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MINUTES OF HOUSE EDUCATION
STANDING COMMITTEE
February 17, 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. 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
Rep. David L. Hogue
Rep. Kory M. Holdaway.
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.
The meeting was called to order by Chair Dayton at 4:40 PM and appreciation was expressed to the public and staff for staying late on a Friday night for this meeting.
Rep. Moss gave a brief lesson on grammar.
Chair Dayton indicated that input from the public would depend on time taken by questions from the committee members.
H.B. 393 Public Education Club Amendments (Rep. A. Tilton)
MOTION: Rep. Newbold moved to delete in title and body H.B. 393 and replace it with 1st Substitite H.B. 393. The motion passed unanimously.
Rep. Tilton says the bill incorporates rules of the State Board of Education and local school boards that regulate school clubs into statute, so that if there is a legal challenge to a regulation, the Attorney General will defend the regulations.
The following spoke in opposition to the bill:
Nadia Kergaye, Brighton High School student
Camille Lee, East High School
Hal Newman, Hunter High Advisor
Steve Peterson, Utah School Boards & Superintendents Association
Chris Johnson, parent
Brandon Monson, Hunter High School student
Chris Cooke, Rowland Hall St. Marks student
L. Daniel Holsinger, Equality Utah
Eva Erickson, West High School student
Emily Pendleton, Hunter High School student
The following spoke in favor of the bill:
Steve Graham, Standard of Liberty
Paul Merrill, Sutherland Institute
Monica Gardner, Eagle Forum
Carolyn Wright, Provo School District Board
James Starr, University of Utah student
Gayle Ruzicka, Eagle Forum
Carole McGlothlin, Eagle Forum
Sharidean Flint, Eagle Forum
Vickie Peterson, Eagle Forum
Karianne Lisonbee, Eagle Forum
In response to committee members' questions, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said the substitute bill is constitutionally defensible, and the bill does not outlaw gay-straight alliance clubs.
MOTION: Rep. Urquhart moved to pass the bill out favorably. The motion passed with Rep. Bourdeaux, Rep. Gowans, Rep. Moss, and Rep. Shurtliff in opposition.
H.B. 184 Parent Choice in Education Act (Rep. J. S. Adams)
Rep. Adams presented HB 184 to the committee stating the bill creates a program to award
scholarships to students to attend a private school..
Education
MOTION: Rep. Dougall moved to amend the bill as follows:
0. Page
3, Line 87 through Page 4, Line 112
:
87
As used in this part:
88
(1) "Average student cost" means Minimum School Program costs divided
by total
89
student membership in public schools on October 1.
]]
90
(2)
]]
(1)
"Board" means the State Board of Education.
91
(3)
]]
(2)
"Eligible private school" means a private school that meets the
requirements of
92
Section
53A-1a-805
.
93
(4)
]]
(3)
"Income eligibility guideline" means the maximum annual
income allowed to
94
qualify for reduced price meals for the applicable household size as published by the U.S.
95
Department of Agriculture by notice in the Federal Register.
96
(5) "Minimum School Program costs" means the sum of the following
costs:
97
(a) programs listed in Section
53A-17a-104
the costs of which are tied to the
value of
98
the weighted pupil unit;
99
(b) the following programs listed in Section
53A-17a-104
:
100
(i) Social Security and retirement;
101
(ii) Local Discretionary Block Grant Program;
102
(iii) Interventions for Student Success Block Grant Program;
103
(iv) Quality Teaching Block Grant Program;
104
(v) at-risk programs;
105
(vi) accelerated learning programs; and
106
(v) K-3 Reading Improvement Program; and
107
(c) the state contribution to the voted and board leeway programs established
under
108
Sections
53A-17a-133
and
53A-17a-134
.
]]
109
(6)
]]
(4)
"Parent" includes a legal guardian.
110
(7)
]]
(5)
"Scholarship student" means a student who receives a scholarship
under this part.
111
(8)
]]
(6)
"Tuition" means amounts charged for attending a private school,
excluding fees for
112
extracurricular activities or transportation to the private school.
0. Page
11, Lines 329 through 331
:
329
(3) Each transferred scholarship student meeting the criteria of Subsection (2) shall
be
330
retained in enrollment:
331
(a) for five years following the transfer
The motion passed unanimously.
MOTION: Rep. Christensen moved to amend the bill as follows:
1. Page
1, Lines 11 through 12
:
11
This bill:
12
. creates the
Education Restricted Account
]]
Supplementary
Mitigation Fund
;
2. Page
1, Line 27 through Page 2, Line 28
:
27
Other Special Clauses:
28
This bill coordinates with H.B. 294 by providing substantive
changes.
]]
None
3. Page
2, Line 45 through Page 3, Line 59
:
45
Section 1.
Section
51-8-101
is enacted to read:
46
51-8-101.
Education Restricted Account
]]
Supplementary Mitigation
Fund
created.
47
(1) A restricted account is created within revenues collected by the state
from taxes on
48
intangible property or income. The restricted account shall be known as the
49
Restricted Account.
50
(2) The contents of the Education Restricted Account shall consist of monies
deposited
51
to the account pursuant to Section
53A-1a-807
.
52
(3) The Legislature shall appropriate money from the Education Restricted
Account for
53
the following purposes:
54
(a) to mitigate impacts due to a reduction in revenues resulting from the
transfer of
55
scholarship students from a school district to a private school pursuant to Title 53A,
Chapter
56
1a, Part 8, Parent Choice in Education Act;
57
(b) other public education purposes; or
58
(c) to fund the higher education system.
]]
(2) The contents of the Supplementary Mitigation Fund shall be the revenues
deducted from school districts' minimum school program funds as provided by
Section 53A-1a-807.
(3) The State Board of Education shall distribute monies from the
Supplementary Mitigation Fund to a school district, if the school district
demonstrates that the mitigation monies it receives under Section 53A-1a-807 are
not sufficient to maintain its operations at substantially the same level as before its
revenues were reduced due to the transfer of a student to a private school.
(5) Supplemental mitigation monies awarded to a school district may not exceed
the amount of money deducted from the district's minimum school program funds
pursuant to Section 53A-1a-807.
(6) The State Board of Education shall annually make a report to the
Legislature on the distributions of money made from the Supplementary Mitigation
Fund, including data on how the operations of each school district are impacted and
the amount of money distributed to each school district.
(7) The Legislature may appropriate any remaining balance in the
Supplementary Mitigation Fund at the end of a fiscal year not distributed or due to
a school district for mitigation for the following purposes:
(a) other public education purposes; or
(b) to fund the higher education system.
4. Page
12, Lines 339 through 341
:
339
(5) the monies deducted from a school district's minimum school program funds as
340
provided by Subsection (4) shall be deposited into the
Education Restricted
Account
]]
Supplementary Mitigation Fund
created in
341
Section
51-8-101
.
(b) The State Board of Education shall distribute money to a school district
from the Supplementary Mitigation Fund pursuant to Section 51-8-101 to mitigate
the impacts on its operations, up to the amount of money deducted from the
district's minimum school program funds pursuant to this section, provided the
district reasonably demonstrates the need for the supplementary mitigation money.
5. Page
13, Lines 373 through 374
:
373
The legislative auditor general shall conduct a review and issue a report on the
Parent
374
Choice in Education Program after the conclusion of the
2012-13 school
year
]]
program's third year of operations
.
6. Page
13, Lines 380 through 388
:
380
Section 14. Coordinating H.B. 184 with H.B. 294 -- Substantive changes.
381
If this H.B. 184 and H.B. 294, Creation of Education Fund, both pass, it is the
intent of
382
the Legislature that the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, in
preparing the
383
Utah Code database for publication, shall do the following:
384
(1) repeal Section
51-8-101
; and
385
(2) modify Subsection
53A-1a-807
(5) to read as follows:
386
"(5) The monies deducted from a school district's minimum school program
funds as
387
provided by Subsection (4) shall be deposited into the Education Fund created in
Section
388
51-5-4."
]]
The motion passed unanimously with Rep. Hughes and Rep. Urquhart absent
for the vote.
The following spoke in favor of the bill:
Latesia Anderson, Choice in Education
Emmalou Penrod, Choice in Education
Cindy Taylor, Principal, Heritage Foundation School
Kathy Tenney, Parents/Student of Color
Clint Kirry, Challenger School
The following spoke in opposition to the bill:
Delanie Hathaway, Utah School Boards
Martell Menlove, Utah School Supt's. Association
Pat Rusk, Utah Education Assocation
Joel Briscoe, teacher
Linda Simmons, parent
MOTION: Rep. Christensen moved to pass out H.B. 184 favorably as amended. The
motion passed with Rep. Bourdeaux, Rep. Gowans, Rep. Moss and Rep.
Shurtliff in opposition.
MOTION: Rep. Bourdeaux made the motion to adjourn. The motion passed
unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 6:35 pm.
_______________________________
Rep. Margaret Dayton, Chair