JEFFERSON CITY — We’ve had another busy week in the Missouri State Capitol. Of course, every week has its activities, but this week set the stage for many different discussions and debates in the three weeks left in the session.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has finished its task of reviewing the House budget bills line by line, and those 13 bills have been voted out of committee. Next week, those bills will reach the Senate floor for debate. The deadline this year for the General Assembly to finalize a fiscally responsible budget and send it to the governor’s desk is 6:00 p.m., Friday, May 9. The task of creating a state spending plan is difficult. Tight budgets can be hard to balance and tough decisions often have to be made. I expect lively debate on the budget on the Senate floor.

This week in the Senate Education Committee, we passed House Bill 1490 out of committee. Similar to Senate Bill 815, which I am sponsoring, HB 1490 allows for new standards to be drafted and curriculum adopted by each school district.

Many school administrators, educators and parents have had suggestions and made decisions regarding Common Core practices and standards. One complaint that has been made is that school districts don’t have the autonomy to create their own curriculum. HB 1490 would actually prohibit either the State Board of Education or the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education from mandating specific curriculum, books or other instructional materials. It would also protect student privacy and sharing of individual student and teacher performance.

The measure would also create work groups for grades kindergarten through five and then grades six through twelve in four separate disciplines: English language arts, math, science and social studies. Eight groups would then work to develop or recommend academic performance standards. However, local school districts and charter schools would be allowed to implement their own education standards, as long as those standards are in public domain, in addition to any already in place by the state.

These last three weeks of session will be a race to the finish line. Lawmakers still have many topics left to discuss and legislation to debate before 6:00 p.m., May 16. I will keep you updated on matters relating to the 21st District and all Missourians.

As always, please feel free to contact me or my staff with any questions or concerns at any time. We look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions and trying to answer any questions you may have. You can reach us by phone at 866-277-0882 (toll-free) or 573-751-2272, or by fax at 573-526-7381.