House committee adopts amendments to Senate Bill 625 tightening rules for Education Freedom Accounts

Representative Keith Brooks, sponsor of Senate Bill 625, told the House Education Committee that the amendment package adopted on the floor clarifies and codifies procedures for Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs), preserves existing funding levels for families and adds guardrails for certain categories of spending.

The measure, presented in committee on the motion to adopt by Representative Brooks and debated over questions from members and public commenters, preserves current per-student funding while adding definitions for allowable courses, expanding the initial application window from Feb. 1–March 31 to Feb. 1–June 1, and creating an appeal process to the State Board when a participating student’s account is closed after an expulsion or similar event.

The bill’s sponsor said the amendment package also clarified that evidence of misuse must be intentional to trigger sanctioning…