I have highlighted in yellow some bills that are in the position of passing the General Assembly before June 30.
The bills highlighted in gray can pass one House, and will be alive in January for further consideration.
The bills highlighted in green have already passed both Houses.
If a bill has not made it out of committee and that committee is not holding a hearing before June 30, then that bill cannot pass before June 30, and thus I have highlighted the status area in red.
In the above chart, bills are listed numerically, with House bills first, and then the Senate bills. Sponsor’s names are blue if they are Democrats and red if they are Republicans. A link to the specific legislation is provided if you move your mouse over the Bill Number. In the second column on the right, we will provide the bill’s current status and whether or not it has passed a chamber of the General Assembly. In the last column on the right, we indicate whether we support or oppose the legislation.
So disappointed that House Speaker seems to be playing games with SB 159, Sen. Walsh and Rep. Williams’s Charter School Audit bill. One more day of committee meetings and it hasn’t yet been scheduled a hearing. My guess is Speaker Schwartzkopf’s friendship with Kathy McGuiness could be the reason this bill won’t see the light of day.
Let me say this: I listened to the audio of last week’s Senate Committee meeting where this bill was heard and McGuiness is clueless. There’s really no other word to describe her complete non-understanding of what’s going on here. She said “The school is doing an audit in July” in reference to Odyssey Charter. Yes, they are. All charter schools do audits every year. But THEY pick the auditor and school-initiated audits do not do the same thing as an INVESTIGATIVE audit done by the auditor’s office. She was either treating everyone in that committee meeting like idiots or she really doesn’t know the difference between the two.
We have an extremely talented woman — Kathleen Davies — in the auditor’s office right now who should have won the primary. We’ve got McGuiness in there obfuscating with Odyssey Charter, which could have something to do with her deep Greek connections and the fact that some of the high-ups in Odyssey held a fundraiser for her during her ill-fated run for Lieutenant Governor a few years ago. That Speaker Schwartzkopf appears to be giving cover for McGuiness is what’s truly disappointing here.
This bill deserves a committee hearing and a full floor vote.