H.B. 279 Higher Education Code Amendments: transcript

So moved.

I'm happy to tell you, Senator, what it does. So what this does is clarifies that in the RFP process that, uh, uh, if there're a sponsorship or scholarship dollars in that RFP that they have to go to, to the institution, that they cannot go to a specific individual.

That's the amendment. Okay.

No, I was gonna move the, oh, okay. Thank you.

You, Mr. Chair. So, as you recall, during the special session, we divided out private higher education institutions from public higher ed institutions. And what this bill does is, uh, allow collaborations between different functions within state government. For example, uh, the STEM Action Center can coordinate with, uh, private institutions that, uh, private institutions can partner with private post-secondary institutions when applying for computer science grants. That it authorizes the highway patrol to assist with security issues at private post-secondary institutions. Upon request, it extends the tuition waiver program for children and spouses for fallen peace officers and firefighters. It also allows healthcare systems affiliated with private post-secondary institutions to develop behavior health treatment programs using certain investigational drugs. And then it extends criminal penalties for property damage, causing economic disruption and interference with lawful activities to post-secondary institutions. And then it also includes private, post-secondary institution police forces in the definition of law enforcement agencies for, for forfeiture proceedings. And then it, uh, adds private post-secondary institutions to the list of entities that survey assists on geologic and mineral logic subjects. It also includes, um, private institutions in the Hydrogen Advisory Council. And that's what this bill does.

Completes my presentation.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to recommend HB 2 79 higher Education code amendments out with a favorable recommendation.

Yeah. So I'll just, uh, also say that, uh, Yui has reviewed this bill and they didn't have any concerns with any of these functions being given back to the private higher education institutions.

Thank you very much. Thank You, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Madam Vice chair. So, uh, if you recall in the special session, we passed a bill, which, uh, re codified higher education into public and private, um, sections. And, uh, along with that, uh, the private schools submitted to our staff about 600 different comments of items they would like us to look at. And I wanna thank our staff for reviewing all of those items and, and working with our private higher education partners. Out of that, uh, they developed a list of nine that they felt like, uh, as we worked with them, and we worked with the private schools that we should add to our code. So this, uh, list has been reviewed by the Utah system of higher education. Uh, they don't have any concerns about it, and, uh, this is what it does. One is, uh, allows for STEM action center coordination between the private schools, uh, allows the private schools to do computing partnership grants with them. It allows the highway patrol to assist with security issues at private post-secondary institutions. Upon request, it extends the tuition waiver program for children and spouses of fallen peace officers and firefighters to the private schools. It allows for healthcare systems affiliated with private post-secondary institutions to develop behavioral health treatment programs using certain investigational drugs. It also extends criminal penalties for property damage, causing economic interruption and will for willful interference with lawful activities at the private institutions. It also includes private, post-secondary institution police forces in the definition of law enforcement agencies for forfeiture proceedings. It also adds private post-secondary institutions to the list of entities. Uh, the survey assists on geologic and mineral logic subjects and includes private post-secondary institutions when promoting hydrogen research. Uh, the other thing is, uh, the University of Utah asked me to clarify some procurement code. Um, I honestly believe so. In the second substitute, there is some clarification language that says that in the RFP process, higher education institutions can ask for scholarships or sponsorships. Uh, I personally believe right now they can already do that, but my understanding is, is the Attorney general's office felt like that that needed to be clarified in code. And so that's what the second substitute does. So with that, uh, that's what this bill does. It's really an add-on to, uh, the, the bill, the reification that we did. And I'm open to any questions?

Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, representative, I'm just curious, uh, how does this impact, when we were talking about additional regulatory burden on private institutions, is there, can you give any specifics of what, what, what actually is going to be falling upon the private institutions that weren't beforehand? I guess if there are any?

So all of these things the private institutions have asked for. Okay. So We're not forcing anything upon them. These are things that they've come to us and, and requested that they be allowed to do. And obviously as you look at the list, many of these things are collaboration between the state and some of the private schools such as police, uh, in, in the event of an emergency or something like that, that we can continue those collaborations, um, behavioral issues, uh, programs that we're using as a state such as computing and STEM Action Center, that there's continued collaboration between those institutions.

Okay. So you, but none of this is, um, some of this will have some regulatory impact as well, right? Other than just the access and collaboration.

Um, there might be some regulatory with the behavioral health treatment programs, but that's obviously things that they're utilizing in their programs at their institution, which is why they've requested that ability.

Okay. Thank you. Yep.

Hi, Katie Mazzie with the Utah System of Higher Education. Uh, so our board is not taking a formal stance, but I, I will say the sponsor was great about coming to us, uh, with the original language of the bill that incorporated private institutions and gave them an opportunity to collaborate with the state on some of these initiatives. Uh, we appreciate the opportunity to review that. Um, so I'm just speaking to the original and, and saying that we had no concerns with, um, adding the private institutions to some of those initiatives throughout the state. And we thank the sponsor for looping us in.

Thanks, Katie. My name is Audrey Perry Martin. I am the university spokesperson for Brigham Young University, and we just wanted to come and offer support of this bill. Um, it helps us do things we're already working to do and makes it a little bit easier to collaborate. Um, and we're grateful for Representative Peterson's work on this issue. Thank you.

Thank you. I move to adopt first substitute of HB 2 79. That motion is in order. Would you like to speak to the motion? I will waive and let the sponsor speak to the substitute.

Like I said, this is clarification language on the procurement code. It's lines 3 38 through 3 47 if you want read it. But it basically allows them to request sponsorship or scholarships in the RFP process.

Oh, that was just for me to make a motion. I apologize. Oh, Sorry about that.

Representative Miller, I move to pass out HB 2 79, substitute one with a favorable recommendation.

I'll waive Right to the bill sponsor.

I just wanna thank staff again. Um, this has been a huge lift. I mean, the re codification alone was, uh, was huge. Uh, and they did that very professional. And within the timeframe of the special session, and then, uh, again, uh, just reviewing all the re all the information that we received from the different legal offices, from the private institutions, they've been through all of that. And so, uh, this is really a culmination of a year's worth of work. And so I just wanna make staff and know how much I appreciate their efforts.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I'd make a motion to substitute first substitute house bill 2 79 with second substitute house bill 2 79.

Yes. So, uh, in lines 4 59 to 4 68 there's some compromised language which allows, um, higher ed institutions to, uh, put sponsorships and tuition as something that they can, as scholarships, as something that they can evaluate as part of an RFP.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. So, uh, what this bill does is, as you remember in the special session, we, uh, divided private higher education institutions from public, uh, higher ed institutions. And what this does is restore, uh, some of the collaborations that can happen, uh, between different, uh, state agencies across the state. So there's basically nine things that it does. It allows for collaboration between the STEM Action Center, it provides for computing partnership grants. It allows the Highway patrol to assist with security issues upon request. It also extends the tuition waiver program for children's and spouses, a fallen peace officers and firefighters to the private schools. It also allows for healthcare systems affiliated with private post-secondary institutions to develop behavioral health treatment programs. And it extends criminal penalties for property damage to the private schools as well. It also has a law enforcement definition, which includes, uh, post-secondary institution, police forces and the definition of law enforcement. And it adds private post-secondary institutions to a list of entities that survey or assist in geologic mineral logic subjects as well as includes them in the Hydrogen Advisory Council. And that, uh, concludes my presentation. Mr. Speaker.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. So, uh, what this bill does is, as you remember in the special session, we, uh, divided private higher education institutions from public, uh, higher ed institutions. And what this does is restore, uh, some of the collaborations that can happen, uh, between different, uh, state agencies across the state. So there's basically nine things that it does. It allows for collaboration between the STEM Action Center, it provides for computing partnership grants. It allows the Highway patrol to assist with security issues upon request. It also extends the tuition waiver program for children's and spouses, a fallen peace officers and firefighters to the private schools. It also allows for healthcare systems affiliated with private post-secondary institutions to develop behavioral health treatment programs. And it extends criminal penalties for property damage to the private schools as well. It also has a law enforcement definition, which includes, uh, post-secondary institution, police forces and the definition of law enforcement. And it adds private post-secondary institutions to a list of entities that survey or assist in geologic mineral logic subjects as well as includes them in the Hydrogen Advisory Council. And that, uh, concludes my presentation. Mr. Speaker.

but there's sections that are relevant both to our private institutions as well as our public institutions. Um, for example, um, STEM Action Center could partner not only with public, um, institutions, but with private institutions. Uh, if we think about, um, behavioral health treatment programs, they're needed in our private institution as well as our public institutions, we're thinking about, um, criminal, uh, law protections, same kind of things. So what this does is address particular areas that need to be opened up beyond public institutions to also, um, include private institutions. It was done in consultation, uh, with our Board of Higher Education. They had no concerns, but it does address some of the concerns of our public, excuse me, of our private higher education institutions and opens up more opportunity for them. And I'm open to questions. Thank you Senator Millner for the presentation.

Senator Vickers Baldry Lewin b Brammer bus Aye. Fillmore Aye. Ms. Camilla Fillmore Grover Aye. Harper Aye. Hankins Ipson Aye. Johnson Juab McKay? Aye. Mikel Aye. Milner Aye. Musselman Musselman Aye. Owens pitcher Plum Rebe. Aye. Sandal Stevenson Stratton Bickers Aye. Weiler Aye. Wilson. Aye. Winterton President Adams Aye. Second substitute house Bill 2 79. Having received 26 Shay votes zero nay votes,

So, um, this is a reification of some of our higher ed code that's addresses one specific issue. In many cases we only focus on public higher education. Um, but there are areas that it also applies to private, um, uh, higher education in the state. The example would be coordination with our STEM center for the benefit of our young people doing computer partnerships. Um, doing, uh, thinking about things like survivor tuition waivers, um, law enforcement protections, et cetera. They impact all of our campuses. And what this bill does is, uh, insert private higher education in places that it really needs to have the same kind of opportunities and protections that public higher education has in the state of Utah. That I'm open to Questions.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. Motion to concur with the Senate amendments.

Yes. So, uh, we just, uh, put a amendment in that clarifies that, uh, if, uh, the RFP has, uh, sponsorship or, um, uh, scholarships in it, that that has to go to the institution and can't go to an individual.