Day 12

Today was a busy day under the gold dome. The activity will pick up every day until the end of the session, which is scheduled to be April 2^nd.   Cross over day would be March 13^th. Only those bills that receive a passing vote by the entire Senate or House will move on to the other house.

In today’s action, four committees of interest met to consider bills to move on.

The House Education Academic Achievement Sub Committee met to consider HB 100 and HB 164.  Both bills will move on to the Full House Education Committee.   HB 100 will change the eligibility dates for entry into kindergarten. The qualifying dates for kindergarten in 2017 will be August 1^st and in 2018 will change to July 1st.  HB 164 will suspend the requirement for PLU’s for certificate renewal for three years.

The House Transportation Sub Committee heard discussion and public comment on HB 170. The bill will affect taxation on fuel. The committee has expressed their intent to leave school district funding unchanged.  Discussions will continue. The bill will move on to the full House Transportation Committee.

In the Senate

The Senate Education and Youth Committee met and discussed SB 81 and SR 138. These two pieces of legislation would require local superintendents to be elected. After discussion by the committee, there was no vote taken. The bill was not assigned to a sub committee. GSSA opposes the election of local district superintendents.

The Senate Appropriations Committee met and passed the amended FY15 budget, HB 75. The Senate and House agreed on most educational budget items. The one difference is funding of the FY16 equalization. That issue will need to be resolved during the FY16 budget discussions.

The House and Senate passed a calendar resolution today, SR 167.

The legislators will meet today for the 13^th day of the session.