House Higher Ed
On Monday the House Higher Education Committee heard a bill sponsored by Rep. Jason Chipman that would place limits on campus living requirements. As it stands now, the bill would limit campus living requirements at public higher education institutions to only one year. The UM System testified against the bill, as Missouri University of Science and Technology has a two-year campus living requirement for its students.
House Committee on Agriculture Policy
The House Committee on Agriculture Policy voted out House Bill 1125 on Monday, The bill, sponsored by Rep. Rone, would bring pesticide application certification and training up to Environmental Protection Agency standards. The bill included a provision that would allow MU Extension to charge a fee in order to help cover costs of providing the training and supplies needed.
Computer science bills voted out
The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee and the Senate Education Committee voted out bills proposing changes to computer science curriculum on Tuesday. The bills, House Bill 320, sponsored by Rep. Fitzwater, and Senate Bill 204 sponsored by Sen. Cierport, require high schools to offer computer science courses, and that these courses be accepted as a math, science or practical arts credit in admission to public higher education institutions. The bill language puts into statute admission requirements for public institutions of higher education.
Both bills included amendments to take out the mathematics credit requirement, and the House added a task force that will investigate computer science courses at K-12 schools.
Senate Appropriations
The Senate Appropriation Committee heard from the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development (DHEWD) and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) about the Governors’ recommendations for FY22 budget. The Governor recommended restoration of core funding and $3m to NextGen. Also included in his recommendations was an increase in scholarship money for the A+ Scholarship Program and an expansion of MO Excel job training program.
Next week
There will not be an update next week as the General Assembly will be on Spring Break and will not be working.
Reviewed 2021-03-11