Distributed via Email: August 11, 2009

TWO KEY MEETINGS SET FOR THIS WEEK

The return of the Education Funding Advisory Board (EFAB) and another meeting for the Pension System Modernization Task Force are on the agenda for this week. EFAB is set to meet Thursday at 1 p.m. while the pension task force will meet (actually a series of sub-committees will meet) Wednesday at 9 a.m. Both meetings are scheduled to take place in the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago.

The funding advisory board, established in 1999, is designed to meet every other year to set the per pupil foundation level for the school funding formula. However, the panel was mostly defunct under Governor Blagojevich as he rarely called the group together. This will be the first meeting of EFAB under Governor Pat Quinn. Members of the panel are:

• Dean Clark, businessman and former member of the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE)
• Arthur Culver, Superintendent of Champaign Unit School District 4
• Ed Geppert, President of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and former member of the ISBE
• Sylvia Puente, Executive Director of the Latino Policy Forum
• Ken Swanson, President of the Illinois Education Association

More information on the EFAB members can be found here.

GOVERNOR SIGNS BILLS INTO LAW

Governor Quinn has signed the following bills:

SB 79 (Link, D-Vernon Hills) requires grantees under the Pre-School for All Children program to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the appropriate local Head Start agency no later than three months after the award of a grantee’s grant under the program. The bill is now Public Act 96-0119, effective Aug. 4, 2009.

SB 207 (Bond, D-Grayslake) sets forth specific items that must be included in the notice sent to taxpayers whose assessment has changed. It requires disclosure of information concerning access to databases containing the physical characteristics of the property and requires the board of review in those counties to make its rules and procedures publicly available. The bill also requires the chief county assessment officer to provide a plain-English explanation of equalization factors. The bill is now Public Act 96-0122, effective Jan. 1, 2010.

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 is now Public Act 96-0128, effective Jan. 1, 2010.

SB 1957 (Demuzio, D-Carlinville) makes changes to the requirements for the school breakfast program. The bill is now Public Act 96-0158, effective Aug. 7, 2009.

SB 2051 (Crotty, D-Oak Forest) changes the General State Aid (GSA) calculation for school districts that have successfully passed a limiting rate increase. For each year after the 2010 school year, if voters in a county under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL) approve an increase in the limiting rate for a school district, the increase in local resources will not result in a decrease in GSA for the approved duration of the limiting rate increase. The bill is now Public Act 96-0152, effective Aug. 7, 2009.

HB 72 (D’Amico, D-Chicago) prohibits any driver from using a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle on a roadway in a school speed zone or construction zone, with exceptions. The bill is now Public Act 96-0131, effective Jan. 1, 2010.

HB 78 (Cole, R-Lake Villa) requires the Department of Agriculture, the Illinois State Board of Education, and the Department of Public Health to create the Farm Fresh Schools Program. The departments would establish a competitive grant procedure for schools to apply for funds to implement a program under the Act. The bill is now Public Act 96-0153, effective Aug. 7, 2009.

HB 272 (Franks, D-Woodstock) prohibits the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) to allow athletes to participate in an athletic competition unless the student agrees not to use performance-enhancing drugs and submits to random drug testing. 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 and complete an exam on the subject. At least 1,000 athletes must be tested for performance-enhancing drugs each year from at least 25% of the schools participating in IHSA events. The bill is now Public Act 96-0132, effective Aug. 7, 2009.

HB 392 (Golar, D-Chicago) makes various changes in the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Act. The bill is now Public Act 96-0144, effective Aug. 7, 2009.

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

Alliance Legislative Reports are Cosponsored by IASB and:
[ IPA ] [ IASA ] [ IASBO ]

Return to ALR Menu