Watchful citizens should be well aware of the wicked stew of bills being stirred in the caldron of our Capitol.

We are asking for your special prayer and action on one bill in particular, HB 2789, because of a hearing that is scheduled for Thursday morning, May 27th.

HB 2789 is the bill crafted by teacher unions and originally opposed by the Illinois State Board of Education and Illinois Department of Health.  This bill adds an amendment to an existing law which will grant Springfield sole authority to determine whether, when, and under what conditions public schools and “nonpublic schools” can return to in-person instruction in the event of a public health crisis. It takes away local control, and centralizes it in Springfield. Click HERE to learn more.

This troubling bill passed in the Illinois House on April 22nd by a vote of 70-42. It is now up for consideration in the Illinois Senate’s Executive Committee.

Please take three steps in opposing this bill.

1] Please pray that God will work in the hearts of our state senators to OPPOSE this disastrous bill. If you would like to be part of a special time of prayer on Tuesday evening at 8 p.m., please send me an email. I will share a Zoom link with you.

2] Please call your state senator to express your strong opposition to this bill. Look up your elected officials HERE.

3] Fill out a committee witness slip in OPPOSITION by Wednesday morning. Click HERE.

Witness Slip Instructions:

Section I. Enter your name, address, city and zip code. You can leave Firm/Business and Title blank. If it won’t allow you to leave them black, enter NA.

Section II. Leave it blank if you are not representing a group, etc.

Section III. Check that you are an OPPONENT of HB 2789.

Section IV. Unless you are filing a written statement, select Record of Appearance Only.

Lastly, agree to the terms of agreement by checking the box.

Click Create (Slip).

MORE ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to your state senator, asking him/her to vote against HB 2789. If we have learned anything during the COVID-19 lockdown, it is that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. We have local school boards and county health officials who are better positioned to respond to health crises.

With 6 days left before the Illinois General Assembly adjourns for the summer, your local state senator must hear from you. Please! Let them know clearly, but politely, that you vehemently oppose giving unelected bureaucrats at the Department of Public Health in Springfield MORE authority.

Does HB 2789 include private schools and homeschools?  We believe it does. The Catholic Conference of Illinois is lobbying against it. Why? The legislation requires that the Illinois Department of Health “establish requirements by rule for providing in-person instruction at nonpublic schools and public schools…”  The phrase “nonpublic schools” is repeated three times in the bill. Our attorneys and policy experts believe that nonpublic encompass all private schools in the state of Illinois — including home schools. This power grab by Springfield is alarming. Listen to this short video alert by young Ms. Kenna:

Trust in the Lord and act in faith.