Patrick J. Joyce, Illinois Senate from the 40th District (D) | https://www.facebook.com/senPatrickjoyce40/
Patrick J. Joyce, Illinois Senate from the 40th District (D) | https://www.facebook.com/senPatrickjoyce40/
According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill's official text as follows: "Amends the Open Meetings Act. Provides that an elected or appointed member of a public body of a township may satisfy specified training requirements of the Act by participating in a course of training sponsored or conducted by an organization that represents townships created under the Township Code. Specifies the contents of the course of training. Provides that if an organization that represents townships provides a course of training, it must provide a certificate of course completion to each elected or appointed member of a public body who successfully completes that course of training."
The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.
In essence, this bill amends the Open Meetings Act to permit elected or appointed members of public bodies of townships to fulfill training requirements by attending courses provided by organizations representing townships under the Township Code. The training course must cover topics including legal requirements for open meetings, procedures and requirements for quorums, notice and record-keeping, as well as the conduct of open and closed meetings, and penalties for non-compliance. Organizations offering these trainings are mandated to issue certificates of completion to participants who successfully complete the courses. The bill also states that previous completion of the required training exempts a member from retaking it, and it specifies that failure by members to complete the training does not invalidate the public body's actions.
Patrick J. Joyce has proposed another three bills since the beginning of the 104th session.
Joyce graduated from Illinois State University with a BA.
Patrick Joyce is currently serving in the Illinois State Senate, representing the state's 40th Senate District. He replaced previous state senator Toi Hutchinson in 2019.
Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.
You can read more about bills and other measures here.
| Bill Number | Date Introduced | Short Description |
|---|---|---|
| SB0155 | 01/17/2025 | Amends the Open Meetings Act. Provides that an elected or appointed member of a public body of a township may satisfy specified training requirements of the Act by participating in a course of training sponsored or conducted by an organization that represents townships created under the Township Code. Specifies the contents of the course of training. Provides that if an organization that represents townships provides a course of training, it must provide a certificate of course completion to each elected or appointed member of a public body who successfully completes that course of training. |
| SB0151 | 01/17/2025 | Amends the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the short title. |
| SB0152 | 01/17/2025 | Amends the Illinois Fire Protection Training Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the short title. |
| SB0153 | 01/17/2025 | Amends the Illinois Fire Protection Training Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the short title. |
| SB0154 | 01/17/2025 | Amends the Illinois Pension Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning creation of a firefighters' pension fund. |
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