March 8, 2016
How are things going with HB 2534 the ESI bill? At the time of this blog post the interested parties making up the ESI Task Force have come to agreement in all areas except one. That one area is significant, it’s the sunset clause. The sunset clause was originally written so that the law would cease to exist at a specific point in the future – June 30, 2018. The sunset of this statute is a good idea – regulating the ESI effort in Kansas schools is something that is best addressed by the Kansas State Board of Education. Many argue that there have been many attempts by the legislature to usurp control of Kansas schools from the state board. This is a topic for another day however as we want to keep our focus here in ESI. If the sunset provision is not removed the statute will remain in perpetuity.
That one item (the sunset clause and whether it will remain) will likely be decided by the committee chairperson and then HB 2534 will be offered to the committee as a whole (Committee on Children and Seniors) and from there will go to the full house and and then the senate. I’m attaching a copy of the proposed language for HB 2534 with the sunset clause included for those who would like to review. I will keep you posted as the ESI discussion continues…