Watch this page for information about state and federal legislation which might affect children, health, nursing, schools, school health and school nursing, and other areas of interest or concern.

On the Illinois General Assembly web site you can get copies of legislation, committee schedules, Public Act, Statutes, and Illinois Constitution.  www.ilga.gov

Find your legislators at www.ilga.gov Click on Senator or Representative.  Then click on the name and you will have information on how to contact your Senator or Representative.

For the Nurse Practice Act and/or the Rules and Regulations, go to the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation web site  http://nursing.illinois.gov/default.asp

2009-2010 IASN Government Relations Committee

House Joint Resolution 0046

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IMPORTANT STATE AND FEDERAL LEGISLATION

2010

New Illinois Laws:

PA 095- 0969 This is THE Chronic Health Law. The law is stated in the last sentence of the full bill. This will be included in the 2010 Supplement of the School Code.

PA 096-0431 This law is 20 pages of which are mostly about Felony’s and misdemeanors of teacher behavior and notifying the ROE. However, in Sec 3-11 it explicitly states the CHRONIC HEALTH LAW again and also states that it needs to be included during teacher institute days when the school district is talking about teacher ethics.  IEA and IFT will be made aware.

PA 096-0367 This law states that Chiropractors may certify for disability for students. This means home bound tutoring. This law also allows Christian Science Practitioners to do the same. In the same law it also states that Chiropractors may certify disability pregnant student. This means that pregnant teens may be allowed home bound tutoring for complications during their pregnancy.  After consult with Vicki Jackson, she feels that schools won’t be doing anything with this, however, we will see an influx of disability orders written by Chiropractors and Christian Science Practitioners, and by law we need to accept them.

PA 096-0349 This is THE Food Allergy Law. The law states that School boards need to implement policies by January 2011.

PA 096-0417 This is the Radon Law. This law recommends that all school districts in Illinois test for Radon. This is an unfunded mandate without teeth. The law circumvents the current state law that only state certified technicians test for radon in schools. School appointed people are now allowed to test. This law only states as a recommendation. Don’t expect to see any movement on this law any time soon without proper funding.

New Federal Bills

HR 2730 This is the school nurse ratio bill. It is also called the McCarthy Bill. This would allow grants for states where school nurse ratios are greater than 1000:1. This bill was included in the new Health Care Reform Act of 2009 (HR 3962). It can be found on page 1462 of the entire law.  Currently only Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and Congressman Judy Biggert are co-sponsors. Congressman Peter Roskam does not oppose this single portion of the Health Care Reform Act of 2009, but I can’t seem to get him to be a Co-Sponsor.

Other Government Relations Information

IESA (Middle School Sports Authority) has a new ruling that does not allow for ANY weight gain for any of our middle school wrestlers. This includes normal growth and development weight gain. You might want to see what your coaches are doing about this.

Camp Nurses ( Outdoor Ed and Summer Camp Nurses) Be aware that any school nurse who accompanies their students to out of state camp for outdoor education or any other activity with the understanding from their school districts that they are the nurse on duty, MUST HAVE A CURRENT STATE ( state that the camp is in ) NURSING LICENSE. Wisconsin only allows nurses from other states 3 days of a temporary license to practice nursing in their state. And this is after you have notified the Wisconsin Department of Nursing (a minimum of 7 days prior to arriving) that you will be practicing nursing with an Illinois license. Any time longer than 3 full days you must have a license from Wisconsin. Michigan, Indiana, Missouri, Minnesota and Iowa require their state license before practicing in their states. Do not think that as long you are working with an Illinois employer that your license is good. Your Illinois nursing license is only good in Illinois. Costs to get your license in other states range from $50.00 to $500.00. Make sure that your districts are aware of the cost before you go to camp. Also make sure that your private malpractice insurance allows you to practice outside of your residential state. Many malpractice insurance policies do not allow you to practice outside of your state of residence, unless you carry a policy for the other state your will be practicing in.

H.R. 2730 AND S. 2750

We have a great opportunity to get the federal government to provide funding to help pay for Illinois school nurses. Legislation has been introduced in the US House of Representatives and well as the Senate that would make grants to states in order to reduce the student to school nurse ratio in public schools. Currently Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and Congresswoman Judy Biggert are Co-sponsors, and presently, Congressman Peter Roskam does not oppose this bill. This bill HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE HEALTH CARE REFORM ACT OF 2009.

This legislation, known as H.R.2730 and S 2750, would authorize the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide funding to those states, like Illinois that have a student to school nurse ratio of 1,000 or greater.