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PROPERTY
TAX ROLLBACKS
The Senate Ways and Means Committee heard Senate Bill
711 (Michael Gibbons) on Jan. 28. The bill seeks to
force school districts and other local governments to
roll their tax rate back, upon reassessment, against
the current tax rate, even if the district has previously
approved a higher tax rate that is often called a “tax
rate ceiling.” The change will limit growth in
local revenues when reassessment causes significant
increases in property values and districts maintain
their prior tax rate, causing tax bills to rise by the
amount of the valuation increase.
Local
school property taxes are the largest single source
of funding for Missouri's public schools, and any proposal
that affects the setting of tax rates and the collection
of property taxes will have a significant impact on
public schools. The reassessment process is a crude
approximation to determining the true property value
of each property which generally increases incrementally
every year, just like the cost to educate a child. Missouri
NEA will strive to ensure that any such legislation
will allow school districts to maintain adequate and
stable revenues from property taxes.
QUALITY
RATING SYSTEM FOR EARLY CHILD CARE
The House Special Committee on Family Services heard
House Bill 1524 (Ward Franz) on Jan. 30. H.B. 1524 would
create a quality rating system for early child care
facilities. Missouri NEA strongly supports this effort
to evaluate programs and provide parents with information
that will improve the quality of early child care and
education programs across the state.
The
Senate Education Committee adopted a Senate Committee
Substitute for Senate Bill 726 (Charlie Shields) and
voted the bill “do pass” on Jan. 30. Sen.
Shields offered the proposed SCS and noted that one
change was to make sure that the legislature would have
to pass a resolution to approve any proposed schedule
of reimbursement based on a facility's rating, before
that reimbursement schedule would become effective.
Sen. Rita Days offered an amendment to increase the
income eligibility threshold for state child care subsidy,
in an effort to increase access to quality child care
for low income parents. The amendment was adopted and
incorporated in the SCS approved by the committee. Missouri
NEA strongly supports both the rating system and the
eligibility increase for child care subsidy as important
efforts to improve the quality of early child care and
promote more universal access to quality early child
care.
STANDARDS
FOR PETITION CIRCULATORS
The Senate Financial, Governmental Organizations and
Elections Committee heard the following Senate Bills
proposing to enact additional standards for petition
circulators: S.B. 909 (Kevin Engler), S.B. 934 (Tom
Dempsey), S.B. 954 (Delbert Scott). The bills prohibit
paying signature gatherers by the signature, a practice
that has been shown to lead to fraudulent practices.
S.B. 909 also requires signature collectors to be United
States citizens and Missouri residents and to register
with the Secretary of State prior to collecting signatures,
rather than afterwards. The committee also heard S.B.
798 (Joan Bray) which increases penalties for signing
false names on petitions.
Missouri
NEA supports all of these efforts to reduce fraud in
the signature-gathering process for initiative petitions.
These efforts will help make sure that the initiative
process is truly reflective of issues of concern to
Missourians and not merely issues of concern to well-heeled,
out-of-state interest groups willing to spend millions
of dollars and engage in questionable or fraudulent
practices to get an issue on the ballot in Missouri.
House
Bill 1407 (Bill Deeken) is similar to S.B. 909 and was
heard on Jan. 29 in the House Elections Committee. Missouri
NEA also supports that bill.
PSRS
SALARY INCREASE CAP
The Senate Pensions, Veterans' Affairs and General Laws
Committee heard Senate Bill 994 (Jason Crowell) on Jan.
30. The bill will raise the cap on annual increases
in final average salary used for calculating Public
School Retirement System retirement benefits from 10
percent to 20 percent for all employees. This bill would
undo the lower cap enacted in 2007. MNEA supports the
bill.
The
House Retirement Committee heard House Bill 1774 (Maynard
Wallace) on Jan. 31. The bill will raise the cap on
annual increases in final average salary used for calculating
PSRS retirement benefits from 10 percent to 20 percent
for building level staff, while retaining the 10 percent
cap for central office staff. MNEA supports the bill.
The committee voted out a House Committee Substitute
version of the bill which includes an emergency clause.
The bill was voted as a Consent Bill, meaning that it
will be taken up on a special calendar and will not
be subject to amendment on the House floor.
TAX
CUTS FOR CORPORATIONS AND THE WEALTHY
The House Special Committee on Tax Reform was scheduled
to hear several bills on Jan. 29, including two House
Bills that would significantly harm the fairness and
adequacy of the state taxes that support public schools
and other vital services:
1.
H.B. 1340 (Scott Muschany) would allow full deductibility
of federal income tax on state income tax returns. The
hearing for this bill was cancelled, and the bill will
likely be heard next week. This measure would ultimately
reduce state revenues by over $400 million per year.
Missouri already has an essentially “flat”
income tax for all but the lowest 20 percent of taxpayers,
since the same rate is applied to all income over $9,000.
The federal income tax, however, is “progressive,”
meaning that the rate is higher for higher incomes and
thus based more on a taxpayer's ability to pay. Allowing
full deductibility of federal income tax liability will
actually make the state income tax “regressive,”
since the increasing deduction will reduce the effective
state tax rate, but only for higher income taxpayers.
Missouri NEA believes the taxes that support great investments,
such as our public schools, should be fair, adequate
and sustainable, and MNEA strongly opposes this unfair
tax change that would undermine the revenue that supports
public education and healthcare services Missourians
need.
2.
H.B. 1551 (Bryan Stevenson) would eliminate the corporate
income tax. This measure will ultimately reduce state
revenues by about $350 million per year. Missouri already
has the lowest effective corporate income tax rate in
the country, relative to the federal corporate tax on
activity allocated to our state, among the 46 states
that actually have a corporate income tax. Corporations
benefit from public investments and public services
in Missouri just as individual citizens do, and it is
only fair that corporations doing business in Missouri
also help support those investments. Missouri NEA strongly
opposes this unfair tax change that would undermine
the revenue that supports public education and healthcare
services Missourians need.
LEGISLATIVE
ACCOUNTABILITY DODGE
The House Special Committee on General Laws heard House
Joint Resolution 41 (Jane Cunningham) on Jan. 29. The
HJR, 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. The amendment would also
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. As an alternative,
MNEA calls on the General Assembly to promote legislative
accountability and place on the statewide ballot a constitutional
amendment requiring the legislature to annually declare
whether public education and other constitutionally
required services are adequately funded and providing
that, if such services are determined to be inadequately
funded, the inadequacy shall be presumed to be due to
lack of state funding.
By
continuing to pursue a strong, anti-tax policy, 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 41 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 41.
HPV
IMMUNIZATIONS
The Senate Seniors, Families and Public Health Committee
heard Senate Bill 778 (Jolie Justus) on Jan. 29. The
bill allows female public school students enrolling
in sixth grade, at the parent or guardian's option,
to receive an immunization for the human papilloma virus.
The Department of Health and Senior Services shall prescribe
procedures for each school district to provide information
to parents or guardians of female students regarding
the connection between HPV and cervical cancer. The
bill requires health insurance companies to provide
coverage for HPV immunizations for females between the
ages of 11 and 21. Missouri NEA supports the bill as
a common sense precaution to help all students come
to school healthy and ready to learn.
EXTRACURRICULAR
ACTIVITIES
The House Special Committee on Student Achievement heard
House Bill 1480 (Jane Cunningham) on Jan. 30. The bill
would allow the Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education, at the discretion of the State Board of Education,
to have authority over public school extracurricular
competitive activities. Under the bill, no public school
could participate in an association that regulates these
activities unless the association submits its rules
and regulations to the Joint Committee on Administrative
Rules, which may request the department's recommendations.
Missouri
NEA opposes this bureaucratic intrusion on the operation
of the Missouri State High School Activities Association,
a non-governmental entity. As a non-governmental entity,
MSHSAA’s rules should not be subject to the review
of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, a committee
with oversight over the rules and proposed rules of
all governmental entities whose rules have the full
force and effect of law. Further, DESE should not be
directly involved in regulating extracurricular activities
of private and religious schools.
LABOR
ISSUES
The House Special Committee on Workforce Development
and Workplace Safety was scheduled to meet on Jan. 30
to hear several House Bills, but the hearing was cancelled.
The bills scheduled for hearing included:
1.
H.B. 1318 (Cynthia Davis) grants civil immunity on job
references. Similar to Senate Bill 713 (Michael Gibbons)
and H.B. 1314 (Jane Cunningham), which were heard last
week, this bill raises some concerns since the bill
may be construed to grant immunity even if the reference-giving
employee gives information that violates a district
confidentiality agreement concerning the former employee.
MNEA believes granting civil immunity in this situation
is both problematic and unnecessary.
2.
H.B. 1424 (Neal St. Onge) ensures that the full intent
of Proposition B from 2006, the voter-adopted initiative
to raise the state’s minimum wage, is carried
out for all workers. Missouri NEA supports the bill.
SENATE
EDUCATION COMMITTEE
The Senate Education Committee heard the following Senate
Bills on Jan. 30:
1.
S.B. 762 (Yvonne Wilson) modifies the definition of
“bullying” in a public school's “anti-bullying”
policy to include cyberbullying. Missouri NEA supports
the bill.
2.
S.B. 833 (Matt Bartle) allows full teacher certification
based on the recommendation of a mathematics or science
program without requiring the coursework in teaching
competencies and allowing school districts to pay bonuses
for mathematics and science teachers, irrespective of
collective bargaining agreements. Missouri NEA opposes
both portions of the bill. Similar to past proposals
to mandate acceptance of the American Board for Certification
of Teacher Excellence test, the bill seeks to lower
teaching standards by offering a full professional certificate
to a candidate without requiring the necessary coursework
in teaching competencies. MNEA also strongly opposes
this unworkable attempt to bypass binding collective
bargaining agreements. MNEA would not oppose allowing
school districts to offer components of alternative
teacher pay plans, including stipends for hard-to-staff
schools and hard-to-staff subject areas, provided that
any such pay plan components have been bargained locally
and have the support of the local employee organization
that is legally recognized to represent the affected
school employees.
3.
S.B. 911 (Kevin Engler) was scheduled to be heard, but
the hearing on the bill was cancelled. The bill would
allow school districts additional flexibility in make
up of school days lost due to inclement weather. If
a school district has cancelled or lost five consecutive
school days due to inclement weather and is located
in an area declared a disaster area by the governor,
the bill allows the school board to reduce the number
of days to be made up.
THE
NEW “SCARLET LETTER”
The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee
held a work session to consider a proposed House Committee
Substitute for House Bill 1314 (Jane Cunningham). The
bill includes several provisions affecting school employees,
including a provision to grant civil immunity on job
references. In the work session, committee members were
able to ask questions of agency staff involved in handling
background checks and investigations of alleged child
abuse or neglect, but lobbyists and other interested
parties were not permitted to speak. The committee discussed
many issues and made several preliminary decisions regarding
the HCS but will wait until next week to complete work
and vote on the bill.
Unfortunately,
the bill currently does nothing to improve the process
by which issues or questions regarding employee performance
or conduct are adjudicated by a school district, leaving
employees without substantive due process rights that
provide access to a fair, impartial hearing to determine
the facts in the matter. Worse, the committee is now
planning to require districts to maintain data even
on unsubstantiated reports of employee sexual misconduct
and require districts to report this data to other districts
upon request if the employee waives the right to keep
such information confidential. Failure to waive such
rights will automatically serve as a “red flag”
to a potential employer, even if the information is
related to a false allegation or wrongful termination.
This “guilty until proven innocent” presumption
will be profoundly unfair to education employees.
Without
access to an impartial process to ensure this information
is as accurate as possible, the bill will make it impossible
for many employees who have been wrongfully terminated
or wrongfully accused to be employed in other districts.
These employees will be haunted by the erroneous records
as they seek employment in other districts, with no
ability to correct the misinformation. Missouri NEA
urges the committee to include substantive due process
rights for all education employees (or the ability to
bargain due process rights locally) and remove the requirement
that districts maintain and transmit records relating
to unsubstantiated allegations. MNEA also believes granting
civil immunity in this situation is both problematic
and unnecessary.
CAPITOL
ACTION DAYS BEGIN
Capitol Action Days will start again for 2008 next week
on Tues., Feb. 5. A series of Capitol Action Days throughout
most of the session will allow planned, face-to-face
contact with legislators throughout the session. Capitol
Action Days will be on Tuesdays and Wednesdays starting
next week and 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.
If
you are not able to attend on these designated days,
feel free to contact Otto Fajen (otto.fajen@mnea.org)
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.
Typical
Capitol Action Day Agenda
10:00
a.m. Meet for briefing, 2nd floor Capitol rotunda, Senate
side alcove under the grand staircase
10:15 a.m. Visit with your legislator/watch floor debate
12:00 noon Invite legislator to lunch
1:00-4:30
p.m. Committee hearings, floor debate, visiting legislators
MISSOURI
NEA’S COMPREHENSIVE G.R. PROGRAM
Missouri NEA will depend upon a grassroots lobbying
effort led by MNEA and carried out by our Government
Relation Teams and our membership. Our teachers and
other staff must take the initiative to contact legislators
about the key issues affecting public education.
Here's
what you can do to support MNEA's legislative agenda:
1.
Be a part of your local Government Relations Team.
2.
Take the initiative to contact local legislators now
to discuss our key issues.
3.
Attend the legislative brunch in your area.
4.
Attend the Missouri NEA Capitol Action Days for your
governance district. Capitol Action Days begin in early
February and include most Tuesdays and Wednesdays through
May 13.
5.
Receive and read the daily MNEA Daily Legislative Update
2008 via email while the legislature is in session from
January to May.
6.
Visit the Missouri Legislative Action Center: http://capwiz.com/nea/mo/state/main/?state=MO.
The
Missouri Legislative Action Center is a convenient,
Web-based way to lobby state legislators (and other
elected officials) on key education issues. MLAC uses
a program called CapWiz to make sending an e-mail on
a priority issue quick and easy. As priority issues
move forward this session, the MNEA Daily Legislative
Update will provide links to Action Alerts on the MLAC
Web-site.
FINDING INFORMATION ABOUT BILLS
To find out more about legislation this session, go
to: http://www.mnea.org/capitol/legissues.htm.
This
page contains numerous links, including the NEA Legislative
Action Center, which addresses key education issues
at the federal level, and the Missouri NEA Legislative
Action Center, which will address key education issues
at the state level. This page also will contain links
to legislative updates, the MNEA Legislative Platform,
legislative priorities and other policy-related links.
To
find information about a specific bill currently pending
before the Missouri General Assembly, go to:
http://www.house.mo.gov/billcentral.aspx.
Type the bill number (example: H.B.1000) or sponsor
name in the “search” box to find a link
to the bill. This link will take you to a “home
page” for the bill that provides bill text, bill
summaries, fiscal notes and information on legislative
action on the bill.
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:
St.
Charles – Mar. 8, 2008
St. Louis – Mar. 15, 2008
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