No discussion, 14 education bills introduced in committee
The agenda for this afternoon’s Senate Education Committee has swelled to 14 RS’s, which stands for “routing slip” and refers to a proposed bill before it’s introduced. There’s a deadline today for non-privileged committees to introduce bills, so there’s a slew of these on various committee agendas today. Senate Education Chairman John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, made an unusual move: He asked for unanimous consent to introduce all 14 of the measures, and since no one on the committee objected, that was the decision. None of the measures was discussed at all. The move clears the way for full committee hearings on the bills.
Among those introduced in that batch: Three from the Idaho School Boards Association, regarding one-year and two-year employment agreements for teachers, majority representation in teacher negotiations, and employee leaves of absence, a measure that also allows school boards to reduce teacher salaries from one year to the next; two from Jason Hancock, aide to state schools Superintendent Tom Luna, on math and science teachers and fees for out-of-state students; two from Robin Nettinga of the Idaho Education Association on financial emergency and reductions in force and on open teacher negotiations; and two from Goedde, one on driver’s education requirements and another on funding for school transportation. There also are five from other senators.
The Senate will reconvene at 4 p.m. today to read the newly introduced bills, from all committees, across the desk in time for the deadline. That means that they should show up shortly after on the Legislature’s website, with bill numbers.
