| |
HB 1214 Goes to Governor for Signature
A Senate amendment to HB 1214 was approved by the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday; the House concurred with that amendment today.
The bill now goes to Gov. Mike Beebe for his signature. This bill would remove the requirement that the Commissioner of Education or his/her designee serve as chair of the Board. This means the Board will be allowed to select its own chair from its members.
This bill would also provide that all rules, procedures, hearings and appeals relating to the Code of Ethics will be subject to the Administrative Procedures Act.
Stronger Classified School Employee Fair Dismissal Bill Filed
HB 1921 was filed today by Rep. Barbara Nix, D-Benton, Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock and Sen. Shane Broadway, D-Bryant. The bill amends the Classified School Employee Fair Dismissal Act to provide a substantive due process procedure that must be followed by school districts. The bill now goes to the House Education Committee. The bill must receive a fiscal impact statement before it can come up for action in the committee.
Please contact members of the House Education Committee and urge them to support HB 1921. Committee members are: Bill Abernathy, D-Mena; Monty Betts, D-Searcy; Nancy Blount, D-Marianna; Toni Bradford, D-Pine Bluff; Steven Breedlove, D-Greenwood; Jerry Brown, D-Wynne; Leslie Carnine, R-Rogers; Eddie Cheatham, D-Crossett; David Cook, D-Williford; Robert Dale, R-Dover; Jody Dickinson, D-Newport; Dan Greenberg, R-Bryant; Donna Hutchinson, R-Bella Vista; Mark Martin, R-Prairie Grove; Mark Perry, D-Jacksonville; David Rainey, D-Dumas; Rick Saunders, D-Hot Springs; Tim Summers, R-Bentonville; Linda Tyler, D-Conway; and Charolette Wagner, D-Manila.
White House Holds Health Care Reform Summit
President Barack Obama opened his summit on health reform Thursday with a clear message: "The status quo is the one option that is not on the table." Obama welcomed more than 100 lawmakers, interest group executives and experts to the White House to begin talks that he hopes will culminate in significant reform of the healthcare system.
Obama signaled his seriousness about tackling health care when he addressed a joint session of Congress last week and issued a budget setting aside $633.8 billion for initiatives to cover the uninsured and reduce the cost of medical care.
AEA President Daniel N. Marzoni II said, "This summit is an important step toward real reform. Along with our efforts to secure additional funding for school employee health insurance, we know that significant health care reform at the national level is necessary to fix the health care problems facing all Americans, including school employees."
Watch for additional information and calls for action on this issue.
|
