House Committee on Education (03/19/2012)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Date:	03/19/2012	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:43 PM to 02:07 PM	Hamner	X
		Holbert	X
Place:	HCR 0112	Joshi	X
		Kerr A.	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Murray	E
	Representative Massey	Peniston	*
		Ramirez	X
This Report was prepared by		Schafer S.	*
	Kristen Johnson	Solano	X
		Summers	X
		Todd	X
		Beezley	X
		Massey	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
SB12-040 SB12-045		Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole

01:43 PM -- Senate Bill 12-040

Representative Massey, Chair, called the meeting to order and made opening remarks. He stated that Senate Bill 12-036 and Senate Bill 12-067, which appear on the committee's calendar for the day, will be laid over until March 26, 2012. He invited Representative Vigil to the table to present Senate Bill 12-040.

Representative Vigil, sponsor of Senate Bill 12-040, presented the bill. The bill is recommended by the Capital Development Committee (CDC). As amended by the Senate, the bill makes all state higher education academic facilities eligible for future state controlled maintenance funding, regardless of the source of funds used or the date of construction of the facility. It also makes any auxiliary facility that is re-purposed for academic use eligible for future state controlled maintenance funding. Finally, the bill requires the Office of the State Architect, within the Department of Personnel and Administration, to collaborate with the Department of Higher Education and the Governor's Office of State Planning and Budgeting to develop guidelines pertaining to the classification of academic and auxiliary facilities, subject to the factors specified in the bill. The CDC is directed to annually review and approve these guidelines.

Representative Vigil distributed Amendments L.004 and L.005 (Attachments A and B, respectively) to the bill and explained their content.


BILL:	SB12-040
TIME:	01:45:38 PM
MOVED:	Massey
MOTION:	Adopt prepared Amendment L.004 (Attachment A). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Holbert
		VOTE
	Hamner
	Holbert
	Joshi
	Kerr A.
	Murray	Excused
	Peniston	Excused
	Ramirez
	Schafer S.	Excused
	Solano
	Summers
	Todd
	Beezley
	Massey

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 3 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	SB12-040
TIME:	01:46:43 PM
MOVED:	Massey
MOTION:	Adopt prepared Amendment L.005 (Attachment B). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Todd
		VOTE
	Hamner
	Holbert
	Joshi
	Kerr A.
	Murray	Excused
	Peniston	Excused
	Ramirez
	Schafer S.	Excused
	Solano
	Summers
	Todd
	Beezley
	Massey

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 3 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	SB12-040
TIME:	01:47:17 PM
MOVED:	Todd
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 12-040, as amended, to the House Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 11-0.
SECONDED:	Solano
		VOTE
	Hamner	Yes
	Holbert	Yes
	Joshi	Yes
	Kerr A.	Yes
	Murray	Excused
	Peniston	Yes
	Ramirez	Yes
	Schafer S.	Excused
	Solano	Yes
	Summers	Yes
	Todd	Yes
	Beezley	Yes
	Massey	Yes

Final YES: 11 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:48 PM -- Senate Bill 12-045

Representative Massey, co-prime sponsor of Senate Bill 12-045, presented the bill. This reengrossed bill requires that the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE), in collaboration with state institutions of higher education, develop and coordinate a notification process for students who satisfy certain eligibility requirements to receive an associate's degree. The notification process must begin no later than the beginning of the 2013-14 academic year. The bill provides that, if a student completes the residency requirements at a two-year institution, transfers to a four-year institution, and accumulates a total of 70 credit hours, the student must be notified that he or she may be eligible to receive an associate's degree from the two-year institution. The notification process developed by the CCHE must specify the role of the Department of Higher Education (DHE), the student, and each of the institutions of higher education, with the role of the of the four-year institutions limited to providing the eligible student's contact information. The notice to an eligible student must include the requirements for having a degree audit performed by the two-year institution and information about the process for the student to be awarded an associate's degree in the future if the degree requirements are not met or if the student chooses at that time to decline the degree award.

The following persons testified:

01:50 PM -- Judi Bonacquisti, Metropolitan State College of Denver (Metro), testified in support of the bill. She stated that at Metro, 60 percent of students come to the school with some level of transfer credit and that about 2,000 current students would meet the criteria for an associate's degree as outlined in the bill. Ms. Bonacquisti responded to questions from the committee members concerning the notification process under the bill and the current process for transferring credits.

01:54 PM -- Dr. Frank Waterous, Senior Policy Analyst, Bell Policy Center, testified in support of the bill. Dr. Waterous provided his testimony in a handout to the committee members (Attachment C). Dr. Waterous stated that the bill is good for students, and helps to address the state's workforce-development needs. He discussed the 2011 U.S. Census Bureau report that noted that annual median income for those with associate's degree are $3,000 to $5,000 higher than for those with some college but no degree. He stated that Colorado has a structural gap in the middle-skill area; stating that 47 percent of Colorado's jobs require middle-skilled workers, while only 36 percent of Colorado's workers are trained to the middle-skill level.

01:58 PM -- Chad Marturano, Director of Legislative Affairs, DHE, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Marturano discussed the gap between Colorado's workforce needs and degree-holding workers. He stated that a recent Complete College America study showed Colorado as having a 29 percent gap between workforce needs and middle-skilled workers; stating that by 2020, 70 percent of jobs will need middle-skilled workers and that Colorado is on pace to meet only 41 percent of that demand. He stated that this bill is a cost-effective way to address that gap. He spoke to Amendment L.003 (Attachment D). He responded to questions from the committee members, describing the two types of students this bill seeks to address.


BILL:	SB12-045
TIME:	02:05:17 PM
MOVED:	Massey
MOTION:	Adopt prepared Amendment L.003 (Attachment D). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Todd
		VOTE
	Hamner
	Holbert
	Joshi
	Kerr A.
	Murray	Excused
	Peniston
	Ramirez
	Schafer S.
	Solano
	Summers
	Todd
	Beezley
	Massey

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

02:05 PM

Representative Massey provided brief closing comments to the bill and acknowledged the work of his co-prime sponsor on the bill, Representative Fields, who was called into another committee hearing.


BILL:	SB12-045
TIME:	02:05:40 PM
MOVED:	Massey
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 12-045, as amended, to the House Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 12-0.
SECONDED:	Holbert
		VOTE
	Hamner	Yes
	Holbert	Yes
	Joshi	Yes
	Kerr A.	Yes
	Murray	Excused
	Peniston	Yes
	Ramirez	Yes
	Schafer S.	Yes
	Solano	Yes
	Summers	Yes
	Todd	Yes
	Beezley	Yes
	Massey	Yes

Final YES: 12 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:07 PM

The committee adjourned.