Concerning student excused absences for mental health reasons.

HB 1834 is a unique bill in that it was created by students to address the need for better school absence policies. You will hear statements from the students who created this bill in the Public Testimonies below.

TVW Primary Source Footage:

Public hearing in the House Committee on Education– January 20th, 2022

Public Testimony is an excellent glimpse at the different ‘stakeholders’ that may be affected by a bill if it were to pass. How does hearing the many aspects of an issue inform your position on the bill?

Bill introduction:

Staff Briefing – Starts at 01:17:32 – 2 min
- Staff briefing provides background to the bill and describes its scope and intent.
Bill Sponsor Introduction
- The committee was short on time so the Bill Sponsor turned it directly over to public testimony to allow more of the public’s voice to be heard.
- Typically, The bill’s sponsor is the primary advocate for the bill, and would take this opportunity to help frame the bill and make their statement in support of it. In the case of HB 1834, those testifying were also involved in creating the bill.

Public Testimonies:

Full Public Testimonies – Start at 01:20:13 – 6 min
- In this short public testimony, 4 students testified in support of the bill and in fact, most, if not all of these testifiers were the creators of the bill.

Full Public Hearing on HB 1834 – 10 min

Executive action taken in the House Education Committee – January 27th, 2022

Executive Action is when a committee holds a vote on a bill to move it out of committee. It is also an opportunity for legislators to weigh in on any concerns they may have with the bill and share how they intend to vote and why.

Bill Introduction:

Executive Action on HB 1834 opens with no amendments
- The beginning of Executive Action on a bill is an opportunity for the full committee to review and comment for or against any proposed amendments.

Final vote:

Because there was no controversy around this bill, the entire hearing was very brief – 3 min
- Sponsor makes her argument for supporting the bill– 1 min
- Fellow Committee members make their statements in support of the bill out of committee – 2 min
  - Often committee members will take a moment to make a statement regarding the vote they are about to cast for or against the bill. There was no controversy around passing this bill so this was a very short discussion.
- Final Vote
  - Since there was unanimous support from the committee this vote was taken by voice rather than roll call vote.

Full Executive Action – 3 min

In the Senate:

Public Hearing in the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education – February 16th, 2022

This was a busy day for this committee with more people testifying in on House Bills in the Senate than they had in their ‘House of Origin’.

HB 1835 Introduction

Staffer reads the bill to the committee – Starting at 00:14:36 – 1 min
Committee members make introductory comments on the bill Starting at 00:15:52 – 3 min

Public Testimony

A panel of two students testified followed by an OSPI representative – Starting at 00:42:49 – 4 min

HB 1834 –