Legislature(2015 - 2016)BUTROVICH 205
02/24/2016 08:00 AM Senate RULES
Note: the audio ![]()
and video ![]()
recordings are distinct records and are obtained from different sources. As such there may be key differences between the two. The audio recordings are captured by our records offices as the official record of the meeting and will have more accurate timestamps. Use the icons to switch between them.
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB89 | |
| HB75 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 75 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 89 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 89-PARENT RIGHTS: EDUCATION; SCHOOL ABSENCE
8:05:15 AM
CHAIR HUGGINS announced consideration of SB 89. [CSSB 89(STA),
version LS-0735\G, was before the committee.]
SENATOR COGHILL moved to adopt CSSB 89(RLS), version LS-0735\F,
as the working document. There were no objections and it was so
ordered.
8:05:48 AM
JODY SIMPSON, Staff to Senator Huggins and the Rules Committee,
Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, explained the changes
in version \F as follows:
Sec. 1 & 2 have no changes.
Sec. 3, 4, & 5 are deleted.
Sec. 6 & 7 have no changes.
Sec. 8, 9, & 10 are deleted.
She said that therefore the bill now requires local school
boards to adopt policies allowing parents to withdraw their
children from any activity, class, program or standards-based
assessment required by the state to which the parent objects.
MS. SIMPSON explained that section 2 prohibits school districts
and educational services organizations that contract with school
districts from contracting with abortion service providers.
Section 3 prohibits school districts from paying the costs for
physical examinations for teachers, and section 4 prohibits
school districts from permitting abortion services providers to
offer, sponsor or furnish course materials or instruction
related to human sexuality or sexually transmitted diseases.
CHAIR HUGGINS noted the zero fiscal note, found no questions,
and invited the bill's sponsor to the table.
SENATOR DUNLEAVY, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska,
sponsor of SB 89, explained that the content in SB 89 is now the
same as when it left the Senate State Affairs and Education
Committees last spring. In the special session over the summer
much of the material that has been taken out of this bill was
incorporated into HB 44 and passed, he said. One item was still
left in the bill regarding physical examinations for teachers.
That material initially was in the bill in an effort to help
school districts roll back some regulations and undue burdens to
try and save some money. In essence, nothing was added to the
bill. It is essentially a cleanup for what was taken out for HB
44.
CHRISTA MCDONALD, Staff to Senator Dunleavy, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, had no additional comments.
8:09:04 AM
At ease
8:10:21 AM
CHAIR HUGGINS called the Senate Rules meeting back to order.
SENATOR GARDNER offered Amendment 1.
29-LS0735\F.4
Glover
2/22/16
AMENDMENT 1
OFFERED IN THE SENATE BY SENATOR GARDNER
TO: CSSB 89(RLS)
Page 2, lines 3 - 8:
Delete "because of concern regarding
(A) content involving human reproduction or
sexual matters;
(B) inquiries into personal or private
family affairs of the student or family that are not a
matter of public record or subject to public
observation"
SENATOR COGHILL objected.
SENATOR GARDNER explained that currently parents have a right to
withdraw their child from any activity, class or program without
explanation to the school. Keeping the language that says "they
are withdrawing because of a concern regarding A and B" limits
them and that is not the intention of the sponsor.
SENATOR DUNLEAVY said he needed a moment.
8:11:51 AM
At ease
8:14:46 AM
CHAIR HUGGINS called the Senate Rules Committee meeting back to
order.
SENATOR DUNLEAVY said he preferred to keep the bill as it is.
SENATOR GARDNER commented that when you innumerate possibilities
in statute and you leave something out, it could be read to say
it's not covered. That is her concern here.
CHAIR HUGGINS found no questions.
SENATOR COGHILL maintained his objection and a roll call vote
was taken: Senator Gardner voted yea; Senators Meyer, Kelly,
Coghill, and Huggins voted nay; therefore Amendment 1 failed.
8:15:56 AM
SENATOR GARDNER moved Amendment 2.
29-LS0735\F.5
Glover
2/22/16
AMENDMENT 2
OFFERED IN THE SENATE BY SENATOR GARDNER
TO: CSSB 89(RLS)
Page 2, lines 9 - 10:
Delete ", but not more than six weeks,"
SENATOR COGHILL objected.
SENATOR GARDNER explained that leaving "providing parent
notification not less than two weeks before an activity, class
or program" is problematic because permission slips are hard for
schools to track when students come in. She said that parents
have many things to sign for their kids in school. She would
rather sign one blanket time for the whole term and not have to
think about it again through the year. Requiring schools to do
this in a narrow window "no more than...no less than" creates a
headache. Amendment 2 helps with efficiencies.
SENATOR DUNLEAVY asked to keep the original language in the
bill. He explained that the time periods are in there
specifically to box in any situation, so that parents are
notified within a certain timeline.
CHAIR HUGGINS found no questions.
SENATOR COGHILL maintained his objection and a roll call vote
was taken: Senator Gardner voted yea; Senators Meyer, Kelly,
Coghill, and Huggins voted nay; therefore Amendment 2 failed.
8:18:49 AM
SENATOR GARDNER moved Amendment 3.
29-LS0735\F.6
Glover
2/23/16
AMENDMENT 3
OFFERED IN THE SENATE BY SENATOR GARDNER
TO: CSSB 89(RLS)
Page 1, line 4:
Delete "and"
Page 1, line 5, following "teachers":
Insert "; and providing for an effective date"
Page 2, following line 31:
Insert a new paragraph to read:
"(2) "human reproduction or sexual matters"
does not include curricula or materials for
(A) alcohol and drug abuse education
described under AS 14.30.360; or
(B) suicide awareness and prevention
training required under AS 14.30.362."
Renumber the following paragraphs accordingly.
Page 3, following line 4:
Insert a new bill section to read:
"* Sec. 2. AS 14.03.016(c)(2), enacted by sec. 1 of
this Act, is amended to read:
(2) "human reproduction or sexual matters"
does not include curricula or materials for
(A) sexual abuse and sexual assault
awareness and prevention training required under
AS 14.30.355;
(B) dating violence and abuse awareness and
prevention training required under AS 14.30.356;
(C) alcohol and drug abuse education
described under AS 14.30.360; or
(D) [(B)] suicide awareness and prevention
training required under AS 14.30.362."
Renumber the following bill sections accordingly.
Page 3, following line 19:
Insert new bill sections to read:
"* Sec. 6. Section 2 of this Act takes effect
June 30, 2017.
* Sec. 7. Except as provided by sec. 6 of this Act,
this Act takes effect July 1, 2016."
SENATOR COGHILL objected.
SENATOR GARDNER explained that this amendment has to do with
timelines and it excludes certain education programs from the
definition of "human reproduction or sexual matters". Those are
the programs that are addressed under Erin's Law. Three of them
don't take effect until July, 2016, or June. 2017, so the
amendment has to be in two sections in order to comply with
language in HB 44 (that passed with Erin's Law).
SENATOR DUNLEAVY asked to keep the original language in the
bill.
CHAIR HUGGINS found no questions.
SENATOR COGHILL maintained his objection and a roll call vote
was taken: Senator Gardner voted yea; Senators Meyer, Kelly,
Coghill, and Huggins voted nay; therefore Amendment 3 failed.
SENATOR GARDNER moved Amendment 4.
29-LS0735\F.7
Glover
2/22/16
AMENDMENT 4
OFFERED IN THE SENATE BY SENATOR GARDNER
TO: CSSB 89(RLS)
Page 2, following line 29:
Insert a new subsection to read:
"(c) Nothing in this section prohibits a school
employee or volunteer from answering a question from a
child about any topic."
Reletter the following subsection accordingly.
SENATOR COGHILL objected.
SENATOR GARDNER explained that Amendment 4 allows for responsive
conversation between school employees and children, who will
often talk to teachers out of the blue about all kinds of
things. It simply says, "If a child asks a direct question" of
an employee, that employee is not prohibited from answering it.
SENATOR DUNLEAVY said he disagreed with the amendment, and it
changes the bill.
CHAIR HUGGINS found no questions.
SENATOR COGHILL maintained his objection and a roll call vote
was taken: Senator Gardner voted yea; Senators Meyer, Kelly,
Coghill, and Huggins voted nay; therefore Amendment 4 failed.
SENATOR GARDNER moved Amendment 5.
29-LS0735\F.8
Glover
2/22/16
AMENDMENT 5
OFFERED IN THE SENATE BY SENATOR GARDNER
TO: CSSB 89(RLS)
Page 2, following line 29:
Insert a new subsection to read:
"(c) This section does not apply to religious
schools or private schools."
Reletter the following subsection accordingly.
Page 3, following line 3:
Insert new paragraphs to read:
"(4) "private school" has the meaning given
in AS 14.45.200;
(5) "religious school" has the meaning
given in AS 14.45.200;"
Renumber the following paragraph accordingly.
SENATOR COGHILL objected.
SENATOR GARDNER explained that Amendment 5 just says this
statute is being made for "state funded public schools" and what
they are doing here doesn't apply to religious schools or
private schools, which can run their own affairs as they see
fit.
SENATOR DUNLEAVY asked to keep the original language in the
bill.
CHAIR HUGGINS found no questions.
SENATOR COGHILL maintained his objection and a roll call vote
was taken: Senator Gardner voted yea; Senators Meyer, Kelly,
Coghill, and Huggins voted nay; therefore Amendment 5 failed.
8:23:20 AM
SENATOR GARDNER moved Amendment 6.
29-LS0735\F.10
Glover
2/23/16
AMENDMENT 6
OFFERED IN THE SENATE BY SENATOR GARDNER
TO: CSSB 89(RLS)
Page 1, line 2, following "provider;":
Insert "relating to school performance
designations and teacher evaluations;"
Page 2, line 21, following "AS 14.30.020":
Insert "if the child's parent withdrew the child
from the activity, class, program, or standards-based
assessment or test or gave permission for the child's
absence"
Page 3, following line 7:
Insert new bill sections to read:
"* Sec. 3. AS 14.03.123 is amended by adding a new
subsection to read:
(h) For purposes of assigning performance
designations under this section, when the department
calculates a public school's participation rate for
standards-based assessments, the department shall
exclude a student who is withdrawn from a standards-
based assessment under AS 14.03.016 from the total
number of enrolled students at the school.
* Sec. 4. AS 14.20.149 is amended by adding a new
subsection to read:
(i) In a certificated employee evaluation, a
school district may not consider a student who is
withdrawn from a standards-based assessment under
AS 14.03.016 in the calculation of the participation
rate for the standards-based assessment."
Renumber the following bill sections accordingly.
SENATOR COGHILL objected.
SENATOR GARDNER explained that one of her concerns about the
broadness of some of the language is that the school, which is
responsible for tracking whether children are present and
alerting parents if they don't show up, is that the school has
no idea if a child is absent with the parent's knowledge or not.
She knows kids who skip school rather than attend two days of
testing thinking that the school will assume "my parent withdrew
me and my parent won't know." This amendment says that if a
parent is actively withdrawing a child from an activity, they
need to tell the school that, so they know the child didn't
simply not show up.
In addition, she said, the amendment says the participation rate
can't be used for the required 95 percentage of students to
participate in things like testing and teacher evaluations.
SENATOR DUNLEAVY asked to keep the original language in the
bill, because language in the amendment substantially changes
the bill from its original intent.
CHAIR HUGGINS found no questions.
SENATOR COGHILL maintained his objection and a roll call vote
was taken: Senator Gardner voted yea; Senators Meyer, Kelly,
Coghill, and Huggins voted nay; therefore Amendment 6 failed.
MS. MCDONALD said this bill is pretty straight forward and is
just cleanup language from what passed in a previous session.
SENATOR COGHILL moved to report CSSB 89(RLS), version F, from
committee with individual recommendations and attached zero
fiscal note.
SENATOR GARDNER objected. She said leaving aside the meat of the
bill that she disagrees with, it has unintended consequences
that could easily be addressed aside from knowing where their
kids are. It's important for schools to gather data on what
activities parents find objectionable, to maybe reconsider, but
they don't have a way of doing that. The bill also has a zero
fiscal note to the state, but it doesn't have a zero fiscal
impact for schools. She said that a lot of work was done in the
Education Committee, at the chair's suggestion, to try to
ameliorate. The schools fiscal impact could have been made a
little bit less by letting people do things like blanket
permissions.
8:27:14 AM
SENATOR GARDNER said she was also very troubled by teachers
being "muzzled" and not being able to simply answer a child's
question. Teachers shouldn't be afraid to respond to children if
for instance, one asks where baby birds come from. Children ask
these innocent questions and this bill creates a climate where
teachers have to be afraid of simply responding to their
students. That is unhealthy for the kids, for the teachers and
for families.
SENATOR GARDNER maintained her objection and a roll call vote
was taken. Senators Meyer, Kelly, Coghill, and Huggins voted
yea; Senator Gardner voted nay; therefore CSSB 89(RLS) moved
from committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 89 SRLS CS version F.pdf |
SRLS 2/24/2016 8:00:00 AM |
SB 89 |
| CS SB89 (STA) Version G.pdf |
SRLS 2/24/2016 8:00:00 AM |
SB 89 |
| CSSB 89 (RLS) Version F Sectional Summary.pdf |
SRLS 2/24/2016 8:00:00 AM |
SB 89 |
| CSSB 89 (STA) Version G to CSSB 89 (RLS) Version F.pdf |
SRLS 2/24/2016 8:00:00 AM |
SB 89 |
| 16-144lem Legal Opinion CSSB 89(RLS) Version F.pdf |
SRLS 2/24/2016 8:00:00 AM |
SB 89 |
| CS SB89 (STA) Version G Fiscal Note Updated 1.19.16.pdf |
SRLS 2/24/2016 8:00:00 AM |
SB 89 |
| Enrolled HB 44.pdf |
SRLS 2/24/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 44 |
| SB 89 Emails (1 of 2).pdf |
SRLS 2/24/2016 8:00:00 AM |
SB 89 |
| SB 89 Emails (2 of 2).pdf |
SRLS 2/24/2016 8:00:00 AM |
SB 89 |
| HB 75 SRLS version AA.pdf |
SRLS 2/24/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 75 |
| 2dSCSCSHB75 Sectional Analysis versionAA.pdf |
SRLS 2/24/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 75 |
| HB0075F (JUD) V J.pdf |
SRLS 2/24/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 75 |
| Sponsor Statement CSHB 75(JUD)am.pdf |
SRLS 2/24/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 75 |
| Municipal Class Tax Types.pdf |
SRLS 2/24/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 75 |
| Cities in Unorganized Boroughs.pdf |
SRLS 2/24/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 75 |
| CSHB 75 (CRA) Fiscal Note 2016.pdf |
SRLS 2/24/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 75 |