Bill Text: IL HB4711 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Amends the School Code. Provides that no district is obligated to comply with any statutory or regulatory mandate or requirement unless a separate appropriation has been enacted into law providing funding for the school year during which such mandate is required. Contains provisions concerning discontinuing or modifying an activity to meet specified requirements. Provides that specified provisions do not apply to special education, transportation, or lunch programs, or coursework required for high school graduation. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 42-14)

Status: (Passed) 2010-08-20 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 96-1441 [HB4711 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2009-HB4711-Enrolled.html

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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section
22-60 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/22-60 new)
Sec. 22-60. Unfunded mandates prohibited.
(a) No public school district or private school is
obligated to comply with the following types of mandates unless
a separate appropriation has been enacted into law providing
full funding for the mandate for the school year during which
the mandate is required:
(1) Any mandate in this Code enacted after the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General
Assembly.
(2) Any regulatory mandate promulgated by the State
Board of Education and adopted by rule after the effective
date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly
other than those promulgated with respect to this Section
or statutes already enacted on or before the effective date
of this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly.
(b) If the amount appropriated to fund a mandate described
in subsection (a) of this Section does not fully fund the

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mandated activity, then the school district or private school
may choose to discontinue or modify the mandated activity to
ensure that the costs of compliance do not exceed the funding
received.
Before discontinuing or modifying the mandate, the school
district shall petition its regional superintendent of schools
on or before February 15 of each year to request to be exempt
from implementing the mandate in a school or schools in the
next school year. The petition shall include all legitimate
costs associated with implementing and operating the mandate,
the estimated reimbursement from State and federal sources, and
any unique circumstances the school district can verify that
exist that would cause the implementation and operation of such
a mandate to be cost prohibitive.
The regional superintendent of schools shall review the
petition. In accordance with the Open Meetings Act, he or she
shall convene a public hearing to hear testimony from the
school district and interested community members. The regional
superintendent shall, on or before March 15 of each year,
inform the school district of his or her decision, along with
the reasons why the exemption was granted or denied, in
writing. The regional superintendent must also send
notification to the State Board of Education detailing which
school districts requested an exemption and the results.
If the regional superintendent grants an exemption to the
school district, then the school district is relieved from the

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requirement to establish and implement the mandate in the
school or schools granted an exemption for the next school
year. If the regional superintendent of schools does not grant
an exemption, then the school district shall implement the
mandate in accordance with the applicable law or rule by the
first student attendance day of the next school year. However,
the school district or a resident of the school district may on
or before April 15 appeal the decision of the regional
superintendent to the State Superintendent of Education. The
State Superintendent shall hear appeals on the decisions of
regional superintendents of schools no later than May 15 of
each year. The State Superintendent shall make a final decision
at the conclusion of the hearing on the school district's
request for an exemption from the mandate. If the State
Superintendent grants an exemption, then the school district is
relieved from the requirement to implement a mandate in the
school or schools granted an exemption for the next school
year. If the State Superintendent does not grant an exemption,
then the school district shall implement the mandate in
accordance with the applicable law or rule by the first student
attendance day of the next school year.
If a school district or private school discontinues or
modifies a mandated activity due to lack of full funding from
the State, then the school district or private school shall
annually maintain and update a list of discontinued or modified
mandated activities. The list shall be provided to the State

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Board of Education upon request.
(c) This Section does not apply to (i) any new statutory or
regulatory mandates related to revised learning standards
developed through the Common Core State Standards Initiative
and assessments developed to align with those standards or
actions specified in this State's Phase 2 Race to the Top Grant
application if the application is approved by the United States
Department of Education or (ii) new statutory or regulatory
mandates from the Race to the Top Grant through the federal
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 imposed on
school districts designated as being in the lowest performing
5% of schools within the Race to the Top Grant application.
(d) In any instances in which this Section conflicts with
the State Mandates Act, the State Mandates Act shall prevail.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.