Legislative Talk

NEW GENERAL ASSEMBLY=NEW BILLS

Every two years, a new General Assembly takes office and new bills are introduced. This year, like last, many bills related to child health and nutrition have been introduced. The C.L.O.C.C. organization (Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children) worked hard in the past year to come up with a consensus agenda that many and various organizations across the State could support. IAHPERD and the American Heart Association have contributed to these efforts by providing leadership on education issues. Several favorable bills were introduced by our General Assembly allies. Some of these initiatives are still alive at this printing (see more below). In addition, IAHPERD introduced legislation of its own (see below).

IAHPERD’s lobbyist, Brittan Bolin, is keeping a close watch on the progress of these bills in Springfield. The General Assembly is on spring break between March 19 and April 4. If you receive this newsletter in that period of time, please call your State Senator and State Representative in their local offices and leave a message that you want them to support Senate Bill 211 and House Bill 1540 and Senate Bill 88 (more information below). Tell them that you want them to oppose House Bill 3691 and Senate Bill 1972 (see below).

All members are urged to keep the bill information in this newsletter available in case more contacting needs to be done to support or oppose a bill.

“Phone calls are definitely the best way to contact legislators,” says Beth Mahar, IAHPERD Director of Advocacy. “Unfortunately, email is the quickest but poorest way to contact them, because they get so many emails.” The IAHPERD web site is where to find the phone numbers of the legislators who are members of the education committees. This can be done by clicking on ‘Government’ from the main home page. Also, calling one’s own legislator is easy by following the directions below in this newletter.

“IAHPERD has actively testified in committee and spoken directly with many legislators regarding our major bills,” says Mahar. “Shape-up Illinois Day afforded us the perfect opportunity to line up support and educate legislators on the issues. I urge all of our members to make their opinions known on our major bills and any others they feel strongly about.”

Stay tuned to www.iahperd.org for updated information on legislation.

Click here to get contact information for your local legislator

Included on this page is the following information:
How to find your legislators
How to check a bill's progress on the internet
Major P.E. bills that IAHPERD supports
Major P.E. bills that IAHPERD opposes
Major P.E. bills that IAHPERD is working to amend
Other bills that IAHPERD is also supporting

HOW TO FIND YOUR LEGISLATORS

This is easy to do. Follow the same procedures as above to get to the Illinois General Assembly home page. Then go to the heading “Additional Resources” and click on “Legislator Lookup”. Plug in your school zip code to find out who represents your school district or put in your home zip code to find out who you would vote for. The web site provides both local district office information as well as Springfield office information.

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HOW TO CHECK A BILL’S PROGRESS ON THE INTERNET

Following the progress of a bill is easy. You can go to www.iahperd.org and then to “links”, and click on Illinois General Assembly. You can also go to www.ilga.gov to get directly to the Illinois General Assembly home page. (This is a new web address for 2005, please bookmark it.) Once you are on the Home page for the General Assembly, go to the box on the left-hand side of the page and type in the HB number or the SB number. Click on Search. From here, you get a synopsis of the bill, and the last action taken on it. You can also go to the full text copy of the bill, if you wish, by clicking on that phrase near the top of the page.

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MAJOR PE BILLS THAT IAHPERD SUPPORTS

SB 211—Sen. Hunter (D-Chicago) ,Sandoval (D-Chicago)/Rep. Lang (D-Skokie), Cross (R-Plainfield)
Updates the definition of physical education in the School Code and requires an appropriate amount of daily physical activity for students. Also must be a curricular offering, not extra-curricular in nature or organization. Passed the Senate 3/9/05, sent to House. Will have to get through House Elementary and Secondary Committee. IAHPERD is working to pass it.

HB 1540 – Rep.Cross (R-Plainfield), Coulson (R-Glenview), Eddy (R-Hutsonville)
This is identical to SB 211 above. Approved by House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee. Could be voted on in House as soon as 4/5. IAHPERD is working to pass it.

HB 261-Rep. Delgado (D-Chicago), Eddy (R-Hutsonville)
This is the CLOCC-sponsored bill to reform some procedures having to do with how waivers are approved. This bill did not get out of committee and is effectively dead.

SB 88-Sen. Hunter (D-Chicago)
This is identical to HB 261 (CLOCC bill to reform waivers). Passed Senate Education Committee. Could be voted on in Senate as soon as 4/5. IAHPERD is working to pass it.

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MAJOR PE BILLS THAT IAHPERD OPPOSES

SB 1847-Sen. Lightford (D-Chicago)
Eliminates the requirement that a PE waiver hearing be held on a day other than a regular board meeting. Held in Senate Education Committee—bill is dead for this session.

HB 3691-Rep. Giles (D-Chicago)
Identical to SB 1847 above. Passed the House, sent to the Senate. Will have to go through the Senate Education Committee. IAHPERD is working to stop it.

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MAJOR BILLS IAHPERD WORKING TO AMEND

SB 1972- Sen. Lauzen

Provides that a school board may excuse pupils in grades 9 through 12 from engaging in physical education courses if the pupil is getting substantial exercise from participating in an athletic activity outside of school and the parent or guardian of the pupil provides documentation of this fact. Sponsor has asked IAHPERD to work on an amendment narrowing the application of the bill to elite-level athletes only. Passed Senate Education Committee pending an agreeable amendment. IAHPERD may oppose if amendment not acceptable.

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OTHER BILLS STILL BEING CONSIDERED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY THAT IAHPERD SUPPORTS

HB 211- Rep.Delgado, Lindner, Dugan, Graham, Soto, Berrios, Chavez/Sen. Hunter
Authorizes the Illinois Food Systems Policy Council. Provides that the Council's purposes are to develop policies around food access and security, improve individual health and well-being, promote economic incentives for Illinois farmers, agri-businesses, and other private enterprises, and encourage public/private partnerships around healthy food options. This is a CLOCC bill. Passed House and sent to the Senate.

 HB 250-Rep. Flowers (D-Chicago), Giles (D-Chicago)
Urges school boards to publish nutritional content of school lunch menus. Passed House El. & Sec. Ed. Committee. Could be voted on in House as soon as 4/5.

 HB 402-Rep. Eddy (R-Hutsonville)
Raises the amount a school district may charge a participant in driver’s education. Passed House El. & Sec. Ed. committee, could be voted on in House as soon as 4/5.

 HB 612-Rep. Delgado (D-Chicago)
Establishes the Childhood Health Promotion Program to prevent and reduce the incidence of obesity in children and adolescents. Directs IDPH to collect and analyze information from schools, health and nutrition programs and other sources to determine the prevalence of childhood obesity 8in Illinois. Encourages every school district to establish a Child Nutrition Advisory Committee. Approved in House Human Services Committee. Could go to House vote as soon as 4/5.

HB 733-Rep. Delgado (D-Chicago) & many co-sponsors
Requires the State Board of Education to establish a State goal that all school districts have a wellness policy that is consistent with recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Requires the Department of Public Health and the State Board to form an interagency working group to publish model wellness policies and sample programs. Requires the State Board to establish a pilot project to implement model wellness policies. Creates the School Wellness Policy Taskforce to identify barriers to implementing wellness policies, recommend how to reduce those barriers, recommend statewide school nutrition standards, and evaluate the effectiveness of wellness policies. Approved in House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee. Could go to House vote as soon as 4/5.

 SB 162-Sen. Hunter (D- Chicago), Lightford (D-Chicago), Martinez (D-Chicago), Garrett (R-Highwood), Collins (D-Chicago), & others
Identical to HB 733 above. Passed Senate Education Committee. Could be voted on in Senate as soon as 4/6.

 HB 1533-Rep. Cross (R-Plainfield), Coulson (R-Glenview)
Creates the Children's Nutritional Health Act. Creates the Commission on the Status of Children's Nutritional Health, consisting of members appointed by the legislative leaders and the Executive Branch. Provides that the purpose of the Commission is to track the status of children's nutritional health and develop ongoing policy initiatives to address issues concerning children's nutritional health. Passed House Human Services Committee. Could be voted on in House as soon as 4/5.

HB 1535-Rep. Cross/Coulson/Eddy
Amends the Critical Health Problems and Comprehensive Health Education Act. Specifically includes, as part of the design of the Comprehensive Health Education Program, learning experiences that will aid students in making wise personal decisions in matters of nutrition. Approved in House Elem. and Sec. Ed. Committee. Could be voted on in House as soon as 4/5.

 HB 1541-Rep. Cross/Coulson/Eddy
Requires the State Board of Education to establish a school health recognition program that publicly identifies those schools that have implemented programs to increase the physical activity of their students and that have adopted policies or implemented programs to promote healthy nutritional choices for their students and to allow recognized schools to share best practices and model programs and services with other schools throughout the State. Passed House Elem. & Sec. Ed. Committee.Could be voted on in House as soon as 4/5.

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