Music Therapy Bill in Illinois
Senate Bill 1595- Music Therapy Advisory Board Act
Some of the attendees from Hill Day
The Illinois Task Force for State Recognition has been very active pursuing licensure for Illinois music therapists. Both State Senator Dan Kotowski and State Representative Michael McAuliffe filed bills for licensure in March. To gather support from Legislators, the Illinois Association for Music Therapy (IAMT) and the Task Force held an Advocacy CMTE and Hill Day in Springfield where over 30 music therapists and students connected with EVERY legislative office, educating about music therapy and asking for support of our bills.
This Hill Day led to increased support from legislators in the state. State Senators Don Harmon, William Delgado, and Emil Jones, III signed on to SB1595 as co-sponsors. State Representative signed on as a co-sponsor for HB1656.
There was some opposition to this bills, which lead to amendments. The amendment asks to create a Music Therapy Advisory Board which will research whether or not a license is warranted for music therapists in our state. SB1595 was passed out of committee on April 16, 2015. It was heard and passed out of the Senate on April 22, 2015.
SB1595 was then heard in the house committee on May 13, 2015, and was heard on the house floor on May 30, 2015. The bill passed both houses on May 31, 2015.
On August 18, 2015, Governor Bruce Rauner approved the bill, which makes it effective as of January 1, 2016. The bill is now known as Public Act 099-0397. Please check out this page for the full act.
If you would like to apply to be on the advisory board, please contact
Nancy Swanson.
Thank you to the Illinois Music Therapy Task Force members for all of your hard work! Congratulations to all of the music therapists in Illinois on this step forward in the recognition process!