Pub. 5 2015-2016 Issue 2

15 each school district that raises exactly the same amount as the 25% school district match. Just as important, the same formula the Legislature uses to calculate the LRF would dictate the size of this property tax. To prevent this levy from creating a property tax hike, the group recommended lowering each school district’s board levy by the exact amount of the charter school levy. As the contours of this proposal emerged, several benefits became apparent. This structure offered clear taxpayer trans- parency and preserved exist- ing funding streams for school districts and charter schools. With those concerns resolved, districts warmed considerably to SB 38, dramatically increasing the likelihood of SB 38 passing. Finally, Sen. Stephenson and Rep. Eliason insisted the bill prohibit school districts from increasing property taxes for the “sole” purpose of clawing back the lowered board levy. WE AGREE, BUT TRUST IS STILL HARD Following weeks of negotia- tions, it felt like we had an agree- ment everyone could be comfortable with, perhaps even proud of. School districts, charter schools and legislators had all made various concessions to simultaneously create charter funding equity, inject taxpayer transparency into the LRF and avoid property tax hikes. Nevertheless, years of legislative experience told all of us that holding these agreements together would not be easy. Members of the Senate worried the House would amend SB 38, andHouse members worried the Senate would ultimately not approve the amendments negotiators agreed to in the House. To hold each side accountable, UAPCS and USBA agreed withHouse leadership tomake Sen. Stephenson’s SB 38 and Rep. Powell’s HB 193 identical. Both bills would proceed, allowing each house to monitor and hold the other house accountable. The first public test of this strategy came in the February 29 meeting of the House Education committee. Committee chair Rep. Last placed SB 38 and HB 193 back to back on the agenda. Legislative staff completed the agreed upon draft of both bills minutes before the committee started. Legislators, charter advocates and school district representatives huddled to make sure the language accomplished exactly what each side had agreed to. With some minor wordsmithing, UAPCS was comfortable with the language and the committee heard both bills. After a lengthy discussion by committee members, every member of the committee, including Democrat Representatives Carol Spackman-Moss andMarie Poulson, voted to approve both bills, meaning both bills would go to the full House. Given legislative procedure, the full House would vote on HB 193 first. While that vote approached, UAPCS fielded numerous questions from House members wanting to understand the nuances of SB 38 and HB 193. As we explained the bill’s details time and again, House members grew comfortable with the compromises each side had made. On the afternoon of March 4, Rep. Eliason opened the debate over HB 193. Representative Joel Briscoe expressed a variety of concerns with the bill, whichRep. Last, Rep. Eliason and Rep. Gibson fielded. When the House vote for HB 193 closed, 60 representatives, includ- ing Democrats Brad King, Carol Spackman-Moss and Sue Duckworth, voted aye. FITTING CLOSURE Given discussions UAPCS, Chris Bleak and Howard Headlee had had with House and Senate leadership, we were confident the budget would include funding for SB 38. Since it was funded and identical to HB 193, we were confident SB 38 would ultimately pass. Despite those assurances, the most appropriate closure was still the Senate hearing on HB 193. To this point, no entity had testified against SB 38 or HB 193, but only charter advocates had testified in favor of those bills. The Utah School Boards Association had been tough, honest and fair negotiators, so we were both pleased and surprised when Kristi Swett told the Senate committee that the Utah School Boards Association supports HB 193. SB 38’s final votes—71-1 in the House and 22-5 in the Senate—were just icing on the cake. The Utah School Boards Association had been tough, honest and fair negotiators, so we were both pleased and surprised when Kristi Swett told the Senate committee that the Utah School Boards Association supports HB 193. SB 38’s final votes were just icing on the cake.