Legislator plans traveling office hours at Southern Illinois Made Expo

State Sen. Dale Fowler, R-Harrisburg, plans to offer traveling office hours during his upcoming Southern Illinois Made Expo. 

On July 28-29, constituents can visit Fowler’s legislative information booth, where they will have an opportunity to speak with staff and ask questions.

Office hours are planned at a location just outside the Pavilion, which is located at 1602 Sioux Dr. in Marion from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Appointments are not required.

The public is also invited to attend the expo, which is scheduled to be taking place inside the Pavilion. 

The event will feature dozens of area vendors,  who will be showcasing their products, creations and treats made and sold in Southern Illinois. 

"Treasures”

In other news, Fowler has released new videos as part of his “Southern Illinois Treasures” video series.

The series highlights the many different locations and attractions available throughout Southern Illinois.

In 2017, approximately 114 million people visited Illinois, generating $39.5 billion in spending for the state.

“There’s no question, tourism is a major industry for our state and this region,” Fowler said. 

“We live in a great state that has so much to offer visitors. I want to use these videos as a way to help showcase and highlight the many attractions offered right here in Southern Illinois.” 

All of Fowler’s “Southern Illinois Treasures” segments can be found on his Facebook page or at senatorfowler.com.

In a review of his activities during early July, Fowler also shared updates about other matters of importance.

Teacher Shortage

In response to the state’s ongoing teacher shortage, House Bill 5627 was recently signed into law.

The measure seeks to help draw educators to Illinois, retain existing teachers and assist former teachers interested in returning to the classroom. 

Fowler reported that proponents say the new law offers common-sense changes to help ease Illinois’ growing teacher shortage as legislators explore long-term solutions to the growing crisis.

In order to make it easier for educators from other states to work in Illinois, the new bipartisan law will make the licensure and regulatory process less prohibitive for qualified teachers in order to help schools attract high-quality educators. 

House Bill 5627 provides full reciprocity for out-of-state applicants seeking a professional educator license, PEL.

The measure also ensures that a teacher with a PEL or an educator license with stipulations, ELS, will not need an additional substitute teacher license to work as a substitute teacher, and short-term substitute teaching licenses will be offered to qualifying applicants with an associate’s degree of 60 credit hours from a regionally accredited institution of higher learning.

Former teachers with a lapsed PEL due to incomplete professional development requirements will still be allowed to teach as a substitute under House Bill 5627, to attract former teachers who may not currently be teaching but are interested in getting back into the classroom. 

In addition, for five years, retired teachers will be able to return to the classroom for 120 days or 600 hours per school year without affecting their retirement status.

Graduation

In other news, a state pilot program on competency-based graduation requirements was recently expanded under Senate Bill 2941. 

The recently signed legislation will place a greater emphasis on a student’s level and quality of education, as opposed to hours simply spent in a classroom.

The program allows schools to base graduation requirements on students’ knowledge and mastery of subjects as opposed to traditional “seat time,” or the number of hours spent in the classroom. 

This allows schools to tailor instructional time to meet students’ needs and skills. 

The current program includes only grades 9-12; this expansion will allow schools serving all grade levels to take part.

The legislation was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate and the House, with advocates saying the program will help educators better understand how to respond to students’ diverse needs and skill sets. 

Additionally, the program is thought to be more responsive to real-world college and career demands than the typical high school experience.

Voter Registration

Fowler reported that the Illinois Secretary of State’s office has begun an “opt-in” voter registration at driver service facilities as part of the state’s new automatic voter registration, AVR, law that was signed in August 2017. 

The AVR was advanced as a way to both modernize and simplify the state’s voter registration process, Fowler said.

Though implementation of automatic voter registration won’t be complete in Illinois for another year, employees at the secretary of state’s office’s driver service facilities are now checking the voter registration status of those seeking a new driver’s license or state IDs. 

If an individual’s voter registration information is out of date, they will be given the option to electronically update their information. The updated information will then be automatically sent to election authorities.

Illinois isn’t expected to fully implement the automatic voter registration processes until 2019. 

In early 2019, the “opt-out” phase of the AVR implementation is anticipated to begin. 

Residents will then be able to select one box on the application if they choose not to register.

It’s expected that by July 2019, the automatic voter registration law will ensure Illinois citizens can register to vote at other state agencies.

The Gazette-Democrat

112 Lafayette St.
Anna, Illinois 62906
Office Number: (618) 833-2158
Email: news@annanews.com

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