2021 Policy Agenda

Public School Reform

• Commit to a path to increasing teacher pay to the National Average;
• Study the implementation of pay bands for teachers with special skills and give districts more flexibility in recruiting for critical-needs areas;
• Allow districts to designate more deregulated schools;
• Allow high-performing schools to have up to 10% of their teachers be non-certified;
• Make it easier for mid-career professionals to switch to teaching;
• Offer tax credits to businesses that hire teachers as summer employees.

Increase Educational Attainment

• Allow lottery tuition assistance to be used for those seeking high-quality industry credentials.

Professional Licensing

• Require LLR and the boards that oversee professional licenses to carefully examine requirements to ensure they are necessary and not merely barriers to competition.
• Give our DACA residents the right to receive state licenses to work.

Increase Access to Childcare

• Expand the accessibility of childcare options – a major workforce barrier. We must work on solutions to increase the accessibility of childcare and lower the cost to workers.

• Provide fair COVID liability protections for businesses and schools;
• Pass the “Fair Share Act”

The Coalition urges the General Assembly to review our state’s current penal code to prepare inmates for high-demand career opportunities and make it easier to transition into the workforce. Addressing the following issues will meet these directives in the future:

• Reform civil asset forfeiture laws;
• Pass a hate crime statute;
• Expand expungement for non-violent offenders;
• Assist returning citizens with vital records upon release; and
• Create a state tax credit for hiring returning citizens.

• Hold businesses’ unemployment rates harmless for layoffs from COVID-19 shutdowns;
• Actively target industries in California, New York, and other high-tax states to relocate;
• Increase state investment in tourism advertising;
• Support the development of high-speed broadband infrastructure in cities and rural areas;
• Provide resources to make it easier for employees to work from home;
• Restructure our state’s incentives so we may better attract office, headquarter, and R&D jobs that may have a large number of stay-at-home employees;
• Assist high-growth startup companies by making it easier to attract early-stage capital;
• Increase state support for mass transit in our metro areas;
• Dedicate funding to our commercial airports to expand passenger and cargo service;
• Require an economic impact statement for new regulations – not simply a state fiscal impact. Regulations above a certain economic impact should have a waiting period before being approved by the General Assembly.

• Close the state pension system to new employees;
• Switch to a defined contribution plan;
• Allow government subdivisions to leave the system so they may pay more competitive salaries; and
• Preserve promises made to those currently in the system.