Dupage Policy Journal

Rep. Patricia Bellock (R-Hinsdale) and Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) spent more than two hours at Monday’s House Appropriations Elementary and Secondary Education Committee hearing going over matters that included student mental health and safe transportation legislation. 

HB5074, inspired by Wisconsin legislation and sponsored by Bellock, would provide the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBOE) the ability to develop, implement and administer a program to award grants to school districts for the purpose of collaborating with community mental health services in an effort to assist in adolescent well-being. The effort would be funded by the federal government.

“There will be a lot of money coming from the federal government in grants for mental health, especially for kids and that is why I was extremely interested in this bill,” Bellock said.

She said she is going through ISBOE since competing for federally funded mental health grants through the Department of Health and Family Services is very difficult, a notion that Ives pointed out.

“Are you doing this ... in anticipation that the federal government will actually put grant money in their education department, or we don’t know where, so more naturally (it would) fall to a school district to administer so we might as well be ready to accept any federal government money,” Ives said, adding the state of Illinois is broke.

Ives called HB5074 smart legislation and asked to be included as a co-sponsor.

Ives then questioned Rep. LaToya Greenwood (D-East St. Louis) about HB5195, which would provide free safe passage transportation to students who live within one and a half miles of high crime and criminal activity areas outside of Chicago school districts, compared to the present $50 million-dollar safe passage bill passed a few years ago and allotted for in the ISBOE budget.

“I am fine if it is local funds from the district, but I don’t want to tamper with the transportation portion of this (ISBOE) budget because we just went through that school funding formula change and we don’t know how all that is going to play out,” Ives said.

Ives said before approving the bill, committee members should be clear on where the money is going to come from rather than taking from transportation funds to be requested from the state budget.

“I am just uncomfortable with it until I know where the money is coming from,” Ives said.

The committee approved both bills and they were moved to the House floor.