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Utah System of Higher Education
Legislation of Interest(1)
2003 General Session
USHE Legislative Priorities |
USHE Position |
Final Action |
UCAT Amendments, HB 2321S, sponsored by Rep. Ron Bigelow, clarifies that UCAT is one college with several campuses, changes titles of Regional Presidents to Campus Presidents and Regional Boards to Campus Board of Directors, defines open-entry/open exit competency based education, and changes provision that adult education must be "low cost" to "market based." Regional identifications will be maintained such as "Bridgerland Applied Technology College: A Utah College of Applied Technology Campus." Clarifies that campus policies must conform with policies of the UCAT Board of Trustees and the State Board of Regents.
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SUPPORT |
PASSED
House: 69-1
Senate: 26-0
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Snow College Richfield Campus, HB 161S3,
sponsored by Rep. Brad Johnson, merges the Central College of Applied Technology with Snow College creating Snow College Richfield Campus, effective July 1, 2003. Snow College will assume
responsibilities for providing ATE in the Central Region including services to high school students. |
SUPPORT |
PASSED
House: 61-9
Senate: 26-0 |
Nonresident Tuition, HB 75S1, sponsored by Rep.
Loraine Pace, is intended to soften the impact on institutions from last year's HB 331. The bill creates up to 500 new non-resident waivers, to be allocated by the Board of Regents for a five-year
transition period, without changing requirements for residency established by HB 331. The bill will go into effect immediately upon the Governor's signature. |
SUPPORT |
PASSED
House: 60-12
Senate: 23-3 |
General Obligation Bond and Capital Facilities, SB2S6, sponsored by Sen. Beverly Evans. The final version provided state funding for USU Library ($40 million) and UVSC purchase of Vineyard Elementary School
($6.6 million) and authorized non-state funded projects at USU (Library Research Center Addition and Biology/Natural Resources Building), and stated legislative intent that Snow College use grants and loans
from Community Impact Board together with institutional funds for an addition to the Activities Center. |
SUPPORT |
PASSED
House: 52-22
Senate: 23-5 |
Oversight of Utah Climate Center, HB 192, sponsored by Rep. Ben Ferry, transfers responsibility for the Utah Climate Center from the Department of Agriculture and Food to Utah State University. Previously USU has provided this service under
contract with the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. |
SUPPORT |
PASSED
House: 63-7
Senate: 27-0 |
Government Investments Standards Amendments, HB 333, sponsored by Rep. Brent Goodfellow, amends the State Money Management Act to modify the prudent person rule for managing investments. |
SUPPORT |
PASSED
House: 64-0
Senate: 26-0 |
Tuition Tax Credits, SB 34S2, sponsored by Sen.
Chris Buttars, providing tuition tax credits for parents and donors to private K-12 schools, passed the Senate 20-8, was later amended into SB 154 and then amended out of SB 154. Ultimately, the House
did not consider it because the House sponsor was unable to muster the 38 votes necessary to pass it. |
MONITOR |
FAILED Circled on House 3rd Reading Calendar |
Mineral Lease Fund Amendments, SB 36, sponsored
by Sen. Beverly Evans, expands the public entities eligible to receive monies from the Mineral Lease account to include public institutions of higher education. |
SUPPORT |
PASSED
House: 70-1
Senate: 24-0 |
Public Education Amendments, SB 154S5, sponsored by Sen. Tom Hatch to implement recommendations of the Employers' Education Coalition for K-12 Public Education. Originally the bill included income and corporate franchise tax increases
totaling over $90 million. After passing the Senate narrowly (15-14) Governor Leavitt and Speaker Stephens announced their opposition to income tax increases and the tax increases were
eliminated. In its final form, the bill makes a number of changes in K-12 Public Education including the nominating process for the State Board of Education to require business/industry input,
requiring the core curriculum to increase in depth and complexity from year to year and focus on continual progress in the core academic areas of English and mathematics. The act increases curriculum
and graduation requirements for grades 9 through 12 in language arts, mathematics, and science. It provides emphasis on competency-based education and progress-based assessments, and includes an
appropriation of $1.8 million to the State Board of Education to begin implementing competency-based education, $150,000 to the Legislature to issue a Request for Proposals regarding competency based
education, and $24,500 for additional legislative interim committee meetings. Also provides for competency-based teacher licensing. The bill requires the State Board of Regents to "study
(continued) and make recommendations on changes to the system of higher education that may be required to accommodate and coordinate with public education as public education implements competency-based education and progress-based assessments," and to report its recommendations to the Governor's Office by August 15, 2003. It authorizes a State Education Summit to be called by the Governor after September 1, in 2003, and requires participation by the Board of Regents and representatives of USHE institutions in the Summit. The Summit will hear initial reports from the State Board of Education, Legislative Education Interim Committee, Legislative Public Education Appropriations Committee, and State Board of Regents as specified by the bill. Topics to be addressed at the Summit include emphasis on core academic subjects, competency-based education, progress-based assessments, and plans to coordinate efforts, make recommendations, and propose legislation to further implement the act.
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NEUTRAL |
PASSED
House: 49-26
Senate: 20-9
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Educational Assistance for National Guard Members, SB 109, sponsored by Senator Pete Knudson. It requires that 0.5% (currently $359,000) of tuition waivers granted by USHE institutions be dedicated for members of
the Utah National Guard. Sen. Knudson agreed to an amendment that requires students seeking such waivers commit at least 60 days prior to the beginning on an academic term so that any that are unused
waivers can be assigned to other students. |
SUPPORT WITH AMENDMEN TS |
PASSED
House: 68-0
Senate: 27-0 |
Higher Education Task Force, SB 168, sponsored
by Sen. David Gladwell to study the recommendations of the Employers' Education Coalition, was withdrawn at Senator Gladwell's request. He prefers to handle study of Higher Education issues in a less
formal way with representatives of USHE/Regents and/or by the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee during the interim. |
SUPPORT |
WITHDRAWN
BY SPONSOR |
Telephone and Facsimile Solicitation, SB 194, sponsored by Sen. David Thomas, restricts telephone solicitations and establishes a Utah "no call" list. USHE supported amendment to exclude charitable organizations (including educational
institutions) from the scope of the bill.
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NEUTRAL |
PASSED
House: 46-25
Senate: 27-0 |
In addition to the legislation described here, USHE monitored a number of other bills including HB 7, Special
Group License Plate Revisions (P), HB 71S1 State Spending Limitation Amendments (F), HB 215S3 State Agency Lobbyist Restriction Amendments (F), HB 291 Special Groups License Plates Amendments (F),
HJR 2 Resolution Requesting State Agencies to Keep Legislators Informed (P), SB 67 Revisions to Boards and Commissions (P). (P=Passed, F=Failed.)
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