Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – A state lawmaker known for his own unusual hairstyles is carrying another bill meant to make life easier for school children who also have distinctive hairstyles. State Sen Mike Simmons (pictured) (D-Chicago) contrasts his new bill with one which passed in 2021.

The Jett Hawkins Act, Simmons said, “was a landmark piece of legislation that prohibits discrimination in our schools against hair of African ancestry. We named that bill after Jett Hawkins, who was a four-year-old Black child in Chicago who was suspended from school because his mother braided his hair.”

The new bill, which passed out of the Senate Education Committee unanimously Tuesday, “deals with facial hair that often is worn by Orthodox Jewish folks in the community, particularly younger men.”

Non-public schools would have to promise the state they would not interfere with hairstyles reflecting genuine religious beliefs.