The Senate passed SB 115, putting the performance data from students in residential centers in a separate LEA category, today 54-0.  The House had no education-related legislation on its calendar today, but has several tomorrow.  They will take up HB 244, creating the new teacher and leader evaluation system; HB 283, making changes to Title 20; and HB 327, the flexibility bill; plus the rewrite of the juvenile justice code.

 

More School Systems?

HR 496 is a proposed constitutional amendment to allow the creation of more city school districts.  It is limited to cities created on or after January 1, 2005, and cities contigous to those.  If passed, it would be on the 2014 ballot.  Before they get too excited about doing this, they might want to go back to the records and find out why the 1945 Constitution created the limitation.  Those reasons, of course, may or may not be applicable today.

 

One of the most crowded spots today was the Subcommittee hearing for HB 486, prohibiting local board members from using public funds to pay for litigation after being removed from office under the statute just used for DeKalb.  Rep. Mike Jacobs said his bill does not prohibit board members from filing suit, since they could use their own funds, raise funds from private sources, or try to find an attorney to represent them pro bono. 

 

Rep.Jacobs said they could use public funds as long as they were acting as a body, but, after the Governor's decision, they are acting individually.  Rep. Roger Bruce questioned the fairness of this as they are removed as a body,for being part of that body whether they individually did anything wrong or not.  Yet, when they try to defend themselves individually they are on their own.  To no one's surprise, it received a "Do Pass" and goes on to the House Judiciary Civil Committee which happens to be meeting tomorrow.

 

When the session started, HB 80 was written to try to address some issues that came up in implementing the changover from the current system of sales tax for purchases of vehicles and annual ad valorem taxes to a one-time title tax.  They wanted to get the changes made before the new system goes into effect Friday, March 1st.  The bill, however, ran into some trouble on the Senate side.  After three hearings, it was added on to a separate bill today.  They lowered the tax for the buy-here-pay-here dealers and eliminated the monthly fee paid by those leasing cars.  There was no fiscal note for this version of the bill.  Although some Committee members protested about the combined bill and the lack of a fiscal note, it passed and went to Senate Rules.

 

 

Thursday, February 28th