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NEW
TAX CREDIT VOUCHER BILL TAKEN UP, LAID OVER
The House took up House Bill 808 on Feb. 22, for a few seconds
and with no discussion, solely to end the distribution of
additional proposed amendments. Under current House rules,
no new amendments may be distributed once the bill has been
taken up for perfection, no matter how briefly.
H.B. 808
is the newest version of the tax credit voucher bill. This
year, the bill is once again known as the “Betty L.
Thompson Scholarship Program.” Serving as this year’s
version of the “65% Deception,” the bill would
create a 65 percent tax credit for donations to private scholarship
funds providing payments for low-income students in unaccredited
or provisionally accredited districts to attend private or
religious schools or out-of-district public schools. House
members are under intense lobbying pressure to support this
bill. Missouri NEA testified in opposition.
The bill
allows up to $40 million per year in tax credits for “contributions”
to scholarship funds to be used to fund private and religious
school tuition payments for low-income students in St. Louis
City, Wellston and Kansas City. One new wrinkle for this year
allows nearby school districts to volunteer to accept students
prior to allowing students to choose non-public schools. As
in previous years, however, this bill does nothing to fulfill
the state’s primary duty: to establish and maintain
quality public schools. The credits would reduce state revenues
by a like amount, reduce funds for the affected public schools
and force the state to forego real opportunities to help all
public school students or to fund specific programs to help
struggling students in urban public schools, such as early
childhood education or after school programs.
Missouri
NEA strongly opposes any measure to transfer state funds to
private, religious or home schools that are not accountable
to the standards placed on public schools. With the growing
efforts of extreme, out-of-state interest groups such as All
Children Matter, these new efforts to enact tax credit vouchers
present an extra challenge. MNEA needs active participation
of members speaking to legislators, fellow educators and the
public on the importance of this issue to all Missourians.
Action
needed:
Please call, write or e-mail to urge your state representative
to oppose H.B. 808—the new tax credit voucher proposal.
The following link will connect you to the MNEA Legislative
Action Center Action Alert on H.B. 808. The action alert
contains a brief summary and an editable message box to
help you send an e-mail to your state representative on
the issue. http://capwiz.com/nea/mo/issues/alert/?alertid=9277446&type=ST&show_alert=1 |
PENSION
TAX CUT BILL PASSES HOUSE
House Committee Substitute for H.B. 444, 217, 225, 239, 243,
297, 402 & 172 was Third Read and passed on Feb. 22 by
a vote of 129-28. The fiscal note for the perfected HCS shows
that after adoption of several amendments to exempt more pension
income, the bill now has an estimated cost, under a revised
fiscal note, of at least $300 million in 2008, considerably
higher than either the original bill or the committee version.
The bill
now exempts all Social Security pensions from income tax,
along with other public employee pensions not eligible for
Social Security, such as the Public School Retirement System,
and up to $6,000 in income from individual retirement accounts.
The fiscal impact will increase rapidly over time as Baby
Boomers reach retirement age. Missouri NEA continues to oppose
HCS/H.B. 444 due to the regressive nature of the tax changes
and the enormous harm the bill will do to adequacy of state
revenues. In the coming weeks, attention will turn to the
Senate for deliberation on the bill.
HOUSE
PASSES ACCOUNTABILITY DODGE
The House perfected House Joint Resolution 1 (Jane Cunningham)
on Feb. 20 and finally passed the bill on Feb. 22, by a party-line
vote of 91-60. The joint resolution, if passed by both chambers
and approved by statewide vote, would prohibit a state court
from instructing or ordering the state legislature or any
local government to levy or increase taxes. Also, the amendment
would prohibit any Missouri court from instructing or ordering
the state or any local government on how to spend, allocate
or budget fiscal resources.
The HJR
is an obvious attempt to avoid accountability for the failure
to meet the constitutional demand to adequately and equitably
fund public education. By continuing to pursue a strong, anti-tax
policy (evidenced by passage of the enormous pension tax cut
bill, House Bill 444, at a time when Senate budget leaders
indicate the state has no surplus revenues), House leaders
seem determined to ensure that the state lacks the resources
to make the public investment Missourians expect and which
the Constitution demands. This policy will permanently cripple
the funding of K-12 and higher education, health care and
other state-supported services and sentence Missouri to permanent,
bottom-tier status in the nation. HJR 1 would undermine the
fundamental balance of governmental powers and leave the people
of Missouri with no legal recourse to hold the legislature
accountable for failure to live up to its Constitutional obligations.
Missouri NEA strongly opposes HJR 1.
SCHOOL
RETIREMENT BILLS HEADED FOR FLOOR DEBATE
Senate Bill 244 (Rob Mayer) has been reported to the floor
and placed on the Senate Perfection Calendar, meaning the
bill is now waiting in line for floor debate. The companion
House version, House Bill 625 (Tom Dempsey), was passed by
the House Rules Committee on Jan. 20 and is now on the House
Perfection Calendar awaiting floor debate. The bills will
enact a five-year extension for two key provisions of PSRS
law: the “25-and-Out” option and the enhanced
2.55 percent benefit factor for retirees with 31 years of
service or more. Both provisions will expire on June 30, 2008,
if not re-enacted prior to that date.
Missouri
NEA strongly supports both bills. A logical system for teacher
retirement must take several factors into account. Teachers
and other education employees who have 25 or more years in
the profession should continue to have the option of retiring
with a fair return for their years of service. At the same
time, educators who choose to give more years of service,
from 30 to 35 years, should be rewarded with higher levels
of retirement benefits.
STUDENT
ACHIEVEMENT
The House Special Committee on Student Achievement met on
Feb. 21 to hear House Bill 827 (Scott Muschany) requiring
the Department of Social Services to provide for the educational
needs of children placed in licensed residential care facilities.
The “family support team” established for each
such child shall make the determination as to the educational
need of the child. Services may be provided by certified teachers
employed by the facility with reimbursement from the school
district, or the school district in which the facility is
located may provide services if the child can be served in
a regular public school setting. The bill provides that the
district may only determine the child to be “homebound”
for the purpose of providing instruction if the family support
team agrees to that designation. Missouri NEA supports the
assumption expressed in the bill that every child in public
school deserves a full educational school day.
The committee
held an executive session and voted out House Committee Substitute
for H.B. 417 (Jane Cunningham). H.B. 417 changes the laws
regarding teacher certification in mathematics, science, technology,
engineering, and certain other areas, authorizes differential
and “merit” pay and establishes guidelines regarding
students transferring into a district. Missouri NEA continues
to oppose eliminating Missouri’s salary schedule law,
as the law helps support fairness in teacher compensation
in the absence of bargaining rights for teachers and other
employees. The Association also opposes the additional certification
provisions that would create another certification based on
content knowledge and technical expertise without ensuring
that teachers so certified are also properly trained in essential
teaching competencies. Also, the bill fails to support dignity
in the workplace as teachers certified under the new alternative
process would not have access to Missouri’s teacher
tenure law.
SALARIES
FOR SCHOOL NURSES
On Feb. 21, the House Special Committee on Homeland Security
heard House Bill 727 (Chuck Portwood) requiring school nurses
be paid on the same pay scale as teachers in the district,
with nurses and teachers having equivalent work history and
working hours receiving the same salary. While teacher salaries
in Missouri are generally low, school nurse salaries are often
far lower. Missouri NEA supports this effort to support fairness
and equity in compensation for school staff. After the hearing,
the committee voted the bill “do pass.”
KINDERGARTEN
VISION SCREENING
The House Special Committee on Professional Registration and
Licensing met on Feb. 22 to hear House Bill 718 (David Pearce)
requiring that each child enrolled in kindergarten or first
grade to receive a comprehensive vision examination. Missouri
NEA testified in opposition to the bill. However, MNEA supports
the objective of ensuring that all students have a vision
screening and all vision problems are diagnosed and treated
as early as possible. Rep. Pearce offered a committee substitute
to eliminate the unfunded mandate by allowing parents to “opt”
their students out of the vision exam. While this eliminates
MNEA’s opposition to the mandate, a larger concern remains
that needy children may remain unserved and, thus, struggle
in school with impaired vision. Proper vision correction is
essential to learning to read and, ultimately, to school success.
Testimony indicated that current vision screenings work well
but could benefit from further investment in training and
education. Given the belief by some that the state has a surplus,
Missouri NEA believes the state should invest funds to ensure
that all beginning students are in school and ready to learn
and that needy students get the vision exams and eyeglasses
they need to see properly in school and learn to read. This
is a far better choice for the state than to cut taxes in
a regressive way that gives the most tax benefit to wealthy
individuals and permanently reduces state revenues. The bill’s
fiscal note indicates that about $500,000 would cover the
uninsured costs of comprehensive vision exams.
LABOR
BILLS PERFECTED BY SENATE
The Senate perfected two bills relating to labor issues with
relatively little disagreement. Senate Bill 339 (Rob Mayer)
enacts revisions to the state laws regarding prevailing wage
and Project Labor Agreements. The perfected Senate Committee
Substitute reflects a compromise agreed to by contractors,
local government and labor unions. SCS/S.B.s 255 et al. (John
Loudon) corrects an unintended change enacted by Proposition
B—the initiative petition regarding the state’s
minimum wage. Proposition B inadvertently nullified an overtime
exemption for police and firefighters which had the net effect
of reducing some of their employee benefits. The perfected
S.B. 255 restores the overtime exemption and will allow police
and firefighters’ salaries and benefits to be maintained
as they were prior to Proposition B. S.B. 255 also reflects
a consensus of contractors, employers and labor unions.
AT-WILL
EMPLOYMENT DOCTRINE
On Feb. 20, the Senate Small Business Committee heard Senate
Bill 168 (Rob Mayer) that codifies the “at-will”
employment doctrine. Missouri NEA opposes the bill. The at-will
doctrine is well entrenched in Missouri law as common law.
There is no need to put the doctrine into state statute, and
doing so runs the risk of accidentally eroding worker rights
even further in Missouri, since the new statute will have
to be reinterpreted by state courts.
SEATBELTS
ON SCHOOL BUSES
On Feb. 20, the House Transportation Committee heard House
Bill 110 (Tim Flook) requiring new school buses to have shoulder
harnesses and seat belts for all occupants. The bill also
imposes a surcharge on all moving traffic violations and uses
the funds to help districts buy buses with shoulder harnesses
and seat belts.
Missouri
NEA believes that any mandate for shoulder harnesses and seat
belts on school buses should be accompanied by full state
funding for any additional district costs and full immunity
for districts and school employees for any student’s
failure to use or to misuse a shoulder harness and seat belt.
The fiscal note cost analysis and discussion indicates that
the real cost to school districts could be up to $60 million
per year and considerably greater than the funding anticipated
from the surcharge. Also, the fiscal note assumes that state
transportation aid will be funded at the 75 percent maximum
share authorized by law, while next year’s budget proposal
will not fund transportation at even 50 percent reimbursement
of district cost. Missouri NEA is also concerned that the
immunity language in the original bill may not grant full
immunity to school employees for student misuse or failure
to use seat belts.
SEX
EDUCATION STATE MANDATES
The Senate Judiciary Committee heard Senate Bill 432 (Gary
Nodler) on Feb. 19. The bill would require public school course
materials and instruction relating to human sexuality and
sexually transmitted diseases to be presented in a manner
consistent with federal abstinence education law (an abstinence
only mandate for programs receiving federal funds) and to
prevent Planned Parenthood from providing any course materials
or instruction relating to human sexuality or sexually transmitted
diseases. Missouri NEA testified in opposition to the bill
as another unneeded violation of local control. Please note:
last week’s update incorrectly reported that the House
companion bill, House Bill 716 (Cynthia Davis), was voted
out by the House Special Committee on Family Services after
being heard. While a committee had been expected after the
hearing, the vote was postponed.
EARLY CARE RATING SYSTEM DEBATED IN SENATE
The Senate began debate on Senate Bill 161 (Charlie Shields)
on Feb. 21. The bill creates a quality rating system for childcare
facilities. Missouri NEA supports the bill as a step to help
improve early childhood education in Missouri. Also, the bill
will create standards for rating daycare and early childhood
education programs and should have the effect of helping parents
compare programs with information about staffing standards
and whether programs focus on school readiness. Sen. Shields
offered a Senate Substitute for the bill. The substitute bill
was debated and several amendments were offered.
Sen. Jolie
Justus offered Senate Amendment 3 to add the provisions of
her bill (S.B. 71) regarding eligibility for child care subsidies.
The amendment carries a fiscal note of about $76 million per
year and would move Missouri significantly up from its current
rank of worst in the nation for having the harshest eligibility
criteria. When Sen. Justus moved to have a roll-call vote
on the amendment, Sen. Shields withdrew his Senate Substitute
and the bill was placed on the Informal Calendar—the
parking lot for bills that have yet to be perfected. Presumably,
many senators do not wish to vote against the amendment but
are reluctant to support the increased funding to ensure more
low-income working parents have support for quality day care
for their children. The vote would be awkward to explain for
senators who may be looking to support some version of the
big pension tax cut bill that will reduce the state’s
capacity to support vital public services, such as public
education, health care for low-income adults and child-care
subsidies.
The bill
was taken up again on Feb. 22, and Sen. Shields offered Senate
Substitute #2.
SENATE
EDUCATION COMMITTEE
The Senate Education Committee heard the following bills on
Feb. 21:
- Senate
Bill 137 (Joan Bray) allows hiring a retired teacher to
work between 550 and 800 hours without losing their retirement
benefits. MNEA supports the bill. Sen. Bray offered a proposed
Senate Committee Substitute clarifying that school districts
and community colleges may use the current “working
after retired” provision for part-time employment
in excess of 550 hours for up to two years as well as full-time
employment for up to two years. The provision is allowed
only upon completing a process to establish difficulty in
staffing the position due to shortage.
- S.B.
203 (Brad Lager) adds an additional $500 annual payment
to teachers under the Career Ladder Program. The additional
payment would be state funded and not subject to local match.
MNEA supports the bill.
- S.B.
480 (Luann Ridgeway) establishes an additional alternative
certification path using the American Board for Certification
of Teacher Excellence testing and requires the Department
of Elementary and Secondary Education to establish standards
for mentoring for beginning teachers and principals. This
bill is similar to House Bill 620 (Scott Muschany). Missouri
NEA opposes this bill to create another alternative certification
program that lacks adequate requirements to ensure that
those teachers are properly trained in essential teaching
competencies before achieving full certification. Missouri
NEA supports revisions to the existing alternative certification
program to address the weaknesses of that program with respect
to teacher preparation prior to entry into the classroom
and mentoring and support of such teachers in the first
two years. Those changes will increase the likelihood of
success on the part of the participating teachers and better
ensure quality instruction for our students during this
transitional time. Also, MNEA urges adoption of state teaching
standards as an essential part of any legislation regarding
mentoring standards.
- S.B.
189 (Tim Green) requires the superintendent of each public
school district to ensure that all students, prior to promotion
from grade nine to grade ten, attend a tour of a proximate
state correctional center.
The committee
also conducted an executive session and voted out the following
bills:
- Senate
Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 456 (Chuck Gross) compensates
St. Charles County school districts for reduced local fine
revenues due to establishment of a municipal court.
- S.B.
236 (Charlie Shields) requires the Department of Elementary
and Secondary Education to establish state standards for
mentoring beginning teachers and principals. The bill was
voted “do pass” as a Consent Bill.
HOUSE
ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee heard
the following bills on Feb. 21:
- House
Bill 29 (Jane Cunningham) establishes term limits for members
of the Governing Council of the Special School District
of St. Louis County. Currently, no term limit applies, and
each district school board selects one of its members to
serve on the governing council. Missouri NEA opposes the
term limit as an unneeded intrusion on the selection of
a school board representative from these districts.
- H.B.
35 (Jane Cunningham) requires school districts to allow
parents the opportunity to withhold permission for a child
to join school-sponsored clubs or participate in extracurricular
activities.
Also,
the committee voted out a House Committee Substitute for House
Bill 469 (Maynard Wallace) extending employee immunity to
all school board policies, not just the discipline policy.
The HCS includes Missouri NEA’s suggestion that employees
not be required to be trained to administer medication. The
HCS also includes a revised version of H.B. 228 (Mike Thomson)
to broaden the reporting of acts of school violence under
the Safe Schools Act. The HCS included Missouri NEA’s
suggestion that information regarding student offenses be
maintained in permanent student records but not permanently
marked on a student’s academic transcript. The HCS also
includes H.B. 196 (Gary Duesenberg) allowing school boards
to commission certified law enforcement officers to stop,
detain and arrest persons for local violations and certain
crimes committed on school premises, at school activities
or on buses. The motion to vote the bill out as a Consent
Bill was defeated.
CAPITOL
ACTION DAYS
MNEA’s Capitol Action Days continued this week. MNEA
members from Governance District 2, including both Springfield
and Republic locals, made the trip to the Capitol. Capitol
Action Days are a great chance to meet with legislators and
discuss Missouri NEA’s priority issues and how to support
great public schools and to educate legislators about vital
issues affecting public education.
Capitol
Action Days will be on Tuesdays and Wednesdays continuing
through the first week of May. Your MNEA calendar includes
the dates that members of the MNEA Board of Directors selected
for your governance district.
As your
Capitol Action Day approaches, please contact Otto Fajen (otto.fajen@mnea.org)
by the preceding evening to confirm your plan to attend. If
your travel plans change, and you are not able to attend on
your designated day, please call and speak to Judy Glover
at 1-800-832-0236 by no later than 9 a.m. of the designated
day to let us know of the change. Feel free to contact Otto
Fajen by e-mail to arrange to attend a different Capitol Action
Day.
Each Capitol
Action Day will start with a briefing at 10:00 a.m. to provide
you with the most up-to-date information. Participants should
meet MNEA G.R. staff at the Capitol on the second floor near
the rotunda, in the Senate side alcove under the grand staircase.
PLAN
TO ATTEND YOUR MNEA LEGISLATIVE BRUNCH
Legislative involvement is close to home at your MNEA Legislative
Brunch. The brunch is a great opportunity to visit with local
area legislators and hear a legislative briefing. Area legislative
brunch schedule:
Jefferson
County – Feb. 24, 2007
St. Charles – Mar. 3, 2007
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