HELP ALERT 06.13.07

SB 392 Rises From The Ashes.

Senate Bill 392 was revived today and sent back to committee. Representative Arnie Roblan requested that the bill be sent back to the Committee On Elections, Ethics and Rules , the only committee still available to hear bills, and a committee on which he sits.

There were two votes today. The first vote was to reconsider the bill, the second to send it to the Rules Committee. The vote counts can be found here.

When asked what he expected to happen there, he said he hoped to have the bill amended so that the mandatory age of attendance would stay the same, but people who put their children into school at an earlier age would be required to make sure they attended regularly.

Ironically, this was an amendment that was suggested by Senator Kruse when the bill started life in the Senate.

At the time, the supporters of the bill claimed that the reason the bill was needed was because children under 7 could not be compelled to attend and when absent could not be considered truant. But when Kruse suggested that all that was needed was a bill requiring children who were enrolled to attend, his suggestion was dismissed by the Democrats in control of the Senate Committee. When the same suggestion was made in the House Committee, that also was dismissed.

Now Roblan, who helped pass the bill out of  the House Committee, claims that will be what happens when the bill goes to the Rules Committee. Please contact the Rules Committee members and tell them that you oppose any bill that would in any way erode your rights as a parent. Tell them you oppose any bill that requires that you ask for government permission to decide when it is best for your children to start school.

Elections, Ethics and Rules
Membership:
*Diane Rosenbaum, Chair  rep.dianerosenbaum@state.or.us 503-986-1442

Vicki Berger, Vice-Chair rep.vickiberger@state.or.us 503-986-1420

*Peter Buckley, Vice-Chair rep.peterbuckley@state.or.us 503-986-1405

Sal Esquivel  rep.salesquivel@state.or.us 503-986-1406

*Dave Hunt rep.davehunt@state.or.us 503-986-1900

*Arnie Roblan rep.arnieroblan@state.or.us 503-986-1409

Kim Thatcher rep.kimthatcher@state.or.us 503-986-1425

*These people voted against your rights when they voted on the original bill.