Transcript Prepared By the Clerk of the Legislature Transcriber's Office Education Committee January 25, 2016 [LB691 LB752 LB906 LB930] The Committee on Education met at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, January 25, 2016, in Room 1525 of the State Capitol, Lincoln, Nebraska, for the purpose of conducting a public hearing on LB691, LB752, LB906 and LB930. Senators present: Kate Sullivan, Chairperson; Rick Kolowski, Vice Chairperson; Roy Baker; Mike Groene; Bob Krist; Adam Morfeld; Patty Pansing Brooks; and David Schnoor. Senators absent: None. SENATOR SULLIVAN: This is the Education Committee. I'm Senator Kate Sullivan, Chair of the Committee, I represent District 41, I live in Cedar Rapids, Nebraska. We have a couple members of our committee who are still in another committee or Executive Session, but we will go ahead and allow the senators who are here to introduce themselves. I'll start with the vice chair of the committee. SENATOR KOLOWSKI: Good afternoon. Rick Kolowski, from District 31 in southwest Omaha. Thank you. SENATOR SCHNOOR: Senator Dave Schnoor, represent District 15, which is Dodge County. SENATOR BAKER: Senator Roy Baker, District 30, Gage County, part of Lancaster County. SENATOR KRIST: Bob Krist, District 10. SENATOR GROENE: Senator Mike Groene, Lincoln County, District 42. SENATOR SULLIVAN: Thank you, senators. And as I said, we'll have the other two senators joining us shortly, because one of them is the introducer of the first bill. So if he's not here by the time I'm done with sort of the housekeeping rules, we'll have to stand at ease until he arrives. We have two pages helping us today...oh, well, first of all, the other people who help us run this committee correctly. To my immediate left is LaMont Rainey, who is one of the legal counsels for the Education Committee. And to my far right is Mandy Mizerski, who is the committee clerk, and she makes sure that the hearing is adequately recorded. We also have two pages helping us today: Brook Cammarata, from Omaha, she's a student at UNL, majoring in advertising and political science; and Annie Himes, also from Omaha...again, a student at UNL, majoring in Russian, global studies, and history. As far as the rules of the road, so to speak, if you're planning to testify, please pick up a green sign-in sheet that's on the table at either entrance to the room. If you do not wish to testify, but would like your name entered into the official record as being present at the hearing, there is a separate form to do that as well. 1 Transcript Prepared By the Clerk of the Legislature Transcriber's Office Education Committee January 25, 2016 Regarding the green sheet, please fill it out in its entirety. Please print. And when you come up to testify, hand that to Mandy. If you have handouts, please make sure you have 12 copies for the pages to hand out to the committee. And when you do testify, we ask that you please speak clearly into the microphone, tell us your name, and spell both your first and last names. Again, so that we have an adequate record. Perhaps I don't need to say this, but I just need to remind you to please turn off all cellphones, pagers, or anything that makes noise, because we want to give our full attention to the testifiers. The introducers, the senators introducing the bill, will make the initial statements, followed by proponents, then opponents, and then those wishing to testify in a neutral capacity. Closing remarks are reserved for the introducing senator only. We have been using the light system for all testifiers. So you will have...this excludes the introducer. But for all others, you will have five minutes to make your initial remarks. When you see the yellow light come on, it means you have a minute left, and when the red light is on, you need to wrap up your remarks. So in spite of the weather, I'm really glad to see everyone here today to testify, and looking forward to hearing on the four bills that we have before us: LB691, LB752, LB906, and LB930. So without further ado, we will welcome Senator Morfeld, and begin the hearing on LB691. Welcome, senator. SENATOR MORFELD: Thank you, Senator Sullivan. Sorry if I was a little late. SENATOR SULLIVAN: That's all right. [LB691] SENATOR MORFELD: I was in Exec Session. Senator Sullivan, members of the Education Committee, my name is Adam Morfeld, for the record that's A-d-a-m M-o-r-f-e-l-d, representing the "fighting" 46th Legislative District, here today to introduce LB691. LB691 addresses a critical work force need in the state, and would create a grant program for Nebraska students in teacher education and healthcare profession programs, attending Nebraska public or private nonprofit colleges or universities. This is a more of a narrow approach that I am taking for relieving some of the student loan debt and some of the financial aid burden on students in Nebraska, for critical work force needs. As the bill is drafted, resident students with financial need who are enrolled either in a teacher education or health profession bachelor's program, at a public or private nonprofit college or university, would be eligible to receive a grant. The money is allocated to the colleges based on the number of bachelor's and master's degrees awarded in the respective programs in the preceding year. Two funds are created, one for teacher education, and one for health professions education. I picked these two different fields because they are high-need fields in both urban and rural areas. The amount available for grants available for each college or university is determined by dividing the number of degrees at each institution by the total number of degrees awarded statewide, which is then multiplied by the state appropriation, which is yet to be determined. The Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education would administer the program in cooperation with colleges and universities, much like they do with the Nebraska Opportunity Grants right now, and would act as agents for the commission-- 2 Transcript Prepared By the Clerk of the Legislature Transcriber's Office Education Committee January 25, 2016 the colleges and universities, anyway. I'm also pleased that there is a performance-based allocation process in this bill. The money is allocated, not based on enrollment, but rather on degrees completed. While enrollment is important, this bill gives institutions incentives to make sure that students not only enroll, but that they actually graduate in these programs. I continue to be concerned about the level of debt that our students incur while attending college, and I told people on the campaign trail that I have 140,000 reasons why I am concerned about student debts personally. I'm also concerned that students may choose majors and careers not by where their passions lie, but where the income they can expect to make after they graduate to pay for their student loans. We need talented teachers and healthcare workers if our state is to continue to prosper. If we succeed by encouraging prospective teachers and nurses to follow their passions, by alleviating some of their debt concerns, we will have done a great service to the citizens of Nebraska. I'm sure that there are others that will follow and comment on their opinions on the details of the proposal. I urge your favorable consideration of this bill, and would be happy to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you. [LB691] SENATOR SULLIVAN: Thank you, Senator Morfeld, for introducing. [LB691] SENATOR MORFELD: (Exhibits 1, 2, 3) And actually, I have a few different handouts here, too. That breaks down how many degrees there are from different institutions--public, private-- and some other information. [LB691] SENATOR SULLIVAN: You said in your opening remarks some of your reasoning behind identifying these two careers, but that's one of the other...you know, in this process of prioritization, and you look at the needs, one could also say well, we have a dearth of openings in ag education and industrial arts, that someways keep young people in rural Nebraska. I mean, how do we prioritize, and how do we think that one profession is more important than the other? [LB691] SENATOR MORFELD: Yeah, that's tough. And I think that, you know, if you talk to 10 different people in the state, you might get 10 different answers, or you might get 2 or you might get 3. I think that we need to start somewhere. And for me, I looked at professions, particularly the education field, where there's a high need, but there's not a lot of prospect of making a lot of money. And degree, in terms of the health care profession field, I just know that that's a critical...from traveling the state and talking to people, I just know that that's a critical need. And that was one that rose to the top for me. You know, in an ideal world, we would have a much larger amount of funding for need-based aid, and we wouldn't have to pick and choose degree fields. But I don't see a huge stomach in this body for doubling the Nebraska Opportunity Grant Program, unfortunately. Even though, I would support something like that. [LB691] 3 Transcript Prepared By the Clerk of the Legislature Transcriber's Office Education Committee January 25, 2016 SENATOR SULLIVAN: And to that end, is there some overlap with the Nebraska Opportunity Grants, and is there some clarification that conceivably a student could get both the NOG grant, as well as a grant through this program? [LB691] SENATOR MORFELD: Personally, I wouldn't be bothered by a student that is eligible for both getting both.