August 13, 2018

To the Honorable Members of

The Illinois House of Representatives,

100th General Assembly:

Today, I return House Bill 4514 with specific recommendations for change.

This legislation would provide additional unnecessary bureaucracy concerning the use of the title “school counselor.” School counselors already have a certification available, and schools already have the power to hire whom they choose for these positions. I share the concerns of the Obama Administration that this sort of new restriction on professional certification and licensing will only serve to lock the economically disenfranchised out of the labor market. Because of these concerns, both the necessity and impact of this change should be thoughtfully studied further before potentially adding new layers of regulatory mandates. 

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(e) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 4514, entitled “AN ACT concerning education”, with the following specific recommendations for change:

On page 1, by replacing line 22 with: “requirements of this Section.”; and

On page 1, by replacing line 23 with the following:

“The Illinois Department of Employment Security shall conduct a study and issue a report authored by a labor market economist that studies the labor market impacts of title protection of the school counselor profession. The study and report shall specifically examine the effects of requiring this certification on the historically economically disenfranchised and the potential for mandatory certification to act as a barrier to labor market mobility for women, minorities, the poor, veterans, and long-term unemployed. IDES shall publish the report by January 31^st, 2019”.

With these changes, House Bill 4514 will have my approval. I respectfully request your concurrence.

Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner

GOVERNOR