April 13, 2018

Alliance Legislative Report (100-63)

LEGISLATURE MEETS DEADLINE
The Illinois General Assembly met its first deadline as all bills must have been considered by a committee by today (Friday). Inevitably, some bills will have their deadlines extended, but committee volume will reduce drastically in the coming weeks as legislators will debate bills on the floors of their respective chambers. The House of Representatives and Senate will both be back in session next Tuesday.  
BILL ACTION THIS WEEK
The following bills passed the full House and will be taken up in the Senate at a future date:
 
HB 751 (Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville) extends the sunset provision for retired teachers returning to teaching in subject shortage areas from June 30, 2013 to June 30, 2019.
 
HB 4242 (McSweeney, R-Cary) requires schools to report certain information regarding employee and contractor severance agreements on the school website and to local news media no more than 72 hours from approval of an agreement when an employee or contractor has been found to have engaged in sexual harassment or sexual discrimination.
 
HB 4908 (Moeller, D-Elgin) requires all children entering kindergarten, second, sixth and ninth grades to have a dental examination.
 
The following bill passed the full Senate and will be taken up in the House at a future date:
 
SB 2260 (Tracy, R-Quincy)  provides that, in Fiscal Year 2018, each school district having Personal Property Tax Replacement Fund (CPPRT) receipts totaling 13% or more of its total revenues in FY 2016 shall receive an additional amount equal to 11% of the total amount distributed to the school district from the CPPRT fund.

COMMITTEE ACTION FROM THIS WEEK
 
The following bills were approved by Senate Committees and await further action from the full Senate:
 
SB 2428 (Stadelman, D-Rockford)  requires every school to provide a federally reimbursable meal or snack to a student of that school who makes the request, regardless of whether the student has the ability to pay or owes money for meals or snacks.
 
SB 2482 (Morrison, D-Deerfield) as amended, requires a school bus to be operated with the "SCHOOL BUS" signs covered and the stop signal arm and flashing signal system disabled whenever a school bus is operated for the purpose of transporting passengers over 18 years of age.
 
SB 2527 (Weaver, R-Peoria) , as amended, provides that a school board shall not adopt a policy limiting the number of dual credit courses a student may enroll in or the number of academic credits a student may receive from dual credit courses
 
SB 2542 (Lightford, D-Westchester) provides that a "school psychologist" means a person who holds a valid Nationally Certified School Psychologist credential (rather than certificate).
 
SB 2834 (Syverson, R-Rockford)  provides that the Department of Human Services cooperate with and assist schools in establishing substance use disorder prevention programs and preparing curriculum materials for use at all levels of education.
 
SB 2892 (Manar, D-Bunker Hill)  increases the statutory minimum teacher salary to $40,000 (currently $10,000), beginning July 1, 2019.  
 
SB 2998 (Althoff, R-McHenry) requires the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to develop a process for the college and career ready assessment that allows a school board to apply to use the nationally recognized and locally selected assessment option of the Every Student Succeeds Act.
 
SB 3047 (Manar, D-Bunker Hill) creates the Grow Your Own STEM and Vocational Education Teachers Act.
 
SB 3197 (Mulroe, D-Chicago) , as amended, creates a homestead exemption of $5,000 EAV reduction for police officers and firefighters with a disability.
 
SB 3466 (Lightford) requires a school district to make reasonable efforts to provide ongoing professional development on the appropriate and available supportive services for the promotion of student attendance and engagement. 

SB 3507 (Murphy) requires a school district to allow a student diagnosed with a pancreatic insufficiency to self-administer and self-manage his or her pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy if the parent or guardian of the student provides the school with written authorization and there is written authorization for the therapy from the student's health care professional.
 
SB 3536 (Collins, D-Chicago) requires that beginning July 2019, any publicly funded early childhood program receiving Preschool for All Block Grant funds or Preschool for All Expansion Block Grant funds shall collect and review its chronic absence data.
 
SB 3537 (Collins)  provides that the term "truant" means a child who is subject to compulsory school attendance and who is absent without valid cause from such attendance for more than 1%, but less than 5%, of the past 180 days.
 
The following bills were approved by House Committees and await further action from the full House:
 
HB 4167 (Parkhurst, R-Kankakee) allows a student who is enrolled in an educator preparation program at a regionally accredited institution of higher education and has earned at least 90 credit hours at that institution to apply for a Substitute Teaching License.
 
HB 4205 (Ford, D-Chicago), as amended, requires schools to connect students, defined as at-risk and in need of behavioral health support to either a defined community-based or in-school behavioral health support.
 
HB 4226 (Kifowit, D-Aurora)  requires schools to disseminate a brochure to any family whose child may have sustained a concussion.
 
HB 4232 (Severin, R-Marion)  requires a school board to publish a notice that the district's annual statement of affairs is available on ISBE's internet website and in the district's main administrative office, instead of requiring a summary of the statement of affairs to be published.

HB 4247 (McSweeney, R-Cary), as amended, would disallow state agencies including ISBE from expending funds to hold a convention or gathering of personnel that would include local elected or appointed officials, school employees or contractors for the purpose of professional education, training, retraining or personnel development.

HB 4284 (Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora), a Vision 20/20 initiative, that provides that for ISBE appointments made after the effective date, three of the members of the State Board must represent the educator community.

HB 4308 (Reick, R-Woodstock) changes the Reduction In Force notice timeline requiring that notice be distributed to teachers no more than 10 business days following the passage of a State budget that includes school funding instead of 45 days before the end of the school term.
 
HB 4368 (Halbrook, R-Shelbyville)  requires school districts to allow parents of twins or multiples to establish classroom placement of their children.
 
HB 4442 (Gabel, D-Chicago), as amended, creates a three-year pilot project for a school district to include in its curriculum a unit of instruction on parenting education for grades 9 through 12.

HB 4657 (Manley, D-Joliet), as amended, allows schools to teach a unit of instruction studying emotional intelligence and creates the Emotional Intelligence Education Task Force to develop curriculum guidelines.
 
HB 4658 (Manley) requires school districts to adopt a policy on how to recognize mental health issues and address them.
 
HB 4685 (Connor, D-Romeoville), as amended, requires schools to allow students to possess and use topical sunscreen products.

HB 4742 (Ford, D-Chicago) provides that, by January 1, 2019, ISBE shall implement a program and adopt rules to allow school districts to supplement their substitute teacher recruitment for elementary and secondary schools with the use of recruiting firms.
 
HB 4799 (Harper) requires schools to teach a unit of instruction for grades K-8 of effective methods for the prevention and avoidance of traffic injuries related to walking and bicycling.
 
HB 5074 (Bellock, R-Westmont)  provides that, subject to appropriation, ISBE shall develop, implement, and administer a program to award grants to school districts for the purpose of collaborating with community mental health providers to provide mental health services to the students of a school district.
 
HB 5096 (Hernandez, D-Cicero) , as amended to address Alliance concerns, allows schools to implement a unit of instruction on media literacy.
 
HB 5144 (Mayfield, D-Waukegan) requires a school board with a pupil attending an area vocational school to pay the vocational school's per capita cost or the school district's per capita cost, whichever is greater.
 
HB 5145 (Mayfield, D-Waukegan) prohibits school districts from issuing an out-of-school suspension for kindergarten students.
 
HB 5148 (Kifowit) requires that course material and instruction in sex education shall include emphasis on what constitutes sexual consent, harassment and assault in the workplace and on a college campus.
 
HB 5175 (Hoffman, D-Belleville) provides that, beginning July 1, 2019, the statutory minimum teacher salary is $40,000 (currently $10,000).
 
HB 5195 (Greenwood, D-East St. Louis)  provides that each school board may provide free transportation for any pupil residing within 1 1/2 miles from the school attended where conditions are such that walking, either to or from the school to which a pupil is assigned for attendance or to or from a pick-up point or bus stop, constitutes a serious hazard to the safety of the pupil due to a course or pattern of criminal activity.
 
HB 5247 (Pritchard, R-Sycamore) , as amended, requires ISBE t o initiate rulemaking to allow students of any high school in Illinois who are 16 years of age or older to participate in registered apprenticeship programs allowing them to earn postsecondary credit toward a certificate or degree.
 
HB 5481 (Guzzardi, D-Chicago) requires school districts to report certain K-12 information about actively employed teachers, pupil-teacher ratios, class instructors and class sections to ISBE.

HB 5482 (Guzzardi, D-Chicago), as amended, provides that no person can be denied a teaching license based solely upon citizenship status or immigration status.
 
HB 5572 (Ives, R-Wheaton) provides that a school district may not refinance debt past the repayment period of the debt when issued, may not issue debt to be serviced over a period of greater than 20 years, and may not issue capital appreciation bonds.
 
HB 5596 (Moeller, D-Elgin) requires schools to teach about the diversity of our society including the role and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals in society.
 
HB 5662 (Hernandez, D-Cicero) provides that a school bus may not idle in excess of 3 minutes in a 60 minute period. 
 
HB 5770 (Conroy, D-Villa Park)  requires schools to notify student and families that a student may be eligible to receive mental health services from the school district under a federal Section 504 plan.
 
HB 5771 (Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora)  F acilitating the work of the Balanced Accountability Model, establishes a definition of chronic absenteeism and requires state  funded  early childhood programs to collect and review the data  and  determine   needed  resources  to  engage  chronically  absent students and their families.

HB 5786 (Mayfield) ,   as amended,  requires  in-school   suspension programs for K-12 students to focus on promoting non-violent conflict resolution  and  positive  interaction  with  other  students  and school personnel.

HB 5795 (Chapa LaVia) establishes a definition for truant students as a child who is subject to compulsory school attendance who is absent without valid cause for more than 1% but less than 5% of the past 180 days.

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 COMMITTEE 
Tuesday, April 17, 3:00 p.m., Room 212, State Capitol
 
SB 1829 (Hutchinson, D-Chicago Heights) makes changes to licensing required to teach preschool children
 
SB 2484 (Murphy, D-Elk Grove Village) requires a school district, upon knowledge of an incident of sexual assault by a student against another student, to report the incident to ISBE.
 
SB 2572 (Holmes, D-Aurora) eliminates Physical Education waiver changes made under SB 1947 and sets a time standard for Physical  Education of 150 minutes a week for elementary school and 225 minutes for high school. 
 
SB 2654 (Hunter, D-Chicago) requires school boards to include information about influenza and influenza vaccinations in accordance with the latest recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention when it provides information on school health issues to the parents or guardians.
 
SB 2844 (Aquino, D-Chicago) creates the Future Language Teacher program to assist qualified participants in acquiring a Professional Educator License with an endorsement in bilingual education. 
 
SB 2925 (Lightford, D-Westchester) requires each school district to develop a memorandum of understanding with each local law enforcement agency that provides the school district with a school resource officer. School resource officers are required to be in good standing and receive training in specific areas.
 
SB 3015 (Koehler) changes the definition of "asthma medication" to mean quick-relief asthma medication that is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of respiratory distress.
 
SB 3418 (Rezin, R-Peru) makes joint agreements to share the services of a  superintendent between school districts subject to voter approval. 
 
SB 3537 (Collins) provides that the term "truant" means a child who is subject to compulsory school attendance and who is absent without valid cause from such attendance for more than 1%, but less than 5%, of the past 180 days.
 
SB 3538 (Collins) requires a school report card to include the most current data collected and maintained by ISBE on the percentage of students, by grade level, who have an individualized education program (IEP) or a federal Section 504 plan and who are chronically absent.
 
SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
Tuesday, April 17, 2018, 5:00 p.m., Room 212, State Capitol
 
SB 3003 (Sandoval, D-Cicero)  provides that an applicant for a school bus driving permit cannot have been convicted of committing or attempting to commit specific offenses under the Criminal Code of 2012, the Cannabis Control Act, the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act, the Methamphetamine Precursor Control Act, or the Liquor Control Act of 1934.
 
SENATE LICENSED ACTIVITIES & PENSIONS COMMITTEE
Wednesday, April 18, 3:00 p.m., Room 400, State Capitol
 
SB 2517 (McConchie, R-Lake Zurich) , beginning in Fiscal Year 2020, requires TRS Employers to contribute additional normal cost for raises.
 
SB 3073 (Schimpf, R-Murphysboro) requires pension systems to offer certain inactive members the opportunity to elect to receive an accelerated pension benefit payment equal to 70% of the net present value of their pension benefits in lieu of receiving any pension benefit.
 
SB 3545 (Manar, D-Bunker Hill) r equires the Illinois Investment Policy Board to make its best efforts to identify all major opioid manufacturers and include those companies in the list of restricted companies distributed to each retirement system and the Illinois State Board of Investment.
 
HOUSE REVENUE AND FINANCE COMMITTEE
Thursday, April 19, 8:30 a.m., Room C-1, Stratton Office Building
 
SUBJECT MATTER: Property Tax Assessment Practices. Includes testimony on HB 4958 (McDermed, R-Frankfort), an Alliance initiative, provides that for levy years 2019 and later, for school districts subject to Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL), allows districts to levy below their previous year's extension without penalty, by allowing the district to recapture a previous year's "aggregate extension base" up to 3 years.