Distributed via Email: March 19, 2010

The Illinois General Assembly is nearing the half-way point in the spring legislative session as bills are due to be debated in their house of origin. This week was the deadline for Senate bills to be approved by the full Senate. Those bills so approved will be sent to the House of Representatives for further consideration. Next week is the deadline for House bills to be considered by the full House. Legislation approved by the House will then be sent to the Senate.

Little public work was done on the Fiscal Year 2011 budget this week, though closed-door discussions were being held. In a House appropriations committee hearing scheduled to discuss education funding, however, lawmakers did listen to a presentation by State Superintendent of Schools Chris Koch and Julie Smith, a representative of the governor’s office. Generally, the presentation outlined the proposed budget as presented by Governor Pat Quinn last week. Details of that budget proposal is available in Alliance Legislative Report (96-49).

MANDATE BILLS MOVE IN BOTH CHAMBERS

Bills attempting to provide relief to school districts regarding unfunded state mandates were approved in each chamber Thursday.

HB 4711 (Eddy, R-Hutsonville) states that a school district is under no obligation to comply with any new mandated program enacted after the effective date of this law (if this bill would be signed into law) unless the state provides a specific appropriation for the implementation of the new mandate. Current mandates already on the books would still be in effect. As originally introduced, the bill would have allowed school districts to waive even current unfunded mandates, but this provision was eventually deleted from the bill due to pressure from the legislation’s opponents.

HB 4711 was amended to make certain exceptions from the legislation. School districts could not waive a new requirement relating to the “Race to the Top” program, or any new funding requirement that falls under Chapter 820 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes relating to labor issues. This would include the Minimum Wage Law, the Prevailing Wage Act, Workers’ Compensation Act, or the Unemployment Insurance Act. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives on a vote of 103-7-1 and the bill will be sent to the Senate for further consideration.

In the Senate, SB 2980 (Maloney, D-Chicago) was approved on a vote of 54-0-1. The bill a llows a school board to waive, by resolution, any statutory curricular mandate for which the school district does not receive a separate state appropriation through the ISBE or reimbursement by the State to extend the school day or year. Exceptions to the bill include curricula for physical education, drivers’ education, and courses required for high school graduation. The bill now moves to the House.

The Alliance supports both of these bills.

COMMITTEES TO HEAR MANDATE WAIVER REQUESTS

Both the House and Senate education committees will meet next week to hear from school districts that have a pending mandate waiver request. Each spring and fall the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) compiles a list of the school districts that have applied for a mandate waiver and the subject matter of those requests. The legislature has the authority to deny any such request.

School districts are encouraged to appear before the committees to explain their need for a mandate waiver. For a complete copy of this spring’s mandate waiver report, contact bschwarm@iasb.com.

The committee hearings are scheduled for Wednesday, March 24. The Senate committee will meet at 8 a.m. and the House committee is set for 5 p.m.

BILLS APPROVED THIS WEEK

The following bills were approved by the House of Representatives this week and will be sent to the Senate for further consideration:

HB 4672 (Harris, D-Chicago) requires school social workers to attend the same in-service workshops as teachers regarding the instruction of the identification of the warning signs of suicidal behavior in teenagers.

HB 4780 (Chapa La Via, D-Aurora) , an Alliance initiative, e xtends the time period for allowing interfund transfers by three years (from June 30, 2010 to June 30, 2013). It allows a school district to transfer funds among the education fund, the operations and maintenance fund, and the transportation fund.

HB 4797 (Mautino, D-Spring Valley) extends the special property valuation procedures for wind energy devices through assessment year 2016 (instead of 2011).

HB 5340 (Chapa La Via) , in provisions concerning criminal history records checks, adds the Department of State Police or Statewide Sex Offender Database, or both (for clarification purposes) to the list of persons or entities to which the president of the school board or regional superintendent may transmit information concerning the record of convictions.

HB 5863 (Eddy) makes many changes regarding the portability of criminal background checks and certification of substitute teachers.  

HB 6112 (Flider, D-Mt. Zion) , opposed by the Alliance, expands the Prevailing Wage Act   to provide that labor used in the transportation of aggregate or excavated materials or the operation of equipment to haul aggregate or excavated materials to or from the site of the building or construction job is covered under the Act.

HB 6368 (McCarthy, D-Orland Park) creates a two-tier pension system for members of the General Assembly Retirement System and the Judges Retirement System. For new members to the systems, it reduces the amount of the maximum pension to 60% of the final average salary (instead of 80%), caps salary that can be used for pensionable purposes at the Social Security Covered Wage Base, and pushes back the age a person can retire with full benefits. Though this bill only affects future judges and lawmakers, it is considered to be the first step in making similar changes to the other state pension systems.

The following bills were approved by the Senate and will be sent to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

SB 615 (Holmes, D-Aurora) requires the Department of Agriculture to establish and make available on its website, a geo-coded electronic database to facilitate the purchase of fresh produce and food products by schools. The implementation is subject to receiving federal and state funding.

SB 2499(Noland, D-Elgin) p rovides that, if a school district's boundaries span multiple counties, then the Department of Revenue shall send to the ISBE, for the purpose of calculating general State aid, the limiting rate and individual rates by purpose for the county that contains the majority of the school district's equalized assessed valuation.

SB 2810 (Harmon, D-Oak Park) makes several changes regarding the awarding of contracts under the Local Government Energy Conservation Act. For the guaranteed energy savings contracts, it provides that energy savings may include energy reduction and offsetting sources of renewable energy funds including renewable energy credits and carbon credits.

SB 2879 (Cronin, R-Elmhurst) allows non-public schools to use a multifunction school activity bus to transport non-public school students between non-public schools for curriculum-related school activity.

SB 3332 (Cronin) , opposed by the Alliance, provides that all sex education courses that discuss sexual intercourse shall teach pupils about the dangers associated with drug and alcohol consumption during pregnancy.  

SB 3460 (Harmon) , for early childhood construction grants, allows a public school district to provide local matching funds in an amount equal to 10% of the grant (rather than the amount of the grant).

SB 3544 (Crotty, D-Oak Forest) , supported by the Alliance, makes changes regarding a school district’s use of the working cash fund.

SB 3547 (Clayborne, D-E. St. Louis) allows for various sources of school funding to be used for the purchase of electronic textbooks.

SB 3681 (Lightford, D-Maywood) adds a “trigger” as to what could cause intervention into a local school district that is certified to be in financial difficulty. Specifically, the ISBE would look at a district that is likely to fail to fully meet any regularly scheduled payroll obligations or debt service payments.

SB 3706 (Holmes) p rovides that the ISBE shall develop and maintain a nutrition and physical activity best practices database and that the database shall contain the results of any wellness-related fitness testing done by local school districts, as well as information on successful programs and policies implemented by local school districts designed to improve nutrition and physical activity in the public and charter schools.

HOT BILLS LIST

For a more complete list of education bills pending before the legislature, peruse the Alliance “Hot Bills” list. The list is available on the IASB website at: http://www.iasb.com/govrel/ and click on the Alliance ‘Hot Bills’ List link.

COMMITTEES SCHEDULED FOR NEXT WEEK

SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Wednesday, March 24, 8 a.m., Room 409 State Capitol

Subject Matter:   Testimony on Spring 2010 Mandate Waiver Requests

SENATE EXECUTIVE SUB-COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Wednesday, March 24, noon, Room 212, State Capitol

SB 2494 (Meeks, D-Chicago) would establish a voucher system (in an amount up to the current per pupil foundation level in the General State Aid formula) for parents of students in Chicago who attend the lowest performing public schools. The vouchers could be redeemed at a non-public school, creating a flow of public school funding to non-public schools.

HOUSE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Wednesday, March 24, 5 p.m., Room 114, State Capitol

Subject Matter:   Testimony on Spring 2010 Mandate Waiver Requests

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.

Alliance Legislative Reports are Cosponsored by IASB and:
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