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VIDEO: Equipment Training Program Expands in Indiana

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By Frank Raczon | Originally posted on ConstructionEquipment.com

The Prosser Career Education Center in New Albany, Indiana, is expanding its Heavy Equipment Operator Program.

The education center is partnering with Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) and MAC Construction to build a new facility to better facilitate learning for the student. The program is one of 28 different programs at the school for students at more than two dozen high schools across six Southern Indiana counties, WAVE reports.

One goal of the new Heavy Equipment Training Center is to eliminate factors like weather from the training curriculum.

Watch the video and read the article.

Source: WAVE

ABC Announces the 2023 National Craft Champions

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By Contractor Magazine | Originally posted on www.contractormag.com

The 34th annual competition showcased the skills and expertise of nearly 200 of the nation’s top-performing craft professionals.

WASHINGTON, DC — Associated Builders and Contractors has announced the winners of the 2023 National Craft Championships. The winners were honored at ABC’s Careers in Construction Awards ceremony during ABC Convention 2023 in Orlando, Florida, March 15-17.

The 34th annual competition showcased the skills and expertise of nearly 200 of the nation’s top-performing craft professionals, including carpenters, electricians, pipefitters, plumbers, welders and more, all vying for top honors in 16 competitions with skills on display in 12 crafts. NCC also featured a team competition with journey-level craft professionals from different crafts working to complete a joint project. The competition included a two-hour online exam and a six-hour practical performance test.

“ABC’s premier skilled trades competition showcases the best construction craft professionals in the industry,” said 2023 National Chair of the ABC Board of Directors Milton Graugnard, executive vice president, Cajun Industries LLC, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “These individuals brighten the future of the merit shop industry, build America stronger and highlight the countless career opportunities available in construction. From Texas to California and Iowa to Massachusetts and all across this great country, these craft professionals traveled to Florida to demonstrate their superior skills, education and safe work practices.”

Established in 1987, the National Craft Championships celebrate and recognize upskilling in construction, draw some of the country’s most talented craft professionals and highlight the important role that craft skills training plays in the construction industry.

ABC offers more than 800 education programs across 68 chapters to help train the next generation of construction workers. Its flexible, earn-while-you-learn craft and safety training leads to industry-recognized, national credentials for today’s most sought-after construction crafts. ABC is committed to showing the promising career path the industry provides, from apprenticeship to journey-level worker to business owner.

Milwaukee Tool has been the official tool sponsor of NCC since 2019. The company provides tools and prizes for NCC competitors. The competition is supported by volunteers, generous sponsors and in-kind contributors who plan and execute this event annually. For more information, visit abc.org/ncc.

Winners in the Plumbing portion of the competition were:

Safety: Richard Barnhart, Frey Lutz Corp., ABC Keystone Chapter

Bronze: Bryce Traut, TDIndustries, Construction Education Foundation

Silver: Alek Angster, Z3 Plumbing, ABC Southern California Chapter

Gold: Briar Bessmer, Henry Miller Mechanical, ABC Heart of America Apprenticeship Trust

 

Winners in the Pipefitting portion of the competition were:

Safety: Edgar Uresti, Jr., Performance Contractors, Inc., ABC Greater Houston Chapter

Bronze: Maxwell Witt, Manhattan Mechanical Services

Silver: Byron Alford, TDIndustries, Construction Education Foundation

Gold: Tristan Wright, TDIndustries, Construction Education Foundation

 

View the full list of the winners of the 2023 National Craft Championships.

Construction

In More Than Half of US States, at Least 90% of the Construction Workforce Does Not Belong to a Union

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By Construction Citizen | Originally posted on ConstructionCitizen.com

According to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of 2022 state union membership data published recently by UnionStats.com, at least 9 out of 10 construction workers in private industry do not belong to a union in 26 states, up from 24 states in 2021. Nationwide, a record 88.3% of construction workers do not belong to a union, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, up from 87.4% in 2021.

“Data continue to suggest that the vast majority of construction industry professionals freely choose not to join a union,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs. “This illustrates why it makes no sense for the Biden administration to continue to advance controversial policies requiring workers on federal and federally assisted construction projects to join a union and/or pay union dues through schemes like project labor agreements and other anti-competitive and inflationary policies. Worker choice and freedoms create immense value for taxpayers and the construction industry, yet the Biden administration continues to undermine these principles with burdensome regulations that needlessly raise costs on taxpayer-funded construction projects and steer contracts to unionized contractors and workers.”

The construction industry awaits a final rule implementing President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14063, which requires project labor agreements on federal construction projects of $35 million or more. Research has found government-mandated PLAs increase infrastructure project costs by 12% to 20%. The Biden administration is also pushing state and local governments applying for more than $250 billion in federal infrastructure grants to require PLAs in order to enhance their ability to receive federal money. This executive overreach will also exacerbate the construction industry’s skilled labor shortage of more than half a million people by excluding the 88% of the industry that chooses not to join a union and will undermine taxpayer investments in America’s infrastructure and clean energy projects.

“ABC will continue to challenge anti-competitive regulations that favor special interests and advocate for all construction workers to be welcome to build taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects,” said Brubeck.

Authored by Associated Builders and Contractors and originally published on abc.org.

GOP senators see Biden’s Labor pick as too friendly with unions

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By Jacob Bogage | Originally posted on WashingtonPost.com

At Julie Su’s confirmation hearing, Republican lawmakers accused her of favoring organized labor groups over employers.

President Biden’s nominee for labor secretary appears to face an uphill battle for confirmation, with Republican lawmakers at a confirmation hearing Thursday accusing her of being overly sympathetic to unions.

“As a Republican I don’t expect to agree with the political positions of a Biden nominee,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said. “But we should expect that the heads of our federal government are not motivated by activism to carry out an agenda for a favored political group.”

Biden nominated Julie Su, the deputy labor secretary, in February to succeed Marty Walsh, who left the post to lead the National Hockey League’s players union. Republicans during the hearing Thursday said they worried Su could not be a neutral arbiter between unions and employers, citing her long history representing workers and interactions with organized labor groups while serving as deputy secretary.

Su’s calendars show she has standing meetings scheduled with union officials, but none with business associations, said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah).

Su said she could be a neutral party and has a history of resolving labor disputes, including helping lead a marathon bargaining session in September that averted a national rail strike.

She also was an outside participant in talks between workers and employers at crucial West Coast ports, drawing on relationships with union and business leaders there from her time as secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency from 2019 to 2021.

Port officials and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union reached a tentative agreement on “certain key issues,” the sides announced, while Su was in the middle of her testimony.

“I did recently impress upon them the urgency of the issue,” Su said of her conversations with port and union officials. “I am pleased that they have made real progress that has been announced.”

She told a Senate panel on Thursday that she’d draw on lessons from her immigrant parents’ lives as small-business owners and her decades of experience as a labor lawyer to lead the agency.

“When he announced my nomination for U.S. secretary of labor, the president called me the ‘American Dream.’ My parents believed in it. I benefited from it. And I want to do my part to make sure it is a reality for workers across the nation,” Su said.

But her Senate approval is far from assured. Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) has voiced concerns about Su to the White House, The Washington Post reported earlier in April. That means Su cannot lose another Democratic vote in the chamber.

Complicating matters further is the absence of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D), who has remained in her home state since February while recovering from shingles. Feinstein, 89, has missed dozens of votes since then, stalling confirmation proceedings for Biden judicial nominees, and now potentially a Cabinet secretary.

Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) have also declined to say if they’ll support Su, and major business interests — including the International Franchise Association, American Trucking Associations and Associated Builders and Contractors — have aligned to defeat her appointment. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will vote on whether to advance her nomination to the full chamber on Wednesday.

“Sometimes it happens that big business lobbyists decide collectively that they are going to flex their muscle and try to defeat a highly qualified candidate,” said Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.). “And often those attacks have very little connection to the actual person and their record. In fact, they are about politics and money. I think this is one of those examples.”

Su’s work in California was the focus of much of Republicans’ criticisms. She was tasked with implementing state laws that cracked down on the misclassification of gig economy workers and independent contractors.

Conservatives argued that those policies harmed small businesses and that unemployment insurance programs she administered were wasteful.

California’s pandemic unemployment assistance program was also victim to an 11 percent fraud rate, lower than many other states’, but still worth tens of billions of dollars in misspent funds.

“I don’t know how in the world it makes sense for the president to nominate you to take over this department,” Romney said. “To work behind Marty Walsh is one thing and to learn from him, but you haven’t had experience negotiating a major deal between unions and management and your leadership of an enterprise resulted in $31 billion in fraudulent payments. What am I missing?”

Su’s nomination is being debated amid concerns about child labor and a possible recession, despite a resilient job market.

Labor market adds 236,000 jobs in March, powering economy on

The Biden administration also has pointed to surging cases of illegal child labor. The Labor Department reported a 69 percent increase of minors employed in violation of federal law since 2018. Many of those violations have occurred among undocumented immigrant children.

“If we’re genuine and sincere about our dismay about the reported child labor violations, then you need to agree that we need Julie Su confirmed as soon as possible,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said.

Can A Divided Congress Reach A Debt Ceiling Deal?

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By David Marcus | Originally posted on radio.foxnews.com

It’s been over 80 days since President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have met to discuss the debt ceiling, as the President and his top advisors continue refusing to negotiate on a debt ceiling increase. Though McCarthy has not come forward with the clean proposal the President is calling for, he has introduced the new ‘Limit, Save, Grow Act,’ legislation that agrees to raise the debt ceiling if certain spending cuts are made. The Speaker is now looking to House Republicans this coming week, as he aims to round up at least 218 votes to pass the bill and strengthen his stance on the debt ceiling before future talks with the President. On the Rundown, Chief Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) joins to discuss what ‘reckless’ spending has led the U.S. economy to become $31 trillion in debt and why it’s crucial that both parties put the American people before politics when coming to an agreement on the debt ceiling. Later, he shares his concerns about China’s potential plans to invade Taiwan and how the U.S. should work to ensure Taiwan is equipped for war as soon as possible.

There’s a lot of construction work to be done in America, however, there aren’t enough workers to meet the demand. According to Associated Builders and Contractors, the construction industry must employ over half a million workers in order to meet this year’s labor demands. Vice President of Health, Safety, Environment, and Workforce Development at Associated Builders and Contractors Greg Sizemore joins the Rundown to discuss what factors are contributing to the shortage, how money should be invested, and the benefits of construction work and apprenticeships.

 

 

Construction Job Openings Surge by 82,000 in December

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By contractormag.com | Originally posted on contractormag.com

WASHINGTON, DC — The construction industry had 413,000 job openings in December, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. JOLTS defines a job opening as any unfilled position for which an employer is actively recruiting. Industry job openings increased by 82,000 for the month and are up by 54,000 from December 2021.

“The number of open construction jobs surged in at the end of 2022,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The 5% of industrywide positions that were unfilled in December is the third highest level on record and higher than at any point since 2000, when the data series began, until October 2021. With more than 55% of contractors planning to increase their staffing levels over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, labor shortages will remain a stiff headwind for the industry.

“While parts of the economy, like consumer spending, are beginning to show signs of weakness, demand for labor remains significantly elevated,” said Basu. “Economywide job openings increased for the first time since September and remain about 57% above pre-pandemic levels. The implication here is that contractors, who have been facing labor shortages for several years, must now compete with other industries for workers.”

 

Construction Adds 25,000 Jobs in January, Says ABC

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By contractormag.com | Originally posted on contractormag.com

WASHINGTON, DC — The construction industry added 25,000 jobs on net in January, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has risen by 294,000 jobs, an increase of 3.9%.

Nonresidential construction employment increased by 19,300 positions on net, with growth in two of the three subcategories. Nonresidential specialty trade added 16,500 net new jobs, while nonresidential building added 4,000 positions. Heavy and civil engineering lost 1,200 jobs for the month.

The construction unemployment rate rose to 6.9% in January. Unemployment across all industries declined from 3.5% in December to 3.4% last month.

Analysis

“It is virtually impossible to reconcile today’s employment numbers with other phenomena in the U.S. economy,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “America’s labor market remains red hot despite falling retail sales, declining industrial production, bloated inventories and high-profile layoff announcements.

“Today’s jobs report strongly suggests that the Federal Reserve has more work to do,” said Basu. “While many will cheer the jobs report, the bond market did not, with interest rates rising immediately in response to the persistent and surprising strength of the nation’s employment market. While contractors may be thrilled to hear that the labor market remains strong, associated upticks in borrowing costs increase the likelihood of a recession sometime later this year.

“Many contractors may shrug off such concerns given current elevated backlog,” said Basu. “ABC surveys reveal that contractors plan to continue to hire and expand operations. Indeed, the nation’s nonresidential construction industry added more than 19,000 jobs in January. But the outlook may dim later this year as the cost of project financing continues to rise, setting the stage for what could be a meaningfully weaker 2024, at least in construction segments that are primarily privately financed.”

 

ABC: State Construction Unemployment Is Down in 32 States From a Year Ago

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By Tile Letter | Originally posted on TileLetter.com

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6—The not seasonally adjusted national construction unemployment rate dropped 0.6% in December 2022 from a year ago, down from 5% to 4.4%, according to a state-by-state analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released today by Associated Builders and Contractors. Thirty-two states had lower unemployment rates over the same period, Iowa and Missouri were unchanged and 16 states were higher.

National NSA payroll construction employment was 242,000 higher than in December 2021. From March through December 2022, seasonally adjusted construction employment was above its February 2020 pre-pandemic peak of 7,624,000, except for a slight dip in April. As of December, it was 153,000 greater than its pre-pandemic peak.

Residential construction employment has fully recovered, while nonresidential construction employment is still below its pre-pandemic peak. December SA residential payroll construction employment was 198,000 above its pre-pandemic peak while nonresidential payroll construction employment was 45,000 below its pre-pandemic peak.

In December 2022, 36 states had lower construction unemployment rates and 14 states had higher rates compared to December 2019.

“High interest rates are negatively affecting demand for single-family housing, yet construction employment continues to rise as builders work on their backlog of projects,” said Bernard Markstein, president and chief economist of Markstein Advisors, who conducted the analysis for ABC. “However, developers, builders and contractors are still facing a shortage of skilled workers. So far, construction employers are holding on to their workers as they look beyond current slowing construction demand to the eventual upturn in demand for new projects. Meanwhile, nonresidential construction employers fully expect demand to rise over this year and next as more state and local projects tap into federal funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and move from the planning stage to the execution stage.”

Recent Month-to-Month Fluctuations

National and state unemployment rates are best evaluated on a year-over-year basis because these industry-specific rates are not seasonally adjusted. However, due to the changing impact of COVID-19, high and rising interest rates and other national and international disruptions, month-to-month comparisons offer insight into the rapidly shifting economic environment for construction employment.

In December 2022, nine states had lower estimated construction unemployment rates than in November, 38 states had higher rates and three (Georgia, Indiana and Tennessee) had the same rate.

The Top Five States

The five states with the lowest December 2022 estimated NSA construction unemployment rates were:

  1. Colorado, 1.2%
  2. Tennessee, 2%
  3. Utah, 2.1%
  4. Florida, 2.2%
  5. Nebraska, 2.6%

With the exception of Utah, all of these states posted their lowest December estimated NSA construction unemployment rate on record. Utah had its third lowest rate, behind 2021’s 1.7% and 2015’s 2%.

The Bottom Five States

The states with the highest December 2022 estimated NSA construction unemployment rates were:

  1. Illinois, 7.1%
  2. Ohio, 7.4%
  3. Minnesota, 7.6%
  4. Wyoming, 10.4%
  5. Alaska, 13.3%

Alaska had its second lowest December estimated construction unemployment rate behind 2020’s 11.8% rate and the third largest year-over-year decline in its rate among the states (tied with Pennsylvania), behind Rhode Island and Hawaii, down 2.3% from December 2021. The other four states each had their third lowest December unemployment rate on record.

COVID-19 May Be Over, but Fight Over the Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate Is Not

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By Aron Beezley, Patrick Quigley | Originally posted on jdsupra.com

On January 30, 2023, the Biden administration stated that it intends to extend the previously declared COVID-19 national emergency and the separately declared public health emergency until May 11, 2023, and then end both emergency declarations. This statement comes in response to Congressional attempts to declare an earlier end date to the emergencies with the Pandemic is Over Act and a joint resolution. Regardless of what happens politically, however, nearly three years after the original March 13, 2020, national COVID-19 emergency declaration, multi-state litigation is still ongoing to stop the implementation of a federal contractor COVID-19 vaccine mandate pursuant to Executive Order 14042.

Background

We have reported on this issue previously, but the order, issued on September 9, 2021, directed federal executive agencies to amend solicitations and contracts, in effect, to include a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for federal contractors and subcontractors. Nearly as soon as the president issued the order, various individuals and organizations filed suit to oppose it. The most effective suits have been filed by the attorneys general of 26 states in the Eastern District of Kentucky, the Southern District of Georgia, the Eastern District of Missouri, the Western District of Louisiana, the Middle District of Florida, the Southern District of Texas, and the District of Arizona.

The Biden administration has lost these cases across the board at both the district and appellate levels, although several appellate courts have narrowed the injunctive relief granted by the district courts. The states’ main argument has been that the president exceeded his authority under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act (Procurement Act), 40 U.S.C. § 101 et seq., when he issued the order. The Procurement Act’s purpose is “to provide the Federal Government with an economical and efficient system” for procuring and supplying property and various nonpersonal services.

The following is a summary of the statuses of the adjudicated cases:

  • On November 30, 2021, in Kentucky v. Biden, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky enjoined enforcement of the vaccine mandate in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. The United States appealed to the Sixth Circuit, which, on January 12, 2023, affirmed the district court’s preliminary injunction but narrowed its scope “to prohibit the federal government from enforcing the contractor mandate against the parties only” and not against non-party contractors in the plaintiff states.
  • On December 7, 2021, in Georgia v. Biden, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia enjoined enforcement of the vaccine mandate nationwide. The state plaintiffs here are Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah, and West Virginia. The United States appealed to the Eleventh Circuit, which, on August 26, 2022, affirmed the district court’s order to the extent that it enjoined federal agencies from enforcing the vaccine mandate against the state plaintiffs (and a separate trade organization plaintiff, Associated Builders and Contractors), but otherwise vacated the preliminary injunction.
  • On December 16, 2021, in Louisiana v. Biden, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana enjoined enforcement of the order in contracts between the states of Louisiana, Indiana, or Mississippi or their agencies and the federal government. The United States appealed to the Fifth Circuit, which, on December 19, 2022, affirmed the district court’s preliminary injunction.
  • On December 30, 2021, in Florida v. Nelson, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida enjoined enforcement of the order in Florida. The United States initially appealed to the Eleventh Circuit but then, on October 24, 2022, moved to dismiss its appeal voluntarily.
  • The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas is the only court to have denied a motion for a preliminary injunction. It did so, however, in an order issued on October 20, 2022, only because Texas had failed to show imminent harm, due to the federal government’s public guidance to contractors that agencies would not enforce the vaccine mandate while cases were still pending.

Two appeals remain unresolved:

  • On December 20, 2021, in Missouri v. Biden, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri enjoined enforcement of the order in Missouri, Nebraska, Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming, which are the state plaintiffs. The United States appealed to the Eighth Circuit, which heard oral argument on September 21, 2022, but has not yet issued a decision.
  • On January 27, 2022, in Brnovich v. Biden, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona enjoined enforcement of the order in Arizona by federal agencies. The United States appealed to the Ninth Circuit, which has scheduled oral argument for March 7, 2023.

Takeaway

The COVID-19 pandemic may have (finally) mostly ended, but that is probably not the end of the issue of whether the federal government can compel contractor employees to get vaccinated, based on the president’s authority under the Procurement Act, which prescribes policies and directives to promote an economical and efficient federal government contracting system. The Fifth Circuit and Eleventh Circuit decisions included dissents that noted the prior Executive Orders of similarly broad scope have been upheld. It would, therefore, not be surprising to see the matter ultimately go to the Supreme Court.

Bradley will continue to monitor this issue and provide further updates as appropriate.

Education Bills Seeking to Overhaul School Curriculum Advance in Indiana Legislature

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By Casey Smith | Originally posted on Yahoo.com

Broad career readiness initiatives, changes to K-12 literacy curriculum and incentives for up-and-coming teachers are at the heart of multiple education bills advancing through the Indiana legislature.

State lawmakers in House and Senate education committees collectively took up more than a dozen bills on Wednesday. Most of those measures advanced or are scheduled for committee votes next week.

Here’s a snapshot of the latest education-related developments at the statehouse.

The House education committee approved, 8-4, a wide-ranging bill that seeks to “reinvent” high school curriculum. Bill author Rep. Chuck Goodrich, R-Noblesville, said his proposal — a priority bill for the caucus — aims to narrow the “skills gap” between Hoosiers and employers.

The bill seeks to expand work-based learning in Indiana high schools, like apprenticeships and internships.

It would also create career scholarship accounts that are similar to Indiana’s school choice voucher program. Grants could be used by students in grades 10-12 to pay for career training courses, apprenticeships and certifications outside of the student’s school district.

The amount each participating student can receive to pay for apprenticeships, coursework, or certification would be based on a calculation of the state dollars that their school receives.

Democrats pushed back on the bill, however, saying language around credentialing programs is still too vague.

New teacher incentives

House lawmakers additionally supported two bills that seek to increase state scholarship dollars available to future teachers.

One of the proposals would increase certain scholarship amounts in an effort to attract more students into teaching — particularly black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC).

Attracting educators of color has been an ongoing concern for local schools and policy makers. Indiana had 79,120 full-time teachers in the 2019-20 school year, according to state data. Of those, 92% were white.

Those who testified in support of House Bill 1637 said the increased dollars would help BIPOC educator recruitment — good news for Indiana’s ongoing teacher shortage. Supporters said the bill would also provide much-needed support to address achievement gaps among Hoosier students of color.

The bill passed 12-0 out of the House education committee.

A separate measure, House Bill 1528, would allow Hoosiers in an alternative teacher certification program to apply for up to $10,000 under the Next Generation Hoosier Educators scholarship program.

The bill passed 13-0 with an amendment to limit the program to $1 million. Democrats expressed concern that the funding won’t be enough. Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, who chairs the committee, said the current spending ceiling is intended to keep the bill from getting killed in the the fiscal-minded ways and means committee.

Automatic enrollment for 21st Century Scholars program

Another bill heard in the House education committee would automatically enroll eligible Hoosier students in the 21st Century Scholars program — a statewide grant program that funds student attendance at two- and four-year schools.

House Bill 1449, authored by Rep. Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago, unanimously passed the committee and now heads to the full House for further consideration.

“Thousands of students a year miss out on opportunities that 21st Century Scholars can provide for them,” Harris said. “Not having this funding there to help with education — for a lot of a lot of people — means they do not continue their education … it affects the future of our workforce here in the state of Indiana.”

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb made automatic enrollment in the 21st Century Scholars program a priority within his 2023 legislative agenda. Administration officials said auto-enrollment shouldn’t be a cost to the state for six to seven years.

Science of Reading bill draws mixed testimony

Senate Bill 402, filed by Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, would define the “science of reading” and require schools to adopt such curriculum.

The “science of reading” is defined in both bills as the successful integration of concepts such as phonics, vocabulary and comprehension in reading.

Although Indiana lawmakers and education advocates have repeatedly said the state needs to take action to improve the state’s dismal literacy rates, some provisions in Freeman’s bill drew hesitation, especially from teachers.

The Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA), the state’s largest teachers union, specifically pointed to language in the bill that directs schools to post reading materials online for inspection by parents.

“Our main point of contention in this bill is a requirement that every single material used in connection with K-8 reading must be placed on a website at the beginning of the school year and updated each semester,” said Jerell Blakeley, ISTA’s director of government, community, racial and social justice. “I think there’s an opportunity for us to get to a common sense solution that furthers the agenda of the bill, as well as to — I can’t believe I’m saying this — deregulate aspects of teaching in Indiana.”

Freeman told the committee he’s meeting with teachers and education groups to address concerns about that portion of the bill. The proposal could come up for a committee vote as soon as next week.

Other bills on the move

In the Senate education committee, lawmakers approved a bill to bring the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program to the entire state. The bill passed 11-0 and now goes to the appropriations committee.

Additionally, Senate Bill 480 passed narrowly, 7-6, onto the full Senate. The bill seeks to streamline numerous teacher regulations. Democrats and teacher union representatives said it also makes “concerning” changes to discussable items during collective bargaining.

All four Democrats on the committee voted against the bill, along with GOP Sens. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, and Dan Dernulc, R-Highland.

Sen. Jeff Raatz’s SB 380 also passed the committee in a 9-4 vote and heads to the Senate chamber. State senators heard mixed testimony last week on the bill, which places restrictions on high school graduation waivers and doubles down that schools can have dress codes.

An amendment to the bill approved by the senate committee on Wednesday would further require districts to post high school graduation rates online. The latest draft of the bill also sets a 10% cap on the number of students who can graduate from a school with a waiver before July 1, 2027. After that, the cap drops to 5%.

Another bill that seeks to help Hoosier students regain access to their college transcripts was put on hold, however. Raatz said lawmakers are continuing to have discussions about provisions in the bill.