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By
Otto Fajen
MNEA Legislative Director
Number
17
May 8, 2009
BUDGET
COMPLETED
The House and Senate completed action on all budget
bills by late evening on May 7, one day ahead of the
constitutional deadline. The House took up and passed
the Conference Committee Report on each of the operating
budget bills, House Bills 2-12 (Allen Icet) except for
H.B. 11, the social services budget bill, on May 6.
However, final House action on those bills was delayed
until May 7 as each bill was laid over before the Conference
Committee Substitute was given final approval. This
procedural move allowed the House to hold onto all of
the other budget bills until conference committee action
was completed on the remaining budget bills.
H.B.
2 (Allen Icet), the K-12 education budget bill, was
given final approval (third reading vote) on May 7 by
a largely party-line vote of 94-58 in the House and
a nearly unanimous 31-1 vote in the Senate. The respective
floor votes are illustrative of the way the respective
budgeting committees in the two chambers work: more
partisan in the House and less partisan in the Senate.
H.B.
3 (Allen Icet), the higher education budget bill, was
given final approval (third reading vote) on May 7 by
a vote of 144-13 in the House and 29-4 in the Senate.
H.B.
11 (Allen Icet), the social services budget bill, was
the most controversial of the operating budget bills.
The House took up and then defeated CCR#1 on H.B. 11
by a 75-85 party-line vote after lengthy and, at times,
heated debate over a proposal to restore healthcare
services for low-income working parents at or below
50 percent of Federal Poverty Level. The proposal was
supported by both caucuses in the Senate, the House
minority caucus, most major business and social services
advocacy groups across the state and was supported by
Missouri NEA; but, the House majority caucus was able
to block the funding for this essential healthcare service
for low-income, working parents. The bill was sent back
to conference and the conferees agreed to a new report
(CCR#2) that calls for funding for the healthcare for
low-income parents only if Senate Bill 306 (Tom Dempsey)
passes this session. The House and Senate finally passed
CCR#2 for H.B. 11 on May 7. S.B. 306 will likely be
taken up by the House early next week but, like any
other bill still moving through the process, faces an
uncertain future during the contentious last week of
session.
The
Senate gave final approval to Senate Committee Substitute
for House Committee Substitute 21 (Allen Icet) on May
6. The House agreed to the Senate version and finally
passed the bill late on May 7. H.B. 21 contains over
$2.2 billion in federal stimulus funding, including
about $500 million in additional funding for public
schools, primarily through federal Title I and special
education funding formulas.
The
Senate passed Senate Substitute for SCS/HCS/H.B. 22
(Allen Icet) on May 6. This version of H.B. 22 contains
about $380 million in federal stabilization funding
over the next two years, with about $348 million allocated
for the first year.
The
House gave final approval to SCS/HCS/H.B. 17 (Allen
Icet) on May 7. The bill contains about $560 million
in capital spending for various agencies over the next
two years, including about $247 million in capital projects
for public higher education institutions.
UNION
SUPPRESSION
The House gave final approval (third reading vote) to
House Joint Resolution 37 (Mike Cunningham) on May 4
by a vote of 82-76. The Senate General Laws Committee
heard the HJR on May 7 and voted the resolution “do
pass” by a party line vote of 5-2. It is likely
to be taken up on the Senate floor some time next week
before the legislature adjourns on May 15.
The
HJR is a proposal brought forward by the opponents of
House Resolution 1409, the federal Employee Free Choice
Act. The EFCA is intended to reduce employers’
ability to intimidate employees and undermine union
support in representation elections. HJR 37 is a state-level
effort to negate the effect of the EFCA in Missouri.
Missouri
NEA strongly opposes HJR 37. Rather than passing this
harmful, anti-union measure, the Missouri NEA urges
the legislature to enact an effective bargaining law
that treats all public employees fairly.
SENATE
BILL 291 (OMNIBUS EDUCATION BILL) AWAITS FLOOR DEBATE
The House Fiscal Review Committee met on May 7 and approved
House Committee Substitute for Senate Substitute for
Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 291 (Charlie
Shields). The committee initially held off on approving
the bill until it received further information about
the cost of the minimum salary proposal later in the
day. The bill has been “noticed” for debate
by Majority Floor Leader Steve Tilley and is likely
to come up for floor debate early next week. HCS/S.B.
291 has a lengthy fiscal note and an estimated cost
that could exceed $100 million per year. Several of
the more costly items within the bill, such as the A+
Schools expansion, Missouri Promise Program, Bright
Flight improvements, Volunteer and Parents Incentive
Program and minimum teacher salary provisions may have
to be removed to move the bill forward this session.
The
original S.B. 291 allows school districts to offer virtual
courses to resident students and count the courses for
formula aid purposes. The HCS now includes many other
provisions affecting collective bargaining, school funding,
school governance and transition, retirement, early
childhood, teaching standards, four-day school week,
bullying policy, charges against school employees, minimum
teacher salaries, inclement weather make-up days, school
records, special education, charter schools, open enrollment,
A+ Schools expansion, college enrollment of undocumented
aliens, school facilities, school activities, physical
education, alternative certification for finance teachers,
criminal background checks, volunteering, mentoring,
performance pay schemes and many other provisions.
The
Missouri NEA supported the original bill, including
the school funding provisions, teaching standards, school
records, dropout prevention, charter schools and continuity
of education for children in foster care. However, the
Association currently opposes the HCS, particularly,
because of the collective bargaining provisions that
would deny teachers the right to bargain collectively
through a representative of their own choosing and the
provisions that stigmatize innocent employees wrongly
accused of misconduct.
The
Association will seek to have these concerns addressed
on the House floor or to have the problematic provisions
removed from the bill in conference, if the bill continues
to move.
SENATE
EDUCATION COMMITTEE
The Senate Education Committee voted out two bills on
May 6:
1.
Senate Committee Substitute for House Committee Substitute
for House Bill 96 (Maynard Wallace) relates to school
safety. The SCS adds Senate Bill 79 (Yvonne Wilson)
relating to school board policies on cyberbullying and
language offered by Sen. Scott Rupp requiring school
boards to adopt policies on the use of seclusion rooms
for special education students. The SCS also revises
language regarding limiting suspended students from
attending school activities. The Missouri NEA supports
the bill.
2.
SCS/HCS/H.B. 390 (Jerry Nolte) relates to undocumented
aliens and public institutions of higher education.
Missouri NEA opposed the bill as it came from the House.
However, the SCS removes from the bill the ban on enrollment
of undocumented aliens in public institutions of higher
education while retaining the correction language needed
by the higher education institutions to fix problems
created by passage of last year’s H.B. 1549 (Bob
Onder) and ensures that foreign exchange students can
enroll at Missouri’s public institutions. The
Missouri NEA appreciates the work of Sen. Rupp and the
rest of the committee in solving the technical issues
regarding foreign exchange students without creating
additional state barriers to resolution of the immigration
issue at the federal level.
HOUSE
ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee
met on May 6 and heard two bills:
1.
House Bill 1102 (Maynard Wallace) relates to school
improvement. It revises the distribution of Prop A gambling
revenues, removes the school formula summer school penalty
and increases funding for the Small Schools Grant program.
The bill also contains some promising new provisions,
including the option of reduced, flexible classroom
attendance for high school students also pursuing higher
education or a job aligned with a career academic plan.
The bill would also change the compulsory attendance
from age 16 years to completion of 16 high school credit
hours.
However,
the bill contains new provisions pertaining to loosely-defined
“chronically-failing” schools that presume
student academic deficiencies are caused by poor performance
of educators and would cause many principals and teachers
to be fired and would eliminate teacher tenure in many
affected schools. The Association urges the legislature
to focus on a more positive approach that uses best
practices, including a commitment to high teaching standards,
investment in professional development for teachers
and principals, substantive due process and a fair collective
bargaining law.
2.
Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 117 (Timothy
Green) revises the school formula calculation for Riverview
Gardens to correct a prior error in tax rate placement
that affects state aid to the district. The Missouri
NEA supports the bill.
NO
TAX JUSTICE IN “FAIR” TAX
The Senate Ways and Means Committee continued the hearing
on House Committee Substitute for House Joint Resolution
36 (Ed Emery) on May 5 allowing additional testimony
from opponents. It was not voted on after the hearing
was completed. The bill eliminates the state income
tax and replaces it with a state sales tax. The state
needs a fair, adequate and sustainable tax policy to
fund investment in public schools and other vital services.
However, the joint resolution would make Missouri’s
tax code profoundly less fair, less adequate and less
sustainable. Missouri NEA strongly opposes this type
of regressive tax change that will keep Missouri from
obtaining the revenue it needs to invest in public schools,
public higher education and other vital public services
like healthcare.
The
resolution is supposed to be revenue neutral in the
aggregate, but it will shift taxes from wealthier taxpayers
to the working poor and middle class. Also, based on
the fiscal note, the joint resolution would fall at
least $2.2 billion short of replacing the roughly $6
billion in state income tax eliminated by the joint
resolution, and a higher sales tax rate will be needed.
PHYSICAL
EDUCATION BILL DEFEATED IN SENATE COMMITTEE
The Senate Ways and Means Committee heard House Committee
Substitute for House Bill 509 (Rick Stream) on May 6.
After the hearing, the committee adopted an amendment
to remove the provisions relating to school nutrition
and then defeated the bill during executive session.
The bill requires school districts to have physical
education programs meeting certain requirements. Missouri
NEA supports the intent of the bill: a strong commitment
from all schools to support a comprehensive program
of student wellness, including emphasis on good nutrition
and physical activity. However, the Association continues
to have a concern that the use of another state mandate
for physical education may create unintended consequences
for other instructional disciplines, such as fine arts
and social studies.
STANDARDS
FOR PETITION CIRCULATORS
The Senate Financial and Governmental Organizations
and Elections Committee heard House Bill 228 (Mike Parson)
on May 4. The bill contains additional standards for
petition circulators: prohibits paying signature gatherers
by the signature, a practice that has been shown to
lead to fraudulent practices; requires signature collectors
to be Missouri residents; prohibits a person who has
committed forgery from collecting signatures; requires
signature gatherers to register in advance with the
Secretary of State and swear by affidavit that they
will comply with all requirements regarding petition
signature gathering; and, increases penalties for signing
false names on petitions.
Missouri
NEA supports this effort to reduce fraud in the signature-gathering
process for initiative petitions. These efforts will
help ensure that the initiative process is truly reflective
of issues of concern to Missourians.
CAPITOL
ACTION DAYS
MNEA Capitol Action Days allow planned, face-to-face
contact with legislators throughout the legislative
session. Capitol Action Days for 2009 concluded on Wednesday,
May 6 when 19 Governance District 11 and MNEA-R members
visited the Capitol. Missouri NEA appreciates the participation
of all those who came to Capital Action Days this session.
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