ICCTA Action Alert June 1, 2001 The spring 2001 session of the 92nd Illinois General Assembly has come to a conclusion with adjournment of both the House and Senate on Thursday evening, May 31. Adjournment was originally scheduled for May 25, but stalled budget negotiations caused the session to run until May 31. Lawmakers will return to Springfield on November 13 for the fall veto session. Fiscal Year 2002 Budget The General Assembly approved a $53 billion state budget, which takes effect July 1, and sent it to Gov. George Ryan for his approval. Included was nearly everything the Governor requested for education in his March budget address. Education and workforce development received a $460 million increase above FY 2001 funding, with higher education institutions receiving a $157 million increase and K-12 receiving a $303 million increase. Community colleges received a 5.6% increase above FY 2001. Additionally, a $9 million (37%) increase in adult education funding was approved. The community college system also received a lump-sum $50 million appropriation for capital projects. This is the first year of a five-year, $250 million construction program that replaces Gov. Ryan’s proposed two-year plan. Capital renewal projects for community colleges were approved at a level of $9 million. Legislation Awaiting the Govenor's Signature House Bill 258 -- Remap of Southwestern Illinois Community College District (Holbrook) ICCTA Position: SUPPORT Provides for the new division of the Southwestern Illinois College district into trustee subdistricts in the year following each decennial census. Under a 1990 law, subdistricts had to be created by the April election following each decennial census. When the April election was eliminated in 1998, HB 258 was needed to extend the time needed to draw new districts. HB 258 was the first bill signed by the Governor during the spring 2001 session (Public Act 92-0001). HB 289 -- Statements of Economic Interest (Johnson / Karpiel) ICCTA Position: SUPPORT Provides that a person whose multiple offices or positions each require a Statement of Economic Interests need file only one statement with the Secretary of State (for offices and positions required to file with the Secretary of State) or one statement with the county clerk (for offices and positions required to file with the county clerk). HB 572 -- Continuing Education for Physical Therapists (Bradley / Burzynski) ICCTA Position: SUPPORT Requires 40 hours of continuing education per license renewal cycle for a physical therapist, and 20 hours of continuing education per license renewal cycle for a physical therapist assistant. Changes the definition of "physical therapy aide." HB 921 -- Interior Design Title Act Reauthorization (Pankau / Noland) ICCTA Position: SUPPORT ICCTA joined with interior design professionals to reauthorize this Act for 10 years. Architects had vigorously opposed extending the Act beyond the end of 2001. Several community colleges offer programs in interior design. HB 1356 -- Speech-Language Pathology Assistants (Berns-Hartke-Righter / Myers) ICCTA Position: SUPPORT Provides for the licensure of speech-language pathology assistants. The bill lists the qualifications for licensure, the minimum requirements for speech-language pathology assistant programs, the duties and limitations of speech-language pathology assistants, and the restrictions on the duties of speech-language pathology assistants. HB 1905 -- Reduction of Community College Treasurers Bond (Wojcik - Wirsing / Cronin) ICCTA Position: SUPPORT This ICCTA initiative reduces the amount of the required bond for community college treasurers (outside of Chicago) to equal the rate for K-12 board treasurers. This 50% reduction in premium payments will save community colleges between $350,000 and $500,000 per year. HB 2436 -- Nursing Education Scholarships (Lindner / Burzynski) ICCTA Position: SUPPORT Removes the cap on the number of nursing scholarships that can be awarded and bases the number of awards upon appropriated funds. Senate Bill 914 -- ICCB Adult Education Fund (Donahue / Erwin) ICCTA Position: SUPPORT Creates the Illinois Community College Board Adult Education Fund as a special fund in the state treasury. ICCB may use the Fund, subject to appropriation, for operational expenses associated with the administration of adult education and literacy activities. SB 1171 -- Public Building Commission Leases (Philip / Saviano) ICCTA Position: SUPPORT Provides that a lease entered into by a public building commission and a community college district in Kane County may be amended to continue the annual payment of an amount that is not greater than the maximum annual payment under the lease on the effective date of this legislation. Legislation That Did Not Pass HB 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 192 -- Extension of SURS "30 and Out" Provision (M. Smith) ICCTA Position: SUPPORT Amends the State Universities Retirement System Act to permit retirement at any age with 30 years of service, without a reduction in benefits. Current law allows this temporarily through the end of 2002. HB 501 -- Foundation Matching Grants (Scully) ICCTA Position: SUPPORT Appropriates $1 million to ICCB for community college foundation matching grant awards as authorized by Public Act 91-664 (legislation originally advanced by ICCTA). HB 583 -- Merit Scholarships (Lang) ICCTA Position: SUPPORT Allows scholarships for 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 655 -- Repeal of City Colleges of Chicago Management Rights (McCarthy) ICCTA Position: OPPOSE Repeals 1996 management rights legislation that affected prohibited subjects of collective bargaining at the City Colleges of Chicago. 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 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 not liable for any injury that results from a condition caused by that undertaking unless the alleged misconduct was willful and wanton. 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 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 981 -- Grants for 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 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 1851 -- Increase in Illinois Incentive for Access Grants (Myers) ICCTA Position: SUPPORT Increases the Illinois Incentive for Access grant by raising the maximum amount paid per applicant per year from $500 to $1,000. (Legislation creating this grant for financially disadvantaged students was introduced at ICCTA’s request in 1996.) 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 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 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 3098 -- Verbatim Transcripts of Closed Sessions (Dart / Dillard) ICCTA Position: OPPOSE Amends the Open Meetings Act by requiring that a public body keep verbatim minutes of a closed meeting. The bill also removes the requirement that minutes of a closed meeting be written and permits the minutes to be recorded by an audio or video method or by a court reporter. SB 107 -- Certification of Adult Education Teachers (Del Valle) ICCTA Position: SUPPORT Provides additional authority to the ICCB to develop requirements and adopt rules to establish a system for the credentialing of adult education teachers. SB 314 & 716 -- Retirees Health Insurance for Part-Time Employees (Cronin) ICCTA Position: MONITOR Permits certain long-term part-time employees to enroll in the community college retirees health insurance program. For additional information on state legislative issues, contact ICCTA at 1-800-454-2282. [ Return to top ] 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 |