On the campaign trail and in his Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Address to the Illinois General Assembly, Governor JB Pritzker has made his case for Illinois to adopt a graduated income tax. Until Thursday, this was just a general concept without any specific rates identified. This week, the governor revealed a plan that would slightly lower the income tax rate for households making under $100,000 and keeps in place the current 4.95% income tax rate for households making between $100,000 and $250,000. The increased rate starts at incomes greater than $250,000 and tops out at incomes greater than $1,000,000 with a tax rate of 7.95%. For a more detailed breakdown, you can find Governor Pritzker's plan
here
. The plan is estimated to provide a savings for 97% of tax payers and raise additional revenues of $3.4 billion per year. While the projected revenues would be a significant increase, to put it in perspective, earlier this year the Illinois State Board Education (ISBE) proposed an education budget increase of $7.2 billion to adequately fund all schools.
Currently the Illinois Constitution bans anything other than a "non-graduated" income tax. For the Governor to be able to make the changes he wants to the Illinois Constitution, he will need help from the General Assembly and voters. To make a change to the Illinois Constitution, three-fifths (a super majority) of legislators in both the House of Representatives and the Senate would need to approve the language for the constitutional change. Democrats currently have super majorities in the House and the Senate, but it may not be so easy to get all members on board with a constitutional change which are typically more difficult to pass than normal pieces of legislation. If three-fifths of the General Assembly give the green light, the question would be submitted to the voters. For a constitutional change to become law, three-fifths of voters on the question, or a majority of all ballots cast would have to affirm the change. While there are still some questions as to what the exact language presented will be, it is clear that the debate around a move to a graduated income tax is just beginning.
TEACHER MINIMUM SALARY BILLS ON THE MOVE
Senate Bill 10 (Manar, D-Bunker Hill)
was advanced to 3rd Reading in the Senate earlier this week. The procedural maneuver means that SB 10 could be called for a final vote at any time the Senate is in session. Across the rotunda, a House committee approved the same minimum teacher salary language in HB 2078 (Stuart, D-Collinsville). With bills moving in both chambers, it is important for school board members and administrators to reach out to General Assembly members to urge opposition. For additional information on minimum teacher salary language, click
here
.
BILL ACTION FROM THIS WEEK
SB 185 (Lightford, D-Maywood)
authorizes and provides a calculation for appropriation to Regional Offices of Education (ROE) for grants to fund alternative schools, safe schools, and alternative learning programs for FY 2019.
The bill was advanced to Third reading.
HB 355 (Batinick, R-Plainfield)
requires 15 of the 120 required hours for educator license renewal be devoted to training on inclusive practices in the classroom examining instructional and behavioral strategies improving academic and social-emotional outcomes for all students in a general education setting.
The bill was approved by the House Elementary & Secondary Education: Administration, Licensing & Charter School Committee and was sent to the House floor for further consideration.
HB 1475 (Bryant, R-Mt. Vernon)
establishes school district protocols for caring for students that have epilepsy or seizure-related occurrences.
The bill was approved
by the House Elementary & Secondary Education: School Curriculum & Policies Committee and was sent to the House floor for further consideration.
HB 2078 (Stuart)
requires a school board to pay full-time teachers a rate not less than $32,076 for the 2020-2021 school year, $34,576 for the 2021-2022 school year, $37,076 for the 2022-2023 school year, and $40,000 for the 2023-2024 school year.
The bill was approved
by the House Elementary & Secondary Education: Administration, Licensing & Charter School Committee and was sent to the House floor for further consideration.
HB 2087 (Carroll, D-Northbrook)
disallows a student from taking the entire driver education course through a distance learning program and requires district approval of a program on a case-by-case basis including approval by the student's driver education teacher and parent.
The bill was approved
by the House Elementary & Secondary Education: School Curriculum & Policies Committee and was sent to the House floor for further consideration.
HB 2628 (Andrade, D-Chicago)
allows for a license fee refund for a teacher who has had their certification terminated. The bill was approved by the House Personnel & Pensions Committee and was sent to the House floor for further consideration.
HB 2802 (Welch, D-Chicago)
extends the time for the regional superintendent to fill school board member vacancies from 45 to 60 days.
The bill was approved
by the House Elementary & Secondary Education: Administration, Licensing & Charter School Committee and was sent to the House floor for further consideration.
HB 2822 (Villa, D-West Chicago)
provides that ISBE's school report cards must include the most current data on the percentage of students who participated in job shadowing, the percentage of students who have completed an internship, and whether a school offered its students vocational training opportunities.
The bill was approved
by the House Elementary & Secondary Education: School Curriculum & Policies Committee and was sent to the House floor for further consideration.
HB 2968 (Davis, D-East Hazel Crest)
increases to 120 days the amount of days a service retirement pensioner who is re-employed as a teacher may work without having his or her pension cancelled.
The bill was approved
by the House Personnel & Pensions Committee and was sent to the House floor for further consideration.
BILLS SCHEDULED FOR COMMITTEE NEXT WEEK
The following are new bills of interest posted for consideration this week.
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Tuesday, March 12, 1:00 p.m., Room 212, State Capitol
SB 1369 (Rose, R-Mahomet)
states 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.
SB 1461 (McConchie, R-Lake Zurich)
makes changes around the circumstances in which a school district must submit to voters a decrease in the educational levy if the school district is above 110% of adequacy under the evidence based funding formula.
SB 1478 (Schimpf, R-Murphysboro)
increases the compulsory school age from 17 to 18 years of age.
SB 1522
(
Tracy
, R-
Quincy
)
provides that each school district having Corporate Personal Property Replacement Tax (CPPRT) Fund receipts totaling 13% or more of its total revenues in the previous fiscal year shall receive an additional amount equal to 11% of the total amount distributed to the school district from the fund.
SB 1731
(
Koehler
,
D
-
Peoria
)
provides that the in service training on mental health must utilize evidence-based training that educates the participants on recognizing the signs and symptoms of mental illness and substance use disorders.
SB 1746
(
Belt
,
D
-
East St. Louis
)
provides that moneys in the working cash fund may be used by a school board for any and all school purposes and may be transferred in whole or in part to the general funds or both of the school district and disbursed in anticipation of State funding received by the school district.
SB 1798 (Rose)
requires each school district to create, maintain, and implement an age-appropriate policy on sexual harassment that must be included in the district's student code of conduct handbook.
SB 1838 (Cullerton, T., D-Villa Park)
c
reates the School District Efficiency Commission and requires the Commission to make recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly on the number of school districts in this State.
SB 1952 (Manar)
requires an employer to make an additional employer contribution for a participant whose earnings for any academic year used to determine the final rate of earnings exceed the amount of his or her earnings with the same employer for the previous academic year by more than 6% (instead of 3%).
SB 2025 (Koehler)
requires each school district to inform a student's parent or guardian if his or her child is beginning to receive tiered Response to Intervention support that is more intensive than the universal level of instruction.
SB 2046
(
Brady
, R-
Bloomington
)
provides that each school district that maintains a secondary school must offer an early college high school program for its secondary school students to be completed by the student within two school years.
SB 2075
(
Lightford
)
lowers the compulsory school age from 6 to 5 years of age beginning with the 2020-2021 school year. Requires all school districts to establish kindergarten for the instruction of children who are 5 years of age or older.
SB 2096 (Manar),
in
regard to the textbook block grant program, removes a provision requiring ISBE to pre-approve and designate textbooks authorized to be purchased under the program.
SB 2124 (Rose)
adds pneumatic guns, spring guns, paint ball guns, and B-B guns that have specified features and that are brought to school, any school-sponsored activity or event, or any activity or event that bears a reasonable relationship to school to the list of objects for which a student shall be expelled for a period of not less than one year.
HOUSE ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY EDUCATION: CURRICULUM AND POLICIES COMMITTEE
Wednesday, March 13, 10:00 a.m., Room 413, Stratton Office Building
HB 3086 (Lilly, D-Chicago)
requires
school boards to either connect at-risk students with anger management classes offered in the community or conduct their own anger management classes for at-risk students.
HB 3125 (Slaughter, D-Chicago)
requires each school district maintaining any of grades 6-8 to include a unit of instruction on financial literacy.
HB 3144 (Halbrook, R-Shelbyville)
requires a school district to allow the parent or guardian of twins or higher order multiples to choose whether the children be placed in the same classroom or in separate classrooms if the children are in the same grade level at the same school.
HB 3209 (Ortiz, D-Chicago)
removes a provision making the grants issued by ISBE for the Illinois School Psychology Internship Consortium be subject to appropriation.
HB 3254 (Brady)
p
rovides that if the rights and privileges accorded to a parent under the Act have been transferred to a student, a school must give reasonable prior notice to the student (rather than the parent) before any school student record is destroyed or any information is deleted from that record.
HB 3258 (Brady)
requires the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) to mandate a
pre-competition medical meeting prior to any high school interscholastic athletic activity.
HB 3276 (Skillicorn, R-Crystal Lake)
provides that for a school district that has an approved waiver from the requirement that tuition be charged to non-resident pupils, the school district report card shall include the total cost of allowing non-resident pupils to attend the schools of the district free of charge.
HB 3303 (Crespo, D-Streamwood)
requires the ISBE to annually assess all students in reading and mathematics in K-3 to meet the goals and standards of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.
HB 3304 (Crespo)
Provides that schools in a county with an accredited Children's Advocacy Center shall not proceed with interviews of a student regarding an alleged incident of sexual abuse, regardless of whether the student is a victim, witness, or alleged perpetrator, until the school receives written approval from an appropriate law enforcement agency or the Department of Children and Family Services.
HB 3305 (Crespo)
creates the Make Sexual Abuse Fully Extinct Task Force to address issues concerning the sexual abuse of students in school-related settings. The Alliance is entitled to a representative on the task force.
HB 3432 (Lilly)
requires each school district to maintain an on-site trauma kit at each school of the district for bleeding emergencies and to conduct at least once every two years in-service training for all school district employees on the methods to respond to trauma.
HB 3462 (Bristow, D-Alton)
allows a school district to include in its curriculum a unit of instruction on hunting education that includes instruction on hunting safety.
HB 3479 (Crespo)
requires a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Database by the school district or regional superintendent once for every 5 years an applicant remains employed by a school district.
HB 3538 (Stava-Murray, D-Downers Grove)
requires each school district, nonpublic school, and charter school to require all ninth grade students to take a one-time mental health course that includes information for students on how to detect signs of depression.
HB 3550 (Williams, D-Chicago)
requires a sex education course provided in grades 6-12 to include an age-appropriate discussion on the meaning of consent to sexual activity.
HOUSE ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY EDUCATION: ADMINISTRATION, LICENSING & CHARTER SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Wednesday, March 13, 2:30 p.m., Room 115, Capitol Building
HB 3053 (Mayfield, D- Waukegan)
requires the School District Efficiency Commission to make recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly on the number of school districts in this State, the optimal amount of enrollment for a school district, and where reorganization and realignment of school districts would be beneficial in this State.
HB 3145 (Halbrook, R- Shelbyville)
removes portions of a school board member's oath of office taken before taking his or her seat on the board.
HB 3255 (Brady)
exempts contracts for the purchase of commodities with prices affected by the trade of commodities and derivatives on a United States commodities exchange, including, but not limited to, gasoline, diesel, and natural gas.
HB 3277 (Skillicorn)
provides that prior to entering into an early employment contract termination agreement with a district superintendent or chief executive officer, a school board shall make the reasoning for the early termination available to the public.
HB 3278 (Skillicorn)
provides that if a school district maintains a website, the school district must post a board packet on the website for each scheduled regular or special meeting of the board no less than 24 hours prior to the meeting. However, if a school district does not maintain a website, the school district must post a board packet in the school district's administrative office for each scheduled regular or special meeting of the board no less than 24 hours prior to the meeting.
HB 3322 (Meier, R-Highland)
provides that if a substitute teacher has a criminal history certificate from a former region , their future regional employer shall issue its own certificate to the substitute teacher without requiring the substitute teacher to have another criminal history records check.
HB 3363 (Caulkins, R-Decatur)
removes the exception for a school district not to have to employ a superintendent.
HB 3643 (Wehrli, R-Naperville)
provides that if a school district employee or volunteer, student, or student's parent or guardian reports a threat made by a student, the principal of that student's school must immediately investigate the threat to determine its credibility.
HB 3659 (Ortiz, D-Chicago)
provides that a charter school's governing body must include at least one parent or guardian of a pupil currently enrolled in the charter school. Also, every voting member of a charter school's governing body shall complete a minimum of 4 hours of professional development leadership training to ensure that each member has sufficient familiarity with the governing body's role and responsibilities.
