Illinois lawmakers want to take a closer look at the Illinois High School Association, the organization that sanctions sports and extracurricular competitions statewide.
Football, chess and water polo matches - not to mention band, drama and scholastic bowl competitions - are all governed by the IHSA.
It's a non-profit-group, based in Bloomington.
But while it's not government-run, Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, says it was created by the General Assembly. And schools do pay the IHSA some -- which Chapa LaVia says means it uses taxpayer dollars. The Aurora Democrat says the IHSA has been elusive about its own practices.
"My intention is to shine accountability and transparency on this department … that a lot of our colleagues have asked over the years to get information, and they have totally ignored us," Chapa LaVia said.
But legislators like Representative David Reis, a Republican from Willow Hill, in southern Illinois, see it as an intrusion.
"We're after trying to bully IHSA into doing what this body thinks that they should be doing. No. IHSA has been committed to providing independent form politics involvement in our school sports for over 100 years. Independent of politics. Why we would want to politicize this is beyond me," Reis said.
Chapa LaVia is sponsor of a measure the House approved to hold hearings on IHSA's funding, administration and other activities. She says she has no intention of a state takeover; but her resolution calls for looking into the feasibility of transferring its duties to the state board of education.
