ASBA Legislative Team

"The Leg Team" is active all year, every year. With the passage of the new constitutional amendment in 2008, the legislature meets every year. Sessions in even numbered years are for a minimum of 60 days and address all issues affecting the state. Sessions occurring in odd numbered years are for a minimum of 30 days and are designed to address only appropriation bills, although a 2/3 vote of the legislature allows it to consider other issues of its choosing.

Additionally, many meetings occur while the legislature is not in session (interim meetings) to examine issues that are referred from the previous session, are ongoing and need continued discussion or are emerging and time sensitive.

The discussions at interim legislative committee meetings generally are more informative, congenial and thorough in nature than meetings during the heat of a legislative session. Committees often invite expert witnesses, including ASBA staff, to testify to help legislators understand the intricacies of the issues.

Members of the ASBA Legislative Team attend these committee meetings to stay on top of the issues, to discuss the issues and to build relationships with legislators. Advocating for public education requires the ASBA Legislative Team to keep up with emerging and ongoing issues so that ASBA remains a reliable source of accurate information for school board members and for legislators. ASBA staff members:

• Read and research documents and data related to current and proposed education issues.
• Attend meetings and conferences.
• Talk with and listen to board members, educators and legislators.
• Prepare written testimony for the House and Senate Interim Education Committees (which serve while the legislature is not in session) on topics of the committee’s choosing.

Legislative sessions are very hectic and fluid. Bills can go from stalled to awaiting the governor’s signature in a hurry, and it can be difficult to affect a bill once it has momentum. During a session, the Leg Team is at the Capitol visiting with legislators about specific bills or issues, attending committee meetings and testifying on bills brought before the committees.

ASBA sends out Legislative Updates as needed about hot topic bills that need the attention of school board members and district administrators. If a bill is particularly urgent, ASBA issues a Call to Action and recommends that board members contact their legislators to express concern or support and to explain how the bill would affect their local district. Additionally, ASBA will include Calls to Action on the home page of the ASBA Web site (www.arsba.org) during legislative sessions.

Each morning during a legislative session, the Leg Team reads a summary of each bill to determine if it applies to K-12 education. Leg Team members read all bills that meet this criterion to develop our positions. ASBA’s legislative team uses three criteria or filters as we study and develop our position on each education-related bill:

• Is it good for children?
• Will it help to build an education ethic in Arkansas?
• Is everyone held appropriately accountable?

The sheer volume of bills (an average of about 3,000 bills each of the last few regular sessions) is a challenge. Many bills are amended during a session, and it’s necessary to follow the amendments to determine how they affect the bills.
After reading and analyzing a bill, ASBA posts it on the Bill Tracker (linked during the legislative session). ASBA may note specific issues of concern about a bill on the Bill Tracker. You can use the Tracker as your source to monitor the introduction and movement of bills during legislative sessions. Combining your efforts locally with ASBA’s efforts at the Capitol, we can make a difference in education legislation in Arkansas.