Lawmakers split over bullying bill: study committee favored by some, immediate statutory changes sought by others

A committee of conference on Senate Bill 210 split over whether to revert the bill to a study committee on bullying prevention or to adopt more immediate statutory changes proposed by the House, including parental-notification time frames and new enforcement mechanisms.

The bill’s Senate chair said the original Senate bill created a study committee to examine why bullying occurs and how to prevent it, and recommended removing newly added House provisions that focus on definitions and procedures rather than upstream prevention. “My preference for this will be to delete all of everything that was added into 210 and we'll go back to the original senate bill 210, which was a study committee to look at bullying and means to prevent bullying,” the chair said.

Representative Cordelli urged action rather than study, citing local tragedies and news reports about student suicides linked to bullying. Cordelli said the House provisions were intended to add parental-notification requirements, specific time frames for notifying parents and for investigations, and to create enforcement consequences if procedures are not followed. “I think we need to do something, about it and put things in place, so that these bullying cases are addressed, parents are involved, and we know accurate information about the bullying that is being taken place,” Cordelli said.

Senator Sullivan and other senators agreed the study committee should examine gaps in enforcement of existing law and recommended adding language to the study charge to include cyberbullying and enforcement lapses. Representative Drei said the family she heard from wanted a private right of action after a serious injury; she said that family wanted immediate remedies, not another study.

Committee members discussed the schedule for a study committee report and noted the statutory deadline for reporting would compress work into the fall months; one member observed a November report deadline would likely push any corrective legislative action into a later session. The chair set a recess and directed members to return with replacement members and any edits; the committee recessed until Thursday for further negotiation.

Outcome: No final compromise was reached. The committee recessed and scheduled follow-up meetings; senators favored a study committee that would include cyberbullying and enforcement gaps, while several House members urged statutory changes now to strengthen parental-notification timelines and enforcement.