New Hampshire School Boards Association
Legislative Bulletin
May 11 , 2007
Current House Bills (HB) or Senate Bills (SB) you need to know:
________________________________________
(SB 88) Public employee terms of employment, bargaining units, and continuation of pay plans
This bill, making significant changes to the collective bargaining law, remains in a House Labor sub-committee. There appears to be majority support for the bill’s provisions: reducing the minimum number of employees for a bargaining unit from 10 to 3, requiring the continuation of any pay plan when the contract expires (statutory evergreen clause), removing “number of personnel” from managerial policy and making it subject to bargaining, and adding “matters directly related to safety considerations” as items to be bargained.
ACTION ITEM
Please continue to share your opposition to SB 88 with your local representatives and also contact members of the House Labor Committee (see http://gencourt.state.nh.us/ns/billstatus/commdetails.asp?txtcommcode=H11 ) to urge defeat of this bill. Remind committee members of their position on HB 89 (passed by both the House and Senate) creating a study committee on dispute resolution, specifically including the issue of evergreen clauses.
________________________________________
SB 18 & 101 – Raising the age of required attendance & state payments for at-risk students in alt. programs
Both of these bills have been recommended for passage by the House Education Committee: SB 18 raises the age for compulsory attendance to 18, and SB 101 provides for the state to pay tuition and transportation costs for at-risk students attending alternative education programs at a regional vocational education center. NHSBA supports these two bills as “companion” legislation. SB 18, properly funded, is a specific NHSBA Resolution, and the state’s budget, as passed by the House, more than doubles funds for dropout prevention programs, also including a $3 million increase for tuition and transportation for the expansion of at-risk programs at regional vocational centers as contained in SB 101.
ACTION ITEM
Please contact your local representatives and voice support for these bills reflecting good policy and a state partnership, as highlighted in NHSBA resolution # 18 (http://www.nhsba.org/about_resolutions.asp ).
________________________________________
SCR 2 – Urging Congress to amend the No Child Left Behind Act
The House Education Committee has recommended this bill for passage. It will be considered by the full House next Wednesday. NHSBA supports this resolution, calling for revisions and more flexibility in NCLB, especially a GAO evaluation of the costs to the states and local districts for compliance with NCLB requirements.
ACTION ITEM
Please contact your local representatives and urge support of this timely bill. It calls for NCLB revisions allowing for more flexibility in how states implement NCLB, growth models with multiple forms of assessment to measure student progress, allowing state determination of interventions when schools are designated in need of improvement, and requesting a Government Accountability Office evaluation of the costs to states and local school districts for complying with the No Child Left Behind Act requirements (see NHSBA Resolutions # 35 and 36 http://www.nhsba.org/about_resolutions.asp ). This will be an important message for our Congress as it considers the reauthorization of NCLB.
________________________________________
SCR 4 – Urging Congress to fully fund IDEA
The House Education Committee is considering this resolution, supported by NHSBA, calling on the President and Congress to fully fund the federal government’s share of special education services under IDEA.
ACTION ITEM
Please contact members of the House Education Committee (see http://gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/committeedetails.aspx?code=H05 ) and urge support of this bill seeking full funding of IDEA, as noted in long-standing NHSBA resolutions # 33 and 34 (http://www.nhsba.org/about_resolutions.asp ). Passage of this timely resolution is important as Congress considers the budget and determines funding levels for federal education programs.
________________________________________
SB 47 – Current year supplemental building aid
The House Finance Committee has recommended this bill for passage, appropriating over $2 million to make-up the fy 2007 shortfall in school building aid. The House vote is scheduled for next Wednesday.
ACTION ITEM
Please contact your local representatives and voice your support for this bill that will fully fund the current year entitlements for building aid.
Please review the ACTION ITEMS above and contact your local representatives, senators, and committee members TODAY to voice your concerns regarding legislative proposals. Remember that you, through NHSBA, are the only locally elected officials that “speak” exclusively for public education in NH.
For the complete text of any bill, go to http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/ns/billstatus/quickbill.html and enter the bill number, e.g. HB678, SB78 or CACR18 (no spaces!), and make sure the Session Year is 2007.
For more information on specific legislation, please call Dean Michener, NHSBA Director of Governmental Affairs at 603-228-2061, or email: deanm@nhsba.org.
|
