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STANDING COMMITTEE
February 6, 2006
Room W135, West Office Building, State Capitol Complex
Rep. LaVar Christensen, Vice Chair
Rep. Duane Bourdeaux
Rep. John Dougall
Rep. James A. Ferrin
Rep. James R. Gowans
Rep. David L. Hogue
Rep. Kory M. Holdaway
Rep. Gregory H. Hughes
Rep. Bradley T. Johnson
Rep. Carol Spackman Moss
Rep. Merlynn T. Newbold
Rep. LaWanna Shurtliff
Rep. Stephen Urquhart
MEMBERS ABSENT: Rep. Ron Bigelow
STAFF PRESENT: Constance C. Steffen Policy Analyst
Barbara Thomas, Committee Secretary
Dee S Larsen, Associate General Counsel
Note: List of visitors and copy of handouts are filed with committee minutes.
Chair Rep. Dayton called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m.
Rep. Moss gave a brief lesson on English grammar.
Patrick Ogden, Associate Superintendent, Utah State Office of Education, answered "no" in response to a question about whether state income tax monies have ever been used purposes other than education.
H.B. 201 Fee Waiver Eligibility Verification (Rep. K. Holdaway)
Rep. Holdaway introduced the bill which amends eligibility verification provisions for fee waiver applicants.
MOTION: Rep. Newbold moved to amend the bill as follows:
1. Page 4, Lines 93 through 94 :
93 (6) Notwithstanding the requirements under Subsection (5)
[[
,
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:
(a) a school is not required to
(a) a school is not required to
94 keep documentation on file after the verification is completed
[[
.
]]
;and
(b) a fee waiver may be awarded based upon the current income of a student's parents, if due to a recent loss in income, the student's parents are not able to pay a fee.
The motion passed with Rep. Dayton, Rep. Ferrin, and Rep. Shurtliff voting in opposition and Rep. Bigelow, Rep, Dougall, Rep. Hughes, Rep. Johnson and Rep. Urquhart absent for the vote.
MOTION: Rep. Hogue moved to pass the bill out favorably. The motion passed unanimously with Rep. Bigelow, Rep. Dougall, Rep. Hughes, Rep. Johnson and Rep. Urquhart absent for the vote.
H.B. 192 Instructional Materials for Disabled Students (Rep. D. G. Buxton)
Rep. Buxton said the bill requires publishers providing instructional materials for higher education to provide the materials in an electronic format for use by disabled students at no additional cost. He indicated that this requirement is in place for the public education system.
Joe Pete Wilson, Director of Disability Services, University of Utah, explained that centers already exist in the system of higher education to request instructional materials for disabled students. He noted that four other states have legislation similar to the bill.
Leslie Gerstch spoke in support of the bill.
MOTION: Rep. Gowans moved to pass the bill out favorably. The motion passed with Rep. Dayton voting in opposition and Rep. Bigelow, Rep. Dougall, Rep. Hughes, Rep
Johnson, and Rep. Urquhart absent for the vote.
S.B. 56 Secondary School Amendments (Sen. D. C. Buttars)
Was not considered
S.B. 96 Public Education - Instruction and Policy Relating to the Origins of Life (Sen. D. C. Buttars)
Was not considered
H.B. 107 Full-day Kindergarten (Rep. K. Holdaway)
MOTION: Rep. Holdaway moved to delete in title and in body HB 107 and replace it with 1st Substitute HB 107. The motion passed unanimously with Rep. Bigelow, Rep. Dougall, Rep. Hughes, Rep. Johnson, and Rep. Urquhart absent for the vote.
Rep. Holdaway reviewed the provisions of the substitute bill.
Supt. Patti Harrington, Superintendent of Public Instruction, reported that publicly provided early childhood education is becoming increasingly common throughout the nation. She noted some of the benefits of full-day kindergarten.
Supt. Harrington responded that the $7,000,000 was based on being able to serve students in Title 1 schools.
The following spoke in support of the bill:
Joellen Kilpatrick, Salt Lake City School District
Sharon Adams, Salt Lake City School District
Mary Kay Kirkland, Assistant Superintendent, Box Elder School District
Dave Adamson, Superintendent, Park City School District
Christine Kearl, Governor's Office
The following spoke in opposition to the bill:
Laurie Updike, parent and educator
MOTION: Rep. Hogue moved to pass the bill out favorably. The motion passed with Rep. Dougall, Rep. Hughes, Rep. Newbold, Rep. Christensen, and Rep. Dayton voting in favor and Rep. Bigelow, Rep. Johnson and Rep. Urquhart absent for the vote.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 a.m.
____________________________ Rep. Margaret Dayton, Chair