---
type: "Bill"
title: "SCH CD - BILITERACY SEAL"
description: "Amends the State Board of Education - Powers and Duties Article of the School Code. Makes the State Seal of Biliteracy available to both public and non-public high school graduates (rather than public high school graduates only) who have attained a high level of proficiency in one or more language in addition to English and have met the criteria to obtain the State Seal of Biliteracy. Makes conforming changes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "101st"
identifier: "HB 37"
citation: "Illinois HB 37 (101st)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 26
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2018-11-30"
last_action: "2019-08-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/82899cb2-6e58-4c84-bb9a-fc06bf59e2c2"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=37&GAID=15&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=113841&SessionID=108&GA=101"
source_hash: "fa1204b8f42bbe70dba073c5d33471a3bd555905938d5e4b3f69082b36b6f35d"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-il"]
---

# Illinois HB 37 (101st) — SCH CD - BILITERACY SEAL

Amends the State Board of Education - Powers and Duties Article of the School Code. Makes the State Seal of Biliteracy available to both public and non-public high school graduates (rather than public high school graduates only) who have attained a high level of proficiency in one or more language in addition to English and have met the criteria to obtain the State Seal of Biliteracy. Makes conforming changes.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=10100HB0037&GA=101&SessionId=108&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=113841&DocNum=37&GAID=15&SpecSess=&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=10100HB0037eng&GA=101&SessionId=108&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=113841&DocNum=37&GAID=15&SpecSess=&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=10100HB0037enr&GA=101&SessionId=108&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=113841&DocNum=37&GAID=15&SpecSess=&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **58–0** (pass) · upper
- Third Reading — **112–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Camille Y. Lilly — cosponsor (person)
- Rita Mayfield — primary (person)
- Terry Link — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-11-30** Prefiled with Clerk by Rep. Rita Mayfield `filing`
- **2019-01-09** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-01-09** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-29** Assigned to Elementary & Secondary Education: School Curriculum & Policies Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-06** Do Pass / Short Debate Elementary & Secondary Education: School Curriculum & Policies Committee; 020-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2019-02-07** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2019-02-26** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2019-02-26** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2019-03-19** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 112-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2019-03-19** Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Camille Y. Lilly
- **2019-03-20** Arrive in Senate `introduction`
- **2019-03-20** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-03-20** Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Terry Link
- **2019-03-20** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-03-20** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2019-04-24** Assigned to Education `referral-committee`
- **2019-05-02** Do Pass Education; 011-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2019-05-02** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading May 7, 2019
- **2019-05-09** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2019-05-09** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 14, 2019
- **2019-05-23** Third Reading - Passed; 058-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2019-05-23** Passed Both Houses
- **2019-06-21** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-08-09** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2019-08-09** Effective Date January 1, 2020
- **2019-08-09** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 101-0222 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/82899cb2-6e58-4c84-bb9a-fc06bf59e2c2`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).