Legislative report: Mixed news on cutoff day

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This is it - the last day for most bills to be passed off the floor in the state legislature. After April 12, the House and Senate will focus on the budget bills and any bills deemed necessary to pass the budget.

Some great news:

HB 1322 - the respite provider training bill - passed unanimously! The bill applies to respite providers who work less than 300 hours a year has passed. This legislation reduces the number of hours required and creates online options. Families spoke up about the lack relevancy of current training and the difficulty would-be providers had in completing training requirements … and legislators listened!

More good news

HB 1115 - paraeducator bill. Creates a system for paraeducator training and certification. This was not the Senate version that many advocates supported, but it is an amended version that stakeholders agreed to and felt they could work with. A bill with the same language is awaiting a vote in the House. You can read more about it here. Paraeducators provide most of the direct learning time to students with IEPs, but mostly they are not trained.

HB 1258 - Statewide training for first responders and 911 personnel