Latest news with #SenateBill26
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alaska senators vote to end daylight saving time in America's farthest-north state
Members of the Alaska Senate watch the votes for and against Senate Bill 26 on Monday, May 12, 2025, in Juneau. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) Alaska would be on the same time zone as Seattle for four months of the year, if a bill passed Monday by the Alaska Senate becomes law. The Senate voted 18-2 to pass Senate Bill 26, which would eliminate daylight saving time in Alaska and ask the federal government to put Alaska on Pacific Standard Time. 'Senate Bill 26 is a compromise that addresses long-standing frustrations with Alaska's timekeeping system,' said Sen. Kelly Merrick, R-Eagle River and the bill's sponsor. 'This bill would permanently exempt Alaska from daylight saving time, keeping us on standard time year-round.' If fully implemented, the bill would leave Alaska in the same time zone as Seattle from November through early March. The rest of the year, it would be one hour behind that city, as Washington state observes daylight saving time. If Congress passes a bill allowing permanent daylight saving time, Alaska would return to being one hour behind Seattle permanently. Merrick said her bill is supported by the state's tourism trade association, as well as financial institutions, 'because it keeps us within three or four hours of the stock market and financial center in New York.' Daylight saving time has been a regular topic of conversation in the Alaska Legislature. The Alaska Senate voted to request the elimination of daylight saving time in 2015, but the House failed to pass the bill. No DST bill was introduced in 2017 or 2018, but since then, a daylight saving time bill has been introduced in either the House or Senate every year since 2019. The bill goes in a different direction from Alaska's neighbor, Yukon, which moved to permanent daylight time in 2020, leaving the territory geographically adjacent but two hours away, chronologically, from November through early March. For a century, Alaska stretched over four time zones. That changed in 1983, when the state's time zones were consolidated to two, with Yakutat being the only community that kept its previous time zone. The result means that in most parts of Alaska, the clock has little to do with the position of the sun in the sky. Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks, proposed a competing bill that would move Alaska to permanent Alaska Standard Time, but that idea stalled out in committee. 'I do believe that permanent standard time makes more sense for daylight. It's more in sync for where we're at. However, because we're at such a high latitude, it matters a lot less,' he said, explaining that the amount of daylight changes rapidly throughout the year. Kawasaki ended up voting for the bill. 'My main issue with time is that you have to reset your clocks twice, and that's a big pain in the ass,' he said. Sens. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, and Robert Myers, R-North Pole, shared his concerns about solar time but voted against the bill. 'I've opposed changing it numerous times over the years,' Stedman said. 'It just doesn't work relative to sun time,' he said. Myers said the bill has the potential to aggravate that problem. 'I am not a fan of the time zone change portion of that bill,' he said. 'Most of Alaska … is already an hour off of where we should be solar time, and there are some studies out there dealing with both health and energy use that say we should stay close to solar time.' 'I really would love to see the federal government repeal daylight saving time across the board,' he said. In April, President Donald Trump said he was open to the idea and urged Congress to pass a bill making daylight saving time permanent, thus eliminating the annual clock change. That makes this the right time to pass SB 26, Merrick said. 'Having the federal administration on board greatly increases our chances of successfully eliminating daylight saving time,' she said. 'I know sometimes change is hard, but SB 26 will keep us from having to change our clocks, at least.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Signal Jammer bill prompted by Vanderburg Co. incident heads to Gov. Braun's desk
HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT)- A bill that would make buying, selling, or operating a signal jamming device illegal is now headed to Indiana Governor Mike Braun's desk. Vanderburgh Deputies discover signal jammer during search, connects to alleged burglary The bill was born from an incident in Vanderburgh County, in which a suspect allegedly used a jamming device during a robbery. Senate Bill 26 would make the manufacturing, sale, import, possession, and operation of a signal jammer a level 6 felony. This bill would also make the use of a signal jammer to disrupt a component of a critical infrastructure facility or communications of a public safety agency a level 5 felony. The bill was co-authored by State Senator James Tomes (R)- Wadesville. A previous version of the bill, co-authored by State Representative Wendy McNamara, was introduced in the Indiana Statehouse shortly after the incident in Vanderburgh County last year. If signed by Governor Braun, the law would go into effect later this year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas House gives initial OK to $7.7 billion school funding package
The Texas House gave initial approval to a $7.7 billion education finance package Wednesday that would give public schools, many of which are grappling with massive deficits, the largest increase in state funding since 2019. The House passed the funding bill on first reading with overwhelming bipartisan support — with a 144-4 vote — indicating it might clear the chamber and advance to the Senate at a time when many school districts across Texas are in the red because of inflation, stagnant revenue and a confluence of other factors, which include a lack of major financial investments in public education by the state. House Bill 2 proposes to increase the base-level funding per student by almost $400 — from $6,160 to $6,555 — and ties future increases to the basic allotment to property tax increases, offering an option to raise this index. The bill would also pay for teacher raises, teacher training and invest $1.8 billion in special education funding. In a news conference hours before the House gave the bill an initial OK, House Speaker Dustin Burrows vowed to work with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Senate, and Gov. Greg Abbott to 'find a way to land the plane on this.' 'There is a reason this is House Bill 2,' said Burrows, a Republican lawmaker from Lubbock who was flanked by several superintendents, including the Austin district's Matias Segura, during the conference. 'The only thing that has been more of a priority for the Texas House is the budget, that we are constitutionally obligated to pass.' The Senate has passed Senate Bill 26, a $4.3 billion proposal to increase teacher pay and incentives, but the upper chamber doesn't have a bill similar to HB 2. Sen. Brandon Creighton, a Republican from Conroe who chairs the Senate Committee on Education, has said his strategy to invest in schools is to put money directly into teacher pay, school safety and other targeted priorities. Rep. Diego Bernal, who is vice chairman of the House's Education Committee, said that while there was more work to do on school finance, HB 2 provides good support for schools. 'We're in an environment where there's always more that we can do,' said Bernal, a San Antonio Democrat. 'I want to take stock of the good progress that we've made.' Despite overwhelming support from both sides of the aisle, many Democratic members said the bill didn't do enough to help with the inflationary pressures many districts have been dealing with. 'This bill is not a breakthrough,' said Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin. 'It's barely a stopgap. The pie is not big enough, and when it's not big enough, we end up fighting one another.' The House will still have to take a final vote on HB 2 before the chamber finally advances the proposal to the Senate. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas House gives initial OK to $7.7 billion school funding package
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Big Country Politics: School vouchers & teacher raises under the microscope
BIG COUNTRY, Texas () – On this week's Big Country Politics, we're delving into the debate over school choice and hearing from both sides: Governor Greg Abbott and Bob Popinski, Senior Director of Policy for . WATCH: Gov. Abbott says Big Country will benefit from school vouchers, other legislative priorities Teacher pay has repeatedly been labeled an emergency item at the Capitol, and as lawmakers continue through the 89th legislative session, Governor Abbott says relief is finally on the way. 'I did make it an emergency item, because there are several criteria that lead to the best education. One of the foremost is having good-quality educators. To make sure we have those educators, we want to pay them and pay them more. We will be providing an all-time record amount of pay for teachers this session,' Abbott said. Popinski agreed that improving teacher pay is a priority, not only for Abbott but also for many in the Texas House and Senate. 'Texas ranks number 30 in the nation in teacher salaries, we're about $8,800 below the national average. So over the last handful of years, you've seen it harder and harder to attract and retain quality teachers in our public schools,' Popinski shared. 'There are some bills out there that will help increase teacher salaries. The Senate already passed Senate Bill 26, which would provide anywhere between a $2,500 raise and a $10,000 raise, depending on years of experience and the size of your school. The House has House Bill Two, which has some escalators in there for teacher salaries as well. So they're definitely paying attention to it.' Big Country Politics: Rep. Stan Lambert discusses hot topics in Texas, including school vouchers & healthcare monopolies With 5.5 million students and more than 380,000 teachers, Popinski says the top priority should be increasing the basic allotment in House Bill Two, which would set a higher per-student funding amount for public schools. 'But in order to do that, you need roughly $20 billion over the next two years just to give school districts the same purchasing power as they had back in 2019 and right now the bills moving through the process, I mentioned House Bill Two on the House side and Senate Bill 26, don't come close to that $20 billion amount,' Popinski explained. 'But at the end of the day, we are now competing with a voucher bill, Senate Bill Two, moving through the process that has a billion-dollar price tag on it. The first year of implementation is the 2627 school year, and it escalates to a cost of $4.8 billion by 2030.' However, Governor Abbott insists school choice and public school funding don't have to compete. 'We can have both. It's not one or the other. We can fully fund our public schools, which is what we're going to do, while at the same time providing a school choice option for parents across the region. We find it to be very effective in rural areas as well as suburban and urban areas,' Abbott said. 'The scope of this school choice program is smaller than that of one-quarter of charter schools. You haven't seen charter schools disrupt public schools in Abilene. Neither will you see school choice disrupt public schools in Abilene, San Angelo, or any other place like that.' Rep. Stan Lambert discusses election integrity, school vouchers & future goals for West Texas Popinski pushed back, arguing that public schools already offer a wide variety of options — with a level of oversight that private schools don't have to follow. 'We already offer great public school choice with great accountability. Students who go to public school-choice schools like Magnet programs or CTE programs have to follow the same rules as everyone else does. They have to follow the STAAR test. They have to follow the A through F accountability rating system. The school districts have to submit financial integrity ratings,' Popinski shared. 'When you go to a private school, they don't have to do any of that if they accept a student with an ESA program. Right now, the only thing those accredited private schools or vendors would have to do is provide a nationally normed reference test to those students in grades three through 12, and this bill, and that's kind of it. The comptroller has some accountability measures over them, but nothing compared to public schools.' As this legislation moves forward, Popinski stressed the financial strain districts are already facing. 'As you've seen in both the House bill and the Senate voucher bill program, is that over the course of just four years, it expands the $4.8 billion. If you look at the teacher pay raise bill right now, that the senate is offering, that's about the same they're offering for public school teacher pay raises,' Popinski said. 'Remember, there's 380,000 public school teachers and so we want, as we kind of move forward in the last 60 days, to make sure that that the legislature does its job, and make sure that the school districts have the resources needed so they can continue to provide a great education for our 5.5 million students.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Harlingen cuts $2 million in software costs; expands teacher incentive program
Apr. 4—HARLINGEN — School district officials are cutting about $2 million in software costs as they plan their new budget expected to come with employee raises and an expanded teacher incentive program. Now, officials are continuing to review the district's proposed budgets while working with the human services and payroll departments to develop the new compensation plan. "We're projecting final budget numbers, we're studying options for all staff members, preparing multiple scenarios and keeping track of our pending state legislation for additional resources," Ida Ambriz, the district's interim assistant superintendent of business services, told board members during a meeting Tuesday. Across the state, the focus is on Senate Bill 26, passed by the Senate while awaiting House approval, expected to bring $5 billion in state funding earmarked for teacher raises. As part of the bill, teachers with at least three years of service are projected to receive $2,500 raises while those with five or more years are expected to get $5,500. Meanwhile, the bill's expected to expand the state's teacher merit pay program, known as the Teacher Incentive Allotment, which offers bonuses based on classroom performance and student achievement. Across Texas, the state's selected the district to become one of six tapped as part of the TIA's expansion, officials said. Now, 715 district teachers are eligible for the program whose expansion is expected to open up to at least 586 more teachers, they said. "This is a way to reward excellence in education with our teachers," Robert Davies, the district's athletic director, told board members. "Teachers who choose to participate in the program essentially earn distinction for their abilities." The program's also aimed at helping recruit teachers. "This is a way for us as a school district to be able to recruit and retain the best and brightest in the state, maybe even in the country," Davies said. "Imagine a whole school district filled with people like that, with those types of thoughts going on in their heads, being able to reach our kids. This is going to help us do that." This year, 426 teachers became TIA designees, Dalia Garcia, the district's assistant superintendent for instructional education, told board members. "We are bringing in about $5 million for the district in designation awards," she said. The incentive program here is topping districts across South Texas, school board member Ricky Leal said. "This is awesome," he said. "I would think that HCISD, pound for pound, is bringing home more TIA certifications than, I would venture to say, all of South Texas," he said, before pointing to the program's expansion. "This will enhance that," Leal said. As they plan next year's budget, officials are working to cut expenses across the district. In areas such as instructional software purchases and license renewals, they're projecting $1.17 million in savings, Garcia told board members. As part of a needs assessment, officials are "reviewing usability, cost effectiveness, alignment and looking at the potential overlap of services," she said. While working on the new budget's software license renewals, they're planning $98,931 in savings, Garcia said. "That's $1.1 million, $1.2 million going back to our people," Leal said. "You're making that happen." Earlier in the school year, officials cut at least $7.2 million under the district's new fiscal plan, aiming to rebuild the budget's fund balance after former Superintendent J.A. Gonzalez's administration pulled $23.2 million in cash reserves to cover operating costs including unbudgeted expenses. "It gives this board confidence that we're being fiscally responsible and being prudent with all our taxpayer money and using our dollars more effectively and efficiently towards instruction and towards the benefit of our students," board member Dr. Nolan Perez told officials. Featured Local Savings
