Sen. Tara Durant

Commending The Cadet and The Cadet Foundation.

Group Violence Intervention Board; Divisionof Group Violence Intervention; Project Ceasefire Grant Fund; ProjectExit Grant Fund; report. Establishes the Group Violence InterventionBoard to coordinate and assist federal, state, and local group violenceintervention efforts. The bill also establishes within the Departmentof Criminal Justice Services (the Department) the Division of GroupViolence Intervention (the Division), to be headed by an executivedirector appointed by the Director of the Department. The bill providesthat the Division is responsible for (i) coordinating the effortsof members of state and local law enforcement, community members,and social services providers to combat group violence; (ii) servingas a clearinghouse for research, best practices, and strategies thatmay be utilized in the implementation, execution, and evaluationof group violence interventions; and (iii) implementing and administeringvarious federal, state, and local grant funds that aid group violenceintervention efforts. Finally, the bill creates the Project CeasefireGrant Fund, which provides money to organizations that are involvedin group violence intervention efforts, and creates the Project ExitGrant Fund, which provides money to organizations that assist formergang members or individuals attempting to leave gangs.

College partnership laboratory schools; application and establishment. Permits any public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education to apply to the Board of Education (the Board) to establish a college partnership laboratory school as a new school or through the conversion of all or part of an existing school. Under current law, only public and private institutions of higher education that operate approved teacher education programs are permitted to apply to the Board to establish such a school and no explicit provision is made for the conversion of an existing school. The bill permits college partnership laboratory schools to enter into a memorandum of understanding with any individual or entity to provide apprenticeships, career training, and curriculum support to carry out the provisions of law relating to such schools. The bill requires the Board, in reviewing such applications, to give substantial preference to any application from a historically black college or university and any application to establish a college partnership laboratory school in an underserved community, which the bill defines as a geographical area that is served by public schools in which a high percentage of students are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunch, as determined by the Board.

Disabled veteran special license plate; survivingspouse. Authorizes a disabled veteran special license plate issuedto a disabled veteran to be transferred, upon his death, to his unremarriedsurviving spouse.

Board of Education; Child Care Subsidy Program; Armed Forces; examination and report. Directs the Board of Education to determine the feasibility of amending its regulations to permit all active duty members of the Armed Forces of the United States who serve as caregivers to dependents to apply for the Child Care Subsidy Program and submit its findings to the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health. This bill is identical to SB 529.

Real property taxes; notice of proposed increase. Adjusts the notice requirements for public hearings held to increase property taxes in localities that conduct their reassessment of real estate more than once every four years. The bill requires such localities to provide notice of any such hearing on a different day and in a different notice from any notice published for the annual budget hearing. Under current law, such hearings are required when a locality seeks to raise its property tax rate above a rate that would collect more than 101 percent of the amount of taxes collected for the previous year.

Celebrating the life of Adeline Rose Krizek.

Commending M.E. Marty Hall, Jr.

Celebrating the life of Eugene L. Krizek.

Celebrating the life of Adam Jeffery Oakes.