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2010 Legislative Summary Please unbuckle your seatbelts and exit to the right. The 2010 Legislature rollercoaster ride is over. “Given the economic circumstances and issues we faced from day one of the legislative session, public education and educators fared remarkably well in the end,” said UEA Executive Director Mark Mickelsen. “I am especially pleased that teachers in the Jordan School District received a lifeline that may help them avert painful layoffs this spring.” Many legislators and others attributed the outcomes for public education on the hundreds of e-mails, letters and personal contacts received from teachers and parents. Especially helpful and successful were the personal contacts with legislators made during UEA’s six Educator Day on the Hill activities. More than 100 educators participated this year. The session was marked by tough battles over state employee retirement benefits, association leave rules, and a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall that threatened to compound Utah’s already tenuous public education funding situation. “We understand that growing the economy is the No. 1 issue for all of us and…long-term sustained growth requires education,” remarked Gov. Gary Herbert in concluding comments to legislators at the close of the session. “I hope you’re hearing the accolades and the…appreciation from people in the education world. I’ve received handwritten notes from the UEA…and others that have said ‘thank you’ for making tough choices but doing it appropriately (for education).” UEA President Kim Campbell said, “the goal expressed by the governor, legislative leadership, and the Democratic minority was to hold public education to last year’s funding levels. In this tough economic climate, although there were cuts and growth wasn’t funded, they came very close to reaching their goal in the overall budget. The fact that public education received ongoing money will help avoid a disastrous funding cliff in next year’s budget. We thank our legislators and Governor Herbert for their hard work and support of public education.” “If I could have changed one thing about this legislative session, it would be more focus on long-term, sustainable public education funding,” noted Campbell. Here are a few highlights from the 2010 Legislative Session: Budget— The Governor and majority party legislative leaders worked to trim a proposed $21 million cut to public education to about a $9 million reduction from last year’s budget. However, there is no new funding to educate an estimated 11,000 new students expected next year. The net result is a cut of about 3 percent, far less than reductions faced by many other departments and agencies. The public education cuts will come largely from funds for new school buildings and a 50 percent cut to teacher-directed supply money, with additional reductions to be determined by local school boards. At the last minute, lawmakers found money to help pay for new school library books. A last-minute attempt to insert charter school funding changes and eliminate association leave pay (see below) failed. The WPU will remain at $2,577 despite no funding for the additional 11,000 students. School districts must absorb those costs in other areas. A major change in the education budget proposal is a shift from one-time to ongoing money. During the downturn in the economy, one-time rainy day and federal stimulus money was used to fill budget shortfalls. In the new FY2011 budget, lawmakers and the governor agreed to replace most of the one-time money with ongoing funds. “The change from one-time to ongoing funding is a huge win for public education,” said UEA Government Relations Director Kory Holdaway. “Without this change we would have faced a major funding cliff in future years.” Retirement— Two major bills dealing with the Utah Retirement Systems passed during this session, neither affecting current employees. SB43 (third substitute): Post-retirement Employment Amendments and SB63 (third substitute): New Public Employees’ Tier II Contributory Retirement Act passed the Legislature on March 1 and are awaiting the Governor’s signature. While the UEA still believes the state would have been better served by allowing a year to study these issues and develop alternative solutions, these bills are much improved from their original form. The bills were improved, in large part, because of the hundreds of letters, e-mails and personal contacts with legislators. The UEA Legislative team extends its thanks to everyone who helped in sharing concerns with legislators, especially members of the newly-formed retirement coalition (UEA, Utah School Employees Association, Utah Public Employees’ Association, and Fraternal Order of Police), 4,000 of whom gathered on the steps of the Capitol February 6 to protest cuts to public employee retirement benefits. Contacts with legislators also helped stop two additional bills that would negatively impact retirement benefits for current employees. SB42 would have extended the years of service required for retirement and SB94 would have eliminated the 1.5 percent employer 401(k) contribution state employees currently receive. For those working in education, here’s what SB43 and SB63 will do: Current Employees: No impact. Neither bill affects the retirement benefits of current employees. All retirement benefits, including years-of-service requirements, three-year final salary averaging and the 2 percent multiplier for each year of service, remain just as they are now for all employees hired prior to July 1, 2011. Current Retirees: No impact. Neither bill affects pension payout, COLA increases or any other aspect of current retiree benefits. If you have retired from the URS and returned to work in an entity participating in the URS, there is no change in your benefits. Retirees Who Return to Employment: SB43 applies to anyone who retires from the Utah Retirement Systems after July 1, 2010, and returns to work with any entity participating in the URS. It requires a retired employee to wait one full year before returning to employment with a state agency. A teacher who retired would have two options upon being rehired:
New Employees: SB63 applies to public employees hired after July 1, 2011. Upon hiring, new employees will elect one of two retirement benefit options:
Both plans would have a four-year vesting period, meaning the employee must work four years to get any benefit at all. HB4: Current School Year Supplemental Minimum School Program Budget (Supported by UEA, Passed) HB246: Retirement Benefits for Charter School Employees (Supported by UEA, Passed) HB268: Public School Innovations (Opposed by UEA, Failed) HB295: Expanded Use of School District Property Tax Revenue and SB16: Utah Performance Assessment System for Students Amendments (Supported by UEA, Passed) SB77 (first substitute): School District Leave Policies (Opposed by UEA, Failed) SB147: Education Related Parent Organizations (Opposed by UEA, Failed) SB150: Reading Requirements for Student Advancement (Supported by UEA, Passed) SB275: Removing Signature from Initiative and Referendum Petition (Opposed by UEA, Passed) Pace Picks Up in a Big Way The pace picked up in a big way today (March 10)…lots of things still to be accomplished before the close of the session. The biggest ‘not yet done’ legislation for Education was the public education funding bill. Although it was reported that the decisions had been made, some opportunity for additional dollars and possible reallocation of money was still being discussed. More about this later. The Legislative Team, including UEA Vice President Ellen Thompson, met early to brief a group of teachers who came to the Capitol from Granite, Davis, Box Elder and Jordan Districts as part of Educator Day on the Hill. They were briefed on the details of recently passed retirement legislation, the status of funding and on bills of interest still pending. The teachers spent their time talking with legislators in whose districts they live as well as those who represent the area where their schools are located. They also left messages for the Governor at his office in the Capitol building. They were energetic and articulate and had the opportunity to thank legislators for the priority given to public education in the budget process…lots of smiles all around and legislators seemed very appreciative in return. The teachers and the UEA Team gathered back together at lunchtime to share what they had learned and what they had heard. Thanks to Carol Cremer from the UEA staff and the UniServ directors from DEA for being there to lend support. Kudos to Ellen Thompson for organizing all the Educator on the Hill Days that took place this legislative session. UEA Executive Director Mark Mickelsen also joined the team. It was a ‘full court press’ day. Many bills were heard in each body. Examples of bills being tracked by the UEA include:
The Executive Appropriations Committee met in the late morning and took action on a series of additional funding items and adopted ‘intent language’ involving a number of departments. Public education funding items discussed included the $21 million in reductions, which have already been recounted, and approximately $11 million in add backs (one-time money) allocated to teacher-directed classroom supplies ($5 million) and transportation ($6.3 million). Rep. Dave Litvak, Democratic minority leader proposed an amendment that would have reinstated $500,000 for library books and electronic equipment and another $1 million for classroom supplies. This amendment passed among House members on the Committee but failed among Senators with Republicans voting no. The dollars for these additions were dependent on a bill that had not yet passed the Senate. There remains a chance for some version of this change to happen. Thanks to Rep. Litvak for his effort to continue looking for ways to improve resources for our schools. (The bill, HB166: Elimination of Education Mandates, sponsored by Rep. Dougall, did pass the Senate later in the day.) More nail biters and even some fun: The end of the day was spent in the Senate, which took up SB2: Minimum School Program and Public Education Budget Amendments. Sen. Howard Stephenson presented the bill, noting the bill is an addition to the base budget bill passed early in the Session. The bill contains $294.3 million in add backs most all of which is ongoing dollars ($11.9 million is one-time). This demonstrates the priority that was placed on public education. Within the context of what funds the Legislature and Governor agreed would be available this year, public education fared very well…in fact the best of any agency and higher education. All in the education community have to be grateful for this and for the stability in funding this result promises for next year. Sen. Morgan offered an amendment to SB2 that would have reallocated funds within the proposed budget, reducing a very large on-going add back for the Critical Languages program and reallocating those dollars to library books and the K-3 Reading Improvement program. She argued forcefully for the need to restore these programs. Sen. Stephenson resisted just as forcefully. When the vote was taken, the amendment failed but it was oooooh so very close, failing on a 14-14 tie. Sen. Romero then offered an amendment to reduce on-going funding for ELL software and reinstating funding to at-risk youth programs and ELL Family Centers. He argued forcefully for the need to focus on some of our most vulnerable students. Sen. Stephenson again resisted forcefully and the amendment failed on a voice vote. Sen. Dayton then offered an amendment that would have inserted the language of her failed SB77: School District Leave Policies (chronicled often in earlier reports). This could be seen as determination and persistence or it might be seen as nothing more than punitive and outright refusal to step back from what the majority in the House saw as an unworthy piece of legislation. With Sen. Stephenson this time strongly supporting the amendment along with 10 colleagues, the amendment failed on a standing vote of 10 ‘for’ to 12 ‘no’. Thanks to those who saw this amendment as inappropriate for the public education funding bill. Thursday (March 11) is the 45th and final day. The House has 40+ bills on its calendar as does the Senate with many more waiting in the wings. We are still tracking many issues and very importantly the House action on SB2.Budget, Association Leave Focus of Day Forty Three Three days to go and counting…Today (March 9) was consumed with work on 2 primary issues:
Association Leave Bill Fails in the House After a lively debate lasting more than an hour, SB77: School District Leave Policies failed in the House on a vote of 25-43 with 7 absent. Several Representatives spoke against the bill including Reps. Black, Gowans, Powell, Mascaro, Moss, McIff and Watkins. The bill, which was strongly opposed by the UEA, would have prohibited school districts from granting paid leave for certain association duties. Those against the bill primarily argued association leave was an issue of local control, better left to elected school boards. In Search of a Long-Term View for Public Education Funding Over the weekend, the UEA Board and the UEA Council of Local Presidents met and were updated on the Legislative Session. Both groups talked of the necessity of a long-term plan for public education. The “Speak for Tomorrow Today” campaign is the beginning of that effort. Simply put, the campaign answers the following questions and advances a proactive public education agenda:
We want policymakers to think long-term. This framework is the UEA’s way of putting forward an agenda for our public schools and then working to make it a reality. It won’t happen overnight, but the current funding crisis should be a call to action for all educators. Jordan’s crisis is symptomatic of much larger problems concerning funding that affect every educator and every public school in the state. At last week’s press conference, we encouraged legislators to help with some short-term patches for districts like Jordan and Grand AND to consider long-term fixes for Utah’s structural problems concerning public education funding. Now we have to make it possible for them to do the right things. Thanks to all who attended the Jordan Day on the Hill last Wednesday and promoted HB295 (second substitute): Expanded Uses of School District Property Tax Revenue. I don’t remember the last time I saw a bill dealing with a controversial issue like funding flexibility pass a legislative body unanimously. As of Monday evening, it is still in Rules, so call or e-mail your Senator and encourage him/her to ask for the release of HB295 from Rules and then vote for it when it comes before the Senate. Another note, Rep. Hutchings received special permission to open a bill file and brought HB463: Divided School District Property Tax Amendments to the House. This bill provides for some headroom in the board leeway in districts experiencing a division. The bill passed the House late Monday afternoon. More to come on this. Those of you outside Jordan and Grand, please assist your colleagues on these very important short-term items and keep talking about long-term solutions. Stay tuned and thank you for being involved.The Final Week Begins The final week…one day down and three to go! It usually doesn’t seem possible that the Legislative Session is nearing its final adjournment…too much still unsettled and too many bills still to be heard. This Session though feels different. It actually appears there isn’t enough business left to take up the remaining three days. Traditionally this day is the last day for the House to consider House bills and the Senate to consider Senate bills…then each body turns to the bills that have already passed the other. Of course, there are multiple exceptions done under ‘suspension of the rules’ and members are jockeying to have their bills reach the floor calendar to debate. For your UEA Legislative Team and all the other lobbyists, it’s a bit like being air traffic controllers at a major airport watching blips appear on the screen, move around and disappear. Today the House completed all the House bills on its calendar by late afternoon. The Senate pressed on to complete its bills but also finished relatively early. Tomorrow the House will begin debate of the Senate bills that the Senate has prioritized…this includes SB77 (first substitute): School District Leave Policies. This is an important bill for the Association and other employee groups. The House is expected to begin with debate of HB2, the major funding bill for all agencies and Higher Education so it can be moved to the Senate for debate and final passage. Both the House caucuses met at noon. Jay Blain, UEA Director of Policy and Research, covered the Republican meeting for UEA where the proposed 1 percent cut in the public education budget was explained in more detail and discussed by the members. I covered the Democratic meeting. Sen. Morgan presented SB150: Reading Requirements for Student Advancement (the “Reading at Grade Level” bill). There were many questions and it was clear that some caucus members have concerns about the bill. This is also true in the education community. Voices for Utah Children and the KSL Editorial Board have endorsed the bill. SB150 was not included in the first group of Senate bills placed on the House calendar so it is unlikely to come up tomorrow. Democrats also discussed the proposed Education budget. They expressed concerns about the 1 percent cut on top of unfunded enrollment growth and will advocate for limiting the cut particularly in certain line items and program areas. UEA President Kim Campbell, Executive Director Mark Mickelsen, Kory Holdaway, Jay Blain and Susan Kuziak met with Governor Herbert, Lt. Governor Greg Bell and the Governor’s Budget Director John Nixon. The focus of discussion was public education funding. What the final result will be isn’t clear yet. The Public Education funding bill will likely be issued tomorrow. Check “Under the Dome” for detailed information. It’s not too late to contact your Representative and Senator to thank them for prioritizing education and ask them to keep working to the end for our schools and students.Bill to Give Districts Budget Flexibility Passes House HB295 (first substitute): Expanded Use of School District Property Tax Revenue passed in the House this afternoon on a vote of 74-0 with one absent. For a two-year period, school districts will have the flexibility to shift local capital fund revenues to fund general operations. An amendment offered by Rep. Dunnigan prohibits expenditure of the shifted funds on certain administration costs. The Representative noted these funds should be used in the classroom. Reps. Black, Watkins and Poulson (all former school teachers ) spoke in favor of the bill with Rep. Watkins noting the help this will provide to her constituents in Grand County school district. Rep. Bird, who sponsored the failed HB292 that addressed the difficulties of Jordan District, also spoke in support of HB295. In his summary comments, Rep. Sumsion stated this bill “….is not a silver bullet” and it speaks to local control and local flexibility. He did admonish school districts to use the flexibility wisely. The UEA sees this legislation as important to the stability of programs and staff in these very difficult economic times. The unanimous vote was an infrequent Kumbaya moment. The House adjourned immediately after…it must have been exhausted from all the togetherness. SB175 (third substitute): School District Capital Outlay Equalization Amendments (B. McAdams) was un-circled and acted on. The bill phases out the Salt Lake County-wide equalization of capital funds that was enacted to deal with the consequences of the Jordan/Canyons district split. That equalization program has been the cause of dissension and acrimony among some Salt Lake County districts. The bill will put Jordan district in a better position, though Jordan will continue to face challenges due to its anticipated enrollment growth and reduced tax base. Sens. Niederhauser and H. Stephenson, whose Senate districts contain the school districts affected by the bill, spoke in favor. Sen. Butters asked questions and expressed concerns about whether Jordan District will really be helped but did vote for the bill, which passed by a wide margin. SB66: Public School Extracurricular Activities for Home School and Private School Students (Sen. Madsen) passed…this is another version of a bill the Senator has introduced and failed to pass in four prior years. The UEA has no love for this bill. SB188: Charter School Amendments (Sen. H. Stephenson) also passed. The UEA supports portions of this bill and has concerns about other sections. Both will move to the House for consideration there. Budget Bills Loom Large We started today (March 5) stomping through several inches of snow. Like the postman, weather did not stop 20+ educators from traveling to the Capitol for Educator Day on the Hill, to be briefed on the status of bills and funding and to engage their Representatives and Senators in conversations about the needs of their students and classrooms and the impact of decreased funding. The teachers came from Davis, Jordan, Salt Lake, Box Elder, Ogden and Weber School Districts. UEA president, Kim Campbell and Kory Holdaway talked with the teachers about UEA’s position on specific legislation and the message that the UEA wants to be sure legislators hear on pending bills as well as funding issues. The educators came back together for lunch and shared their experiences as “citizen lobbyists.” They let their legislators know that they are available as a resource to answer questions and provide feedback about how proposed legislation may impact their classrooms. Today work continues related to the proposed 1 percent cut in the education budget…whether, and if so, how that will be done. Next week we should have answers. The major effort today was work on House Bill 295 (first substitute): Expanded Use of School District Property Tax Revenue (K. Sumsion). This bill would allow school districts to shift local tax revenue raised for capital purposes (construction, renovations, etc.) to be used for the general operations of the district. This bill is critically important to districts struggling financially (such as Jordan and Grand County) because it would allow them to fund staff and programs that otherwise might be eliminated. The flexibility would be available to all school districts. Concerns have been raised with some legislators related to the Salt Lake County-wide capital equalization that was put in place to assist Jordan District following the split of the District. These concerns may impact the final form of HB295. Rep. Sumsion and Sen. McAdams (who has a bill related to the SLCounty capital equalization) are working to see if compromise can be reached. This is a PRIORITY issue for the UEA. Monday begins the final week of the 2010 Session, which ends no later than the stroke of midnight on Thursday. Keep checking back online or through a phone call so you are well informed as the race to the finish line continues. Frantic Pace Marks Final Week of Legislature Thursday (March 4) concluded Committee meetings so all time is now spent in floor debate. That means bills are moving at a faster pace and legislators are getting anxious to make sure their bill or bills are getting heard. Today the House debated Senate bills and vice-versa (for the most part anyway…important bills are moved around and up and down to get them passed as needed. Examples are bills related to revenue, which must be acted on in order for budget decisions to be made, and funding bills drafted and acted upon). Sometimes a controversial bill will take prolonged debate. Other times a number of bills will move rapidly with little or no debate. The length of debate may or may not have anything to do with the actual importance of the bills. Both House and Senate majority and minority parties caucused at noon. UEA presented information to House Democrats relating to SB77 (first substitute): School District Leave Policies. The Representatives were very supportive of the UEA’s concerns and also supportive of the need to allow locally elected school boards to make decisions on such policies and not have the legislature issue mandates. The majority caucuses were focused on coming to consensus on what revenues would be raised and what funding allocations would be made for each state agency/department, higher education and public education. The House Republican discussion went on in ‘closed caucus’ for a very long time before some consensus was reached. Having reached agreement on funding, the Executive Appropriations Committee met in the early evening to act on the proposed funding levels. Most agencies/departments received some additional funding to meet needs in most critical areas. Higher education also received significant and needed additional funding. Budgets for the agencies and Higher Ed were acted on by the Committee. Public education’s budget passed and will be acted on next week. However, public ed. now plays a critical role in the overall budget process because a proposed 1 percent reduction in public ed. is needed to make the rest of the budget proposals work/balance. A reduction of $21 million (1 percent) is proposed. This is still under discussion and there are other clear indications that the Legislature and the Governor are working to take positive action for long-term stability of education funding. Stay tuned, stay alert, stay informed. Know that UEA is working hard to maximize funding and also working very hard to persuade legislators that they have a number of options available to allocate additional one-time revenue to help carry not only public education but other areas through the economic downturn (and to do this without exhausting all reserves, which may be needed next year while recovery is still underway). To send a letter to your legislator expressing concerns about the public education budget, click here. During the morning and afternoon, the UEA Legislative Team, with the invaluable assistance of Susan Firmage, DEA president, talked with many representatives about SB77: School District Leave Policies. This bill is one that the Association will ‘count’ when assessing legislators’ support on issues tracked by the UEA. We expected the bill to be heard BUT with the long caucus and time spent on other bills, SB77 was still “3 down” on the agenda when the House adjourned for the day. It is unlikely to be heard now until next week as the House will be working on House bills on Friday and probably Monday. Legislature Urged to Help Schools Impacted by District Division, Underfunding Teachers, school staff, parents and others concerned about funding shortfalls, class size increases and layoffs in Jordan School District gathered at the Utah State Capitol today (March 3) to ask legislators for help. “The growth in Utah’s economy over the past decade has masked the erosion of public education funding sources,” said Utah Education Association President Kim Campbell. “The cumulative effect of changes to Utah tax policies over the past decade has eroded funding by more than $1 billion dollars per year.” Jordan School District announced it is laying off 500 school employees, including 250 teachers as a result of a $30 million shortfall. Those gathered at the Capitol expressed concerns about the effects of an additional 500 unemployed workers on an already struggling Utah economy and the impact of increasing class sizes by four students and eliminating important educational support services. Jordan Education Association President Robin Frodge called on the Legislature to pass House Bill 295: Expanded Use of School District Property Tax Revenue, sponsored by Representative Kenneth Sumsion and co-sponsored by many other members of the House. “(House Bill 295) allows a local school board to use capital funds for maintenance and operation expenditures during the next two fiscal years, beginning with 2010-11,” said Frodge. “This bill could free up as much as $10 million in the Jordan School District – money that may be used to offset class size increases and proposed employee layoffs.” “Utah’s funding effort, as defined by public education revenues per $1000 in personal income, has fallen from a high of 12th place in the nation to 34th place by 2005,” said Campbell. “This decline has kept us last in the nation in per-pupil spending by an ever-increasing margin. Coinciding with this decline, student enrollment has increased, resulting in the highest student-teacher ratios in the nation by a large and increasing margin.” Campbell called on “courageous and visionary legislators” to “repair Utah’s broken tax system so Utah’s public schools have a long-term sustainable source of funding.” Flurry of Bills Heard by Education Committee Legislature Day 25 (March 2): The House Education Committee, in a rush to hear as many bills as possible, held a 7 a.m. meeting with an agenda of seven bills. Several of these bills deal with education funding. Specifically:
This was the last meeting of the House Education Committee. It is a hard working committee. An e-mail of thanks from those of you who have a representative on the committee would no doubt be appreciated by them. The Senate Education Committee holds its final meeting Wednesday morning (March 3). There are no bills on the agenda being tracked by UEA. Wednesday morning is the last of committee meetings. After that, all time will be devoted to floor debate. The Executive Appropriations Committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday afternoon was cancelled. It seems consensus on what will be funded and what the sources of that funding will be is still being hammered out by majority leadership and others. Contact the Governor’s office to thank him for ‘holding tough’ on his budget proposal to fund public education at no less than the current year. School Privatization Alive and Well For those of you who may be thinking that the privatization (voucher) movement is dead, just put that out of your mind. Today in the Senate, Sen. Stephenson tried to amend Sen. Morgan’s SB150: Reading Requirements for Student Advancement to provide a “stipend” to parents of students needing remediation. Parents could then take this stipend to any service provider. The fiscal note for his amendment would have been over $8 million. In debate on the amendment, Sen. Stephenson made a point of mentioning the fact that districts already have money for remediation (from the K-3 reading line item) so his amendment would not even need to be funded. Districts could just use their own remediation money. Sen. Morgan objected to the amendment and a lively debate followed. Sen. Pat Jones stated, “We don’t have enough funding for growth. It is disingenuous that we would put an amendment in place without any funding.” The amendment failed. Wednesday will be a big day with Jordan educators on the Hill to promote a bill by Rep. Sumsion, HB295: Expanded Uses of School District Property Tax Revenue, that will allow a local school board to use capital funds for maintenance and operation expenses during the next two fiscal years. We will also continue talking to legislators about the need for a long-term view of education funding. We will be holding a press conference on Capitol Hill at 11 a.m. Wednesday (March 3) in the Hall of Governors, First Floor, to support fixes for public education funding problems not only in Jordan District, but the entire state. Two Retirement Bills Forwarded to Governor, Two Others Killed Monday (March 1) was active with morning and afternoon committees as well as two sessions of floor debate. In the Senate, the retirement bills (SB43 (third substitute): Post-retirement Employment Amendments and SB63 (third substitute): New Public Employees’ Tier II Contributory Retirement Act) were brought up for ‘Concurrence’, which means asking the Senate to agree with the amendments made in the House on Friday. The sponsor presented the changes and responded to questions following which the Senate voted to concur. The votes of individual members of both the House and Senate on these bills is available on the Legislative website for each bill (links above). The bills will now be sent to the Governor for signature. SB94 (which would have eliminated the 1.5 percent 401(k) contribution for employees hired after July 1, 1986) had remained circled in the Senate without further action. It was brought up by the sponsor and the ‘enacting clause was struck’…that’s legislative talk for killing it deader than dead. Same for SB42, which would have extended the service years required for retirement for current employees. SB150: Reading Requirements for Student Advancement was presented and passed on Second Reading in the Senate. This bill is not without controversy (see posting above) and several Senators indicated intent to offer amendments when the bill is heard on Tuesday. UEA has supported this bill because it focuses on struggling readers in grades 1-3 by engaging their parents with the school in providing interventions to help the student progress to reading on grade level. Although the bill provides for retaining students who don’t meet minimum standards, it provides exemptions for those with IEPs or 504 plans. It allows a student to be advanced on request of the parents and agreement of the principal. Parents are notified mid-year if there is any chance their student may not advance and a student may demonstrate grade level reading ability until Aug. 15 and still be advanced. Research on retention is generally not positive. Research on those who cannot read at grade level by third grade is also discouraging. We have heard from educators on both sides of this debate. With the ‘safety nets’ contained in the bill we feel it has potential to help students make progress and build a base for future academic success. SB119: Special Election Modifications by Sen. Howard Stephenson was heard by the House Government Operations Committee. This bill would limit school districts in determining when bond and voted leeway elections can be held and would have required a unanimous vote of the board in order to hold a leeway election in June. UEA as well as School Boards and Superintendents oppose this bill because it creates inflexibility for local boards of education. Requiring a unanimous vote would mean that one board member could subvert the will of the majority of the board. Also in these difficult financial times for school districts, it might prohibit districts in financial crisis from timely seeking a vote of their communities on school funding proposals. The committee amended the bill to provide for a 2/3rds vote by the board. The bill now moves to the House for consideration. Improved Retirement Bills Pass House After several amendments and a bill substitution, SB43 (third substitute): Post-retirement Employment Amendments and SB63 (third substitute): New Public Employees’ Tier II Contributory Retirement Act passed the House. The bills now go back to the Senate, which previously passed the bills, to approve House changes before heading to the Governor for signature. While the UEA still believes the state would have been better served by allowing a year to study these issues and develop alternative solutions, these bills are much improved from their original form. The bills were improved, in large part, because of the hundreds of letters, e-mails and personal contacts with legislators. Thanks to everyone who helped the UEA Legislative Team in sharing concerns with legislators. We also thank all those current employees who took the time to help protect benefits for future educators. Your contacts with legislators have also helped stop two additional bills (SB42 and SB94) that would negatively impact retirement benefits for current employees. These bills are not moving forward at this time—although we will continue to watch. For those working in education, here’s what SB43 and SB63 will do: Current Employees: No impact. Neither bill affects the retirement benefits of current employees. All retirement benefits, including years-of-service requirements, three-year final salary averaging and the 2 percent multiplier for each year of service, remain just as they are now for all employees hired prior to July 1, 2011. Current Retirees: No impact. Neither bill affects pension payout, COLA increases or any other aspect of current retiree benefits. If you have retired from the URS and returned to work in an entity participation in the URS, there is no change in your benefits. Retirees Who Return to Employment: SB43 applies to anyone who retires from the Utah Retirement Systems after July 1, 2010, and returns to work with any entity participating in the URS. It requires a retired employee to wait one full year before returning to employment with a state agency. A teacher who retired would have two options upon being rehired:
New Employees: SB63 applies to public employees hired after July 1, 2011. Upon hiring, new employees will elect one of two retirement benefit options:
Both plans would have a four-year vesting period, meaning the employee must work four years to get any benefit at all. Retirement Bills Moving Forward Behind the Scenes The major focus of the day was activity with Representatives related to retirement bills SB43 and SB63. Sen. Liljenquist (sponsor of the bills) joined several members of House leadership in private ‘chats’ with Representatives who were not inclined to support these bills. The purpose of the little chats? PERSUASION, PERSUASION, PERSUASION. These personal discussions often have the desired effect (a history lesson the voucher bill taught us so very well). Several Representatives who opposed the bills began talking with leadership to explore what improvements in the proposed new retirement system might be made. UEA, UPEA and Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) also spent the day exploring the possibilities. The good news: Thanks in large part to the hundreds of letters legislators have received and the work of UEA and other employee groups, the bill’s sponsor has made many concessions in the form of substitutions and amendments that have much improved these bills from their original form. We anticipate additional amendments to the bills during debate in the House. The bad news: We still have serious concerns about these bills and believe that, with time, much ‘better’ solutions can be found. The coalition of public employee groups still DO NOT support SB63 (second substitute): New Public Employees’ Tier II Contributory Retirement Act…however, should the bill find enough support to pass; a ‘better’ amended bill may be a ‘better’ place from which to keep working on the ‘best’ solution. SB43 (third substitute): Post-retirement Employment Amendments, which was amended in Committee yesterday, is a very much improved bill. The amendment added another option to retires and rehires. It would allow state employees to retire from state employment, be rehired, and still receive their pension while they worked. But the retired employee would have to wait one full year before returning to employment with a state agency. A teacher who retired would have two options upon being rehired: Debate on the retirement bills in the House is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. Friday (Feb. 26). You can watch the meeting live online or listen live online. After the meeting concludes, recordings of the debates are available online by clicking here. Other happenings: The House Judiciary Committee heard Rep. Sandstrom’s HB355 (first substitute): Legal Guardianship Amendments. UEA opposed the bill because it would have greatly increased the burden of proof on a school district in challenging guardianship of a student if it suspected the primary purpose of the guardianship was to avoid payment of tuition. If not successful in challenging the guardianship, school districts would have been required to pay attorney’s fees. Rep. Sandstrom made significant changes in the bill that addressed most concerns. Thanks to Rep. Sheryl Allen for understanding the issues so well and providing information her fellow Committee members about how many guardianships place students in our schools. Both bodies adjourned at 5 p.m. to allow Appropriation Subcommittee Chairs to meet with Executive Appropriations majority leadership. This is part of the ongoing process to reach final budget decisions. Groups of advocates, agencies and others have prepared their lists of “hot spots”…those areas they prioritize as most critical for funding. YOU TOO CAN WEIGH IN: Contact the Governor, Speaker Dave Clark and Senate President Michael Waddoups. Let them know the importance of education funding to your schools, to your students and to the quality of instruction you want to deliver. Encourage others (family, neighbors, friends) to visit UtahsFuture.org to learn about public education issues and to contact their legislators and advocate for public education funding. Stay with us, check in each day, call us with questions, be well informed, let us know what you are thinking AND MOST IMPORTANT: be the voice of your students with our elected representatives. Retirement Bills Pass House Committee The much anticipated House Retirement Committee hearing was held today (Feb. 24) at noon. Sen. Liljenquist presented two bills, SB43 and SB63, to the House committee. Rep. Sandstrom moved a third substitute SB43: Post-retirement Employment Amendments. His substitute allows an employee to keep receiving a pension after rehiring, makes a payment into the Utah Retirement System (URS) instead of the rehired employee’s 401(k), and requires the employee to wait one year before rehiring into the system. The vote to substitute the bill was unanimous. Sen. Liljenquist stated that this returns us to a retirement system rather than a supplemental income system. A question was asked, will these bills remedy the “gap” in the system. Liljenquist responded, no, they won’t. SB63 lowers the cost for prospective employees. SB63 (second substitute): New Public Employees’ Tier II Contributory Retirement Act creates two new classes of employees: big system (including teachers and most state/local employees) and public safety (police and fire). Basically a new employee will have two choices: 1) Have 8 percent of salary contributed to a 401(k) plan or 2) a “hybrid” plan with a defined benefit as described below and a 401(k). Both plans would have four-year cliff vesting, which means that you must work at least four years to get any benefit at all. There would be no borrowing allowed from the first 401(k) option. Here are the details for the defined benefit “hybrid” plan. About 5 percent of the employee’s salary will fund a 1 percent multiplier per year (1 percent of salary for each year of service) based on a 5-year final average salary. Employees would be required to have 35 years in the system or reach age 65 to qualify. The remaining 3 percent of salary (for a maximum total of 8 percent) would be contributed to a 401(k) plan. Under the hybrid option, the contribution rate starts at 5 percent, but if the needed rate to fund the plan exceeds that amount, it first comes off the 3 percent 401(k) contribution. If the amount exceeds 8 percent of salary, then the employee pays the difference. Rep. Watkins asked a question about future service credit purchase. You can still purchase 5 years under the new plans but you would have to reach 30 years of service first (rather than 25 as allowed under the current plan). Sen. Liljenquist compared the public sector to the private sector in Utah. He said that when you add in wage, benefits and pension, Utah public employees get about equal to the private sector. He did acknowledge that our wages are below market but he said that is because the costs of benefits are crushing wages. We then moved to the public comment section of the hearing. First up was Tom Hardy of the Utah League of Cities of Towns. He said these bills are necessary medicine in the right dose at the right time. Next was Kory Holdaway, UEA director of Government Relations. He posed the question, “What attracts people to teaching?” Not salary, we are 20-30 percent below the market. Historically, it has been because of benefits outweighing the lack of salary. A policy decision has been made to back load retirement instead of front loading salary. He pointed out that this is the most dramatic change offered to the retirement system in decades. “We’re not saying to ignore it,” said Kory, “we’re not saying changes aren’t necessary, but we need to slow down and be sure of what we are doing.” The next speaker was Dave O’very, a student teacher from the Alpine School District. Dave expressed his concern about the underlying message that this sends. The message that whenever there is a budget shortfall, it will fall upon the backs of public servants. It also says that teachers are not valued and makes him reconsider his decision to teach in Utah. Ryan Miller, a firefighter, pointed out that too many things are happening with serious consequences. He said that in Salt Lake City their pool of 2,500 applicants dropped to 300 after last year’s salary cut of 1.5 percent. What would a retirement benefit cut do, he asked. Another educator, Nathan Spofford, a 31-year veteran English teacher spoke against the one-year waiting period in the retire/rehire bill. He said he would prefer to retire and stay in Utah but this provision would have him looking out of state. Sherri Waters from Utah Public Employees’ Association spoke and said we should hold back for a year and let the independent actuaries make their report. She said it was like digging a foundation for a house without doing a Blue Stakes study. Geoff Leonard from Utah School Employees Association testified that the URS is designed to take crashes and booms into account. This is not a crisis. These bills represent one possible solution and not necessarily all of the solutions. Susan Firmage, Davis Education Association president, spoke and pointed out that there are only two weeks left in this session. This complex issue does not need to move forward so quickly, but it is a place to begin a study. She said evidence was given in the fact that the bills were amended today in this Committee meeting. A representative from the Sutherland Institute spoke and said that other states have been crippled in their ability to govern their states by delay and inaction. Dr. Robert Book was the final speaker. He is a retiree who was rehired and he accurately noted that he would not have been rehired if his skills were not needed. There are already controls in place based on need. The Third Substitute SB43 was moved and passed out with a favorable recommendation. Reps. Hansen, Watkins and Duckworth voted ‘no.’ Rep. Hansen moved to table SB63. The motion failed, Hansen was the only ‘aye’ vote. The Second Substitute SB63 was then moved and passed out with a favorable recommendation. Reps. Hansen, Watkins, and Duckworth voted ‘no.’ Now, these two critical bills move to the House for debate and action. It is critical that members contact their representatives to urge them to vote no, especially on Senate Bill 63. This bill will totally revamp the retirement system for new employees. Ask them to slow it down. We are not asking them to ignore the problem…only to wait until all of the good data is in to make well-informed decisions. E-mail and call your Representatives today. National Board Teachers Honored A terrific group of teachers joined the UEA legislative team for Educator Day on the Hill at the Capitol this morning (Feb. 24). Educators from several school districts as well as a group of educators who most recently achieved National Board Certification had a briefing on current activity and the status of bills. They then took the opportunity to meet with their own Representatives and Senators on bills of interest. The National Board teachers were honored on the floor of both the House and Senate. The Senate Education Committee met. SB66: Public School Extracurricular Activities for Home School and Private School Students was amended and passed out favorably. This bill deals with access to participation in extracurricular activities for home school children. It is the fourth year Sen. Madsen has carried the bill. The presentation and testimony consumed more than an hour. There was much negative reflection about public schools. Those who care deeply about our public schools can only wish that the same advocacy shown for home schools was shown for the work and effort public schools and educators make on behalf of students. SB188: Charter School Amendments was considered briefly and passed out of committee. SB276: Promoting Healthy Lifestyles in Public Schools (Sen. Pat Jones) was not presented. This is a different version of the Senator’s bill regarding vending machines. In place of the bill the Committee will send a letter to the State Office of Education requesting that the data gathering outlined in the bill be done without having to enact it into statute. Budget Situation Remains Tenuous The Legislative team met early in the morning (Feb. 23) to review the status of bills we are tracking. Our list is getting VERY LONG. You would think in a budget year like this that we would see fewer bills…not so. There are new bills every day. Jay Blain, a new member of the UEA Legislative Team and former president of Granite Education Assoc., attended the Natural Resources Committee (see article below). Morning and afternoon periods of floor debate allow many bills to be debated and they are moving many along in the process. SB77 (First Substitute): District Association Leave Policies remains circled on Third Reading in the Senate. SB119 (Second Substitute): Special Elections Modifications was passed. This bill restricts the dates on which local entities, including school districts, may hold elections. Senator Stephenson made amendments that allow school districts with budget difficulties to hold a voted leeway election only in June as well as on the November election date. This improves the bill, but there is still concern about the inflexibility this imposes. The Executive Appropriations Committee meeting scheduled for afternoon was cancelled. At this time, the meeting scheduled for Thursday is also cancelled. Sen. Lyle Hillyard presented the majority party budget proposal in the Senate Democratic Caucus. Other caucuses also reviewed the proposal. Here’s where things stand...Utah has a ‘structural deficit’ (more expenditures on programs, agencies, debt obligations than there are revenues to fund) in the range of several hundred million dollars. Since there is no movement to raise taxes or other revenues (the cigarette tax may still be considered), expenditures must be reduced.
Back to what it means for public education…grateful as we must be for the one-time allocation, schools will not be whole next year. There is no funding for enrollment growth (11,000 new students), no funding for increased costs in other programs related to growth. The classroom supply funding is not included. The allocation of the $284 million will likely be done in accordance with the recommendations of the Education Appropriations Subcommittee (see the post for Feb. 15 for details). Sen. Hillyard indicated little or no interest in increasing ongoing revenue and, although there are sources of additional one-time money (e.g.: $253 million remaining in the Rainy Day Fund), there is a reluctance to use these dollars because they feel it would perpetuate the structural deficit. The Legislature has multiple options for dealing with the many critical needs in education and other agencies that are not funded in the initial proposal. We will be working to make that happen. Please express appreciation for the priority given to public education both the Legislators and to the Governor. Talk with your district administration and local association leaders to understand what failing to fund enrollment growth will mean to your school and to your work with students and share these concerns with your legislators, neighbors and friends.
Bills Aim to Protect State Land, May Help Education Wednesday morning the House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Standing Committee met and considered three bills that are of interest to educators because of their impact to the long term funding of education. They are HB143, HB324, and HB323. Essentially these bills give the state government, via the state legislature, the right to exercise eminent domain over parcels of land to help maximize state trust land revenues. The third bill funds legal activities by the Attorney General of Utah to begin the process. There was much debate about this activity. Representative Mel Brown questioned whether or not the Attorney General’s office was the right place for the legal action to occur. He referred to an entity called the Constitutional Defense Council that exists for purposes such as this and wondered if that would be a better place for this type of legal action to happen to not politicize it. The first two bills passed out unanimously. The third bill, which takes $1 million dollars a year from the state trust fund revenues to finance the legal fight, was a little bit more contentious. Representative Riesen moved to adjourn before a vote on the bill was taken and that motion failed. The bill then passed out favorably with Reps. Riesen and Draxler voting against it. There is a possibility these bills will end up providing significant revenue to education in the long term, but there is no guarantee, as was pointed out in the discussion during the hearing. The bills now go to the House floor for debate. Measure to Add $110 Million for Education Fails to Pass Committee A bill proposed by Rep. Brian King, HB90: Income Tax Amendments, would provide an estimated $110 million per year for Utah public and higher education—money that would go a long way toward repairing Utah’s chronically underfunded education system. Instead, the House Revenue and Taxation Committee, on a motion by Rep. Greg Hughes, voted to return HB90 to the Rules Committee (which Rep. Hughes chairs) with no recommended action. The Rules Committee is fondly known as the cemetery for unwanted bills. The motion passed on a ‘straight party’ vote with Republicans voting to send the bill away and Democrats voting for further debate. Rep. King is to be commended for the courage (in an election year no less) to acknowledge the reductions facing education in both the short and long term and the negative impacts of that underfunding. Rep. King’s bill attempted to remedy what some see as the failings of the income tax changes made several years ago, as explained in a recent Utahn’s for Public Schools Report. The move to a single-rate income tax was promoted by its advocates as necessary to be competitive and to encourage CEOs to bring their businesses to Utah and spur economic development. However, research shows businesses place ‘quality of life issues’ and a well-educated workforce far ahead of lower taxes or other incentives when making decisions about location. An excellent education system is an economic development tool. Data shows that the single tax rate has most advantaged wealthy Utahns. HB90 would have restored taxes on those with incomes above $250,000 nearer to what they were prior to implementation of the single-rate system. The debate was very instructive—a microcosm of the ongoing national debate that has so polarized the population Rep. John Dougall asked, if we’d not cut taxes and had more revenue wouldn’t we have just spent it and been in even more difficulty now? A citizen from Davis County testified that we shouldn’t ask those with more money to be charitable to the rest of us, especially as the poor and middle income use more government services. Progressivity in taxation (those with more paying more) is “antithetical to freedom,” he said. Rep. Greg Hughes stressed how well Utah is doing compared to other states. It’s his belief that “funding for education is dictated only by jobs which come from low and attractive tax rates.” The Utah League of Women Voters and Voices for Utah Children testified in favor of the bill. Kory Holdaway spoke for the UEA. He noted that providing a system of public education is a Constitutional obligation of Utah government and we’ve reached a tipping point. If the current budget proposal is enacted, public school funding will be reduced 23 percent and additionally will not have funding for enrollment growth, he said. HB90 would help to mitigate those reductions. Public debate was limited because of time constraints. With some additional questions and comments from committee members, Rep. Hughes made his motion. The debate about funding for public education remains, as ever, unresolved. Both the House and Senate had morning and afternoon floor debate sessions. The Senate debated and passed on Second Reading SB132: Higher Education Scholarship Amendments. This bill would raise the standards to qualify for New Century Scholarships and make clear the amount of the scholarships is not guaranteed but is dependent on legislative funding. The Senate also passed three ethics-related bills. Another bill, SB119 (First Substitute): Special Elections Modifications, would restrict the dates special elections may be held. The purpose is to prevent elections being held on dates when few people vote. An amendment is expected before final passage to accommodate school districts in financial crisis. This is done with Grand County School District in mind. Sen. Hinkins, who represents Grand County, was the lone dissenting vote. He likely is waiting for the amendment to be made. Sen. Dayton’s bill to eliminate specific reference to PTA in the statutes, SB147: Education Related Parent Organizations, passed Second Reading. The day concluded with House Education considering just one bill, SB55: Authorization of Charter Schools by Higher Education Institutions, sponsored by Sen. Adams. The bill would grant Utah’s universities authority to create charter schools. UCAT was amended into the bill as well. Committee members wondered why they couldn’t already establish charter schools through the existing Charter School Board. The State Office of Education and Utah School Boards had the same concern. The bill was passed out favorably. The UEA supports the concept of the bill. Tuesday will find the UEA, for the first time this session, at the House Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee—who would have guessed! The Committee will consider HB143: Eminent Domain Authority, HB323: School and Institutional Trust Lands Amendments and HB324: Public Lands Litigation sponsored by Rep. Herrod and Rep. Sumsion. These are public land bills intended to generate revenue for schools and certain to spark a legal fight with the Federal government if passed. Watch for further information about these bills in the days ahead. The Executive Appropriations Committee will meet late Tuesday afternoon. Perhaps we’ll begin to get a picture of how the budget will look…perhaps not…there’s lots of time yet before these big decisions really solidify. BUT IT’S NOT TOO SOON FOR YOU TO PLAY YOUR PART…keep those calls and e-mails coming in to legislators—and don’t forget the Governor who has been advocating for funding and greater use of the Rainy Day fund. To send a letter to your legislator expressing concerns about the public education budget, click here. Retirement Bills Move to House It was no surprise that two of the retirement bills, SB43 (first substitute): Post-retirement Employment Amendments, and SB63 (first substitute): New Public Employees’ Tier II Contributory Retirement Act passed the Senate on third reading and now move to the House. SB63 was further amended, but the amendments affected only public safety and firefighters. A third retirement bill, SB94: Supplemental Benefit Amendments for Noncontributory Public Employees, which would eliminate the 1.5 percent 401(k) benefit for employees hired after July 1, 1986, remains on the Senate calendar. We presume the sponsor will watch the progress of the other bills before deciding how to proceed with SB94. Our efforts to address the retirement issues will continue with House members. You can help by calling and e-mailing your representative. Ask them to form a task force to study options addressing the financial stability of the system without changing the benefit structure in a way that will leave future public employees without adequate financial means in retirement. Many representatives have been persuaded, like Chicken Little, that the sky is falling and something must be done immediately. Taking time to find the best solutions makes much more sense. We are seeing now the results, the unintended consequences, of the last time the Legislature was convinced they had to act immediately and promised any problems could be fixed later…one look at what is happening to Jordan School District as a result of the “district split” legislation is a history lesson Legislators should not ignore. SB43 and SB63 are on the agenda for the House Retirement Committee this Wednesday, Feb. 24, at noon. Education funding is still being deliberated. When you call or e-mail your legislator, please remember to include this critical issue. To send a letter to your legislator expressing concerns about the public education budget, click here. The House Education Committee heard Rep. Wiley present his seismic safety bill. UEA president, Kim Campbell, spoke to support the bill. She taught for many years in a building potentially vulnerable to damage from seismic activity. Although the bill did not mandate renovations but required districts to do a seismic survey of their buildings, it did not receive enough votes to pass out favorably. The safety of students depends on the safety of their school structures. As Utah is at risk of earthquake, we hope the bill will be back next session and acted on favorably. The UEA Legislative Team will have to be in top form on Monday morning. The 2010 Legislature’s fifth week begins with bills on three different committees. The Senate Education Committee will consider the third version of SB54: Health Education Amendments sponsored by Sen. Urquhart. UEA supports the bill. The House Revenue and Taxation Committee will hear HB90: Income Tax Amendments sponsored by Rep. King. This bill would increase income tax on high-income individuals ($250,000 and $475,000 and above). It would increase revenue to the Education Fund by an estimated $100 million per year. The House Government Operations Committee will consider a bill, sponsored by Rep. Bigelow, that would revise the statute regarding legislative spending limitations. You can read the above bills and any others in which you are interested by going to the Utah Legislative website…click on “bills” and you can search by bill number, by sponsor and by subject. |
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