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ICCTA Action Alert
March 19, 2001
The Illinois General Assembly adjourned last Friday
after a week filled with committee hearings on legislation. The deadline for passage of
bills out of a House committee was last Friday, March 16. The Senate deadline for
passage of a Senate bill out of a committee is Friday, March 30. Lawmakers will
return to Springfield tomorrow (Tuesday, March 20).
Community College-Related Bills That Are Still Active
House Bill 131 -- Local Government Joint Investments (Schoenberg)
ICCTA Position: SUPPORT
Provides that with the authorization of the governing body, the treasurer of a
governmental unit may join with the treasurers of other governmental units to
jointly invest funds of which the treasurer has custody. HB 131 is currently on
second reading (when amendments may be added or deleted) in the House.
HB 258 -- Re-Map for the Southwestern Illinois Community College District (Holbrook)
ICCTA Position: SUPPORT
Provides for the new division of Community College District No. 522 into trustee
districts in the year following each decennial census. HB 258 passed the House 116-0
and has been assigned to the Senate Education Committee.
HB 502 -- Vocational Education Revitalization Grants (Scully)
ICCTA Position: SUPPORT
Allows school districts that have unused or underfunded vocational education programs
to apply for grants to revitalize their programs. HB 502 passed the House 111-3 and
is currently on first reading (when a bill has yet to be assigned to a committee)
in the Senate.
HB 583 -- Grade-Based Scholarships (Lang)
ICCTA Position: SUPPORT
Allows scholarships to be awarded to entering freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors
who have and maintain at least a "B" average at public and private community colleges,
colleges, and universities in Illinois. HB 583 is on third reading (when it may be called
for a recorded roll-call vote) in the House.
HB 914 -- Public Building Commission Bond Refinancing (Moore)
ICCTA Position: SUPPORT
Provides that, as a revenue source for alternate bonds, any unit of local government
having a public building commission lease rental base is authorized to levy a public
building commission lease rental base alternate tax levy. HB 914 passed the House
Revenue Committee 10-1 and is currently on second reading in the House.
HB 921 -- Interior Design Title Act Reauthorization (Pankau)
ICCTA Position: SUPPORT
Reauthorizes the Interior Design Title Act for 10 years. The Act, which sunsets at the
end of 2001, is vigorously opposed by architects and others. Several community colleges
currently offer programs in interior design. Sen. Brad Burzynski is sponsoring similar
legislation (SB 1228) in the Senate. HB 921 passed the House Registration and
Regulation Committee 21-0 and is currently on second reading in the House.
HB 975 -- Mandated Ratio of Full-time and Part-time Faculty (Hoffman)
ICCTA Position: OPPOSE
Requires the governing board of each public university and community college to
achieve a ratio between full-time and part-time teachers in which at least
75 percent of all full-time equivalent teaching positions are held by full-time
faculty members and not more than 25 percent of all FTE teaching positions are held
by part-time teachers. HB 975 passed the House Higher Education Committee 7-1 and
is currently on second reading in the House.
HB 1720 -- Collective Bargaining Rights for Part-Time Faculty (Ryder)
ICCTA Position: OPPOSE
Amends the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act to redefine a "short-term employee."
The change -- which provides that the employee must not have a reasonable expectation
(instead of a reasonable assurance) that he or she will be rehired -- would permit
part-time employees to organize and be recognized as a bargaining unit. ICCTA opposes
this legislation because IBHE has not yet completed its General Assembly-mandated
study on part-time faculty. HB 1720 passed the House 108-2 and is being sent to the
Senate.
HB 1851 -- Increase in Illinois Incentive for Access Grants (Myers)
ICCTA Position: SUPPORT
Increases the Illinois Incentive for Access grants by raising the maximum amount
paid per applicant per year from $500 to $1,000. HB 1851 is currently on third
reading in the House.
HB 1905 -- Reduction of Community College Treasurers Bond (Wirsing)
ICCTA Position: SUPPORT
Changes the amount of the required bond for community college treasurers
(outside of Chicago) to equal the rate for K-12 board treasurers. HB 1905 passed
the House Higher Education Committee 12-0 and is currently on third reading in the House.
HB 3078 -- Freedom of Information Act -- Litigation Agreements (Righter)
ICCTA Position: OPPOSE
Specifies that a public body’s agreement to settle litigation (other than litigation
brought by a prisoner) is a public record. HB 3078 passed the House Judiciary I --
Civil Law Committee 10-0 and is currently on second reading in the House.
HB 3098 -- Open Meetings Act -- Verbatim Record of Closed Sessions (Dart)
ICCTA Position: OPPOSE
Requires a public body to maintain a verbatim record of minutes of closed meetings.
The court may examine in camera any portion of the minutes of a meeting at which a
violation of this Act is alleged to have occurred. The minutes of closed meetings shall
not be subject to disclosure in any other proceedings except upon direction of the
court or public body. The record may be maintained in the form of audio or video
recording, or may be taken by a certified court reporter. HB 3098 passed the House
State Government Administration Committee 6-2 and is currently on second reading in
the House.
HB 3320 -- ICCB Trades Training Program (Poe)
ICCTA Position: SUPPORT
Requires the Illinois Community College Board to establish and administer a trades
training program to provide grants to rural communities for such programs. HB 3320
passed the House Agriculture Committee 13-0 and is currently on second reading in the House.
Senate Bill 107 -- Certification of Adult Education Teachers (Del Valle)
ICCTA Position: SUPPORT
Provides additional authority to the Illinois Community College Board to develop
requirements and adopt rules to establish a system for the credentialing of adult
education teachers. SB 107 is currently on third reading in the Senate.
SB 314 -- Retirees Health Insurance for Part-Time Employees (Cronin)
ICCTA Position: MONITOR
Permits part-time employees to enroll in the community college retirees health insurance
program. SB 314 passed the Senate 54-0 and has been assigned to the House Rules Committee.
SB 682 -- Speech Language Pathology Assistants (Myers)
ICCTA Position: SUPPORT
This bill will be used to advance any agreements between the community college system
and the Speech Language Pathologists to create a recognized Speech Language Pathologist
Assistant designation in the K-12 system and other entities. SB 682 is scheduled
to be amended in a Senate committee to add the agreed content.
SB 1394 -- FY 02 Community College Appropriation (Donahue)
ICCTA Position: SUPPORT
Contains the IBHE recommendations for community college funding in FY 2002. SB 1394
has been assigned to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Community College-Related Bills That Are NOT Active
HB 192 -- Extension of SURS "30 and Out" Provision (M. Smith)
ICCTA Position: SUPPORT
Amends the State Universities Retirement System Act to allows retirement at
any age with 30 years of service. Current law allows this temporarily through 2002.
Sen. Judy Myers is sponsoring similar legislation (SB 584) in the Senate. HB 192
has been re-referred to the House Personnel and Pensions Committee.
HB 501 -- Foundation Matching Grants (Scully)
ICCTA Position: SUPPORT
Appropriates $1 million to the Illinois Community College Board for community college
foundation matching grant awards as authorized by Public Act 91-664
(legislation originally advanced by ICCTA). HB 501 has been re-referred to the House
Rules Committee.
HB 655 -- Repeal of City Colleges of Chicago Management Rights (McCarthy)
ICCTA Position: OPPOSE
Repeals management rights legislation approved in 1996 that affected prohibited
subjects of collective bargaining at City Colleges of Chicago. ICCTA testified against
this bill in committee. HB 655 failed 9-7 in the House Labor Committee and has been
re-referred to the House Rules Committee.
HB 701 -- Tuition Tax Credits (Reitz)
ICCTA Position: SUPPORT
Creates a tuition tax credit for taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of less than
$100,000. The credit would not exceed $500 for amounts spent during the taxable year
for the tuition and fees of the taxpayer and any dependent enrolled in full- or
part-time undergraduate studies at any public or private college, university, or
community college in Illinois. HB 701 has been re-referred to the House Rules Committee.
HB 815 -- Release from Liability for Snow Removal (Hoffman)
ICCTA Position: SUPPORT
Provides that a local public entity or its employees and agents who remove or attempt
to remove snow or ice from a street, sidewalk, or other public way is liable for any
injury that results from a condition caused by that undertaking unless the alleged
misconduct was willful and wanton. HB 815 has been re-referred to the House Rules
Committee.
HB 981 -- Grants to Increase Number of Full-Time Faculty (Crotty)
ICCTA Position: MONITOR
Appropriates $10 million to ICCB for a program that awards grants to community college
districts to increase the amount of credit hours taught by full-time faculty. HB 981
has been re-referred to the House Rules Committee.
HB 1852 -- Minority Male Teacher Scholarships (Righter)
ICCTA Position: SUPPORT
Provides that the Illinois Student Assistance Commission shall set a goal to award at
least 30 percent of its Minority Teachers of Illinois scholarships in each fiscal year
to qualified male minority applicants (rather than requiring that 30 percent of these
scholarships be awarded to qualified male minority applicants). HB 1852 failed 6-3 in
the House Higher Education Committee and has been re-referred to the House Rules Committee.
HB 1871 -- Repeal of Management Rights at City Colleges and Chicago Schools (Delgado)
ICCTA Position: OPPOSE
Repeals provisions added by Public Act 89-15 that establish prohibited subjects of
collective bargaining between the City Colleges of Chicago or the Chicago Public Schools
system and an exclusive representative of the employees of that educational employer.
HB 1871 has been re-referred to the House Rules Committee.
HB 1974 -- Redefinition of Athletic Trainers (Brunsvold)
ICCTA Position: OPPOSE
Changes the definitions of the terms "licensed athletic trainer" and "referral," and
permits athletic trainers to perform many of the functions of a physical therapist.
HB 1974 failed 5-13 in the House Registrations and Regulations Committee and has
been re-referred to the House Rules Committee.
ICCTA Lobby Day is May 9 -- click here or call
1-800-454-2282 to register today. For additional information on state legislative issues,
contact ICCTA at 1-800-454-2282.
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Illinois Community College Trustees Association
401 E. Capitol Ave., Suite 200
Springfield, IL 62701-1711
217-528-2858 (phone)
217-528-8662 (fax)
ICCTA@communitycolleges.org (e-mail)
http://www.communitycolleges.org |
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