Legislative Update – Week of April 8th, 2019
Governor Announces Paper-based Assessment for Next Year
Today, school districts across the state begin administering annual assessments to students. These assessments will be provided to students online, and the Department of Education has indicated that 100% of districts have reported technical readiness for the assessments.
Following the administrative problems of the past few years with online assessments, though, next year the state will enter into a new contract with a new vendor. Last Thursday, Governor Lee announced that during the 2019-2020 school year, schools will administer paper-based assessments, rather than online assessments. Being the first year of a new contract with a new vendor, providing paper-based assessments allows the vendor to establish “an accountable, long-term solution to be put in place for students, teachers and taxpayers.”
Bill to Watch this Week
HB 839 by Lamberth/SB 1143 by Akbari - As introduced, this bill strives to ensure that more individuals keep a driver license in order to legally get to and from work so that court costs and fines may be paid.
Under current law, the department of safety suspends the driver license of a person who has been convicted of a driving offense and has not paid the fines and costs imposed for that offense. However, a person whose license has been suspended may apply to the court for a restricted license to drive to and from work if in compliance with a payment plan.
This bill would require courts to inquire about a person’s ability to pay any fine or costs imposed for a driving offense. If the person requests a payment plan, the court must order the person to enter into a payment plan with the court clerk and make payments to the court clerk, which must be reasonable and based on the person’s income and ability to pay. This bill would allow a person to request modifications to the payment plan upon a change in financial circumstances or upon good cause shown.
If the court finds a person indigent or orders a person to enter into a payment plan, the court must order the issuance of a restricted license until fines and costs are paid or waived by the court. A restricted license under this bill is valid for travel necessary for work, school, or church.
This bill would apply retroactively so that a person whose license was suspended before the bill’s effective date will be authorized to apply to the court for a payment plan and issuance of a restricted license.
To see an update for all of the bill’s being tracked by the Chamber, click here.