The IJEA Chair of the Legislation Committee, Stan Zoller, sends this update after the full Illinois Senate’s unanimous passage of HB 5902 on May 27:

The Senate passed HB5902 today by a margin of 51-0-1.

The next step is to get concurrence in the House before it goes to the governor’s desk — the final and seemingly most difficult step.

I want to take this opportunity to thank those of you who have worked so hard on this bill.

Obviously, we wouldn’t be where we are without Frank LoMonte and the Student Press Law Center.

Personally, it would have been a even tougher battle without Brenda Field “by my side” from that snowy evening in January when we first met with Rep. Elaine Nekritz who guided us through the initial step before handing the baton off to Rep. Will Guzzardi. I can tell you first hand that Brenda’s passion for the bill and her tenacity is second-to-none.

While the “big battle” may be over, our biggest challenge lies ahead — getting that signature.

Thanks to everyone for their support and efforts.

It’s a great day for the IJEA and scholastic journalism in Illinois.  There’s only one person who I wish I, or we, could thank — Dr. James Tidwell, former head of the Department of Journalism at Eastern Illinois University.

There will be ray of sunshine coming down tomorrow; let’s finish the job for him.

Thanks again for all your support.

When you get a chance — Thank Frank LoMonte.  He made his third trip to Springfield on behalf of our bill. Here’s the updated story from the SPLC website.