Distributed via Email: May 28, 2009

FOIA BILL APPROVED BY HOUSE

The Illinois House of Representatives Wednesday approved a bill to re-write the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Drafts of the pertinent language had been prepared for several different bills, but the bill approved Wednesday was SB 189. House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) sponsored the amendment and the bill in the House.

The FOIA re-write was done, generally, behind closed doors and allowed little input from local public bodies. The staff of Attorney General Lisa Madigan led the charge for the re-write. In a scenario that could only happen in Springfield, this ethics bill for "open government" and "transparency in office" was sent directly to the House floor for a vote just hours after the amendment was filed, leaving little time for review. There was no public hearing or any opportunity for input from interested parties.

The House passed the bill on a vote of 116-0. The bill was sent to the Senate for consideration and will likely be called for a vote later today (Thursday).

The bill shortens the time a public body has to comply with a FOIA request, requires a public body to designate a Freedom of Information Officer who must receive annual training, and streamlines exemptions to the Act. A complete synopsis of SB 189 is (or will soon be) posted on the web. Just go to www.iasb.com and click on the "Government Relations" tab.

LEGISLATORS STRUGGLE TO MAKE DEADLINE

Legislative leaders and other lawmakers are pressing to adjourn the spring session by the end of the weekend. But with no agreement yet on how to plug the huge hole in the state budget, some quick compromising will be necessary to achieve that goal. Governor Pat Quinn has revised his proposal to increase the state income tax rate, but early responses have not shown that the changes have attracted enough new votes for the bill. The governor scaled back the amount of money for low-income tax payers that would have been rebated through income tax exemptions and added a provision for property tax relief. No bill text is available at this time.

The Senate will float its own tax proposal, likely to be contained in SB 750. It is expected that the revised SB 750 will generate fewer tax dollars than it currently proposes – likely eliminating the provision to expand the state sales tax to certain consumer services. Several of the education components of the bill are also expected to be modified or eliminated.

At this point, Republican legislative leaders have stated that there are no Republicans in either the House or Senate that is willing to vote for an income tax increase without seeing further cuts to the state budget. Politically, Democrats are wary of approving an income tax increase with just Democrat votes. The dynamics would all change if the session spills over into June as then a 3/5 vote would be required to pass a budget bill or income tax increase. Bills would then require some Republican votes in the House of Representatives.

If no budget agreement is reached among the governor and the legislative leaders by the end of the month, it is possible for the legislature to pass a temporary budget and adjourn session until later this year.

PENSION ISSUES STILL ON AGENDA

As was reported in previous Alliance Legislative Reports, there have been proposals to drastically

change the structure and benefits of the state pension systems, including the Teachers’ Retirement System. SB 1292 was highlighted in ALR 96-17. Amendments have been filed to a bill in the Senate that contain similar language to SB 1292. Senate amendments 1 & 2 to HB 2643 have been assigned to the Senate Pensions and Investments Committee – no hearing time has been set at this time.

The sovernor has also proposed that the full payment to the pension systems not be made this year. This, of course, saves the state billions of dollars for the fiscal year, but puts the pension systems at risk. The House Wednesday approved a bill that would make the full payment to the Teachers’ Retirement System. SB 1186 was sent to the Senate for consideration.

MORE BILLS HEADED TO THE GOVERNOR

The following bills have been approved by both chambers and will be sent to the governor:

SB 269 (Demuzio, D-Carlinville) allows for an increase in fees for school bus driver training.

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 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 1557 (Delgado, D-Chicago) 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 1677 (Murphy, R-Palatine) creates a task force to examine the process used by State and local governmental agencies to conduct criminal history record checks as a condition of employment.

SB 1718 (Clayborne) makes clarifications regarding provisions for expulsions due to firearm or other weapons violations in schools.

SB 1882 (Cronin, R-Elmhurst) 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 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 2119 (Steans, D-Chicago) 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.

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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