Date: 04/29/2015

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB15-1321

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Refer House Bill 15-1321 to the Committee on ApproPASS



12:18 PM -- HB15-1321

Senator Marble, chair, called the meeting to order. Senators Grantham and Donovan, co-sponsors, presented House Bill 15-1321 which concerns measures to support rural school districts. Senator Donovan distributed two handouts to the committee (Attachments A and B). She explained that the bill exempts small rural school districts from certain state requirements. She said the bill will help small rural districts achieve their goals, and talked about what is required under current law and what changes to current law are made by the bill. The committee discussed the bill's $10 million appropriation made to rural school districts from the State Education Fund. The co-sponsors answered questions from the committee.

15SenateEd0429AttachA.pdf15SenateEd0429AttachA.pdf 15SenateEd0429AttachB.pdf15SenateEd0429AttachB.pdf

The following people testified on the bill:

12:23 PM -- Benjamin Waters, representing the Opportunity Coalition, spoke in support of the bill. He told the committee why he supports the bill.

12:24 PM -- Frank Reeves, Superintendent of Genoa-Hugo School District, spoke in support of the bill. He stated that rural districts have been hard hit by the negative factor so this one time funding will help districts with technology upgrades and security needs. He stated that the bill gives rural districts much needed flexibility, and talked about the challenges faced by his district because of mandates imposed by the state. Mr. Reeves answered questions from the committee.


12:30 PM

There were no more witnesses and Senator Hill closed public testimony. The co-sponsors answered questions from the committee.

12:32 PM -- Mr. Reeves came back to the table to answer questions from the committee.
BILL:HB15-1321
TIME: 12:33:40 PM
MOVED:Kerr
MOTION:Refer House Bill 15-1321 to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 5-4.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Holbert
No
Johnston
Yes
Kerr
Yes
Merrifield
Yes
Neville T.
No
Todd
Yes
Woods
No
Marble
No
Hill
Yes
Final YES: 5 NO: 4 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS