By BRIDGETTE FOX
Capitol News Illinois
bfox@capitolnewsillinois.com
SPRINGFIELD – More than 150 bills moved through the General Assembly in the final week of the legislative session and will make their way to the governor, including measures touching on drug approval, college admissions and foster placement.
House Bill 3637 aims to protect medical providers who prescribe drugs that were previously approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration but had the approval revoked, provided the drug is still recommended by the World Health Organization.
The bill is part of a larger trend of blue states adopting “shield” laws — legislation guaranteeing the legal backing of medical providers from federal and interstate litigation, typically over abortion medications or vaccinations.
HB 3637 is sponsored by Rep. Dagmara Avelar, D-Romeoville, and has more than two dozen co-sponsors. Under the bill, if the FDA pulled its approval of a drug any time after Jan. 1, 2025, it can’t be considered “adulterated” as long as it’s still recommended by the WHO.
“This current administration has made it very clear that there are certain drugs that they would like to pull approval from,” Avelar said.
When a drug is considered adulterated, that means it’s generally not normal or made to “conform with good manufacturing practice,” like an FDA approved drug. Doctors, nurses and other medical providers can lose their licenses for providing adulterated drugs.
But the bill would make it so the providers would not be subject to the penalties provided in law for prescribing such drugs.
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The law also includes provisions that the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation can’t revoke or suspend the ability to practice medicine from a slew of medical professions based solely on the person’s license, registration or permit status.
Speaking in opposition, Rep. Bill Hauter, R-Morton, a practicing physician, said it was dangerous to base a drug’s safety on a WHO recommendation.
“It’s not just for a small amount of drugs here, it’s for all the drugs,” Hauter said.
Rep. Jackie Haas, R-Kankakee, also voiced concerns about whether insurance companies and Medicaid would cover non-FDA approved drugs when they’re prescribed to patients.
The bill language does not touch on the formula for Medicaid or any requirements about what insurance companies must cover. However, Medicaid is required to cover the cost of any FDA-approved drug.
The bill passed the House 76-39, cleared the Senate 38-19 and awaits the governor’s signature.
Automatic university enrollment
If signed by the governor, a bill would mandate high school seniors and community college students automatically be offered enrollment to all state schools for which their GPA qualifies them.
The bill does not change universities’ and colleges’ GPA standards or admission requirements. Schools can revoke a student’s automatic admission if, after reaching out to the student, they discover they don’t meet other eligibility requirements.
The main sponsor of House Bill 3522, Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, said the state wants to encourage students not to leave Illinois for other institutions.
“Every student who is what we – I don’t love the term – but college material, for lack of a better term, knows the opportunities that they have in higher education in the state of Illinois,” Stuart said.
If it becomes law, the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College Board would start the program during the 2027-28 school year.
It passed the House by a vote of 103-10.
Foster placement excluding traffickers
A bill clarifying that the Department of Children and Family Services can’t place children in a household with anyone who has a history of human trafficking or sex trafficking is one step away from becoming law as well.
House Bill 871 cleared both chambers without opposition. Its chief sponsor Amy Briel, D-Ottawa, said it was brought forward because of an incident in her district.
However, House Republicans pointed out that a bill with the same intention, House Bill 4095, was introduced in a previous General Assembly by Republicans. Their draft came after a report was published by CBS News Chicago about DCFS placing a 16-year-old sex trafficking victim with a 24-year-old man with sex trafficking charges.
While the current bill and previous bill were similar, the previous bill would have amended one law. Briel’s bill would amend two laws – the Child Care Act of 1969 and the Children and Family Services Act.
Rep. Steve Reick, R-Woodstock, and the old bill’s sponsor Rep. Tom Weber, R-Lake Villa, called everyone to vote yes for the bill despite criticisms toward Democrats.
“This bill could have been passed two years ago,” Reick said. “And I’m wondering how many kids that this bill could have helped keep them out of bad situations.”
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
