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Roundup: Senate passes a slate of bills on workforce, corrections, nursing regulation, and education
Summary
Alongside high-profile tax measures, the Senate approved several other bills: E‑Verify requirements for construction (HB246), an emergency fix for nursing-board background checks (HB440), an omnibus budget-corrections package including PTSD funding and nursing-home language (HB184), academic-intervention rules (SB19) and rules on display of founding documents in classrooms (SB34).
The Senate cleared a series of diverse bills during the session.
E‑Verify for construction (HB246): Senator Kaler described House Bill 246, which requires nonresidential construction employers to verify new hires through the federal E‑Verify system and authorizes AG enforcement; the bill passed 33–0.
Board of Nursing background checks (HB440): Senators Huffman and Hoffman explained an emergency clarification requested by the FBI/BCI to limit recipients of background-check results; the emergency clause passed and the bill passed as an emergency measure (roll calls 32–0 on the clause and 33–0 on final passage).
Budget corrections and PTSD fund (HB184): Floor debate on House Bill 184 highlighted multiple technical corrections and policy additions: transfer of the PTSD fund to the Department of Public Safety seeded with $40 million; modifications to childcare payment timing; and language related to nursing-home payments, among other corrections. Sponsors urged passage as necessary housekeeping and time‑sensitive corrections; the bill passed with a large majority (32–1).
Academic interventions (SB19): Senate Bill 19 would require schools to provide evidence-based academic-intervention services (including high-dosage tutoring) for students scoring below proficient, set math improvement-plan rules and random reviews by the Department of Education and Workforce; the bill passed 33–0.
Display of founding documents (SB34): Senator Johnson’s bill would require public-school social-studies/history classrooms (grades 4–12) to display at least four documents from a listed set; the list includes options such as the Declaration of Independence and, optionally, the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments drew sustained objection from several senators over establishment-clause concerns; the motion to remove them was tabled and the bill passed 23–10.
Other bills and procedural motions moved through the docket and several floor amendments across bills were laid on the table by motions that carried by similar margins (commonly 24–9 on tabling votes).
