ISAC State Legislative Update

The General Assembly has completed the first week of its fall veto session and will return to Springfield October 28-30. In addition to considering vetoed bills, legislators have discussed or plan to discuss recall of elected officials, Medicaid reforms, ethics reforms, and cemetery oversight. 

MAP Appropriation Restored

The budget approved during the summer cut ISAC’s student aid funding in half, from a proposed $440 million to $220 million. These cuts severely limited ISAC’s ability to make awards for the 2009-2010 academic year, particularly for the largest program that the Commission administers: the Monetary Award Program (MAP).
 
On October 15th, spurred by students’ and schools’ response to the cuts, the General Assembly acted to appropriate an additional $205 million to ISAC for the current fiscal year, to restore MAP funding for the remainder of the 2009-2010 academic year.  Governor Quinn signed Senate Bill 1180 (Frerichs/Madigan) on Sunday, October 18th. 

The passage of the bill coincided with a visit to Springfield by more than 2,000 college students and supporters from around the state, who rallied for restoration of MAP and visited legislators to outline the potential consequences of financial aid cuts.  

As indicated in a prior e-Message to financial aid advisors, ISAC staff are working to implement the necessary programming changes to the MAPnet system to accommodate full-year awards.  First term payment processing will continue while these modifications are underway.  ISAC will notify financial aid advisors when the system is ready to accept payment requests for second and third terms. 

MAP & the State Budget

Lawmakers have essentially approved a short-term fix for the program, allowing ISAC to make awards for the remainder of the year but leaving state government with an even bigger challenge in filling an already- multi-billion-dollar deficit.  The MAP shortfall led the Governor and some members of the General Assembly to offer a number of possible revenue sources, but none of these has yet been approved.   Having found no success with his proposed income tax increase during the spring session, the Governor proposed raising the cigarette tax by one dollar per pack, which could raise an estimated $365 million.  Several members of the House have signed on as co-sponsors supporting House Bill (HB) 4622 (Pritchard), a bill to establish a tax amnesty period during which those who owe state taxes could repay them without penalties or interest.  If approved, that plan is expected to bring in approximately $104.9 million in back taxes, the entirety of which would be put towards funding MAP for the second half of the year.  This would meet a bit more than half of amount needed to fund MAP for the spring.  Senators filed their own version of the tax amnesty plan, Senate Bill (SB) 2473 (Burzynski).

The Governor has also advocated the passage of a new law that would allow inter-fund borrowing, allowing the state to borrow dollars from state funds that have surpluses to replenish other state funds. Discussing this proposal during the bill signing for SB 1180 (Frerichs/Madigan), the Governor said that borrowed amounts would have to be repaid to the special funds from which they were taken within 18 months. Legislation to approve such borrowing may be considered during the second week of veto session.

A joint resolution (HJR 75 – McCarthy) would mandate a study of the Monetary Award Program to determine whether funds are distributed in the most efficient way, to be completed by February 28, 2010.  (See below for more details.)

The information below is a summary of legislation considered during the spring session of the  96th General Assembly that affects student financial aid or the Illinois Student Assistance Commission.  These are arranged first by the bills’ status: Amendatorily Vetoed, Not Yet Approved by Both Chambers, and Public Acts (i.e., those that have become law).  Bills in the first two categories could be acted on during the Veto Session.  Within each status, bills are arranged by topic. 

For a bill’s full text or current status, please see http://www.ilga.gov/.  If you have questions, you may contact Trena Sabo (tsabo@isac.org) or Katharine Gricevich (kgricevich@isac.org). 

AMENDATORILY VETOED

Task Force on Private Student Loans

SB 1698 (Kotowski/Hamos) –Creates the Task Force on Higher Education Private Student Loans, which ISAC’s executive director or his designee would chair, with the Treasurer as co-chair. The task force would investigate questions such as the terms under which private loans are currently available to students in Illinois, how the terms affect accessibility and affordability, and the impact of private student loan debt on students after graduation. The resolution requires the Task Force to report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by December 31, 2010 and repeals the Act on January 1, 2011. 
Passed Senate 55-0-1
Passed House 117-0-0
Amendatory Veto: Recommends that the chairperson of the Task Force be appointed by the Chairman (rather than the executive director) of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission; that the Task Force include an additional member appointed by the Governor; and that the Chairman of the Board of Higher Education (rather than the executive director) and the Secretary of Financial and Professional Regulation (rather than the Director of the Division of Financial Institutions) or their designees serve as members of the Task Force.
Senate Accepts Amendatory Veto 55-0-0

New Assistance Programs – Career-based incentives

HB 382 (Brosnahan / Maloney) - Amends the Nursing Education Scholarship Law and the Nurse Practice Act.  HB 382 requires the Department of Public Health to provide nurse educator scholarships among the scholarships offered for nursing, to be awarded for a period of up to 3 years. [NOTE: The program would be substantively similar to the Nurse Educator Scholarship Program administered by ISAC, but funded by a different source.  The ISAC program receives General Revenue Funds, whereas the program under this bill would be funded by professional fees paid by nurses into the Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund.]  The bill also requires the Department of Public Health to maintain a database of all available nurse educator positions in this State. Finally, it provides that for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009 and for each fiscal year thereafter, $2,000,000 (instead of $1,200,000) of the moneys deposited in the Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund each year shall be set aside and appropriated for nursing scholarships. The bill’s provisions would take effect immediately.
Passed House 116-0-0
Passed Senate 58-0-0
Amendatory Veto: Adds language specifying that the program is subject to appropriation of funds.  Removes language regarding a database of available nurse educator positions, as the Illinois Center for Nursing already maintains such a database.
House Overrides Amendatory Veto 112-1-1

BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS THAT HAVE NOT YET PASSED BOTH CHAMBERS

Military Families

HB 4209 (Bost/Cullerton) - With respect to Veteran Grants and Illinois National Guard and Naval Militia grants, the bill provides that a person who otherwise qualifies for a grant may relinquish his or her entitlement to the grant and instead transfer that entitlement to his or her spouse, natural child, legally adopted child, or step-child. The recipient may not relinquish eligibility for a state program to a dependent in order to use federal educational benefits.  Effective July 1, 2009.
Passed House 92-19-4
Assigned to Senate Higher Education Committee
Re-referred to Senate Committee on Assignments

Affordability goals

HJR 54 (Soto) – The resolution directs the Illinois Board of Higher Education, working in concert with the Illinois Student Assistance Commission and the Illinois Community College Board, to undertake a study of college affordability and funding.  The report shall include findings and recommendations on improving college affordability and higher education funding.
Adopted in House 116-0-0
Assigned to Senate Higher Education Committee

HJR 75 (McCarthy) – The resolution directs IBHE to conduct a study of the Monetary Award Program and its efficiency by January 31, 2010.  In addition to examining the current distribution of funds, the resolution directs IBHE to explore the concept of making MAP available to freshmen and sophomore students only if they are enrolled at community colleges.  (Juniors and seniors could still receive MAP at a four-year institution, but freshmen and sophomores attending four-year institutions would not be eligible for MAP grants.)
HA#1 (Adopted) removed language requiring the study to evaluate any specific concept for distribution of MAP grants among sectors, and it added a requirement that the study also evaluate the relationship among the appropriations for MAP and higher education institutions and tuition and fees.
Adopted as amended by HA #1 in House 115-0-0
Assigned to Senate Higher Education Committee

New Revenue & Spending

HB 174 (Miller/Cullerton) began as a bill identical to SB 81 (see below) but was amended in the Senate to dramatically change the tax structure in Illinois and dedicate most new revenues to education, pensions, and financial assistance.  With Senate Amendments 2  through 5, the bill would increase the income tax rate for individuals, trusts, and estates from 3% to 5% and increases the income tax rate for corporations from 4.8% to 5%; increases the residential real property tax credit from 5% to 10%; increase the limitation on the education expense credit from $500 to $1,000; increase the percentage of the earned income tax credit from 5% of the federal tax credit to 15% in 2009 and thereafter; extend the sales tax to apply to certain categories of services; and increase the foundation level of support for elementary and secondary school pupils.  SA #5 would also prevent reductions in the budgets for ISBE, IBHE. ICCB, ISAC, or any university below FY09 levels without the relevant board or commission's approval.   SA #6 would restore the historic education funding split: 2/3 of new revenue would be directed towards K-12 and 1/3 would be directed towards higher education, including student financial assistance programs.

HB 174:

Passed House 107-9-0 Passed Senate Revenue Committee 6-0-0 Passed Senate 31-27-1 SA #2-5 passed in House Elem. & Secondary Ed Comm. 11-6-2 SA #2-5 in House on order of Concurrence Re-referred to House Rules Committee

HB 4622 (Pritchard) – This bill would establish a tax amnesty period from  January 1 through February 15, 2010, during which those owing back taxes in Illinois could pay amounts owed without being charged interest or penalties.  The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability estimates that the proposal could bring in $104.9 million, to be placed in the MAP Reserve Fund and used to make second term MAP awards.  This is slightly more than half the amount needed to cover spring awards for this year’s MAP recipients. 
House Rules Committee

SB 2473 (Burzynski) – This bill would establish a tax amnesty period from  January 1 through February 15, 2010, during which those owing back taxes in Illinois could pay amounts owed without being charged interest or penalties.  The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability estimates that the proposal could bring in $104.9 million, to be placed in the MAP Reserve Fund and used to make second term MAP awards.  This is slightly more than half the amount needed to cover spring awards for this year’s MAP recipients. 
Senate Assignments Committee

21st Century Scholars Program (early intervention/financial aid strategy)

HB 150 (Miller / Maloney) & SB 37 (Maloney / Miller) – These companion bills would create the 21st Century Scholars Act.  Based on Indiana’s program of the same name, the bill would allow 8th grade students to pledge to complete a prescribed curriculum, graduate from high school, file a FAFSA, and meet other requirements in exchange for full tuition and fee scholarships at Illinois postsecondary institutions.  The intent is to improve students’ academic preparation for and access to postsecondary education.  The Senate sponsor has expressed an intent to amend HB 150 in an effort to guarantee both that the student will be college ready upon graduation and that the scholarship funds will be available to them as promised.

As amended, SB 37 is only a “shell” bill (i.e., the Senate approved it after the substantive language was removed, but language could be added back to the bill at a later time).

HB 150:	Passed House 115-0-0 Assigned to Senate Higher Ed Re-referred to Senate Committee on Assignments
SB 37 w/SA#1:	Passed Senate 56-0-0 Assigned to House Executive Committee Re-referred to House Rules Committee

PUBLIC ACTS

Budget

Senate Bill (SB) 1216 (Trotter/Madigan) – Appropriates $220,031,100, from the General Revenue Fund to ISAC “for operational expenses, awards, grants, and permanent improvements” for Fiscal Year 2010.  Provided in a lump sum for the Commission to distribute as needed, the amount is half of the Governor’s total recommendation for ISAC’s scholarship and grant programs for FY10. 
Public Act 96-42

SB 1180 (Frerichs/Madigan) – This bill increases ISAC’s lump sum appropriation by $205 million for FY10. Although the bill does not specify that the funds are intended for the Monetary Award Program, legislators made clear that their intent is to restore MAP funding for the remainder of the 2009-2010 academic year. 
Governor Signed - October 18, 20009

SB 1433 (Trotter/Mautino) - Dollars from some dedicated funds are being “swept” into the General Revenue Fund in four equal installments throughout FY2010.  Along with more than $350 million from other special funds, the bill proposes to skim about $150,000 from ISAC’s Accounts Receivable Fund, Contracts and Grants Fund, and University Grant Fund.  The latter is a repository for Higher Education License Plate program dollars, which are distributed as need-based grants. The Contracts & Grants Fund contains dollars provided to ISAC by private foundations for specific purposes, such as outreach and early awareness programs. The bill does contain a “clawback” provision indicating that if too little money remains in a swept fund to pay for an authorized expense, the agency may ask the Comptroller to restore money from the General Revenue Fund to the specialized fund for that purpose. 
Public Act 96-44

House Bill 2206 (Trotter/ Madigan) – This appropriations bill provides agencies with authority to spend non-state funds. For example, the bill authorizes ISAC to spend federal dollars received through the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship program and the College Access Challenge Grant, to make necessary payments including operating expenses from the Student Loan Operating Fund, and to use grant moneys that private foundations have awarded to the agency. 
PA 96-46

House Bill 2132 (Madigan/Sullivan) –Funds public universities and community colleges at a level sufficient to allow the drawing down of federal stimulus dollars allocated to Illinois for higher education, and it authorizes spending of those federal dollars. 
PA 96-114

Bills related to tax treatment of 529 plans

SB 81 (Bond/Burke) would allow taxation of the amount previously contributed to a tax-exempt college tuition program administered by the State of Illinois if the money, when taken out of the program, is used for purposes other than qualified educational expenses and if the nonqualified expenses were not due to the death or disability of the beneficiary.  Effective immediately.
PA 96-120

SB 77 (Clayborne/Verschoore) – SB 77 creates a new tax incentive for employers and their employees to contribute to the State of Illinois’ college savings and prepaid tuition programs. The bill would allow Illinois employers to claim a tax credit, up to a maximum of $500, for one-fourth of the amount they contribute each year toward their employees’ College Illinois!® prepaid tuition contracts or Bright Start college savings plans. The credit sunsets in 2020.  Effective immediately.
PA 96-198

Military veterans and families

HB 4039 (Stephens/McCarter) - With respect to the State Scholar program, codifies that an applicant is eligible to be designated a State Scholar if he or she is a resident of this State attending a Department of Defense school. Effective July 1, 2009.
PA 96-315

SB 1624 (Kotowski/Walker) - Creates the Higher Education Veterans Campus Service Act.  The Act requires each public college and university to appoint a Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student Services on each campus of the college or university with more than 1,000 full-time students in daily attendance.  It also requires all public colleges and universities to conduct a survey of the campus services and programs that are provided for veterans, active duty military personnel, and their families, and to make this program information available to students via school websites and guidebooks.  Survey results will also be reported to the Board of Higher Education, Department of Veterans' Affairs, Governor, and legislative leaders.  IBHE and IDVA may issue a best practices report to highlight those programs and services that are most beneficial to veterans and active duty military personnel.  The survey must be conducted within 60 days after this Act takes effect; the Coordinator must be designated within six months after the Act takes effect. 
PA 96-133

Affordability goals

HB 4094 (Hatcher/Maloney) - Amends the Board of Higher Education Act. Requires the Board of Higher Education's master plan to include higher education affordability and accessibility measures.
PA 96-319

HR 50 (Miller- J. Gordon – Boland - Pritchard) – As amended, HR 50 resolves that this State make it a priority that up to 2 years of post-secondary education or training is available to all citizens in this State.  (As introduced, HR 50 stated that the state must guarantee up to two years of postsecondary education for all Illinoisans.)
House Resolution Adopted

Golden Apple & IFTC

HB 3999 (Flowers/Martinez) – The bill allows the private Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois program to gradually subsume the funding for the Illinois Future Teacher Corps (IFTC) program.  Fiscal Year 2012 will be the last year that Illinois Future Teacher Corps scholarships are available.

Both programs are intended to increase the state’s supply of qualified teachers.  Both programs provide scholarship assistance that must be repaid if the recipient does not teach in a high-need position in Illinois after graduation. However, Golden Apple Scholars also receive mentoring and engage in group activities such as reflective sessions and earlier classroom exposure that are not part of the IFTC program. 
PA 96-411

New Assistance Programs – Career-based incentives

HB 574 (Turner/Schoenberg) & SB 266 (Schoenberg/Hoffman) would create the Public Interest Attorney Assistance Act to encourage qualified individuals to enter into and continue in employment in Illinois as assistant state’s attorneys, assistant public defenders, civil legal aid attorneys, assistant attorneys general, assistant public guardians, Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission attorneys, and legislative attorneys.  ISAC would establish rules, in consultation with an advisory committee of legal professionals, and would administer the program.  Subject to appropriation of funds, ISAC would distribute funds in the form of forgivable loans to recipients who owe educational loans. Awards through the program created under SB 266 would be capped at $6,000 per recipient per year and $30,000 per recipient per lifetime.   The bills also specify eligibility requirements and prioritization of awards in the instance that demand exceeds appropriated funds.
HB 574: PA 96-768
SB 266: PA 96-615

HB 364 (Reis / Frerichs) – The bill creates the Veterinary Student Loan Repayment Program Act,  establishing the Veterinary Student Loan Repayment Program to be administered through the University of Illinois, the state’s only school of veterinary medicine. A loan recipient under the program must enter into a program agreement under which he or she agrees to practice in (i) veterinary practice that is at least 51% devoted to large animal medicine that enhances agricultural animal health and productivity or (ii) regulatory veterinary medicine that supports public health and safety, livestock biosecurity, or food animal disease diagnosis for at least one year for each year in which he or she received a loan. Failure to satisfy the program agreement would result in the recipient’s having to repay the assistance received at a rate of 18% annual interest.  Repayments received by the University would be deposited with the University to support the program. Effective immediately but with a sunset of July 1, 2019.
PA 96-142

HB 1143 (Coulson/Collins) - Creates the Mental Health Graduate Education Scholarship Act. The bill establishes the Mental Health Graduate Scholarship Program, to be administered by the Department of Human Services. DHS would provide scholarships through the program to qualified individuals who are enrolled in or accepted into a mental health graduate program at a public or private college or university in this State and who agree to being employed in this State as a licensed professional counselor, licensed clinical professional counselor, licensed clinical psychologist, licensed social worker, or licensed clinical social worker in direct patient care in a human services capacity in a designated shortage area for at least one year for each year of scholarship assistance received. A committee amendment added marriage and family therapists to the list of eligible professions. A floor amendment recommended by the committee for adoption would limit funding for the program to $100,000, paid from a Department of Financial and Professional Regulation dedicated fund containing licensure fees for counselors, psychologists, and social workers.
PA 96-672

HB 2686 (Leitch/Cronin) - Currently, the  Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Training Act allows funds to be appropriated to the University of Illinois at Chicago and Southern Illinois University for forensic psychiatry fellowship training programs.  This Act grants authority to UIC and SIUC to establish cooperative agreements with the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria and with the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University for the purpose of funding forensic psychiatry fellowship programs at these schools, as well. 
PA 96-690

HB 392 (Golar/Martinez) - Amends the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Act. These changes affect only those schools that are part of a Grow Your Own Teacher consortium.  The bill makes a number of changes (many of them minor) concerning the purposes and goals of the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Initiative, the definitions of certain terms, the composition of a consortium, candidate qualifications, the program of forgivable loans, the award of grants under the Initiative, the inclusion of certain costs in program budgets, and funds to cover the salary of a site-based cohort coordinator.  
PA 96-144

New Assistance Program – Students with disabilities at SIUC

HB 168 (Coulson / Luechtefeld) - Subject to appropriation, HB 168 directs ISAC to award need-based grants to cover students' fees for participation in the Clinical Center Achieve Program at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.  Achieve provides academic support to students diagnosed with learning disabilities and/or ADD.  Effective July 1, 2009.
PA 96-229

Loan rehabilitations

SB 325 (Maloney/Miller) – SB 325 provides state G.O. backing to an ISAC bond issue of $50 million.  IDAPP will use the bond proceeds to purchase student loans from the U.S. Department of Education that ISAC has worked with borrowers to rehabilitate.  IDAPP's purchase of these loans would complete the rehabilitation process, allowing the borrowers to clear a student loan default from their credit record.  It is estimated that the bond issuance will allow the agency to rehabilitate the loans of approximately 5,000 students.  Furthermore, the transaction will restore a critical revenue stream for the agency from the federal government, which supports the time-intensive, hands-on process of working with borrowers through the rehabilitation program.  
PA 96-9

Statewide Longitudinal Educational Data System

SB 1828 (Steans/Smith) - creates the P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act.  The Act directs ISBE, ICCB, and IBHE to jointly establish and maintain a longitudinal data system by entering into agreements that link early learning, elementary, and secondary school student unit records with institution of higher learning student unit records. In addition to providing aggregated data for public use, for evaluating the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs, for meeting federal reporting requirements, and other purposes enumerated in the Act, the system is intended to facilitate electronic transcript transfer and electronic submission of applications for admissions and financial aid (services currently available through the Illinois Mentor tools). The data system is also meant to allow the state education agencies to establish means of evaluating relationships between need-based financial aid and student enrollment and success, between education and other student and family support systems, and between education programs and outcomes and employment fields, employment locations, and employment outcomes. 

Beginning on July 1, 2012, the Board of Higher Education is authorized to collect and maintain data from any non-public institution of higher learning enrolling one or more students receiving MAP grants and to disclose this data to the longitudinal data system.  The law addresses how data will be used, safeguards for personal identifying information, and data sharing agreements. 
PA 96-107

Student Degree Completion Initiatives

HR 56 (Ford) – This non-binding resolution urges the State Board of Education to establish a comprehensive plan to close the student achievement gap by the 2010-2011 school year. 
Adopted by the Illinois House.

SB 1796 (Lightford/Mitchell) - Creates the Illinois Hope and Opportunity Pathways through Education (IHOPE) Program, administered by ISBE, to develop a comprehensive system for re-enrolling high school dropouts in programs leading to a high school diploma. If funds are appropriated for the program, IHOPE shall award grants to educational service regions and the Chicago school district to help establish instructional programs and services designed to re-enroll dropouts.  The program will also provide incentive grant funds for regional offices of education and the Chicago school district to develop partnerships with school districts, public community colleges, and community groups to build comprehensive plans to re-enroll high school dropouts in their regions or districts. The Act sets forth a number of requirements for programs funded through the IHOPE Program and describes a system of sub-grants, how funding is distributed, effects on State aid, categories of programming, the evaluation of programs, and rules. Effective July 1, 2009.
PA  96-106

HB 1079 (Eddy/Demuzio) - Creates the Dual Credit Quality Act. The Act sets standards for all dual credit programs, addressing instructor qualification and certification, placement testing, learning outcomes, and annual course review.  ICCB and IBHE will be responsible for oversight and review of the programs, and data regarding participation in dual credit programs will be included in the P-20 longitudinal data system currently under development.  
PA 96-194

SB 1883 (Burzynski/Fortner) - Directs the Board of Higher Education to administer a grant program, to be referred to as the Collaborative Baccalaureate Degree Development Grant Program, to help deliver upper division courses and bachelor's degree programs (offered by bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities) at a location geographically convenient to student populations currently being served by existing public community colleges. The bill requires each grant application to be jointly submitted by one public community college and one or more public or private, not-for-profit, 4-year colleges or universities. It further requires that each partnering institution (both the community college and the four-year institution or institutions) must also invest in the partnership.  The grant program would be subject to appropriation of funds by the General Assembly. 
PA 96-535

Ethics and Transparency (State Agencies)

HB 35 (Tryon / Garrett) requires the creation, by January 1, 2011, of the Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal (ITAP), to be established and maintained by the Department of Central Management Services. The website shall provide direct access to information concerning State employees and individual consultants, State appropriations and expenditures, State contracts, certain development assistance, and revocations and suspensions of professional licenses and of occupation and use tax certificates of registration. The database will include disclosures from offices of the constitutional officers, executive agencies, and departments, boards, commissions, and Authorities under the Governor. In the form specified by HB 35, the ITAP will not include information regarding public postsecondary institutions.
PA 96-225

SB 1602 (Garrett/Franks) - Requires State boards and commissions to make freely available on their  websites (1) any audio or video recordings of each regular or special open meeting, (2) minutes of each regular or special open meeting, (3) and a regularly updated meeting schedule.  The bill also requires the creation of a boards and commissions web site that contains the following information: (1) qualifications, powers, & duties of appointed positions, (2) names and terms of current appointees, (3) listing of current vacancies, (4) information on how to apply for appointment, and (5) a link to the Secretary of State Statements of Economic Interest search.  The bill prohibits the appointment or reappointment of any board or commission member who has not filed statements of economic interest.
PA 96-543

Ethics and Transparency (On Campus)

HB 461 (Jakobsson/Hunter) - Creates the Transparency in College Textbook Publishing Practices Act. The Act provides that when contacting or being contacted by prospective clients at public postsecondary institutions, each publisher of college textbooks shall, at that time and in writing, disclose to the faculty member or other adopting entity in charge of selecting higher education textbooks (1) the copyright dates of the 3 previous editions of the textbook, if any; (2) a description of the substantial content changes made between the current edition of the textbook or supplemental materials and the previous edition, if any; and (3) the existence and price of alternative formats of the textbook or supplemental materials. The Act provides that publishers of college textbooks are required to offer all bundled textbooks for sale as individual unbundled textbooks and supplemental materials. If approved, the requirements will take effect July 1, 2010.
PA 96-359

HB 2235 (M. Davis/Lightford) - Requires the governing board of each school district, public university, and community college to report to the State Board of Education or Board of Higher Education, on or before July 1 of each year, the base salary and benefits of all administrators and teachers or faculty employed by the institution.  The bill does not specify the degree to which this information will be maintained or disclosed.
PA 96-266

HB 2352 (Joyce/Trotter) - Creates the Credit Card Marketing Act of 2009, an initiative of the Office of the Treasurer. The Act requires that institutions of higher education that enter into an agreement to market credit cards to students pursuing an education, or that allow their student groups, alumni associations, or affiliates to enter into such agreements, must make a financial education program available to all students. The Act contains provisions requiring institutions of higher education to disclose certain agreements with credit card companies, prohibits certain gifts and inducements, and prohibits the distribution of personally identifiable student information for the purpose of marketing credit cards. The Attorney General is given authority to enforce the Act. The Act classifies as public records any reports prepared by institutions of higher education documenting their relationships with credit card issuers, thereby making these reports subject to FOIA.  The Act also prohibits a school district, public university, or community college or such an institution’s agents, employees, student or alumni associations, or any affiliates, from providing a student's personal identifying information to a business organization or financial institution that issues credit or debit cards. 
PA 96-261

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