also clear even on that: We won't be a great State any longer if, in fact, we don't fund these things that make us great, and that is educating our children so they're prepared to be competitive in this global society. So, again, it -- it seems like we go to different meetings sometimes, even when you ask for clarity of the individual and they respond two or three times that, no, you must be in line to get paid. You must be in -- in that queue to get paid, whenever it is. Now if -- if you're part of that Darwinist kind of mindset that seems to start permeating this -- this Chamber at -- on -- on certain -- through certain individuals that it's going to be survival of the fittest, that if we don't pay 'em, they just go away, if you're part of that thought process, then I guess you can change the dialog that goes on in these meetings that we have. So, this is a good bill 19  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 and, yes, it did add some things that were important. I don't know about some of you guys, but -- but thank you very much, Leader Steans, for putting money back in there for prostate cancer. That's something important to me. I think it's important to your neighbors and probably some of your relatives as well. These -- these -- these aren't just things that just happen in -- in -- in my neighborhood; it happens in all of our neighborhoods. Putting another twelve million dollars in there for developmental disability services, you know, for -- for dental grants, you know, those kinds of things - makes sense to me. Makes sense that we don't forget that ten percent of our budget has not been recognized up until this point -- by Leader Steans and by the rest of us, because we had input about what we think should be here. So, does it cost another billion dollars? Well, if that's what it takes for us to be great, then I'd say put another billion dollars on top of the three billion that is there, because I believe this State will become great again. This State must become -- live up to its potential and become the state that it can be in the United States and in this global economy. And I ask all for an Aye vote.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Murphy, for what purpose do you seek recognition?

Question of the sponsor, Mr. President.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Sponsor indicates she will yield.

Senator, I mean, what's a billion dollars between friends? You might as well throw another billion on because the three billion in this one is funny money anyway. Senator, my question 20  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 to you: Where is this money going to come from? We have thirty- two billion in revenue. We're on pace right now without a budget to be spending that much in revenue. This appropriates another three that we don't have. So, where's the money going to come from?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Steans.

Yeah, thank you for the question. So, this bill does not actually spend money, as you know. This is an appropriation bill. The General Assembly's role in this is that we appropriate funding so that the administration has the ability to spend it. It does -- all it does is simply give the ability to spend -- a wider range of options on what the Governor and the administration can choose to spend on. Spending is already happening, as we know. I think there's wide acknowledgement that ninety percent of the budget, without a budget, is going out the door through court orders - State -- paying State employees, paying things that are covered under the -- you know, DCFS under consent decrees, under the Department of Corrections under consent decrees, and so on and so forth. What this is saying is that added to those priorities should be other things that have not yet been covered by these consent decrees, things that, in fact, the administration has chosen to obligate. We heard from Secretary Dimas yesterday about at least eight hundred and twenty-six agencies, for example, that have signed contracts - these are non-profit agencies - have signed contracts, that they've been told they were going to get paid for, yet there's no legal ability for the Comptroller to pay those. In fact, what we heard from the Comptroller this morning is the agency 21  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 can't even send those bills to the Comptroller because there's no appropriation authority. This simply allows and gives the ability for those folks who have obligations due to them by signed contracts to send items over to the Comptroller and get in the queue for payment. There's a lot of choices that the Governor's going to have and the administration has in this if we pass it. If he doesn't want to spend all of this money on items, there -- they can -- he can go about doing amendatory vetoes to get it to a position where he thinks we can. Again, a lot of these things are obligations the -- the administration has already made. MAP grants. I think the expectation is that the universities are going to get some payment at some point. These are things that now can at least get in the queue and I think that's why we're seeing very widespread support for the bill from the folks who are actually owed these obligations.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Murphy.

Thank you, Mr. President. Senator Murphy, that was downright Kotowskiesque, what you just heard. So even though you never served with him, you just got a beautiful taste of it, because that -- that was nowhere near answering the question directly of where the money is going to come from. But I think you raise an interesting point when you say out here, very forthrightly, this just provides the authority to spend; it doesn't actually provide the money. Do you think the people that are saying they want this bill to pass are saying just give yourselves the appropriation authority, or do you think they think when you pass this that they're getting actual money? 22  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Steans.

So, I think you're conflating two different things on this. One is a revenue discussion - and I am very happy to have that discussion. I -- I think ultimately we all know that to get to a real, final, holistic budget, it's going to take some cuts and it's going to take some revenues, and I am happy to engage in that conversation at any point you want to actually have a conversation about revenue. What this is doing right now is saying, legal obligations that are out there can't even -- signed contracts - the administration themselves have signed these contracts - these non-profits now are owed dollars. We also heard from the Comptroller that all sorts of small businesses have signed contracts, providing services to Department of Corrections for example. These folks should not be at the -- being held hostage based on the fact that we aren't passing a budget to them. It's just not right. This simply provides the authority now to actually get those obligations that are due to folks in line in the queue and actually sent to the Comptroller. When we -- we know right now if we never do this, if we never give the appropriation authority, they can never actually get in the queue for those payments. This actually legally allows the Comptroller to get the payments in the queue to pay them ultimately.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Link in the Chair.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Murphy.

23  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 …Mr. President. We could certainly pass the appropriation authority when we find the money. I mean, they're not going to get this money any sooner for you passing this now than they would if we did it when -- if we passed this appropriation authority when the money was available, right?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Steans.

Yes, and we've also heard, however, that the Comptroller, in making decisions, takes into account when there's an extreme distress situation. And we know, we have been hearing about extreme distress situations all over the State. We heard from Eastern Illinois earlier on the fact that they have been laying off hundreds of employees. They don't know if they can make it through this year and certainly don't know what position they're going to be into to open their doors the next year. We've been hearing from non-profit organizations. Lutheran Social Services laying off seven hundred and fifty people. Around the State, places have been closing, and every day I get notice of somebody else who's at risk for closing. This allows those extreme distress situations to at least get addressed by the Comptroller. They cannot be right now.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Murphy.

Well, I -- that -- that poses another interesting question. If we're already seven billion, or whatever we are, in the hole - - so we have people in line to the tune of seven billion dollars already. So, if the -- the Comptroller is going to be expected, 24  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 with this authority, to pay some of the people in here and move them ahead in line, if you were the Comptroller, who would you prioritize that's in line now, in the seven billion, who would you move the people here in front of?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Steans.

So, again, I -- I -- everything -- nothing can actually ever get paid if there's not legal authority by the Comptroller to do it. This is truly, in my view, a tool for the administration. They've already been signing contracts, obligating these payments to be made. They can't actually live up to their contractual obligations right now in many circumstances because we don't actually have the legal appropriation authority to make good on those promises. This is yet a tool that can enable folks to actually live up on promises they've already made. Secretary Dimas himself acknowledged maybe he wouldn't have signed these contracts if he'd known nine months down the road we'd never have a budget. I don't think anyone foresaw getting ourselves into this situation, quite frankly. This is truly, I think, something that's just critically important to enable that. Now I would much prefer to have the overall budget discussion and talk revenue with you as well. And as I say, happy to do that any day, at any moment, and -- and will look forward to those conversations.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Murphy.

…bill, Mr. President.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 25  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 To the bill.

The -- you know, it's -- the impression everybody who's in this bill has is that this means they're going to get actual money. The conversation out here makes it crystal clear that the money isn't there to give them. When the money is there, we can pass this and they'll get the money just as quickly doing it later than doing it now. But there's -- this -- this -- what this really is about, and it's really transparent, is about being able to go home and tell people, "Hey, I voted to give you money." "I voted to give" -- you might say, "Oh, I voted to fund you." "I voted to appropriate you." You might use that cute turn of a phrase that people outside of this building aren't going to get. They think when you say "you can spend the money", that means you're actually going to give us the money. This is having it both ways. You get to say down here, "It's only appropriation authority", and you get to go back home and say, "Oh, I voted to fund you". But you know you didn't vote to fund them because the money's not there. And if you're saying, "go ahead and fund these people, fund them now", knowing there's seven billion -- dollars' worth of spending in front of them in line, at least have the courage and commitment to say who you want to see get cut in front of them. Or, there's always this plan: You could take the supermajorities in both Chambers, tell the Governor, "No, thank you, on your deal. We're not going to do any deal with you. We're going to use our supermajorities, pass the tax increase to fund to the spending level we want." You have the mathematical numbers to do it. You could do it. If you don't want to do it, then sit down and negotiate with the Governor to get something done. But this is 26  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 yet another political statement you're making that doesn't move the ball forward and really is a disingenuous thing to say to the people that are in this bill, 'cause they're not getting any money any sooner for this effort. Not one day sooner will they get paid for this effort, but you get to go home and try and convince people you actually did something when you didn't. Let's stop doing this and start actually addressing these problems in a comprehensive way. I believe you want to do that, Senator, but this gesture doesn't show that. I urge a No vote.

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

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill. Senator Muñoz, in the Chair.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Matt Porter, WCIA, requests permission to videotape. Sarah Mueller, WUIS, requests permission to photograph. There being no objection, leave is granted. Senator Sullivan, for what purpose do you seek recognition?

…you -- thank you, Mr. President. To the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) 28  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 To the bill.

You know, I wasn't going to get up and speak until I heard some of the previous speaker's comments on the other side of the aisle. But when -- when you asked the question to Senator Steans, "Where is the three billion dollars going to come from", I thought it was very ironic that you didn't ask Governor Rauner where the seven billion dollars for K-12 education was going to come from when he signed that bill. Did you ask that question? I didn't hear any of you asking that question. There wasn't anybody. As a matter of fact, when he ordered you to vote against it, which you all did, and then he signed it, what -- what - how do you figure that? What -- how does -- how does that make any rational sense at all, for you to stand up and make the comments that you did here today? Senator Steans and Senator Trotter have been very clear that this gives the authority for the spending when the time comes and it gives the Comptroller the ability to spend {sic} some of those bills on some of those smaller lines. One of the other previous speakers said that "We should all stay here in Springfield and work on the budget." Well, Ladies and Gentlemen and Governor Rauner and the Republicans, we are ready. We will stay here and work on this budget if you're ready to talk about the budget. That's what we need to be having the discussion about. We need to fix the budget. We can work on the other items when -- as time comes and when we're available to do it. But the budget, we will stay here as long as it takes to work on this budget. Thank you.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Righter, for what purpose do you seek recognition? Senator Righter, for what purpose do you seek recognition? 29  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Sponsor indicates she will yield.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) 30  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 Senator Steans.

I -- I have a couple comments on that. One, if we had made the amendment to the House bill, it would have had to gone back and been -- been through the same process -- the same timing, when they weren't there. It really makes no difference that we did it on a Senate bill versus amending the House bill and sending it back. Two, I find it very interesting that the university to which you are referring slipped in support of this bill. They would like us to pass this bill. And, finally, when we do do bills that are more narrowly focused, we hear nothing but, from your side of the aisle, that it's a piecemeal approach and we don't want to do that. Here we're trying address comprehensively what the outstanding issues are that have been getting obligated by the administration and trying to take care of them so that everybody is treated more equally and not doing it in a more piecemeal approach. That would be, you know, the way I think you could explain it to your constituents.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Righter.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) 31  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 To the bill, Senator.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Luechtefeld, for what purpose do you seek recognition?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Sponsor indicates she will yield.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Steans.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I haven't seen any suggestions for revenue. I've seen some suggestions about not paying back the four hundred and fifty-four million, or a portion 33  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 of that, that was swept out of funds and not repaying that. That's just -- that's just decreasing an expenditure that's due out there. That's not adding any revenue to the pot here that keeps getting spoken of. I'm very happy -- if there's ideas on revenue that you would like us to consider, I am all ears and truly eager to look at that.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Luechtefeld.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator McCarter, for what purpose do you seek recognition? SENATOR McCARTER: To the bill, please.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) To the bill, Senator. SENATOR McCARTER: 35  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 You know, I -- I had not planned on speaking to this bill. Actually, I had planned on speaking at another time. But what I was going to say is relevant, so -- you know, I -- I remember the last heated discussion we had over the education bill and -- and I lost track of how many times people said "Look in the mirror" and the other side said "You look in the mirror", another side said "You look in the mirror". And I understand, you know, that the -- the way to settle this is not just to -- to get along and, you know -- because we have differences. We have sincere differences as to how we think this should be solved. But I'll tell you, I'm -- I'm quite tired of people turning around in the middle of church, looking me in the eye, saying "When you gonna fix the budget?" I'm a little tired of going to the grocery store and people grabbing my cart and saying "When you gonna fix the budget?" And I'm a little tired of the political powers that we all try to keep happy so that we can all stay elected saying "You let us fix it. You stand by us and we'll take care of you." Well it's not working out too good for me. And so I think it's time that we do our job with -- without being as influenced by the political powers. And that's going to take effort on your part, our part. And I think if we just get closer, then we can say to the Governor "Here's are best effort" and give him the ability to fix the rest of it. And, you know, I've got a business partner that is -- sometimes can be hard to get along with. Lot of people don't like him. One of my best friends. We have differences. We go into the -- we go into a conference room, and everybody thinks we're going to kill each other, because we shout. We put it down on the table what we -- the way we -- we -- we think we should do it, and at the end of it, we come to an agreement and we go on. 36  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 And, you know, there could -- I'd rather have some sincere arguments, as long as they're sincere, about this and just get close. But I think throwing one overreached, you know, bill to the one side to the other side, it doesn't put me in a good position nor does it you. So if anybody wants to talk about an agreement to getting close, I'll talk about it. And, Senator, if you want to do it now, it's okay with me; I -- I tend to have a little more time on my hands. So I'm willing to do that, and if you'd like to get my cell phone number to do it over the break, we can do that as well. Thank you.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Koehler, for what purpose do you seek recognition?

Thank you, Mr. President. To the bill.

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

I -- just a brief comment, and I'm not -- not going to use the fire and brimstone of my colleague, Senator Sullivan. You're on fire, my friend. But I just do -- wanted to thank the -- the sponsor and everybody for including the soil and water conservation districts in this, because we had an AG day a few weeks ago and we had a lot of the FFA students and a lot of the soil and water conservation folks that came by and I think that, you know, they feel very much like they're being held hostage in this and that no one's paying attention. I mean, certainly, we have problems with education funding, we have problems with social services, and -- and those are -- are severe problems, but there's also problems that affect our rural areas and especially our ag areas. And -- 37  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 and -- and soil and water conservation is not a big glitzy program, but, I'll tell you, if you're from downstate Illinois, it's a pretty important program. And so I just wanted to thank you for including this and I just wanted to highlight that it does matter what happens to them and I want them to know that.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Steans, do you wish to close?

Thank you very much and I really appreciate all the conversation here on this bill. It is really important and we are -- I think we're not doing well by the State. I don't think it behooves us to do finger-pointing. I think it's all of our jobs to be trying to get to a -- a complete and meaningful budget resolution here. Little history lesson. There was some discussions about - which I take a little bit of personal offense to - that it was all our side and -- and us creating this mess. I mean, it -- share responsibility in all of this. You know, we have not done right on keeping our pension -- making our pension payments. That's everybody. You know, I certainly, since I have been here, never voted for not making full pension payments, but there are certainly folks here, well before me, on both sides of aisles, who were -- were involved in all this. There's a long history of not doing things the right way and we have been making a lot of progress towards getting things in order. We've been making changes to the pensions. We went to a two-tier system first. Then we did make changes for the current employees, which got struck down by the court. Certainly can't say we didn't take the tough -- tough votes. Many of us in this room, both sides of the aisle, participated in that. We have been making significant 38  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 reductions to all sorts of programmatic areas - really challenging. Medicaid - again, we did that jointly with everybody participating in that, which is really helpful when your side of the aisle actually does participate. It makes things -- I do think we get to better public policy and -- and can make things work better. We have closed numerous facilities around this State - prisons, juvenile detention facilities, State -- State-operated development centers, State psychiatric hospitals. We have been making painful cuts to human services, that I think now are limiting our ability to make further reforms, quite frankly. If we want to be able to further reduce prison populations, for example, and more deinstitutionalization, we have to maintain and -- preserve the capacity of our community service providers, which is one of the things this bill will do - will allow us not to completely decimate them, but keep them there to enable us to make those investments to provide long-term reforms, structural reform that we need to further bring down costs of operating State government. But if we don't have our mental health providers and our substance use providers, we're not going to be able to do that. We've also been changing and getting rid of those things that were the gimmicks we played historically here, things like making unpaid -- being able to take Medicaid liabilities and pay 'em out of next year's budget. We got rid of that ability to do it. On and on. We had gone, after the recession, to a high of nine billion dollars in backlog of bills down to three billion. Now, as we all hear, we're going to be up to ten billion dollars again, in just one year under the new administration. There's got to be some change and sense of ownership and responsibility in all of this here. We need more governing and a lot less political discussions going on. There 39  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 have been -- what this bill actually does - it's really important, I think, to really understand this - this does not change what our obligations will ultimately be in our backlog of bills. The Comptroller herself acknowledged that these unpaid bills right now are just sitting in the agencies. They just can't get moved over to the Comptroller right now to get in the queue to be paid. But these signed contracts, these MAP grants, these payments to higher education institutions, we all believe that they're ultimately going to get paid. They have no chance right now. And there was the discussion that we're giving a false impression of the payment. It's not false. They can't get paid right now. They can in fact and will in fact get paid if we give the appropriation authority there, because ultimately what's do them then can get sent over to the Comptroller. There may be a long wait, I acknowledge that. I believe we need more comprehensive change here in terms of not just dealing with cuts, also looking at revenue and reforms that make sense. I agree wholeheartedly we should do a procurement reform. I think there's discussions going on right now about that and I'm glad to hear that. Think there's other things we can do as well. I think it's important, however, before we decimate our higher education institutions here, before we decimate our community service providers - that we need as our partners and we're obligated to make good on those debts, those signed contracts we have outstanding to them - we need to get them in the queue so they can actually get paid and not continue to make the very real - what's happening now - very real hurt that we are imposing upon people across this State. It's just wrong, and we need to make sure they actually get in line and that we're taking care of it and doing the right thing. I urge an Aye vote and then I urge us 40  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 to stay and sit down and talk about everything else we should be doing. I'm happy to do that. I will look for your cell phone number. I would certainly encourage everyone here to do that as well. Thank you very much.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) The question is, shall Senate Bill 2059 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 39 voting Aye, 18 voting Nay, 0 voting Present. Senate Bill 2059, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. We'll now go on the Order of Senate Bills 2nd Reading. We are on page 3 of the Calendar, starting with 2605. Senator Emil Jones. Indicates he wishes to proceed. Mr. Secretary, read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Have there been any Floor amendments approved for consideration?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) 3rd Reading. Senate Bill 2611. Senator Jones. Indicates he wishes to proceed. Mr. Secretary, read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Have there been any Floor amendments approved for consideration?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) 3rd Reading. Senate Bill 2734. Senator Althoff. Indicates she wishes to proceed. Mr. Secretary, read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) 3rd Reading. Senate Bill 2746. Senator Bush. Out of the record. Senate Bill 2782. Senator Link. Indicates he wishes to proceed. Mr. Secretary, read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) 3rd Reading. Senate Bill 2789. Leader Radogno. Out of the record. Senate Bill 2790. Senator Forby. Indicates he wishes to proceed. Mr. Secretary, read the bill. 42  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) 3rd Reading. Senate Bill 2845. Senator Silverstein. Out of the record. Senate Bill 2861. Senator Hastings. Indicates he wishes to proceed. Mr. Secretary, read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) 3rd Reading. Senate Bill 2875. Senator Nybo. Senator Nybo. Out of the record. Senate Bill 2908. Senator Stadelman. Indicates he wishes to proceed. Mr. Secretary, read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) 3rd Reading. Senate Bill 2924. Senator Hutchinson. Indicates she wishes to proceed. Mr. Secretary, read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) 3rd Reading. We will now go to page 10 for Resolutions. First, Senate Resolution 1613. Senator Harmon. Indicates he wishes to proceed. Mr. Secretary, read the resolution.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Harmon.

Thank you, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. Senate Resolution 1613 designates March as Poison Prevention Month in Illinois. I move for its adoption.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Is there any discussion? Any discussion? Senator Trotter, for what purpose do you seek recognition? Not on the resolution. There being no discussion on the resolution, the question is, shall Senate Resolution 1613 pass. All those in favor will vote {sic} Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it, and the resolution is adopted. Senator Trotter, for what purpose do you seek recognition?

It's a personal privilege.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Please proceed.

Thank you very much, Mr. President, Members of the Senate. I want to just take this opportunity to just say some things about 44  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 a friend of mine, Henry English. Henry English -- Henry English we buried yesterday. Henry was one of those warriors, one of those pillars of the community. He was a tall man. He was about six- three. So he certainly stood tall and did a lot of heavy lifting in our community. For forty-five years, Henry got involved in not only the social activism of the community, but he was a leader in health care, education, and fund development. He believed in self- determination. He believed that our community can do better if we did better amongst ourselves. So -- so Henry went on and became the President and CEO of the -- the Black United Fund of Illinois, which promoted black philanthropy, self-help, community, and economic - philanthropic, I'm sorry - and economic development in our community. I mean, he was a strong voice, I mean, for everyone within his non-for-profits. He trained over thousands of individuals and retrained them to work and to go back to work as -- as we progressed as a community. He was also about political empowerment for our community. Henry, at the age of seventy- three, on Saturday before last, was on his way to a get-out-the- vote rally and a car ran into him and he died in the car accident. So he was about a man -- a man of purpose, a man of direction, a man of -- who believed that you can be a better person if you apply yourself. And -- and I just ask this Body today if they would join with me in -- in a moment of silence for, again, a warrior from our -- from our community. Thank you.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Senator Harmon, to speak on the resolution? Senator Raoul.

Yes, Mr. President. And, you know, I was introduced to Henry years ago by Senator Trotter and a -- a former neighbor of mine. 45  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016 And the Black United Fund just happened to be in my district. And, actually, my district office worked very closely with Henry on a very ongoing basis. The work that Henry did, you know, Senator Trotter touched on it, but the impact of it and his personal commitment is -- is one that we all call for, but he exemplified it and did it on a day-to-day basis, notwithstanding scrunity that he came under, and he made a difference in people's lives that, quite frankly, a lot of us wouldn't even know how to approach. And he turned around lives. In fact, I've got somebody who works in my district office today whose life that Henry English turned around. And that's what we talk about as we talk about criminal justice reform. Henry's the guy who got his hands dirty and worked with folks on a day-to-day basis that others would be afraid to approach, made them productive members of society. He got his hands dirty and he went into the local schools and got the community to go into the local schools to make the schools better. And that's the type of thing that we ought to be looking to support. And so as we think about what we're doing going forward, think about Henry English -- the Henry Englishes in all of our districts and how we support them.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) We will all rise in the Chamber and the galleries for a moment of silence for Mr. English. (Moment of silence observed) Thank you. The deadline to file committee amendments to Senate bills is Friday, April 1st, at noon - April 1st at noon. 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 resolution on the Consent Calendar? 46  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 92nd Legislative Day 3/17/2016

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR MUÑOZ) Is there any discussion? If not, the question is, shall the resolutions on the Consent Calendar be adopted. All those in favor, say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it. The motion carries, and the resolutions are adopted. Happy Easter to everyone, you and your families and staff. There being no further business to come before the Senate, pursuant to the House Joint Resolution 134, the Senate stands adjourned until 12 noon on the 5th day of April 2016. The Senate stands adjourned. 47