---
type: "Bill"
title: "HIGHER ED-SOCIAL WORK/EDUCATOR"
description: "Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Allows the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to award Post-Master of Social Work School Social Work Professional Educator License scholarships to an individual who has a valid Illinois-licensed clinical social work license or social work license and a Master of Social Work degree for the purpose of obtaining a Professional Educator License with an endorsement in social work. Sets forth various terms and conditions of the scholarship, including that a recipient of the scholarship must work at a public or nonpublic not-for-profit preschool, elementary school, or secondary school located in this State for at least 2 of the 5 years immediately following the recipient's graduation or termination of studies. Effective January 1, 2022."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "102nd"
identifier: "SB 661"
citation: "Illinois SB 661 (102nd)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ann Gillespie", "Lindsey LaPointe"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 59
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-02-24"
last_action: "2021-08-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5457c922-9886-46ac-b342-091902a89390"
source_url: "https://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=661&GAID=16&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=133264&SessionID=110&GA=102"
source_hash: "27e4d1118864276f39276a13cc6d9cc3fd1c2ddfa55724907975e698a4468909"
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 SB 661 (102nd) — HIGHER ED-SOCIAL WORK/EDUCATOR

Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Allows the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to award Post-Master of Social Work School Social Work Professional Educator License scholarships to an individual who has a valid Illinois-licensed clinical social work license or social work license and a Master of Social Work degree for the purpose of obtaining a Professional Educator License with an endorsement in social work. Sets forth various terms and conditions of the scholarship, including that a recipient of the scholarship must work at a public or nonpublic not-for-profit preschool, elementary school, or secondary school located in this State for at least 2 of the 5 years immediately following the recipient's graduation or termination of studies. Effective January 1, 2022.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://ilga.gov/legislation/102/SB/PDF/10200SB0661.pdf)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://ilga.gov/legislation/102/SB/PDF/10200SB0661eng.pdf)
3. **House Amendment 001** (committee substitute) — [source](https://ilga.gov/legislation/102/SB/PDF/10200SB0661ham001.pdf)
4. **House Amendment 002** (committee substitute) — [source](https://ilga.gov/legislation/102/SB/PDF/10200SB0661ham002.pdf)
5. **Senate Amendment 001** (committee substitute) — [source](https://ilga.gov/legislation/102/SB/PDF/10200SB0661sam001.pdf)
6. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://ilga.gov/legislation/102/SB/PDF/10200SB0661enr.pdf)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **52–1** (pass) · upper
- Concurrence, Amendment 2 — **51–6** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Ann Gillespie — primary (person)
- Lindsey LaPointe — primary (person)
- Barbara Hernandez — cosponsor (person)
- Camille Y. Lilly — cosponsor (person)
- Carol Ammons — cosponsor (person)
- Elizabeth Hernandez — cosponsor (person)
- Jonathan Carroll — cosponsor (person)
- Kelly M. Cassidy — cosponsor (person)
- Laura Fine — cosponsor (person)
- Maurice A. West, II — cosponsor (person)
- William Davis — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-24** Filed with Secretary by Sen. Ann Gillespie `filing`
- **2021-02-24** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2021-02-24** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-09** Assigned to Higher Education `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-16** Postponed - Higher Education
- **2021-03-24** Postponed - Higher Education
- **2021-04-14** Do Pass Higher Education; 011-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2021-04-14** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading April 15, 2021
- **2021-04-20** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2021-04-20** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading April 21, 2021
- **2021-04-20** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Ann Gillespie `amendment-introduction`
- **2021-04-20** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-21** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Assignments Refers to Higher Education
- **2021-04-23** Rule 2-10 Third Reading Deadline Established As April 30, 2021 `reading-3`
- **2021-04-28** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Recommend Do Adopt Higher Education; 013-000-000
- **2021-04-28** Recalled to Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2021-04-28** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Adopted; Gillespie `amendment-passage`
- **2021-04-28** Third Reading - Passed; 052-001-000 `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-04-28** Added as Co-Sponsor Sen. Laura Fine
- **2021-04-28** Arrived in House `introduction`
- **2021-04-28** Chief House Sponsor Rep. Jonathan Carroll
- **2021-04-29** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2021-04-29** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-04** Assigned to Higher Education Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-06** Alternate Chief Sponsor Changed to Rep. Lindsey LaPointe
- **2021-05-06** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Jonathan Carroll
- **2021-05-06** Added Alternate Co-Sponsor Rep. Kelly M. Cassidy
- **2021-05-11** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Filed with Clerk by Rep. Lindsey LaPointe `amendment-introduction`
- **2021-05-11** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-12** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Maurice A. West, II
- **2021-05-12** Do Pass / Short Debate Higher Education Committee; 006-004-000 `committee-passage`
- **2021-05-12** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Tabled Pursuant to Rule 40 `amendment-failure`
- **2021-05-13** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2021-05-13** Added Alternate Co-Sponsor Rep. Carol Ammons
- **2021-05-18** Added Alternate Co-Sponsor Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez
- **2021-05-19** House Floor Amendment No. 2 Filed with Clerk by Rep. Lindsey LaPointe `amendment-introduction`
- **2021-05-19** House Floor Amendment No. 2 Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-24** House Floor Amendment No. 2 Rules Refers to Higher Education Committee
- **2021-05-25** House Floor Amendment No. 2 Recommends Be Adopted Higher Education Committee; 006-004-000 `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-25** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2021-05-25** House Floor Amendment No. 2 Adopted `amendment-passage`
- **2021-05-25** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2021-05-27** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 072-044-001 `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-05-27** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. William Davis
- **2021-05-27** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Camille Y. Lilly
- **2021-05-27** Added Alternate Co-Sponsor Rep. Barbara Hernandez
- **2021-05-27** Secretary's Desk - Concurrence House Amendment(s) 2
- **2021-05-27** Placed on Calendar Order of Concurrence House Amendment(s) 2 - May 28, 2021
- **2021-05-28** House Floor Amendment No. 2 Motion to Concur Filed with Secretary Sen. Ann Gillespie `filing`
- **2021-05-28** House Floor Amendment No. 2 Motion to Concur Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-29** House Floor Amendment No. 2 Motion to Concur Assignments Referred to Higher Education `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-30** House Floor Amendment No. 2 Motion To Concur Recommended Do Adopt Higher Education; 011-002-000
- **2021-05-30** House Floor Amendment No. 2 Senate Concurs 051-006-000
- **2021-05-30** Senate Concurs
- **2021-05-30** Passed Both Houses
- **2021-06-28** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-08-27** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2021-08-27** Effective Date January 1, 2022
- **2021-08-27** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 102-0621 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5457c922-9886-46ac-b342-091902a89390`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).