House Committee on Education (03/31/2014)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Date:	03/31/2014	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:30 PM to 01:56 PM	Buckner	X
		Court	X
Place:	HCR 0112	Everett	X
		Fields	*
This Meeting was called to order by		Holbert	X
	Representative Hamner	McNulty	X
		Murray	X
This Report was prepared by		Pettersen	X
	Lisa Gezelter	Priola	X
		Wilson	X
		Young	X
		Peniston	X
		Hamner	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB14-1039 HB14-1345		Postponed Indefinitely Referred to the Committee of the Whole

01:31 PM -- HB14-1039

Representative Hamner, Chair, welcomed the audience and committee members. Representative Schafer, sponsor, presented House Bill 14-1039, which requires districts to link student data from preschool to kindergarten. She requested that the committee postpone the bill indefinitely, since the agencies involved have agreed to proceed administratively. Committee members shared their constituents' opinions.


BILL:	HB14-1039
TIME:	01:31:46 PM
MOVED:	McNulty
MOTION:	Postpone House Bill 14-1039 indefinitely. The motion passed on a vote of 12-0, with one member absent.
SECONDED:	Holbert
		VOTE
	Buckner	Yes
	Court	Yes
	Everett	Yes
	Fields	Absent
	Holbert	Yes
	McNulty	Yes
	Murray	Yes
	Pettersen	Yes
	Priola	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Young	Yes
	Peniston	Yes
	Hamner	Yes

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

01:32 PM

The committee recessed.

01:40 PM -- HB14-1345

Representative Hamner called the committee back to order. She called the committee's attention to the two handouts distributed by the Department of Higher Education (DHE) (Attachments A and B). Representative Gerou, sponsor, presented House Bill 14-1345, which allows DHE to transfer money between an institution's fee-for-service contracts appropriation and the institution's College Opportunity Fund (COF) spending authority as a result of increases or decreases in student enrollment. Representative Gerou responded to questions from the committee about the current rules regarding funds transfers and about the dollar amounts involved. Representative Gerou explained that three percent of an institution's dollars may be affected by the bill.

14HseEd0331AttachA.pdf

14HseEd0331AttachB.pdf

The following person testified:

01:45 PM -- Chad Marturano, representing DHE, testified in support of the bill. He discussed the limitations in current law and how the bill will solve problems created by variances in enrollment forecasts. He discussed the chart in Attachment B, how enrollment is predicted months before tuition is set, and that enrollment forecasts are often wrong. Mr. Marturano responded to questions from the committee regarding Metropolitan State University of Denver. He explained that total COF dictates tuition policy, so flexibility will help institutions.

01:53 PM

Representative Gerou discussed the budgeting process for higher education and the timeline of supplemental appropriations.

01:55 PM

Representative Gerou offered closing comments to the bill.


BILL:	HB14-1345
TIME:	01:55:12 PM
MOVED:	McNulty
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 14-1345 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 13-0.
SECONDED:	Murray
		VOTE
	Buckner	Yes
	Court	Yes
	Everett	Yes
	Fields	Yes
	Holbert	Yes
	McNulty	Yes
	Murray	Yes
	Pettersen	Yes
	Priola	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Young	Yes
	Peniston	Yes
	Hamner	Yes

Final YES: 13 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:56 PM

The committee adjourned.