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House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted:	January 14, 2015 12:14 PM
From:	Representative Dan Truitt
To:	All House members
Subject:	Education Mandate Waiver Program (Previous House Bill 135)

How often have the school directors in your district complained to you about “unfunded mandates”? I am preparing to re-introduce legislation amending the Public School Code to bring back the Mandate Waiver Program that expired at the end of 2010. This legislation was unanimously reported out of the Education Committee in 2013, but, never saw any action on the House floor. It is imperative in these difficult times that we provide our schools with the ability to find savings and eliminate unnecessary costs in their own budgets. In short, this legislation would allow the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) to grant a mandate waiver when a school entity adopts a resolution requesting one and provides a rationale for the suspension of the mandate along with a justification of how the change will improve instructional programs or allow the school entity to operate in a more effective, efficient, or economical manner. During hearings in 2013, we learned that PDE granted hundreds of waivers during the ten-year period that the program existed before, saving school districts significant amounts of money. It was a successful program and we should not have allowed it to expire. Please help me bring it back. Attached is last Session’s bill. I hope you will join me in sponsoring this legislation. Previous co-sponsors of HB-135 include: TRUITT, BROOKS , PICKETT , CUTLER , BAKER , MICOZZIE , SAYLOR , TOEPEL, MACKENZIE, SIMMONS, AUMENT, BOBACK , CAUSER , KAUFFMAN , COX , KNOWLES, HICKERNELL , ROCK , HESS , C. HARRIS , WATSON , R. MILLER , SWANGER , MILNE , STEVENSON , TOBASH, LAWRENCE, ROSS , GABLER, GRELL , QUINN , CLYMER , DENLINGER , F. KELLER, CHRISTIANA, GROVE, EVERETT and ENGLISH

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