Legislative Highlights from Another Action-Packed Week!
Happy Friday!
Unsurprisingly, we have had another action-packed week at the Capitol as the House approached its third reading deadline today. The week has been marked by last minute bill amendments, shell bill filings, hastily scheduled committee hearings and lengthy floor debates. Below are some highlights from subject matter hearings and the many committee meetings that were scheduled for this week:
House Appropriations-Elementary & Secondary Education Committee
Following a lengthy House floor session, the Appropriations committee met to hear substantial subject matter testimony on three topics important to our school districts: funding two new programs, the Supporting Newcomer Students Program and the Healthy School Meals for All Program and hearing specifics on the Illinois State Board of Education’s FY25 budget request.
Supporting Newcomer Students Program
ISBE data suggests Illinois school districts have enrolled over 36,200 newcomer students in FY24, and the number continues to grow. The school districts that these students are enrolling into do not receive increases in Evidence-Based Funding immediately, but are expected to provide services to those students upon enrollment. The new program would seek to provide grant funding to those school districts to address increased needs for adding class sections, additional transportation needs and hiring additional staff, while the districts wait for their EBF enrollment calculations to appropriately reflect their increased resource needs. The request currently totals $188 million, and would limit CPS from receiving more than 30% of the amount appropriated for the program.
Healthy School Meals for All Program
Last year, the General Assembly passed the Healthy School Meals for All Act, which created a program that would allow for the provision of free meals to all Illinois students, regardless of income level. Although the bill was passed, the program was subject to appropriation and funding for it was not provided in the FY24 state budget. The advocates provided testimony that indicated $209 million would be required in order to fully fund the program for FY25. Although it is an admirable goal, it remains unclear whether the General Assembly will consider this item a priority in the FY25 budget.
Illinois State Board of Education FY25 Budget Request
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) FY 2025 budget recommendation from General Funds (state dollars) is $11.0 billion. This recommendation is a $652.7 million increase compared to the FY 2024 General Funds (state dollars) appropriation level. That increase includes $350 million for Evidence-Based Funding (EBF), $75 million for Early Childhood Block Grants, and $165 million for Mandated Categorical payments to bring proration back in line to what it has been in recent years.
House Elementary & Secondary Education: School Curriculum & Policies Committee
(Tuesday)
HB 4219 (Yang Rohr; D-Naperville) adds required instruction on the dangers of fentanyl to health education in middle schools.
HB 5406 (Yang Rohr; D-Naperville) returned to committee with a second amendment that the sponsor filed in response to significant opposition voiced by school management groups. The bill seeks to create weekly and daily practice limits for all high school sports teams that mirror those imposed by the NCAA. The amendment did not quell the opposition that was communicated to the sponsor, but the committee voted the bill out anyway, mainly along party lines. Members of the committee articulated that they believed the best first step would be to have the IHSA study the issue and provide guidelines before any legislation was passed, but the sponsor was unwilling to agree to that pathway at this time.
(Wednesday)
HB 4274 (Swanson; R-Woodhull) finally culminated in a bill that was passed through to the House floor after many discussions, and in spite of continued opposition from multiple groups. The newly amended bill requires IDPH to provide schools with public lab testing information for the testing of ticks for Lyme Disease, a model form for districts to send to parents if a student has been identified as having been bitten by a tick, and make tick removal kits available at no charge. The bill further directs school districts to establish a board policy on tick removal and preserve any tick removed at school for up to three days at the request of the student’s parent. Although the bill passed the committee hurdle, it was removed from the record before a floor vote was taken after significant concerns were voiced during floor debate.
HB 4586 (Stava Murray; D-Downers Grove) requires school districts to provide notice twice per year to parents on mental health services available in the school, district and community. The bill also requires that information to be provided directly to students age 12 and over. Additionally, students must be informed of their right to request counseling services. The bill passed out of committee in spite of opposition, but the sponsor agreed to continue to work with opponents as the bill moves to the Senate.
HB 5250 (Ammons; D-Urbana) received an amendment that drastically changed the original bill, which would have rolled back the automatic acceleration policy for students who achieve a “Meets” on state assessments. Instead, the policies would still provide for those students to be automatically eligible to be enrolled in courses of the next most rigorous level of coursework, and adds a requirement that the policy must include a process for parents to be notified in writing that their student is eligible for enrollment in accelerated courses. The bill further provides that if the parent does not respond, the student shall still be automatically enrolled in the accelerated coursework.
(Thursday)
HB 4895 (Yang Rohr; D-Naperville) requires all schools to provide instruction on climate change by school year 2026-2027, and directs ISBE to make multi-disciplinary materials available, subject to appropriation. Advocates made the bill sponsor aware that the Illinois Science Standards already include instruction in elements of climate change, however, she preferred to move the proposal forward anyway. The bill was passed through committee and called for a vote on the floor in the same day, and it passed both votes along party lines.
HB 5394 (Faver Dias; D-Grayslake) requires school districts to develop a cardiac emergency response plan and outlines the specifications that each plan must meet. The bill also adds a requirement to include the cardiac emergency response plan in the annually required meeting to review each school’s crisis response plans. Further, it requires school boards to provide information to all school personnel regarding cardiac emergency procedures, including information on CPR and the use of the school’s AED.
House Elementary & Secondary Education: Administration, Licensing, and Charter Schools Committee
(Wednesday)
HB 334 (Lilly; D-Oak Park) was a shell bill that received an amendment that aims to eliminate the Illinois High School Association’s (IHSA’s) ability to place restrictions on athletic eligibility following transfers to new schools. Representative Lilly has also authored HR 599 on this same topic, but that non-binding resolution has not moved so far this session. In her testimony, the Representative indicated that the bill proposal was the result of five families approaching the NAACP with concerns about existing IHSA bylaws that prevent student athletes from being able to compete in athletics immediately following transfers to new schools. The bill passed unanimously out of committee, however it was not called for a vote on the House floor before adjournment today.
HB 305 (Katz Muhl; D-Northbrook) is a shell bill that received an amendment late Monday afternoon. The amendment requires all school districts currently under the jurisdiction of a Township School Board of Trustees to withdraw from the authority of the Board within three years of the effective date of the bill. The Representative indicated that her intention with the legislation was to address the current difficulties that districts face when they desire to exit their current arrangement, however, the legislation goes much further than that by completely eliminating the structure altogether, even for those districts that would like to remain with their current treasurer. The bill passed out of committee with a unanimous vote and in spite of opposition. The sponsor has been provided with a language proposal that offers an easy and straightforward process for districts desiring to withdraw from their current arrangement, while also maintaining the current structure and access to the treasurer’s office for districts opting to stay, however, the bill was passed on the House floor Thursday without further amendments.
(Thursday)
HB 3907 (Stuart; D-Collinsville) has received much attention this session with the proposal to require 45 minutes of uninterrupted planning time for all educators. The most recent amendment (Amendment 2) replaces the originally filed bill and removes the 45 minute plan time requirement. Instead, the bill provides that plan time that has already been collectively bargained into contracts may not be reduced, even during subsequent bargaining processes. Representative Stuart maintains her position that educators deserve a minimum of 45 minutes of plan time per day, but recognizes the challenges in implementing a mandate of this magnitude. Management groups remain opposed to the language in the second amendment with the position that working conditions should remain a subject of bargaining at the local level. The committee passed the bill out along party lines, but at the time of adjournment, the Representative had not moved the bill to a floor vote. Barring a timeline extension, the bill will return to the Rules committee and will not move any further this session.
House Higher Education Committee
HB 5020 (Blair-Sherlock; D-Villa Park) was passed after months of negotiations between stakeholders, and after the second amendment brought the IEA and IFT to neutral, following the organization’s opposition to the bill parameters around instructor credentials. The amended bill aims to strengthen dual credit programs by implementing several key measures. It establishes clear criteria for both fully-qualified and minimally qualified instructors, emphasizing academic credentials and equivalent experience, particularly for career and technical education (CTE) instructors. Additionally, it expands the Dual Credit Quality Act (DCQA) to prioritize collaborative partnerships between schools and community colleges and mandates timely negotiations between school districts and community colleges to facilitate the implementation of dual credit programs. Moreover, it promotes parity between Priority Career Pathway courses and Illinois Articulation Initiative offerings to broaden student opportunities. The bill standardizes student eligibility measures and ensures transparent communication for early college credit opportunities. It also enforces rigorous standards for course evaluations and mandates the reinvestment of revenues from dual credit programming. Notably, the bill grants flexibility to high schools regarding class size, technology access and accommodations while maintaining academic rigor. Additionally, it empowers districts to offer dual credit courses equal weight with Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses. The bill establishes mechanisms for resolving disputes between high schools and community colleges, encourages local partnerships, and limits partnerships with for-profit institutions. It requires all institutions offering dual credit to follow specified partnership agreements and promotes the use of in-state institutions over out-of-state providers. Lastly, the bill creates the Dual Credit Committee, which will be charged with defining appropriate graduate coursework and equivalent experience for qualified instructors.
House Personnel & Pensions Committee
A subject matter hearing was held on the Governor’s proposed pension plan and testimony was provided by the Director of the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget. As outlined in his State of the State address in February, Governor Pritzker is proposing changing the state’s pension funding goal from 90% by 2045, to 100% by 2048. A picture of the current state of the pension system, as well as the proposed funding plan can be viewed in the Governor’s Budget in Brief on pages 31 through 36.
Of particular note, the Governor’s plan for managing the state’s pension commitment does include an encouragement to the pension systems to review and adjust current Tier 2 pensionable earnings caps to ensure the plans remain compliant with federal law and appropriately coordinate with Social Security Safe Harbor regulations. The committee asked questions related to the recommendation to review the pensionable earnings cap and other ongoing conversations related to other changes to current Tier 2 benefits. Specifically, Republican Spokesperson Reick questioned the Director if changes to Tier 2 benefits would be included in budget proposals near the end of session. He expressed concern that those changes may be included in budget bills with little time to review the financial impact of the changes before they are enacted into law, and indicated that he strongly believed any changes to existing benefits should be heard formally through the committee process.
Senate Action
There were a few errant Senate committees that were held this week, as well, to hear bills that received extensions and to tie up loose ends on bills that required amending. A few of the items heard in those committees are detailed below:
Senate Education Committee
SB 3606 (Loughran Cappel; D-Crest Hill) received another amendment that removed the opposition from the private facilities who had previously expressed significant opposition to the bill. As written in previous Advocacy Alerts, the bill allows for reimbursement for special education students who are educated in public day schools in the same way in which districts currently receive reimbursement for students who attend private day schools. The amendment provides that the Purchased Care Review Board will now provide certain oversight for separate public education day schools, to maintain consistency with the oversight for private day schools. The bill was passed on the Senate Floor on Wednesday.
SJR 49 (Lightford; D-Hillside) directs the Professional Review Panel to analyze the current recommendations in the Evidence-Based Funding Model related to the maximum caseloads for school counselors, school psychologists, school social workers, school nurses, and speech-language pathologists, and to conduct financial modeling on the implications of meeting those maximums. The resolution provides that the report should be completed and provided to the General Assembly by December 31, 2025. The resolution was filed in response to concerns raised with SB 1401 that would mandate schools follow certain caseload limits for those support personnel positions. IASA and IASBO had expressed opposition to the bill and pointed out that the caseloads being recommended not only posed many challenges for school districts, but that the limits in the bill proposal did not match the recommended levels currently set in the EBF. The resolution was passed unanimously by the committee, in spite of opposition from ISBE.
Senate Labor
SB 2568 (Villa; D-West Chicago) was heard for the second time in the Senate Labor committee on Wednesday morning. The legislation was first heard back in February and has faced significant opposition from school management groups and 403b investment providers. The third amendment, which was heard in committee, made substantial changes to the bill, and provided some of the major changes we had advocated for. Specifically, the single vendor mandate was removed, and the vendor selection process would no longer be subject to a competitive bid process. The new language does provide that any new vendor added to the school district’s plan options shall be agreed upon by both unions that represent employees and the school board. The bill continued to face opposition from investment groups and many committee members expressed concerns with the bill. Although the amendment was approved by the committee along party lines, the sponsor indicated that she would continue conversations with the opposition. The bill was not heard on the Senate Floor before the chamber adjourned for the week and without another timeline extension, the bill will be officially returned back to the Assignments Committee.
Next Week!
Both chambers will be taking a scheduled - and much needed - break next week, and will return to action on Tuesday, April 30 where they will start action on bills that have reached the opposite chamber. With the scheduled break, you likely won’t hear from us next Friday with an update, so we hope you all have a great week. We hope to see many of you at the 2024 Illinois ASBO Annual Conference in Schaumburg!
As always, thank you for reading!