Sen. Jacqueline Y. Collins

Filed: 4/4/2018

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 3402

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 3402 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Illinois Council on Women and Girls Act.
 
6    Section 5. Findings and declaration of policy. The General
7Assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares the following:
8        (1) the number of women and girls, of all ages in
9    Illinois as of 2013, was close to half of the State's
10    population, at 6,560,187;
11        (2) approximately 13% of the total population of the
12    women are immigrants;
13        (3) Illinois women who work full-time, year-round,
14    earn 80 cents on the dollar compared with similarly
15    employed men;
16        (4) approximately 28.2% of those working in science,

 

 

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1    technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields in
2    Illinois are women, compared with 28.8% nationwide;
3        (5) approximately 32.7% of women in Illinois have a
4    bachelor's degree or higher, which is an increase of about
5    8 percentage points since the 2000;
6        (6) women in Illinois who are unionized earn $122 more
7    per week, on average, than those who are not represented by
8    a union;
9        (7) approximately 61% of women in Illinois are part of
10    the labor force, and 27.2% of businesses in Illinois are
11    owned by women;
12        (8) heart disease is the biggest killer of women in the
13    United States, and Illinois ranks 29 of 51 with a mortality
14    rate of 136.9 per 100,000 women, specifically, 133.8 for
15    Caucasian women, 79.8 Hispanic women, 186.1 for African
16    American women, 70.5 for Pacific Islander women, and 72.1
17    for Native American women;
18        (9) the female lung cancer mortality rates for women,
19    per 100,000, in 2011-2013, was 42.0 for Caucasian women,
20    11.6 for Hispanic women; 44.2 for African American women;
21    and 15.8 for Pacific Islander women;
22        (10) the female breast cancer mortality rates for
23    women, per 100,000, in 2011-2013, was 22.8 for Caucasian
24    women, 10.6 for Hispanic women, 32.6 for African American
25    women, and 11.5 for Pacific Islander women;
26        (11) wide racial and ethnic disparities exist in

 

 

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1    Illinois pregnancy-related mortality rates, which in 2013,
2    in deaths per 100,000 births, were 8.1 for Caucasian women
3    and 28.9 for African American women, and the severe
4    maternal morbidity rate for Illinois between 2011-2013 was
5    higher than the national rate;
6        (12) teen pregnancy is often unintended and can have
7    long-term negative health effects on future physical,
8    behavioral, educational, and economic development of
9    mothers and children, and teen birth rates in Illinois are
10    significantly higher for African American and Hispanic
11    teens than for Caucasian teens;
12        (13) women who are transgender experience high rates of
13    discrimination, harassment, and violence in every aspect
14    of their lives, including health care settings, other
15    public accommodations, housing, and employment; and
16        (14) approximately 65.9% of women in Illinois are
17    registered to vote.
18    Based on the foregoing findings, the General Assembly
19determines and declares that it is the public policy of the
20State of Illinois to provide fair and equal access for women in
21Illinois to adequate healthcare, resources for professional
22and academic opportunity, and resources for safety and proper
23living conditions for them and their young children, paying
24attention to the variances of impact in these areas along the
25lines of race and ethnicity.
 

 

 

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1    Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
2    "Cisgender" describes persons whose gender identity is the
3same as the gender they were assigned at birth.
4    "Council" means the Illinois Council on Women and Girls
5created by this Act.
6    "Gender identity" means a person's deeply felt, inherent
7sense of who they are as a particular gender, such as female.
8    "Transgender" describes persons whose gender identity is
9different from the gender they were assigned at birth.
10    "Woman" or "women" means all persons of the female gender,
11including both cisgender and transgender persons.
 
12    Section 15. The Illinois Council on Women and Girls.
13    (a) There is hereby created the Illinois Council on Women
14and Girls.
15    (b) The Council shall advise the Governor and the General
16Assembly on policy issues impacting women and girls in this
17State, including, but not limited to, the following goals:
18        (1) to advance the role and civic participation of
19    women and girls in this State;
20        (2) to put in place programs and advocate policies that
21    work to end the gender pay gap and discrimination in
22    professional and academic opportunities;
23        (3) to promote resources and opportunities for
24    academic and professional growth;
25        (4) to allow women and young girls to have legal

 

 

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1    protections and recourse in cases of sexual harassment in
2    the workplace;
3        (5) to prevent and protect women from domestic
4    violence;
5        (6) to provide proper standards of healthcare, and to
6    study the disparate impacts on women as it pertains to
7    diverse demographics;
8        (7) to promote increased access to reproductive health
9    care;
10        (8) to protect women who are transgender from violence
11    and harassment, and increase their fair and equal access to
12    culturally competent health care, housing, employment, and
13    other opportunities;
14        (9) to disseminate information and build relationships
15    between State agencies and commissions in furtherance of
16    the Council's goals under this Act; and
17        (10) to give significant attention to the inclusion of
18    women of color in decision-making capacities and
19    identifying barriers toward parity, and for leadership
20    inclusion that works to realize America's founding
21    principles of equity and opportunity for all.
 
22    Section 20. Council members.
23    (a) The Council shall consist of 21 members. The Governor
24shall appoint one member to be the representative of the Office
25of the Governor. The Governor, the President of the Senate, the

 

 

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1Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of
2the Senate, and the Minority Leader of the House of
3Representatives shall also each appoint 4 public members to the
4Council. The Governor shall select the chairperson of the
5Council from among the members.
6    (b) Appointing authorities shall ensure, to the maximum
7extent practicable, that the Council is diverse with respect to
8race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, and
9geography.
10    (c) Appointments to the Council shall be persons of
11recognized ability and experience in one or more of the
12following areas: higher education, business, law, social
13services, human services, immigration, refugee services,
14community development, or healthcare.
15    (d) Members of the Council shall serve 2-year terms. A
16member shall serve until his or her successor shall be
17appointed and qualified. Members of the Council shall not be
18entitled to compensation for their services as members.
19    (e) The following officials shall serve as ex officio
20members: the Lieutenant Governor, or his or her designee, and
21the Chief of the Bureau of Refugee and Immigrant Services
22within the Department of Human Services, or his or her
23designee. Additionally, the Director, Executive Director, or
24Superintendent of the following State agencies shall each
25appoint one liaison to serve as an ex officio member of the
26Council: the Department on Aging, the Department of Human

 

 

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1Rights, the Department of Children and Family Services, the
2Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the Department of
3Public Health, the Department of Labor, the Illinois State
4Board of Education, the Illinois Board of Higher Education, and
5the Illinois Community College Board.
6    (f) The Council may establish committees that address
7certain issues, including, but not limited to, communications,
8economic development, and legislative affairs.
9    (g) The Office of the Governor shall provide administrative
10and technical support to the Council, including a staff member
11to serve as the Council's ethics officer.
 
12    Section 25. Meetings. The Council shall meet at least once
13per quarter. In addition, the Council may hold up to 2 public
14hearings annually to assist in the development of policy
15recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly, and
16implement programming to meet its overall mission goals. All
17meetings of the Council shall be conducted in accordance with
18the Open Meetings Act. A majority of current non-ex officio
19members of the Council shall constitute a quorum.
 
20    Section 30. Reports. The Council shall electronically
21issue semi-annual reports on its policy recommendations by June
2230th and December 31st of each year to the Governor and the
23General Assembly. The reports issued to the General Assembly
24under this Section shall be filed electronically with the

 

 

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1General Assembly as provided under Section 3.1 of the General
2Assembly Organization Act, and shall be provided to any member
3of the General Assembly upon request.
 
4    Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
5severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
 
6    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
7becoming law.".