Legislative "Lingo"

Legislative Lingo for Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists

Bill: A proposed law. While the bill is going through the process of becoming a law, it is known by a bill number. If it was introduced by a House of Representatives member, it’s called a House Bill, and if it was introduced by a Senator, it’s called a Senate Bill. “HB1356” means “House Bill number 1356”. To look up a bill, go to http://ilga.gov/legislation/ and choose the number. See a good flow-chart of the process for a bill to become a law at: http://ilga.gov/commission/lis/98bill_law.pdf.

Public Act: A law. After the governor signs a bill, it becomes a Public Act. It also goes by a different number. PA 92-0150 means Public Act number 150 of the 92nd General Assembly. To look up a Public Act, go to http://ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/default.asp and click on the number. Public Act 85-1391 was our original licensure act.

Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS): The data base of all current laws. Whereas bills and acts contain only the specific information they propose to change, the compiled statutes contain all current legislation. “Current” is only as current as the latest update. To see the Compiled Statutes of Illinois, go to http://ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs.asp.

The School Code of Illinois: The part of the Illinois Compiled Statutes governing public schools. Go to http://ilga.gov/legislation/. Choose ILCS. Select “Education, Chapter 105 schools.” Select “105 ILCS/5 School Code.” School Code limits the SLP case load to 60 as of Sept. 2003. Here's the citation: (105 ILCS 5/14 6.03) Sec. 14 6.03(b). Here's the web page: http://ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp.

Rules and Regulations: For state laws they’re called Rules; for federal laws regulated by the state they’re called Regulations. After a bill becomes a law, the department in charge of enforcing it writes specific Rules and Regulations describing such things as how to apply for a license, how much the fees will be, etc. These are published by the department that writes them, and are not on the legislative website. Rules written for our Practice Act are on the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation (IDFPR) website. On the IDFPR home page select the profession of interest and then select Rules. Go to http://www.idfpr.com.