Hudak’s Senate Notes – 1st half of February 2009
Month:
February
Year:
2009 TIME FLIES IN FEBRUARY!
The first two weeks of February were very busy at the Capitol. All Senate bills were required to be heard in the Senate committee(s) they were assigned to (except Appropriations) by Thursday, February 12 (unless they were granted “late bill” status).
TOWN HALL MEETING:
I will hold my very first town hall meeting on Saturday, February 21, 10:30 a.m. to noon, at Standley Lake High School, in the LMC. Carol Hedges from the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute will be making a presentation on the state’s budget crisis. Please come and give your feedback on the state issues that are important to you.
MY BILLS:
This is the status of the two bills I detailed in the last edition of Hudak’s Senate Notes:
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SB 38 – Clarification of Judicial Fees – Passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate unanimously.
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SB 90 – Parent Involvement in Education – Passed the Senate Education Committee, with several amendments; currently awaiting a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee. [See the Issues page on my website for details about some of the amendments that were discussed at length in the committee hearing.]
These are my other two bills:
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SB 160 – Alternative Teacher Programs & Licensure – Passed the Senate Education Committee unanimously; currently awaiting a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee. The bill is based on the recommendations of the P-20 Council to combine the Alternative Licensure Program with the Teacher in Residence Program, ensuring that there is adequate rigor and state oversight, but allowing some flexibility in implementation.
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SB 163 – Education Accountability System – Will be heard in the Senate Education Committee at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 19. The bill makes substantial changes to our state accountability system. It repeals the law requiring schools to be given a one-word rating on a School Accountability Report and instead aligns state accountability with our current procedure for the accreditation of schools and districts, using student growth from year to year on statewide assessments to determine whether schools and districts are performing adequately; also, it provides for state support and parent involvement in school improvement. I am co-sponsoring this bill with Republican Senator Keith King.
I am the Senate sponsor on five House bills; this is the status of the three I described previously:
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HB 1072 (with Rep. Middleton) – Library Districts – Passed the House 48 to 15.
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HB 1116 (with Rep. Frangas) – Children’s Dental Program Moneys – Referred to the House Appropriations Committee, after passing the House Health and Human Services Committee unanimously.
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HB 1125 (with Rep. Merrifield) – Limit Incentives for School Attendance – Passed the House on 2nd Reading, after passing the House Education Committee unanimously.
These are two additional House bills I will be carrying in the Senate:
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HB 1227 (with Rep. Frangas) – Neighborhood Equity Skimming and Nuisances – Provides protections for neighborhoods from negative impacts associated with rental properties, by allowing the prosecution of landlords for failing to pay bills for which they had received payment from tenants, and by allowing tenants’ rental contracts to be terminated if there are complaints of substantial public nuisances.
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HB 1264 (with Rep. Benefield) – Higher Education Costs for State Inmates – Allows inmates in state correctional institutions to qualify for scholarships for college-level academic programs.
HUDAK’S COMMENTARY ON BILL ACTION:
See the new “Issues” page on my website for my commentary on bills that we took action on either in committee or in the Senate on 2nd Reading. Here are the first ones: