SENATE BILL NO. 32 "An Act establishing the Alaska middle college program for public school students; and relating to the powers of the University of Alaska." 9:23:10 AM Co-Chair Bishop relayed that it was the second hearing for SB 32, and the committee had taken public testimony on March 22, 2021. He stated the intent to adopt a Committee Substitute (CS), consider an amendment, review fiscal notes, and look to the will of the committee. Senator Wielechowski MOVED to ADOPT proposed committee substitute for SB 32, Work Draft 32-LS0307\B (Klein, 3/23/21). Co-Chair Bishop OBJECTED for discussion. 9:23:58 AM ERIN SHINE, STAFF, SENATOR CLICK BISHOP, discussed the proposed CS. She read from an Explanation of Changes Document: Page 1, Line 2 Updates title for effective date Page 2, Lines 20-23 Deletes previous proposed 14.30.780(b) language and inserts language that the Alaska Middle College Program shall be made available to each school district by the University of Alaska if a school district elects to participate. Page 4, Lines 20-21 Clarifies that the University of Alaska shall enter into agreements for a school district that elects to participate. Page 4, Line 26 Provides an effective date of July 1, 2022. Ms. Shine conveyed that she had contacted the Legislative Legal Department after the previous hearing on the bill to get clarification regarding some public testimony that indicated that the bill required school districts to participate in the middle college program. The legal staff indicated that language in Version A of the bill iterated that if a student was eligible and interested, a school district would be required to try and enter into an agreement with the Alaska Middle College. She had spoken with the sponsor and the sponsor's staff, who indicated the result was not the intent of the version of the bill under consideration. The CS tried to remedy the matter and ensured that the program was required for the university to offer but did not require school districts to participate. Co-Chair Bishop WITHDREW his OBJECTION. There being NO further OBJECTION, it was so ordered. 9:25:58 AM AT EASE 9:26:37 AM RECONVENED Co-Chair Stedman MOVED to ADOPT Amendment 1, 32-LS0307\B.1 (Klein, 3/27/21): Page 3, line 1, following "district": Insert "that elects to participate in the program" Co-Chair Bishop OJBECTED for discussion. Ms. Shine explained that Amendment 1 made one more clarifying change to the CS. After the CS was drafted, the committee had realized that there was one more section that would require something from every school district. The change conformed to other sections and clarified that school districts that were participating in the program would have to notify students and parents of the opportunity if a student was eligible to participate. Senator Wielechowski wanted legislative understanding of how election of participation occurred. He asked if a school board would need to pass something or if a superintendent could take some action. Ms. Shine was unsure of how a school would elect to participate in the program. She thought there was invited testimony that could address the question. Senator Wielechowski thought it was important to get more legislative understanding of the issue. Co-Chair Bishop invited the sponsor and his staff to speak to the amendment. 9:29:06 AM SENATOR GARY STEVENS, SPONSOR, thought it was a simple procedure to elect to participate in the program. He thought there were many ways for a district to elect to participate, and the decision would usually involve action by the superintendent or school board. He did not think the matter needed further definition. Co-Chair Bishop WITHDREW his OBJECTION. There being NO further OBJECTION, it was so ordered. Amendment 1 was ADOPTED. Senator Stevens explained that the intent of the bill was to help students throughout the state to get college credits while in high school. He cited an equity issue and noted that many larger districts already had the opportunity while many smaller districts did not. He appreciated the amendment changing the language from "shall" to "may." He knew the University had explicitly stated that it would make the program available to any district that wanted it. Additionally, larger districts had gone out of their way to ensure that extremely small districts could access the program through the larger district. He thought the program was a real advantage for students. Senator Wilson discussed fiscal note 1 from the Department of Education and Early Development, OMB Component 2796. He specified that FY 22 showed a zero cost, and out-year costs were all zero. The department stated there was no fiscal impact from the bill. Senator Wilson discussed fiscal note 2 from the University, OMB Component 730. He specified that FY 22 showed a zero cost, and out-year costs were all zero. He read from the analysis on page 2 of the fiscal note: The university's existing middle college programs are designed to be cost neutral to UA in that the tuition provided by the students through their school districts is sufficient to cover the university's costs to run the program. 9:32:45 AM AT EASE 9:32:51 AM RECONVENED Co-Chair Stedman MOVED to report CSSB 32(FIN) out of Committee as amended with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. CSSB 32(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee as amended with a "do pass" recommendation and with two previously published zero fiscal notes: FN 1(EED) and FN 2 (UA). 9:33:11 AM AT EASE 9:34:23 AM RECONVENED