Distributed via Email: June 18, 2009

LEGISLATURE TO RETURN NEXT WEEK

The Illinois General Assembly will return to the Capitol next week as Governor Pat Quinn has convinced the legislative leaders to give lawmakers another chance to pass a balanced budget. The legislature adjourned the spring session on May 31 after approving a "50% budget" that only funds half of the budget priorities outlined by the Governor earlier this year. Details of the budget approved in May can be found in the last Alliance Legislative Report, available at: http://www.iasb.com/govrel/alr9622.cfm.

The legislature is scheduled to return to Springfield on Tuesday, June 23, at 2 p.m. The duration of the session is undetermined. Though the House of Representatives defeated a bill (SB 2252) in May that would have temporarily increased the state individual income tax rate from 3% to 4.5%, the governor is requesting that legislative leaders call for another vote to raise the state income tax rate. Specifically, the governor has indicated that he would like a House vote on HB 174, a bill that would raise even more revenue through tax changes. It would permanently increase the state individual income tax rate from 3% to 5% and expand the scope of the state sales tax to cover specified services. The bill was approved by the Senate in May. A complete analysis of HB 174 can be found at: http://www.iasb.com/govrel/hb174analamend2web.pdf.

Though Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) and House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) have agreed to bring legislators back to the Capitol, there is not a lot of optimism that any major budget breakthrough will occur next week. In May, only about 30-35 House Democrats indicated that they would support HB 174. Republican leaders in the House and Senate stated this week that there are still no votes in their caucuses for any income tax increase. Before Republicans vote to raise taxes, they say, significant budget cuts must be specified and reforms must be made to the state pension systems and to the Medicaid system. Calling HB 174 for a vote next week without a consummated budget agreement in place could yield disastrous results - such as an embarrassingly low number of "yes" votes.

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION BUDGET

Meanwhile, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is meeting this week to determine, among other agenda items, where the 50% budget leaves the education agency. Though an appropriations bill was approved that will allow for full funding of General State Aid and mandated categorical grants, the other many ISBE budget line items are in limbo. The ISBE must decide which line items will be funded - and at what level - and which line items will be "zeroed out". A few of the budget line items in question are: state assessments, bilingual education, the Early Childhood Education Block Grant, the ADA Block Grant, vocational education, and gifted education.

APPROVED LEGISLATION FROM SPRING SESSION

The Digest of Bills Passed, a publication that contains all of the education-related legislation that was approved this spring, will soon be available. The Governmental Relations Department of the Illinois Association of School Boards has created the publication for the Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance. All of the bills in the digest are on their way to the Governor for consideration. The publication's writing and editing is complete and the document has been sent back to typesetting and printing. The digest will be mailed to all members of the Alliance organizations and will be posted on the IASB website.

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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