Date: 02/11/2010

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB10-1136

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Moved amendment L.001 (Attachment B). The motion
Moved to postpone House Bill 10-1136 indefinitely.
Moved to refer House Bill 10-1136, as amended, to 		PASS
PASS
FAIL



02:05 PM -- House Bill 10-1136

Representative S. King, sponsor of House Bill 10-1136, concerning emergency safety procedures in K-12 schools, presented the bill to the committee. He reviewed previous his legislative efforts on school safety drills.


02:11 PM

Representative Benefield asked which stakeholders he worked with on the bill. Representative King responded that he worked with school resource officers in Mesa School District 51 and with representatives from the Jefferson County School District. He stated that he recognized the effect of the bill on large and small districts, but that the health and safety of the children in Colorado should be of primary concern to the legislature.


02:14 PM

Representative Benefield asked Representative King to address more specifically who he spoke with when developing the legislation. Representative Schafer asked him to explain what a hazard drill means.


02:22 PM

Representative King responded to questions from the committee about different practices in school districts surrounding safety drills. Representative Solano asked about existing law that requires local school boards to do such activities, specifically citing Section 22-32-109.1, C.R.S. She asked why the bill is necessary given the current statutory requirements. Committee discussion on this issue ensued.


02:29 PM

Representative Murray stated that she believes that the committee must consider if drills are valuable for the people for who will need to respond in a real emergency situation.


02:30 PM

The following people testified on the bill:

02:30 PM -- Kevin Klein, representing the Colorado Department of Public Safety, testified on the bill. He discussed proposed amendment L.001, noting that it removes the fiscal note, but he stated that the department continues to have concerns with the legislation. He offered to answer any questions from the committee regarding drills.


02:34 PM

Representative Benefield asked Mr. Klein if he knows what kind of drills other than fire drills are happening in school districts. He responded that there are school districts that perform hazard drills. She asked if he could explain the history of the safety plans and the hazard drills. Mr. Klein responded to her question, discussing the collaboration of the department with school districts. Representative Murray asked if, to his knowledge, there is no requirement to do hazard drills under state law. Mr. Klein responded that the law states that hazard drills should be performed to the extent practicable.

02:38 PM -- Rob Geislinger, representing the Fire Marshalls Association of Colorado and the Colorado State Fire Chiefs, testified in support of the bill and noted that the proposed changes in L.001 (Attachment B) address his concerns with the bill as originally written.

10HseEd0211AttachB.pdf

02:40 PM

Representative Benefield asked Mr. Geislinger about his interaction with local school boards as a fire marshal. He responded that he is very active with schools. He also responded to questions from Representative Todd, Representative Tipton and Representative Murray about fire drill practices.

02:46 PM -- Rick Hammans, representing the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB) and St. Vrain Valley Schools, testified against the bill because he believes that it is an unnecessary law. He reviewed the safety drill practices of his district. He also stated that he believes that the bill infringes on local control.


02:48 PM

Representative Solano asked Mr. Hammans if he is familiar with the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Mr. Hammans responded yes. Representative Solano referred to statutory language that requires school districts to be in compliance with NIMS. He responded that the school district received a $500,000 grant to implement the NIMS, which he noted is a large undertaking.

02:50 PM -- John Michael Keyes, representing himself, testified on the bill and presented concerns with legislating the specified requirements detailed in the bill.


02:52 PM

He responded to questions from Representative Murray about why he believes it is not necessary for the state to mandate hazard drills.

02:53 PM -- John Simmons, representing School Safety Partners, testified in support of the bill. He addressed previous comments made by committee members and witnesses. He discussed the process for implementing NIMS in Colorado. He responded to questions from Representative Murray and Representative Todd.

03:09 PM -- Jane Urschel, representing CASB, came to the witness table upon the request of Representative Benefield and explained that Mr. Hammans gave the CASB testimony in opposition. She also referred to the testimony of Mr. Keyes.


03:10 PM

Representative Benefield asked Ms. Urschel to share her previous experience as a board member. Ms. Urschel stated the importance of studying what school districts are currently doing and that the committee must consider if it is appropriate to enact code and policy into state law. She responded to questions from Representative Murray. Representative Merrifield asked how Ms. Urschel felt about the bill with the proposed amendment. She stated that she believes it is still too restrictive. Representative Tipton asked why she believes the law is writing code. She explained that when requirements are placed into law such as they would be if the bill passed, it becomes too prescriptive.


03:16 PM

Representative Schafer explained that there is information held at the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) regarding school safety practices as a part of school accreditation reviews conducted by the department.
BILL:HB10-1136
TIME: 03:17:17 PM
MOVED:Massey
MOTION:Moved amendment L.001 (Attachment B). The motion passed on a 10-1-2 vote.
SECONDED:McNulty
VOTE
Benefield
Yes
Massey
Yes
McNulty
Yes
Middleton
Yes
Murray
Yes
Peniston
Yes
Scanlan
Excused
Schafer S.
Yes
Summers
Excused
Tipton
Yes
Todd
Yes
Solano
No
Merrifield
Yes
Not Final YES: 10 NO: 1 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:HB10-1136
TIME: 03:27:02 PM
MOVED:McNulty
MOTION:Moved to refer House Bill 10-1136, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion failed on a 4-7-2 vote.
SECONDED:Murray
VOTE
Benefield
No
Massey
Yes
McNulty
Yes
Middleton
No
Murray
Yes
Peniston
No
Scanlan
Excused
Schafer S.
No
Summers
Excused
Tipton
Yes
Todd
No
Solano
No
Merrifield
No
Not Final YES: 4 NO: 7 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:HB10-1136
TIME: 03:35:44 PM
MOVED:Solano
MOTION:Moved to postpone House Bill 10-1136 indefinitely. The motion passed on a 6-5-2 vote.
SECONDED:Benefield
VOTE
Benefield
Yes
Massey
No
McNulty
No
Middleton
Yes
Murray
No
Peniston
Yes
Scanlan
Excused
Schafer S.
No
Summers
Excused
Tipton
No
Todd
Yes
Solano
Yes
Merrifield
Yes
Final YES: 6 NO: 5 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS