Recently introduced bills, Illinois Senate Bill 2954 (SB2954) and House Bill 4427 (HB4427), would create the Prison Education Fund and provide “that 0.5% of the moneys in the Cannabis Regulation Fund, after certain allocations have been made, shall be transferred from the Cannabis Regulation Fund to the Prison Education Fund.”

The bills also would provide that moneys in the Prison Education Fund shall be used by the Illinois Community College Board and the Board of Higher Education to make grants to prison education programs that award associate degrees or bachelor’s degrees to currently incarcerated students.

Sen. Willie Preston introduced SB2954 in late January, and today the bill was assigned to Appropriations – Education. Rep. Michael Crawford introduced HB4427, which was referred to the House Rules Committee on Jan. 14. Since its first reading, HB4427 has added a co-sponsor or changed its chief co-sponsor ten times.

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