General Laws Committee considers A+ legislation, votes bill out of committee
On Monday, Feb. 22, the General Laws Committee, chaired by Rep. Curtis Trent (R-Springfield), heard HB 1067, presented by Rep. Dan Shaul (R- Imperial), and HB 1141, presented by Rep. Cyndi Buchheit-Courtway (R- Festus). Both bills would require rules regarding the “minimal GPA requirement to qualify for the A+ grant award” that will only consider grade averages that do not have a “negative change to a student's GPA from 2019-20 or 2020-21 due to the impact of COVID-19.” In his opening statements, Rep. Shaul stated that, “Students have been distracted for the last three semesters” due to the pandemic. He further indicated that his bill will prevent high schools from penalizing students in the A+ program if their GPA went down during those three semesters that the COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting them.
During the hearing, committee members discussed the legislation and how the inability to take the ACT during the pandemic might hurt students. Rep. Shaul said that he would be willing to add an amendment, if appropriate, to protect those students.
The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and the Missouri School Boards’ Association spoke in favor of the legislation. There were no opponents.
On Thursday, Feb. 25, the committee reconvened and voted “do-pass” on both bills.
House Higher Education Committee hears bills on institutions’ statewide missions
On Monday, Feb. 22, the House Higher Education Committee, chaired by Rep. Brenda Shields (R-St. Joseph), heard bills regarding statewide missions. Rep. Allen Andrews (R-Grant City) introduced HB 908 for Northwest Missouri State University, and Rep. Louis Riggs (R-Hannibal) introduced HCR 29 for Harris Stowe State University.
During the hearing, Rep. John Black (R-Marshfield) confirmed that the requests had been approved by the Coordinating Board for Higher Education.
During the hearing, the committee voted unanimously in favor of Southeast Missouri State University’s statewide mission legislation, introduced by Rep. Wayne Wallingford (R-Cape Girardeau) during the previous committee meeting.
House Subcommittee on Appropriations-Education to mark-up HB 3
On Wednesday, March 3, the House Subcommittee on Appropriations-Education, chaired by Rep. Rusty Black (R-Chillicothe) will mark up HB 3, which provides funding to the Missouri Department of Higher Education & Workforce Development (MDHEWD) and Missouri’s public higher education institutions. The hearing will begin at 8:15 a.m. and will include consideration of HB 2, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s budget. Watch the stream here.
|
