May 1 1, 2009
Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Executive Director Marty Hickman recently testified before the House and Senate Educational Committees in Springfield on House Bill 272 (HB0272).
House Bill 272, which was filed by 63rd District Representative Jack D. Franks on January 21, calls for an increase in performance-enhancing drug testing by the IHSA, while also providing state funding to help accommodate the additional tests.
“We appreciate the efforts of Representative Jack Franks to provide funding to help enhance the IHSA’s Performance-Enhancing Drug Testing Program,” said Hickman. “We believe that the results from our first year of testing have proven that the program is a successful deterrent and that House Bill 272 will help further reduce performance-enhancing drug use among high school students in the state.”
The IHSA is one of three state high school associations in the country with a performance-enhancing drug testing program, as the Association is currently in the midst of its first full school year of testing. The IHSA’s 2008-09 testing program will test just under 700 student-athletes at the State Series level (Regional, Sectional, Super-Sectional, State Final, football playoffs) in every IHSA sport.
House Bill 272 calls for at least 1,000 student-athletes to be tested each school year and will allow random testing to occur at any time during the school year. The Bill will also require representation from at least 25 percent of IHSA member schools in the annual testing pool. The IHSA expects that it will come to close to the 25 percent benchmark during the 2008-09 school year.
The Bill would provide funding for the IHSA Performance-Enhancing Drug Testing Program directly from fines imposed on individuals convicted of drug possession and delivery crimes.
Hickman added, “The additional funding will allow us to expand the sheer number of drug tests that are conducted each school year, while also helping us to develop an educational component on performance-enhancing drugs for coaches throughout Illinois.”
Click here to read House Bill 272 (HB0272)