Date: 03/12/2009

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB09-1057

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Moved a conceptual amendment to make the bill a th
Moved a substitute motion to Senator King's motion
Moved amendment L.024 (Attachment E). Senator Bac
Moved amendment L.025 (Attachment F). The motion
Moved an amendment to page 4, line 7, of the bill.
Moved to reconsider Senator Hudak's amendment chan
Refer House Bill 09-1057, as amended, to the Commi
FAIL
PASS
TIE
FAIL
Pass Without Objection
PASS
PASS



02:24 PM -- House Bill 09-1057

Senator Bacon, sponsor of House Bill 09-1057, presented the bill to the committee. He provided a handout summarizing the bill (Attachment C). The bill allows employees of Colorado businesses to take up to 18 hours per academic year of unpaid leave to attend parent-teacher conferences or other academic activities.

090312AttachC.pdf

The Bell Policy Center also provided a handout summarizing its support of the bill (Attachment D).

090312AttachD.pdf


02:28 PM

Senator Bacon responded to committee questions about who falls under the provisions of the bill.


02:29 PM

The following persons testified:



02:30 PM -- Lorena Garcia, representing the Colorado Chapter of 9 to 5, testified in support of the bill. She responded to earlier committee questions around which businesses are impacted by the bill. Ms. Garcia said the bill is good for parents, schools, and businesses' bottom line. She talked about the importance of work/family integration and parental involvement in schools.

Ms. Garcia responded to committee questions and comments, including questions about employers that do not allow workers flexibility to attend school functions. Senator Bacon spoke to issues faced by employees, who particularly in this economic climate, may be fearful of asking for this flexibility.


02:39 PM

Senator Bacon responded to a committee question about the enforcement of the provisions of the bill.


02:40 PM --
Chyrese Exline, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Exline talked about her children and their accomplishments. She talked about the importance of parental involvement.

Ms. Exline responded to committee questions and comments.


02:47 PM --
David Sanger, representing the Colorado Council of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), testified in support of the bill. He said the achievement of students increases as parental involvement increases.


02:49 PM --
Bernadette "Bernie" Jiron, representing the Denver Federation for Paraprofessionals (DFP), testified in support of the bill. She talked about parents who are not able to attend parent meetings, parent/teacher conferences, and school programs. She said all working parents should have equitable access.

Ms. Jiron responded to committee questions.


02:52 PM --
Dan Daly, representing the Colorado Education Association (CEA), testified in support of the bill. He said parental involvement is a key element in increasing student academic achievement and school success. Mr. Daly talked about shared responsibility in education. He said the bill does not present an economic issue, rather a philosophical issue, between supporters and opponents of the bill.

Mr. Daly responded to committee questions and comments.


03:01 PM

Committee discussion with Mr. Daly continued, with conversation about the problem being addressed by the bill. President Groff made remarks to the bill, talking about sacrifices that must be made to reform education.


03:05 PM

Senator King asked about changes made to the bill in the House, specifically the change striking "unpaid" from the language in subsection (1) of Section 8-13.3-103, C.R.S. Mr. Daly responded, explaining that the bill does not require paid leave in its current form. Committee discussion around this issue continued, with explanation from Senator Bacon about the reason for the amendment in the House.


03:11 PM

Senator Hudak asked Mr. Daly to talk about the activities defined as "academic activities" in the bill. Conversation between Senator Hudak and Mr. Daly on these issues ensued.


03:15 PM --
Tara Trujillo, representing the Colorado Children's Campaign, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Trujillo talked about problems associated with lack of family involvement in education. She said the bill represents one stitch in closing the achievement gap. She talked about lack of free time for low-income parents to attend school functions.


03:18 PM --
Larry Bush, a school psychologist for Jefferson County Schools representing at-risk children, testified in support of the bill. He described his background and his duties related to increasing parental involvement in his school. He talked about a research project around what impacts student achievement, saying that the way lower socioeconomic parents feel about taking time off has an impact.


03:23 PM

Mr. Bush responded to committee questions and comments. He talked about the use of technology for feedback and collaboration. Mr. Bush provided an example illustrating why face-to-face meetings are often needed.

Committee discussion with Mr. Bush continued, with conversation around finding ways to accommodate parent schedules for meetings. Mr. Bush provided further examples of issues the bill might address. Committee discussion ensued.


03:32 PM

Committee discussion around accommodating parental involvement continued.

In response to a committee question, Mr. Bush talked about the negative impact it has on a child when his or her parent cannot attend school activities.


03:35 PM --
Jane Urschel, representing the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB), testified in support of the bill. She talked about the critical triad in education: the parent, the student, and the teacher. Dr. Urschel spoke to earlier committee discussion, saying the hypothesis of the bill is removing barriers to communication.


03:37 PM --
Virginia Love, representing the Colorado Competitive Council (C3), testified in opposition to the bill. She said the bill has been brought forward with no data or statistics about current policies or how many employees the bill would help. Ms. Love said putting the policy in statute creates a cause of action. She talked about issues around accrual of leave, noting businesses do not give employees 18 hours of leave when they are first hired.

Ms. Love responded to committee questions. Senator Hudak suggested changing "and" to "or" on page 5, line 4 of the bill. Ms. Love agreed that this would be a helpful amendment. Senator Romer commented that parenting and educating is a two-way street, and business and schools need to meet in the middle.


03:47 PM

Senator Heath talked about the issues businesses face and expressed support for Senator Hudak's proposal.


03:49 PM --
Loren Furman, representing the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry (CACI), testified in opposition to the bill. She said there were significant improvements to the bill in the House, but CACI still opposes the bill. Ms. Furman talked about burdens being placed on businesses, saying the bill is moving away from education toward mandates on businesses.

Ms. Furman responded to committee questions and comments.

03:53 PM --
Christine O'Donnell, representing the Colorado Hotel and Lodging Association, testified in opposition to the bill. She talked about her experiences as a working mother, and said too much onus is put on business. Ms. O'Donnell said most employers already provide as much flexibility as possible for parents. She talked about the division the bill creates between workers who are parents and workers who are not parents. She talked about cuts and new mandates faced by industry in recent months.


03:58 PM

Senator Bacon made closing comments to the bill and provided clarification to earlier committee questions around the removal of the word "unpaid" on page 4, line 17 of the bill. He also spoke to the issue of changing "and" to "or" on page 5, line 4 of the bill. The committee discussed this language.


04:01 PM --
At the request of Senator Bacon, Carolyn Siegel, representing 9 to 5, came to the table to speak to the amendments made to the bill in the House. The committee discussed the amendments and the change proposed by Senator Hudak.


04:07 PM

Senator King spoke to an amendment he would offer, amendment L.024 (Attachment E), saying it is seeking a better balance between employers and the school. The committee discussed the proposed amendments further.

090312AttachE.pdf


04:10 PM

Ms. Siegel responded to further committee questions about the changes made in the House.


04:15 PM

Senator King explained amendment L.024 (Attachment E), which he said goes to the balance between businesses and schools.
BILL:HB09-1057
TIME: 04:16:25 PM
MOVED:King K.
MOTION:Moved amendment L.024 (Attachment E). Senator Bacon moved a substitute motion (see the next vote sheet), which passed, so this amendment was rendered moot.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Groff
Heath
Hudak
King K.
Scheffel
Spence
Romer
Bacon
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: TIE


BILL:HB09-1057
TIME: 04:17:06 PM
MOVED:Bacon
MOTION:Moved a substitute motion to Senator King's motion moving amendment L.024. Change "AND" to "OR" on page 5, line 4 of the bill. The motion passed on a 7-1 vote.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Groff
Yes
Heath
Yes
Hudak
No
King K.
Yes
Scheffel
Yes
Spence
Yes
Romer
Yes
Bacon
Yes
Not Final YES: 7 NO: 1 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS



04:20 PM

Senator King explained amendment L.025 (Attachment F).
BILL:HB09-1057
TIME: 04:21:01 PM
MOVED:King K.
MOTION:Moved amendment L.025 (Attachment F). The motion failed on a 2-6 vote.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Groff
No
Heath
No
Hudak
No
King K.
Yes
Scheffel
Yes
Spence
No
Romer
No
Bacon
No
Not Final YES: 2 NO: 6 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL

090312AttachF.pdf

BILL:HB09-1057
TIME: 04:22:22 PM
MOVED:Spence
MOTION:Moved a conceptual amendment to make the bill a three-year pilot applying only to state employees. The motion failed on a 3-5 vote.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Groff
No
Heath
No
Hudak
No
King K.
Yes
Scheffel
Yes
Spence
Yes
Romer
No
Bacon
No
Not Final YES: 3 NO: 5 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:HB09-1057
TIME: 04:24:41 PM
MOVED:Hudak
MOTION:Moved an amendment to page 4, line 7, of the bill. Changing "kindergarten" to "preschool". The motion passed without objection but was subsequently reconsidered (see next vote sheet). Upon reconsideration, the chair ruled the amendment does not fit under the title.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Groff
Heath
Hudak
King K.
Scheffel
Spence
Romer
Bacon
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:HB09-1057
TIME: 04:25:41 PM
MOVED:Spence
MOTION:Moved to reconsider Senator Hudak's amendment changing "kindergarten" to "preschool". The motion passed on a 7-1 vote.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Groff
Yes
Heath
Yes
Hudak
No
King K.
Yes
Scheffel
Yes
Spence
Yes
Romer
Yes
Bacon
Yes
Not Final YES: 7 NO: 1 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS



04:27 PM

The chair ruled that Senator Hudak's amendment did not fit under the title of the bill.

Committee members made comments to the bill, explaining their support or opposition to the bill. Examples of parental involvement in education and school activities were discussed.

BILL:HB09-1057
TIME: 04:33:53 PM
MOVED:Bacon
MOTION:Refer House Bill 09-1057, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a 5-3 vote.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Groff
Yes
Heath
Yes
Hudak
Yes
King K.
No
Scheffel
No
Spence
No
Romer
Yes
Bacon
Yes
Final YES: 5 NO: 3 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS



04:40 PM

The committee took a brief recess.