March 20, 2008

Legislature sends Schmick bills to governor's desk

As state lawmakers head toward the March 13 conclusion of their scheduled 60-day session, two bills sponsored by 9^th District Rep. Joe Schmick cleared their final legislative hurdles and were sent to the governor for signature.  

House Bill 3129, which won final approval last Saturday, would improve public information efforts to promote the value and availability of online learning programs.

The measure is aimed at ensuring that students – particularly those who reside in rural and remote communities – are apprised of how to pursue distance-learning options on the Internet.

Schmick's proposal would require the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to compile and post information on its Web site about the benefits of online learning programs and how to access them.

In addition to the OSPI Web-site posting, the bill calls for high schools to ensure that teachers and counselors have information about online learning programs.

The measure also would require school districts to provide general information about Web-delivered education to all 10^th-, 11^th- and 12^th-grade students and their parents.

"Being separated by geographic distance from a conventional classroom needn't be a barrier to a student who wants to fill in credit gaps or pursue an entire degree program," said Schmick, R-Colfax. "This bill can help us do a better job of making the connection between where people live and where educational resources exist."

The Legislature also completed work on House Bill 3200, a measure Schmick sponsored to make it easier for counties to establish local cemetery districts.

The measure would lower the number of voter signatures required on a cemetery-district petition, and allow county commissioners to put the proposal before voters as a ballot proposition.

"This bill is really targeted toward rural areas," Schmick said. "Asotin County, for example, has had trouble getting signatures to form a cemetery district. There is still a high threshold before a district can be created, but the modest changes in the measure would help make the process more manageable."

There are about 100 cemetery districts in 77 cities and towns around the state, according to the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington.