Delivered via email: April 10, 2026

This Week at the Capitol

With only the House in session this week, there was a flurry of House committee activity as Representatives worked to get bill amendments out of committee and onto the House floor. House leadership did advise members that there will be bill limits imposed next week. IASB continued to negotiate several key bills, that have already passed out of committee, to try to find a compromise on language. Some of those bills include: Adult Changing Stations (HB4379, Briel), Twice-Exceptional Students (HB4582, Mussman), Section 504 Due Process Hearing (HB5488, Faver Dias), Female CPR Manikins (HB4788, Hirschauer), Staff Mental Health Supports (HB4379, Yang Rohr), Section 504 Timelines (HB4068, Crawford), and Notice of Pesticide Spraying (HB1596, Faver Dias). 

Both the House and the Senate will return next week to meet the third reading deadline, which is April 17 for both chambers. With limited exceptions, bills that are not voted on by the entire chamber by the deadline will not continue in the legislative process. The bills that meet the third reading deadline will then switch to the opposite chambers and proceed through the same process, including committee hearings and floor debate. IASB anticipates next week to be full of committee hearings on amendments and floor action in both chambers.

House Appropriations – ISBE FY2027 Budget

On April 7, State Superintendent Dr. Sanders, ISBE Chair Dr. Isoye, and the ISBE staff were in Springfield to present their FY2027 budget request to the House Appropriations: Elementary & Secondary Education Committee. ISBE received 900 funding requests this year that amounted to $750 million, with the most common requests being Mandated Categoricals (MCATs), Evidence Based Funding (EBF), and affinity groups. Given the tight state budget for the fiscal year, ISBE’s core focus is EBF, MCATs, and Career and Technical Education (CTE). ISBE’s budget request for each of those areas includes:

• $350 million increase to EBF: $300 million to Tier funding and $50 million to the Property Tax Relief Grant (PTRG). It was noted that this request is different from the Governor’s proposal which left out the $50 million PTRG. ISBE emphasized that EBF has transformed districts, provides stability, and was critical in the state’s pandemic recovery. 
• $151 million increase to MCATs: Fully funds the two orphanage line items and maintains the FY2026 proration levels for Special Education Private and Public Facilities (63%), Transportation (76%), and Special Education Transportation (60%). ISBE noted the importance of maintaining current proration levels as transportation costs continue to increase and districts have to cover these costs regardless of what they receive from the state. It was noted that ISBE’s proposal is $100 million more than the Governor’s proposed MCATs increase of $51 million.
• $5.93 million increase to CTE: Noting that 49% of Illinois high school students engage in some type of career exploration opportunities, ISBE plans to continue its investments in this area.

Other ISBE requests include: $30 million for the Teacher Vacancy Grant, $800,000 to agricultural program, $3.5 million to Social Emotional Learning (SEL) hubs, and $3 million for State Literacy Plan and Numeracy Plan appropriation, noting that the Numeracy Plan will be adopted by ISBE this June.  

During the budget hearing, Republican members expressed concern with increases in property taxes, the growing number of mandates on school districts, and whether Illinois would opt into the federal scholarship tax credit. Democratic representatives acknowledged the tight budget, and expressed concerns that ISBE’s proposed budget didn’t include sufficient funding for affinity groups, which are important for teacher retention and after-school programs, noting the importance of wraparound services for students.

School Funding Fact Sheet

IASB and other school management groups worked this week to distribute the Illinois School Funding: A Growing Imbalance for Districts and Taxpayers fact sheet to House members. IASB is working this session to educate legislators on the importance of both EBF and MCAT funding, emphasizing that local school districts and property taxpayers are absorbing the costs of state mandates when the state fails to fund them. IASB encourages school board members to use this fact sheet as a resource in conversations with your local legislators to advocate for additional school funding to cover the costs of EBF and other state mandated services.

Senate AI and Social Media Subject Matter Hearing

On April 8 and 9, the Executive Subcommittee on AI and Social Media held a subject matter hearing which included topics related to Consumer Protection, Privacy, Workforce, Youth, and Education. IASB provided written testimony on SB3735, a bill that would limit the use of biometric and facial recognition software and create the Student Educational Technologies Rights Act. This proposed act would allow parents or students to opt out of  using technology completely, and require the district to provide a comparable analog version. IASB also provided oral testimony to the Committee on April 9, acknowledging the potential dangers of excessive technology use, but urged the General Assembly to recognize the important educational benefits that technology can offer students and encouraged a balanced approach in addressing this issue.

Advocacy Ambassadors

The next monthly Advocacy Ambassadors Meeting is at noon on Friday, April 17. This session will focus on reviewing the latest action at both the state and federal levels and sharing current and future updates to our IASB Advocacy website. We have been updating the tools and resources to better support your advocacy efforts and want your feedback. If you are not yet an Advocacy Ambassador, sign up here. If you are, register to join this session and share your feedback.

Federal Advocacy Conference

With the uncertainty of policies and funding coming from the nation’s capital, now more than ever, it is important to have your voice heard by your elected officials. Illinois school board members are invited to join IASB in championing public education at the national level at the Consortium of State School Boards Association (COSSBA) Federal Advocacy Conference, September 21-23, in Washington D.C. Registration is open and early bird registration, priced at $695, will run until July 20. After July 20, the price will increase to $795. IASB encourages you to register early.

Legislative Tracking List

The IASB Governmental Relations team tracks all legislation that may impact K-12 public education and makes regular updates to that list. As a reminder, although a bill may be filed, many factors influence whether it makes its way through the legislative process. Some of those factors include whether the bill gets assigned by leadership to a committee, the extent of any opposition, and the priorities of the sponsor.

To ensure that IASB members can monitor all bills the Governmental Relations team is tracking, legislation has been broken down into ten different topics:

Boards of Education(Opens in a new window)(Opens in a new window)

Insurance(Opens in a new window)(Opens in a new window)

OMA and FOIA(Opens in a new window)(Opens in a new window)

Personnel(Opens in a new window)(Opens in a new window)

Regional Office of Education(Opens in a new window)(Opens in a new window)

School Finance(Opens in a new window)(Opens in a new window)

School Safety and Health(Opens in a new window)(Opens in a new window)

State Board of Education(Opens in a new window)(Opens in a new window)

Students(Opens in a new window)(Opens in a new window)

Taxation