Resolve, To Establish the Task Force To Study Higher Education Attainment and Completion Goals

Sec. 1. Statutory college attainment goal; task force. Resolved: That notwithstanding Joint Rule 353, the Task Force To Study Higher Education Attainment and Completion Goals, referred to in this section as "the task force," is established to study college attainment and degree completion goals; and be it further

Sec. 2. Membership; chairs. Resolved: That the task force consists of 17 members as follows:

1. Six members appointed by the President of the Senate, including not more than 2 members from the party holding the largest number of seats in the Legislature, as follows:

2. Seven members appointed by the Speaker of the House, including not more than 2 members from the party holding the largest number of seats in the Legislature, as follows:

3. The Commissioner of Education or the commissioner's designee;

4. The Commissioner of Labor or the commissioner's designee;

5. The Commissioner of Economic and Community Development or the commissioner's designee; and

6. One public member appointed by the Governor; and be it further

Sec. 3. Appointments; convening of task force. Resolved: That all appointments must be made no later than 30 days following the effective date of this resolve. The appointing authorities shall notify the Executive Director of the Legislative Council once all appointments have been completed. Within 15 days after appointment of all members, the cochairs shall call and convene the first meeting of the task force, which must be no later than 30 days following the appointment of all members. The task force may meet 5 times; and be it further

Sec. 4. Duties. Resolved: That the study conducted by the task force must include, but is not limited to:

1. A review of the college completion findings and recommendations included in the December 2014 report submitted by the Commission To Study College Affordability and College Completion to the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs, including the college attainment goals proposed to the commission by Educate Maine, the attainment goals established by the Lumina Foundation and the "40-40-20" aspirational goal for all levels of education established by the State of Oregon;

2. A review of the statewide postsecondary education attainment goals included in the December 2016 comprehensive statewide plan prepared by the Maine Development Foundation on behalf of the Project Management Team of Maine's Workforce and Education Coalition that includes the Maine Development Foundation's partnership with the Finance Authority of Maine, Educate Maine, the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, the University of Maine System and the Maine Community College System;

3. An examination and review of the secondary and postsecondary education attainment metrics contained within:

4. A review of the initiatives proposed by the public and independent colleges and universities in the State as part of the March 2014 "Improving College Affordability and Completion in Maine" report submitted to the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs;

5. A discussion with the public and independent colleges and universities in the State to recognize the extent to which Maine's institutions of higher education may support proposed state policies and strategies to enable more college and university students to complete degree programs and certificate programs and graduate from Maine institutions of higher education; and

6. An analysis of other policies and strategies that a majority of the task force members agree to include in this study; and be it further

Sec. 5. Staff assistance. Resolved: That the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System and the Maine Maritime Academy shall provide necessary staffing services to the task force. The Department of Education, the Department of Labor, the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System, the Maine Maritime Academy and the Finance Authority of Maine shall provide the task force with access to any nonconfidential aggregate information in their student record databases for postsecondary education students in the State necessary to carry out the duties of the task force. The Office of Policy and Legal Analysis shall provide drafting assistance to the task force; and be it further

Sec. 6. Report. Resolved: That the task force shall submit a report containing its findings and recommendations, including any necessary implementing legislation, to the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs by December 15, 2017. The findings and recommendations submitted by the task force must relate to at least the following proposals:

1. The development of policies and strategies to increase the graduation rate of students enrolled in state-supported public institutions of higher education;

2. The establishment of a statutory postsecondary education attainment goal for the proportion of the State's adult population holding an associate degree or baccalaureate degree that is not lower than 50% by 2025;

3. The establishment of a permanent commission to oversee the implementation of the structure and scope of the workforce development and postsecondary education attainment policies included in the findings, recommendations and proposed legislation in the task force's report; and

4. The development of annual or biennial review procedures to be conducted by the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education and cultural affairs for monitoring the secondary and postsecondary education attainment metrics contained within the Department of Education's Maine Statewide Longitudinal Data System, the Department of Labor's Maine Workforce Data Quality Initiative, Educate Maine's Education Indicators for Maine annual report and the Maine Development Foundation's Measures of Growth annual report.

The joint standing committee may submit a bill related to this report to the Second Regular Session of the 128th Legislature; and be it further

Sec. 7. Outside funding. Resolved: That the task force shall seek outside funding to fully fund all costs of the task force and in accordance with the policy of the Legislative Council with regard to outside funding. If sufficient outside funding has not been received by the task force by 30 days after the effective date of this resolve to fully fund all costs of the task force, no meetings are authorized and no expenses of any kind may be incurred or reimbursed.

SUMMARY

This resolve establishes the Task Force To Study Higher Education Attainment and Completion Goals. The task force membership consists of Legislators, representatives of quasi-governmental and business entities, state agency commissioners and one member of the public. The task force's duties include examination and review in the areas of college completion, statewide postsecondary education attainment goals and metrics, college affordability and completion initiatives and college and university support of state policies and strategies to enable college completion and support workforce development. The task force is required to submit a report containing its findings and recommendations, including any necessary implementing legislation, to the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs by December 15, 2017.