Jim Karleskint
jimkarleskint@yahoo.com
I hope all of you had an enjoyable St. Patrick Day and Spring Break. For many Mother Nature didn’t provide much warm weather. Things in the Capital this week were interesting. If you have been following the Newsletter or state politics, you are aware of SB 83. Which is the 2023 voucher bill, called the Sunflower Education Equity Act. Not only does it contain provisions for vouchers but also Special Education funding and designated dollars for teacher salaries. This is an attempt to “sweeten the pot” to get votes for the much-disliked legislation. On Tuesday the full House heard the bill. This process took over three hours. The outcome was a 61 to 59 vote, it only took a majority vote to move the legislation forward for final action which was to take place on Wednesday. There were some members absent that day. It needed 63 votes on Wednesday to pass. Both sides went to work to influence votes for or against SB 83. I would like to thank those from SQE that contacted their legislators on the vote. Everyone knew the Wednesday vote would be a close one. All House members were present except one member. Leadership had this member not come to the chamber for a specific reason. When the first vote was made the count was 60 yes votes and 64 no votes. It needed 63 votes to pass. Since there was one member absent a “Call of the House” was made, this was to stop the vote till the absent member arrived. Doors to the chamber were locked, legislators were required to remain in their seats. The legislators were treated like first graders, requiring them to raise their hands to go to the bathroom and only so many can leave at any time. During the “Call of the House” leadership gets on the phone or texts members to change their votes. Threats and promises are made if they change their vote. Over the next hour we saw 3 members change their no vote to yes. When the number reached 63 yes votes, the absent members magically appeared and cast the final yes vote to give a 64 to 61 majority for passage.
The Senate now has their turn to deal with SB 83. On Thursday there was an attempt by Democrats in the Senate to bring up SB 83 for a vote. However, their attempt was blocked. The bill will now go to a conference committee for review and consideration, it can be changed in conference committee. If it is changed it must go back to the House to be voted on to approve any changes. The conference will be made up of three House members from K-12 Education Budget Committee and three members from Senate Education Committee. Of the six, four are Republicans and two are Democrats. No time has been set for the Conference Committee to meet.
Below is a list of those House members that voted no on SB 83. If your Representative is on this list, please take time to thank them for their support of public schools.
Nay – (61):
Alcala, Amyx, Ballard, Bloom, Borjon, Boyd, Butler, Carlin, Carmichael, Carr, Clifford, Concannon, Curtis, Dodson, Ell is, Eplee, Featherston, Francis, Goddard, Haskins, Haswood, Helgerson, Highberger, Hougland, Howe, Hoye, Jacob s, Martinez, Melton, Meyer, D. Miller, S. Miller, V.
Miller, Minnix, Moser, Neighbor, Ohaebosim, Oropeza, Osman, Ousley, Patton, Poskin, Probst, Rahjes, Resman, L.
Ruiz, S. Ruiz, Sawyer, Sawyer Clayton, Schlingensiepen, Schreiber, A.
Smith, Stogsdill, Vaughn, Waymaster, Weigel, L. Williams, Winn, Woodard, Xu, Younger,
On Friday the Governor vetoed HB 2238. This is the bill that banned transgender girl athletes from girl sports. This is the 3rd year in a row this legislation has been passed by both houses of the legislature and vetoed by the Governor. An override attempt will be made, not sure when but I would expect soon.
What to expect in week #11 in Education Committees
Education committees will be working bills already heard to determine if they will advance to their respective floors for final action. Briefing on various topics will be delivered in committees this week. Only one new bill is scheduled to be heard on Wednesday.
Wednesday, March 22
House Education-HB 2427 Requires school districts to provide separate accommodations for students of each biological sex on overnight sponsored trips.
Senate Education-SB 255 Same as HB 2427 Requires school districts to provide separate accommodations for students of each biological sex on overnight trips.
Have a great week, please contact me if you have questions.
