Date: 02/03/2014

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB14-1110

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Adopt a conceptual amendment to eliminate the exce
Adopt a conceptual amendment to eliminate the "web
Adopt amendment L.001 (Attachment A). The motion w
Refer House Bill 14-1110 to the Committee of the W		FAIL


PASS





01:34 PM -- HB14-1110

Representative Hamner, chair, called the meeting to order. Representative Peniston, sponsor, introduced HB14-1110 as an accountability and transparency measure for local school boards. She explained that most school boards do a good job of maintaining transparency, but there are a few boards that may be misusing executive session privilege and that those instances make this bill necessary. The bill requires that executive session minutes reflect the amount of time each topic was discussed. The bill requires that discussions in executive session be recorded, even parts of the session that might be considered attorney-client privilege, although the bill allows attorney-client discussions to be recorded separately. The bill requires boards to maintain a privilege log that identifies the topics discussed along with the approximate amount of time spent discussing each topic. Representative Peniston explained that these recordings are not meant to be made public and will only be used by a judge to determine whether or not a board had misused its executive session. Representative Peniston responded to questions from the committee.

The following people testified:

01:50 PM -- Debbie Lammers, representing St. Vrain Valley Board of Education and Colorado Association of School Boards, testified in opposition to the bill.

01:53 PM -- Sonja McKenzie, representing the Colorado Bar Association and Cherry Creek School District, testified in opposition to the bill. Ms. McKenzie responded to questions from the committee.

02:00 PM -- David Olson, representing Colorado School Districts Self-Insurance Pool, testified in opposition to the bill. Mr. Olson responded to questions from the committee.

02:18 PM -- Cindra Barnard, representing herself, testified in support of the bill.

02:20 PM -- Shawna Fritzler, representing herself, testified in support of the bill.

02:24 PM -- Lori Goldstein, representing the Colorado Education Association, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Goldstein responded to questions from the committee.

02:29 PM -- John Ford, representing himself and accompanied by his son Ben Ford, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Ford responded to questions from the committee.

02:33 PM -- Linda Bluhm, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Bluhm responded to questions from the committee.

02:39 PM -- Sharon Tonsager, representing herself, testified in support of the bill.


02:40 PM

Representative Peniston introduced Amendment L.001 (Attachment A) and explained its provisions. Ms. Mackenzie and Mr. Olson were recalled to respond to questions from the committee.

14HseEd0203AttachA.pdf14HseEd0203AttachA.pdf
BILL:HB14-1110
TIME: 02:42:31 PM
MOVED:Peniston
MOTION:Adopt amendment L.001 (Attachment A). The motion was withdrawn.
SECONDED:Court
VOTE
Buckner
Court
Everett
Fields
Holbert
McNulty
Murray
Pettersen
Priola
Wilson
Young
Peniston
Hamner
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Withdrawn


02:45 PM

Committee members discussed a conceptual amendment to accommodate school boards that do not have websites. Bob Lackner, Office of Legislative Legal Services, came to the table to comment on the conceptual amendment.
BILL:HB14-1110
TIME: 02:57:00 PM
MOVED:Peniston
MOTION:Adopt a conceptual amendment to eliminate the "web site" component of the requirement for public posting of board minutes. The motion was withdrawn.
SECONDED:Fields
VOTE
Buckner
Court
Everett
Fields
Holbert
McNulty
Murray
Pettersen
Priola
Wilson
Young
Peniston
Hamner
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Withdrawn


02:57 PM

Committee discussion ensued.


02:58 PM

Representative McNulty moved a conceptual amendment that would eliminate school boards' ability to negotiate labor contracts during executive session. The committee discussed the amendment. The committee recessed briefly.


03:00 PM

The committee reconvened.
BILL:HB14-1110
TIME: 03:00:07 PM
MOVED:McNulty
MOTION:Adopt a conceptual amendment to eliminate the exception allowing collective bargaining agreements to be negotiated in executive session. The motion failed on a vote of 6-7.
SECONDED:Priola
VOTE
Buckner
No
Court
No
Everett
Yes
Fields
No
Holbert
Yes
McNulty
Yes
Murray
Yes
Pettersen
No
Priola
Yes
Wilson
Yes
Young
No
Peniston
No
Hamner
No
YES: 6 NO: 7 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


03:02 PM

Amendment L.001 (Attachment A) was withdrawn by Representative Peniston. Representative Peniston offered closing comments to the bill.
BILL:HB14-1110
TIME: 03:06:14 PM
MOVED:Peniston
MOTION:Refer House Bill 14-1110 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 7-6.
SECONDED:Court
VOTE
Buckner
Yes
Court
Yes
Everett
No
Fields
Yes
Holbert
No
McNulty
No
Murray
No
Pettersen
Yes
Priola
No
Wilson
No
Young
Yes
Peniston
Yes
Hamner
Yes
Final YES: 7 NO: 6 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS



03:07 PM

The committee adjourned.