COMMITTEE ACTION FROM THIS WEEK
The following bills were approved by Senate Committees and await further action from the full Senate:
SB 2312 (Manar, D-Bunker Hill)
appropriates $16 million for school district broadband expansion.
SB 2346 (Lightford)
requires the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to work with the Illinois State Police to develop driver's education course content that informs students of proper interactions with law enforcement during traffic stops.
HB 4208 (Welch, D-Westchester)
pushes to reallocate funding from Student Resource Officer's (SROs) and law enforcement and use it for restorative justice, counselors, and psychologists.
HB 4226 (Kifowit, D-Aurora)
requires schools to disseminate a brochure to any family whose child may have sustained a concussion.
HB 4340 (Wheeler, R-Crystal Lake)
requires school administrators to post notice of the human trafficking hotline in the administrative office or another location in view of school employees.
HB 4346 (Jones, D-Chicago)
requires each public university to offer a course studying the events of Black History and allows school districts and public universities to meet certain requirements by offering an online course.
HB 4369 (Sommer, R-Morton)
requires ISBE to develop and maintain a dyslexia handbook, make it available on their website, and update it every four years.
HB 4442 (Gabel, D-Chicago)
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)
allows schools to teach a unit of instruction studying emotional intelligence and creates the Emotional Intelligence Education Task Force to develop curriculum guidelines.
HB 4742 (Ford, D-Chicago)
provides that, by January 1, 2019, the State Board of Education (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 4743 (Ford)
disallows any employer from discriminating between employees by paying wages to an African-American employee at a rate less than another employee who is not African-American for the same or substantially similar work on a job that requires equal skill, effort and responsibility.
HB 4858 (Pritchard, R- Sycamore)
provides that local school districts and community colleges may apply for and receive grants for the acquisition of land, construction of facilities, and purchase of equipment, dedicated solely to the instruction of occupations in manufacturing.
HB 4870 (Lang, D-Skokie)
requires school districts to authorize a parent or guardian of a student who is a qualifying patient to administer a medical cannabis infused product to the student on school premises or a school bus if both the student and the parent or guardian have been issued registry identification cards.
HB 4882 (Mayfield, D-Waukegan)
redefines several components of the Grow Your Own Teacher Program.
HB 4908 (Moeller, D-Elgin)
requires all children entering kindergarten, second, sixth and ninth grades to have a dental examination.
HB 5062 (Flowers, D-Chicago)
requires ISBE to develop a program facilitating education in advanced manufacturing skills.
HB 5136 (Slaughter, D-Chicago)
provides that the PERA committee meet annually and also includes language exempting the RIF and PERA committees from the Open Meetings Act (OMA). It also allows collective bargaining strategy sessions to be exempt from the provisions of the OMA.
HB 5175 (Hoffman, D-Belleville)
increases the statutory minimum teacher salary from $10,000 per year to $40,000.
HB 5195 (Greenwood, E. St. Louis)
allows school boards to 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 5196 (Greenwood)
lowers the licensure renewal fee for paraprofessionals beginning July 1, 2018 from $50 to $25.
HB 5481 (Guzzardi, D-Chicago)
requires school districts to report certain K-12 information about actively employed teachers, pup-teacher ratios, class instructors and class sections to ISBE.
HB 5588 (Crespo, D-Streamwood)
changes references in State laws from the old version of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, No Child Left Behind to the new version, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Additionally makes changes necessary to implement accountability changes included in the State Plan created as a requirement of the ESSA.
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 5795 (Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora)
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.
The following bills were approved by House Committees and await further action from the full House:
SB 650 (Connelly, R-Naperville)
provides that certain notices concerning requests for mandate waivers may be made electronically.
SB 3491 (Holmes)
, provides that a network plan shall not be subject to any fines or penalties for information that the Network Adequacy and Transparency Act requires the provider to submit that is inaccurate or incomplete.
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 a full listing of next week's House committees, click here.
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Tuesday, May 15, 1:00 p.m., Room 212, State Capitol
HB 4193 (Parkhurst, R-Kankakee),
for special education impartial due process hearings, changes when the hearing officer must issue his or her written decision from within 10 days to within 10 business days after the hearing.
HB 4658 (Manley)
provides that, at least once every 2 years, a school board shall require in-service training of licensed school personnel and administrators who work with children in kindergarten through grade 12 to identify the warning signs of mental illness and suicidal behavior in youth.
HB 4768 (Wheeler)
adds comprehensive language changes to what must be included in the newly elected school board members' oath of office.
HB 4799 (Harper, D-Chicago)
requires schools maintaining grades K-8 to adopt a policy to make available education regarding the effective methods for the prevention and avoidance of traffic injuries related to walking and bicycling.
HB 4860 (Fortner, R-West Chicago)
makes the electronic-learning days program a permanent program.
HB 5754 (Phelps-Finnie, D-Harrisburg)
provides a school principal endorsement shall be affixed to an Illinois Department of Corrections school support personnel or teachers license with at least 4 years of teaching in addition to other requirements in the School Code.
HOUSE JUDICIARY- CRIMINAL COMMITTEE
Tuesday, May 15, 3:30 p.m., Room C-1, Stratton Office Building
SB 563 (Cunningham, D-Chicago)
allows police officers to request a mental health evaluation for anyone making a threat against a school.
SB 2925 (Lightford)
codifies the role of school resource officers (SRO) in schools, establishes a training process for SRO's, and requires any law enforcement agency providing SROs to schools must certify they have been trained beginning January 2021.
HOUSE ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY EDUCATION-LICENSING, ADMINISTRATION & OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
Wednesday, May 16, 8:00 a.m., Room 115, State Capitol?
SB 2345 (Lightford)
requires ISBE to provide information for the school report card as to whether or not a school has participated in the Illinois Youth Survey.
SB 2693 (Weaver, R-Peoria)
provides that a college or university may not require a teacher applicant to complete the test of basic skills prior to the semester before student teaching or starting the final semester of an internship.
SB 2838 (Link, D-Gurnee)
provides that, by January 1, 2019, the ISBE shall implement a program to allow school districts to supplement their substitute teacher recruitment for elementary and secondary schools with the use of recruiting firms.
SB 2900 (Righter, R-Mattoon)
provides that if a school board fills a vacancy due to a lack of candidates for election in a congressional township in the most recent election, then the school board shall submit a question to the voters at the next election as to whether they approve at-large election of the board instead of mandatory board representation by area.
SB 3236 (Manar)
requires that a school report card include the most current data possessed by ISBE relating to a school district's administrative costs.
HOUSE ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY EDUCATION: SCHOOL CURRICULUM & POLICIES COMMITTEE
Thursday, May 17, 9:00 a.m., Room D-1, Stratton Office Building
SB 2350 (Morrison, D-Deerfield)
states that the law enforcement drill must address an active shooter and must be done when students are present. School personnel and students would participate in the drill with law enforcement observing.
SB 2428 (Stadelman, D-Rockford)
requires every school to provide a federally reimbursable meal or snack to a student who makes the request, regardless of whether the student has the ability to pay or owes money for meals or snacks. If a student owes money for meals or snacks that is in excess of the equivalent of the amount charged a student for five lunches, a school may contact the parent or guardian of the student to attempt collection of the amount owed. Further, schools may not publicly identify or stigmatize a student who cannot pay for a meal or snack or who owes money for a meal or snack such as the use of wrist bands, hand stamps, having the student sit in a separate location, or posting the name of the student.
SB 2527 (Weaver)
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 2541 (Lightford)
requires the Department of Public Health to develop rules and appropriate revisions to the Child Health Examination form to address School Code requirements regarding social and emotional screening of students.
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 3015 (Koehler, D-Peoria)
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 3249 (Steans)
would
add to the current list of items to be included in the public school History of the United States curriculum the "roles and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the history of this country and this State". Further, the bill would require that all textbooks approved must be non-discriminatory as to any of the characteristics under the Illinois Human Rights Act and must include the roles and contributions of all people protected under that Act.
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, D-Des Plaines)
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.
House Transportation: Vehicles & Safety Committee
Thursday, May 17, 9:00 a.m. Room 115, Capitol Building
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 solicitation or solicitation of murder; permitting sexual abuse of a child; presence or loitering of a sexual predator or child sex offender in or near a public park; aggravated battery; and use of a dangerous place for the commission of a controlled substance or cannabis offense.
House Revenue & Finance Committee
Thursday, May 17, 4:00 p.m. Room 122B, Capitol Building
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.
SB 2306 (Murphy)
allows proration of the Veterans with Disabilities Homestead Exemption for the person qualifying for the exemption does not occupy the qualified residence on January 1.
SB 2668 (McConchie, R-Lake Zurich)
, as amended, exempts from sales tax, selling food at retail to students, teachers or staff at a school.
SB 3093 (Anderson, R-Moline)
adds life care facilities to the general homestead exemption allowing the homestead exemption to be credited to the owner or resident of the life care facility or cooperative.
SB 3197 (Mulroe)
creates a homestead exemption of $5000 EAV reduction for police officers and firefighters with a disability.
