Another busy week.  Although we heard some bills in Transportation, the real action was in Appropriations B where we discussed pay raises for state employees and the ELL (English Language Learner) program.

Even though I voted for the salary plan introduced by leadership, after the meeting I told the chairman of the committee that I didn't believe that the approximate 6% increase (which included 2.5% in "merit pay") was enough.  After further discussion, I will be submitting a floor amendment that will increase the package to an average of 7.5%.  The best part is that the highest percentage increase, nearly 11%, will be going to the lowest paid of state workers.  The high end will be approximately 4%.  I'm hoping this will go through with a minimum of fight.  Even the Democrats and the Governor ought to be able to support this amendment.

The ELL plan is basically the same as last year's, with some refinements.  The Democrats, of course, are totally opposed.  The bill they submitted, which we did not hear, called for lump sum payments to school districts for each ELL student, rising to almost $1,300 PER PUPIL after three years.  We heard a statement from one of the members who was on a study committee during the interim that looked into which programs for teaching English were successful and which were not.  One of the most successful schools reported that they were able to effectively teach ELL students for about $300/pupil.  Yet some people want the state to spend more than four times that amount.

The whole House will be voting on these two issues this coming week.  The ELL plan is supposed to be to the court by Tuesday, but it has to go to the Senate and then on to the Governor.  She is opposed to the Republican plan, but the word is she will let it become law without her signature.  Again, we'll just have to wait and see what she does.

As you probably read, the Governor vetoed the four bills that I wrote about last week.  All of them were issues that she had agreed to in principle, but decided at the last minute to veto.  It's going to be hard to negotiate anything when one side is known to be prone not to keep their word.

Anticipating another busy week, but I will be home next weekend.

Until next week,

Nancy