CBA Record

Representatives from the CBF, CBA, ABA and ISBA meet with Sen. Durbin and Sen. Mark Kirk to advocate on access to justice issues at the annual ABA Day in Washington.

throughout the state. Due to a technical problem identified after the original ver- sion of the Access to Justice Act had been signed into law, the implementation of this pilot program was on hold. One of the CBA and CBF’s main advo- cacy priorities this year was to help pass a legislative fix for this technical problem so the pilot program could proceed. With the leadership of Representatives Emily McAsey and Al Riley and Senator Kwame Raoul, the bill to provide that technical fix, HB 3933, passed the House and Senate by unanimous votes and was signed into law by Governor Rauner in August. The pilot program will be designed, evaluated and overseen by a special statutorily created council that will operate under the auspices of the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation (IEJF). The five-year program will be funded by a temporary $2 add-on to civil filing fees that will sunset at the conclusion of the pilot program in 2020. This innovative new program already has been touted as a potential national model for providing critical legal services to the men and women who have served our country. By providing this much-needed

The Illinois Civic Mission Coalition played the lead role in this legislative effort, and the CBF was one of dozens of organiza- tions to support the bill. The bill passed the House and Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support and was signed into law by Governor Rauner last month. Beginning in the Fall of 2016, a semester of hands-on civics education will be part of the required core curriculum for high school graduation in Illinois. These bills are just two examples of the impact you can make both individually and through the CBF in the policy advo- cacy process. It is easy to get involved and our leadership as a legal community in advocating on these issues has never been more important.

legal help for thousands of people in need, the new program will make the justice system in Illinois more fair, accessible and efficient for all Illinoisans. Civics Education Bill In 2014, the Illinois Task Force on Civic Education, established by the legislature to study the status of civic education in our state and make recommendations on how to improve it, found a strong need to strengthen civic education in Illinois. At that time, Illinois was one of just 10 states in the country that did not require a civics or government course to graduate from high school. HB 4025 grew out of these efforts, and strengthens civics education in Illinois and promotes greater civic learning through a required civics course for all Illinois high school students. The CBF made support- ing this bill one of our advocacy priorities this year because it will promote greater understanding of the role and functioning of the justice system in our democracy, an important component of the CBF’s broader efforts to make the legal system more fair and accessible for people in need.

18 SEPTEMBER 2015