A measure that guides new education standards is on hold in a committee as lawmakers move forward with a related bill.
South Dakota State Representative Jim Bolin wants to ensure public hearings on education standards are spread out over on a reasonable timeline. He says House Bill 1075 does that, but another bill accomplishes a comparable goal.
"If Senate Bill 64 is passed – it’s passed the third hurdle, it’s gotten through the education committee. If it’s passed by the House of Representatives on the floor and signed by the governor, I will ask that this bill be withdrawn," Bolin says. "Because I think, in a sense, Senate Bill 64 and this are very similar – not exact, but they’re similar."
Bolin says lawmakers don’t need both pieces of legislation.
The Secretary of South Dakota’s Department of Education is Melody Schopp. She says the department supports Senate Bill 64, because it has a broad impact on monitoring education standards and clarifies the process to adopt them.
House Bill 1075 is on hold in House Education. The committee can put the bill on its agenda at any time.