Members of the House of Representatives passed two K-12 related bills on Monday (3/9).
On a unanimous vote, Representatives passed Senate Bill 191, which revises certain provisions in a program for capital outlay certificates and lease purchase agreements of school districts.
SB 191 had a smooth run through the legislature on its way to Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s desk for signature. ASBSD supports the bill.
The bill would designate the South Dakota Health and Educational Facilities Authority Intercept Program as the debtor for capital outlay bonds or certificates issued to schools in order to increase the rating and improve interest rates for a bond or certificate.
The program is optional for school districts to use.
A mechanism in the bill would allocate a portion of a school district’s state aid to the program if they were to default on a payment for the bond or certificate they went through the program to obtain.
Lt. Gov. Matt Michels said in a previous committee hearing the chance of default on payment by a district on the bond or certificate are “next to nil” and the addition of the state aid mechanism is in place to protect the SDHA Intercept Program’s rating.
A bill that would align state law with HIPAA regulations in order for schools and other entities to continue to access child immunization records also passed the House.
House Bill 1059, which previously passed the Senate, was originally introduced at the behest of the state’s Department of Health to allow schools and other entities to access immunization records in the event a parent or guardian would not have them readily available.
Representatives needed to concur with an amendment passed in the Senate requiring healthcare providers to provide written notice to parents and guardians of their option to opt-out of sharing their child’s records in the system.
It was noted in previous hearings of the bill that in the 18-years the DOH immunization system has been operational fewer than 200 people have opted not to share their children’s immunization records and there have been breaches in the system’s security.