Tuesday, April 17, 2018

House budget amendments: we've got them!

I've tweeted out the House budget amendments with statewide education impacts, but I know that sometimes having them in a blog post is useful. Note that all of them are posted here, 'though they pop out, so I can't individually link to them.
  • Rep. Ferguson filed amendment 29 bumping regional transportation to $73,100,000. That's the 85% reimbursement some had been seeking as a compromise.  
  • Rep. Ferguson also filed amendment 31 which is a regional schools foundation budget commission.
  • Rep. Madaro filed amendment 57, which would require priority enrollment in charter schools for those closer to the school.
  • Rep. Malia is earmarking $200K for Alliance for Inclusion and Prevention trauma-based school training in amendment 97.
  • Rep. Diehl in amendment 164 is amending H.4400 to say "The Special Education Advisory Council shall be tasked with drafting regulations on the training and licensing of Special Education Advisors." I'm not sure what that does.
  • Rep. Boldyga amending the motor vehicle law around driving by a stopped, lights-flashing, school bus to remove a license on a second offense for 180 days or a year for a subsequent offense.
  • As I noted last week, we have an FBRC amendment! Get 246 some co-sponsors! 
  • Amendment 187 sets aside $500,000 within the circuit breakers for districts where out of district sped "exceed 25 per cent of the total district costs"and $1M and 25% for a school within the district (looking earmark-y).
  • Amendment 192 from Rep. Kane is $2.9M for out of district vocational transportation.
  • Amendment 212 (from Rep, Kane, though it has a bunch of co-sponsors) would allow districts to charge for out of district vocational transportation (no fee required for low income).
  • Amendment 321 from Rep. Balser adds $50K for a needs assessment for gifted and talented students.
  • Amendment 403 from Rep. Cassidy of Brockton bumps the economically disadvantaged deciles by what looks like 7%, which is a LOT of money.
  • Amendment 410 from Rep. Scibak bumps adult ed another close to $2M.
  • Amendment 488 from Reps. Pignatelli & Barrett (think Berkshires) going for a swipe of $5M of the $12.5M proposed for the low income hit some districts took. They're essentially outlining a requirement that would send it to the Berkshires.
  • Rep. Jones (along with some of the Republican caucus) want to look at a private school deduction. (amendment 513)
  • There are two things going on at once in 568: Rep. Gerry is trying to ensure extraordinary relief for Tyngsborough BUT ALSO boost the circuit breaker to $400,000,000...which is literally $100M. And that is a lot.
  • Amendment 599, with a boatload of cosponsors, is for the ASOST-Q Grant, which is summers and after school, priority going to Gateway cities. It adds $3M to 7061-9611, which is the after school line.
  • FULL CIRCUIT BREAKER FUNDING (looks like?) at $318,723,819 in amendment 693, which also has a boatload of co-sponsors led by Rep. Benson.
  • Rep. Barrows and others looking for $50K for the Green Schools initative (that's 765).
  • Rep. Hill wants to boost regional transportation reimbursement to $86M BUT ALSO wants money not used in the Marijuana Regulation fund in regulating marijuana used for regional transportation reimbursement! (?!?!) (amendment 785).
  • In 796, Rep. Walsh (Peabody) and others are looking for a Model Emergency Response School Commisssion to create models as above.
  • Rep. D'Emilia and others in amendment 823 bumping regional transportation to $86M, which is more like 100% of reimbursement.
  • Rep. González of Springfield looking to bump Reading Recovery to $500K (from $100K) in amendment 834.
  • Amendment 840 from (brand new) Rep. Hawkins puts $400K in funding to MCIEA's alternative evaluation of districts (Hawkins was a math teacher in Attleboro before being elected).
  • Rep. Walsh (Framingham) and others seeking to boost the circuit breaker to 100% reimbursement (amendment 875).
  • Rep. Schmid and MANY others looking to add $120K for Farm to School spending in 891.
  • In 898, Rep. Elizabeth Malia would make recovery high schools regional schools for the purposes of transportation (aka, making them eligible for reimbursement) "subject to appropriation" of course.
  • Reps Cronin and Cassidy are straight pulling $250K out of DESE and sending it to Brockton in amendment 916 (they don't add to the bottom line!).
  • In 930, Rep. Stanley and MANY others seeking to bump McKinney-Vento transportation reimbursement from $9M to $22M, more like fully reimbursement.
  • In 947, Rep. Balser wants the Safe and Supportive Schools funding expended "in consultation with the safe and supportive schools commission."
  • Rep. Koczera and MANY others in 950 seeking to boost adult basic education up $2M (from $32M).
  • Rep. Ultrino with MANY others seeking FULL CHARTER SCHOOL REIMBURSEMENT in amendment 952 (that's $170M, up from $90M in HW&M, up from the Gov's level-funded $80.5M).
  • Rep. Hill with a straight regional transportation bump to $86M (that's 974).
  • Three Boston reps in 977 also seeking to bump charter reimbursement to $170M (sometimes you can tell from these who talks to whom; this is the same as amendment 952).
  • Rep. Mahoney (1062), looking to bump Mass Academy's level-funded $1.4M to $1.6M.
  • Rep. Mahoney is sponsoring with others amendment 1070 to add $900K for pilot vo-tech programs; that's "lag funding" (to start programs before funding kicks in).
  • Rep. Frost wants to create a $25M matching grant program for school resource officers through DESE (that's amendment 1113).
  • In what doesn't LOOK like an #MAEdu amendment but is Worcester-related: amendment 1115 would make the CONTRACTOR responsible for fines acrued if elevators are not properly licensed.
  • Amendment 1154 is a minimum per pupil increase of $50/pupil (from $30 in the House, $20 in the Gov's).
  • Amendment 1169 boosts the increments of the poverty decile from $40 to $50 (topping out at $4,069.57). This is the discussion that was part of the Brockton/Worcester conversation around changes in the poverty rates being hard on districts that depend on them (and it's coming in from Rep. O'Day of Worcester).
  • Rep. Campbell and others want to add $10,500 for the Massachusetts School Mental Health Consortium (that's 1219).
  • Rep. Peisch is seeking to add $3M for early college pathways in amendment 1236.
  • Rep. Peisch is also seeking in 1237 to revive the 2012 financial literacy committee.
  • Related to education is 1238 from Rep. McKenna and others seeking a PILOT formula commission for state-owned lands. (McKenna represents Douglas, so Douglas State Forest is part of his district).
  • Rep. Peisch appears in amendment 1241; she's sticking all of the recovery high school money together in the same line item.
  • Amendment 1243, also from Peisch, appears to allow DESE to pay teachers and administrators for their work with the Department?
  • In the ongoing battle over account 7061-9400, Rep. Peisch Rep. Peisch in 1255 seeks to amend the MCAS line back UP to the Gov's $32M (which is what DESE requested) AND puts back what looks like the Gov's language. This isn't the first time she's acted in a way that looks like looking out for the Department's interests.
  • Amendment 1258 seeks to "convene a task force to study and develop recommendations on the training and certification of language interpreters" in schools.
  • Rep. Muradian (Grafton) seeking $4M for out-of-district regional vocational transportation reimbursement (that's 1278).
  • Rep. Hunt (in amendment 1315) is looking for a study and then a grant fund from @Mass_SBA on "school security infrastructure."
  • Amendment 1343 is the half hour recess mandate (elsewhere filed as a bill).
  • Rep. Holmes in 1391 looking to bump up the METCO line by $1,750,000 and earmark it for METCO Inc. of Dorchester.
And that is what we have! Co-sponsorship can happen right up until Monday the 23, when deliberation starts! CALL YOUR REPS! 

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