This week the legislature looked at bills regarding the physical education standard in schools, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal law and its implications in Minnesota, child support guidelines, and took up a veterans’ bonus constitutional amendment on the Senate floor. Thursday was a busy day at the capitol. Physical education instructors were here to lobby legislators for a revised physical education standard. The state has had a health and physical education requirement in schools for many years, however last year it was eliminated under the new high school graduation requirement system. Currently, the state does not specify howmany hours a student has to participate in a health or physical education class during the K-12 education, but there is a state law that says the school district must offer such classes to students. Currently, there are standards for reading, writing and mathematics. When working with these new standards, the state issued requirements only to these subjects, leaving the rest up to the local school district to regulate. This issue was taken up in the Senate Education Policy committee and testimony was heard. The Senate K-12 Education Budget committee heard testimony regarding the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law. The legislative auditor brought forth a report which presented some troubling factors of this law. According to the legislative auditor, 80 percent of Minnesota schools would be labeled failing under the NCLB federal law, which raises many questions about the criteria. The committee took testimony and held discussion about whether to stay under the federal law or whether to opt out, therefore losing the $200 million funding from the federal government. The Senate Jobs, Energy and Community Development committee took up a bill to create a broadband infrastructure program for greater Minnesota cities. This bill would appropriate $2 million in grants to cities (with a maximum of $200,000 to each city) to help them construct a telecommunications system of broadband internet service. The bill passed the committee and was referred to the Senate finance committee as a bonding request. Thursday evening brought discussion about child support guidelines to the Senate judiciary committee. The bill being heard would modify the child support guidelines by adopting an income shares model, where child support is calculated by using both parents’ income. In that hearing, there were a number of amendments added to make the guidelines more fair. Some of the changes included: the person paying child support would receive a reduction in their child support if their children are with them more than 15 percent of the time; child support debt that is owed by a parent could be reduced if both parties agree to the reduction; and a proposed study which would look at whether the guidelines fairly represent the cost of raising children. The bill was passed by the committee and referred to the Senate finance committee. The House companion bill passed the House of Representa- tives during the 2003 session with a vote of 116-11. Thursday’s Senate floor session brought discussion about a veterans’ bonus proposal, which would place on the ballot in November a constitutional amendment to give veterans of the War on Terrorism a bonus in pay. This would give voters a chance to show their gratitude for the veterans. In the past, the state has approved a veterans’ bonus for World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf War. Although the proposal was voted down on a party-line vote, there was a proposal to do a study to calculate the number of veterans to be considered next year as part of the budget process. As always, I welcome your comments and concerns. I can be reached at my office at (651) 296-2084. I can also be contacted by mail at 129 State Office Building, St. Paul, MN 55155, or via e-mail at sen.michelle.fischbach@senate.mn
