Senator Cunningham speaks with Comcast Newsmakers about Higher Education Reform

• higher education
• college administrators
• CoD
• Reform

Senator Bill Cunningham spoke with Comcast Newsmakers' Ellee Pai Hong about his legislation to reform higher education administration pay and severance.

Cunningham: Governor should take the opportunity to keep promises

• higher education
• MAP Grants
• Universities

SPRINGFIELD—Senator Bill Cunningham joined colleagues in the Illinois Senate to pass legislation that would fully fund the MAP grant program for fiscal year 2016.

House Bill 4167 would appropriate $227 million for MAP grants which would fund the program for the current fiscal year. This comes at a time when many universities and community colleges fronted the students.

“The state needs to keep its promise to the neediest of students. We partially funded MAP but we all agreed that was not enough,” Cunningham said. “This is our step in saying we are going to keep our promise. I hope the governor shares the General Assembly’s priority in keeping our promises to our students.”

The legislation would allow the governor to ensure students who were promised MAP grants are allowed to keep them.

Cunningham fights for making agriculture education a priority

• Agriculture Education
• SB 2975

SPRINGFIELD—Senator Bill Cunningham passed legislation out of the Illinois Senate prioritizing agriculture education in the state.

Senate Bill 2975, subject to appropriation, would create a grant to fund up to 50 percent of the personnel costs for an agriculture education teacher. If a school district is creating a new agriculture education program they could receive a grant to fund 100 percent of personnel costs in their first two years and 80 percent in the third and fourth year.

“We need to prioritize agriculture in our schools. Our economy is driven by agriculture and yet so many students throughout the state have very little opportunity to learn about it,” Cunningham said. “This legislation would allow schools like the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences to easily maintain or create agriculture education programs.”

The legislation would also add agriculture education as an area of identified staff shortage which would make scholarship money available for those who want to go into agriculture education. Only 61 percent of agriculture jobs will be filled with qualified graduates in the coming years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We need to emphasize the careers agriculture offers, and one of those is teaching the next generation about those opportunities,” Cunningham said.

The legislation now moves to the House for further consideration.

Cunningham passes measure to bring justice for victims of sexual assault

• SB 2221

SPRINGFIELD—Senator Bill Cunningham passed a measure that would help bring justice to victims of sexual assault by ensuring police departments follow-up on potential matches on DNA test kits.

Senate Bill 2221 would require that if a police department did not follow up with the state police on a positive match, then the state police would notify the proper state’s attorney. The legislation also requires that an annual inventory be taken by both the state police and local police of all DNA kits in their possession.

This legislation comes in response to a situation that occurred in the Village of Robbins, Illinois. The local police department was notified of a positive match on a DNA test kit. The department though did not follow up on the potential match.

“With an issue like sexual assault, we need to take every imaginable step to bring justice to all of these cases. The ramifications of not following up on these matches could be devastating to our criminal justice system,” Cunningham said.

The legislation now moves to the House for further consideration.