Distributed via Email: May 8, 2009

LEGISLATURE MEETS ANOTHER DEADLINE

Today (Friday) was the deadline to have bills considered in committee in the second chamber. So, generally, House bills needed to be approved by a Senate committee and Senate bills needed to be approved by a House committee in order to remain viable. Both chambers were able to complete their committee work early so today’s session was cancelled. Legislators now have two weeks to call their bills for a vote on final passage. The legislature is scheduled to adjourn on May 31.

MAJOR ISSUES STILL PENDING

Though there are hundreds of bills pending before the General Assembly, significant issues are still at the earliest stages of discussion. The Fiscal Year 2010 budget, revenue enhancements, a capital projects bill, ethics reforms, and pension reforms all are a part of the end-of-session mix but are nowhere near fruition. Many expect a “doomsday” budget to appear first: a fiscal outline that uses no new revenue streams and therefore makes drastic budget cuts – including education and health care. Some insiders speculate that this, indeed, may be the kind of budget that passes at the end of May with legislators coming back later this summer or fall to make the difficult revenue decisions.

Budget talks have been taking place among Governor Quinn, House Speaker Michael Madigan, and Senate President John Cullerton. Republican leaders reportedly have not been invited to attend the meetings. This spring will be quite a test for a brand new governor and Senate president.

BILL ACTION THIS WEEK

The following bills were approved by the Senate Education Committee and were sent to the full Senate for consideration:

HB 272 (Franks, D-Woodstock) requires the IHSA to prohibit athletes from using performance-enhancing drugs and implement random testing of athletes. Further the bill requires the IHSA to ensure that each athletic coach complete an educational program on the prevention of abuse of performance-enhancing substances.

HB 363 (Soto, D-Chicago), for Chicago public schools, creates a Special Joint Chicago Facilities sub-committee to discuss school closings, openings, repairs, additions, school phase-outs, consolidations and boundary changes.

HB 628 (Osterman, D-Chicago) requires school districts to provide access for special education student parents, independent educational evaluators, or experts hired by parents for the purpose of observation of students in the school setting. The Alliance opposes the bill.

HB 809 (Fortner, R-West Chicago) makes clarifying modifications to the process of withdrawal from special education co-operative agreements.

HB 979 (Coulson, R-Glenview) provides that for students with an Individualized Education Plan at the age of 14½, the IEP must include measurable postsecondary goals based upon age appropriate transition assessments and information that is related to training, education, employment and independent living skills.

HB 1335 (Schmitz, R-Batavia) provides that a school board does not have to comply with the Illinois Accessibility Code with respect to accessibility to press boxes that are 1,000 square feet or less and that are on school property. The Alliance supports the bill.

HB 2448 (Miller, D-Calumet City) allows a school district, by resolution, to establish a remote educational program (i.e. an educational program delivered to students in the home or other location outside of a school building).

HB 2530 (Holbrook, D-Belleville) adds relocation expenses as a result of mine subsidence to the section of the School Code that provides for loans or grants to school districts for temporary relocation and adds the replacement or reconstruction of school buildings destroyed or damaged by mine subsidence as one of the first priorities in the School Construction Grant Law. The Alliance supports the bill.

HB 2619 (Eddy, R-Hutsonville) allows Martinsville CUSD 3C to issue bonds to acquire and improve a school site and building, equipping a new school building on the site to replace all or a portion of a school building closed by the regional superintendent because of flood damage.

HB 2675 (Eddy) authorizes a school board to hold school or schedule teacher' institutes on school holidays under certain circumstances. The Alliance supports the bill.

HB 3245 (Eddy) was amended to eliminate the “hold harmless” provision in the state aid funding formula by phasing it out over five fiscal years.

HB 3673 (Gordon, J. D-Peoria), when determining Available Local Resources for General State Aid, provides that the Corporate Personal Property Replacement Taxes paid to each district during the calendar year one year (instead of two years) before the calendar year in which a school year begins, divided by Average Daily Attendance, shall be added to the local property tax revenues per pupil. The Alliance supports the bill.

The following bills were approved by the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee and were sent to the full House for consideration:

SB 1391 (Clayborne, D- E. St. Louis) allows school districts to hire marital and family therapists if they meet the certification standards contained in rules adopted by the ISBE.

SB 1557 (Delgado, D-Chicago), as amended, requires that the U.S. History curriculum must reinforce the study of the role and contributions of Hispanics and shall include the study of the events related to the forceful removal and illegal deportation of Mexican-American U.S. citizens during the Great Depression.

SB 1977 (Meeks, D-Chicago) makes numerous changes throughout the School Code to make technical and clarification changes.

SB 2214 (Garrett, D-Lake Forest) requires school districts to report annually to the ISBE the total expenditures related to providing driver education, including equipment and personnel costs.

SB 2270 (Cronin, R-Elmhurst) requires school districts to annually submit to the ISBE an itemized salary compensation report for every employee holding an administrative certificate.

SB 2277 (Cronin), as amended, authorizes the ISBE to implement a pilot program, subject to appropriation, to test digital technologies in 3 geographically diverse school districts.

SB 2283 (Althoff, R-Crystal Lake) provides certain calculations to the State Aid Formula for Huntley schools due to an anomaly in how Equalized Assessed Valuation is estimated and calculated when a school district crosses more than one county boundary.

OTHER BILL ACTION THIS WEEK

HB 72 (D’Amico, D-Chicago) prohibits a person to use a wireless telephone in a school speed zone or a construction zone, with certain exceptions. The bill was approved by the Senate Transportation Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for consideration.

HB 921 (Burke, D-Chicago) amends the Physical Fitness Facility Medical Emergency Preparedness Act regarding automated external defibrillators (AED). It deletes the requirement that a physical fitness facility have a trained AED staffer present during all physical fitness activities and states that such a trained person need only be available during “staffed business hours”. The bill, supported by the Alliance, was approved by the Senate Public Health Committee and was sent to the Senate floor.

HB 1035 (Flider, D-Mt. Zion) requires school districts to provide instruction on disability history, people with disabilities, and the disability rights movement. The bill, opposed by the Alliance, was approved by the Senate Higher Education Committee and was sent to the Senate floor.

HB 1313 (Senger, R-Naperville) provides that the gross disobedience or misconduct for which a school board may expel pupils includes that perpetuated by electronic means. The bill, supported by the Alliance, was defeated in the Senate Education Committee.

HB 3600 (Moffitt, R-Gilson) establishes grants for Agricultural Science teachers. The bill was approved by the Senate Higher Education Committee and was sent to the Senate floor.

HB 3672 (Jakobssen, D-Urbana) provides that if an IMRF employee was in the service of more than one school district, then the sick leave days from all such employers shall be credited for pension service (currently only sick leave days from last employer). The bill, opposed by the Alliance, was approved by the Senate Pensions and Investments Committee and was sent to the Senate floor.

HB 3787 (Tryon, R-Crystal Lake), as amended, provides that when a school bus driver permit holder who is a service member is called to active duty, the employer of the driver must notify the Secretary of State that the permit holder has been called to active duty. The Secretary of State shall characterize the permit as inactive until a permit holder renews the permit. The bill was approved by the Senate Transportation Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for consideration.

HB 4088 (Currie, D-Chicago) creates the Illinois Accurate Government Records Act to provide that, upon request of an individual to gain access to the individual’s personal record, an agency (including a school district) shall permit the individual to review the record and have a copy made within 10 working days. The bill, opposed by the Alliance, was approved by the Senate Consumer Protection Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for consideration.

HB 4318 (Verschoore, D-Milan) requires that instruction on cancer must be provided in health classes. The bill was approved by the Senate Public Health Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for consideration.

SB 79 (Link, D-Vernon Hills) requires grantees under the Preschool for All Children program to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the appropriate local Head Start agency no later than 3 months after the award of a grantee's grant under the program. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives and will be sent to the Governor for consideration.

SB 1559 (Koehler, D-Peoria) requires all cars owned or leased by school districts that are used for high school driver’s education to be made in America. The bill, opposed by the Alliance, was approved by the House State Government Administration Committee and was sent to the House floor.

SB 1665 (Jacobs, D-Moline) requires the Comprehensive Health Education Program to include information about cancer and requires IHSA to include a question asking whether a student has a family history of cancer on any pre-participation examination form given to students participating or seeking to participate in interscholastic athletics. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives and will be sent to the Governor for consideration.

SB 1753 (Dillard, R-Hinsdale) amends the Flag Display Act to require that any American flag purchased by a State institution or agency must be manufactured in the Unites State of America. The bill was approved by the House State Government Administration Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

SB 1926 (Martinez, D-Chicago) makes vocational centers established by a joint agreement among school districts eligible for grants under the School Construction Grant Law. The bill, opposed by the Alliance, was approved by the House Executive Committee and was sent to the House floor.

SB 1984 (Lightford, D-Maywood) provides that "educational employer" under the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act includes the governing body of a charter school. The bill was approved by the House Labor Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

SB 1995 (Wilhelmi, D-Joliet), as amended, extends the allowable life of some school district bonds to 25 years. The bill, supported by the Alliance, was approved by the House Executive Committee and was sent to the House floor.

SB 2116 (Harmon, D-Oak Park) makes changes to the procedures for awarding and letting contracts under the Local Government Energy Conservation Act. The bill was approved by the House State Government Administration Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

*The legislative report is written and edited by the lobbyists of the Illinois Association of School Boards to provide information to the members of the organizations that comprise the Statewide School Management Alliance.

General Assembly Bill Text/Status

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