By Otto Fajen
MNEA Legislative Director
WINTER STORM AFFECTS SESSION
The House rearranged committee schedules to complete most hearings on February 11 and perfected four House bills on that day. The House then held only a technical session on February 12 and reconvened on February 13 to complete the remaining action for the week. The Senate convened in regular session each day of the normal weekly schedule.
BUDGET
The House Budget Committee began hearing departmental budgets on February 10. The process began with the DESE budget. Committee members asked questions concerning the funding for the formula and related programs, the various funding sources for K-12 education, and trends in enrollment, formula cost, MSIP and related factors that influence the education budget. The committee continued working through the pages of the DESE budget book. The committee will review the budget requests from the various agencies and the executive budget presented to the legislature by Governor Kehoe. Kehoe's budget increases formula funding by $200 million but still falls $300 million short of full funding due to the combination of a significant increase to the SAT per pupil amount, new provisions in SB 727 and other trends in school data.
OPEN ENROLLMENT
The House Legislative Review Committee approved an HCS version of HB 711 (Brad Pollitt) on February 11. The Association opposes the bill. The HCS version of the bill removes consideration of an IEP in the initial acceptance process and moves the timeline for the open enrollment process one month earlier to allow extra time for processing. The HCS limits the required transportation range for low-income students to thirty miles or five miles into the sending district and adds a provision allowing a student to be sent back to the resident district at semester for low attendance. The Association believes that public school choice plans with state funding may harm students and our public schools unless essential criteria are in place for implementing, monitoring, and evaluating their effectiveness.
The Senate Education Committee approved an SCS for SB 215 and 70 (Curtis Trent) on February 11. The Association opposes the bill. The bill has been reported to the floor and could be taken up as soon as next week, though the Senate is likely to work on bills relating to crime and utility regulation before considering the open enrollment bill. The SCS language is identical to SB 215. SB 215, in contrast to HB 711, turns the existing transfer law regarding unaccredited school districts into a statewide, mandatory, open enrollment scheme that includes charter schools. SB 215 also will require the state to pay the equivalent of both state and local per pupil funding amounts to any charter school receiving nonresident students under the program.
HONESTY IN EDUCATION/ACCESS TO SCHOOL INFORMATION
The Senate Education Committee was scheduled to hear two bills on February 11 that could affect students' freedom to learn. SB 56 (Mary Elizabeth Coleman) pertains to honesty in education, while SB 115 (Rick Brattin) pertains to both honesty in education and parent access to school information. The Association has concerns that both bills would adversely affect the freedom of teachers to provide the honest education our students deserve and could interfere with existing policies respecting student and school privacy. The hearing for SB 115 was conducted, while the hearing for SB 56 was postponed.
The Senate Government Efficiency Committee heard SB 223 (Mary Elizabeth Coleman) on February 10. SB 223 provides a cause of action against schools and staff for violations of notice and consent regarding student surveys as required under federal law. The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee was scheduled to hear HB 744 (Ben Baker) on February 11. HB 744 pertains to parent access to school information. HB 744 also raises concern regarding existing policies on student and school privacy. The hearing on HB 744 was postponed.
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
The committee also heard the following bills on February 11:
SB 68 (Mike Henderson) to require local educational agencies to report school safety incidents to DESE.
SB 71 (David Gregory) to create a program to provide free college tuition for first responders and their legal dependents.
SB 160 (Brad Hudson) to prevent a public college from denying official recognition to belief-based student associations that require leaders to adhere to their beliefs, practice requirements or standards of conduct.
The committee approved the following bills on February 11:
SCS/SB 49 and 118 (Rusty Black) to authorize school districts and charter schools to employ or accept chaplains as volunteers.
SB 89 (Stephen Webber) to provide that Veterans Day shall be a public holiday for all employees of the University of Missouri System.
SB 150 (Jill Carter) to establish the Career-Tech Certificate Program Fund to reimburse students' tuition, books, and fees to certain postsecondary training programs and programs of study.
HOUSE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
The committee heard HB 116 (Jim Murphy) on February 11. The bill requires DESE to establish a pilot program on media literacy and critical thinking. The program will develop strategies for student learning in classroom curricula and demonstrate various literacy strategies used. The Association supports the bill.
The committee approved the following bills on February 11:
HCS/HB 477 (Oehlerking) to require written parental consent for changes to individualized education programs (IEPs).
HCS/HB 32 (Bishop Davidson) to lower the minimum attendance age for Missouri's adult high schools to 18 years of age. The Association supports the bill.
HCS/HBs 408, 854, and 306 (Jamie Gragg) to require public schools to maintain policies that restrict student cell phone use during instructional time, with limited exceptions. The HCS clarifies that school board shall define what constitutes instructional time and specify the level at which decisions will be made regarding allowed instructional use of cell phones. The Association supports the bill.
HCS/HB 712 (Brad Pollitt) to make several changes for K-12 schools. The bill requires DESE to determine a student's grade-level equivalence on the MAP test and extends the option for PSRS retirees to work as a substitute teacher while receiving their PSRS pension. The HCS removes provisions relating to the CPI adjustment for teachers’ minimum salaries. The HCS adds HCS/HB 32 regarding adult high schools, allows inclement weather adjustments to the 169 school day requirement for the 1% state aid increase, makes technical changes to teacher retention scholarships and includes an amendment to ban district use of "zero tolerance" discipline policies. The Association supports the bill.
MINIMUM SALARY CPI CHANGES
The House Special Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs approved an HCS version of HB 607 (Ed Lewis) on February 10. The bill will terminate CPI adjustments of minimum salary amounts established by SB 727 after five years. The bill requires districts to match the new teacher salary grant funds with funds received by the district from the Classroom Trust Fund. The bill also allows a district to qualify for the 1% state aid increase for having a minimum calendar of 169 school days while permitting reductions to the number of days in session due to inclement weather or other authorized causes.
INCOME TAX CUT
The Senate Committee on Economic and Workforce Development heard five similar bills to cut the state income tax on February 11. The bills are SB 138 (Curtis Trent), SB 151 (Ben Brown), SB 161 (Brad Hudson), SB 220 (Nick Schroer), and SB 228 (Jill Carter). Each of these bills lowers the state's top income tax rate from the current 4.7% to 4.0% in the next year and could eliminate the state income tax entirely over a period of many years. These bills would reduce state revenues by over $500 million within two fiscal years. The Association is concerned that this cut in state revenue will reduce state revenues at a time when the state is struggling to maintain full funding of the formula.
LIMITING LOCAL PROPERTY REVENUES
The House Special Committee on Tax reform heard HB 988 (Mark Matthiesen) on February 10. Upon approval of a constitutional amendment to allow the change, the bill would exempt farm machinery and vehicles from property taxes. The bill would also reduce the assessment percentage of personal property from 33 1/3% to 10% over a ten-year period. This measure would significantly reduce the amount of local revenue from personal property. The change to assessment percentage alone would reduce local revenue from personal property by an average of $140 million per year over each of the next ten years. Some fraction of this reduction will be offset in some counties by growth in other property categories. The elimination of property tax on farm machinery and vehicles would occur abruptly if approved by voters, resulting in an additional $450 million reduction when approved. The Association is concerned that this bill, if combined with constitutional authority for implementation, would significantly reduce local school revenues.
GAMBLING REVENUES
The House Ways and Means Committee heard HJR 7 (Dave Griffith) on February 10. The HJR, if approved by voters, would revise gambling revenue distribution to provide 10% of the funds (currently about $36 million per year) for administration of the Missouri Veteran's Commission, with 90% of the funds remaining dedicated to public K-12 and higher education institutions.