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MINUTES OF HOUSE EDUCATION
STANDING COMMITTEE
February 18, 2008
Room 445, State Capitol Building

MEMBERS PRESENT:    Rep. Gregory H. Hughes, Chair
        Rep. Sylvia S. Andersen
        Rep. Brad Dee        
        Rep. Craig A. Frank
        Rep. James R. Gowans
        Rep. Kory M. Holdaway
        Rep. Bradley G. Last
        Rep. Rebecca D. Lockhart        
        Rep. Carol Spackman Moss
        Rep. Merlynn T. Newbold
        Rep. LaWanna "Lou" Shurtliff
        Rep. Kenneth W. Sumsion    
        Rep. Stephen Urquhart
        Rep. Mark A. Wheatley

MEMBERS ABSENT:    Rep. Patrick Painter, Vice Chair        
            
STAFF PRESENT:    Constance C. Steffen, Policy Analyst
        Linda Service, Committee Secretary
        Dee S Larsen, Associate General Counsel

Note: List of visitors and copy of handouts are filed with committee minutes.

Rep. Hughes, Chair, called the meeting to order at 8:11 a.m.

MOTION: Rep. Frank moved to approve the minutes of February 15, 2008. The motion passed unanimously. Rep. Dee, Rep. Gowans, Rep. Moss, Rep. Newbold, Rep. Urquhart, and Rep. Wheatley were absent for the vote.

S.B. 61    Financial and Economic Literacy Education (Sen. P. Jones)

Sen. Jones introduced the bill which makes changes to school financial literacy education.

The following spoke in support of the bill:
    Cecilia Mitchell, Zions Bank
    Preston Cochrane, United Way of Salt Lake

MOTION: Rep. Frank moved to amend the bill as follows:

1.    Page 2, Line 57 through Page 2a, Line 58
    Senate 3rd Reading Amendments
    2-6-2008 :    

             57          (n) bankruptcy S. [.] ;
             57a          (o) free markets
  and prices       ;

             57b          (p) supply and demand; .S             
57c      S.    (q) monetary
  and fiscal       policy;      {   and   }

             57d          (r) effective business plan creation, including using economic analysis in creating a
             57e      plan
{   .   }        ;

(s) scarcity and choice;
(t) opportunity cost and tradeoffs;
(u) productivity;
(v) entrepreneurism; and
(w) economic reasoning.  
.S

             58          (2) The State Board of Education shall:


2.    Page 3, Line 79b
    Senate 3rd Reading Amendments
    2-6-2008 :    

             79b      communicating to
  teachers,       students and parents key financial S. and economic .S

The motion passed unanimously. Rep. Dee, Rep. Newbold, Rep. Urquhart, and Rep. Wheatley were absent for the vote.

Rep. Shurtliff moved to pass S.B. 61 out with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed unanimously. Rep. Newbold, Rep. Urquhart, and Rep. Wheatley were absent for the vote.

H.B. 194    Class Size Reduction in Kindergarten Through Grade Three (Rep. K. Morgan)

Rep. Morgan introduced the bill which modifies class size reduction provisions.

The following spoke in support of the bill:
    Bonnie Despain, retired teacher
    Holly Langton, Utah PTA
    Julie Adamic, State Charter School Board
    Susan Kusiak, Utah Education Association


MOTION: Rep. Moss moved to pass out H.B. 194 with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed with Rep. Anderson, Rep. Frank, Rep. Lockhart, Rep. Hughes, and Rep. Urquhart voting in opposition. Rep. Newbold was absent for the vote.

H.B. 329    High-ability Student Initiative Program (Rep. B. Last)

Rep. Last introduced the bill which creates the High-ability Student Initiative Program to provide resources for educators to enhance the academic growth of high-ability students. Rebecca Odoardi, Utah Association for Gifted Children, assisted in presenting the bill.

The following spoke in support of the bill:
    Kay Erwin, Gifted and Talented Coordinator, Murray School District
    Holly Langton, Utah PTA

MOTION: Rep. Dee moved to pass out H.B. 329 with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed with Rep. Sumsion voting in opposition. Rep. Anderson and Rep. Newbold were absent for the vote.

H.B. 200    Early Childhood Learning and Evaluation (Rep. B. Last)

Rep. Last introduced a bill which creates a pilot project using a home-based education technology program to develop school readiness skills of preschool children.

Cheryl Wright, Chair, Family and Consumer Studies, University of Utah, suggested the RFP be expanded to include programs that research has shown to be effective.

The following spoke in opposition to the bill:
    Barbara Smith, Early Childhood Commission
    Sarah Meier, Utah School Boards Association

The following spoke in support of the bill:
    Stephanie Jordan, Waterford Research Institute
    Dustin Heuston, Waterford Research Institute

MOTION: Rep. Frank moved to pass H.B. 200 out with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed with Rep. Moss and Rep. Shurtliff voting in opposition. Rep. Dee and Rep. Holdaway were absent for the vote.

H.B. 278    Charter School Funding Amendments (Rep. R. Bigelow)

MOTION: Rep. Lockhart moved to delete in title and body H.B. 278 and adopt 1st Substitute

H.B. 278. The motion passed unanimously. Rep. Dee, Rep. Holdaway, Rep. Moss, and Rep. Wheatley were absent for the vote.

Rep. Bigelow introduced the bill which modifies provisions related to the funding of charter schools.

The following spoke in support of the bill:
    Julie Adamic, State Charter School Board

The following spoke in opposition to the bill:
    Debbie Swenson, Utah School Boards Association, Nebo School District

MOTION: Rep. Lockhart moved to adopt 1st Substitute H.B. 278. The motion passed with Rep. Wheatley voting in opposition. Rep. Dee, Rep. Holdaway, Rep. Last, Rep. Moss, and Rep. Urquhart were absent for the vote.

Due to time constraints, the following was not heard.

H.B. 475    Labor Organization Amendments (Rep. G. Hughes)

MOTION: Rep. Newbold moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:54 a.m. The motion passed unanimously.



    





_____________________________
Rep. Gregory H. Hughes, Chair