Report on Governor's actions on bills since the Oklahoma State Legislature adjourned on May 23, 2008

Last week Governor Henry met his constitutionally mandated deadlines of taking action - either signing into law or vetoing measures - that the Legislature passed and sent to him. Brief summaries of bills dealing with education that survived the process to be approved by the Governor follow. In each bill description there is a link to the enrolled version of the bill, i.e. the copy signed by the House, the Senate, and finally the Governor. Also included in this wrap-up of 2008 actions by the Legislature and the Governor is a list of bills that either were vetoed by the Governor or "died" in the House or Senate.

Signed bills:

SB 1186, signed by Governor on 5-5-08. This new law changes the minimum time required for physical education instruction in grades K-5 beginning in 2008-09 be increased to an average of 60 minutes each week. Click here to read the bill.

SB 1199, signed by Governor on 5-23-08. This is the appropriation bill for the State Department of Education. The bill gives details on which accounts supplied certain amounts of funding for the duties that the SDE is required to carry out. Click here to read the bill.

SB 1769, signed by Governor on 6-3-08. This bill amended current law to add provisions for school districts which have ten or fewer students participating in a summer reading remediation program to receive a base amount of funding in addition to the per-student reimbursement amount.
Section 3 of SB 1769 includes new law that spells out exactly how remediation monies will be allocated to each district based on each student's score on each subject-specific test.
Sections 4 and 5 are also new law. Click here to read the bill.

SB 2100, signed by the Governor on 6-3-08. This bill in earlier versions called for the State Dept. of Education to allow ten school districts to "de-regulate" their operations. This version that the Governor signed into law ended up without that de-reg language. Current law was amended to include pre kindergarten programs in charter school sites as well as allowing charter schools to retain personal properties if the charter school re-invents itself with a different sponsor.
Eight pages of current law were amended to clarify calculation and determination of recipients of the Academic Achievement Awards (AAA).
Sections 3, 4, and 5 add the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education after every reference to the State Department of Education.
Section 7 amends language regarding employee organizations that are designated by an election of the employees in an appropriate bargaining unit.
Section 8 is new law that gives the State Board of Education the authority to issue an administrative order placing an elementary school district under full state intervention when such district has failed to meet financial requirements for school districts or accreditation standards. Click here to read the bill.

Vetoed bills:

HB 2633, vetoed by the Governor on 6-3-08. This bill had several versions, the last (and the one vetoed by the Governor) included language that would expand the testing window dates for EOI tests. The rejected bill also included language known as the Religious Viewpoint Antidiscrimination Act. Click here to read the veto message.

SB 1880, vetoed by the Governor on 6-6-08. The bill called for a continuation of ACE Task Force II, a group charged with offering recommendations to the Legislature regarding NAEP scores. Click here to read the veto message.

Dead bills:

HB 3122, died in conference committee. If approved, the bill would have changed the calculation of the school year from days to hours and would limit time allowed for professional meetings to 30 hours each school year.

SB 2101, died in conference committee. If approved, the bill would have made changes in requirements for alternative certification for teachers.