Distributed via Email: May 22, 2009

CONSTRUCTION PROPOSAL APPROVED

As was reported in the last Alliance Legislative Report, the State Senate Wednesday approved a package of bills designed to start a statewide capital projects program, including funds for school construction. Thursday, the $26 billion program to build roads, bridges, and schools throughout the State was passed by the House of Representatives. The package of bills, HB 255, HB 312, and HB 2400 will be sent to the governor for consideration. Governor Pat Quinn will likely wait to see what happens with Fiscal Year 2010 budget negotiations before he takes any action on the construction bills.

LEGISLATIVE SCHEDULE

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate are still in session today (Friday). The House plans to take the weekend off and come back to Springfield on Tuesday. The Senate, for now, has appropriation committees scheduled for Saturday. The scheduled adjournment date is Sunday, May 31, but legislative leaders are pushing to complete their business by next Friday.

PORTIONS OF BUDGET MOVING ALONG

Unlike the usual practice of reaching a budget agreement and bundling the appropriations for the entire state budget on one or two bills, there are dozens of bills moving through the legislative process with state spending provisions. For education alone there are three appropriations bills that have already been approved by the House and that are pending in the Senate. Generally, these appropriations bills contain the basic funding for school operations and the other Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) budget line items will have to be contained in future appropriations bills after the governor and legislative leaders reach a final budget compromise.

HB 2129 funds the mandated categorical grants at 100% and also funds General State Aid (this is necessary in order for the state to continue to receive ARRA money). Though it’s too early to discuss the per pupil foundation level amount, the appropriation in this bill would increase this amount higher than was proposed in the original ISBE/governor budget proposal.

HB 2145 funds union and non-union personnel at ISBE.

HB 2206 provides the necessary funding for the ISBE and other specific state agencies so they can capture federal dollars.

MAJOR PENDING ISSUES

PENSION REFORM

As was reported in Alliance Legislative Report (96-17), lawmakers have been working on legislation that would establish a two-tier pension system for members of the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS). The bill, SB 1292, is still pending on the House floor. Negotiations among education stakeholders, House Speaker Michael Madigan and Governor Quinn are ongoing. There is discussion about creating a task force (contained in HJR 59) that would work over the summer and recommend pension benefit changes to modernize TRS, the State University Retirement System (SURS), and the State Employee Retirement System (SERS). The task force would have to report by November 1, 2009, so a pension reform measure could be considered in the fall Veto Session. There is still a push to have the state make a higher (if not a full) contribution to TRS in the FY ’10 budget than what the governor has recommended.

FOIA LEGISLATION

Discussions continue on the proposed re-write of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Attorney General Lisa Madigan has proposed legislation to tighten the current language and narrow the current exemptions to the Act. An analysis of the bill is available on the IASB website here. This analysis will be updated as Alliance lobbyists receive new drafts of the legislation.

SCHOOL FUNDING/ACCOUNTABILITY

As reported in the last Alliance Legislative Report, a Senate Committee approved SB 750 and sent the bill to the Senate floor. The bill contains an increase in the state individual income tax rate and expands the state sales tax to certain services and provides property tax relief and increases public education spending. An analysis of the bill is available on the IASB website here.

Senator James Meeks (D-Chicago), sponsor of the bill, plans to take the issue back to his Senate Democrat colleagues next week to see if the caucus would like further modifications in the proposed tax changes. Several other changes requested by the Alliance are expected to be made to the bill via amendment. Watch for the proposal to be scaled back to more closely align with Governor Quinn’s income tax proposal.

SB 226, the “school accountability” bill that was approved by a House committee earlier this week, is still pending on the House floor. An analysis of the bill is available on the IASB website here.

CHANGE IN MEMBERS OF ISBE

Contained in Speaker Madigan’s “fumigation bill”, is a proposal that would remove the current members of the ISBE to allow the new governor to make his own appointments. The bill is designed to “fumigate” state government by removing all of former Governor Rod Blagojevich’s and former Governor George Ryan’s political appointments to state agencies, boards, and commissions. The bill was scaled back so it is now supposed to eliminate about 700 employees, as opposed to the 3,000 employees that would have been affected in the original bill. SB 1333 passed the House and is pending in the Senate. More details of the bill can be found in the last Alliance Legislative Report.

LEGISLATURE APPROVES HUNDREDS OF BILLS

The General Assembly has approved hundreds of bills this week, including dozens of education-related bills. The following bills were approved this week by both chambers and will be sent to the governor for consideration:

SB 613 (Bond, D-Grayslake) requires the ISBE establish a pilot project whereby schools will provide a low-cost laptop computer to each student, teacher, and relevant administrator in a participating primary school and implement the use of educational software and computer skills training.

SB 1412 (Harmon, D-Oak Park) makes changes to the statutory appropriation amounts for the Early Childhood Education Block Grant.

SB 1769 (Steans, D-Chicago) adds new requirements regarding a school district’s procedures for applying pesticides to outdoor school property.

SB 1828 (Steans), an ISBE initiative, creates the P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act.

SB 1957 (Demuzio, D-Carlinville) makes changes to the requirements for the school breakfast program.

SB 2014 (Demuzio) allows students one opportunity (instead of 2 opportunities) to take the PSAE.

SB 2051 (Crotty, D-Oak Forest) changes the GSA calculation for school districts that have successfully passed a limiting rate increase.

SB 2071 (Haine, D-Alton) contains the ISBE’s provisions for stronger notification requirements for schools, State's Attorneys, and the ISBE regarding gross misconduct by school district employees.

SB 2270 (Cronin, R-Elmhurst) requires school districts to post on their Internet website an itemized salary compensation report for every employee who holds an administrative certificate.

HB 238 (Tracy, R-Quincy) provides that the Senior Citizens Homestead Exemption and the Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption continue if the taxpayer becomes a resident of a facility licensed under the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act.

HB 242 (Nekritz, D-Northbrook) provides that the debt service extension base be increased each year by the Consumer Price Index percentage increase for the previous calendar year, not to exceed 5%.

HB 281 (Bellock, R-Westmont) requires that the ISBE develop and make available to each school board guidelines for the management of students with life-threatening food allergies and requires school boards to implement a policy based on these guidelines no later than January 1, 2011.

HB 325 (Fortner, R-West Chicago) allows a school treasurer in Cook County to also be a member of the school board (now prohibited).

HB 380 (Nekritz) requires each school board employing an employee who is an elected trustee of the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund to make available to the elected trustee at least 20 days of paid leave of absence per year for the purpose of attending IMRF meetings.

HB 475 (Winters, R-Shirley), regarding textbook and other fee waivers, changes the reference for eligibility from children eligible under the Community School Lunch Program to children eligible under the federal National School Lunch Act.

HB 493 (Pritchard, R-Sycamore) allows a taxing district to add an explanation of the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law to the Truth in Taxation Notice.

HB 548 (Pihos, R-Glen Ellyn) provides that for paid sick leave for adoption or placement for adoption is limited to 30 days unless a longer leave has been negotiated with the exclusive bargaining representative.

HB 557 (Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora) places elementary and secondary education facilities under the Interference with a Public Institution of Higher Education Act.

HB 605 (Yarbrough, D-Broadview) extends the deadline set for the Ensuring Success in School Task Force to December 1, 2009.

HB 645 (Burke, D-Chicago), for schools that require a doctor’s note for sick leave for employees or absence for students, allows chiropractors to provide verification.

HB 725 (Watson, R-Jacksonville) encourages school boards to implement American Sign Language (ASL) courses into school foreign language curriculum.

HB 737 (Smith, D-Canton) updates the school principal mentoring program.

HB 900 (Jakobsson, D-Champaign) requires research and the discussion of best practices to address the needs of children who are gifted and have a disability, "twice-exceptional" children.

HB 973 (Chapa LaVia) provides that the Comprehensive Health Education Program may include instruction in grades 8 through 12 on teen dating violence.

HB 999 (Eddy, R-Hutsonville) allows a school district to establish a bank line of credit.

HB 1108 (Eddy), beginning October 1, 2009, provides that an advisory board for professional development shall be established within each region or group of regions operating as a part of an intergovernmental agreement.

HB 1148 (Joyce, D-Chicago) allows a member to establish optional credit for up to 2 years of service as a teacher or administrator employed by a private school, under certain conditions.

HB 1332 (Boland, D-Moline) requires that each agency of state government and each unit of local government ensure that the U.S. flag flown at the building is manufactured in the United States.

HB 2362 (Smith), to the provisions providing for exceptions from the bidding requirement that certain contracts be awarded to lowest responsible bidder, adds contracts for transportation of special education students.

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.

HB 2547 (Fritchey, D-Chicago) provides for schools and others a place of public accommodation, as defined in the Act: (a) the exercise of free speech, free expression, free exercise of religion or expression of religiously based views by any individual or group of individuals that is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or under Article I of the Illinois Constitution, shall not be a civil rights violation.

HB 2619 (Eddy) allows Martinsville CUSD 3C to issue bonds to acquire and improve a school site and building because of flood damage.

HB 2674 (Eddy) allows a school district under the authority of a Financial Oversight Panel to appoint a district superintendent with a Type 75 certificate or a chief executive officer who has the skills of school operations and school finance.

HB 2871 (Bassi, R-Palatine) provides that the Teacher Certificate Fee Revolving Fund is not subject to administrative charge transfers from that fund into any other state fund.

HB 3600 (Moffitt, R-Gilson) establishes grants for Agricultural Science teachers.

HB 3731 (Mathias, R-Buffalo Grove) allows school boards to award high school diplomas to honorably discharged veterans who served in the U. S. armed forces during the Vietnam Conflict.

HB 3787 (Tryon, R-Crystal Lake) 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.

HB 3982 (D’Amico, D-Chicago) changes the definition of "multifunction school-activity bus" to mean a school bus manufactured for the purpose of transporting 11 to 15 persons, including the driver, whose purposes do not include transporting students to and from home or school bus stops.

HB 4038 (Schmitz, R-Batavia) authorizes 7-8 grade students to enroll in a high school course. It allows participation where the student attends school so long as the course is taught by a certified high school teacher who teaches in a high school where the student will attend and no high school students are enrolled in the course.

HB 4223 (May, D-Highland Park) recommends that schools be tested for radon every 5 years.

MORE BILL ACTION FROM THIS WEEK

The following bills were approved by the House of Representatives and were sent back to the Senate for concurrence in House amendments:

SB 1293 (Clayborne, D- E. St. Louis) adjusts debt limitations for Belle Valley S.D. #119.

SB 1508 (Koehler, D-Peoria) amends the School Student Records Act to provide that nothing shall be construed to impair or limit the confidentiality of information communicated in confidence to a school social worker, school counselor, school psychologist, or school psychologist intern.

SB 1882 (Cronin) establishes a task force to explore and examine all duties of the ISBE and regional offices of education in order to determine which duties and responsibilities a regional office of education could more appropriately and efficiently deliver to school districts.

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.

SB 1956 (Demuzio) makes changes with respect to days that are used for an in-service training program for teachers and parent-teacher conferences regarding the compilation of average daily clock hours standard.

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

SB 2119 (Steans) creates a task force to develop strategies to allow for the innovation, intervention, and restructuring of schools, including those that need comprehensive or focused intervention.

SB 2277 (Cronin) creates a task force to study the impact of carrying and transporting student textbooks and textbook weight on the health of Illinois students in grades K-12.

*The following bills were approved by the Senate and were sent to the House of Representatives for concurrence in Senate amendments:

HB 72 (D’Amico) prohibits a person to use a wireless telephone in a school speed zone or a construction zone, with certain exceptions.

HB 547 (Pihos) requires state and local government agencies to develop an identity-protection policy.

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.

HB 684 (Burns, D-Chicago) requires the ISBE to make grants, subject to appropriation, for funding community schools.

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

HB 921 (Burke) 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”.

HB 944 (Eddy) disallows certification of a school district as in financial difficulty solely as a result of the failure of the county to make a distribution of property tax money on time or the failure of the Comptroller to disburse General State Aid.

HB 1335 (Schmitz) provides that, for facilities already in existence, 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.

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 2675 (Eddy) authorizes a school board to hold school or schedule teacher' institutes on school holidays under certain circumstances.

This 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 Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance.

General Assembly Bill Text/Status

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