STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE – GROSS RECEIPTS TAX SUBJECT MATTER TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 5/9/2007 Speaker Madigan: "Hannig in the Chair." Speaker Hannig: "The Chair recognizes the Majority Leader Representative Currie." Currie: "Thank you, Speaker. I move that the House of Representatives now resolve itself into the Committee of the Whole for the purpose of a subject matter hearing on the Governor's proposal for a Gross Receipts Tax and that the Committee of the Whole operate in accordance with guidelines established by the Speaker." Speaker Hannig: "Is there any discussion? Then all in favor of the Motion say 'aye'; opposed 'nay'. The 'ayes' have it. The Motion is adopted. And the House hereby resolves into a Committee of the Whole and we will proceed under the agenda referenced by the Lady's Motion. Is there leave for the Attendance Roll Call to ac… to be accepted for purposes of establishing a quorum in the committee? There being no objections, leave is granted and a quorum is established. Representative Bradley is appointed as the chair of the committee and he is recognized for the purposes of conducting the hearing. Representative…" Chairman Bradley, J.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Majority Leader Currie. My fellow colleagues in the House of Representatives, the state is in fiscal crisis. For the last four months, the House Revenue Committee, in a bipartisan, policy-driven manner, has conducted a series of subject matter hearings on the issue of the taxing structure of the State of Illinois, the state indebtedness, the 09500050c.doc 1 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE – GROSS RECEIPTS TAX SUBJECT MATTER TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 5/9/2007 sources of revenue and general taxing principles. Today we continue those hearings with this extraordinary and historic Committee of the Whole to study and consider Senate Bill 1, the Governor's Gross Receipts Tax. Let me reiterate, this hearing… these hearings are policy-driven. This is not the time for political speeches or rhetoric. As the old saying goes, 'just the facts' that is what Representative Biggins and myself, who have conducted these hearings, are interested in. Shining light on the issues, giving the people of the State of Illinois the information they need to make a reasoned decision through their elected officials, us, and so we conduct this hearing today with those ideas and notions in mind. As for the structure, witnesses will be invited in panels. They will be limited in time. Each caucus will be given equal time to ask questions. Floor manager Representative Biggins will oversee the questions on the Republican side and floor manager Representative Mautino, my vice chairman, will organize the questions on the Democratic side. We intend to conclude at 5:00. Let me say that again, we intend to conclude at 5:00. This will take everyone's cooperation. In a time when government inefficiency is well documented, let's surprise everyone and conduct this hearing in an expeditious and timely manner. We do have witnesses that are on the agenda. Anyone who is not on the agenda is welcome to fill out witness slips which are at the front of the chamber or provide written testimony and that will be conducted and considered by the Body. At 09500050c.doc 2 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE – GROSS RECEIPTS TAX SUBJECT MATTER TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 5/9/2007 this time, it is my honor and privilege to recognize the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Honorable Michael J. Madigan for comments." Speaker Madigan: "Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, thank you very, very much. Thank you for being here this morning. Our purpose today is to give a full and fair hearing to the Governor's proposal for the imposition of the Gross Receipts Tax upon the State of Illinois. First, let me applaud the Governor for taking the initiative and showing the courage to recommend significant action so as to put the fiscal condition of the State of Illinois on a firm footing and to position the state in the future to be responsive to the needs of the people of the State of Illinois. Not everyone has shown that kind of courage, that kind of initiative, for that he should be commended. We're doing a Committee of the Whole today because given an issue of this significance we simply don't wanna relegate this to one committee of the House and one small group of Members in the House who happen to serve on that particular committee. And so, our purpose is to make this testimony, this discussion, this debate, available to all of us in this forum for a very long period of time so that all pertinent questions can be asked and hopefully answered. In addition, let me announce that today I will file a Resolution and I've asked Minority Leader Tom Cross if he would join me in cosponsoring this Resolution. The Resolution would simply put the question, after today's hearing and after today's 09500050c.doc 3 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE – GROSS RECEIPTS TAX SUBJECT MATTER TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 5/9/2007 opportunity to educate oneself on this issue, the Resolution would simply ask, 'are you for or against the imposition of a Gross Receipts Tax in the State of Illinois?' The Resolution has been drafted in a very neutral fashion. This was done so as not to bring any bias to the language of the Resolution and that Resolution will be called before the House of Representatives tomorrow. So, again, today I will introduce the Resolution that will express the will of this Body, drafted in a very neutral fashion. It will be called tomorrow. We'll all have an opportunity to express our opinions on the Governor's proposal for the imposition of a Gross Receipts Tax upon the State of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, thank you for recognizing me. Good luck to you. I hope you can stand there for the remainder of the day." Chairman Bradley, J.: "Thank you, Speaker Madigan. At this time, I would like to recognize my friend and colleague, Representative Bob Biggins." Biggins: "Well… Thank you, thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Speaker, thank you for your comments and the House Republicans are here in the spirit of the intent of this meeting here today and to allow and hear from people throughout the state and groups representing them, what they think of the Gross Receipts Tax. As you may know that the House Republicans have had numerous hearings throughout the state and hearing from constituents, I think, over sixty- three (63) different events and allowing public input on the Gross Receipts Tax and as a Legislator to… while building 09500050c.doc 4 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE – GROSS RECEIPTS TAX SUBJECT MATTER TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 5/9/2007 consensus is what we do when we do these things and the opposition to it has really been pretty much unanimous. There has not been one group that came forward and asked us to proceed and enact this tax, but we are open-minded and we also have drafted House Resolution 344 in opposition to the Gross Receipts Tax and several, I believe, it's nine Democrats have joined us in that creating a majority in opposition to the Gross Receipts Tax. And we're here today because you called the meeting and we're here to participate and listen to what the… those participating will have to say and we do remain united and open-minded and… willing to listen to what they have to say. And thank you for bringing this issue to the Committee of the Whole and we're ready to go. Let's go." Chairman Bradley, J.: "Thank you, Representative Biggins. At this time, I will call the first panel, panel #1, the Honorable Governor of the State of Illinois, Governor Rod Blagojevich. We're gonna swear in witnesses you… If I could have the witnesses face the outer doors and raise their right hand, I will administer the oath. In the testimony you're about to give, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" Panel – et al: "I do." Chairman Bradley, J.: "Thank you very much, gentlemen. You may have a seat. On the first panel I have, of course, the Honorable Governor Rod Blagojevich and we very much 09500050c.doc 5 STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE – GROSS RECEIPTS TAX SUBJECT MATTER TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 5/9/2007 appreciate him being here, Bob Greenlee, Ginger Ostro, Joseph Persky, Sheila Nix, Bill Quinlan, Doug Kane, Ken Thorpe, and John Filan. So, Governor, I will turn it over to you and I would ask that before the other members offer remarks, if they could identify themselves for the purpose of the record. Thank you very much for being here." Governor Blagojevich: "Thank you, Representative Bradley and Ladies and Gentlemen of the House. Thank you so much for giving us a chance to address you and talk to you about the purpose of the Gross Receipts Tax. Let me say that I think that now that all of us are back in business this is the season and the year where we can actually do big things for the people of Illinois and the question is, if you're gonna do big things to the people of Illinois, what are the means that you're gonna use to do that.