Full Text of HB5338 95th General Assembly
HB5338eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning education.
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| WHEREAS, Food allergies are an increasing food safety and | 3 |
| public health concern in the United States, especially among | 4 |
| children; and | 5 |
| WHEREAS, As recognized by the National Institutes of Health | 6 |
| (NIH), food allergies are a life-threatening and debilitating | 7 |
| disease for more than 12 million Americans, including more than | 8 |
| 4 million children; food allergies affect more than 500,000 | 9 |
| Illinois residents, including 93,000 school-aged children | 10 |
| (ages 5 through 17); and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, Food allergies are increasing at an alarming rate; | 12 |
| over a recent 5-year period, the number of children diagnosed | 13 |
| with a peanut allergy doubled; and | 14 |
| WHEREAS, For many children, eating even a trace amount of | 15 |
| an allergenic food can induce a life-threatening reaction; | 16 |
| these reactions can include severe vomiting, swelling of the | 17 |
| tongue and throat, loss of consciousness, and even death in a | 18 |
| relatively short period of time; and | 19 |
| WHEREAS, Many of the most common allergens (peanuts, tree | 20 |
| nuts, milk, egg, soy, wheat, fish, and shellfish) are staples | 21 |
| of the average school child's diet and are also used | 22 |
| extensively within many Illinois school lesson plans, such as |
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| in art and science projects; and | 2 |
| WHEREAS, A recent survey of elementary school nurses found | 3 |
| that the average school has 10 children suffering from severe | 4 |
| food allergies; 44% of the elementary school nurses surveyed | 5 |
| indicated that the number of students with food allergies had | 6 |
| increased over the previous 5 years, while only 2% reported a | 7 |
| decrease; and | 8 |
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WHEREAS, There is currently no cure for this potentially | 9 |
| fatal disease, and the only certain path to keep children safe | 10 |
| is by following strict safety guidelines specific to each | 11 |
| child's individual needs; and | 12 |
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WHEREAS, Despite the rights and protections afforded by | 13 |
| Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Individuals | 14 |
| with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, and the | 15 |
| Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, children with severe | 16 |
| food allergies still face unsafe environments in school and | 17 |
| elsewhere; and | 18 |
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WHEREAS, There are no consistent food allergy management | 19 |
| guidelines in place in the State of Illinois; management | 20 |
| approaches differ from school to school; and | 21 |
| WHEREAS, In order to ensure the health and safety of all |
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| children in the school environment, it is necessary for | 2 |
| educators, administrators, and school staff to understand the | 3 |
| severity of food allergies and to proactively work with parents | 4 |
| and health professionals to create clear and consistent | 5 |
| guidelines for managing allergies in the school; and | 6 |
| WHEREAS, The importance of managing food allergies in the | 7 |
| school setting has been recognized by the American Medical | 8 |
| Association, the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and | 9 |
| Immunology, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National | 10 |
| Association of School Nurses, the National Association of | 11 |
| Elementary School Principals, the National School Boards | 12 |
| Association, the American College of Allergy Asthma and | 13 |
| Immunology, and the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network; and | 14 |
| WHEREAS, To create clear and consistent guidelines to | 15 |
| provide the best measurable protection within the learning | 16 |
| environment and to meet the demands of the dramatically | 17 |
| increasing number of children affected by food allergies, the | 18 |
| General Assembly deems it in the public interest to enact this | 19 |
| Act; therefore | 20 |
| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section |
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| 2-3.148 as follows: | 2 |
| (105 ILCS 5/2-3.148 new) | 3 |
| Sec. 2-3.148. Food allergy guidelines. | 4 |
| (a) Not later than July 1, 2009, the State Board of | 5 |
| Education, in conjunction with the Department of Public Health, | 6 |
| shall develop and make available to each school board | 7 |
| guidelines for the management of students with | 8 |
| life-threatening food allergies. The guidelines shall include, | 9 |
| but need not be limited to, the following: | 10 |
| (1) education and training for school personnel on the | 11 |
| management of students with life-threatening food | 12 |
| allergies, including training related to the | 13 |
| administration of medication with a cartridge injector; | 14 |
| (2) procedures for responding to life-threatening | 15 |
| allergic reactions to food; | 16 |
| (3) a process for the implementation of individualized | 17 |
| health care and food allergy action plans for every student | 18 |
| with a life-threatening food allergy; and | 19 |
| (4) protocols to prevent exposure to food allergens. | 20 |
| Notwithstanding any other rulemaking authority that may | 21 |
| exist, neither the Governor nor any agency or agency head under | 22 |
| the jurisdiction of the Governor has any authority to make or | 23 |
| promulgate rules to implement or enforce the provisions of this | 24 |
| amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly. If, however, the | 25 |
| Governor believes that rules are necessary to implement or |
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| enforce the provisions of this amendatory Act of the 95th | 2 |
| General Assembly, the Governor may suggest rules to the General | 3 |
| Assembly by filing them with the Clerk of the House and the | 4 |
| Secretary of the Senate and by requesting that the General | 5 |
| Assembly authorize such rulemaking by law, enact those | 6 |
| suggested rules into law, or take any other appropriate action | 7 |
| in the General Assembly's discretion. Nothing contained in this | 8 |
| amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly shall be | 9 |
| interpreted to grant rulemaking authority under any other | 10 |
| Illinois statute where such authority is not otherwise | 11 |
| explicitly given. For the purposes of this amendatory Act of | 12 |
| the 95th General Assembly, "rules" is given the meaning | 13 |
| contained in Section 1-70 of the Illinois Administrative | 14 |
| Procedure Act, and "agency" and "agency head" are given the | 15 |
| meanings contained in Sections 1-20 and 1-25 of the Illinois | 16 |
| Administrative Procedure Act to the extent that such | 17 |
| definitions apply to agencies or agency heads under the | 18 |
| jurisdiction of the Governor. | 19 |
| (b) Not later than January 1, 2010, each school board shall | 20 |
| implement a policy based on the guidelines developed pursuant | 21 |
| to subsection (a) of this Section for the management of | 22 |
| students with life-threatening food allergies enrolled in the | 23 |
| schools under its jurisdiction.
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