Kankakee Times

In an Aug. 14 Facebook post, Rep. Jason Bunting announced that a bill he cosponsored was signed into law. The new law allows FFA and 4H-attending students to attend programs, competitions, exhibitions, or other functions without taking unexcused absences from school.

"Yesterday, Governor Pritzker signed HB 3814 that I was a PROUD Co-sponsor of!!!!," Bunting said.

House Bill 3814 was filed by Rep. Sonya M. Harper on Feb. 17, 2023, and moved to the Senate on March 23. Senator Doris Turner was the Chief Sponsor in the Senate. The bill went to Gov. Pritzker for a signature, and it was approved on Aug. 14, 2023. It will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024. The bill requires that “in provisions concerning the daily pupil attendance calculation, provides that participation in a Supervised Career Development Experience or any work-based learning experience in which student participation and learning outcomes are directed by a licensed educator for assessment of competencies (instead of providing that participation in a Supervised Career Development Experience in which student participation and learning outcomes are supervised by a licensed educator) shall be counted toward the calculation of clock hours of school work per day.”

An OurQuadCities report noted that “Illinois students who participate in FFA will also have their membership dues covered for a second year in a row. The organization grew from 23,000 members to more than 41,000 last year.”

FarmWeekNow reports that as of June 20, 2023, “membership within the organization has grown from around 23,000 members to more than 41,000 this past year after the state awarded grant funding to cover membership costs for any student who is enrolled in an agriculture course."

According to the 4-H Extension service from the University of Illinois, there are 100,000 individual youths involved in 4-H, and that equates to 1 in 14 kids in the state. They quote Tufts University and a 10-year study that revealed members are four times more likely to contribute to their communities; they’re twice as likely to be civically active, and twice as likely to make healthier choices.

Rep. Jason Bunting joined the House of Representatives in February 2023. His experience as an elected official includes time as the Highway Commissioner of Broughton Township, as well as eight years as a member of the Livingston County Board. He and his family live in Emington.