ICCTA Action Alert March 27, 2003 The Illinois General Assembly has completed regular committee hearings on most legislation and is now focusing on final passage of bills out of the chamber in which the legislation originated. The deadline for the passage of all non-appropriation legislation out of the house of introduction is Friday, April 4. This means that all Senate bills introduced in the Senate must pass out of the Senate, and House bills introduced in House must pass out of the House by the deadline in order to be considered for final passage. LEGISLATION OF INTEREST TO COMMUNITY COLLEGES The following legislation has passed out of the house of origin and has been sent to the second house for further consideration: HB 1387 -- City Colleges of Chicago Treasurer’s Bond (McCarthy - Wirsing) ICCTA Position: SUPPORT Makes the penalty of the treasurer’s bond of the Chicago community college district the same as the penalty of the treasurers’ bonds of all other community college districts in Illinois. Passed out of the House 117-0-0 and has been sent to the Senate. HB 1457 -- Redefinition of Community College Educational Employee (O’Brien) ICCTA Position: OPPOSE Provides that an academic employee of a community college who provides less than three credit hours of instruction per academic semester is not an "educational employee." This permits faculty teaching three hours to qualify to join a collective bargaining unit, instead of the current six-hour requirement. Passed out of the House 103-14-0 and has been sent to the Senate. HB 1491 -- Driver Training Programs (Novak) ICCTA Position: MONITOR Prohibits public schools and educational facilities from contracting with an entity that provides driving instruction (including truck driving) or prepares an applicant for the Secretary of State's driver's license examination unless that entity is licensed by the Secretary of State. The bill also increases the amount of the surety bond required to operate a driver training school to $20,000 (from $10,000) and raises the application and renewal fees for a license to operate a driver training school. Passed out of the House 93-24-0 and has been sent to the Senate. HB 2660 -- Pension Bonding (Madigan) ICCTA Position: SUPPORT Authorizes the issuance of an additional $10 billion in general obligation bonds. Provides for the proceeds of those bonds to be used to reduce the unfunded liabilities of the five state-funded retirement systems (including the State Universities Retirement System). This is the Gov. Blagojevich’s initiative to provide partial relief from funding reductions in fiscal year 2004 by financing (or "refinancing") the unfunded accrued liability of the public pension systems. Passed out of the House 79-18-18 and has been sent to the Senate. HB 2279 -- Community College Dormitories (Leitch) ICCTA Position: SUPPORT Amends the Public Community College Act to allow a community college board to provide or contract for residential housing for students and employees. Passed out of the House 102-8- 5 and has been sent to the Senate. HB 2805 -- University Faculty Member on IBHE (McCarthy) ICCTA Position: MONITOR Provides that one of the 10 members of the Illinois Board of Higher Education appointed by the Governor must be a faculty member at a public university. Passed out of the House 114-0-0 and has been sent to the Senate. HB 2864 -- Speech Language Pathology - Qualifications (Saviano) ICCTA Position: OPPOSE Amends the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Practice Act to allow a person who has applied to the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation for a license to practice speech-language pathology or audiology may practice without a license pending disposition of the application if specified criteria are met. Provides that a person who undertakes supervised professional experience as a speech-language pathologist must obtain a temporary license from DPR. Passed out of the House 115-1-1 and has been sent to the Senate. HB 3024 -- Ban on Child Sex Offenders on Campus (Brady) ICCTA Position: SUPPORT Prohibits child sex offenders from knowingly being present in any institution of higher education building unless expressed permission is granted by the administrator of the institution. Passed out of the House 79-18-18 and has been sent to the Senate. Additional legislation will receive consideration during the next week and will be reported after the April 4 deadline for passage of bills in the house of origin. ICCTA Lobby Day is Wednesday, April 30. Register here or call 1-800-454-2282 today. 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 | Home | News | Events | Links |