By Otto Fajen, Director of Legislative Policy
CAPITOL ACTION DAYS
Capitol Action Days are part of the Association's plan to promote positive policy for public education. MNEA's Capitol Action Days occur regularly on Wednesdays during legislative session and continued on February 18th. Participating members come to the Capitol to get a briefing and meet with their legislators. For more information and to register for your Capitol Action Day, please visit https://www.mnea.org/CAD
HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE
The House Budget Committee heard testimony from Commissioner Boggs and state higher education staff regarding the Governor's budget proposal for HB 3 regarding higher education on February 17.
The committee also heard from State Treasurer Malek regarding the portion of HB 12 pertaining to the Treasurer's budget. The committee had extensive questioning and discussion regarding the state's tax credit voucher program and this year's additional funding from general revenue for that program. MNEA believes this funding is unconstitutional, and the Association's court case against it is still pending in circuit court.
The committee completed all presentations of the Governor's budget proposal. The next step for the committee in the coming weeks will be to debate and approve the committee versions of the budget bills.
HOUSE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
The committee heard four bills on February 18:
HB 2304 (Philip Oehlerking) would require parental consent for substantive changes in placement for students with a disability. The Association believes that general and special education teachers, parents, and other professionals, as appropriate, must share in all planning and decision-making that involve placement and provision of services for students with special needs. The Association supports the bill.
HB 2913 (Bill Irwin) and HB 3228 (Kathy Steinhoff) would provide teachers with immunity if the teacher intervenes in an incident involving violence or defends themself at school. The Association supports the bills.
HB3239 (Josh Hurlbert) would move the current state adult virtual high school program into the Missouri Course Access Program (MOCAP).
The committee also approved two bills:
HCS/HBs 2230 & 2978 (Tricia Byrnes) requires board policies that specify applicable limits on the use of technology for student learning practices in elementary schools, leaving the specific provisions of the policies under local control. The Association appreciates the concern and recognition of the impact of screen use on learning and child development and supports the HCS version of the bill.
HCS/HB 2335 (Ann Kelley) would modify laws governing school employee training requirements. The bill allows more local control of the annual training schedule for employees with more than three years of experience. The HCS extends local control over newly enacted training requirements from last session. The Association supports the bill.
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
The committee heard five bills on February 17:
SB 1194 (Ben Brown) and SB 1653 (Curtis Trent) are similar to HB 2710 (Dane Diehl) and would create an A-F school report card for public schools based primarily on state-mandated, standardized tests. The Association believes these measures would undermine local control and opposes the bills.
SB 1238 (Nick Schroer) would mandate instruction on the positive impacts of religion on American history. The Association opposes this unnecessary intrusion on local control of curriculum and instruction.
SB 892 (Jill Carter) would require the State Board of Education to publish its annual report on the DESE website.
SB 1383 (Barbara Washington) would require the current agricultural education pilot program to be implemented at all elementary schools statewide.
The committee also approved three bills on February 17:
SCS/SB 1029 (Rick Brattin) requires school districts to maintain an easily accessible online record of all money the district receives and spends.
SCS/SB 1085 (Joe Nicola) prohibits school staff interaction with students regarding social transition. The bill requires a school district to terminate and seek license revocation of any teacher for any violation of the bill. The Association believes this unnecessary and vague language is unfair and will adversely affect teacher recruitment and retention. The Association opposes the bill.
SB 1351 (Joe Nicola) changes the term of office for members of the Independence School District school board from six years to three years. The Association supports the bill.
PROPERTY TAXES
The House reconsidered perfection of HCS/HBs 2780 & 2668 (Tim Taylor) on February 17 and re-referred the bill to the House Special Committee on Property Tax Reform. Several concerns were raised, including that the bill inadvertently requires all municipal and school board elections to be held at November elections. The Association opposes two provisions in the perfected bill: 1) including new construction in reassessment rollback calculations, and 2) requiring all local levy elections to be held on November election dates. The committee will divide the content of the bill back into the two separate bills and vote on revised bills early next week.
The House finally approved HB 1766 (Mike McGirl) regarding personal property on February 18. The bill now proceeds to the Senate for its consideration. The bill provides that an increase in the total value of personal property over the previous year will be subject to tax rollback, rather than being excluded as new construction.
The House perfected HB 1790 (Jim Murphy) regarding approval of tax levies on February 18. The bill revises labeling of local ballot issues, documentation of projected cost per $100,000 value, and duration and adjustment of approved levy increases.
The House also perfected HB 2178 (Chad Perkins) regarding assessment of property on February 18. A key provision would limit assessment increases to fifteen percent during a reassessment cycle. The House amended additional provisions regarding local ballot issues and approval of tax levies that resemble provisions in HB 1790.
POLICIES ON ANTISEMITISM
The House finally passed HB 2061 (George Hruza) on February 16 by a vote of 109-21. The bill would require policies against discrimination and antisemitism in public schools and public colleges and universities.
RECONSIDERATION OF LIBRARY MATERIALS
The House Emerging Issues Committee heard HB 3005 (Doyle Justus) on February 16. The bill requires public library boards and school boards to have a policy governing the reconsideration of materials in a public library or public-school library. The bill includes general provisions regarding requests for reconsideration, appeals, and options for removal or relocation. The bill also includes employment protections for librarians who refuse to remove or relocate items before the items have been reviewed under the policy.