VSA/VPA/VSBA Legislative Bulletin

May 7, 2010

As is to be expected in the last days and hours of a legislative session, deals are being struck and decisions are being made on whether certain legislation will pass this year. With the exception of the education "challenge," the substance of education bills is unlikely to change significantly at this stage. The question is whether bills will pass. For details on the substance of any legislation, see our prior legislative report #8 dated April 30th.

Adjournment

The Legislature may not adjourn tomorrow, May 8th, as had been previously speculated. The General Assembly is expected to meet tomorrow but the session may extend into the following week.

Education "Challenge"

Refer to our previous legislative reports for information on the Challenges for Change process and the history of the legislation. The House had proposed directing the Department of Education to devise a formula that would produce voluntary education spending reduction targets for each school district for fiscal year 2012 over 2011, totaling roughly $23.2 million in reductions statewide. The Senate is in general concurrence with the $23.2 million figure, but has decided the voluntary education spending targets should be assigned at the supervisory union, not district, level. The bill does not specify any penalty for districts that do not meet their targets (as always, higher per pupil education spending results in higher residential property tax rates).

The Challenges bill (H.792) will be debated by the Senate on Friday evening, and presumably the final version will be hashed out between the House and Senate in a Committee of Conference. This bill is certain to pass in one form or another.

Voluntary Merger Bill / Supervisory Union Duties

The Senate version of this bill, H.66, may be approved this week but it is not certain. The House version, H.782, appears very unlikely to pass at this stage. The Senate Finance Committee has possession of H.66, and has taken testimony on this bill in the last 24 hours. The Finance Committee is expected to vote on this bill later today.

S.297 Miscellaneous Education Bill

This bill has been recommitted to the House Education Committee and it is almost certain that it will not pass this year.