An Act Regarding O Kindergarten Readiness for Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0642
Committee Amendment CA_A_S243 (Senate)

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" f\ "to S.P. 204, L.D. 642, Bill, "An Act Regarding 
O 
Kindergarten Readiness for Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing" 
Amend the bill in section 3 in subsection 8 in paragraph B in the last line (page I, line 
in L.D.) by striking out the following: "and English" and inserting the following: 'or 
English, or both' 
Amend the bill in section 4 in the first paragraph in the next to the last line (page I, 
line 38 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "and English" and inserting the following: 
'or English, or both' 
Amend the bill in section 4 in the first paragraph in the next to the last line (page 1, 
line 38 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "October" and inserting the following: 
'November' 
Amend the bill in section 4 in subsection 2 in the first paragraph in the first line (page 
3, line 18 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "By March 1, 2020, the" and inserting 
the following: 'The' 
Amend the bill in section 4 in subsection 3 in the first paragraph in the first line (page 
3, line 28 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "June" and inserting the following: 
'September' 
Amend the bill in section 4 in subsection 3 in the first paragraph in the 7th line (page 
3, line 34 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "and English" and inserting the 
following: 'or English, or both' 
Amend the bill in section 4 in subsection 4 in the first paragraph in the first line (page 
4, line 1 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "June" and inserting the following: 
'September' 
Amend the bill in section 4 in subsection 5 in the first paragraph in the first line (page 
4, line 4 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "November 15" and inserting the 
following: 'December 1' 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" Jf' to S.P. 204, L.D. 642 C , , ;Ki, 
Amend the bill in section 4 in subsection 5 in the first paragraph in the last line (page 
4, line 6 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "must" and inserting the following: 'may' 
Amend the bill in section 4 in subsection 5 in paragraph D in the last line (page 4, 
line 15 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "and English" and inserting the following: 
'or English, or both' 
Amend the bill in section 5 in subsection 2 in the last line (page 5, line 9 in L.D.) by 
striking out the following: "and English" and inserting the following: 'or English, or both' 
Amend the bill in section 6 by striking out all of the first paragraph (page 5, lines 17 
to 20 in L.D.) and inserting the following: 
O 
'Sec. 6. Report. The Department of Education shall submit an interim report no 
later than March 1, 2020 and a final report no later than January 1, 2021 of its findings 
and recommendations for presentation to the joint standing committee of the Legislature 
having jurisdiction over education and cultural affairs. The report may include suggested 
legislation and must include:' 
Amend the bill by inserting after section 6 the following: 
'Sec. 7. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and 
allocations are made. 
EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF 
Special Services Team Z080 
Initiative: Provides one-time funds for consulting services and other costs to support the 
work of the task force. 
GENERAL FUND 
All Other 
GENERAL FUND TOTAL 
2019-20 
$21,336 
$21,336 
2020-21 
$0 
$0 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment removes any preferences in the bill for American Sign Language. 
The amendment also adjusts reporting dates throughout the bill. 
The amendment also directs the Commissioner of Education no later than November 
1, 2019 to establish a departmental task force to recommend language developmental 
milestones from existing resources and current standards and to develop a parent resource 
portfolio to monitor and track the expressive and receptive language acquisition and 
developmental stages toward literacy in American Sign Language or English, or both, of 
children who are deaf and hard of hearing and sets criteria for the task force membership. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" fl" to S.P. 204, L.D. 642 ( 
,~)C(!;) 
The bill directs the Department of Education to select tools and assessments for 
educators that can be used to assess the language and literacy development of children 
who are deaf and hard of hearing and to report to the joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over education and cultural affairs. 
The amendment 
requires the department to submit an interim report no later than March 1, 2020 and a 
final report no later than January 1, 2021 on the parent resource portfolio developed by 
the task force and a procedure to disseminate the parent resource portfolio to parents, a 
procedure to disseminate the selected tools and assessments to educators and a procedure 
for educators to use when a child is not progressing in expressive and receptive language 
skills. 
The amendment also adds an appropriations and allocations section. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Revised: 06/06/19 ::Wac:. 
LD642 
LR 725(02) 
An Act Regarding Kindergarten Readiness for Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment '7\!' f 
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
'.' 
' ',\ 
i c, / 
/ 
FY 2019-20 
FY 2020-21 
Projections 
FY 2021-22 
Projections 
FY2022-23 
Net Cost {Savings) 
General Fund 
Appropriations/ Allocations 
General Fund 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
$21,336 
$21,336 
$0 
$0 
$0 
$0 
This bill includes a one-time General Fund appropriation of$21,336 in fiscal year 2019-20 to the Special Services 
Team program within the Depaiiment of Education for consulting services and other costs to develop the required 
recommendations and prepare the required repmi. 
LR0725(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1 
$0 
$0