Date: 10/26/2015

Final
Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts

EARLY CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL READINESS

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Adopt a conceptual amendment to Bill Draft 5 makin
Adopt a conceptual amendment to Bill Draft 5 to ad
Adopt safety clause on Bill 5. The motion passed o
Inclusion of Bill Draft 1 as one of the bills forw
Inclusion of Bill Draft 3 as one of the bills forw
Inclusion of Bill Draft 4 as one of the bills forw
Inclusion of Bill Draft 5, as amended, as one of t
Letter to the Joint Education Committee and the Jo		PASS
Pass Without Objection
PASS
PASS
FAIL
PASS
PASS
PASS



02:34 PM -- Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts

Ed DeCecco, Office of Legislative Legal Services, spoke about the need for the commission to determine bill sponsorship after each bill is voted on. He spoke about Bill 1, which relates to a state child tax credit, available for certain families with children ages 5 and younger.

Mr. DeCecco responded to questions from the committee. Committee discussion ensued. Kate Watkins, Legislate Council Staff, came to the table to respond to questions about the fiscal note. The committee discussed the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) impact of the bill.

02:51 PM -- Bill Jaeger, representing the Colorado Children's Campaign, spoke about the impact of this tax credit on childhood poverty. Mr. Jaeger responded to questions from the committee.


02:54 PM

Mr. DeCecco responded to questions from the committee. Committee discussion ensued.
BILL:Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts
TIME: 03:01:19 PM
MOVED:Merrifield
MOTION: Inclusion of Bill Draft 1 as one of the bills forwarded by the Early Childhood and School Readiness Legislative Commission to Legislative Council. The motion passed on a vote of 3-2.
SECONDED:Singer
VOTE
Marble
Excused
Merrifield
Yes
Singer
Yes
Wilson
No
Pettersen
Yes
Martinez Humenik
No
Final YES: 3 NO: 2 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


03:02 PM

Representative Singer and Senator Merrifield volunteered to sponsor the bill, and agreed that it should start in the House. Representative Pettersen volunteered to be a Co-Sponsor of the bill.


03:03 PM

Julie Pelegrin, Office of Legislative Legal Services, introduced Bill 2, which adds 3,000 slots to the Colorado Preschool Program (CPP). She stated that these slots can only be used for preschool, not as a means of funding full-day kindergarten.

03:04 PM -- Rich Jones, Director of Policy and Research, Bell Policy Center, spoke about the benefits of adding slots to the CPP. Mr. Jones responded to questions from the committee.

03:08 PM -- Bill Jaeger, Colorado Children's Campaign, spoke about the benefits of expanding the CPP. He described the benefits of putting this expansion in the School Finance Act rather than passing this legislation as a stand-alone bill.


03:09 PM

Committee discussion ensued. Senator Merrifield recommended the committee draft a letter to the Joint Education Committees and the JBC requesting the addition of these slots via the School Finance Act. Representative Wilson spoke about tying the hands of school districts by requiring these slots to go only for CPP and not for full-day kindergarten.


03:16 PM

Lauren Schreier, Legislative Council Staff, came to the table to respond to questions about the bill's fiscal note.

03:17 PM -- Anna Jo Haynes, representing the Early Childhood Leadership Council (ECLC), spoke in support of expanding the CPP but urged that this expansion be part of the School Finance Act.

03:18 PM -- Sophia San Miguel, representing herself, spoke in support of the bill.


03:20 PM

Committee discussion ensued.
BILL:Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts
TIME: 03:26:26 PM
MOVED:Merrifield
MOTION:Letter to the Joint Education Committee and the Joint Budget Committee that would express the commission's belief that school finance should include funding of 3,000 additional CPP slots and include the suggestion that a discussion be included on whether the use of those slots should be CPP or Ecare. The motion passed on a vote of 5-0.
SECONDED:Singer
VOTE
Marble
Excused
Merrifield
Yes
Singer
Yes
Wilson
Yes
Pettersen
Yes
Martinez Humenik
Yes
Final YES: 5 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


03:28 PM

Jane Ritter, Office of Legislative Legal Services, presented Bill 3, which makes changes to Senate Bill 10-191 by exempting licensed preschool teachers from requirements that academic growth measures be used in evaluations. Senator Merrifield explained his intent in requesting the bill draft. Committee discussion ensued.

03:34 PM -- Bill Jaeger, representing the Colorado Children's Campaign, spoke about measuring student growth in the preschool years and about the contribution preschool teachers make to students' academic growth.


03:36 PM

Committee discussion ensued.

03:37 PM -- Senator Evie Hudak spoke about the passage of Senate Bill 10-191 and the legislative intent behind that bill, which she described as licensed personnel in K-12, not inclusive of preschool teachers. Committee discussion ensued. Senator Hudak responded to questions from the committee.
BILL:Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts
TIME: 03:42:57 PM
MOVED:Merrifield
MOTION:Inclusion of Bill Draft 3 as one of the bills forwarded by the Early Childhood and School Readiness Legislative Commission to Legislative Council. The motion failed on a vote of 2-3.
SECONDED:Singer
VOTE
Marble
Excused
Merrifield
Yes
Singer
Yes
Wilson
No
Pettersen
No
Martinez Humenik
No
Final YES: 2 NO: 3 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


03:43 PM

Brita Darling, Office of Legislative Legal Services, presented Bill 4, which removes the 10-county limit from the Cliff Effect Pilot Program. Committee discussion ensued.


03:48 PM

Josh Abram, Legislative Council Staff, came to the table to respond to questions about the bill's fiscal note.


03:50 PM

Committee discussion ensued.

03:51 PM -- Brian Conly, representing the Office of Early Childhood, spoke about the bill. Mr. Conly responded to questions from the committee.


03:52 PM

Bill Zepernick, Legislative Council Staff, came to the table to respond to questions about the fiscal note.

03:55 PM -- Rich Jones, representing the Bell Policy Center, spoke about the genesis of the ten-county pilot program.
BILL:Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts
TIME: 03:58:26 PM
MOVED:Pettersen
MOTION:Inclusion of Bill Draft 4 as one of the bills forwarded by the Early Childhood and School Readiness Legislative Commission to Legislative Council. The motion passed on a vote of 5-0.
SECONDED:Merrifield
VOTE
Marble
Excused
Merrifield
Yes
Singer
Yes
Wilson
Yes
Pettersen
Yes
Martinez Humenik
Yes
Final YES: 5 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


03:59 PM

Representatives Pettersen, Wilson, and Singer and Senators Martinez Humenik and Merrifield volunteered to sponsor the bill and agreed that the bill will start in Senate.


04:01 PM

Julie Pelegrin, Office of Legislative Legal Services, introduced Bill Draft 5, which creates a task force to address issues relating to the child care needs of low-income parents. Committee discussion ensued.

04:05 PM -- Chaer Robert, representing the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, spoke about the bill draft and discussed the importance of low-income parents being able to continue their education. She spoke about Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) data distributed to the committee (Attachment B). Ms. Robert responded to questions from the committee.

15EarlyChildhood1026AttachB.pdf15EarlyChildhood1026AttachB.pdf

04:12 PM -- Senator Evie Hudak, representing herself, came to the table to speak about the bill. Representative Singer spoke about a conceptual amendment adding a requirement that the task force report to the ECSRLC.
BILL:Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts
TIME: 04:14:53 PM
MOVED:Singer
MOTION:Adopt a conceptual amendment to Bill Draft 5 to add a separate sentence to require a report to the ECSRLC. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:Pettersen
VOTE
Marble
Excused
Merrifield
Singer
Wilson
Pettersen
Martinez Humenik
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


04:17 PM

Committee discussion ensued.

04:18 PM -- Sharon Knight, representing Warren Village, spoke about the inclusion of parents on the task force.


04:21 PM

Julie Pelegrin spoke about the work of the task force and its makeup. Committee discussion ensued.

04:24 PM -- Senator Evie Hudak spoke about the makeup of the task force.
BILL:Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts
TIME: 04:29:31 PM
MOVED:Pettersen
MOTION:Adopt a conceptual amendment to Bill Draft 5 making the total number of parents on the task force at least 5 and up to 7. The motion passed on a vote of 5-0.
SECONDED:Singer
VOTE
Marble
Excused
Merrifield
Yes
Singer
Yes
Wilson
Yes
Pettersen
Yes
Martinez Humenik
Yes
YES: 5 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


04:31 PM
BILL:Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts
TIME: 04:32:01 PM
MOVED:Pettersen
MOTION:Inclusion of Bill Draft 5, as amended, as one of the bills forwarded by the Early Childhood and School Readiness Legislative Commission to Legislative Council. The motion passed on a vote of 5-0.
SECONDED:Merrifield
VOTE
Marble
Excused
Merrifield
Yes
Singer
Yes
Wilson
Yes
Pettersen
Yes
Martinez Humenik
Yes
Final YES: 5 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


04:33 PM

Representative Pettersen and Senator Merrifield volunteered to sponsor the bill and agreed that the bill will start in the House. Representative Singer agreed to sign on as a co-sponsor.
BILL:Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts
TIME: 04:34:11 PM
MOVED:Wilson
MOTION:Adopt safety clause on Bill 5. The motion passed on a vote of 5-0.
SECONDED:Merrifield
VOTE
Marble
Excused
Merrifield
Yes
Singer
Yes
Wilson
Yes
Pettersen
Yes
Martinez Humenik
Yes
YES: 5 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS



04:34 PM

Senator Martinez Humenik thanked the audience for its feedback and input and encouraged them to remain involved throughout the session. The meeting adjourned.