Good morning MACRAO membership-

The MACRAO Governmental Relations Committee wanted to provide the membership an update on where House and Senate bills currently stand as well as some AACRAO-related updates.

The two topics to bring to your are attention this week are:

HB 2387 was discussed this week. It would establish the 21st Century Missouri Education Task Force. The task force would include members of the general assembly, other stakeholders including members of the business community, the Commissioner of Education, and the Commissioner of Higher Education.  The task force’s mission would include evaluating current educational processes and funding. It would make recommendations for legislation and submit a report summarizing its activities to the General Assembly before Aug. 28, 2021. The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry spoke in favor of the legislation.

Just a couple quick updates for you.

 Last week SB 642 had a hearing.  The legislation seeks to codify into statute budgetary instructions included in HB 3 since 2015 that prevent public institutions from offering in-state tuition to students with unlawful immigration status.  Proponents testified that the legislation would reinforce current federal law and end subsidized tuition during a time of scarce resources. Opponents testified that the bill would encourage affected students to seek postsecondary and future workforce opportunities outside the state.

FYI the Governor signed SB304, last week, the bill that clarifies combat veteran definition and limits graduate tuition to 30% of cost of tuition and fees. This bill also gives us the ability to tell the veteran that they could waive the tuition reduction if they have federal aid that would cover the cost so it is not a financial burden to the institution. We will have to see how the Department of Higher Education decides to write rules on this portion of the law.

Here is a link: https://www.senate.mo.gov/19info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=2339132