Week In Review
Lawmakers returned to the state Capitol Wednesday January 4th for a lame duck session ahead of the January 9 inauguration. Several legislative initiatives of note moved forward during this short session, including:
SB 208 (Martwick, D-Chicago/Gordon-Booth, D-Peoria),
SB208, the Paid Leave for All Workers Act, ensures all that workers, including essential workers, have at least a minimal amount of paid time off. The bill provides:
• Full- and part-time workers may earn up to 56 hours of leave per year.
• Employees can use leave for any reason, including: recovering from their own illness,
caring for a sick family member, school closures, reasons related to domestic or sexual
violence, visiting a family member in jail or prison and other court-related reasons, and
COVID-19 related reasons, such as the need to quarantine or get vaccinated.
SB 208 exempts unions and collective bargaining agreements. The bill passed both houses and now heads to the governor for consideration.
HB 5107 (Davis, D-Hazel Crest/Peters, D-Chicago)
HB 5107 changes the definition of managerial employees to district employees who have a significant role in the negotiations of collective bargaining agreements or who create employer-wide management policies and practices. The bill, which will give Chicago principals and assistant principals collective bargaining rights but prohibit them from striking, passed the Senate by a vote of 45-7 and now heads to the governor’s desk.
HB 1688 (Hernandez, D-Cicero/Villa, D-West Chicago)
HB 1688 will establish an initial course and annual refresher training courses for Small School Bus Driver Permits and maintain the existing courses for Larger School Bus Driver Permits. The bill is intended to help with the school bus driver shortage and will be effective January 1, 2024. HB 1688 was approved by both chambers and is now pending gubernatorial action.
HB 5188 (Davis, D-East Hazel Crest/Villivalam, D-Chicago)
HB 5188 would mandate that public school students receive age appropriate, medically accurate, inclusive sexual education instruction. The measure maintains that a student's parent or guardian may opt the student out of comprehensive personal health and safety and comprehensive sexual health education by submitting the request in writing. The bill passed the Senate Executive Committee on January 5, but the Senate adjourned before taking action on the bill.
HB 969 and SB 1720 represent the FY23 supplemental appropriations budget and trailer Budget Implementation (BIMP) bill, respectively. SB 1720 passed the Senate Sunday January 8 and is pending the governor’s signature. HB 969 still awaits Senate action. The bills make several changes, including:
• Authorizing additional spending in the amount of $850 million for the state's "rainy
day" fund, $400 million for attracting business, and increases in legislative salaries and
for certain agency directors.
• A reduction from $5.5M to $4.4M funding for Peoria School District 150 for fine arts and
related programs.
• $1.5M grant to Virtual Learning Systems for costs associated with expenses to provide
social studies curriculum to include African American history chapters to all schools
statewide.
• $2.3M to state universities and $6.6M to community college for administering the
Mental Health Early Action on Campus Act.
Governor Pritzker signed SB 1720 into law on January 10 as PA 102-1115. HB 969 was approved on the same day and now heads to the governor for his signature.
SB 4020 (Hunter, D-Chicago/Robinson, D-Chicago)
SB 4020 creates a new lottery scratch-off game for the United Negro College Fund in support of educational scholarships at colleges and universities. The bill was approved by the House rules committee but has not yet received final action in that chamber. It requires approval on concurrence by the Senate before going to the governor. A suggestion was made that the language be amended to require the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to distribute the scholarships and that the scholarships be made available to students attending Illinois colleges and universities. The bill did not pass the House but is anticipated to be refiled in the 103rd General Assembly.
HB 5285 (Ford, D-Chicago/Pacione-Zayas, D-Chicago)
HB 5285 increases transparency for the Chicago principal hiring process. The bill makes public the rubric and scoring threshold for passing each step in the hiring process, allowing for due process when candidates do not advance to the next stage of evaluation. It would give Local School Councils (LSCs) access to the entire eligible pool of candidates. These protections give LSCs a much larger, more diverse pool of candidates to select from—some of whom may be more qualified to be leaders in schools than the narrower pool that CPS may have advanced. Further, it allows greater opportunity for equity by informing candidates of deficiencies and resources for improvement. The bill passed both houses and will be sent to the governor for consideration.
HB 1563 (Burke, D-Oak Lawn/Harmon, D-Oak Park)
HB 1563 adds factors for the director of CMS to consider when deciding the geographic location of a state employee position. Sangamon County is still the preferred location for state employment, but the director can also consider the diversity of the applicant pool and other factors in making the decision. The bill was amended and voted upon by both chambers and now goes to the governor.
Inaugural news
Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and the four other statewide constitutional officers were sworn into office on January 9 in Springfield. New General Assembly members were sworn in on January 11. The legislature held an organizational meeting on January 12.
The Senate returns to Springfield on January 24, and the House returns on January 31. Access to the calendars for the 103rd General Assembly for the House can be found here and the Senate here.
Watch IFT’s Under the Dome for updates from the upcoming session.