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Committee adopts amendment shifting teacher-licensing fee collection without raising customer cost
Summary
The Education Committee adopted an amendment to House Bill 5,043 that reallocates how a $15 teacher-licensing payment is split between the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission and its e-licensing vendor; the change does not increase the total fee and moves the bill to the full committee with a due-pass recommendation.
The Education Committee on Monday adopted the dash‑1 amendment to House Bill 5,043, a measure that changes which entity collects portions of an unchanged $15 teacher-licensing fee.
Patrick Singh, legislative coordinator for the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission, told the committee the amendment "does not change or increase fees, but shifts how fees are collected." He said the commission will collect $10 and the e‑licensing vendor $5 after the change, whereas previously the vendor collected $10 and the commission $5.
Wendy, an analyst with the Legislative Fiscal Office, said the measure "ratifies a licensing system fee of $10" and recommended adoption of the dash‑1 amendment. She told the committee the total customer payment remains $15 and that the reallocation follows a legal settlement with the licensing system vendor that transferred $5 of the vendor's fee to the commission.
Committee discussion was brief; there were no recorded objections to the amendment. A committee member moved adoption of the dash‑1 amendment, and the chair recorded no objections. The committee then voted to move House Bill 5,043, as amended, to the Ways and Means Full Committee with a due‑pass recommendation.
Singh said the amendment codifies temporary rules the commission has already adopted and that the commission plans to continue its e‑licensing modernization work, including temporary rule adoption at the commission's June 25 meeting. The office and the commission described the change as an administrative reallocation stemming from the settlement rather than a customer fee increase.
No public commenters spoke in support or opposition during the public hearing; one named witness, Lee Bobo, had been called but was not present. The committee closed its work session on the bill after the motions and adjourned to future business.
Background: House Bill 5,043 was presented to the Education Committee as a single measure for the subcommittee to consider; Legislative Fiscal Office staff and commission staff framed it as a procedural ratification of existing temporary rules and the outcome of a vendor settlement. The committee directed the bill to the full committee for further consideration.
