House Committee on Education (05/05/2005)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Date:	05/05/2005	ATTENDANCE

Time:	02:00 PM to 03:19 PM	Balmer	E*
		Benefield	X
Place:	HCR 0112	King	E*
		Larson	X
This Meeting was called to order by		McKinley	E*
	Representative Merrifield	Penry	E*
		Pommer	E*
This Report was prepared by		Rose	X
	Cathy Eslinger	Solano	X
		Todd	X
		White	X
		Paccione	E*
		Merrifield	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HCR05-1008 HCR05-1003 SJR05-047		Tabled - Deemed Postponed Indefinitely Tabled - Deemed Postponed Indefinitely Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole

02:01 PM -- Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by the chairman, Representative Merrifield.

02:02 PM -- House Concurrent Resolution 05-1008

Representative Stengel reviewed the provisions of House Concurrent Resolution 05-1008, concerning a requirement that a school district spend at least a specified percentage of its total operational expenditures on classroom instruction expenditures. He expressed his concerns and his reasons for bringing the measure, which would be submitted to Colorado voters if passed by the General Assembly. Representative Stengel provided data on how much was spent on classroom instruction in the school districts of the committee members.

02:08 PM

Representative Stengel responded to questions from committee members.

02:10 PM

The following persons testified:

02:10 PM -- Jane Urschel, Colorado Association of School Boards, testified in opposition of the resolution. She encouraged the General Assembly to study the issues through an upcoming interim committee on school finance.

02:12 PM -- Ryan Wulff, Colorado Education Association, testified in opposition of the resolution. He said that he favored looking at the funding issues through the School Finance Act, rather than through the Constitution.

02:13 PM -- Phil Fox, representing the Colorado Association of School Executives, testified in opposition of the resolution.

02:15 PM

Mr. Fox responded to questions from Representative King regarding a measure that had been passed in Arizona. Mr. Wulff responded to questions regarding his earlier testimony.

02:17 PM


BILL:	HCR 1008
TIME:	02:19:23 PM
MOVED:	King
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.003 (Attachment A). The motion passed on an 8-4-1 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	White
		VOTE
	Balmer	Yes
	Benefield	Yes
	King	Yes
	Larson	Excused
	McKinley	Yes
	Penry	Yes
	Pommer	No
	Rose	Yes
	Solano	No
	Todd	Yes
	White	Yes
	Paccione	No
	Merrifield	No
Not Final YES: 8 NO: 4 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	HCR 1008
TIME:	02:22:03 PM
MOVED:	King
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.004 (Attachment B). The chairman ruled that the motion died for a lack of a second.
SECONDED:
		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: TIE


BILL:	HCR 1008
TIME:	02:22:31 PM
MOVED:	Pommer
MOTION:	Moved a conceptual amendment, page 4, after line 19, insert "(e) SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS MAY WAIVE ANY STATE REPORTING REQUIRED BY STATUTE OR RULE IF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT NOTIFIES THE COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION THAT THE REQUIREMENT WOULD REDUCE CLASSROOM EXPENDITURES." The motion passed on a 7-5-1 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Paccione
		VOTE
	Balmer	No
	Benefield	No
	King	No
	Larson	Excused
	McKinley	Yes
	Penry	Yes
	Pommer	Yes
	Rose	No
	Solano	Yes
	Todd	Yes
	White	No
	Paccione	Yes
	Merrifield	Yes
Not Final YES: 7 NO: 5 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	HCR 1008
TIME:	02:25:13 PM
MOVED:	White
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.004 (Attachment B). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Balmer
		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:	HCR 1008
TIME:	02:26:07 PM
MOVED:	Merrifield
MOTION:	Moved to lay over House Concurrent Resolution 05-1008 until May 12. Representative White subsequently moved a substitute motion to refer House Concurrent Resolution 05-1008 to the Committee of the Whole (see vote sheet below). The substitute motion failed on 5-7 roll call vote. The original motion passed on a 7-5 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Paccione
		VOTE
	Balmer	No
	Benefield	Yes
	King	No
	Larson	Excused
	McKinley	Yes
	Penry	No
	Pommer	Yes
	Rose	No
	Solano	Yes
	Todd	Yes
	White	No
	Paccione	Yes
	Merrifield	Yes
Final YES: 7 NO: 5 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	HCR 1008
TIME:	02:28:05 PM
MOVED:	White
MOTION:	Moved a substitute motion to refer House Concurrent Resolution 05-1008 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion failed on 5-7 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Penry
		VOTE
	Balmer	Yes
	Benefield	No
	King	Yes
	Larson	Excused
	McKinley	No
	Penry	Yes
	Pommer	No
	Rose	Yes
	Solano	No
	Todd	No
	White	Yes
	Paccione	No
	Merrifield	No
Not Final YES: 5 NO: 7 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL

02:30 PM

Representative Penry reviewed the provisions of House Concurrent Resolution 05-1003, concerning increasing funding for higher education and other state needs by reducing the rate of mandatory funding increases for preschool through twelfth grade education required by Amendment 23.

02:32 PM

The following person testified:

02:32 PM -- Ben Stein, Deputy State Treasurer, provided background information concerning flexibility in new mandates when revenues decline.

02:32 PM -- Jane Urschel, representing the Colorado Association of School Boards, testified on the resolution and said that she opposed it on basis of the order this would be placed before state voters.

02:34 PM -- Phil Fox, representing the Colorado Association of School Executives, said that he agreed with Ms. Urschel comments.

02:34 PM -- Tony Salazar, representing the Colorado Education Association, testified in opposition to the measure and spoke about the historical underfunding for K-12 education.

02:36 PM

Representative Penry raised questions about measures considered last year that felt had been raised by the witnesses' testimony. Ms. Urschel responded to his questions about

02:37 PM -- Tony Salazar, also commented on the ballot measure that was considered by the General Assembly during the 2004 legislative session.

02:38 PM

Representative Penry said he felt that the passage of Amendment 23 marked the beginning of pitting K-12 education funding against funding for higher education.

02:38 PM

Ms. Urschel said that passage of Referendum C would assist funding for higher education and that the interim committee proposed through Senate Joint Resolution 05-47 would address K-12 funding.
02:40 PM -- Mr. Salazar responded to additional questions from Representative Penry.


BILL:	HCR 05-1003
TIME:	02:41:34 PM
MOVED:	Penry
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.003. (Attachment C). A fiscal assessment of the proposed amendment was also distributed (Attachment D). The motion passed on a 12-1 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	White
		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	No
Not Final YES: 12 NO: 1 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:43 PM

Representative King commented on House Concurrent Resolution 05-1003. Representative Penry said that he has seen legal opinions that Amendment 23 could be considered at an odd-year election if Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) issues are included in the measure. Representative Penry made final comments and distributed a copy of a resolution in support of HCR 05-1003, from the Southeast Business Partnership (Attachment E). Representative Pommer made additional comments in support of provision in Amendment 23.


BILL:	HCR 05-1003
TIME:	02:45:58 PM
MOVED:	Penry
MOTION:	Moved to refer to House Concurrent Resolution 05-1003 to the Committee on Finance. Representative Paccione moved a substitute motion to lay the resolution over until May 12 (see vote sheet below). The substitute motion passed on a 7-6 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Balmer
		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: TIE


BILL:	HCR 05-1003
TIME:	02:53:21 PM
MOVED:	Paccione
MOTION:	Moved a substitute motion to lay over House Concurrent Resolution 05-1003 until May 12. The motion passed on a 7-6 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Merrifield
		VOTE
	Balmer	No
	Benefield	Yes
	King	No
	Larson	No
	McKinley	Yes
	Penry	No
	Pommer	Yes
	Rose	No
	Solano	Yes
	Todd	Yes
	White	No
	Paccione	Yes
	Merrifield	Yes
Final YES: 7 NO: 6 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:55 PM -- Senate Joint Resolution 05-047

Representative Merrifield reviewed the provisions of Senate Joint Resolution 05-047, concerning creation of an interim committee to study the financing of public schools. He discussed the fact that the School Finance Act had not been considered since 1994.

02:56 PM

02:56 PM -- John Giardino, representing himself, testified in support of the resolution and an interim study that would include a discussion of capital needs.

02:58 PM -- Tony Salazar, representing the Colorado Education Association, testified in support of the resolution. He discussed potential amendments to the resolution, in particular an amendment changing the membership of the advisory task force.


BILL:	SJR 05-47
TIME:	03:03:14 PM
MOVED:	Merrifield
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.008 (Attachment F). Motions were subsequently made to amend L.008 (see vote sheets below). The motion to pass amendment L.008, as amended, passed on a 13-0 roll call vote.
SECONDED:
		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
Not Final YES: 13 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	SJR 05-47
TIME:	03:06:40 PM
MOVED:	Larson
MOTION:	Moved to amend amendment .008, line 4, after "a", insert "public school teacher". The motion passed on a 7-6 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	King
		VOTE
	Balmer	Yes
	Benefield	Yes
	King	Yes
	Larson	Yes
	McKinley	Yes
	Penry	Yes
	Pommer	No
	Rose	Yes
	Solano	No
	Todd	No
	White	No
	Paccione	No
	Merrifield	No
Not Final YES: 7 NO: 6 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	SJR 05-47
TIME:	03:03:31 PM
MOVED:	King
MOTION:	Moved to amend amendment L.008, line 3, strike "teacher." and substitute "teacher who is not a member of a statewide teachers' association." The motion failed on a 6-7 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Larson
		VOTE
	Balmer	Yes
	Benefield	No
	King	Yes
	Larson	Yes
	McKinley	No
	Penry	Yes
	Pommer	No
	Rose	Yes
	Solano	No
	Todd	No
	White	Yes
	Paccione	No
	Merrifield	No
Not Final YES: 6 NO: 7 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:	SJR 05-47
TIME:	03:12:01 PM
MOVED:	King
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.007 (Attachment G). The motion passed on an 8-5 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Paccione
		VOTE
	Balmer	No
	Benefield	Yes
	King	No
	Larson	Yes
	McKinley	Yes
	Penry	No
	Pommer	Yes
	Rose	No
	Solano	Yes
	Todd	Yes
	White	No
	Paccione	Yes
	Merrifield	Yes
Not Final YES: 8 NO: 5 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	SJR 05-47
TIME:	03:15:55 PM
MOVED:	King
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.006 (Attachment H). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	White
		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:	SJR 05-47
TIME:	03:17:14 PM
MOVED:	Merrifield
MOTION:	Moved to refer Senate Joint Resolution 05-047, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. Representative White moved a substitute motion (see vote sheet below). Representative White's substitute motion failed on a 3-10 roll call vote. Representative Merrifield's original motion passed on an 11-2 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Todd
		VOTE
	Balmer	Yes
	Benefield	Yes
	King	Yes
	Larson	Yes
	McKinley	Yes
	Penry	Yes
	Pommer	Yes
	Rose	No
	Solano	Yes
	Todd	Yes
	White	No
	Paccione	Yes
	Merrifield	Yes
Final YES: 11 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	SJR 05-47
TIME:	03:17:57 PM
MOVED:	White
MOTION:	Moved a substitute motion to postpone Senate Joint Resolution 05-047 indefinitely. The motion failed on a 3-10 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Rose
		VOTE
	Balmer	Yes
	Benefield	No
	King	No
	Larson	No
	McKinley	No
	Penry	No
	Pommer	No
	Rose	Yes
	Solano	No
	Todd	No
	White	Yes
	Paccione	No
	Merrifield	No
Not Final YES: 3 NO: 10 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL

03:19 PM

The committee was adjourned.