Senate Bill 2512 appropriates $2 from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois Community College Board. This funding is designated for the Board's ordinary and contingent expenses for Fiscal Year 2026.
Appropriates $1,250,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority for a grant to the Adler University Institute on Public Safety and Social Justice for costs associated with the Creating Healing Of Inside Community Educators (CHOICE) program and the Illinois Coalition for Higher Education in Prison (IL-CHEP) program. Effective July 1, 2025.
Declares September 2025 as Spoken Word Month. Encourages collaboration among school districts, community organizations, cultural institutions, and youth development agencies to implement spoken word mentorship programs and events statewide during the month of September 2025. Urges the State of Illinois to promote awareness and support for the National Spoken Word Awards and Festival held in Chicago through marketing, public outreach, and partnership with local and statewide arts agencies. Recognizes the positive social impact of spoken word as an art form, educational tool, and cultural beacon and that September 2025 will be a time to celebrate and elevate spoken word artists and organizations throughout the Land of Lincoln.
Amends the State Treasurer Act. Changes the name of the "College Savings Pool" to the "College, Secondary, and Elementary Education Savings Pool". In provisions relating to the College, Secondary, and Elementary Education Savings Pool established by the State Treasurer pursuant to Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code, provides that an "eligible educational institution" includes elementary or secondary public, private, or religious schools and "qualified expenses" include expenses, up to $10,000 per taxable year, for tuition in connection with enrollment or attendance at an elementary or secondary public, private, or religious school. Amends the Deposit of State Moneys Act, Illinois Income Tax Act, the Code of Civil Procedure, and the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act to make conforming changes. Effective immediately.
Creates the Graduate Readiness and Development Act. Requires the State Board of Education to adopt rules and guidelines for an exit orientation program for grade 11 and 12 students to prepare the students to enter the workforce, obtain marketable skills, or enroll in higher education or military service. Requires the school board of each school district operating a high school to annually host an exit orientation program that complies with the rules and guidelines adopted by the State Board of Education under the Act. Provides that the school board shall permit representatives of labor organizations, military branches, workforce training providers, vocational training providers, local chambers of commerce, banks, and private businesses to present information on jobs, training, apprenticeships, internships, jobs requiring certification, and related topics to students during a high school's exit orientation program. Requires each Illinois workNet Center to ensure that the exit orientation program of each high school in its local area is aligned with the needs and opportunities of the local labor market and to provide the school board of the school district that operates the high school with information on local labor market needs and assist with coordinating participation in the program by local chambers of commerce, private businesses, and others.
Amends the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Law. Creates the High School and Area Vocational Center Grant Program. Provides that, subject to appropriation, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity shall award grants to high schools, area vocational centers, and area career centers for the instruction and training of preapprenticeship students in the clean energy industry and the construction industry. Lists purposes for the Program. Requires the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to adopt rules.
Amends the Public Higher Education Act. Prohibits a school from threatening to disclose the actual or perceived citizenship or immigration status of an employee, a student, or a person associated with an employee or student to an external party; knowingly disclosing, without consent, anything related to the perceived citizenship or immigration status of an employee, a student, or a person associated with an employee or student to an external party if the school does not have direct knowledge of the employee's, student's, or associated person's actual citizenship or immigration status; knowingly disclosing, without consent, anything related to the actual citizenship or immigration status of an employee, a student, or a person associated with an employee or student to any other person or nongovernmental entity if the school has direct knowledge of the employee's, student's, or associated person's actual citizenship or immigration status; or designating immigration status, citizenship, place of birth, nationality, or national origin as directory information. Requires a school to develop procedures for reviewing and authorizing requests from law enforcement agents attempting to enter a school's campus by January 1, 2026. Requires a school to provide information on its website about who employees and students should contact if a law enforcement agent seeks to enter the school campus, enters the school campus, or engages in nonconsensual interactions with members of the school community by January 1, 2026. Prohibits a school from impeding students or employees from offering, attending, or participating in training on constitutional rights and immigration-related guidance. Allows aggrieved parties to bring a civil lawsuit. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.
HB 1944 appropriates $2 from the state's General Revenue Fund to the Board of Higher Education. This funding is designated for the Board's ordinary operating and contingent expenses for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025.
Amends the Board of Higher Education Act. Provides that, subject to appropriation, the Board of Higher Education shall award a grant to a statewide association of public pension funds affiliated with a public institution of higher education to develop and deliver an in-person financial literacy training program for public employees. Provides that the program shall consist of in-person training regarding retirement income, including pension benefits, Social Security benefits, and employer-sponsored deferred compensation and retiree healthcare savings plans and shall also include instruction in financial planning and important elements of consumer finance, such as debt, educational savings, budgeting, and related subjects. Provides that the program shall include recorded programs to assist public employees who work on nontraditional shift assignments.
Amends the Nurse Practice Act. Provides that an individual licensed under this Section may apply for a program that provides a full tuition reimbursement to individuals who: (1) attended and graduated from an education program based in the State; and (2) commit to working in a safety-net hospital in the State for at least 5 years.
