Major education bills still unavailable as filing deadline approaches

Lawmakers have entered the last flurry (or blizzard might be a better description) of bill filings, with next Friday, March 10, as the deadline for filing bills. TCTA is already tracking close to 600 bills, and we will likely add 100-200 more by the time the dust settles.

Legislative Council, the entity responsible for drafting bills, has been overwhelmed by requests, and many proposals submitted by legislators weeks ago have not yet been released to the bill sponsors for filing. While bills filed in the final rush sometimes get overlooked, we are anticipating the introduction of some major proposals over the next several days.

Several of the Lt. Governor’s priority items, which have already been assigned bill numbers, have not yet been filed. These include:

• SB 8, the designated voucher proposal that is likely to pass the Senate (several other voucher bills have already been filed);
• SB 9, described as a teacher rights and teacher compensation bill;
• SB 10, providing 13^th checks for retirees; and
• SB 11, regarding safe schools.

We have yet to see a teacher pay bill in the House that appears to have the stamp of approval from leadership, or other major proposals that would address issues such as teacher working conditions.

TCTA will post information on these key issues as those bills are filed.