Spring 2003 E-Newsletter

State and National Legislative Activity

Noteworthy Items for Spring 2003

Illinois State Legislation

In Springfield, the Healthy Schools Campaign is supporting two bills that are making their way through the legislature: 

Safer Pest Management for Day-Care Operations. Senate Bill 1079 would require licensed day care providers in Illinois to practice Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and to provide written notification to parents two days prior to pesticide applications. Senator Iris Martinez sponsored the bill and it is currently in the Health and Human Services Committee.

This is especially important in light of the new cancer risk study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency which found that children under 2 have 10 times higher risk of developing cancer when exposed to certain chemicals, including some pesticides. IPM is a safer form of pest control that does not rely on the regular use of pesticides.

Safer Pest Control Project and Illinois Environmental Council are spearheading this effort. Please contact Julie Dick at jdick@bpichicago.org or (312) 759-8267 to let her know if your organization will endorse this legislation. Contact your State Senator and Health and Human Services Committee members to let them know that you are in favor of Senate Bill 1079. 

Increase Health, Life and Safety Funding. Senate Bill 22 increases the maximum health, life, and safety tax rate from $0.05 to $0.15 for elementary and high school districts and to $0.30 for unit districts, and removes the tax limitation for funding emergency, urgent and required repairs, as well as for environmental remediation (e.g. asbestos and mold), out from under the restrictions of the tax cap.  Insuring that school districts have adequate funds to keep buildings in good repair is one of the most important parts of the equation for maintaining healthy schools.  Senate Bill 22 passed through the Senate and is now slowly working its way through the House.  The sponsor of the House version of the bill is Representative Lou Lang from Skokie.

Federal Legislation

In Washington, D.C., the Healthy Schools Campaign is supporting efforts spearheaded by Senator Hillary Clinton to earmark $25 million to the Healthy, High Performing School provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act. We have been in contact with the staff of both Senators Dick Durbin and Peter Fitzgerald to ask for their support for this.