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House rejects amendment to expand Hathaway scholarship eligibility for trades programs, citing constitutional concerns
Summary
Lawmakers debated a second-reading amendment to House Bill 36 that would have expanded the Hathaway Scholarship to include trade programs. The amendment failed after multiple members and the department said it likely conflicted with constitutional or statutory provisions.
House Bill 36, a Hathaway Scholarship amendment sponsored by Representative Harshman, was considered on second reading Jan. 29. Representative Harshman moved second-reading amendment number 1 to undo a change passed the prior night and to avoid constitutional problems; he said the amendment would "harm the bill" because the department told him the change was unconstitutional.
Several members spoke. Representative Larson Lloyd said he had reached out to the agency that oversees Hathaway and was told the proposed expansion was not permissible; he urged members to support the amendment that would undo the prior change. Representative Nicholas recalled bringing a similar amendment six years earlier and said he was told at that time it was unconstitutional; he urged reliance on the legislature’s legal counsel (LSO) rather than floor debate. Representative Orr said the amendment before the House simply deleted the prior night's change and did not incorporate the reported "fix" the department said it had.
Representative Harshman closed by saying he had consulted attorneys and historical case law and remained convinced the amendment was necessary to keep the bill constitutional: "...there's at least 4 articles in our constitution are so clear. We got 40 years of case law." The amendment was put to a voice vote and "has not been adopted" according to the transcript.
Ending: The House kept the version of House Bill 36 changed the prior night; members said they would continue to seek a lawful way to broaden Hathaway eligibility for trades programs outside the confines of the current bill language.
