This Week at the N.D. Legislature Hello, everyone! We have a very busy week ahead of us at the Capitol! Here it is: North Dakota United will be testifying in support of HB 1244. This bill would allow state employees to use sick leave to care for their sick children as well as to facilitate the adoption of a child. NDU will testify in support of HB 1263, which will direct the Supt. of Public Instruction to study the expansion of virtual schools for K-12 students. We will testify that any committees, task forces, or working groups formed to facilitate the Superintendent’s work shall include teachers, parents, students, community members and administrators. NDU will offer testimony in support of increasing funding for schools with declining enrollment that are disadvantaged by the current school funding formula. HB 1263 is the bill. NDU will support SB 2209, which calls for training for school staff, teachers, and administrators in the area of youth suicide risk indicators and mental health risk indicators. HB 1216 is a bill that could be called a “funding in real time” bill. It would require the state to pay their per pupil obligation to school districts based on the students that are enrolled in the current year rather than basing that funding on the number of students reported the last school year. We will get an opportunity to comment on the Education Funding Bill. As you know, there is over $2B dollars for education in the Governor’s budget. We will try to get the Fall Conference days paid for teachers, too! SB 2031 is that bill. NDU will oppose HB 1202, a bill that would allow private sector employers to opt out of paying an employee his/her due accrued leave at the end of his/her employment. This is an issue of basic fairness. I will testify on HB 1257, which is an equal pay for equal work bill. We will hear testimony on HB 1157, a bill that would allow elected officials to pack heat in public buildings. SB 2152 deals with allowing the Superintendent of a school district to suspend employees rather than that being a school board action. SB 2153 would close the personnel files of teachers being investigated by administration and law enforcement until after a trial. We support this bill because not everything in a teacher’s personnel file may be pertinent to the investigation and should not be thrown out there for everyone to see. It also helps to ensure that a case against a teacher is not tried in the court of public opinion until it is tried in a courtroom. HB 1080 is opposed by NDU because the benefits cuts are too deep to justify the 1% increase to ND PERS. SB 2038 is opposed because defined benefit retirement plans are far superior to defined contribution retirement plans. All NDU members are encouraged to reach out to their legislators, and make your voices heard on these issues! If youre unsure of who your legislators are in your district, use this link to Find My Legislator. That’s it for now! Have a great week and know that we’ve got your back! Nick Archuleta NDU President P.S. I’ll be on Joel Heitkamp’s radio show on Wednesday from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m.! Tune in if you can!
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 02:32:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015