Today, six amendments came forward on SF-70 School finance amendments. This made for a busy day for your WEA lobby team. All of the amendments that would have negatively affected school funding were voted down on the floor. The amendments that passed are below.

Representatives Jane Warren and Bernadine Craft brought an amendment to bring back the funding for food services that was stripped out of the bill on Monday. Thanks to all of you who wrote emails supporting this critical issue. Representatives Alden, Bagby, Blake, Craft, Davison, Diercks, Dockstader, Edwards, Esquibel – Floyd, Esquibel – Ken, Gilmore, Gingery, Goggles, Hales, Hammons, Harvey, Iekel, Illoway, Jaggi, Lubnau, Madden, Martin, McOmie, Meyer, Miller, Millin, Olsen, Shepperson, Simpson, Slater, Steward, Thompson, Throne, Warren and Zwonitzer-Dan voted in favor of this amendment. WEA sincerely thanks them for their support. Please send these Representatives emails thanking them for voting to return this funding!

WEA member Representative Diercks proposed a successful amendment that effectively restores some local control to summer school programs by inserting the words “or other remedial methods” to the allowable curriculum and strategies. This allows remedial programs, not just programs described as enrichment to be a part of the summer school curriculum. Speaking on behalf of the thousands of experienced teachers in the state, Representative Diercks asked the body to recognize and honor the wisdom of experience, and to allow decisions about summer school curriculum and strategies to be made by the districts and their educators.

Action Needed!

Please email your Representative with the following messages (Please use the phrase “SF 70 amendments” in the subject line):

1. The importance of keeping the funding we garnered today for food service. School districts should not have to take funding intended for a different part of the funding model, to fund food service. We expect an amendment tomorrow to try to strip this funding, again.

2. How instructional facilitators have increased student achievement in your school. Representative Del McOmie will bring an amendment to restore this funding.

KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK. The grassroots of the WEA have been very effective this session and we appreciate the work you have done. Hopefully this is the last time we have to ask for your help.

Bills WEA will be working this year

Daily Bill Status Report

Please watch for positions that change throughout the session. Most of these changes are due to amendments to bills.

Number Link to Introduced version	Bill Title	Link to Amendments	Explanation of the Bill	WEA' Position	Bill Status
HB0003	Campaign finance reporting-electronic filing.	Yes	Changes campaign finance reports to an electronic form that would be posted online and would be searchable. Allows for only electronic filing	Support	H Speaker Signed HEA No. 0033
HB0009	Campaign finance reporting.	Yes	Limits Political Action Committee contributions to $3,500 per individual for legislative races and $7000 for statewide candidates per election. A very blatant abuse of the current law lead to this change	OPPOSE	H Adopted HB0009JC01 56-3-1-0-0
HB0017	Community college commission-duties.	Yes	Implements some of the recommendations from the Governor's Blue Ribbon Panel on Community Colleges. Our only concern is that it allows the Community College Commission the ability to cancel programs at community colleges due to low enrollment.	Support	S Appointed JCC01 Members
HB0025	School building plan review exception.		It just cleans up the language and allows districts to contract for building plan reviews. In practice, I believe that districts already do this, so I do not think it changes practice.	Watch	Assigned Number HEA0004
HB0054	Natural gas valuation.		Provides a fairer tax system for sour gas of which funding goes to the school foundation account.	Support	S President Signed HEA No. 0019
HB0077	Tuition-dependents of disabled firefighters and EMTs-2.		Allows children of disabled firefighters to go to college tuition free	Support	S President Signed HEA No. 0021
HB0081	Community colleges-capital construction.		loosens regulations on legislative approval of construction projects from everything over $50,000, to everything over $100,000	Watch	Assigned number HEA 0014
HB0113	School finance-minimum teacher resources.		Clarifies funding for extremely small schools granting them additional funding for the last two years and then clarifying the language so that it does not continue in the future.	Watch	S Passed 2nd Reading
HB0134	School district immunity and liability insurance.		Clarifies language for school funding of extremely small schools.	Watch	H Speaker Signed HEA No. 0027
SF0009	State retirement-board immunity.	Yes	This bill protects the members of the retirement board from legal action.	Support	S Appointed JCC01 Members
SF0017	School facilities-infrastructure costs.	Yes	I see red flags that would require the SFC to choose cheapest option available in every situation. The recent Supreme Court Decision speaks to this specifically	Oppose	Assigned Number SEA0004
SF0021	Hathaway scholarship program.	Yes	Provides student who lose their scholarship due to low GPW with an opportunity to earn it back if they bring up their GPA while they pay their own tuition.	Support	S Appointed JCC01 Members
SF0022	School facilities-amendments.	Yes	Basically it is clean up language. It does stipulate that a school building cannot be demolished without a public meeting.	Support	H Appointed JCC01 Members
SF0029	Public library endowment challenge program.	Yes	Provides public libraries an opportunity to raise funds through a matching endowment program. This bill would allow donations of $10,000 to be matched by another $10,000 from the state.	Support	H Passed 2nd Reading
SF0053	Common school reserve account funding.	Yes	This is a great bill - After Hathaway is full, this bill take the funding that was previously going to Hathaway and puts it in the common school trust land account.	Support	Assigned Number SEA0033
SF0070	School finance-amendments.	Yes	The WEA supports all portions of this omnibus bill	Support	H Passed 2nd Reading
SF0071	Hathaway scholarship program-success curriculum.		Expands the foreign language of the Success Curriculum to include Sign Language	Support	H Passed 3rd Reading 59-0-1-0-0
SF0083	Retirement-rehired retirees.		Provides clarifying language to the current rehired retiree law.	Support	H Passed 2nd Reading