Committee advances three higher-education bills to House floor

The House Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development voted to advance three bills to the House floor during work sessions on Thursday, Feb. 20: House Bill 2,551 as amended, House Bill 3,027, and House Bill 3,028.

The actions were taken in three separate work sessions that the committee opened and closed in the morning. Committee members adopted a dash-1 amendment to HB 2,551 that narrows the bill's requirement so a university governing board must ensure background information is requested and reviewed, rather than requiring the board itself to do the request-and-review work.

The committee then voted to pass HB 2,551 as amended to the full House. The measure, described in staff testimony as requiring public university governing boards to request and review background information — including disciplinary records from the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training — will be carried to the floor by the committee chair.

House Bill 3,027, sponsored at the request of the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC), would allow HECC to seek a court order against a career school that violates the agency's standards and licensing requirements. Committee staff reported no amendments and a minimal fiscal impact, and the committee voted to rescind the sub referral to Joint Ways and Means and forward the bill to the floor with a due-pass recommendation.

House Bill 3,028 would remove statutory fees for reviewing academic programs at private for-profit colleges and instead permit the HECC to set those fees in administrative rule. Committee staff described no fiscal impact; the committee gave the bill a due-pass recommendation and advanced it to the floor.

Votes at a glance: - HB 2,551 (as amended, dash-1 adopted): Motion to adopt dash-1 amendment — adopted; Motion to do pass as amended to the floor — passed (recorded ayes from Representative Ingram McDonald; Representative Munoz; Representative Wright; Representative Yemker; Vice Chair Fragle; Vice Chair Harvick; Chair Hudson). Chair Hudson said she will carry the bill on the floor. - HB 3,027: Motion to rescind sub referral to Joint Ways and Means and pass to floor with due-pass — passed (recorded ayes from Representative Finger McDonald; Representative Munoz; Representative Wright; Representative Juncker; Vice Chair Fragle; Vice Chair Harvick; Chair Hudson). Representative McDonald indicated willingness to carry the bill to the floor. - HB 3,028: Motion to pass to the floor with due-pass recommendation — passed (recorded ayes from Representative Pinkerton McCall; Representative Munoz; Representative Wright; Representative Junger; Vice Chair Fragle; Vice Chair Herbeck; Chair Hudson). Representative Munoz agreed to carry the bill to the floor.

Committee staff and multiple representatives noted the bills were developed with agency or sector input and described minimal fiscal impacts for the latter two measures. The committee recessed after the votes and moved into public hearings scheduled later in the session.

The committee record shows the staff summaries and roll-call excerpts for these work sessions were read into the record by committee staff (identified in the transcript as "Ellen"), and motions were offered by Representatives identified in the transcript as moving and seconding the measures.