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HB 5799

SCH-SPORTS IMPACT REVIEW

104th Regular Session Introduced by Camille Lilly and 1 co-sponsor

Requires an equity impact review for changes to interscholastic sports policies that could reduce girls’ opportunities or alter season length, with public comment.

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Bill Summary · HB 5799

Overview

HB5799, introduced in the 104th Illinois General Assembly by Rep. Janet Yang Rohr, seeks to add an equity impact review requirement for the State’s public-school interscholastic athletic governance body whenever a policy affecting sports opportunities is adopted or changed in a way that could affect gender equity. The bill amends the School Code to ensure that any new or changed policy that reduces girls’ sports opportunities (without a comparable reduction for boys), lengthens or shortens seasons by more than one week between sexes, or otherwise fails to accommodate interests and abilities of both sexes, undergoes an equity impact review with public comment and regulatory oversight.

Purpose and Intent

  • To promote gender equity in interscholastic sports by requiring a formal equity impact analysis for significant changes in athletic policy.
  • To ensure that any reductions or discrepancies in program comparability between girls’ and boys’ sports are justified and analyzed from multiple perspectives (health, scheduling, facilities, budgets, etc.).
  • To provide transparency through a public comment period and the State Board of Education’s (ISBE) review, with nonbinding findings to gauge compliance with gender equity and student opportunity principles.

Key Provisions

  • Adds 105 ILCS 5/22-120, “Interscholastic competition equity impact review.”
  • Definitions:
    • “Length of the full sports season” = first day of practice to last day of State championship.
    • “Length of the regular sports season” = first day interscholastic competition may be held to the day before State series begins.
  • Trigger for review:
    • If a statewide athletic association (SAA) that governs interscholastic competition for public schools establishes or changes a policy within:
    • One year before the Act’s effective date, or
    • On or after the effective date of the Act,
    • And the policy: 1) reduces opportunities in a girls’ sport without an equivalent reduction in a comparable boys’ sport; 2) changes season lengths for comparable sports by more than one week; 3) changes the nature or extent of interscholastic sports such that interests/abilities of both sexes are not accommodated comparably.
  • Factors to assess program comparability (non-exhaustive):
    • Sports offerings, levels of competition, season lengths, scheduling year-round, prime-time practices/games, facilities use, coach-to-athlete ratios, coaching/officialing quality and compensation, staff assignments, equipment, travel allowances, medical/training services, publicity, and overall athletic budget distribution.
  • Timeline for the equity impact review:
    • If policy changed/established before the Act’s effective date: complete by July 1, 2027.
    • If policy is established or changed on or after the Act’s effective date: complete within 90 days of the change.
  • Public and regulatory process:
    • Review must be made public with at least a 30-day public comment period before finalization.
    • The SAA must submit each equity impact review to the State Board of Education (ISBE).
    • ISBE may issue nonbinding findings regarding compliance with gender equity and student opportunity principles (based on applicable federal and state rules and codes).
  • Effective date: Immediate upon becoming law.

Who and What is Affected

  • Primary: Statewide athletic associations governing interscholastic public-school competition (e.g., Illinois High School Association or similar body, as designated by the School Code).
  • Affected stakeholders include:
    • Female student-athletes and families (potential impact on opportunities, recruitment, and competition parity).
    • Male student-athletes and families (indirect effects via comparability and resource allocation).
    • Schools, coaches, officials, and athletic departments.
    • Public audiences and the general public, due to required public access and comment.
    • The Illinois State Board of Education, which would review the equity impact reports and may issue findings.

Procedural and Timeline Considerations

  • The equity impact review is triggered by policy changes within specified windows relative to the Act’s effective date.
  • Public participation is mandated (minimum 30-day comment period).
  • Reports must be submitted to ISBE, which can issue nonbinding findings.
  • The Act emphasizes transparency and ongoing assessment of gender equity in interscholastic sports.

Potential Impact

  • Creates a formal, standardized process to evaluate whether changes to interscholastic sports undermine gender equity.
  • Could deter or modify policy changes that would disproportionately reduce girls’ sports opportunities.
  • Provides a mechanism for public input and regulatory review, potentially influencing final decisions on athletic policy changes.
  • Establishes a timeline that may delay or require adjustments to proposed changes in response to equity findings.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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