Thursday, March 11, 2010
In the Senate
Read a 2nd time and advanced to 3rd reading.
HB 4652 – Establishes a school calendar committee. The bill varies from the House only slightly. The Senate bill adds a parent representative to the committee and also requires the School Calendar Committee to present 3 calendars to the employee population for consideration while the House version requires 2 or more. The Senate amended the legislation to clarify the procedure Counties should follow for sharing Vocational Centers.
Senate passed:
HB 4211 provides supplemental funding plan for limited English proficient students. This bill requires that Counties apply to the Sate Department of Education for funds and the DOE then distributes funds appropriated by the legislature and take into account the proficiency levels of students in a county in addition to the county’s ability to deliver the programs. No funding has been appropriated for this legislation, however.
HB 4669 grants exceptions to the Innovation Zone applicants who need waivers of state code to begin the innovation zone plan.
HB 4512 defines itinerate staff in addition to placing eligibility requirements of 5 years experience on new transportation supervisors. The language also requires job postings to include a location and duration for the job.
Senate Finance Committee passed HB 4593 – Relating to High School Graduation and the reduction of dropout rates. The bill was amended to remove the increase in the mandatory attendance age and leave it at 16 years old. The bill must next pass Senate Finance.
Senate Judiciary Committee passed HCR 101 which would provide tax waivers for new inventories if a constitutional amendment is voted on by half of voters. WVEA was the only education organization present at the meeting and President Dale Lee was the only person invited to speak against the legislation and express concerns about the approximately $200,000,000 in future tax income and the negative impact on education. This bill must also be passed out of Senate Finance. It was read a 1st time and will be on 2nd reading if passed out of Senate Finance.
Senate Education passed HB 4031 pertaining to RESA funding. It caps the allowance provided to RESAs at $3.9 million.
In the House
The House passed:
SB 547- Correcting language that varies from another section of the code, stating when County Board’s of Education may meet following a levy election.
SB 499 – Changes the names of certain Community and Technical colleges
SB 648 – Repeals and removes outdated code sections
Advanced to 3rd reading:
Advanced with a restricted right to amend tomorrow is SB 480 – The higher education personnel bill. This bill was referred to Finance but the second reference was dispensed with. This legislation provides many changes to the system colleges use for evaluating and promoting classified workers.
SB 229 allows the School Building Authority to issue additional bonds for projects.
The House Education committee passed three resolutions today on middle school curriculum, local share, and funding of technology.
WVEA Legislative Update #8 is now posted.