Bill Update for the Week of June 2

Below is a quick update on legislation with activity this week. We are past the bill filing deadlines so there will be no new legislation filed (although new matters can be inserted into bills that have been filed in the past).  The House was hard at work on their version of the 2014-15 budget, and the Senate took off Monday and Tuesday after passing their version of the budget last week (summary to come in separate post, experienced some technical difficulties on that!).

HB 230, Clarify Read to Achieve/School Performance Grades (Malone, Martin, Brody, Samuelson).  A Proposed Committee Substitute of this bill, formerly a home school bill, moved through the Senate last week.  It amends the Read to Achieve law passed last year to make several modifications: it directs the State Board of Education to provide, approve and establish achievement levels for several valid and reliable alternative assessments; allows the student reading portfolio to begin to be compiled during the first half of the school year; gives flexibility in providing the summer reading camps; requires qualitative and quantitative data from the Kindergarten Entry Assessment; clarifies the good cause exemptions from mandatory retention for Limited English Proficient students and students with IEPs; makes clear that parents/guardians make the final decision regarding a retained student's participation in reading camp, with at least one opportunity for students not attending to demonstrate proficiency prior to being retained; and clarifies that a student  can be promoted anytime. The House concurred in the Senate Committee Substitute yesterday and the bill now goes to the Governor for his signature.

Common Core Legislation: The House and Senate both passed bills to replace or modify the Common Core standards being used in North Carolina schools. The NC Chamber, which has been opposed to the repeal of the standards came out in favor of the Senate version. 

HB 1061, Replace Common Core State Standards with NC's Higher Academic Standards (Holloway, Pittman, Speciale).  HB 1061 seeks to replace the Common Core standards. It sets up an Academic Standards Review Commission in the Department of Administration to develop replacement standards for Language Arts and Mathematics. 

SB 812, Maintain State Authority over Academic Standards (Soucek, Tillman).  The Senate Bill passed the Education committee and full Senate this week.  The Senate bill also sets up an Academic Standards Review Commission.  However, the Senate bill directs the commission to review the current standards and propose modifications that increase students' level of academic achievement, meet and reflect North Carolina's priorities, are age-level and developmentally appropriate, are understandable to parents and teachers, and will be among the highest standards in the nation. 

HB 1069, Unemployment Insurance Law Changes (Howard, Warren, Arp)/ SB759 (Rucho, Clark).  HB 1069 seeks to amend the Unemployment Insurance laws, including requiring photo ID for benefits;  sets benefit duration according to the unemployment rate; modifies the work search requirement by increasing the number of job contacts to 5 per week and eliminating the requirement to search on 2 different days.  The bill passed 2d reading in the full House and will be considered again on a final vote next week.

HB 1110, Improve Oversight of Public Guardianship (Jones, Dollar, Earle).  HB 1110 directs the Division of Aging and Adult Services (DAAS), to collaborate with the Administrative Office of the Courts to develop a plan regarding the  evaluation of complaints pertaining to wards under the care of publicly funded guardians in order to ensure that, in addition to current requirements, the complaint process also incorporates a face‑to‑face observation of the ward, an interview with the ward, or both. It also directs the Division of Social Services to study the issue of conflicts of interest in child welfare cases as related to public guardianship. It also directs DAAS to consult with the clerks of superior court,LME/MCOs, the North Carolina Bar Association Section on Elder Law, and any other interested groups to develop a model plan for transitioning a ward to an alternative guardianship arrangement when an individual guardian of the person becomes unable or unwilling to serve. The model plan shall focus on ways to prevent the appointment of a public guardian. The bill was approved by the full House this week and has been referred to the Senate Rules committee.