SUAA Statehouse Report 4.20.26

The House’s Third Reading Deadline was this past Friday. As of Friday, a total of 339 bills have passed the House this legislative session, 37 of them introduced by Republicans and 302 introduced by Democrats. There are 22 legislative session days remaining until adjournment. And now a look at a couple of bills SUAA is tracking:

HB 5319 (Katz Muhl-D), which would allow community colleges to offer a baccalaureate degree, passed out of Executive Committee but was voted on by the House prior to “Third Reading Deadline” last Friday. The bill has been re-referred to the Rules Committee.

HB 1581 (Ammons-D), the Equitable University Funding Bill, which would increase higher education funding by $130 million over the next ten years and disperse the additional dollars to higher education institutions based on a “fair funding formula,” was also not brought up for a House vote and was re-referred to the Rules Committee.

It is possible that both these bills may receive an extension prior to the end of session, and it should also be noted that there are identical Senate bills for each of these issues still active. That said, even if neither the House nor Senate bills are brought to a vote this session, there is still a groundswell of legislator support for Equitable University Funding and bipartisan support for community colleges offering limited baccalaureate degrees. SUAA expects further conversations around these issues will continue even if the bills are not signed into law this session.

SUAA has a bill that is currently in the Senate Appropriations Committee, SB 3413, sponsored by Sen. Robert Martwick. The bill would require the Department of Central Management Services to designate one or more individual CMS employees as "Health Care Ombudspersons." The bill, "...Specifies that the primary goal of the Health Care Ombudspersons shall be to answer questions and generate information useful to participants in the program of group health benefits provided under the Act and, when possible, to resolve any issues between members and third-party providers of services established under this Act." The Act in question is the State Employees Group Insurance Act.

SUAA proposed this bill because we know many of our members have health care questions related to their state-provided healthcare and/or Aetna. We think the CMS should have expert(s) on hand who can efficiently answer questions and/or resolve healthcare issues between an individual and Aetna.

The bill has not yet been heard in committee, though it did receive a committee deadline extension to April 24/this Friday.

Earlier today, members of SUAA staff and the UIC chapter met virtually with House Majority Leader Robyn Gabel.

Leader Gabel discussed the status of the Equitable University Funding bill and other legislation she is championing, as well as SUAA’s Ombudsman Bill. She also took questions from members on legislation related to healthcare, Tier 2 pension reform, and the state budget. Leader Gabel thanked SUAA for continuing to stay involved in the legislative process.