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Budget

Senate Appropriations met this week to discuss the remaining budget items that had been left open for discussion following last week’s initial hearings. On Tuesday morning, the Senate Chair, Senator Dan Hegeman, proposed increasing the TPMC line item to $10 million. This is an increase from the Governor’s proposed $1 million and the House’s proposed $3 million. The budget will be debated on the Senate Floor, and any changes from the House version will then go to conference for discussion between House and Senate members.

Legislation

Title IX

Tuesday night, Senate Bill 259, changing Title IX proceedings, was debated on the Senate Floor. The discussion lasted approximately 5 hours and then was laid over. We now wait to see if it will be brought back up to continue discussion throughout the next couple weeks.

Campus Carry – HB 576

Thursday morning, the Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee, heard HCS HB 576, the house bill that we discussed last week that included provisions related to campus carry, health care fees and living on campus. COPHE testified on behalf of the Public Institutions of Higher Education against the bill and shared concerns expressed across the state. The next step is an executive session which will include a vote of the committee in order to pass the bill out for further debate on the Senate Floor.

Ag Policy Committee

Thursday morning, the Joint Committee on Ag Policy Committee met to listen to a presentation from faculty and students from the University of ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥. The presentation focused on projections for agriculture for ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ farmers and used past data to compare ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ on a national level and globally. The legislators had thoughtful and intriguing questions for the presenters and seemed to find the information helpful.