Legislative updates

6/24/1011

SB242, having passed the Senate a while ago, is now moving through the House. If you understand what is going on please leave a comment.

6/23/2011:

The Oregonian reports the legislature has cut Chancellor Pernsteiner’s pay and benefits package by 11%. Just kidding, it’s for higher ed in general. Academic programs will take the hit – George won’t be touched.

6/22/2011:

12:25 PM: If I understand this Tony van Vliet rant correctly, SB242 is dead.

From what I can tell the legislature is done with education. Maybe they will get back to SB242 before adjourning but it seems unlikely. Odd. This bill was Pernsteiner’s reaction to Lariviere’s new partnership, designed to give more power to OUS instead of UO. But now, with SB909 passed and Nancy Golden in power to keep an eye on Pernsteiner, SB242 would be good for UO.

6/21/2011: 

11:11PM Jeff Mapes gives his analysis of the day, focused on K-12.

4:10 SB909 passes. Good news for UO and Pres Lariviere. Not sure what happened to SB242/HB2118.

3:54 Debate on SB909 starts.

3:19PM: All day kindergarten passes.

3:00PM:  The house is now onto all day kindergarten, may take a bit to get to higher ed. I’m no political science professor, but I have to say I’m impressed by the quality (and passion) of the debate by the legislators on these K-12 bills.

1:10: House is in recess til 2PM

12:00: HB2301, the “virtual schools” bill – requiring licensed teachers, has now passed, with amendments from the Republicans, potentially breaking the logjam.

11:30AM Jeff Mapes reports they are working on a charter school compromise that would get higher ed bill rolling again.

11:00 the house is back in session

9:30AM The House session does not seem to be starting as scheduled. See below for possible reason.

6/20/2011:

SB 242 and SB909 have now passed the Senate. They will likely come up in the House Tuesday, the session starts at 9:30 AM. Audio and video here: http://www.leg.state.or.us/listn/ (If you need a political fix meanwhile, watch this. I’ll miss this guy.)

I understand the relationship between SB909 and SB242 to now be as follows. (Both have been amended substantially.)

SB242:  This is Pernsteiner’s bill: Redefines Oregon University System (OUS) as public university system with greater authority and independence to manage affairs, operations and obligations. Creates Higher Education Coordinating Commission (Commission). So, 242 gives OUS independence from the state and creates an HECC to oversee the current OUS Board and Chancellor.

SB909: This is Kitzhaber’s bill: Establishes the Oregon Education Investment Board (OEIB) to oversee a unified public education system. (K-16 or K-20). Jeff Mapes has a good summary here.

If they both pass, SB909 contains language ensuring that Kitzhaber’s OIEB will “oversee” the HECC, which in turn oversees the existing OUS Board and Chancellor. Or so I understand it. So, best case for UO is SB242 plus SB909, and that’s where my money is. But it’s possible that the coalition will break up, over K-12 issues.

A break up which Jeff Mapes and Saul Hubbard now report has in fact happened:

The defeat, on the House floor, of a bill that would have made it easier for students to enroll in online charter schools caused a blow-up Monday in the evenly divided chamber, one that casts some doubt over the path ahead for a series of key education reform bills that still need House approval this session.

Legislators had hoped to either approve or defeat a total of 14 wide-ranging education policy bills in both chambers Monday, potentially an important step in bringing the legislative session to a close.

The bills included Gov. John Kitzhaber’s plan to create a single board to oversee the state’s entire public education system; a bill that would have allocated an additional $25 million for K-12 education over the next two years; and three “school choice” bills, among them the online charter schools enrollment bill: House Bill 2301. …