ALLIANCE LEGISLATIVE REPORT (100-09)
SENATE BUDGET PACKAGE STALLS AGAIN
The Illinois State Senate Tuesday deliberated on the Senate floor on so
me of the components of the "grand bargain" comprehensive budget package. A number of votes were taken and several bills were approved, including making appropriations for State government for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2017 (SB 6), expanding gaming by adding six new casinos including one in the City of Chicago (SB 7), and providing an appropriation for Chicago Public Schools teacher pensions (SB 5). Bills regarding local government consolidation (SB 3) and procurement reform (SB 8) have also been approved by the Senate.
But like on February 8 when a vote was taken on the pension reform proposal, a pension bill (SB 16) was again defeated on the Senate floor. This brought some question to the future of the "grand bargain" package, but Senate leaders vowed to continue with votes on the rest of the package on Wednesday.
However, when the Senate reconvened for session Wednesday afternoon, a noticeably frustrated Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) announced that no further votes would be taken as Governor Bruce Rauner had asked for further negotiations on bills left in the compromise package. Cullerton stated that "the ball is in his court now", referring to the Governor. Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont), who seemed equally frustrated, spoke on the Senate floor and stated that she is still optimistic that a budget deal could be completed.
Items left on the budget list include school funding reform (SB 1), revenue enhancements (SB 9), new State borrowing authority (SB 4), Workers' Compensation Act reform (SB 12); a property tax freeze with some mandate relief for schools (SB13); and a minimum wage increase (SB 2).
The property tax freeze proposal has yet to be called for a vote in the Senate. The latest version reportedly included a two-year freeze on the property tax extension with a referendum option to extend the freeze for three additional years. No language has ever been filed on SB 1 - the school funding reform proposal - so no one yet knows what that new formula will look like.
Both chambers of the General Assembly will return to the Capitol next Tuesday to resume session.
BILLS SCHEDULED FOR COMMITTEE NEXT WEEK
The following is a selection of bills of interest that are scheduled to be considered in committees next
week. For a full listing of next week's Senate committees, click
here
. For House committees, click
here
.
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITEE
Tuesday, March 7, 1:00 p.m., Room 212, State Capitol
SB 1692 (Raoul, D-Chicago) allows a school to appoint a physician assistant to serve on its concussion oversight team and allows an advanced practice nurse to evaluate a student-athlete removed for signs of a concussion in certain circumstances.
SB 1947 (Collins, D-Chicago) requires that every school district, charter school, or alternative school
receiving public funds to collect and review its chronic absence data and determine what systems of support and resources are needed to engage chronically absent students.
SB 1991 (Bennett, D-Champaign) allows the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to adopt a proficiency test for applicants seeking a professional educator license in the area of career or technical education if they are applying in an identified shortage area.
SENATE PUBLIC HEALTH COMMITTEE
Tuesday, March 7, 1:00 p.m., Room 400, State Capitol
SB 2038 (Rose, R-Mahomet) allows epinephrine to be administered with a glass vial, auto-injector, ampule, or pre-filled syringe.
SB 2043 (Mulroe, D-Chicago) requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to provide all 6th grade students (currently, only female students) written information about the human papillomavirus (HPV) and the Centers for Disease Control's recommendation for children to be vaccinated.
SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
Tuesday, March 7, 4:30 p.m., Room 212, State Capitol
SB 2028 (Cullerton, T., D-Villa Park) requires that each school bus transporting students enrolled in grade 12 or below be registered as a school bus, and comply with school bus driver permit requirements, minimum liability insurance requirements, and other special requirements.
HOUSE EDUCATION: LICENSING, ADMINISTRATION & OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
Tuesday, March 8, 8:00 a.m., Room 115, State Capitol
HB 2461 (McAsey, D-Lockport) adds new requirements to be included on the school report card regarding gifted education and advanced academic programs.
HB 2470 (Walsh, D-Elwood) allows applicants for a career and technical educator (CTE) endorsement to count coursework from a technical institution and allows a test of work proficiency to satisfy endorsement application.
HB 2540 (Willis, D-Addison) provides an appeals process through intermediate service centers for a school district that loses a petition to withdraw from its special education joint agreement program.
HB 2612 (Pritchard, R-Hinkley) makes changes to permit greater flexibility and efficiency in the detachment and dissolution of school districts, including creation of a local hearing panel, and a process for petitioning for boundary changes.
HB 2614 (McDermed, R-Mokena) requires a principal to report to the superintendent all non-public sources of revenue for a school that exceed $1,000, including revenue received through fundraisers, and that are transferred into the district's educational fund or operations and maintenance fund.
HB 2898 (Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates) removes the sunset date of June 30, 2021 to allow individuals with four years of experience as school support personnel to obtain a principal endorsement.
HB 3021 (Martwick, D-Chicago) requires ISBE to implement a program to allow temporary staffing firms to contract with school districts to provide substitute teachers.
HB 3022 (Welch, D-Hillside) changes the Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA) teacher rating
categories to "effective" or "ineffective" and prohibits the use of student growth as a requirement of teacher evaluations.
HB 3371 (Sims, D-Chicago) provides that required training in suicide awareness and prevention techniques shall last at least two hours.
HB 3378 (Lang, D-Skokie), regarding a school board member's interest in district contracts, it reconciles the definitions in the School Code with those in the Local Government Act.
HB 3394 (Walsh) requires that if the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Child Protective Service Unit has not conducted an investigation of sexual or physical abuse within three weeks of the initial report, a school administrator shall place a teacher or school employee on paid administrative leave.
HB 3427 (Harper, D-Chicago) requires school boards to give at least 60 days' notice of the closure of a school for at least one school year, to all affected parents, students, and legal guardians.
HB 3489 (Brady, R-Bloomington) allows a parent or guardian of a child with disabilities to enroll in a school district in which the child was previously enrolled under certain circumstances.
HB 3820 (Crespo) allows individuals with valid a CTE endorsement, but that do not hold a bachelor's degree, to substitute teach in CTE classes.
HB 3869 (Wallace, D-Rockford) requires in-service training for school personnel on civil rights and cultural diversity, including racial and ethnic sensitivity and implicit racial bias.
HOUSE ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY EDUCATION: SCHOOL CURRICULUM & POLICIES COMMITTEE
Wednesday, March 8, 10:00 a.m., Room D-1, Stratton Office Building
HB 2442 (Bennett, R-Pontiac) requires student assessments for application or admissions to colleges administered by ISBE to be given on a school day during regular attendance hours.
HB 2443 (Bennett), an Alliance Initiative, allows a school district to contract for drivers education, utilize simulators, and use proficiency examinations for practice driving.
HB 2545 (Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville) requires all school personnel to undergo annual training on the warning signs of mental illness and the school district's policy on suicide awareness.
HB 2569 (Harris, R-Mt. Prospect) extends to 9th & 10th grade students the exemptions for Physical Education (P.E.) currently allowed for 11th & 12th grade students.
HB 2618 (Gabel, D-Evanston), for parties who agree not to use mediation during a challenge in a special education hearing process, gives the parent 10 days after a party declines to use mediation to file a request for a due process hearing to allow the student to remain in their current placement.
HB 2663 (Stratton, D-Chicago) prohibits early childhood programs receiving ISBE grants to expel children.
HB 2949 (Conyears-Ervin, D-Chicago) requires school districts to provide at least 20 minutes of unstructured play during a recess for all students kindergarten-5th grade.
HB 2950 (Conyears-Ervin) requires schools to designate personnel and quarterly provide students
information about what to do and resources available if the student is being bullied.
HB 2977 (Welch) requires schools to include a unit of instruction for writing cursive.
HB 2993 (Slaughter, D-Chicago) allows schools to serve produce grown by students in school or community gardens if the produce meets DPH requirements.
HB 3083 (Hernandez, D-Cicero) removes the requirement that public schools are required to provide instruction in the English language.
HB 3139 (Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora), facilitating the work of the Balanced Accountability Model, establishes a definition of chronic absenteeism and requires school districts to collect and review the data and determine needed resources to engage chronically absent students and their families.
HB 3215 (Wallace) requires schools to provide feminine hygiene products to students at no cost.
HB 3260 (Harris) requires school districts to adopt a policy regarding placement of students of the same grade, from the same family, on a case-by-case basis to involve teachers and parents in the determination. The policy shall make the parent's preference a determinative factor.
HB 3368 (Sims) requires ISBE to create a model curriculum for high schools for teaching entrepreneur skills.
HB 3369 (Sims) requires ISBE to establish guidelines for the creation of a high-skilled manufacturing curriculum to be used in vocational education programs.
HB 3372 (Sims) requires ISBE to establish or contract to establish a Safe2Tell program to allow anonymous reporting of information regarding threats to students.
HB 3507 (Greenwood, D-E. St. Louis) allows a student to accrue up to 10 days absence if his/her parent is active duty military and has been called to duty for, on leave from, or has immediately returned from deployment.
HB 3708 (Reick, R-Woodstock) moves the Reduction in Force (RIF) notice to 10 business days following the approval of the State budget and if no budget is approved by June 15 of the current fiscal year, the school board shall fulfill notification by June 30 of the current fiscal year.
HB 3745 (Conyears-Ervin) requires schools to post, in English and Spanish, information regarding local community after-school programs at each campus in a high-traffic public area.
HB 3776 (Harper) requires schools to adopt a trauma response protocol that includes long-term responses to a traumatic incident, long-term care and counseling, and community engagement.
HB 3784 (Sosnowski, R-Rockford) removes the ability of a school district to deny enrollment for 17 year old students for failure to meet minimum academic standards and provides that no child may be denied re-enrollment under sections referring to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
HB 3792 (Lilly, D-Chicago) requires schools to provide 6th graders instruction regarding work ethics including reliability, professionalism and respect for authority.
HB 3810 (Wallace) requires schools to develop a trauma response protocol that shall be implemented
in response to a traumatic event at a school including a shooting.
HB 3811 (Manley, D-Joliet) requires schools to report physician refusal to conduct a social-emotional developmental screening to the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (DFPR).
HB 3907 (Moylan, D-Des Plaines) requires law enforcement drills to be conducted on days when students are present in the building with full-time school staff participation.
HOUSE TRANSPORTATION: VEHICLES & SAFETY COMMITTEE
Wednesday, March 8, 10:00 a.m., Room 122B, State Capitol
HB 3377 (Lang, D-Chicago) requires all new school buses to be equipped with 3-point seat belts.
SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Wednesday, March 8, 1:00 p.m., Room 212, State Capitol
SB 1904 (Silverstein, D-Chicago) requires the Department of Labor (DOL) to publish, by July 15 of each year on its official website, a prevailing wage schedule for each county based upon the prevailing rate of wages investigated and ascertained by the Department during the month of June.
SB 1977 (Haine, D-Alton) provides that all records of (instead of "in the custody or possession of") a public body are presumed to be open to inspection or copying.
HOUSE STATE GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
Wednesday, March 8, 1:30 p.m., Room 122B, State Capitol
HB 3829 (Crespo) clarifies that meetings formed under the education reform bill of 2011 (SB 7) are excluded from the Open Meetings Act as are any negotiating team strategy sessions on collective bargaining.
SENATE LABOR COMMITTEE
Wednesday, March 8, 3:00 p.m., Room 212, State Capitol
SB 1721 (Biss, D-Evanston) entitles employees up to 12 weeks of family leave within any 24-month period for the purpose child birth, adoption or serious health condition of a family member.
SB 1738 (Lightford, D-Maywood) increases the minimum wage in annual increments until it is $15 per hour in 2021.
SB 1856 (Bivins, R-Dixon), regarding the prevailing wage, allows public bodies to satisfy the notice requirement by posting on its website the hyperlink to the DOL website.
SENATE GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE
Wednesday, March 8, 3:00 p.m., Room 409, State Capitol
SB 2059 (Rose) provides that, upon dissolution of an elementary district, each individual parcel of that elementary district must be annexed by the school district closest geographically to that parcel.
This legislative report was 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 Statewide School Management Alliance.