The Governor has finished his 40 days of signing and vetoing bills, so the 2021 session is finally done. I'm sure he's even happier than we are. He signed all the bills on our list. To keep this email to a reasonable length, we have compiled separate documents on the amended budget, the 2022 budget, bills that passed, and those that did not. We made it as easy to skim as possible, so please do take a look. We do, of course, have a few comments. Budget This fiscal year has been one unlike any other in more ways than one. This was a year for gratitude to the federal and state levels. Supplemental federal funding came from both the Trump and Biden administrations to address the impact of COVID-19. The Governor used part of his federal Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund to help districts with connectivity for students. He joined with State Superintendent Richard Woods to combine federal funds and provide $1000 bonuses to teachers and other school-level personnel as a recognition of the work it took to get through this past year. The Department of Education dipped into the state reserve portion of the CARES funds to provide additional help to districts including. The amended budget had some wonderful surprises with a $568 million restoration to QBE and $40 million for school buses. The Governor and legislature worked hard to plug some of the holes created by the cuts the previous year. The budgets have funding related to previously passed mandates such as dyslexia screening and expanding computer science instruction. Many of the parts of the education budget are based on enrollment, so there were some cuts due to the lower enrollment most districts saw this year. The remaining cut to QBE is $338 million. Please remember to thank everybody for the financial support. Bills That Passed Since the special needs voucher passed in 2007, there have been numerous attempts to expand it. SB 47 was this year's version. Ultimately it extended the program to students with a 504 plan with one or more of 21 conditions listed in the bill. They needed 29 votes to pass it in the Senate and got 30. They needed 91 votes to pass it in the House, and that is exactly what they got. If you are thinking that the margin does not matter, it passed -- I understand. I believe, however, that it is important to understand what the level of support is when it comes to taking a vote. The close margin is due to the calls and emails all of you made. You do make a difference. Click on the bill link to see provisions of the bill. If you don't want to see the details, I will remind you of one: the 2007 bill included a public school transfer option if space is available and the program needs are provided. SB 47 extends this option to the qualifying 504 students. SB 42 doesn't have much of the bill it started with but it finished with something various legislators have been trying to pass for decades. Homeschoolers in grades 6-12 will be able to participate in extracurricular activities at their local public school after enrolling for at least one virtual course and notifying the principal and superintendent of their intent. Click on the link to see the particulars of the bill. HB 146, the parental leave bill, didn't make it through last year but did this year. It gives 120 hours of paid parental leave over a one-year period to an employee having a child, adopting a child, or receiving a foster child. Check here for the complete list of bills that passed. Next Year's Bills There were several contentious bills that did not make it through, but they live on. On our list of bills not passing, you will see the status of the bill for next year's session. Below are a few to be aware of: The "library bill" had a Senate and House version. SB 226 was the one that moved but HB 516 is also there. SB 226 was changed from a criminal offense to provide inappropriate material to a minor to requiring a complaint policy, an appeal process, and publishing material if the local board upheld the principal's decision. It was mostly ignored that you already have a process and many of you have a policy in place. Supporters of the bill were not happy with the changes to the bill. Opponents were not happy with the bill in any form. It will be heard again. Girls sports are having a moment nationwide. We had three bills addressing who can participate in girls sports -- if passed, state law would limit it to those born biologically female. There are several court cases around the country related to similar bills. Title IX is undergoing a review at the U.S. Department of Education. SB 266 was the version that saw the most movement here. There were also HB 276 and HB 372. And we had more voucher bills. HB 60 is another attempt to add an education savings account voucher program to the others. HB 142 would raise the limit on income tax credits for donations to student scholarship organizations which give vouchers to $150 million. We do our best for you each session whether it is supporting bills, getting bills amended, or stopping them. Your willingness to stand up and speak out makes all the difference. Thank you for your help, and do take this time to continue to build the relationship with your legislators and State Board member. If you don't know who yours is, check here. |