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BILL: HB 739 TITLE: Primary and Secondary Education - Full-Time Equivalent Enrollment Count - Alterations (Truancy Reduction Act of 2023) DATE: March 14, 2023 POSITION: Oppose COMMITTEE: Appropriations CONTACT: Mary Pat Fannon, Executive Director, PSSAM The Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland (PSSAM), on behalf of all twenty-four public school superintendents, opposes House Bill 739. House Bill 739 would alter the definition of "full-time equivalent enrollment" in the calculation for State education aid to include the average number of students enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12 on September 30, December 31, March 31, and the last day of the prior school year. This calculation of education funding would apply to fiscal years beginning after June 30, 2024. Current law stipulates that of the student enrollment count for the prior year on September 30 and the three year rolling average, the greater would determine the “full-time equivalent enrollment.” This legislation aims to change the calculation to the average number of student enrollment on September 30, December 31, March 31 and the last day of school. PSSAM cautions that this calculation change would present a number of challenges for local school systems. Most alarmingly, it would delay the final State and county funding appropriations until after the prior school year is over, thus delaying implementation of the next school year’s budget. Additionally, if a school system were to lose student enrollment throughout the school year, this bill would reduce State and county revenue to that school district. Without knowing future enrollment counts, it is difficult to determine the fiscal impact of this legislation. However, any decrease in student enrollment after September 30 would result in a loss of revenue for school systems, which PSSAM strongly advocates against. It is clear that this bill aims to serve as a means to rectify student truancy by attaching financial stakes to the success of local truancy reduction. Maryland’s superintendents believe that student attendance is essential for academic success, and PSSAM believes that robust attendance requirements should be promoted wherever possible. However, this bill’s approach does not meaningfully promote student attendance. Instead, it alters a data snapshot of enrollment that is intended to ensure adequate funding for schools. For these reasons, PSSAM opposes House Bill 739 and requests an unfavorable committee report.

BILL: HB 375 TITLE: Education - Coaches - Mental Health First Aid Training DATE: March 9, 2023 POSITION: Oppose COMMITTEE: Appropriations / Ways and Means CONTACT: Mary Pat Fannon, Executive Director, PSSAM The Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland (PSSAM), on behalf of all twenty-four public school superintendents, opposes House Bill 375. House Bill 375 would require the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) to develop guidelines for public schools, and the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) to develop guidelines for public institutions of higher education to train coaches in providing mental health first aid to students who participate in athletic programs in public schools and public institutions of higher education. Additionally, this bill requires that public schools and public institutions offer programs to provide mental health first aid training to coaches. PSSAM has a longstanding policy of opposing efforts to codify the development of rigid guidelines for any new or existing policy or program; this is especially true when these new requirements do not include a funding source and are ultimately unfunded mandates. Local superintendents strongly believe that the role of content development and implementation of activities described in this bill belong solely to local boards of education in conjunction with MSDE and applicable stakeholders. PSSAM’s opposition to this bill is not a reflection of the merits of training athletic staff in mental health practices, but rather opposition to statutorily mandating development of training guidelines, especially those without additional funding appropriated. For these reasons, PSSAM opposes House Bill 375 and requests an unfavorable report.

BILL: HB 1054 TITLE: School Health and Vision Services–Screenings and Eye Examinations DATE: March 1, 2023 POSITION: Oppose COMMITTEE: Ways and Means CONTACT: Mary Pat Fannon, Executive Director, PSSAM The Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland (PSSAM),on behalf of all twenty-four public school superintendents, opposes House Bill 1054. House Bill 1054 requires local boards of education or local health departments to provide vision screenings to specified students and to ensure students who fail a vision screening receive an eye examination and, if recommended, eyeglasses. The bill further requires that, before a student may enroll in public school, the student must return a completed eye examination form to the local board or LHD. Further, the bill establishes a Pediatric Vision Program, to facilitate communication between pediatric optometrists and ophthalmologists and school health professionals, and the Vision for Maryland Program, to expand the services provided by Vision to Learn (VTL) to every county in the State. PSSAM’s primary concern with House Bill 1054 is the significantly expanded scope of mandated school-based vision screenings, as well as prescriptive procedures and vision services. Any mandated expansion of the annual vision screenings impacts both local school systems and county health departments, both of which are required to provide vision screenings to students as specified in existing law. PSSAM supports maintaining the current law, under §7-404 of the Education Article, which directs existing protocols for hearing and vision screenings. Under current law, vision screenings are mandated upon entering school, in grade one, and grades eight or nine. If, as proposed in this bill, the mandated annual vision screenings are expanded to include either third or fourth grade, the costs for doing so would be imposed on local school systems or local health departments, creating an unfunded mandate. Maryland’s superintendents champion a statewide approach to vision screening that ensures the timely assessment of each student’s hearing and vision health condition. PSSAM appreciates the bill’s proposal to mandate state funding for the new and expanded “Vision for Maryland” programs. However, there is no state funding identified for the costs of administering expanded vision screenings that will fall under the responsibility of school systems and local governments. In addition to the expanded number of mandated vision screenings, the bill further requires school systems to “ensure” that a student receives the recommended eyeglasses. As laudable as this goal is, it must be supported by state resources to ensure equity for each student and family. For these reasons, PSSAM opposes House Bill 1054 and urges an unfavorable report.

BILL: SB 735 TITLE: Workgroup to Study the Wages of Education Support Professionals DATE: March 8, 2023 POSITION: Support with Amendments COMMITTEE: Budget and Taxation / Education, Energy, and the Environment CONTACT: Mary Pat Fannon, Executive Director, PSSAM The Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland (PSSAM), on behalf of all twenty-four public school superintendents, supports Senate Bill 735 with one amendment. Senate Bill 735 would establish the Workgroup to Study the Wages of Education Support Professionals to determine what percentage of education support professionals in the State earn a living wage, as well as look into increasing the wages of education support professionals in order to attract and retain talent. PSSAM supports the establishment of this workgroup. The COVID-19 pandemic truly highlighted the imperative role educational support staff play in the learning environment, and superintendents champion any initiative to recruit and retain these team members. PSSAM requests one amendment - that one member of the group is a superintendent or a representative of PSSAM. As the chief executive of their school districts, superintendents play a critical part in any budgetary discussions and consideration involving the education workforce. Maryland’s superintendents value education support professionals and the work they do in all public schools, and PSSAM would welcome the opportunity to be a part of this study to ensure living wages for everyone working in our school systems. Again, educational support professionals are essential to achieving the goals outlined by the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, and in providing a world-class education for all students. For these reasons, PSSAM supports Senate Bill 735 and requests a favorable report with the amendment described above.

BILL: HB 1164 TITLE: Public Schools - Expanded American History - Development of Content Standards and Implementation DATE: March 8, 2023 POSITION: Oppose COMMITTEE: Ways and Means CONTACT: Mary Pat Fannon, Executive Director, PSSAM The Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland (PSSAM), on behalf of all twenty-four public school superintendents, opposes House Bill 1164. House Bill 1164 would require the Maryland State Board of Education (MSDE) to develop content standards for an expanded American history curriculum before December 1, 2023. Additionally, this bill requires each local school system to update and implement expanded curriculum and guidelines for American history beginning in the 2024-2025 school year. PSSAM has a longstanding policy of opposing efforts by the General Assembly to codify curriculum standards, assessments, or graduation requirements. Local superintendents strongly believe that the role of curriculum development and implementation belongs solely to local boards of education in conjunction with MSDE. Rest assured, PSSAM’s opposition to this bill is not an evaluation of the merits of teaching any specified subject matter, but rather opposition to statutorily mandating content standards and curriculum. The Maryland General Assembly, in creating the Maryland State Board of Education and local boards of education, has delegated to these entities the responsibility of delivering a high-quality statewide system of public education. The State Board establishes State content frameworks, state assessment standards, and minimum state graduation requirements, while each local board and school system implements locally-developed curriculum to ensure that the state content frameworks are followed, student performance standards are met, and students are prepared to meet graduation requirements. Superintendents are committed to providing students with a comprehensive, well-rounded social studies curriculum that includes the teaching of American history through multiple core and elective courses in grades K-12 that is implemented after proper stakeholder input and review processes. In addition to creating a mandated curriculum, this bill would also require local systems to use existing funds to implement the bill with no new funding source, therefore creating an unfunded mandate for all twenty-four local systems. House Bill 1164, alongside similar bills that seek to interject or extract piecemeal segments of the curriculum, only serve to weaken the effectiveness of the overall educational curriculum. Again, PSSAM’s opposition to this bill does not rest on the merits of instruction pertaining to American history, but the bill’s imposition of curricular mandates on local school systems. For these reasons, PSSAM opposes House Bill 1164 and requests an unfavorable report.

BILL: HB 1114 TITLE: Education - Prohibited Behavior on School Grounds and Property - Application DATE: March 8, 2023 POSITION: Support with Amendments COMMITTEE: Ways and Means CONTACT: Mary Pat Fannon, Executive Director, PSSAM The Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland (PSSAM), on behalf of all twenty-four public school superintendents, supports House Bill 1114 with amendments. House Bill 1114 would specify that provisions of law prohibiting and criminally penalizing certain disruptive and threatening behavior on certain school grounds and property do not apply to students who commit offenses at the institution they attend. Additionally, these provisions of law would not apply to students who commit offenses at another institution while participating in or attending a sporting event or other extracurricular program sponsored at that institution. This application would only apply to the following codified provisions: “a person may not willfully disturb or otherwise willfully prevent the orderly conduct of the activities, administration, or classes of any institution of elementary, secondary, or higher education”; “a person may not molest or threaten with bodily harm any student, employee, administrator, agent, or any other individual who is (1) lawfully on the grounds or in the immediate vicinity of any educational institution; (2) on a school vehicle; (3) at an activity sponsored by a school that is held off of school property; or (4) on property that is owned by a local school system and is used for administrative or other purposes”; and “a person may not threaten with bodily harm any employee of an educational institution at home by any means, including in person, by telephone, or by electronic mail. This prohibition relates only to the employee’s employment.” Simply put, this bill requires local systems to implement school-based discipline and consequences for students who disrupt the learning environment under these provisions, rather than criminally charge them. This alteration only applies to students, and only applies to the provisions listed above. This bill would not prohibit students from being charged for other crimes while on school grounds. Maryland’s superintendents place the highest priority on providing a safe workplace and learning environment for all students and staff in local school systems. Furthermore, PSSAM supports a progressive student discipline system that emphasizes in-school responses to student behaviors that provide professional, educational, and behavioral health support to affected members of the school community. Additionally, PSSAM supports this bill in its retention of the prohibition against non-student conduct contained in the Education Article, which states that “a person may not willfully disturb or otherwise willfully prevent the orderly conduct of the activities, administration, or classes of any institution of elementary, secondary, or higher education.” House Bill 1114 would ensure that any person other than a student who enters a school and willfully disturbs the ongoing education being conducted would continue to be subject to a charge and penalty under the law, in addition to any other applicable crimes contained in Maryland’s criminal law statutes. Under current law, any person who violates any of the provisions listed above is guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction, is subject to a fine up to $2,500, imprisonment up to six months, or both. Superintendents are committed to the personal development of all students, a goal furthered by appropriate use of restorative school discipline rather than these criminal penalties. PSSAM strongly believes that this bill furthers this approach. While PSSAM generally supports the application of this bill, we do raise one concern that can be clarified through amendments. As written, this bill would waive criminal penalties for students of a higher education institution who commit the specified offenses on elementary, middle, or high school grounds. For example, an adult who is enrolled in a local college who commits one of these offenses while attending a sporting event at a local high school could not be criminally charged if this bill were to go into effect. For the safety of all students, PSSAM requests that amendments be added to clarify that students of higher education who commit an offense on K-12 grounds are still subject to criminal penalties. PSSAM believes that the spirit of this bill is not impacted by this amendment, and ultimately, this amendment would serve to ensure that adults could be charged under these provisions of law, regardless of their enrollment in any higher education institution. For these reasons, PSSAM supports House Bill 1114 with the amendments outlined above, and requests a favorable committee report.

BILL: HB 1202 TITLE: Public Schools - Curriculum and Instructional Materials DATE: March 8, 2023 POSITION: Oppose COMMITTEE: Ways and Means CONTACT: Mary Pat Fannon, Executive Director, PSSAM The Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland (PSSAM), on behalf of all twenty-four public school superintendents, opposes House Bill 1202. House Bill 1202 would require the posting of all curriculum and instructional materials used at each public school on the school’s website, including all textbooks, reading materials, videos, digital materials, websites, and other online applications. Additionally, this bill would establish requirements for the production and inspection of certain instructional materials referenced in certain curriculum. Maryland’s superintendents oppose this bill in favor of preserving each local system’s governance role and authority in developing policies and guidelines for curriculum and instructional materials. One of PSSAM’s longstanding legislative priorities centers on governance authority for local school systems to adopt education policies and school system budgets reflecting local priorities and resources. PSSAM believes the principle of local governance by local systems is fundamental to a sound system of public education, and by retaining decision-making authority at the local level, local boards of education can best balance educational practices, available resources to implement those practices, public input, and academic and financial accountability. Therefore, PSSAM strongly opposes any state and local initiatives that reduce local board governance or budgetary authority, as well as initiatives that create unfunded mandates for local systems. It’s worth mentioning that many local systems already provide in-depth overviews of K-12 curriculum on their websites, outlining curriculum and content standards of both core and elective courses. Regardless, PSSAM firmly believes that the local policy-making authority in providing this information should remain within the purview of each local system in line with their budgetary needs. The task of providing descriptions of all instructional materials is simply unfeasible without attached funding, which this bill does not provide. PSSAM, appreciates the General Assembly’s longtime recognition in support of local board governance in areas such as curriculum and instructional material. Therefore, PSSAM strongly recommends allowing for local policy-making authority in this area, which is always in compliance with state, federal and local guidelines. For these reasons, PSSAM opposes House Bill 1202 and requests an unfavorable report.

BILL: HB 1110 TITLE: Education - Peace and Conflict Studies - High School Course DATE: March 8, 2023 POSITION: Oppose COMMITTEE: Ways and Means CONTACT: Mary Pat Fannon, Executive Director, PSSAM The Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland (PSSAM), on behalf of all twenty-four public school superintendents, opposes House Bill 1110. House Bill 1110 would require the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) to develop curriculum content standards for a high school course on peace and conflict studies. Additionally, each local board of education would be required to implement a course on peace and conflict studies in each public high school in the county beginning in the 2024-2025 school year. Furthermore, each public high school would be required to set aside funds to hire a mediator to provide education and support to students and school personnel relating to conflict resolution and peaceful communication. PSSAM has a longstanding policy of opposing efforts by the General Assembly to codify curriculum standards, assessments, or graduation requirements. Local superintendents strongly believe that the role of curriculum development and implementation belongs solely to local boards of education in conjunction with MSDE. Rest assured, PSSAM’s opposition to this bill is not an evaluation of the merits of teaching any specified subject matter, but rather opposition to statutorily mandating content standards and curriculum. The Maryland General Assembly, in creating the Maryland State Board of Education and local boards of education, has delegated to these entities the responsibility of delivering a high-quality statewide system of public education. The State Board establishes State content frameworks, state assessment standards, and minimum state graduation requirements, while each local board and school system implements locally-developed curriculum to ensure that the state content frameworks are followed, student performance standards are met, and students are prepared to meet graduation requirements. Superintendents are committed to providing students with a comprehensive, well-rounded curriculum that includes the teaching of personal development skills, such as conflict resolution after proper stakeholder input and review processes. In addition to creating a mandated curriculum, this bill would also require local systems to use existing funds to implement the bill with no new funding source, therefore creating an unfunded mandate for all twenty-four local systems. House Bill 1110, alongside similar bills that seek to interject or extract piecemeal segments of the curriculum, only serve to weaken the effectiveness of the overall educational curriculum. Again, PSSAM’s opposition to this bill does not rest on the merits of instruction pertaining to peace and conflict studies, but the bill’s imposition of curricular mandates on local school systems. For these reasons, PSSAM opposes House Bill 1110 and requests an unfavorable report.

BILL: HB 1105 TITLE: Public Schools – Water Safety and Swimming Course – Established DATE: March 8, 2023 POSITION: Oppose COMMITTEE: Ways and Means CONTACT: Mary Pat Fannon, Executive Director, PSSAM The Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland (PSSAM), on behalf of all twenty-four public school superintendents, opposes House Bill 1105. House Bill 1105 would require the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) to develop curriculum content for an elective course in water safety and swimming for public school students in grades 8 through 12. Additionally, this bill would require local boards of education to implement the water safety and swimming curriculum content in all public middle and high schools beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. Furthermore, this bill authorizes schools to partner with local parks and recreation facilities in order to meet the objectives of the water safety curriculum. PSSAM has a longstanding policy of opposing efforts by the General Assembly to codify curriculum standards, assessments, or graduation requirements. Local superintendents strongly believe that the role of curriculum development and implementation belongs solely to local boards of education in conjunction with MSDE. Rest assured, PSSAM’s opposition to this bill is not an evaluation of the merits of teaching any specified subject matter, but rather opposition to statutorily mandating content standards and curriculum. The Maryland General Assembly, in creating the Maryland State Board of Education and local boards of education, has delegated to these entities the responsibility of delivering a high-quality statewide system of public education. The State Board establishes State content frameworks, state assessment standards, and minimum state graduation requirements, while each local board and school system implements locally-developed curriculum to ensure that the state content frameworks are followed, student performance standards are met, and students are prepared to meet graduation requirements. Superintendents are committed to providing students with a comprehensive, well-rounded physical education curriculum that is implemented after proper stakeholder input and review processes. In addition to creating a mandated curriculum, this bill would also require local systems to use existing funds to implement the bill with no new funding source, therefore creating an unfunded mandate for all twenty-four local systems. House Bill 1105, alongside similar bills that seek to interject or extract piecemeal segments of the curriculum, only serve to weaken the effectiveness of the overall educational curriculum. Again, PSSAM’s opposition to this bill does not rest on the merits of instruction pertaining to water safety and swimming, but the bill’s imposition of curricular mandates on local school systems. For these reasons, PSSAM opposes House Bill 1105 and requests an unfavorable report.

BILL: HB 569 TITLE: Primary and Secondary Education - Education Savings Account Program - Established (Maryland Universal School Choice Act) DATE: March 7, 2023 POSITION: Oppose COMMITTEE: Appropriations CONTACT: Mary Pat Fannon, Executive Director, PSSAM The Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland (PSSAM), on behalf of all twenty-four public school superintendents, opposes House Bill 569. House Bill 569 seeks to establish an Education Savings Account (ESA) program in the State, which would provide grants to families to defray specified costs related to nonpublic or homeschooling for eligible students. This bill requires the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) to administer the program. Additionally, this bill allows a subtraction modification under the Maryland income tax for deposits into an education savings account under the Education Savings Account program. PSSAM opposes public financing for private schools in every shape and size, including education savings accounts and the use of public financing tools for families choosing non-public schools. Under the proposed ESA program, the State would be required to provide taxpayer funds directly to private schools. While seemingly not a voucher program, this program uses public dollars to fund private schools and divert scarce resources away from the public education system that serves 90% of American children. Additionally, PSSAM opposes the proposal to establish a new Education Savings Account program on the basis that it would provide grants to parents for home instruction expenses. Maryland’s long-standing approach to homeschooling establishes very limited educational, reporting, and verification requirements for parents choosing to homeschool their child. In fact, current regulations simply require parents to sign a form verifying that they will provide “regular, thorough instruction during the school year in the studies usually taught in the public schools to children of the same age,” consent to requirements to keep a portfolio of the student’s work, and submit to semester evaluations by school system staff. This is the full extent of any governmental role in the education of home schooled children, largely due to the advocacy of parents, who have successfully maintained State regulations that prohibit school systems from imposing any additional requirements for home instruction programs. Local superintendents do not seek additional oversight in Maryland’s homeschooling regulations. At the same time, PSSAM does not support increasing the burden on state revenues and future state budgets by establishing an income tax credit to benefit parents who exercise their choice to provide their children with home instruction, with no legal means to ensure accountability of instruction. Unlike public schools, homeschooling parents have no means of direct accountability to taxpayers for their use of tax revenues. Funds provided to parents through ESA programs in other states have been found ripe for fraud and abuse -- In 2018, the state’s Auditor General in Arizona found that parents misused over $700,000 in ESA funds on items such as beauty supplies and sports apparel, with no way for the state to recoup the money. The diversion of public education funds to nonpublic schools and homeschooling programs is likely to have serious economic, legal, and public policy consequences. If public education funds were to be used for the support of nonpublic schools and homeschooling students, fewer resources would be available for public elementary and secondary schools. This diversion of public education funding would impede the ability of localities to ensure an appropriate, safe, and equitable education for all students -- an high standard of accountability held to us by taxpayers who directly fund public education programs. For these reasons, PSSAM opposes House Bill 569 and requests an unfavorable committee report.

BILL: SB 835 TITLE: Public Schools – Heating, Ventilation, and Air–Conditioning Systems and Carbon Dioxide Monitors – Monitoring and Reporting Requirements DATE: March 7, 2023 POSITION: Oppose COMMITTEE: Education, Energy, and the Environment CONTACT: Mary Pat Fannon, Executive Director, PSSAM The Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland (PSSAM), on behalf of all twenty-four public school superintendents, opposes Senate Bill 835. Senate Bill 835 would require the Interagency Commission on School Construction (IAC) to complete a statewide heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system assessment of all public school facilities by 2025. Following the assessment, IAC would be required to develop uniform HVAC standards and incorporate them into existing facility sufficiency standards. Furthermore, local school systems would be required to develop and implement plans for corrective actions in response to the assessment, as well as install a carbon dioxide monitor in every public school classroom. While PSSAM supports the establishment and maintenance of safe and conducive learning environments, this bill would cause local school system expenditures to increase by tens of millions of dollars statewide in order to remediate HVAC deficiencies and install carbon dioxide detectors in every classroom. The IAC estimates that a statewide HVAC assessment of indoor air quality in all 1,400 public schools would cost as much as $75 million, plus the cost of additional staff, as well as significantly affect the normal operations of each public school system for significant periods of time. Additionally, the cost of any required remediation efforts required under this bill would be taken on solely by each individual school system. While it is unclear how many schools would be required to complete remediation fixes to existing HVAC systems, it is estimated that the average cost to replace a single system can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is important to note that any imposed unfunded mandate of this significant magnitude would severely constrain the total available funds used to support other educational priorities in our school systems. Maryland’s superintendents champion the devotion of staff time and resources to provide healthy school environment, including addressing indoor air quality issues. Risk managers and facility maintenance staff recognize the need for a comprehensive preventative management strategy, including educating and training staff, and providing them with the maintenance budgets to support these strategies. Routine monitoring coupled with prompt responses to problems when they do occur can avoid the emergence of more serious and costly problems. Again, PSSAM agrees that indoor air quality in public schools is a very important health issue. However, PSSAM would prefer to focus on securing sufficient state and local funding for school construction and maintenance programs, and promoting the accepted best practices described above, rather than implementing a costly and overreaching assessment of all HVAC systems. For these reasons, PSSAM opposes Senate Bill 835 and requests an unfavorable report.

BILL: SB 913 TITLE: Publicly Funded Full-Day Prekindergarten Program - Tier I Child - Alteration of Definition DATE: March 7, 2023 POSITION: Support COMMITTEE: Education, Energy, and the Environment CONTACT: Mary Pat Fannon, Executive Director, PSSAM The Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland (PSSAM), on behalf of all twenty-four public school superintendents, supports Senate Bill 913. This emergency bill would expand the definition of a full-day “Tier I child” prekindergarten who is 3 or 4 years old, and whose family income is less than or equal to 300% of the federal level, to include (1) a child with a disability; (2) a student who is a homeless youth; or, (3) who is from a home in which English is not the primary language. We strongly encourage this expanded definition and believe this was the intention of the Kirwan Commission, but was omitted in the final legislation. This small, yet meaningful change is tremendously important as districts are implementing new and expanding public and private prekindergarten programs. We applaud this legislation’s status as “emergency” so that funding for these vulnerable students can be provided to local school systems in the FY 2024 budget instead of waiting another year. For these reasons, PSSAM supports Senate Bill 913 and urges a favorable report.