Tiara Auxier

Um, so we met and there were a couple provisions that the house felt strongly that they did not want in that bill, and we were able to keep that out. And then also just preserve the intent of the foundational role that religion played in, um, our early founding.

The operative changes here is that this sub authorizes the Lieutenant Governor's office to charge and collect a fee and it also modifies the use of the municipal incorporation expendable special revenue fund.

Fifth Substitute House Bill three 12 School curriculum and standards modifications by Representative Voxer. Representative Voxer. Thank You. Motion to concur with Senate Amendments.

Yeah. Um, this is the bill that we passed out about creating our own social studies and history curriculum. There was also a bill that said, um, that we should look into doing our curriculum across all subjects. And so we just put it into the bill. Um, my history and social studies will be first and that's what was funded. And so that's, uh, that's the concurrence

Thank you Mr. Speaker. Um, this bill is about, um, examining the role of religion in, um, our foundational principles and different movements throughout history in the American Constitutional government and citizenship course. And it has a list of optional topics that could be, um, examined during that time. And then also, um, just a provision to make sure that students can express their religious beliefs freely in their artwork or other assignments without any, um, fear of reprisals or discrimination.

That's correct. And I'd like to point out along with that, that that was the amount that, um, my bill needed to fund the civics portion. And so this, um, as, as was also mentioned earlier, I, I made sure that this would not be in vendor bill. The way that I wrote it is that the state superintendent, along with the school board, will be the ones looking for the materials and developing it here in Utah. Whether that's the USU Civic Center, whether that's the Utah teachers or anywhere else they wanna look, it is putting it fully in the hands of the state school board and superintendent Honor.

Um, I would say that it is different. A lot of the comments that were considered, um, for why the bill failed the first time was because they were afraid it was a vendor bill. My language in three 12 is very specific that it is not a vendor bill and it is left up to the superintendent and the school board to be able to decide how they develop and identify the materials. And so I think that is the major sticking point on if we want control on what our students are being able to learn and being taught, um, we, we want to not have to be getting our textbooks from California. Mr.

Yeah, thank you. I think if everyone looks at the fiscal bill, it was not $65 million. It is $12 million and if we put together our own curriculum and we would give it to the schools, they would then free up those millions of dollars for whatever they want. And so it is a win-win for us to be able to make sure that the curriculum our kids are being taught are based off of the standards that we want them to have. I would also like to note that I worked closely with the school board and they actually gave me much of the language that is in this bill for it to work the way that they …

Um, I guess I will Motion to refuse to Concur Representative and ask the Senate to receive from its amendments.

Representative officer, Mr. Chair. Sorry, my phone's on. Okay. Got taken care of. Okay, great.

Um, thank you for letting me come and present HB five 10. Uh, last year, the legislature had a serious conversation about whether to repeal the preliminary municipality provision altogether. And that, uh, repeal effort passed 53 to 19 in the house and then ultimately didn't, um, advance in the Senate. And I just share that history because it reflects something important that there's a broad recognition that the current framework has created real challenges. And so today I'm trying to find a way to refine and strengthen this process. And, um, at its core, this is a conversation about whether or not, um, this statutory framework works not just on paper, but in practice as well for our counties …

Okay, thank you. Um, I just wanted to respond to the governor's office. Um, we have had a lot of conversations and recently the governor's office has gotten involved and I listened to a lot of those concerns. And I would say that the lieutenant of governor's office was brought in, um, by the request of the governor's office asking for this statement of insurance. It was not in the original sub, and it was something specifically that the Lieutenant Governor's office asked to make sure that the developer was saying, Hey, this is our plan and this is what we're expecting to do. And the Lieutenant Governor's office said it was so that they wouldn't actually get sued if …

Yeah, I mean, I can talk to him and see if there's any idea about the statement of insurance or like I said, it wasn't in the bill to begin with. And so if people don't think that's important for the Lieutenant Governor's office to have, then I'm happy to strike it as well. Um, it was just something that they'd asked for. And so, okay.

Yeah. You know, I, I think like what I said earlier, the counties aren't asking for barriers, just guardrails around this process. And also this bill passed unanimously in the house. So I think that it is a clear indication that that changes need to be made. And that was on the original sub before I even changed to more things. So I would appreciate that favorable recommendation.

Would you like to speak to that motion? Yeah, I would. You know, I really appreciate the thought of this. And like was said earlier, the last couple years we've been really making an effort to look into getting more funding for school lunch. And, you know, last year there was a $5 million ask this year, a $7 million ask to make it so that, um, families who are in that 130 to 185, um, of percent of poverty, not only would res um, get that reduced price, but actually get it for free. And so, you know, asking to then extend that to 200 i, I think is, um, not just saying, Hey, you'll be able to get …