Highlights from the Legislature on Wednesday.
— A bill giving school districts 24 hours to report allegations of sexual misconduct by teachers won unanimous approval in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. The measure (House Bill 1344) now goes to the full House for debate.
— The House Judiciary Committee killed another measure, House Bill 1011, that would have lifted the statute of limitations on lawsuits against private schools over sexual assaults on children. Lawmakers said it would remove incentives for people to come forward immediately with allegations of abuse.
— The House approved and sent to the Senate a bill (House Bill 1027) would allow the Division of Oil and Public Safety to delegate responsibility for inspecting public school buildings and junior college district buildings to local building departments or a third-party inspector following reports some school buildings have not been inspected for decades.
— The Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee backed a proposal to conduct this year’s elections mainly by paper ballot (Senate Bill 189). The bill will be reviewed next by the appropriations committee since it will require spending at least $5.2 million. County clerks say they need $11 million.
— The full Senate gave final approval a bill requiring all United States flags flown by state agencies to be made in the U.S. The measure (House Bill 1111) now heads to the governor.
— The Senate gave initial approval to a measure (House Bill 1160) that requires rural electric cooperatives and municipal owned utilities to give credit to homeowners who generate their own renewable power. The net-metering bill applies to providers with 5,000 or more customers.
— The House approved Senate amendments and sent to the governor a bill allowing investigators to place a wiretap on a suspect’s telephone for up to four months if they get monthly approval from a judge. House Bill 1130 originally would have allowed authorities to ask for unlimited extensions.
