Two key CTU legislative initiatives passed through committees this week and now go to the full legislative chamber for consideration.
HB1120: Charter Unionization Neutrality
The first bill, House Bill 1120, passed the Senate Labor committee on Wednesday afternoon. HB 1120 requires that charter schools have union neutrality agreements as part of any charter school approval or renewal. The bill would prevent the kind of hostile anti-union activity undertaken by employers like Starbucks, Amazon, and a range of charter school operators by requiring that employers are neutral on the question of unionization. That bill, which is already through the Illinois House of Representatives, passed committee by a 12-1 margin and goes to the Illinois Senate for consideration. Thanks to Sen. Celina Villanueva for her sponsorship of the bill.
SB1646: Retired PSRP Substitutes
The second initiative addresses staffing shortages and provides equity between PSRPs in Chicago and PSRPs in the rest of the state. The bill allows retired PSRPs to return to work as substitute paras and is part of Senate Bill 1646, a pension omnibus bill (read: lots of stuff in there) sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Kifowit. SB 1646 passed out of the House Personnel and Pensions committee Thursday morning on a party line vote. That bill, which already cleared the Senate, now goes to the full House of Representatives for consideration.
The CTU’s Political and Legislative department will share more about the bills’ progress as we move toward the session’s final deadline. Thank you for your continued advocacy for the schools Chicago’s students deserve.
