---
type: "Bill"
title: "SCH CD-REQUIRE ASIAN HISTORY"
description: "Amends the School Code. Requires every public elementary school and high school to include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of Asian History, including South Asia and the Pacific Islands. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective July 1, 2003."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "93rd"
identifier: "SB 890"
citation: "Illinois SB 890 (93rd)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 49
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2003-02-19"
last_action: "2003-08-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1b4af59b-fa7b-4e5b-a887-7d08078d0c3f"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=890&GAID=3&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=3761&SessionID=3&GA=93"
source_hash: "132244e0b2dacc00b6ec671cf0ea04f6b276069aecb6fe52726a8f4896401c92"
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 890 (93rd) — SCH CD-REQUIRE ASIAN HISTORY

Amends the School Code. Requires every public elementary school and high school to include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of Asian History, including South Asia and the Pacific Islands. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective July 1, 2003.

## 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=09300SB0890&GA=93&SessionId=3&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=3761&DocNum=890&GAID=3&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09300SB0890eng&GA=93&SessionId=3&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=3761&DocNum=890&GAID=3&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09300SB0890enr&GA=93&SessionId=3&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=3761&DocNum=890&GAID=3&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **109–5** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **56–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Barack Obama — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2003-02-19** Filed with Secretary by Sen. Barack Obama `filing`
- **2003-02-19** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2003-02-19** Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2003-02-26** Assigned to Education `referral-committee`
- **2003-03-04** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Barack Obama `amendment-introduction`
- **2003-03-04** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2003-03-05** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Rules Refers to Education
- **2003-03-11** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Adopted `amendment-passage`
- **2003-03-12** Do Pass as Amended Education; 006-000-004 `committee-passage`
- **2003-03-12** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading March 13, 2003
- **2003-03-18** Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Barack Obama `amendment-introduction`
- **2003-03-18** Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2003-03-24** Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Rules Refers to Education
- **2003-03-25** Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Be Adopted Education; 006-003-001 `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2003-03-25** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2003-03-25** Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Adopted; Obama `amendment-passage`
- **2003-03-25** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading March 26, 2003
- **2003-03-28** Senate Floor Amendment No. 3 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Barack Obama `amendment-introduction`
- **2003-03-28** Senate Floor Amendment No. 3 Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2003-04-02** Senate Floor Amendment No. 4 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Barack Obama `amendment-introduction`
- **2003-04-02** Senate Floor Amendment No. 4 Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2003-04-02** Senate Floor Amendment No. 3 Rules Refers to Education
- **2003-04-02** Senate Floor Amendment No. 4 Rules Refers to Education
- **2003-04-02** Senate Floor Amendment No. 3 Tabled in Education `amendment-failure`
- **2003-04-02** Senate Floor Amendment No. 4 Be Adopted Education; 010-000-000 `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2003-04-02** Recalled to Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2003-04-02** Senate Floor Amendment No. 4 Adopted; Obama `amendment-passage`
- **2003-04-02** Calendar Order of 3rd Reading April 3, 2003
- **2003-04-03** Added as Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Mattie Hunter
- **2003-04-03** Third Reading - Passed; 056-000-001 `reading-3, passage`
- **2003-04-04** Arrived in House `introduction`
- **2003-04-04** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading `reading-1`
- **2003-04-08** Chief House Sponsor Rep. Larry McKeon
- **2003-04-08** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2003-04-08** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2003-04-09** Assigned to Elementary and Secondary Education Committee `referral-committee`
- **2003-05-01** Do Pass / Short Debate Elementary and Secondary Education Committee; 013-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2003-05-01** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2003-05-09** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2003-05-09** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2003-05-09** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Mike Boland
- **2003-05-09** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Harry Osterman
- **2003-05-14** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 109-005-003 `reading-3, passage`
- **2003-05-14** Passed Both Houses
- **2003-05-14** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Elizabeth Coulson
- **2003-06-12** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2003-08-01** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2003-08-01** Effective Date January 1, 2004
- **2003-08-01** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 93-0406 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1b4af59b-fa7b-4e5b-a887-7d08078d0c3f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).