Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING
HOUSE
COMMITTEE ON
EDUCATION
Date:
03/10/2005
ATTENDANCE
Time:
02:05 PM
to
04:31 PM
Balmer
X
Benefield
X
Place:
HCR 0107
King
X
Larson
X
This Meeting was called to order by
McKinley
E*
Representative
Merrifield
Penry
X
Pommer
X
This Report was prepared by
Rose
X
Cathy Eslinger
Solano
X
Todd
X
White
X
Paccione
X
Merrifield
X
X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call
Bills Addressed:
Action Taken:
SB05-170
SB05-081
SB05-051
SB05-156
Referred to the Committee of the Whole
Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole
Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole
Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole
02:05 PM -- Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by the chairman, Representative Merrifield.
02:06 PM -- Senate Bill 05-170
Representative Paccione reviewed the provisions of Senate Bill 05-170, concerning automated external defibrillators, and, in connection therewith, requiring the acceptance of donations by school districts to acquire automated external debrillators (AEDs). She said that the legislation is being referred to as "David's Law," in memory of seven-year-old David Brooks, who died of cardiac arrest at school. Two hand-outs were distributed (Attachments A and B).
02:09 PM
The following persons testified:
02:09 PM --
David Fending, representing the American Heart Association and a parent, testified in support of the bill. He said that about 250,000 persons in the United States succumb to cardiac arrest each year, and that about 7,000 children die of cardiac arrest. He said that the debrillators can be life-saving in many of these situations. He discussed statistics regarding how quickly the survival rate decreases with each minute following cardiac arrest. He discussed the fact that the bill requires a public school to accept a donation of a working debrillator. He also discussed an effort to increase Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training within the schools.
02:15 PM
Mr. Fending responded to questions regarding whether acceptance of debrillators impact a school's liability and immunity. Representative Paccione made further comments.
02:17 PM --
Guy Bull, representing Littleton Fire Department and professional emergency responders, testified in support of the bill. He said that a great deal of progress has been made, but what makes a real difference is training the general public. He discussed the impact of having debrillators in airplanes.
02:23 PM --
Ashton Narva, representing Medtronic, testified in support of the bill and made an demonstration of an AED. He said that public schools are some of the few remaining public buildings that do not have AEDs. He provided information on common public places that have AEDs. He reviewed the maintenance required, which he described as minimal.
02:30 PM
Mr. Narva responded to questions regarding the demonstration. An additional hand-out was distributed by Representative Paccione (Attachment C). Mr. Narva said that the device may be used on any child of at least one year of age.
02:32 PM --
Sharon and Dale Schmidt, parents of a son, Cody, testified in support of the bill and spoke about the death of their son. Ms. Schmidt described how pleased her son had been to be on his school's football team. She provided a timeline of the events and responses to her son's collapse at school.
02:40 PM --
Dale Schmidt discussed trying to be proactive in the schools to prevent deaths by cardiac arrests. He discussed the number of persons who are in schools and the variety of events that occur in schools.
02:45 PM --
Laurie and Paul Brooks, parents of a son, David, and founders of the David Brooks Foundation and Memorial Fund, testified in support of the bill. He said that a fund from the foundation would be able to provide access to about 1 percent of Colorado's public school children. He discussed the responses they have received since the goals of their foundation became public.
02:53 PM
Mr. and Mrs. Brooks responded to questions about the concerns that have been raised by school districts. He said that the Fund has provided seven units so far.
03:00 PM --
Charlie Hebeler, representing the Colorado Nurses' Association, testified in support of the bill. She said that some nurses have expressed concerns about their workload, but that the Association is supportive of the bill. She said she that believes four levels of immunity may apply in the case of AED use in a school.
03:08 PM
Jane Ritter, Office of Legislative Legal Services, responded to issues raised about different levels of liability. She said that she does not believe there is any statutory conflict if the new provisions are placed in statute. Representative Paccione made further comments.
BILL:
SB05-170
TIME:
03:11:19 PM
MOVED:
Paccione
MOTION:
Move to refer Senate Bill 05-170 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a 13-0 roll call vote.
SECONDED:
Balmer
VOTE
Balmer
Yes
Benefield
Yes
King
Yes
Larson
Yes
McKinley
Yes
Penry
Yes
Pommer
Yes
Rose
Yes
Solano
Yes
Todd
Yes
White
Yes
Paccione
Yes
Merrifield
Yes
Final YES:
13
NO:
0
EXC:
0
ABS:
0
FINAL ACTION:
PASS
03:16 PM -- Senate Bill 05-081
Representative Madden reviewed the provisions of Senate Bill 05-081, concerning the adoption of school district board of education policies related to improving children's nutrition. She described new federal requirements that would be phased in during the next few years and that the State Board of Education had passed a policy on healthy vending. A hand-out was distributed (Attachment D).
03:19 PM
03:19 PM --
Leo Lesh, representing Colorado Food Service Association, testified in support of the bill, and noted that he was a Denver Public School parent in support of the bill. He described the significant increases in obesity rates across the Untied States. He discussed the importance of educating children about healthy foods and about the importance of physical activity.
03:26 PM --
Rosanne Ainscrough, representing the Colorado Diabetes Association, testified in support of the bill.
03:27 PM --
Erica Gradwell, representing the Colorado Dietetic Association, testified in support of the bill. She said that by focusing on children, the legislation is preparing them to be healthy adults in the future.
03:29 PM --
Cindy French, representing the Dairy Farmers of Colorado, testified in support of the bill. She discussed the importance of dairy products in a healthy diet. Ms. French distributed a hand-out (Attachment E).
03:34 PM
Ms. French responded to questions from members of the committee.
03:36 PM --
Kathy Oatis, representing the Direct Marketers, testified on the bill. She discussed a potential amendment to the bill.
03:38 PM
Representative Madden responded to questions about the applicability of a permissive bill to direct marketers. Representative Todd made comments based on her experiences as a former middle school teacher.
BILL:
SB05-081
TIME:
03:41:14 PM
MOVED:
Merrifield
MOTION:
Moved amendment L.002 (Attachment F). Representative King subsequently moved an amendment to L.002 (see vote sheet below), line 4, strike "GROUP WHEN THE ITEM" and substitute "GROUP." Strike line 5. The motion on amendment L.002, as amended, passed without objection.
SECONDED:
Benefield
VOTE
Balmer
Benefield
King
Larson
Excused
McKinley
Penry
Pommer
Rose
Solano
Todd
White
Paccione
Merrifield
Not Final YES:
0
NO:
0
EXC:
1
ABS:
0
FINAL ACTION:
Pass Without Objection
03:41 PM
Representative King discussed the applicability of the amendment. The committee discussed fundraising conducted by schools.
BILL:
SB05-081
TIME:
03:45:25 PM
MOVED:
King
MOTION:
Moved to amend L.002, line 4, strike "GROUP WHEN THE ITEM" and substitute "GROUP." Strike line 5. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
Merrifield
VOTE
Balmer
Benefield
King
Larson
McKinley
Penry
Pommer
Rose
Solano
Todd
White
Paccione
Merrifield
Not Final YES:
0
NO:
0
EXC:
0
ABS:
0
FINAL ACTION:
Pass Without Objection
BILL:
SB05-081
TIME:
03:46:41 PM
MOVED:
Merrifield
MOTION:
Move to refer Senate Bill 05-081 to the Committee of the Whole, as amended. The motion passed on an 11-1-1 roll call vote.
SECONDED:
Todd
VOTE
Balmer
Yes
Benefield
Yes
King
Yes
Larson
Excused
McKinley
Yes
Penry
Yes
Pommer
Yes
Rose
Yes
Solano
Yes
Todd
Yes
White
No
Paccione
Yes
Merrifield
Yes
Final YES:
11
NO:
1
EXC:
1
ABS:
0
FINAL ACTION:
PASS
03:50 PM -- Senate Bill 05-051
Representative Merrifield reviewed the provisions of Senate Bill 05-051, concerning the exemption of certain private educational institutions from the "Private Occupational Education Act of 1981."
03:51 PM
The following persons testified:
03:51 PM --
Jesse Arman, representing the College for Financial Planning, discussed the status of his private institution. He testified in support of the bill. He said that it clarified issues that sometimes arise for institutions such as his.
03:54 PM
Mr. Arman responded to questions about his institution.
BILL:
SB05-051
TIME:
03:56:06 PM
MOVED:
Merrifield
MOTION:
Moved amendment L.003 (Attachment G). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
Paccione
VOTE
Balmer
Benefield
King
Larson
Excused
McKinley
Penry
Pommer
Rose
Solano
Todd
White
Paccione
Merrifield
Not Final YES:
0
NO:
0
EXC:
1
ABS:
0
FINAL ACTION:
Pass Without Objection
3:56 PM
Brett Siegel, representing the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE), came to the table to provide explanation about the amendment.
BILL:
SB05-051
TIME:
03:57:57 PM
MOVED:
Merrifield
MOTION:
Moved to refer Senate Bill 05-051 to the Committee of the Whole, as amended. The motion passed on a 12-0-1 roll call vote.
SECONDED:
Todd
VOTE
Balmer
Yes
Benefield
Yes
King
Yes
Larson
Excused
McKinley
Yes
Penry
Yes
Pommer
Yes
Rose
Yes
Solano
Yes
Todd
Yes
White
Yes
Paccione
Yes
Merrifield
Yes
Final YES:
12
NO:
0
EXC:
1
ABS:
0
FINAL ACTION:
PASS
03:57 PM -- Senate Bill 05-156
Representative Witwer reviewed the provisions of Senate Bill 05-156, concerning the "Colorado Schoolchildren's Asthma and Anaphylaxis Health Management Act." He discussed the provisions that address liability in the bill. He also discussed a proposed amendment to extend the applicability of the bill.
04:06 PM
Representative Witwer responded to questions about the role of the school board when schools implement the policies. Representative King made further comments about the importance of school board involvement. Representative Todd made comments based on the committee discussion.
04:10 PM
Representative White commented on language in the bill about how a student's plan could be developed. The committee continued discussing the role of the student and school officials in circumstances when a student needs access to medication. Representative White and Representative Solano shared first-hand experiences as parents of children who had special health needs.
04:14 PM
The following persons testified:
04:14 PM
-- Michael Petryna, representing the Colorado Asthma Coalition, testified in support for the bill.
04:18 PM --
Pamela Bennett, representing herself, discussed the issues that are encountered by someone at risk of anaphylactic shock. She testified in support of the bill.
04:21 PM
-- Robin Wilson, representing Colorado Allergy and Asthma Centers and the Colorado Asthma Coalition, testified in support of the bill. She described the work that had been done in preparing the bill and provided statistics on the number of children in Colorado with asthma.
04:24 PM
Ms. Wilson responded to questions regarding the high rate of asthma in Colorado.
04:24 PM --
Diane Herrick, a Children's Hospital employee representing the Colorado Society for Respiratory Care, testified in support of the bill. She described the number of children who arrive at the emergency room in Children's Hospital because they did not have access to their medication at school. She said the bill would foster a partnership that would include the child, parent, school nurse, and the family doctor.
04:27 PM --
Sarah Nettbarth, representing the American Lung Association of Colorado, testified in support of the bill.
04:28 PM
Representative Witwer made final comments and discussed the language in a proposed amendment.
BILL:
SB05-156
TIME:
04:29:10 PM
MOVED:
Larson
MOTION:
Moved amendment L.002 (Attachment H). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
Rose
VOTE
Balmer
Benefield
King
Larson
McKinley
Penry
Pommer
Rose
Solano
Todd
White
Paccione
Merrifield
Not Final YES:
0
NO:
0
EXC:
0
ABS:
0
FINAL ACTION:
Pass Without Objection
BILL:
SB05-156
TIME:
04:29:33 PM
MOVED:
Larson
MOTION:
Move to refer Senate Bill 05-156 to the Committee of the Whole, as amended. The motion passed on a 12-0-1 roll call vote.
SECONDED:
Rose
VOTE
Balmer
Yes
Benefield
Yes
King
Yes
Larson
Yes
McKinley
Yes
Penry
Yes
Pommer
Yes
Rose
Yes
Solano
Yes
Todd
Yes
White
Yes
Paccione
Excused
Merrifield
Yes
Final YES:
12
NO:
0
EXC:
1
ABS:
0
FINAL ACTION:
PASS
04:31 PM
The committee adjourned.