It’s just a bill
Tuesday, Mar 25, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Crain’s…
Two bills that could help spur construction of denser, easier to afford housing across Illinois moved forward in Springfield last week.
On March 20, the housing committee of the Illinois House approved both HB 1813, which would prevent Illinois municipalities from banning construction of accessory dwelling units, also known as ADUs or granny flats, and HB 1814, which would discourage construction of individual houses on large lots. The passage moves them toward a vote by the full House later in this year’s legislative session. […]
“This is the start of addressing the significant housing shortage we have in Illinois,” said state Rep. Bob Rita, whose 18th District includes West Roseland in the city and Blue Island in the suburbs. Rita was a sponsor of both bills. “The goal is to strengthen the supply of housing for working families, make more pathways for middle-class housing to get built.” […]
If passed, “neither of these bills is going to dramatically increase density overnight in any one area” of the state, said Jeff Baker, CEO of Illinois Realtors. The statewide professional association backed both bills as part of its slate of legislation aimed at easing the housing affordability crunch.
* Rep. Dagmara Avelar…
Committed to strengthening healthcare protections and patient safety for residents statewide, Assistant Majority Leader Dagmara “Dee” Avelar, D-Bolingbrook, passed influential measures out of the Health Care Availability & Accessibility Committee to be considered on the House floor later this Spring.
“We live in an uncertain political climate where we on the state-level really need to be putting our best foot forward, thinking ahead, and anticipating any federal changes that will impact our most vulnerable residents and upend everyday Illinoisans,” Avelar said. “These bills fill crucial gaps to strengthen protections and expand freedoms for our residents; I’m prepared to fight for them on the House floor.”
In effort to expand state protections for reproductive healthcare, Avelar’s House Bill 3637 passed out of the Health Care Availability & Accessibility Committee and would strengthen Illinois’ Shield Law by reinforcing the Illinois Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to safeguard access to medication abortion. The measure “future-proofs” Illinois law and preempts federal overreach, ensuring residents have access to medically necessary and life-saving reproductive health medications.
Additionally, Avelar passed House Bill 3593 out of the committee, extending protections under the Fair Patient Billing Act to patients who receive services from third-party vendors, reinforcing explicitly that if a hospital outsources a service, patients aren’t met with excessive charges and costs that would otherwise be covered under the Act.
* KFVS…
A plan that would allow community colleges in Illinois to offer four-year degrees hits a major roadblock in Springfield. […]
John A. Logan College President Dr. Kirk Overstreet says a proposed bill from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s office that would allow community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees is a win-win for students and the southern Illinois economy.
“This is a big resource for keeping students here and keeping people here in the region,” Overstreet said. […]
Critics of the bill say it could take away enrollment from traditional universities. Overstreet said that isn’t the case.
“We’re talking about students who didn’t even think they could go to college in the first place. Now they can get their associate’s and now a bachelor’s here in their fields,” he said. “And that uptick and well feeling of knowing, ‘I can do this,’ is gonna lead them to going over to SIU and taking MBA and master-level courses and help drive up their enrollment as well.”
* The Trace…
Four years ago, Kam Buckner, a Democratic state representative in Illinois, introduced a bill that would give the families of homicide victims a chance for closure by letting them petition police departments to reopen unresolved cases. The measure stalled, but each session, Buckner reintroduced it, regularly updating the bill. When Buckner renewed his effort last year, he added a companion bill that would set clear reporting requirements for Illinois law enforcement agencies.
Collectively, the measures address longstanding problems cited by policymakers and gun violence survivors alike: that police don’t solve enough homicides, and that in many municipalities, it’s hard to know exactly how many cases are cleared. […]
The Homicide Victims’ Families’ Rights Act proposed by Buckner would create a pathway for families to petition law enforcement agencies to review unsolved cases that are more than three years old. If the agency approved a full reinvestigation, a new detective would be assigned. It also defines the role of family liaison officers and mandates how many of them each law enforcement agency should employ.
The Homicide Data Transparency Act would establish a statewide standard for law enforcement agencies to track and publish [quarterly] reports on homicides, with a template for communicating exactly how many cases have been closed.
* WAND…
A Supreme Court decision in 2024 gave local municipalities the power to criminalize homelessness. A State Democrat lawmaker wants to limit that power.
The plan would stop any town or city from criminalizing “life sustaining activities.” This would include eating, sleep and setting up shelter on the streets.
However, State Rep. Kevin Olickal (D-Chicago) said it wouldn’t give people experiencing homelessness a free pass on the law.
“If any person is engaging in violent behavior, bothering people, blocking access to a public space or breaking any other law, local governments and law enforcement have long standing trespassing ordinances and the entire existing criminal code to deal with these issues,” Olickal said. […]
The proposal passed out of the House housing committee on a partisan 10-6 vote. It now heads to the House floor where lawmakers could talk about it in the coming weeks.
* Rep. Nicolle Grasse…
Working to improve public health and alleviate bureaucratic burdens, state Rep. Nicolle Grasse, D-Arlington Heights, passed a series of measures out of House committees last week addressing several challenges in healthcare. […]
Notably, Grasse passed House Bill 2493 out of its committee requiring county clerks to create a remote marriage application process, allowing those in hospice or impaired by disability to go through the marriage application process with their partner in a remote setting.
Aiming to expand coverage and improve healthcare efficiencies, Grasse’s House Bill 3699 requires insurance to start covering any medically necessary prescribed vitamins. Additionally Grasse garnered the votes to pass House Bill 2371, streamlining reimbursement and removing out of pocket costs for dental patients. And, Grasse’s House Bill 3849 authorizes hospice or home health service employees to deliver a patient’s prescription order or controlled substance — ensuring essential medications are delivered faster.
To increase accountability in healthcare, Grasse’s House Bill 1712 further protects patients’ end of life medical preferences, requiring the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) to establish clear oversight and uniform training to ensure adherence to POLST forms — documents that guide emergency and long-term care for patients.
Plus, Grasse’s House Bill 2397 responds to the rising number of deaths of incarcerated elderly by requiring IDOC to publicly report on Hospice and Palliative Care, giving the legislature insight into the true state of hospice care in correctional facilities. Similarly, House Bill 2877 would require the Hospice and Palliative Care Advisory Board to inform the legislature on the state of care for those experiencing a serious or life-limiting illness, in order to provide actionable recommendations for state hospice and palliative standards.
- James - Tuesday, Mar 25, 25 @ 9:43 am:
Hey Overstreet, are you ok with SIU Carbondale offering associates degrees in all the various areas of study that John A. Logan offers them in? If we are all about access. I am sure SIU Carbondale could offer those at an affordable price. Likely he would not support such a thing, because that would undermine John A. Logan.
- lake county democrat - Tuesday, Mar 25, 25 @ 10:03 am:
So are these community colleges going to get accreditation before offering bachelors degrees? And I find the pro-CC argument here a bit deceptive: community colleges pitch themselves as an economical alternative for the first 2 years of a bachelors degree program all the time - there’s no clear division like the person quoted said. Not feeling this one.
- Candy Dogood - Tuesday, Mar 25, 25 @ 10:24 am:
===“This is a big resource for keeping students here and keeping people here in the region,” ===
The students that are leaving Southern Illinois for schools in Missouri, Kentucky, and Indiana are usually leaving at the start of their college education. They have already decided not to stay in Illinois and study at a two year associates/transfer program. If Illinois wants SIU to be competitive, SIU needs to lower tuition rates which SIU can only do with robust funding from the State like it used to have.
===Now they can get their associate’s and now a bachelor’s here in their fields===
So this isn’t about making education more affordable, this is about increasing the enrollment numbers at John A. Logan Community college. Thank you for admitting that.
Why should it be a public priority to increase the student enrollment figures at John A Logan by allowing you to “convert” associates degree seeking students to bachelor degree seeking students?
=== is gonna lead them to going over to SIU and taking MBA and master-level courses and help drive up their enrollment as well===
This is an oddly specific example. I have not heard anyone expressing concerns that they can’t find enough qualified Masters in Business Administration degree holders. Is this a field we’re suffering a shortage in?
Dr. Kirk Overstreet at least admits that it would take 3 to 4 years before his Community College would be able to implement a 4 year program. So he is at least realistic about the process of hiring and going through accreditation and completely restructuring departments and completely revamping curriculum.
What’s disappointing here is there’s still no specific plans about what degrees he things John A Logan can offer as bachelors. He’s talking about Business Administration. There is no shortage of business administration degrees.
Back in my day a “business major” was a student who was unable to flourish in economics, finance, or marketing. The bloated and elitist institution I went to also had multiple bachelors degrees available — within — those concentrations.
So a young person coming into the College of Business would meet with their advisor and have multiple options presented to them, multiple paths for study and matriculation, and the ability to specialize in something they didn’t even know they liked until they took the course — and most importantly the kid who was passionate about history could double major in history and economics the kid that was passionate about design could double major in fashion design and fashion marketing.
What Dr. Kirk Overstreet is proposing is a degree granting institution that traps a student into a path without giving them other options to explore or even consider.
On the bright side John A Logan won’t be able to offer a robust selection of electives at higher educational levels, so it is not like their students will be able to discover that they have a passion or an aptitude for something they never even knew was an option.
- Who else - Tuesday, Mar 25, 25 @ 10:36 am:
I think folks need to take a look at the proving up that all CCs have to do for all of their current programs. If you’re coming at this from a four-year lens, you don’t understand that CCs have to prove their value to do programming because four-years pretty much do whatever they want.
Four-years cannot be, and in fact have not acted in good faith to be, what local communities need to obtain higher levels of accreditation than CCs can currently provide. So let institutions willing to step up for communities in subject matter areas where they already have expertise get in the game. If there’s no workforce demand, no current expertise at the CC, or there’s a four-year program that already meets the local accessibility and workforce needs the CC won’t be allowed to move forward.
Deep breaths would be advisable on this bill. The freaking out from some of these four-years is over the top. Just have real conversations and get your legitimate concerns addressed. Or just continue to freak out and try to kill the bill with vibrato — that’s a tried and true way to do it too. But that’s how things get done to you instead of with you, so watch out.
- GoneFishing - Tuesday, Mar 25, 25 @ 11:11 am:
JA Logan should just work closer with SIU. There are plenty of transfer opportunies today. Just continue the marketing.
- Grimlock - Tuesday, Mar 25, 25 @ 11:31 am:
I thought the idea was to let CC offer degrees that adults didn’t have access to, yet John A Logan is literally right down the street from SIUC and City Colleges of Chicago is very excited about this legislation as well, despite being surrounded by universities. So lets stop pretending this isn’t just about driving enrollment growth at the CC level while continuing to starve the universities who will lose more enrollment, and more of the MAP dollars.
- Candy Dogood - Tuesday, Mar 25, 25 @ 11:32 am:
===I think folks need to take a look at the proving up that all CCs have to do for all of their current programs.===
I am very supportive of community colleges. I am not supportive of efforts to convert community college into academic institutions that they were never designed nor intended to be when if the desired outcome is to create more affordable opportunities for bachelors degrees the state can just fund the existing universities that provide those degrees.
===If […] the CC won’t be allowed to move forward===
I have my doubts about the efficacy of central planning.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Mar 25, 25 @ 11:35 am:
=== if the desired outcome is to create more affordable opportunities===
That’s a partial straw man argument.
The core argument is that the colleges are much easier to physically attend than four-year universities for many Downstaters, suburbanites.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Mar 25, 25 @ 11:42 am:
The timing of this, with all of the uncertainty and bad news coming from the federal government’s attack on higher ed, doesn’t help. Feels to some like the state is piling-on.
- ArchPundit - Tuesday, Mar 25, 25 @ 12:04 pm:
===“We’re talking about students who didn’t even think they could go to college in the first place. Now they can get their associate’s and now a bachelor’s here in their fields,” he said. “And that uptick and well feeling of knowing, ‘I can do this,’ is gonna lead them to going over to SIU and taking MBA and master-level courses and help drive up their enrollment as well.”
The location issue doesn’t need to be addressed by having community and tech colleges grant the degrees. You can have hybrid programs that are online and in person on the community & tech college campus without having the community & tech college granting the Bachelors.
Where there could be value is in a BAS Bachelors of Applied Science that are a different focus than a BA or BS and fits with the community and tech college mission.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Tuesday, Mar 25, 25 @ 12:43 pm:
According to the IBHE online data base, the number of associates degrees awarded by J.A. Logan dropped by 41% from 2013 to 2014. The number of bachelors degrees awarded by SIU Carbondale dropped by 51% in that same time period.
Things are not going well in that part of the state, regardless of who is awarding the degrees. I don’t know if folks down there are panicking, but they probably should be.
- Candy Dogood - Tuesday, Mar 25, 25 @ 12:51 pm:
===That’s a partial straw man argument.===
Fair point — certainly wasn’t intending to create a straw argument. Aside from class times, it can also be difficult to register as a non-degree seeking student for classes.
===I don’t know if folks down there are panicking, but they probably should be. ===
Panicking? No. They’re just voting for extreme right wing candidates that have made vague promises about a “return to greatness” through the elimination of trans folks, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, k-12 students that identify as cats, and “ending woke.”
They apparently also voted to end Medicaid and fire everyone that works for the federal government directly and indirectly, but that wasn’t as important as the above.
They’re not panicking, though. That would require some ownership of the situation and as long as there are hearing about k-12 students identifying as cats on Facebook, they don’t have to look in the mirror.
A lot of our kids are leaving the state to get educated. A lot of them aren’t coming back.