Date: 02/26/2009

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB09-1082

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Moved a conceptual amendment that would change bil
Moved a substitute motion to the Hudak amendment t
Moved an amendment to page 2, line 12 of the bill,
Moved an amendment to page 2, line 21. Strike "on
Refer House Bill 09-1082, as amended, to the Commi		FAIL
FAIL
Pass Without Objection
PASS
PASS



02:09 PM -- House Bill 09-1082

Senator Tochtrop, sponsor of House Bill 09-1082, presented the bill. The bill requires school district boards of education to make a recording of the their meetings and make the recordings available to the public. She said transparency is the goal of the bill.

Senator Tochtrop responded to questions from the committee.


02:14 PM

The following persons testified:


02:14 PM -- Jane Urschel, representing the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB), testified in opposition to the bill. Dr. Urschel said the problem addressed in the bill is a local problem, and a statewide solution is not needed. She suggested that another option would be to prohibit boards from making policies prohibiting the recording of board meetings. Dr. Urschel said the official record of the meeting is the minutes, the rest is deliberation and said the outcome, which is the vote, is what the light needs to shine on.

Dr. Urschel responded to committee questions.


02:24 PM

Senator Tochtrop responded to committee questions, and committee questions for Dr. Urschel continued as well.


02:25 PM -- Bruce Caughey, representing the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE), testified in opposition to the bill. He said the bill could obfuscate the ability for the public to get information easily. Mr. Caughey talked about the technology available to school districts, and said some districts would have to purchase equipment. He also noted that the bill does not apply to charter school boards or the charter school institute.


02:29 PM -- Pat Steadman, representing Coalition School Districts, testified in support of the bill if it is amended. He said he would like to see an amendment changing the length of time records must be retained to 90 days.



02:32 PM -- Dino Valente, representing himself, testified in support of the bill. He described the situation that lead to the bill. Mr. Valente talked about the options for school districts in recording meetings. He advocated a statewide floor, not a ceiling. Mr. Valente spoke to earlier questions from Senator King about what current law provides in this area. He also spoke to the 90-day retention issue raised by Mr. Steadman.


02:39 PM

Mr. Valente responded to committee questions.


02:43 PM -- Marilyn Flockman, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Flockman said she is a member of her local school board, and her board does not require audio taping of meetings. She said the lack of an audio recording causes ambiguity. She spoke to earlier discussion of how long the recordings would be retained.

Ms. Flockman responded to committee questions.


02:47 PM -- Bill Christopher, representing himself, testified in support of the bill. He said the bill is a good government bill. Mr. Christopher said he serves on the RTD Board, and commented that all of that board's meetings are recorded, as are the meetings of other local and county boards and commissions. He spoke to earlier discussion around meeting minutes, saying they do not illuminate legislative intent. Mr. Christopher talked about the different practices of school districts around recording meetings.

Senator Spence made comments to the testimony.


02:54 PM -- Greg Romberg, representing the Colorado Press Association and Colorado Broadcasters Association, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Romberg responded to earlier testimony and committee questions about what current law provides. He also spoke to the issue of what "best technology available," a term in the introduced bill, meant. Mr. Romberg said the Sunshine Act applies uniformly across the state.

Mr. Romberg responded to committee questions.


02:59 PM -- Vicki Newell, representing Colorado PTA, testified in support of the bill. She said written minutes from school district board meetings are often very brief, and do not reflect everything that happens at a board meeting. She said it sends a strange message to the public if a school board does not want its meetings to be recorded.

Ms. Newell responded to questions from the committee.


BILL:HB09-1082
TIME: 03:02:46 PM
MOVED:King K.
MOTION:Moved an amendment to page 2, line 21. Strike "one year" and substitute "90 days". The motion passed on a 6-1-1 vote.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Groff
No
Heath
Yes
Hudak
Yes
King K.
Yes
Scheffel
Yes
Spence
Yes
Romer
Absent
Bacon
Yes
Not Final YES: 6 NO: 1 EXC: 0 ABS: 1 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:HB09-1082
TIME: 03:03:31 PM
MOVED:Hudak
MOTION:Moved a conceptual amendment that would change bill to provide that school boards may not prohibit the recording of meetings. The motion failed on a 1-7 vote.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Groff
No
Heath
No
Hudak
Yes
King K.
No
Scheffel
No
Spence
No
Romer
No
Bacon
No
Not Final YES: 1 NO: 7 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:HB09-1082
TIME: 03:06:58 PM
MOVED:Spence
MOTION:Moved a substitute motion to the Hudak amendment to amend the bill to provide that, upon majority vote of a board of education, regular and special meetings will be recorded. 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:HB09-1082
TIME: 03:17:24 PM
MOVED:Bacon
MOTION:Moved an amendment to page 2, line 12 of the bill, after "board", insert "at which votes are taken and recorded". The motion passed without objection.
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:HB09-1082
TIME: 03:17:37 PM
MOVED:Heath
MOTION:Refer House Bill 09-1082, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a 7-1 vote.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Groff
Yes
Heath
Yes
Hudak
Yes
King K.
Yes
Scheffel
Yes
Spence
No
Romer
Yes
Bacon
Yes
Final YES: 7 NO: 1 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS