It’s just a bill…
Monday, May 4, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* House Bill 1531 is basically much-needed cleanup language…
Three decades after it was enacted, the state’s parentage law is on track for an overhaul by Illinois lawmakers.
A new version of the Parentage Act that would incorporate provisions to account for same-sex marriage and unmarried parents is poised for a Senate vote after passing the House last week.
The rewrite is authored by the Illinois State Bar Association Family Law Study Committee.
Generally, it would modernize the law, remove gender-specific language and make room for “non-traditional relationships” in the context of who is presumed to be a legal parent — and thus given the right to live with a child and make decisions about his or her life.
For instance, the bill states that “a person” is presumed to be the parent when entering “into a marriage, civil union, or substantially similar legal relationship, and the child is born to the mother” during such a relationship — unless there’s a valid surrogacy contract already in place.
The law also says that if a child is born to a couple right before their relationship begins or soon after it is legally terminated, they’re still presumed to be the legal parents.
* Historically interesting…
A lawmaker’s bill to recognize the Shawnee Indian tribe has cleared the Illinois House of Representatives.
State Rep. Brandon Phelps D-Harrisburg passed a bill out of the Illinois House of Representatives recognizing southern Illinois’ Shawnee Indian tribe that would make them able to receive state and federal resources that are offered to other Native American groups.
“As a resident of Southern Illinois, I am proud to sponsor this legislation because not only does the Shawnee Tribe deserve the recognition and resources allowed to other Native American groups, but it will also lead to more resources for our region,” Phelps said.
Could a casino be in the future?
* Seems like a good idea…
As quantities of electronic waste continue to increase, state Rep. Michelle Mussman recently passed legislation that will help facilitate increased recycling of electronic products by manufacturers.
“Electronic waste can be extremely harmful to our natural spaces and the amount of discarded devices grows every day,” Mussman said. “Beyond the environmental impact, the expense of responsibly disposing of e-waste is putting an unneeded extra burden on taxpayers”
Illinois law requires electronics manufacturers to reuse or recycle a percentage of the total weight of devices sold in Illinois, subject to fines. To avoid a penalty, manufacturers generally pay third-party recyclers, which accept waste collected by other entities, including local governments, to satisfy this obligation. With growing amounts of electronic waste, the manufacturers’ payments are not fully recuperating recycling and hauling costs, forcing local governments to make up the difference.
* Zero tolerance policies are stupid, so I hope this works as intended…
Public schools in Illinois would have to reform their discipline policies under legislation being considered in the Illinois General Assembly.
The bill aims to limit how long students are removed from the classroom, and it comes as schools and lawmakers examine the effects of suspensions and expulsions on a student’s educational performance. However, many of the ideas in the bill are already being enacted in Springfield schools.
Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Chicago, sponsors Senate Bill 100, which would do away with “zero-tolerance” discipline and limit how Illinois public schools use suspensions and expulsions. Lightford’s bill passed the Senate on April 23 with a 38-16 vote and awaits a vote in the House. The vote among senators representing parts of Springfield was split, with Sen. Sam McCann, R-Carlinville, and Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, supporting the bill. Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, opposed it.
The bill would limit suspensions and expulsions to three days or shorter, unless the student poses a threat to safety or interferes with the school’s operation, and only after all other interventions have been tried. Zero-tolerance policies – in which a school administrator must suspend or expel a student for a certain offense – would be banned statewide unless mandated by federal law. School boards that vote to suspend or expel a student would have to provide a written explanation for their decision and for the length of the punishment. Administrators would be banned from encouraging students to drop out of school due to behavioral or academic problems.
* A very tough issue…
Mindy Swank of Chicago grew up in a conservative household – both religiously and politically – so when her pregnancy went wrong, it was a difficult decision to have an abortion.
She and her husband, Adam, were excited to have their second child, she told an Illinois Senate legislative panel at the Capitol in March, but their doctors informed them the child likely wouldn’t survive. Having the child, they were told, could hurt Mindy’s ability to have future children and possibly endanger her life. Instead of receiving the abortion, however, Mindy endured a dangerous, weeks-long miscarriage.
Mindy told her story to the Illinois Senate Judiciary Committee on March 17, testifying about a bill that could have prevented her ordeal. The bill passed the full Senate on April 23 and awaits a vote in the House.
The Swanks’ hospital, one of several Catholic-run hospitals around the state, refused to terminate Mindy’s pregnancy due to the Roman Catholic Church’s religious restrictions on abortion. When the Swanks tried to have the procedure done at a secular hospital, their insurance wouldn’t cover it because the Catholic hospital hadn’t documented it as “medically necessary.”
* Related…
* Bikes ‘N’ Roses Plans 3-Day Ride to Springfield in Bid To Restore Funding
* Policyholder Rights Under Seige in Illinois
* Illinois Senate Approves Bill on Student Concussions
* Crespo Supports Legislation to Combat Sexual Assault on College Campuses
* Illinois Senate advances Silver Alert legislation
- JS Mill - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 12:27 pm:
I doubt Sen. Lightford knows thing one about student discipline. I am sure that the discipline issues in schools in her district are significant. That does not mean the ILGA should impose additional restrictions or guidelines on student discipline. Our district does not have a zero tolerance policy and I agree that those types of policies are ridiculous. But, her (and the ILGA) intrusion here is absurd. When students are out of the building they generally do not learn (academically speaking) but there are legitimate reasons for suspensions and expulsions that have to do with progressive discipline and are not always related to safety. If the school has to provide services or cannot suspend, when appropriate, the only one accountable is the school and not the student.
- Ghost - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 12:28 pm:
On the school discipline thing, inwould just add that there are a number of well documented studies which shownthe decision making part of the brain is not fully developed until we are in our twenties. And to extermly generalize a bit, basically kids dont learn and make good decisions becuase they have a sword dangling by a yhread over their heads. We are expecting them to conform conduct on a number of things based on fear of expulsion; but for the most part they ate not yet completly wited to process decisions that way anyway. Anyway good bill. Depriving kids of education never seemed like a good social structure.
- Wordslinger - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 12:51 pm:
FWIW, the website of the Vinyard Indian Settlement claims they have no interest in a casino.
The Shawnee Tribe out of Oklahoma has had federal recognition since 2000 (they used to be rolled into the Cherokee). Is this something different?
The website of the Shawnee Tribe makes no mention of Illinois, just a Spanish land grant they had at Cape Girardeau before being pushed west by the Americans into what are now Kansas and Oklahoma.
- Toure's Latte - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 1:10 pm:
After helping pass Marriage Equality here in Illinois, Sullivan is a NV and Sandack votes No?
- JS Mill - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 1:10 pm:
@Ghost- Having been in this business for more than 20 years I would have to disagree with you. The most behaviorally challenged kids I worked with (not talking about those identified as BD/ED etc.) functioned best in a highly structured environment with clearly defined consequences including suspension. As an urban alternative school principal I ran a very structured program, taking over for someone that did not, and REDUCED suspensions 50% while improving behavioral outcomes. That led to increased student learning. The balance of expectations and consequences (good and bad), something that our ILGA clearly knows nothing about, worked very well for me. I do not think we need people from a failing institution telling us how to do our jobs and more than they already do. The evidence is overwhelming.
- Bigtwich - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 1:13 pm:
Shawnee Tribe? In Southern Illinois that would probably be the Rainbow Family. So, I’m cool with that.
- Juvenal - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 1:15 pm:
HB 1531: Madigan votes yes, Durkin votes yes, but a quick glance shows overwhelming GOP opposition to updating parenting laws.
- MrJM - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 1:41 pm:
“Having the child, they were told, could hurt Mindy’s ability to have future children and possibly endanger her life.”
I’m no d̶o̶c̶t̶o̶r̶ ̶ Archbishop, but that issue looks like a slam-dunk to me.
– MrJM
- Johnny Pyle Driver - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 1:43 pm:
The Electronic waste issue is a pretty big deal for anybody that wants to get rid of an old TV. I help organize E-waste collection drives, and we have to turn people away in droves because we simply have NOWHERE to recycle TVs, and unless a hauler is accepting them, there are no good options for disposing them. Aside from Goodwill, we literally have to tell people to store them or make fishtanks.
- Harry - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 2:59 pm:
There’s something missing or confused about that abortion story–the docs at the second hospital could have certified medical necessity and whatever happened at the first one would be irrelevant–anyway, if the first one didn’t certify medical necessity that does not mean they somehow certified medically UNnecessary, there is no such thing.
- Ghost - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 3:21 pm:
Js i would strongly agree with structure and suspensions for a period of days. Tossing kids out if school is the opposite. It is a removal of all structure. The zero tolerance suspensions are not suspensuons. The kids never get to come back. Its like having the death penalty for speeding. Not really proportionate or structure.
- Anon. - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 3:38 pm:
There is definitely something missing or confused with the abortion story. The exact same problem would have arisen if any hospital had declined to provide a treatment for any reason, such as, for example, because they didn’t have the facilities. It could also arise whenever an insurance company decides (rightly or wrongly) that a procedure isn’t covered, leaving the patient with the choice of having it done now and possibly having to pay for it and fight the insurance company for reimbursement. If the hospital failed to do the paperwork properly so that the insurance company was correct in declining coverage, that is the where the issue lies, not with the hospital’s reason for declining to perform the abortion. If the insurance company or the other hospital screwed up, that is the issue, not anything that the first hospital did.
- Walter Mitty - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 4:16 pm:
JS… Spot on… All it will take if this is even enacted, is when somebody in the legislature or a close members child is assaulted. Then they will sue the school for not doing enough. Gang, zero tolerance is foolish… But just as foolish is tying a schools hands to keep everyone else safe… Sometimes, those kids need to exit stage left…so your kids are safe… Remember this, there are bad people in society… All went to school at one time… Put any name you need to it to make you really think about your child sitting next to them…
- Rich Miller - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 4:23 pm:
Walter, try to have a grown up argument. Getting rid of zero tolerance policies doesn’t automatically mean really bad kids get to stay in school.