Budget measure wins Senate stamp
The $16.5 billion state budget for 2006-07 won final approval in the Senate on Thursday on a 24-11 vote.
On Wednesday, senators made a few changes and trimmed several amendments that had been made by the state House of Representatives a week ago.
One of the key changes called for shifting spending in the department of revenue to require the agency to open more driver’s license stations.
The bill now goes to a conference committee of House and Senate members. Many of the changes are likely to be stripped out because that panel is the same group of lawmakers that drafted the original bill.
New law requires schools to report fights
Gov. Bill Owens on Thursday signed Senate Bill 55, requiring schools to report fights and disruptive conduct in their annual School Accountability Reports.
The new law will “provide a better snapshot of the environment at school,” Owens said at the bill-signing ceremony in his office.
Current law requires school districts to file annual reports on incidents at schools, but the information has been inconsistent.
Last year, one suburban school district reported nearly 650 assaults or fights, while two other large suburban districts reported a single fight each.
House postpones action on funeral buffer zones
The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday delayed action on House Bill 1382, which would create a 300-foot buffer zone between a funeral and protesters.
Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor that carries a $750 fine and six months in jail.
Wiping away tears, Julie Mac Kenzie, whose son was killed while serving in Iraq, begged state lawmakers Thursday to limit protests at funerals.
She said no parent should have to endure what she went through when she buried her son in November. A group of protesters from a Kansas church showed up with signs that bore “Thank God for dead soldiers” and other messages. The church believes the Iraq war is God’s retribution against Americans who support gay rights.
Her 20-year-old son, Tyler, was buried Nov. 11 in Greeley. “That was the last thing they needed to see,” she said of mourners.
