The Illinois Autism Coverage that Almost Was

By Julie Obradovic

What do you do if you have a health crisis unparalleled to any other affecting children in your state that isn’t being properly covered by insurance?

Well, if you’re certain Illinois legislators, the answer is simple:  Put politics first.

The events that have unfolded over the last 8 months with regard to this issue are truly upsetting. It is occurrences such as these that make you lose faith in those trusted to do the right thing.

Last winter, Senate Bill 1900 was introduced. It provided insurance coverage for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, including but not limited to speech therapy, occupational therapy and even medical intervention. Hours of careful collaboration with legislators and insurance lobbyists (primarily on the part of mother/volunteer-lobbyist Laura Cellini) went into crafting a bill that had no opposition; it was perhaps the most sponsored bill of the session.

SB 1900 would have been a model for the rest of the country. In a truly bipartisan effort, our children and their struggling families would have been treated (at least with regard to insurance coverage) with the respect and decency they desperately deserve.

After passing both chambers unopposed, however, House Speaker Michael Madigan failed to call a “motion to recede” a rules amendment that the Senate wanted removed, thus stalling the bill. Essentially, it was dead.

It is no secret in Illinois that House Speaker Madigan and Governor Blagojevich (both Democrats) are not on the best of terms.  While speculative, it is fair to say this move had absolutely nothing to do with the necessity of the coverage or any of its detail. This was personal.

Still, the Senate tried to work around it.

In July, they amended a different bill to include the language of SB 1900. The bill was House Bill 415, which was proposing additional physical therapy coverage for people with MS. This time, the bill was simply not acted on. It too was killed, just like the third attempt made when the Governor tried to amend HB 4255.

Yet the effort to get coverage for our kids still wasn’t over. Later that month, in a fourth try, the Governor attempted to attach the coverage provided in HB 415 (for both Autism and MS) to HB 953, a bill providing coverage for marriage counseling.

But sadly, once again when sent to the House for approval, they voted to over-ride his re-writes. As such, HB 953 did pass, just not with any coverage for our children or additional coverage for people with MS.

It is shameful that something so necessary, so uncomplicated and so uniformly supported by both ends of the political spectrum could be used as a pawn for personal reasons. Despite hundreds of calls and visits from Illinois parents to their legislators begging for some kind of relief from Hurricane Autism, Speaker Madigan decided to use our kids as a way to stick it to the Governor.

Those legislators who chose to follow him are now attempting to excuse themselves from any wrong-doing. They claim they did not object to the coverage, but rather the way in which it was presented, arguing the Governor’s re-writes were unconstitutional. (Interestingly, two weeks earlier this same group of legislators allowed his rewrites to pass on a different issue presented in the exact same way.)

As Representative Lisa Dugan (D-Bradley) put it, “It was a tough decision. My record clearly shows I support Autism programs, but in this particular manner, this was not the way to do it.”

It begs the question, what is the right way to do it then? From what transpired, 4 different attempts all ended the same way. How much worse does this situation have to get for us to finally put the issue before the “manner” in which it is addressed?

Autism already affects more children than all pediatric cancer, diabetes and AIDS cases combined. The cost of treating a child with Autism is not only financially bankrupting our families, but emotionally bankrupting them as well. Almost 80% of our marriages are failing!

But, oh that’s right, we can get counseling now.

Too bad we might not need it as much if our children’s services were covered instead.

Julie Obradovic is the mom of a recovered child.

Comments

[John]

The amazing thing about this is how so many other states, be they "red" (Indiana, Louisiana, Arizona) or "blue" (New Jersey) or "purple" (Pennsylvania, Florida) have been passing essentially the same coverage bill. Only in Illinois, with our in-fighting Democratic Party does the bill sit in limbo.

Like so many of you others, our son's ABA treatment expenses are destroying us ($30,000/year) plus the other expenses (diapers at age 6, his medications, etc.). I make a decent living although not enough to cover the ABA.

Prior to the ASD diagnosis had built a little equity in the house and built up some savings. But after 2.5 years of ABA therapy, we have drained our savings and are running near the end of the Home Equity Loan. If Blago & Madigan could just set aside their differences for a few minutes to let the bill become law...

[Carol Rivera]

When Insurance companies have to pay we will have another advocate on our side. So keep pushing!
--------------------
Yesterday's Schafer report talks about measles outbreaks. But then the cdc gives statistics that prove having measles is a better risk.

Because it is virulently contagious, measles is often the first vaccine-preventable disease to reappear when vaccination rates decline. In the decade before the measles vaccination program began, each year nearly 4 million people in the United States were infected, 48,000 were hospitalized, 1,000 were chronically disabled and nearly 500 died.
Autism and antivaccines advocates are unapologetic about the return of measles.
“Most parents I know will take measles over autism,”

This means that the chance of dying from measles is 1 in 8000.

Being disabled from it is 1 in 4000.

And, being hospitalized is 1 in 83.

Austism rates are 1 in 67 boys.

Or, 1 in 150 children, probably more now.

So let's look at the truth here:

Insurance comapnies don't have to pay for autism treatments,
but they do have to pay for hospitalization from measles.

A vaccine will cost them peanuts compared to hospitalization .

Maybe pushing the insurance companies to pay for autism treatments ( which we are doing), is not such a bad idea. After they are paying out billions (instead of us), they will start to look at these stats more clearly......Then we will have another advocate on our side.

think about it.........

Carol

[Patricia Myers]

Autism is on the rise and more children are being diagnosed daily!!!!! Research has already clearly proven that with intensive interventions, many of these children make significant gains and later on are able to be independent. However, many parents like myself are unable to finacially afford therapies our children desperately need. Not only is it going to effect these children in the future, it's also going to effect all the taxpayers because now, all of these children that did not get the interventions they needed are not going to be emnployable. Having this mandate is a win/win situation for everyone SO DO THE RIGHT THING!!!!

Tricia

[karyn]

Mr Madigan.... you are invited to come spend a day with me and my kids! Pick any day of the week. You will help me schlep 4 kids to multiple therapies for my two sons on the spectrum. You can help entertain my daughters in various waiting rooms. We will come home to enjoy a delicious GF/CF meal that you helped me make. Mealtimes are always fun at my house. You can learn also how to get a 4 year old to ingest his biomed compounds. Then later when we open the mail, you can argue with my husband and I about how we will pay these bills. No, we aren't trying to keep up with the Joneses. We just have to buy food, pay for phone, lights, gas, AND THERAPY.
I am inviting you because I firmly believe you must really be ignorant. And I'd be happy to help change that. I personally don't believe that many humans throughout history are intrinsically evil. And that is how you appear. No... it must be ignorant.

[Jenny Carrera]

I'm really tired trying to get my 3 1/2 year-old autistic son into therapies. I'm really tire of fighting with our private insurance to get more hours of therapies for him. I can’t sleep thinking how we can pay for ABA therapy, since I'm already spending a lot of money in biochemical intervention. I have to leave my engineering career to stay 100% available for my kid. It's just frustrated to see how those politicians just play in the senate thank to our tax-money. I'm so frustrated with the American Pediatrician Association for not talking laud & clear that every single therapy & biochemical intervention is necessary for Autism care. I'm tire to ask to every politician, even Senator Obama & McCain; about what they'll do to increase medical care for Autism, but no-one has say nothing.
My husband just started looking for a job in one of those states that has already passed the bill requesting insurance companies to cover for Autism treatment. I just hope to see my little boy as a regular kid one day. I don't want a super-genius boy; I just want him to be a regular one. Is it too much to ask for???

[pk]

I'm shocked to hear that the Speaker has allowed a personal feud to affect such a key piece of legislation. Our children have autism and most of the speech therapy, occupational therapy, ABA and other treatments they need are not covered by insurance. We pay for these ourselves, which causes financial hardship and we continue to do so because we have seen how much the children benefit from them. Such therapies allow them to attend mainstream classes in public school and will hopefully allow them to become productive, independent adults. It is a shame that our state is effectively denying access to these beneficial and medically necessary treatments to such a large group of children.

[IllinoisMomOf2ASDBoys]

Fellow Illini, we can change who is in office! These BOYS will be up for re-election! The state's leadership is not in good favor with most of the citizens of Illinois. These two "Wind Bags" need to go and soon!

I am tired of fighting with my boys Doc and the insurance co for services, only to be told no, Autism is a chronic medical condition and will not improved in 60 days!!!!!!!!!! When did Autism go from being a psychological disorder to a chronic medical condition?

[Elaine Boby]

I am far too busy taking care of my son with autism to worry about technicalities of the "rules amendments" Mr. Brown.

I let the governor know how I felt about him monkeying with a bill that the already overextended autism families worked so hard to put together and gather support for. You can pretend all you want but if speaker Madigan had done the right thing he would have let the coverage pass. He will be hearing it from this large community.

There's no where to hide on this one and we will be letting the individual house and senate representatives know what they have done to set back this very important cause.

[ARVC]

For what it's worth, families in this situation have long memories, political and otherwise, because we cannot afford not to. It's not too late to step up and do the right thing, Mr. Madigan.

[Lisa]

Two grown men playing petty politics at the expense of innocent disabled children.

Men, or shall I say Boys, let's stop the blame game, agree on the issue and make it happen.

[Elucidatus]

Mr. Madigan.... I don't know how to say this any nicer but F*CK YOU. I hope Autism never pops its Bankrupting head in your family's path.

Have a great day.

[Vance Laine]

Mike Madigan's political games are a classic example of putting short term political goals ahead of long-term serious issues. It should be noted that the governor plays that particular game just as well as the speaker with similar disastrous long-term impacts. If young children with autism had access to appropriate therapies, some would recover substantially from their autistic symptoms, some would show some improvement, and some may not improve much at all. However, the cost of supporting those who remain moderately to severely autistic as adults is going to be astronomical. Even though Illinois has a dismal track record historically in supporting developmentally disabled adults, the numbers will be impossible to ignore over the next decade or two due to the rapid increases in rates of autism. If those numbers could be cut by 10% (possibly those who substantially recover) and the severity of autistic symptoms requiring state support can be cut from moderate/severe to mild/moderate for another 30% or so thanks to appropriate therapies covered by health insurance, the demands for state support for these future adults would decrease by millions of dollars per year. Funneling millions to the bloated bureaucracy of "The Autism Program" while thwarting opportunities to provide direct therapies that have the potential to reduce the symptoms of autism in some children is short-sighted to say the least.

[Linda Betzold]

I am so tired of watching members of the medical profession, insurance companies, and members of government play games with the future of our children. There aren't words to describe how profoundly disappointing and infuriating this legislative episode is to families with autism. Everyone get your egos and your agendas out of the way and help these children.

[Dorothy]

When our Illinois legislators will finally realize that they are there to work not to play their games…denying help to sick children is just so low.

[Di]

Mr. Madigan....SHAME ON YOU!!! You had better hope that your new grandchild is one of the "lucky ones"....of course, maybe if this were YOUR problem it wouldn't have to be ALL OF OUR'S. Remember....LOTS OF KIDS are being diagnosed EVERYDAY...and you have the audacity to sit back and not support some of the ONLY treatments that can help these children????? AS IF it were going to come out of YOUR pocket or something...."Oh, that's right, it's coming out of OURS..." ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS MOVE THE LEGISLATION....and you are too much of a loser to do even that. Remember....parents of autistic children vote...and seeing as how there are more children being diagnosed every day...you may want to start looking for a new job....you OBVIOUSLY are not the right one for the position you currently hold.

[Barbie Hines]

Michael Madigan, must autism hit your family before you feel the need to allow help? We aren't asking you to "give" anything...simply allow our children to be treated for their illnesses...seriously, what is the problem? What item in your budget could possibly be more pressing than this? The White Sox? Really...come one! What if you needed to come up with approximately $5,000 out of pocket per month in order to help your child...simply because insurance was not mandated to cover that child's health issues...how would you do that? How do you think the families in IL are going to continue to do this?

[Craig Willoughby]

Cindy L,

I am a Texas resident (I'm near Dallas), and the Autism programs aren't too bad, which is one of the reasons I gave up a high paying job and moved away from Mississippi and came here. They have some good special ed programs that work with your children and try to build speach and coordination skills, and most of it is paid for by the state (if you want to deal with the red tape, that is). The good news is that there are Consciencious Objection clauses for the public school system here in Texas, so no worries there. As long as our clown in governer's clothing, Rick Perry (you know, the one that tried to make Gardasil mandatory here in Texas after only 6 months in clinical trials while getting large campaign contributions from Merck) doesn't have his way, that is.

[L. Stuiber]

This inaction is a disgrace to the struggling families of Illinois who are working extremely hard to improve the lives of their children with autism. I can’t tell you how angry I get when I here campaign rhetoric about how a political candidate is going help children and families. On this issue government has done nothing except make things worse. Speaker Madigan, I sincerely hope that your daughter and new grandchild don’t experience firsthand the devastation autism can bring. Do the right thing for our kids and get this legislation passed.

[Xiao Stroming]

Our kids are unfortunately indeed pawns in this political charade. So many of us have been struggling to get all the helps our kids need. We are tired of being denied by our insurance companies for the right services for our kids. Every day is precious in our battle against autism. It is time for the Illinois House to take the right action to help us.

[hgmadre in IL]

Michael Madigan, YOU SUCK

[Stephen McMahon]

The shame of the whole issue is not that our children and grandchildren won't get the coverage they need. The real shame belongs on the shoulders and in the hearts of our elected officials. The people who we count on, who cannot be counted on, to ghelp us, our familiies or even the long term prognosis of the State of Illinois-we need to find out how everyobne voted and stir up a firestorm of embarassment. The entire legislature needs to pass, and we need to forget them-like bad news. The worst part of the whole thing is they are literally dooming the entire state to a financial load that WILL break the staes bank.

[Camille]

Great article!

It is a shame that our kids cannot get the services they need, that are in fact recommended by their doctors, because they won't be covered by insurance. It is a shame to see families (like mine) spending every resource they have, going into debt, and taking away from their other kids, to pay for these services out of pocket. Two of my three children require (yes REQUIRE!) therapy and not one single penny is covered by our "insurance". So sad the same is true for many of us..

[mary]

We spend $100 - $2000 per month on our son's supplements, medications, physician visits and therapy. We need help NOW!!!

[Jason's Mom]

This deeply impacts our family in so many ways. For six years, we have been paying for most medical services out of pocket. It's appalling that legislators are showing such a total disregard for a major health concern that is affecting so many children.

[Johanna Flores]

Hi,
I really don't understand all the ins and outs of politics. All I want is for Insurance Companies, Government, someone to help us pay for all these therapies. I am the mother of two boys with Autism..my life and my entire family's life has been turned upside down because of it. Our kids have a chance as any other kid to have the right to proper healthcare...why so many politics involved??? Please someone listen to us..how much longer are we going to be ignored? We are not asking to understand us, but please have compassion for each of us who have a child/children with Autism..this is a devastating disorder, is like your children being taken away from you, but they are there physically without a voice, in their own world...if you politicians are parents, can you even imagine having your own children not talking to you, not knowing how their voice sounds like, not knowing what they think, not even understanding that you are Mom or Dad, not even understanding that concept..or even think how will they take care of themselves if us the parents are not around??? please please please if any of you lawmakers have a little bit of sensitivity, please I am begging you to consider this bill. They need these therapies to have a chance in the world, why are the doors closing on us?...we can't do it alone anymore, we need help, our kids need help, they need a chance just like everyone else. Please help pass the Autism bill, not for you, not for me, but for our children that need help. Please, listen to us. We need help, please don't let politics get involved with our children's health, and future. Thanks.

[cblakey]

The problem is that Madigan has been directing all the autism money in the State to The Autism Program/Hope School. They get millions of our tax dollars every year (that means at least $12.5 million so far) and I have yet to hear from anyone who has actually been helped by them. They are also poised to receive another $10.2 million every year if the Senate concurs with the House's override of the Governor's reduction veto. It is shameful. Yet when parents complain to their legislators about them, their legislators are told to back off of Madigan's "baby". Now TAP/Hope School just got awarded an additional $900K Federal Grant to do what they were charged with doing years ago when they got their first $2.5mil from the IL legislature. I wonder what they spent the money on instead...maybe their director's salary, which, for living in central Illinois, was a hefty $400,000+ in 2006. That's not a salary, actually, that's a cut of the pie.
-cblakey

[Karen Homer]

Thank you Julie for this well written article that illustrates the frustrations so many of us are feeling. It's been a roller coaster of a year since we first identified my sons delays culminating with his Autism Diagnosis in June. I too have gone from being optimistic and hopeful that I would receive the assistance we needed... to beaten down, helpless, defeated.

I can't understand why Mr. Madigan would let politics interfere in such important coverage for our kids. Shame on him!

[Suzanne]

It is downright shameful that the Speaker and Governor cannot get together on this very important issue. Our kids deserve so much better. Speaker Madigan, stop the nonsense and get the legislation passed.

[bfischer]

Last week when the Bill was killed yet again by Mike Madigan, I felt like the day I got the diagnoses for my son with Autism all over again, Defeated and Helpless. Once again, my family will pick themselves up and make it work by less Christmas presents under the tree, one more activity or sport that I have to tell my typical kids that they cannot do because we cannot afford it. What Mike Madigan seems to not understand is that the financial burden on all of us, in the Hurricane of Autism is devastating. What we are doing is putting every dollar into our child to make him/her well. Depleting our savings, pillaging our 401Ks, borrowing money from family and in many cases remortgaging homes. Autism not only effects the child who has it but the siblings, parents, friends, cousins and society as a whole.

Mike Madigan needs to understand we are not going away and unfortunately more children are being diagnosed with Autism every day. This is an epidemic. We will remember his disregard for our children and our families.

[Cindy L.]

Hi, we live in Illinois and I just found out less than a month ago that my son has autism. (And asthma.) He is going to be 6 years old this week and I don't have much of a "window of opportunity" left with him. I have been reading a lot of books and websites lately and looking over my son's vaccination and medical records. I am convinced that vaccines have done this to him. (Especially the DTaP... I think the Pertussis actually caused his asthma... long story.) He has been on a strict GF/CF diet for 2 weeks and has improved DRAMATICALLY, but he is still far behind his peers. (He just started K-4 and he is almost 6, and struggling.) We have been considering moving out-of-state (San Antonio, maybe? I think the warmer climate would help my son's asthma. And I've heard nice things about their autism programs.) Or should we stick around in Illinois to see if the good ol' Gov. and his delightful pop-in-law can work things out? And also, are San Antonio's autism programs any better? And I've heard that in Texas, they can kick your child out of school for not having their vaccines, even if you have religious objection... is this true? (Because my kids are never getting another vaccine as long as I'm alive to stop it.)

[L. Hafkey]

The autism insurance bill had unanimous support in the house and senate. The only reason that it is not law today is because the Speaker seems far more concerned with sticking it to the Governor than he is with helping children with autism. The fact that he chose to use a most vulnerable and needy group - children with disabilities - to play these games is saddening. Meanwhile, families continue to go broke trying to pay out of pocket for their children's autism treatment, and the children of families who can't pay simply go without.

[SaraD]

Madigan blocked this legislation 4 times!

Enough with the games at our children's expense.

Madigan deserves to go directly to jail--do not pass go, do not collect $10 million for TAP.

[TMC]

This should be a priority. Why must the families of Illinois suffer because paperwork was done improperly.

You guys are in charge, you can make things happen and you can make things happen fast. This just seems like a bureaucratic move to keep us hanging on and believing. Quit blamming and start doing -- start doing the right thing for the special needs children of Illinois.

While we wait for you to sort this out, my son is still autistic, he still needs services. These services are putting us in financial ruins (his ABA program is $60,000/year) and most all medical treatments we do for him are not covered by insurance. We as parents know that our children need these therapies in order to become a functioning member of society. All neuro-typical children are entitled to a public education. I didn't plan on have a child with special needs, my intention was to send my chidren to public school. I don't really have much choice, if I want my child to ever have a fighting chance in this world as an adult, I must pay for these services NOW!!!

[Concerned mama]

Steve, Thank you so much for posting information. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE remember the kids with autism and help with the insurance coverage. Time is ticking and is precious. I feel like autism has been held up by politics unnecessarily, and I hope that soon Illinois will change for the better! ABA is a therapy that greatly helps my child!

[Mike]

Sooner or later, political games will be the undoing of those politicians playing them. The public is getting tired of it. The current election is bringing it into the general discussion. Real answers to real problems will be the basis for casting a vote and we will not need to spend our time on blogs discussing why our leaders do not act in our best interest. I can't wait.

[kris]

I will be very honest here. I dont understand all this political stuff What i do know is that my almost 4 year old son with autism cannot get any of his therapies covered by our insurance. These are the same therapies that we were told were my sons only chance at improving. This isnt a game, it shouldnt be about dotting your Is and crossing your Ts Or trying to tick whoever off. Its about our kids who cant say there own name when they wander off, Its about them screaming out in pain and you have no idea what is hurting him. The IL legislators should be embarrassed and ashamed
kris

[Teresa]

"Hopefully the Senate will be able to approach the issue in a common sense manner and move the legislation on to the governor."

Steve,
Please define "common sense". We have thousands of children here in IL who cannot get medical help for an autism diagnosis. Is it common sense to allow these children to not get better and to not be able to contribute to society? Do they understand that helping these children now, when young, can save money down the road, as many of these same children will then not require supervised care for the rest of their lives.

Providing services should be a "feel good, we want to help Illinois families with autism mission" by our legislators, but the cold reality is that it is usually a money issue. Spend it now via the Insurance Industry and then not overwhelm the IL social service system later--how is that not common sense?

[Anna]

I think it is time for speaker Mike Madigan to lay the cards on the table: he has no interest in children with autism and he has no interest in anything else but making the Governor look bad. So, given that the Governor was selected democratically, it is time for the speaker of the house to move on and let someone with less personal baggage take over. Our children certainly deserve that. So, the question is: how do we get the speaker of the house to leave his post?

[Molly]

This is just sickening. While people are busy pointing fingers at who's fault it is, I'm paying $40,000+ in out of pocket medical expenses thanks to the great state of Illinois. I can't wait until it's time to vote for this poor excuse for a speaker that we have. We need people who can actually get things done, not make excuses (and bad ones at that!!)

Quite honestly, I don't know how he sleeps at night. I sure couldn't.

[Tina]

We have elected leaders into office that are supposed to represent the people, that's what America is all about! The people of this state are desperately trying to follow the process to ensure we gain the coverage that are children need and deserve. Honestly, looking at the rise in Autism, if for no other reason ... wouldn't you want to provide support to families given the importance of early intervention and avoid the incremental costs the State and Government will have later in our children's lives.

I'm not going to judge your reasons, but I'm asking you to please put aside whatever reasons you have for rejecting this coverage multiple times and do what you must know is RIGHT for the State of Illinois and all the families affected by Autism! We need your support!

[Jody Mack]

Without laws in place, many insurance companies won't cover services for our children with autism. My little girl had to wait until IL mandated therapy coverage - and then I had to bring copies printed off of the state website to "prove" they were required to provide services. IL is 51st in the country for helping these kids! We need our leaders in Springfield to pass laws to ensure all of our kids reach their full potential!

[Agent Orange]

Good Old Mike.

He makes a stand on "administrative rules process" when it comes helping families with autism, but he bent every rule in the book to keep his beloved White Sox from moving to St. Petersburg.

[cblakey]

Steve,
I'm confused, so please help me out here-multiple other insurance mandate bills (mandates to cover eating disorders, marriage counseling, and multiple sclerosis) weren't required to have the rules amendment placed on them. They got through just fine. So, although I'm happy my husband and I might be able to see a marriage counselor to help us beat the 85% divorce rate odds among families dealing with this financially back-breaking disorder, explain to me again why my son can't get get the medically necessary services he needs so desperately? How could the speaker let this happen if he were really supportive of our families and children? I'm afraid our Governor isn't the only one playing politics here.
-cblakey

[Laura Cellini]

Steve,
The House had ample opportunity to allow this measure to become law through SB 1900 and HB 415 neither of which had anything to do with the Governor's Amendatory Veto authority. So what's the real problem? SB 1900 was forced to have the "rules amendment" placed on it while multiple other insurance mandate bills did not. So what's up with this issue? The Senate is not the problem here. HB 415 was amended in the Senate and sent back to the House where once again, action wasn't taken and it was allowed to die. This really is too important an issue to play politics with, for goodness sakes we are talking about children's lives and yes, we feel like our kids our pawns in this drama.

[Steve Brown]

Actually had everything to do with the actual implementation of this proposal and hundreds of others after the Governor announced he would ignore the administrative rules process.

Sadly the insurance mandate became a victim of the governor's reckless and bewildering behavior. The Senate opted not to accept he amendment. A dubious decision.

The crisis caused by the governor on this and many similarly important issues ia very disappointing. Likewise it is disappointing that the rationale behind the rules amendment is dismissed as a "pawn"

Hopefully the Senate will able to approach the issue in a common sense manner and move the legislation on to the governor.