Illinois Senate Floor Debate — May 19, 2016

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR SULLIVAN) Regular Session of the 99th General Assembly will come to order. Will all the Members please be at their desks? Will our guests in the galleries please rise? The invocation today will be given by Pastor Scott Marsh, Texas Christian Church in Clinton, Illinois. Pastor Marsh.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR SULLIVAN) Thank you. Please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Senator Cunningham will lead us in the Pledge.

(Pledge of Allegiance, led by Senator Cunningham)

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

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR SULLIVAN) Good morning, Senator Hunter.

Good morning, 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 SULLIVAN) Thank you. Senator Hunter moves to postpone the reading and approval of the Journal, pending arrival of the printed transcripts. There being no objection, so ordered. Lisa Yuscius with Blueroomstream.com requests permission to videotape. And Sherrie Phipps with WICS requests permission to videotape. Seeing 1  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 no objection, leave is granted. Mr. Secretary, Resolutions.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR SULLIVAN) Resolutions Consent Calendar. Mr. Secretary, Committee Reports.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR SULLIVAN) Mr. Secretary, Messages from the House.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR SULLIVAN) Mr. Secretary, House Bills 1st Reading.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR SULLIVAN) Mr. Secretary, Introduction of Senate Bills.

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

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR SULLIVAN) Senator Althoff moves that the Senate recess for the purpose of a Senate Republican Caucus lasting approximately thirty minutes. Seeing no objection, the motion is granted. The Senate now stands in recess to the call of the Chair. After the Republican Caucus, the Senate will reconvene for Floor action. Senate stands in recess to the call of the Chair. (SENATE STANDS IN RECESS/SENATE RECONVENES)

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Will the Committee on Assignments please meet in the President's Anteroom immediately? The Committee on Assignments, 4  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 please meet in the President's Anteroom immediately. Will all members of the Committee on Assignments please meet in the President's Anteroom immediately? Will all members of the Committee on Assignments please meet in the President's Anteroom immediately? Joseph Lynn of WGN-TV seeks permission to record in video and audio. Seeing no objection, permission granted. Mr. Secretary, Committee Reports.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Will all Members at the sound of my voice please come to the Senate Floor? We will be going to 2nd Readings on House Bills and Senate Bills and 3rd Readings on House Bills and Senate -- Bills, final action. Come to the Senate Floor immediately. With leave of the Body, we'll go to -- page 27 of the printed Calendar, House Bills 2nd Reading. House Bill 1380. Senator Manar. Senator Manar. House Bill 2990. President Cullerton. House Bill 3363. Senator Martinez. House Bill 3760. Senator Biss. House Bill 4036. Senator Hutchinson. House Bill 4334. President Cullerton. House Bill 4486. Senator Connelly. House Bill 4501. Senator Tom Cullerton. House Bill 4558. Senator Brady. House Bill 4603. Senator Barickman. House Bill 4645. Senator Brady. House Bill -- 5704. Senator McConnaughay. House Bill 5783. Senator Manar. 5  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 House Bill 5902. Senator Biss. House Bill 6041. Senator Haine. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 6093. Senator Sandoval. House Bill 6200. Senator Collins. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 6226. Senator Sandoval. House Bill 6298. Senator Biss. House Bill 6303. Leader Radogno. Senator Connelly, for what purpose do you rise?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your introduction.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Welcome to Springfield. Senator Rose, for what purpose do you rise?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Welcome to Springfield. With leave of the Body, we'll go to page 28 of the printed Calendar, House Bill 5668. Senator Harris. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

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

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Harris, on your amendment.

I move for the adoption of Senate Floor Amendment 1 and I'll explain it on 3rd.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, say Nay. Ayes have it. The amendment is adopted. Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. Leader Sullivan, for what purpose do you rise?

Thank you, Mr. President. Point of personal privilege, please.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.

Thank you. The Presiding Officer, Senator Link, has some guests here and I have the opportunity to introduce them. They 8  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 are from his district. I understand they're up in the gallery behind the President. And -- and please forgive me if I butcher your names here. But, Barbara Diliberti. If you'll stand. Stand up if you would, please, so they -- folks know who you are. Sharon Bearek. Those two ladies are from Buffalo Grove. And then Andrea Svean is from Vernon Hills. And I'd like for the Senate to recognize the Presiding Officer's very special guests. Welcome to Springfield.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) With leave of the Body, we'll go to page 27 of the printed Calendar, House Bill 4558. Senator Brady. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. With leave of the Body, we're going to turn to page 3 of the printed Calendar for Senate Bills 2nd Reading. Senate Bill 2932. Senator Hastings. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Have there been any Floor amendments approved for consideration? 9  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hastings, on your amendment.

Thank you, Mr. President. The amendment becomes the bill and I'll address it on 3rd Reading.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it. The amendment is adopted. Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. Leader Lightford, for what purpose do you rise?

Thank you, Mr. President. For a point of announcement, please -- or, personal privilege. Excuse me.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.

Thank you, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. Today is the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Civic Engagement Youth Day. We have over six hundred and thirty students in town from all over the State. They've come as far as East St. Louis, Peoria, Rockford, Champaign-Urbana, Waukegan, Chicago, Harvey. They're from Maywood. They're from all over the State - the west side and south side of Chicago. We have a group here - if they 10  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 could please stand - behind me. It's actually Senator Trotter's students. They're from Horace Mann on the south side of Chicago. Would you please give them a warm welcome as they're here to be engaged today for civic engagement?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Welcome to Springfield. Will all Members at the sound of my voice please come to the Senate Floor immediately? We will be going to 3rd Readings, final action. All Members at the sound of my voice, please come to the Senate Floor immediately. We will go to 3rd Readings immediately. Senator Jones, for what purpose do you rise?

Thank you, Mr. President. Purpose of an introduction.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your introduction.

I, too, do have a school down here from my district, Dunne Elementary School, located on the greater south side of Chicago. They're over here in the President's Gallery. So if they could please stand and we give 'em a warm Senate welcome.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Welcome to Springfield. With leave of the Body, we're going to turn to page 5 of the printed Calendar, Senate Bills 3rd Reading. Senate Bill 324. Senator Bertino-Tarrant. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill. Senator Bertino-Tarrant seeks leave of the Body to return Senate Bill 324 to the Order of 2nd Reading. Seeing no objection, leave is granted. Now on the Order of 2nd Reading is Senate Bill 324. Are there -- Mr. Secretary, are there any amendments approved for consideration? 11  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Bertino-Tarrant, on your amendment.

Thank you, Mr. President. I ask that we move the amendment. I'll explain it on 3rd.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it, and the amendment is adopted. Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. Now on the Order of 3rd Reading is Senate Bill 324. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Bertino-Tarrant, on your Bill 324.

Thank you, Mr. President and Members of the Chamber. A few years back, I -- I met a gentleman, Lynn Lowder, a retired Marine, a Silver Star recipient, and a Vietnam War hero. This bill is an initiative of his group called 1 Vet At A Time. Working with other veteran groups, such as The Bunker, 1 Vet At A Time seeks to help 12  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 returning military to adjust into a civilian life. Nearly five hundred and fifty service members transition from military to civilian life each day. In the next three to five years, a million will move into our communities. With nearly 1.4 billion dollars spent by the Department of Defense on unemployment benefits for veterans, 1 Vet At A Time has started a national movement to regain momentum with the former Readjustment Act, which followed World War II. Major Lowder and his team had hopes of rewriting this initiative first in Illinois. This is the first step. Senate Bill 324 creates a program at the Illinois Finance Authority that allows veterans to receive a State-guarantee loan on a business initiative, a concept currently allowed for farming and agribusiness. This legislation is a step in the right direction in lowering unemployment, reigniting small businesses, and allowing our veterans the full dignity of their service to our nation. I'm happy to answer any questions and I urge a Yes vote.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Senator -- McConchie, for what reason do you request permission? SENATOR McCONCHIE: To the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill. SENATOR McCONCHIE: I just wanted to thank the Senator for bringing this forward. As a veteran myself, I really do appreciate the -- what -- what it is that we do, especially for those who come back - many of whom have, you know, limited capacity, sometimes not enough job training, and things like this. So I think anything that we do to 13  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 expand the opportunities that we have in this regard is a laudable thing. So thank you very much for doing that.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any further discussion? Any further discussion? Senator -- Senator Bertino-Tarrant, to close? The question is, shall Senate Bill 324 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 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. Senate Bill 324, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 2431. Senator Cunningham. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Cunningham.

Thank you, Mr. President. Senate Bill 2431 will allow an existing specialty license plate for the the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation to be issued for motorcycles. It is already issued for cars and trucks. Would be happy to answer any questions and I ask for your support.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall Senate Bill 2431 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? 14  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 Take the record. On that question, there are 56 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. And Senate Bill 2431, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 3112. Senator Haine. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Haine, on your bill.

Thank you, Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. This creates exemptions under -- under the Freedom of Information Act from prisoners in DOC and the county jails from seeking certain records and information, personnel information. It was worked out with the Innocent {sic} (Innocence) Project. There's no opponents. It's restricted to the sheriffs and the Department of -- of Corrections at this time. We amended the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall Senate Bill 3112 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 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. Senate Bill 3112, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. With leave of the Body, we'll go to page 15 of the printed Calendar, House Bills 3rd Reading. House Bill 4344. Senator Bertino-Tarrant. Out of the record. House Bill 4351. Senator Biss. Senator Biss. 15  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 House Bill 4352. Senator Bush. Mr. Secretary, read -- please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Bush, on your bill.

Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Members. So it establishes in School Code a definition of dyslexia that the Illinois State Board of Education must incorporate in both general and special education. Under current law, ISBE must - ISBE - incorporate an international definition of dyslexia by rule. I know of no opposition and I would urge an Aye vote.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4352 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 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4352, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4360. Senator Van Pelt. Senator Van Pelt. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill. Out of the record. House Bill 4361. Leader Harmon. House Bill 4365. Senator Raoul. House Bill 4367. Senator Bush. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Bush, on your bill.

Thank you, Mr. President. This is basically an extension. We created a reading instruction advisory group, which was abolished in -- December 15th, 2015. Under this bill, we will reinstate the advisory group so it can complete its work by December 31st, 2016. I know of no objections and I'd appreciate an Aye vote.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4367 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 57 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4367, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4369. Senator Syverson. Senator Syverson. House Bill 4370. Leader Lightford. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Lightford, on your bill.

Thank you, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. 17  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 House Bill 4370 requires hospitals with more than one hundred beds to submit an annual report of capital expenditures exceeding two hundred thousand documenting female-owned, minority-owned, veteran-owned, and small business enterprises, and their results, goals, plans, explanations, certifications, contact info, and success stories relating to these businesses. This is a measure that passed out of the House unanimously. There is no known opposition. It's supported by the Federation of Women Contractors and HACIA. I'd be happy to answer questions.

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

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill. SENATOR McCARTER: Ladies and Gentlemen, this is -- it's interesting that there is no opposition to this bill because the Hospital Association, when testifying in the committee, said it was -- it just seemed like they were motivated, motivated to do this. They just had a -- on a whim, they thought, oh, what a good thing to do. Now I - - I agree that that was just poor testimony and probably could have explained -- explained it a lot better, but I think you have to take pause at, whether this is health care or not, what's the next private industry that we're going to start telling how to report and what to report because we think something's important. So before you vote for this, just think about what industry is important to you and the people that you serve and whether we're 18  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 going to impose the same thing on them next time. I understand government. We're -- we're responsible for government and those that we hire and having standards that we expect. But in the private sector, this is really, in my opinion, none of our business. I urge a No vote.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any further discussion? Senator Lightford, to close.

Thank you, Mr. President. Actually, I just wanted the Body to know that Representative Will Davis, the House sponsor, actually worked on this initiative for three years. It is not a new concept. The Hospital Association actually drafted the amendment to make it, from their perspective, workable. This is modeled after a couple different utilities and private entities just in an effort to ensure that diversity programs that support veterans and women- owned business and minority-owned businesses have an opportunity to connect and expand and grow. I encourage an Aye vote. Thank you.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) The question is, shall House Bill 4370 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 48 Ayes, 6 voting Nay, none voting Present. House Bill 4370, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4371. Leader Clayborne. Leader Clayborne. We'll -- with leave of the Body, we'll skip over it. House Bill 4379. Senator Tom Cullerton. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Cullerton, on your bill.

It's a great bill, Leader Sullivan. House Bill 4379 creates the Local Government Travel Expense Control Act. It requires for more reporting; for non-home rule units of local government and school districts to regulate, by ordinance or resolution, travel, meal, lodging expenses for officers and employees. And I believe I do have one or two questions on the other side of the aisle over there.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Senator Bivins, for what purpose do you rise?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Indicates he will yield.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Cullerton.

Yes. 20  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Bivins.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Cullerton.

Senator, that's a fabulous question. I truly do appreciate the back-and-forth dialogue. Yes.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any further discussion? Senator Cullerton, to close?

Ask -- ask for an Aye vote.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) The question is, shall House Bill 4379 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 54 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4379, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. With leave of the Body, we'll go back to House Bill 4371. Leader Clayborne. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Clayborne, on your bill.

Thank you, Mr. -- Mr. President, Members of the Senate. House Bill 4371 provides for the dissolution of a water authority by referendum and further provides for guidelines for winding down the affairs of the water authority. I would ask for your favorable vote.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4371 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 58 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4371, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4387. Senator Althoff. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Althoff.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4387 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 58 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4387, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4388. Senator Connelly. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Connelly, on your bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Seeing 23  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 none, the question is, shall House Bill 4388 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 57 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4388, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4389. Senator McConnaughay. Senator McConnaughay. House Bill 4391. Senator Bertino-Tarrant. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Bertino-Tarrant.

Thank you, Mr. President, Members of the Senate. House Bill 4391 amends the Township Code to prohibit a person from holding office if he or she has been convicted of an infamous crime, bribery, perjury, or other felony. Currently, the Municipal Code and Park District Code contain such a prohibition, while the Township Code does not. House Bill 4391 simply brings parity with other groups. I know of no opposition.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4391 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 58 Ayes, 1 -- no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4391, having received the 24  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4397. Senator Luechtefeld. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Luechtefeld.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4397 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 58 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4397, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4425. Senator Barickman. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Barickman.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4425 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 57 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4425, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4432. Senator Weaver. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Weaver.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4432 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 58 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4432, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4433. Senator Morrison. Mr. -- House Bill 4445. Senator Harris. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Harris.

Thank you, Mr. President and Members of the Senate. House Bill 4445 is an initiative of the Secretary of State. This bill will -- will allow the Secretary of State to revoke or suspend the 27  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 driving privileges of anyone who has submitted a fake medical examiner's certificate to the Secretary of State. It imposes a fee for duplicate temporary Illinois license identification. There's no opposition and I request a favorable vote.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4445 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 58 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4445, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4447. Senator Mulroe. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill. Senator Mulroe seeks leave of the Body to return Senate {sic} Bill 4447 to the Order of 2nd Reading. Seeing no objection, leave granted. Now on the Order of 2nd Reading is House Bill 4447. Mr. Secretary, are there any amendments approved for consideration?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Mulroe, on your amendment.

Thank you, Mr. President, Members of the Senate. I'd move for its adoption. Be happy to explain it on 3rd.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it, and the amendment is adopted. Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration? 28  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. Now on the Order of 3rd Reading is House Bill 4447. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Mulroe, on your bill.

Thank you very much, Mr. President and Members of the Senate. This is a trailer bill to House Bill 1531 that we passed last Session. It actually brings clarity to many Sections throughout the Illinois Parentage Act of 2015 that was created by House Bill 1531. I know of no opposition. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4447 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 57 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4447, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4449. Senator Hastings. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hastings, on your bill.

Thank you, Mr. President. House Bill 4449 would allow the Secretary of State to administratively dissolve a non-for-profit corporation if it has failed to elect and maintain at least three directors. And there's no opponents and I'll take any questions.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4449 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 58 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4449, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4477. Senator Harris. Senator Harris seeks leave of the Body to return House Bill 4477 to the Order of 2nd Reading for -- for the purpose -- seeing no objection, permission is granted. Mr. Secretary, please place that -- House Bill 4477 back on to 3rd Reading. Now on the Order of 3rd Reading, please read House Bill 4477.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Harris, on your bill.

30  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 Thank you, Mr. President and Members of the Senate. House Bill 4477 requires all procurement contracts within the Department of Transportation to provide for mobilization payments and, when a subcontractor is used, to make mobilization payments to the subcontractor. Early on, we had light opposition. Since negotiations, since talks, those oppositions have been removed and there's no opposition currently. And I ask for a favorable vote.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall House Bill 4477 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 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4477, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 4515. Leader Harmon. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Harmon, on your bill.

Thank you, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. Senator Righter and I were just discussing that bill. I expect we're going to be able to continue that discussion live and on the microphones here. Let me just walk you through the basics of House Bill 4515. This is an initiative of my State Representative Camille Lilly, who's been working on it for a couple of years now. 31  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 Under current law, health care facilities can't hire an applicant with a disqualifying criminal record unless that applicant is granted a waiver by the Department of Public Health. DPH also maintains a Health Care Worker Registry which includes a website that indicates whether an applicant for a job has a disqualifying offense under the law today and whether or not he or she has a waiver that would make them eligible for work. So -- and that's how the employee -- employer would -- would -- would verify their eligibility for employment before hiring them. But the -- the problem, there's -- even with that waiver, some of these applicants are having a hard time. So what we are trying to do in this bill is, first, to change the Health Care Worker Registry so that it more clearly communicates an applicant's eligibility for work, not what -- not just whether or not they've obtained a waiver. So it -- it -- it makes clear that they -- that people with waivers are eligible to work and employers are still free to hire or to choose not to hire anyone that they would choose. The other substantive change in the bill, beyond changing the way the registry communicates this information, we are removing one additional low- level cannabis-related misdemeanor from the list of disqualifying offenses. I look forward to a conversation, which I -- I believe Senator Righter is preparing for at the moment, Mr. President.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Senator Righter, for what purpose do you rise?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Reluctantly, he indicates yes. 32  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Harmon.

Yes. Thank you for that clarifying question. That is the substantive change in this bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Righter.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 33  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 Leader Harmon.

Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you, Senator. I think you've presented my -- my bill even better than I could have. This is a question of clarifying the eligibility of an applicant and presenting the information in a clear and straightforward way to an employer making that determination.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Righter.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any further discussion? Seeing none, Leader Harmon, to close. The question is, shall House Bill 4515 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 43 Ayes, 8 Nays, none voting Present. House Bill 4515, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 3655. Senator Raoul. Senator Raoul seeks leave of the Body to… Senator Oberweis, for what purpose do you rise?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your announcements.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 35  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 Senate Bill 3 -- with leave of the Body, we'll go back to page 5 of the printed Calendar, Senate Bill 345. Leader Harmon. Leader Harmon seeks leave of the Body to return Senate Bill 345 to the Order of 2nd Reading. Seeing no objection, leave is granted. Now on the Order of 2nd Reading is Senate Bill 345. Mr. Secretary, are there any amendments approved for consideration?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Harmon, on your amendment.

Thank you, Mr. President. The amendment becomes the bill. I move for its adoption.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Harmon.

Just a procedural inquiry, Mr. President. Are we on Amendment No. 2 or Amendment No. 4? And then 4 will follow? I -- I move for its adoption and will also move for the adoption of Amendment No. 4.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion on Amendment No. 2? Seeing none, all those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it. The amendment is adopted. Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Harmon, on Amendment No. 4. 36  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016

Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of Amendment No. 4.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) There -- is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it. The amendment is adopted. Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. Now on the Order of 3rd Reading is Senate Bill 345. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Harmon, on your bill.

Thank you, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. I know everyone in this Body is acutely aware of the pervasive and horrible increase in the number of diagnoses of autism in -- in our communities, and while autism traditionally has been thought of as a neurodevelopment or a behavioral disorder, it's becoming increasingly recognized as a whole body disorder involving other biological systems, including in particular the gastrointestinal and the immune systems. Many studies, medical studies, are showing that these co-occurring medical conditions occur more commonly in 37  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 people diagnosed with autism, but there's been a delay in the -- the proper diagnoses and treatment. So what this bill does is it creates a -- a new Act, the Autism and Co-Occurring Medical Conditions Awareness Act. It also makes some modest changes in the Insurance Code. I want to emphasize that it does not mandate or expand any coverage that is not already available today, but it deals very directly with the frustration of parents trying to get the best care for their children and the doctors who want to provide that care. I want to thank Chairman Haine on the Insurance Committee for graciously shepherding this through. We have eliminated all opposition. I also appreciate the work of the Medical Society and many of the insurance carriers. If we have done nothing else in reaching this agreement, we have called attention to the insurers of the plight faced by parents wrestling to obtain the insurance coverage to which their children are today unable to -- to receive and I appreciate that we've reached agreement through compromise. I would emphasize that I will eagerly watch the behavior and hope that if these issues haven't been resolved, we'll be back with legislation and the Chairman will be inclined to help us fix that problem again in the future. In the meantime, without any opposition, I would ask you all for your Aye votes.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Seeing none, the question is, shall Senate Bill 345 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 55 Ayes, no Nays, none voting Present. Senate Bill 345, having received the required 38  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senator McGuire, for what purpose do you rise? SENATOR McGUIRE: Request I be -- be recorded as a Yes on the previous bill, please.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Your indication will be reflected. Senator Collins, for what purpose do you rise?

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

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.

I would like to be recorded a Yes vote on 4515. Let the record reflect.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) The record will reflect your intention. Senate Bill 250. Senator Manar. Mr. Secretary -- Senator Manar seeks leave of the Body to return Senate Bill 250 to the Order of 2nd Reading. Seeing no objection, permission granted. Now on the Order of 2nd Reading is Senate Bill 250. Mr. Secretary, are there any Floor amendments approved for consideration?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar, on your amendment.

Thank you, Mr. President. Amendment 2 becomes the bill. I would be happy to debate the bill in full on 3rd Reading. Ask for 39  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 the amendment's adoption.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion on the amendment? Seeing none, all those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it. The amendment is adopted. Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. Now on the Order of 3rd Reading is Senate Bill 250. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar, on your bill. And can we keep the noise down, please? Thank you. Senator Manar.

Thank -- thank you, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate. This bill has been a work in progress for about a year. We've had multiple subject matter hearings in the Executive Committee. It would simply institute an automatic voter registration system in the State of Illinois utilizing processes that exist today in State government, beginning with the driver's license issuing process at the Secretary of State's Office. States as recently as this week, Connecticut was the most recent state to adopt automatic voter registration. Previously, were Oregon, California, West Virginia and Vermont, where there were bipartisan 40  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 efforts to get it done. But -- but the bill is quite simple. It would change the opt-in system that we have today into an opt-out system. It would, in my opinion, increase accuracy of our voter rolls and it would reduce costs substantially after being implemented, both in State government and in local election jurisdictions. I'd be happy to take any questions, Mr. President. Thank you.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Senator McCarter, for what purpose do you rise? SENATOR McCARTER: Question of the sponsor.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Indicates he will yield. SENATOR McCARTER: So, Senator, if someone obtains a driver's license, they will be automatically in -- enrolled to vote. Correct?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.

So the issuance of a license would not trigger the automatic nature of registration. The information that is submitted during that process that exists today in State government would be given to the State Board of Elections through the process that we have today on online registration, other forms of registration, and then that information would be shared with the local election jurisdiction, who retains the authority to do the registration.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCarter. 41  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 SENATOR McCARTER: If you would explain to us the difference in that process and the motor voter law.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.

So the motor voter law, which has been in place for quite some time in this State, is an opt-in system. So that's what has been in place. That is what we all experience when we go, you know, receive -- to get an update on a driver's license or get a new driver's license. This would simply change it to opt-out. So the opt-out happens on the back end and that would happen from a local election jurisdiction. Along the way, people, you know, will be informed that that process is taking place and they would be able to opt out. But, again, today's system is opposite of that. It's an opt-in system and it's constructed that way and the bill would simply put in place a different system for processes that we already have in place today in State government.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCarter. SENATOR McCARTER: So the information is going to be transferred to the -- the election boards or the -- the election -- it'd be the Election Board or the counties. You -- you mentioned it'd go to both. What are they going to do with that -- or, they are going -- will they assume that all of that is correct and everything -- and that they are qualified to be a voter in Illinois?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar. 42  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016

So local election jurisdictions, in most cases, county clerks, would use the information and would assess the information no differently than they do with the traditional methodology of registration. So today when, you know, somebody fills out a -- a paper form for registration and it's submitted to a county clerk's office or a local election jurisdiction, there's a process that they undertake. This wouldn't change that process. What it would change, though, is how information is put into the system for them to make an assessment and determine eligibility.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCarter. SENATOR McCARTER: Part -- as part of that information going to the election boards, will it include whether or not that person is a legal American citizen?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.

So part of the process at the driver's facility would exclude information being transferred to the State Board of Elections and then concurrently to a -- local election jurisdictions for individuals who are noncitizens but interact with government. For example, with TVDL driver's -- or licenses that are issued by the Secretary of State's Office. That information would not be transferred. Second piece of the bill is that we would ask the Secretary of State's Office to transfer data, as we've mentioned, and the State Board of Elections would be required to do an initial screening, in the bill, and if an individual's information that is 43  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 transferred passes that screening test, one of the questions that would be asked is the one you just posed, then it would be given to the county clerk. Ultimately, it's up to the county clerk to determine eligibility on all criteria for voter registration. So we don't change that in the bill, but I think we have ample protections to make sure that that doesn't happen. You know, at the end of the day when we utilize more information and we utilize more criteria in processes that take place in State government, it's going to result in a statewide voter registration database that is more accurate and more reflective of the voters of the State. That's the intent of the bill, but I think we have those safeguards in the bill that are ample to protect what -- what you just articulated.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCarter. SENATOR McCARTER: So what you're saying is that -- that information that I asked about, whether someone's a legal American citizen, may or may not be transmitted, 'cause it's based on whether they provide that. And if the county clerk -- let's just say the county clerk actually doesn't check that, verify that, and they do give them a voter card. Okay? Let's say that person is not a legal American citizen, are there any consequences to that person, who is now registered to -- to vote illegally?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.

Could I ask you to state your question one more time? I want to make sure I understand your question. 44  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCarter. SENATOR McCARTER: So the information is transmitted to the county clerk. The county clerk looks at it and says, well, they live in Illinois. It looks like this is their actual name. They register them to vote. But that person -- for some reason when the information was transferred, it never came down to -- or it wasn't checked as to whether they were a legal American citizen. They are now registered to vote as a illegal and my question is, has that -- is that person now have committed a crime and -- and subject to the law?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.

So, under current law -- and first of all, this is very rare. This is very rare. We should start there. Under current law, they would be breaking the law. Under this process, if they attested to citizenship, but in fact were noncitizenship, then they would be breaking the law. At the end of this process, though, keep in mind there's a -- there is a verification step where they will receive something in the mail that will say what the criteria are, and if they don't meet those criteria, then they would be in violation.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCarter. SENATOR McCARTER: But -- but you never said that that was a requirement of anybody to attest to that. You said the information was going to 45  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 be transferred and it was up to the local -- the county clerk to do that. Does it say in the bill that the county clerk has to attest to whether this person is a legal American citizen?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar. Senator Manar.

Thank you. So the question about the county clerk - let me back up to the process at the driver's facility. When someone comes into a driver's facility, they're required to bring forms of identification with them. Those forms of identification are documented. If those forms of identification indicate that they're a citizen, they're a legal -- with a -- with legal status, they go to the next step of the process. If they don't, then they -- then they do not continue. Your question was in relation to the county clerk. When the information gets to the county clerk's office, the process is no different than it is today for traditional registration. So in relation to the county clerk's office, how the county clerk receives information on voter registration from either this proposed process or the online process, which exists today, or same-day registration, which we have today in law, or with traditional paper ballots, that's the same process that they continue, regardless of how the information comes to them. At the end of all that, the bill requires that notification be mailed to the individual, who is automatically registered at that point, notifying them of the standards of eligibility and saying that you have to opt out if you do not meet those -- or those requirements in the notification.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCarter. 46  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 SENATOR McCARTER: Okay, so that all happens. It comes to the individual's home and they do nothing. If they do nothing, they are automatically eligible to vote. I remember Dan Kotowski trying to lip-synch to me and -- as though I was supposed to understand. This is what it reminded me of when you were telling me that. But I -- I -- the way I understand it is, if the county clerk doesn't attest, doesn't ask for them to attest as to whether they're a legal American citizen, and then they say nothing and they don't respond, they will be eligible to vote, and my concern is that because of that - and I've had someone ask me this that is not a legal citizen - am I putting myself at risk by this? By this very law, am I putting myself at risk? Because I'm going to be -- it's going to be assumed that I want to be -- be a registered voter because I don't respond and then I'm going to be registered and then I've broken the law.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.

Can I -- can I start back from where you began? What do you -- I mean, could you clarify what you mean by they do nothing? I mean, they -- they have already done something. They've already gone into the driver's service facility, they've already been issued a driver's license, their identification has been verified, they've been screened by the State Board of Elections, their information has gone from the State Board of Elections to the county clerk's office, the county clerk's office would then pick up the process and do what they do with every other voter registration card that they receive today. On top of that, they 47  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 would receive a piece of mail from the county clerk or the State Board of Elections - that's discussed in rulemaking in the bill - for verification. So -- so I'm not quite sure what you mean by they -- they don't do anything. This -- this is triggered by someone walking into a driver's service facility asking for a driver's license.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Can we keep the noise down on the Floor, please? And will all our distinguished House Members that are visiting? This is not the House, it's the Senate. Senator McCarter. SENATOR McCARTER: Okay, here -- here's -- here's the -- I'll follow right along with what you said. If the person does not respond, they become a registered voter and that's the problem. That's the problem with this. It -- it -- there's no -- there's no signature. There's no -- there's no way for them to attest. If they just don't do anything, they become registered. Now, if a person was not legal and this happened, I would suggest they make sure to tell somebody that they're not, because they will automatically have committed a crime. And I -- I don't see it any other way and I -- I don't know -- I don't -- I just -- to the bill. You know, at some point…

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill. SENATOR McCARTER: …at -- at some point, citizens of this country need to say, I want to be involved in the process so much that I'm going to make the effort to stand up and verify who I am and say that I want to be part of this process. I'm sorry to ask so much of someone to be part of this. And maybe we're dealing with the 48  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 effects of people not being part of the process today. But you know what? It demands a little responsibility, just a little bit, and I think it's worth it. I think being part of this process and being part of this country is worth making the effort to do so. Now this situation in my opinion sets people up for breaking the law. And I don't think anybody wants that. I'd urge a No vote.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.

Thank you, Mr. President. I would just like to clarify a couple of things. The verification of an individual will have already happened by the time we get to the opt-out process. The purpose of this bill is to utilize the resources of State government to make the system more efficient that are duplicative today. There are duplicative processes with paper registration and that which happens at driver's facilities across the State every single day. It's duplicative. So that -- it's not necessary to have two separate processes. They are the -- one and the same, so the bill simply takes them, recognizes that if they are the same -- I would even argue that getting a driver's license issued has more stringent requirements than a voter registration piece of paper. So if it's duplicative, let's use it to our advantage to make it more efficient and save money.

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

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 49  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 Indicates he will yield.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.

So I would say it does. I think, first of all, voter fraud is rare. It happens on occasion, but it's incredibly rare. One of, I think, the outcomes of this bill, Senator Oberweis, is that accuracy and the risk of inadvertent errors in our voter registration database would be lessened, because we are using data that is verified. I think some of the best verification happens at the Secretary of State's Office. So as we use that data as a basis for registration, I think accuracy just inherently increases in the process. Again, I think voter fraud is rare. Part of what we can do is increase the accuracy of our voter rolls and this bill clearly achieves that in my opinion.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Oberweis.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.

I don't think there was a question there, but I'm going to respond anyway. So -- so this bill is not about voter fraud. This bill is about making State government more efficient, which I would hope you would be interested in, because we have duplicative processes that would result in more accurate voter registration rolls at the county level. That inherently raises the integrity in our democratic process in the State. Along the way, it might even raise turnout, which I would hope we could all agree is a good thing. That's the goal of this bill. If there are buses of dead people voting, then, my goodness, we should do something about that. All right. That's not this bill. This bill is make the process we have more efficient. Let's save some money. Let's increase turnout and let's make our registration -- rolls accurate.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Oberweis.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.

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

To the bill, Mr. President, if I might.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill. 53  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016

Thank you, Mr. President. I -- I just rise briefly to commend the sponsor on what I think is a really important bill. It is a bill, as the sponsor says, that removes duplication, increases the efficiency of State government. I do think, as the sponsor said in response to an earlier question, it will have a positive effect regarding the combatting of voter fraud, because of the streamlined effective system with the proper checks in it that'll clean up the rolls. But I also want to say one other thing about it that's really directly responsive to some points raised by the gentleman from Lebanon, a few speakers ago. He said that, you know, gosh, how hard is it to register? It's not that big -- big a deal. You just have to, you know, fill out a single piece of paper or you have to, you know, affirmatively opt-in when you get your driver's license. It's not that big a deal. Shouldn't we expect that of people who are going to vote? Isn't that the least we can ask of people who are going to participate in the process? And I have to tell you, that is such a profound misunderstanding of what the purpose of voter registration is. That's -- that's exactly backwards. The people who we should want to have the opportunity to decide on election day to go and vote are exactly the people who are legally entitled to be registered to vote, not one person fewer, not one person fewer. There is no bar we should ask people to clear and doesn't matter if it's a bar we're asking people to clear of you got to own property or a bar we're asking people to clear about you got to count -- you got to guess how many jelly beans are in a jar or if it's a bar we're going to ask people to clear about, oh, you have to affirmatively figure out where to go and which piece of paper to fill out to register. That's not what 54  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 voter registration is for. The only hurdle that it's appropriate to erect via a voter registration process is a hurdle to make sure we have a clean system. There's no other bar above that. That's it - do we have a process that ensures we have a clean list of registered voters who then are eligible to turn out on Election Day. And any step that we can take as a Body to bring the bar down from where it is today to the lowest possible spot it could be and still preserve the integrity of the system is not only a good idea, it's a step we have to take if we believe in the electoral process the way it's written out in the law and I would argue the way the constitutional amendment that we, as a Body, adopted in the spring of 2014 with bipartisan majority and then was enacted with enormous majority of the electorate that fall. So, to me, this is an important thing. We have an obligation to make sure that our electoral process erects no unnecessary hurdles. This bill takes away a hurdle. Everybody should support it. Please vote Aye.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCann, for what purpose do you rise? SENATOR McCANN: Will the sponsor yield?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) He indicates he will. SENATOR McCANN: Senator Manar, currently, if a non-visa status individual were to walk into a driver's services facility to obtain a driver's license and they did so - they -- they walked out with a temporary visitor driver's license - would they be asked to move on to step two for registry? Would -- would that -- would that occur? 55  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.

No, Senator. The bill very clearly excludes those individuals and their information from this process.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCann. SENATOR McCANN: Thank you, Senator. Another question, in the most recent election, this recent primary, we saw a very large turnout. In my Senate district, specifically, we had about double the turnout and we actually ran out of ballots here in Sangamon County and the Circuit Court had to issue a special order declaring that the polls would remain open an extra few hours so that everyone would have the opportunity to vote - and, boy, am I glad they did. That being said, one of the reasons there was such turnout and one of the reasons those ballots ran short was because we now offer the ability to register to vote on that same day, on Election Day. It looks to me like a -- a bill such as yours, that you're presenting here today, would allow for a lot of that to be taken care of ahead of time. In other words, it would alleviate a lot of the pressures and stress on our county clerks, the Election Board, and -- and, quite frankly, our -- our poll workers, who we're having a hard time getting people to work in the polls -- at the polls these days. Would you agree or disagree with that statement?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.

I -- I would agree. This bill doesn't eliminate same-day 56  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 registration, but, for example, we were provided information from David Orr's office, who looked into same-day registration votes that were cast in the primary election, and he determined - his office determined - that eighty-two percent of those people would have been registered through automatic voter registration, thus addressing the issue that you articulated. So it would by nature lessen the impact of same-day registration. We don't get rid of it, but it by nature would make the system work more efficiently on Election Day.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator McCann. SENATOR McCANN: But -- to the bill, Mr. President.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill. SENATOR McCANN: I want to commend the sponsor for bringing forward a very thoughtful piece of legislation. I -- when I decided to run for office in 2009 for the 2010 cycle, unlike many folks in here and -- and perhaps like many, I had never run for political office in my life. I'd never run for anything, never served at any political office. I decided I wanted to be participatory in representative government and one of the first decisions I had to make was obviously what party I would align myself with. So I really started doing a lot of research on the platform, on what the facts were, not what I'd heard, but what the facts were. So I started researching the platform, looking at the various planks, and as I was doing that research, I really got into the history of the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln, the party of Dr. King. 57  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 And it's interesting that our party, the Republican Party, was the party of emancipation, the anti-slave party, established in 1854. It's interesting that Republican President Dwight Eisenhower wanted to bring forth a Civil Rights Act a decade before it finally came about. It's interesting that Dr. King was a Republican. And so here we have a bill that allows for the process to play out equally for all Americans. It doesn't allow for illegal immigrants to be afforded the opportunity to vote. As a matter of fact, this bill strengthens the ability to make sure that our electoral process is above board and carried out in a way that we can all be proud of. So I guess I would rise today in support of the gentleman's bill and I would ask those Members, especially on my side of the aisle, to -- I -- I'm going to ask you to invoke those better angels of our nature as we invoke the memory of -- of one of our founding Members, President Lincoln, and join me in supporting the gentleman's bill. Thank you, Mr. President.

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

I have a question of the sponsor.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Indicates he will yield.

Senator Manar, so basically we're saying in order to have people become eligible to vote, they're going to have to have this documentation that they have brought to the driver's facility that has enabled them to get a driver's license. So they have proven that they are eligible to receive a driver's license before they're going to have this -- this paperwork done so that they are actually 58  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 able to be registered to vote?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.

Correct.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Holmes.

When we are boarding an airplane, which is something that I think since 9/11 all of us are very careful about and we want to make sure there's adequate security and stuff, is there a piece of documentation we ordinarily need to present in order to get on the airplane? And if so, what is that document?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.

Most oftentimes, I use my driver's license. I would assume that most people would do the same.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Holmes. To the bill.

I think then we can feel fairly confident that the people that should be eligible to vote have proven who they are. So I think we're not running into any risks, and I find this rather interesting, of reaching illegal Americans, illegal citizens, or whatever else we have decided to call people, but I think some of the people on the other side of the aisle were referring to as undocumented immigrants, is who they were in fear of getting this piece of paper and being registered to vote, so that we wouldn't 59  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 have busloads of people being bussed into facilities and illegally voting. I find it interesting because I butt up to that district near my -- the -- the gentleman from the Sugar Grove area, and for some reason all the time I have been out campaigning and been walking and knocking on doors, I'm very glad to say I have never been run over by one of those busloads of illegal people going out to vote or dead people. So I -- I'm very happy that I don't think that that is a major problem. I also want to say, after spending the summer sitting on the Lieutenant Governor's Commission for Consolidation and Unfunded Mandates, that this is actually a step that is in the right direction of what we're trying to do. This is smaller government. This is making sure we aren't duplicating the same efforts over and over again in order to accomplish what we want. I would urge everybody to stop listening to some of the nonsense that we heard on that side of the aisle and to vote for this bill.

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

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) He indicates he will yield.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.

Yes, and that would take place in a second phase of the bill, which I believe is January 1st of 2018. A different process than what happens at the Secretary of State's Office, but similar exchange of data and information for an individual. So, again, we have processes where someone walks into a government office, not to register to vote, but to get a driver's license or, you know, go into the Department of Human Services and this bill would be utilizing that process to move forward the registration process, not trigger registration, that's done by a local election jurisdiction, but use the information that's obtained during that exchange, whether it's applying for a driver's license, to have registration take place at a local county clerk's office.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Rezin.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.

So that is specific to information that is housed today at the Secretary of State's Office, similar to what we do for the National Change of Address database with the Post Office, which was previous legislation that we've passed and was signed into law. So that is a one-time updating of addresses with our statewide voter registration database. That's September 1st of this year. The following year would be when the automatic voter registration process, which we've been debating, would be beginning.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Rezin.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.

When it's fully implemented, yes. As I stated, there's -- 62  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 there's two steps. Those agencies, not including the Secretary of State's Office, would be at a later date.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Rezin.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar.

I apologize, I misunderstood your question. The answer is yes. I apologize.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Rezin.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Harmon.

Thank you, Mr. President. To the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.

As Chairman of the Executive Committee, I -- I want to 63  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 compliment the sponsor on his handling of this bill through many subcommittee hearings and through the full committee. This bill has been very thoroughly vetted and has been amended to address the legitimate concerns. And so, Senator Manar, I welcome you to the club of sponsors of election laws, 'cause you are hearing all the same arguments I heard when we passed online voter registration and same-day voter registration. And some of these arguments just can't go unrebutted. First of all, the -- the notion that voter fraud is rampant in Illinois is just unproven and undocumented and to my knowledge does not exist. This -- to rely on stories we heard of something that happened twenty years ago or fifty years ago as a reason not to expand the franchise today is ridiculous. We should also take credit for eliminating voter fraud by making our voting rolls cleaner, by reducing the opportunities. And to one particular speaker who said he could support this if only we would address cleaning up our voting rolls and taking off voters who have moved or died: We did that! We have joined the -- the National Change of Address program. We've enlisted the State in the ERIC program, a multistate effort to do just that. And many of you voted against it. We are doing what we can to tighten the voting rolls so that only those folks who are eligible to vote are able to vote, but for those who are eligible, it's easier. This bill does two things and only two things. It saves money by making the process more efficient and it makes it easier to register to vote if you are, in fact, eligible to register. I would also close with this, even Governor Rauner, just this morning, spoke in favor of these concepts. He was asked about this bill and he said, "I'm a big fan of simplifying voter registration process to try to get everybody who should be able to vote, to get them to register and 64  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 vote. It's a big part of making democracy work. I'm very supportive of everybody who should be voting to get 'em registered and get 'em votin'." I refrained from dropping about a half a dozen "g's". But the point remains, Governor Rauner spoke in favor of this -- this process today. I would encourage all of you to stand and vote -- stand up, make yourselves identified and vote Yes.

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

To the bill, Mr. President.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.

Senator McCarter, Senator Oberweis, on behalf of all the illegal American citizens of Illinois, Ladies and Gentlemen, I find this -- this is an all-time high. The rhetoric being used by some of the Members of that side of the aisle is immoral, unconscionable, and just disrespectful, racist, and just -- just all out unacceptable and reflective of the people of Illinois. I've been called a lot of things in my life. A lot of profanity has been used on how to describe myself at times, but I have never been described as an illegal American citizen. That is an oxymoron, Senator McCarter, that doesn't exist - illegal American citizen. Where did you find that? That -- that is an all-time high. In the spirit of the oratory of Senator McCann, I leave you with this thought - just to digress just a little bit - that the first amnesty that was granted in this great country was -- a great man by the name of Abraham Lincoln. And the second man that 65  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 granted an amnesty to illegal aliens in this country was another great American and his name was Ronald Reagan. Another man that came along in history that felt the same way about the people of this great country that pay taxes, that are law-abiding, that are contributors to this -- to this great country called America was George W. Bush. And the author of that amnesty for illegal aliens was another great American, war veteran that fought for this country, was in harm's way, is today a U.S. Senator in the -- in the U.S. Senate. His name is John McCain, sponsor of McCain- Kennedy-Feingold, the last amnesty bill for illegal aliens in this country. What do Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and John McCain have in common? Senator McCarter, they're members of your party, the Republican Party - the party that has embraced the diversity of this great country, the party that has done everything possible, the party that allowed my parents and many people in my district to be able to vote today in Illinois. I am very proud of those great men who have come before this from the Republican Party that have -- that embraced and did everything possible to allow everyone to vote in this country. I find your -- your words disrespectful, racist, and unacceptable in this great Body of the Illinois Senate. Long live the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, John McCain, and let's vote Aye on this great bill, Senate Bill 250, sponsored by another great Illinoisan, Andy Manar.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Thank you. And now, Senator Manar, to close.

Thank…

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 66  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 You know, the timer's going on. Senator McCarter, he did not use your name in debate. He used Senator McCann's name in debate. All right, Senator McCann -- or, Senator McCarter, you're allowed to speak, but I'm going to tell you what, the timer's going on real quick for everybody from now on. SENATOR McCARTER: Ladies and Gentlemen, you know what? I don't -- you know what? When we have differences in…

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Sandoval, you're out of order. Please sit down. Senator Sandoval, you're not recognized. Please sit down. …McCarter. SENATOR McCARTER: Okay. You know what? Bills come up and we decide whether we believe they're right or wrong. And just because we have a difference in opinion…

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Please, please, this is -- please. The Chair is not recognizing anybody other than Senator McCarter. Please keep the decorum of the Senate in order. Senator McCarter is the only speaker right now. SENATOR McCARTER: Thank you. You know, we're not always going to agree on things, but I'm not going to resort to saying because you don't agree with me, that you're a racist or immoral. I -- I -- I've got nothing personally against the sponsor. I just don't agree with the bill. I mean, there's going to be bills that I bring forth and -- and you don't agree. You're going to vote No. I'm not going to call you immoral or racist. I mean, seriously, I've 67  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 never done that to anyone here. You may not like my position, but it is -- I get one vote here. I was elected to get one vote and that's all I'm doing. And I would hope that we would just, going forward, just not make this so personal. I'm going to continue to vote the way I think it should be in this State and what's best for this State, despite what names are called in this Chamber.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Manar, to close.

Thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate the robust debate on this bill. I do. I do. This is an important issue, because I'm going to read you four statistics that ought to be stunning to everybody in this Chamber: 54.1 percent of eligible voting-age - - eligible voting-age Hispanic citizens in Illinois are not registered to vote; 42.2 percent of eligible voting-age Black citizens in Illinois are not registered to vote; 57.8 percent of eligible voting-age Asian-American citizens in Illinois are not registered to vote; 34.1 percent of eligible voting - eligible - voting-age White citizens in Illinois are not registered to vote. We all ought to agree that that's a problem - that is a big problem. I don't know if this will change an election this way or this way. I don't know. But what I do know is, if more people voted, that the government would be more reflective of the people that walk into the ballot box. That's the fundamental nature of democracy. And that's a problem not just in Illinois; it's a problem across the country. So the -- the goal of this bill, why I'm interested in this bill, why we started this a year ago, and I appreciate the Chairman of the Executive Committee, Senator Harmon, being patient with me with this bill, because it is complicated on its face, but 68  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 it -- at the root of it, it's pretty simple. It's pretty simple. We have duplicative processes in State government that allow for the verification of who someone is. It happens when you walk into a county clerk's office with a piece of paper. It happens when you walk into the driver's services facility, not to register to vote, but to get a driver's license. So why can't we do it all at once and save some money? There are protections in this bill that should not be of a concern to the citizens of this State. We do that in this bill. This bill saves money without a doubt. Maricopa County, Arizona, not exactly a -- a bastion of liberalism, they went from the cost of eighty-three cents per registration down to three cents per registration with automatic voter registration. Now there is an initial cost and I'm going to say that because we didn't debate it - I thought this was going to be about a cost - and we're going to have to pay for some of this upfront and that has to happen during budget-making. But after that, this ought to reduce the cost at the county clerk's office significantly. In most county clerk's office, administering voter registration is about a third of their total budget - one third. So to Senator Holmes' point, if we can eliminate that, both on the State level and the local level, make it more efficient, that's a good thing. That's -- that's a Republican talking point and it's a Democratic talking point. So this is about reducing redundancy in government. It's about raising accuracy of voter rolls and, most importantly, it's about opening up doors of democracy to people of this State who are citizens of the United States of America. That's what it's about fundamentally. I appreciate the robust debate and I will close just by saying I ask for an Aye vote. Thank you, Mr. President. 69  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) The question is, shall Senate Bill 250 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 42 Ayes, 16 Nays, none voting Present. Senate Bill 250, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senator Weaver, for what purpose do you rise?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) State your point.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 70  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 Welcome to Springfield. With leave of the Body, we're going to House Bill 4167. President Cullerton. Senator Trotter will be presenting the bill. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Could I get everybody's attention, please? This is final action on House Bill 4167 and it's very important. Leader Trotter.

Thank you very much, Mr. President, Members of the Senate. House Bill 4167 is an important bill. It's an appropriations bill. It appropriates to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for the Monetary Award Program for FY'16. In total, House Bill 4167 appropriates 227,274.4 {sic} (227,274,400) dollars from the General Revenue Fund for the MAP grants.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Senator Rose, for what purpose do you rise?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Indicates he will yield.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Trotter, if you want to answer the question. 71  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016

I'm fine, Senator. I hope you're well, as -- as well.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Rose, this is the Senate.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Trotter.

This bill does not have additional funds for that; however, we did pass a bill out of this Chamber and sent it to the House which would've appropriated to the other universities up to sixty percent of their funding.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Rose.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Trotter.

I have heard rumors that that might have happened, but they have not put anything on that bill at this point in time, so it may just be a rumor, as far as I'm concerned.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 72  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 Senator Rose.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Trotter.

No. This bill has nothing but dollars -- two hundred and twenty-seven million two hundred and seventy-four thousand dollars going to the MAP grants. So these are not going to the universities other than the reimbursement for those universities that did front the money for students that attended and joined this calendar year.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Rose.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Trotter.

Yes, General Revenue Fund. The other bill, as you referenced, was from the Education Assistance Fund that we appropriated forty- three percent of -- of their annual appropriation at that time. 73  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 This provides the other fifty-seven percent of that appropriations.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Rose.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Leader Trotter.

I haven't had a conversation with the Comptroller at this point in time. Hopefully, as we put other things in the queue to be paid, that many of those bills have been paid and she's coming to the end of that queue. Even if that happens, many more things will get paid. But we believe -- I believe and others on -- that's going to vote in the affirmative believe that -- that this is the necessary fund that needs to be appropriated - because that's all we're giving it is appropriation authority - to ensure that our students can relieve themselves of some of the drama that they've been going through this year because of the inaction of this Body and of the Governor in acting to fund higher -- higher education as well to -- with their assistance to students.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Rose.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 74  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 Leader Trotter.

No, this bill does not. It's an appropriation bill and so we don't have to do that at this juncture.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Rose.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Please wrap it up. The timer is already passed.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Rose. Wrap up, please.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Murphy, for what purpose do you rise? Leader Trotter, to close.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. You know, as duly elected officials from our respective districts, we have a responsibility to look out not only for the citizens, our constituents, and our communities, but also for all the students in -- throughout this State, the thirteen million people that reside in this great State. With that, those in the House Chamber also have a responsibility. Just because they have abdicated their responsibility to do the correct thing as a legislative Body, and that is pass a budget or -- or least funding for those things that are important to us, we should not take that posture. We must give to our students as we 76  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 promised when we ran and that is to enhance and enrich their quality of life. This -- this funding stream here, these dollars here which go to our students which helps pay for their education, is important. It's important to them. It's important to the future of the State of Illinois. So we must stand up and do our job and pass to the House two hundred and twenty-seven million dollars -- two hundred and twenty-seven million two hundred and seventy-four million {sic} (thousand) dollars to ensure that those who desire to go to school have the funding to assist them to do so. And I ask for an Aye vote.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) The question is, shall House Bill 4167 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 Ayes, 15 Nays, 2 voting Present. House Bill 4167, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. House Bill 3655. Senator Raoul. Senator Raoul seeks leave of the Body to return House Bill 3655 to the Order of 2nd Reading for the purpose of amendment. Seeing no objection, leave is granted. Mr. Secretary, are there any Floor amendments approved for consideration?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Raoul, on your amendment.

Floor Amendment 2 becomes the bill. I'll explain it on 3rd.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor 77  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 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 LINK) 3rd Reading. Now on the Order of 3rd Reading is House Bill 3655. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Raoul.

Thank you, Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen of Senate. I seem to always find myself to the place where I'm sponsoring a bill that employs the most advocates under this dome and this is one such bill. House Bill 3655 creates the Fantasy Sports Contest Act. This answers a call, based on an Attorney General's opinion, that the Legislature should act to regulate the fantasy sports game industry. It's important to know, because there's been -- with all those advocates that have been hired to advocate against this bill, there's been an effort to compare this apples to apples to casino gaming. And -- and it's important to note that the -- the -- the -- the -- the -- the federal legislature has already distinguished fantasy sports contests under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act from -- from general gaming based on it being a -- a game of skill and there -- there's also various other 78  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 distinctions. But what we try to do in this bill, Mr. President, is to regulate -- to answer the call of the Attorney General and regulate this industry so that the thousands of citizens who play this game won't be at fear of being -- of doing -- participating in something illegal by way of playing a game. There are certain consumer protections that are put in this bill. It prevents children from playing these contests by setting the age limit level at twenty-one and it requires operators to implement robust -- robust age -- verification protocols. It prohibits employees from participating in the contests and it'll -- it will also prevent professional athletes from participating in the contests. We heard from colleges and universities who were concerned about contests involving -- involved -- involving intercollegiate sports or amateur sports and we've prohibited inclusion of amateur or intercollegiate sports. There have been those who have argued that this will somehow impact revenue sharing with regards to the tenth license with south suburban communities. And I want to make clear that it's -- it's really -- I -- I can understand creative arguments being drummed up to oppose a bill, but outright lying should -- should -- should -- should not take place. There's no such impact from this bill and there's no ability for the operators to change that existing revenue sharing agreement. There are those who have argued that this creates an unfair playing field; that existing casinos who may have an interest to participate in the fantasy sports industries would've had to wait to -- to -- to -- have to undergo a waiting period before they could engage. So we responded to that and -- and -- and we made sure we put a provision in that would allow them to participate without such a waiting period. They -- they've argued that this is not going to be 79  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 regulated sufficiently; there's not sufficient background checks. However, we use the -- the same background check requirement that we include in State law right now for the Video Gaming Act. And in -- in addition, the Gaming Board has general rulemaking authority as well as emergency rulemaking authority. What we're doing here with this bill is making sure that we're responsive to the -- to the thousands of citizens who play these fantasy sports in making sure that we don't criminalize those citizens that -- who exist in each and every one of our districts. I urge your support.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? The timer will be on and I will enforce the timer right on the button. Senator Hastings, for what purpose do you rise?

Question of the sponsor, Mr. President.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Indicates he will yield.

I represent some poor towns in Illinois that receive gaming revenues from the Des Plaines casino. I just want to ask this question for me to be on the record for asking it. Would this bill, by its passage, have any effect on the distribution of funds to those towns?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Raoul.

No, Senator Hastings. Thank you for the question. This bill would have absolutely no effect on that. 80  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hastings.

In the event this legislation isn't passed, does the State of Illinois -- do they not -- do we not have the ability to collect any type of revenue from these organizations?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Raoul.

That's correct. This -- this creates the ability for us to collect revenue from these organizations who -- who are currently operating.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hastings.

Is there a estimated amount of revenues that would be collected by these organizations?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Raoul.

Yes, Senator. I -- I think it's roughly two million. I've -- I've heard figures around two million dollars.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hastings.

And is it true, if we don't have this law in place, we won't be able to collect those revenues?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Raoul. 81  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016

Correct.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hastings.

To the bill, Mr. President.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.

I just -- I want to -- you know, everyone speaks about our budget situation and how in -- in dire straits we are and there's a lot of municipalities in my district that are struggling for money; hence, why I brought legislation in the past week to ensure that municipalities can get the moneys that they're owed. I think the State of Illinois should have the same ability and I urge an Aye vote. Thank you very much.

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

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator -- I'm sorry. We will be having a verification. Thank you. Senator Luechtefeld, for what purpose do you rise?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill. 82  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016

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

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) To the bill.

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

Question of the sponsor.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Indicates he will yield.

Thank you. Senator, can you tell me what tax rate that they're going to be paying?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Raoul.

It -- it's a graduated scale based on -- based on revenues. So, if -- if the revenues are in excess of twenty-five million, the privilege tax rate is thirty percent; if the revenues is between fifteen and -- and twenty-five, it's 22.5; between eight and fifteen, fifteen percent; three and eight, ten percent; one and three, 7.5 percent; and under one, five percent.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Laura Murphy.

Do you know the tax rate of other pari-mutuel gaming in this State? Race tracks, for instance, off-track betting, do you know what tax rate they're paying?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Raoul. 86  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016

I don't -- for -- I don't -- I don't know. I'm sure you do. But as I indicated, as -- the federal legislature has already distinguished this from -- from those types of institutions. But I'm sure you have that information and can provide it.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Laura Murphy.

So I would suggest that the tax rate that they are paying is only 9.5. Racing pays higher. Off-track betting pays substantially higher. And bricks-and-mortar casinos, of course, pay a much higher rate. And -- and I want to clarify something that was said earlier on Senator Hastings' question, and it's my understanding that the revenue-sharing agreement with the Rivers Casino, which is not in my district, for the record, but that revenue-sharing agreement provides that it's a percentage of revenue that is distributed to the neediest ten communities. If the Rivers Casino revenue drops, the apportion {sic} that's appropriated to those ten communities are also. That has to drop 'cause it's simply a mathematical formula and if it -- and the numbers speak for itself. So I would suggest that if we are going to expand gaming to this magnitude in this State that we have a comprehensive bill, a bill that holds everyone accountable to the same standards. And I would urge a -- a No vote. Thank you.

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

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 87  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 Indicates he will yield.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Raoul.

There's not a single complaint that I'm aware of, and I'm sure, with all the advocates that have been hired, if there were one, we would have heard about it.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Syverson.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Raoul.

There's pending litigation as to whether or not this is legal activity. One thing's, to make clear, is that the Attorney General's opinion is just that, an -- an -- an opinion, and we don't want to leave that unsettled circumstance for the thousands of -- of people -- thousands of people who are -- are participating in fantasy sports throughout every one of our districts.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Syverson.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Raoul, to close.

Thank -- thank you, Mr. President. And I want to just address a couple of things. With regards to the tax rate, and -- and other industries were mentioned, it's important to note that those tax rates initially started at a lower level and were raised over time as the industry grew, and there's a distinction between those bricks-and-mortar businesses and -- and -- and -- and this -- this business. Secondly, with regards to background checks, again, these are the same background checks requirement currently in State law for the Video Gaming Act. Additionally, the Gaming Board has rulemaking authority, both general and emergency, and the Board can require that employees be licensed and submit to background checks or whatever they deem necessary to -- to appropriately supervise this activity, and we do put this under the supervision of the Gaming Board, as we do for those other industries that have been mentioned. And it's that authority that has been used historically to create rules that subject folks to background checks. So, we've heard every argument that the creative minds from all the lobbyists that have been hired to advocate on this bill as to why we shouldn't do this, but absolutely why we should do this is because we've heard from our Attorney General. We've seen what's been happening around the country. State by state, they're implementing laws to regulate this growing industry and - - and it should be done and the State should capture the revenue 90  STATE OF ILLINOIS 99th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 116th Legislative Day 5/19/2016 to appropriately do it and support our citizens of the State of - - of -- of -- of Illinois. There are a whole lot of reasons that you should vote one way or another on this bill. I just ask you to -- to utilize a legitimate reason as to which way you vote, not these contrived reasons that have been put forth to -- to have us not regulate this industry. As to the notion that this is being rushed through, Representative Zalewski and I announced last fall that we were working on this. There's been input over time. There's no way this can be characterized as something that has been rushed through. We held a press conference. Everybody knew. It was -- it was published in your newspapers throughout the State. And this notion that this is something that's rushed through - there's been several iterations of this - that's another contrived reason as to why not to vote for this. I ask you to do the right thing, not do the thing that those who were hired to -- told you to do. Vote to regulate this industry.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) There has been a verification request, so would all Members be in their chairs? The question is, shall House Bill 3655 pass. All those in favor will vote Aye. Opposed, Nay. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Take the record. On that question, there are 32 Ayes, 22 Nays, 1 voting Present. House Bill 3655, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senator Brady, has requested a verification. Will all Members please be in their seat? Mr. Secretary, please read the affirmative votes.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Excuse me, Mr. Secretary. Senator Brady.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Brady withdraws his verification request. We're going to House Bills 2nd Reading. With leave of the Body, we're -- return to page 28 of the printed Calendar. House Bill 6093. Senator Sandoval. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. House Bill 6226. Senator Sandoval. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. With leave of the Body, we'll go to page 3 of the printed Calendar, Senate Bills 2nd Reading. Senate Bill 2920. Senator Hutchinson. Mr. Secretary, please read the bill.

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

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Senator Hutchinson, on your amendment.

Thank you, Mr. President. The amendment was an agreed-upon amendment and passed in committee unanimously and I'll explain it when it's on 3rd.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it. The amendment is adopted. Are there any further Floor amendments approved for consideration?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) 3rd Reading. Mr. Secretary, Messages from the House.

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

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Mr. Secretary, House Bills 1st Reading.

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) I just want to remind everybody, upon adjournment, there's - - there's -- Energy will be meeting in Room 212, right upon adjournment. Also, tomorrow is the deadline for all committee amendments - tomorrow at noon. Thank you. That's Floor amendments. We will now proceed to the Order of -- Resolution Consent Calendar. With leave of the Body, all 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?

PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR LINK) Is there any discussion? If not, the question is, shall the resolutions on the Consent Calendar be adopted. All those in favor will say Aye. Opposed, Nay. The Ayes have it. The motion carries, and the resolutions are adopted. There being no further business to come before the Senate, the Senate stands adjourned until the hour of 3 p.m. on the 23rd day of May 2016. The Senate stands adjourned. 95