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LEGISLATURE RETURNS FROM SPRING BREAK
The legislature returned to session on Monday, March 26. MNEA’s
Capitol Action Days will take a break this week and start
again on April 3.
HOUSE
COMMITTEE PASSES SCHOOL RETIREMENT BILL, BUT IS IT THE END
OF THE LINE?
The House Special Committee on Retirement heard Senate Bill
244 (Rob Mayer) on March 29. The bill will enact a five-year
extension for two key provisions of Public School Retirement
System 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 the bill. 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.
The committee
adopted House Committee Amendment 1 (Danielle Moore) that
includes an additional benefit for already retired members
over age 75 who have reached the 80 percent cost-of-living
adjustment cap. Rep. Maynard Wallace offered an amendment
to the amendment to delay the effective date for this change
until the system contribution rates return to 10.5 percent
for the PSRS and five percent for the Public Education Employee
Retirement System, as provided in current law for other benefit
increases, but his amendment was defeated. Missouri NEA urged
the committee not to include HCA 1, since the amendment has
an extra cost that may cause the bill not to be taken up on
the House floor and, thus, kill the bill. The committee also
adopted HCA 3 (Sara Lampe) that limits increases in final
average salary used for calculating retirement benefits to
the district average increase over the same years. The committee
incorporated the two amendments into House Committee Substitute/S.B.
244. Despite this setback, Missouri NEA will continue to seek
every opportunity to ensure that the “25-and-Out”
and enhanced 2.55 percent benefit factor are extended.
TABOR
RETURNS
The House Budget Committee will hear House Joint Resolution
20 (Carl Bearden) on April 3. HJR 20 is a constitutional spending
limit similar to the Colorado provision known as “TABOR,”
or the so-called “Taxpayer Bill of Rights.” The
HJR would impose a permanent, constitutional spending limit
on state government and would limit annual growth in state
appropriations to a cost-of-living adjustment factor plus
a population growth factor.
Missouri
NEA strongly opposes this unneeded restriction. Legislators
should be able to construct a consensus revenue estimate and
appropriate according to that estimate. HJR 20’s limit
would cause Missouri government to shrink year-after-year
relative to the size of the overall economy. This measure
will permanently diminish the state’s capacity to provide
appropriate levels of public service and will ultimately make
the state a less desirable place to live and reduce the state’s
ability to attract desirable employers.
TAX
CREDIT VOUCHER BILL ON SENATE CALENDAR
Senate Bill 698 (Luann Ridgeway) is now on the Senate perfection
calendar. The Senate will likely take the bill up at some
point during this session. The bill will face considerable
opposition in the Senate and is not expected to reach a vote,
but Sen. Charlie Shields, the Senate Majority Floor Leader,
is expected to, at least, give the bill some floor time for
discussion.
Like its
House companion bill, House Bill 808 (Carl Bearden), S.B.
698 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 and Kansas City.
Missouri
NEA strongly opposes S.B. 698 and any measure to transfer
state funds to private, religious or home schools that are
not accountable to all of the standards placed on public schools.
MNEA appreciates the continuing effort by members in opposing
passage of the bill.
MOHELA
BILL FUTURE UNCLEAR
The Senate debated Senate Substitute 3/Senate Committee Substitute/Senate
Bill 389 (Gary Nodler) at great length during the week before
spring break. The bill makes several changes relating to higher
education, including language relating to the sale of assets
of the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority and providing
funds to higher education institutions for capital projects.
No deal has been reached on the list of projects to be funded
or even on whether to approve the use of MOHELA assets as
a funding source. The bill does appear headed for further
debate, as Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons has stated
that passage of the bill is a priority. The bill’s supporters
seem unwilling to consider alternative funding schemes, such
as bonding, to support the capital projects. Thus, further
debate appears likely to include a lengthy filibuster and,
ultimately, a decision by Senate leaders on whether to shut
off debate by moving the “previous question,”
a divisive tactic rarely used in the Senate. Missouri NEA
continues to have strong concerns regarding the impact of
the tuition caps on the quality of programs and the effect
of the MOHELA asset sale on the ability of that entity to
fulfill its core mission of providing financial assistance
to Missouri students.
SENATE
DEBATES HIGHER EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIPS/GAMBLING LOSS LIMIT
REPEAL
The Senate debate on Senate Bill 430 (Charlie Shields) began
on March 27 and continued until 4:00 a.m. the next morning,
when the bill was laid over without a final vote. S.B. 430
creates the Smart Start Scholarship Program. The program is
a significant expansion of the approach of the A+ schools
program to support two-year scholarship grants for graduating
high school seniors. The scholarships would be supported by
a separate funding source generated by repealing the $500
loss limits on riverboat gambling boats and enacting an additional
one percent state assessment on gambling proceeds over $30
million per boat. Scholarships could be used at approved public
and private institutions and proprietary schools in Missouri.
Sen. Shields
withdrew the original Senate Substitute and offered S.S. 2.
Sen. Chuck Purgason offered Senate Amendment 1 to send the
entire bill to a statewide vote for final approval rather
than to the governor for signature. The amendment was defeated
by a vote of 10-23. Several amendments were offered and debated
to increase the gambling boat tax by more than the one percent
increase from the original bill, but the amendments were ultimately
withdrawn. Several amendments were offered to revise the cap
on the allowable number of riverboat gambling boats, and the
bill was laid with an amendment pending.
Missouri
NEA supports the concept of the bill to expand affordable
access to higher education and increase educational attainment
in Missouri. The MNEA urges that scholarships also be available
to students who have a General Equivalency Diploma and other
non-traditional students with high school credentials. MNEA
believes that a significant statewide scholarship program
such as this should be funded by a general revenue appropriation
supported by a general tax rather than by a tax on gambling.
The use of riverboat gambling funds may also raise constitutional
issues regarding the use of scholarship funds at private institutions,
since the Missouri Constitution specifies that all state revenues
from riverboat gambling shall be appropriated “solely
for the public institutions of elementary, secondary and higher
education.”
HOUSE
PASSES BUDGET BILLS
On March 28, the House gave first round approval to House
Bill 2 (Allen Icet), the K-12 education appropriations bill
and H.B. 3 (Allen Icet), the higher education appropriations
bill. The bills were Third Read and passed on March 29 on
a party-line basis. H.B. 2 was passed by a vote of 97-61.
H.B. 3 was passed by a vote of 96-60. The bills have a few
differences from the governor’s recommendations; however,
H.B. 2 includes a $5 million increase for transportation and
a $2.6 million increase to the virtual school funding.
This year,
the budget bills went directly to the Budget Committee, while
the Appropriations Committees held hearings on various programs
and developed recommendations for the Budget Committee, including
increases for transportation, virtual schools and vocational
rehabilitation.
The Budget
Committee began with presentations from the appropriation
chairs regarding the recommendations from their committees.
The Budget Committee completed the mark-up process on H.B.
2 and passed three small amendments. One amendment added $100,000
to the Scholars and Fine Arts Academies, another cut $80,000
from Career Ladder to fund another blind skilled-specialist
and a third allows private donations to charter schools.
Amendments
were offered to H.B. 2 in floor debate to reduce the funding
for virtual schools from $5.2 million to $2.6 million and
move the money to the formula or to early childhood, but both
amendments were defeated. Several amendments were adopted
to revise the funding language for the blind skilled-specialist.
Rep. Jeanette Oxford offered an amendment to give the Department
of Elementary and Secondary Education staff a flat pay raise,
rather than proportional, to give more of the increase to
low wage employees. The amendment was defeated.
H.B. 3
was taken up on March 27. Rep. Oxford offered the same amendment
to give Divison of Higher Education staff a flat pay raise,
and the amendment was defeated. H.B. 3 was taken up again
on March 28 and Rep. Mark Bruns offered House Amendment 2
to add $640,000 to draw down federal land grant funds for
Lincoln University.
Significant
changes are seldom adopted on the House floor since, for every
increase, there must first be adopted a corresponding decrease
elsewhere in the budget. Budget decreases are not easily adopted
in a budget ravaged by years of relentless cutting. Funding
for K-12 education, higher education and other services, such
as health care, is already inadequate to meet the real needs
of Missourians. Missouri NEA continues to advocate for comprehensive
tax reform that will produce adequate revenues for public
education and other vital services and allow adoption of a
budget that truly meets the needs of Missouri’s citizens.
SEX
EDUCATION MANDATE DEBATED IN SENATE
The Senate debated Senate Committee Substitute/Senate Bill
370, 375 and 432 (Delbert Scott) on March 28. The bill includes
various provisions relating to abortion services and alternatives
to abortions and includes the provisions of S.B. 432 (Gary
Nodler) that establishes additional mandates on human sexuality
instruction in public schools. After about six hours of inquiry,
discussion and leisurely debate, the bill was laid back over
without a final vote. Missouri NEA continues to oppose the
additional mandates and restrictions on human sexuality instruction
contained in the bill as unneeded restrictions on local control
of curriculum and instruction.
HOUSE
COMMITTEE HEARS BILL TO REPEAL INCOME TAX
The House Special Committee on Tax Reform heard House Bill
1034 (Ed Emery) on March 27. The bill would submit, for statewide
approval in November 2008, a proposal to eliminate the state
income tax and replace it entirely with an additional state
sales tax. Missouri NEA believes that taxes should be fair,
adequate and sustainable and strongly opposes the bill, since
it fails to meet any of those values. The bill would remove
the one state tax that can be levied in proportion to a taxpayer’s
ability to pay: the income tax. This proposal is a state version
of a national effort to repeal the federal income tax and
replace it with a 23 percent federal sales tax. Such heavy
use of the sales tax is massively unfair to low income persons
and will give huge tax cuts to taxpayers with the highest
incomes, the greatest ability to pay and generally the largest
benefit from use of public investment supported by taxation.
SENATE
PERFECTS INCREASE TO SCHOOL BONDING LIMIT
The Senate gave first round approval to Senate Joint Resolution
8 (Luann Ridgeway) on March 28. SJR 8 would submit, to statewide
vote, a proposed constitutional amendment to increase the
allowable school bond limit for school districts from 15 percent
of a district’s total assessed value to 20 percent of
the district’s total assessed value.
SENATE
EDUCATION COMMITTEE
The Senate Education Committee heard the following Senate
Bill bills on March 28:
- S.B.
688 (Michael Gibbons) creates a legislative task force on
improving urban education. Missouri NEA supports this common
sense step to explore positive steps to help urban public
schools.
- S.B.
652 (Maida Coleman) creates a legislative task force on
improving urban education. Missouri NEA supports the bill.
- S.B.
448 (Maida Coleman) establishes the process for recall elections
for school board members. The MNEA supports this legislation
to provide for a recall procedure for elected school board
members who are not serving the needs of the district.
- S.B.
551 (Maida Coleman) repeals the statute authorizing the
creation of the transitional school district in the city
of St. Louis. The transitional school district board will
take over control of the St. Louis City schools as of July
1, 2007, based on the State Board of Education’s March
22 determination that the district will be classified as
unaccredited. The State Board of Education has appointed
Richard Sullivan, a St. Louis businessman, to be the CEO
of the three-person governing board. The mayor of St. Louis
and the president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen will
appoint the remaining two members. The St. Louis Public
School board will continue to exist but will have no governance
powers over the district.
- S.B.
690 (Jeff Smith) creates the “Metropolitan School
District Improvement Act.” The bill includes many
provisions, most of which are limited to apply only to St.
Louis Public Schools. The provisions include “mega-looping,”
differential pay for teachers, performance pay for improving
schools, additional requirements for student assessments,
teacher assessments, alternative education, early childhood
education, school uniforms, after-school programs and longer
school day and longer school year. While the MNEA supports
the positive portions of the bill, other provisions raise
strong concerns, including the differential pay for teachers,
the extra mandates on student assessment and teacher assessment
and the mandated longer school year and school day.
S.B. 689
(Jeff Smith) was scheduled to be heard, but was not heard.
S.B. 689 creates the “Missouri Public Charter School
State Board.” The board shall consist of representatives
of the general assembly, charter school boards and charter
sponsors. The lieutenant governor shall serve ex officio as
chair of the board and one member of the State Board of Education
shall serve ex officio as vice chair. The board’s duties
include: compiling best practices for charter schools; analysis
of gaps in educational services; granting charters; adopting
rules to allow charter schools serving at-risk youth or theme-based
charter schools to receive transfer students from other districts;
reporting to the governor and general assembly on proposed
statutory and regulatory changes to improve charter schools;
and, contracting with chartering entities to provide sponsorship
oversight functions.
Missouri
NEA has several serious concerns regarding the bill. The MNEA
believes the charter board’s proposed duties would overlap
and conflict with the responsibilities of the State Board
of Education as the ultimate oversight authority for all charter
schools. The substantial representation on the charter board
from nonprofit charter school boards would not provide the
full public accountability needed for such a statewide entity.
The charter board also does not appear to have the technical
capacity to sponsor charter schools. Lastly, the option to
admit students from other districts will open the bill up
to the issues of the open enrollment debate.
HOUSE HIGHER EDUCATION
The House Higher Education Committee held an executive session
on March 27 and voted out the following House Bills:
- H.B.
532 (Nathan Cooper) requires students entering public higher
education institutions to take American history and American
literature courses in order to graduate. A House Committee
Substitute version was voted “do pass.”
- H.B.
249 (Danielle Moore) establishes the Missouri Senior Cadets
Program. The bill was voted “do pass."
H.B.
613 (Bryan Pratt) was scheduled for consideration, but no
action was taken. The bill requires that one voting member
of the governing boards of certain state institutions of higher
education be a full-time student.
CAPITOL
ACTION DAYS
MNEA’s Capitol Action Days will return next week, on
April 3. 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 for every child.
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 1-800-392-0236 no later than 9:00 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 Government Relations staff at the Capitol on the
second floor near the rotunda in the Senate side alcove under
the grand staircase.
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