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Ways & Means committee adopts amendment replacing special education labels with category system; developmental delay added to mid-cost group
Summary
The committee approved an amendment to H.454 that removes stigmatizing labels for special education cost categories, replacing them with categories A, B and C; it also adds developmental delay to Category B and updates the weight used for cost estimates. The committee reported a recorded tally of 10–0–1.
Representative Theresa Wood offered an amendment to H.454 that replaces language describing students with special education or disabilities as “high cost” with a neutral category system (Category A, B and C) and aligns the bill’s categories with Agency of Education classifications.
Wood said the change is intended to reduce stigma and to mirror prior work that recategorized English learners by level rather than labeling students by cost. She said nine of 11 members of the House Human Services committee supported the amendment.
Julia Rick of the fiscal office explained the technical change: the Agency of Education identifies a developmental delay category that had not been included in the bill’s original memo. Colby and Baker — the consultants whose memo underpins the cost modeling — included developmental delay in their model, so the fiscal office and consultants submitted an updated memo to incorporate developmental delay into Category B (the medium-cost group). That inclusion requires increasing the weight assigned to Category B to reflect the additional students.
Committee members generally expressed support for the amendment. Representative Donahue was credited with originally highlighting the issue to the committee. Legislative staff and consultants confirmed the revised memo is posted to the Joint Fiscal Office materials folder.
The committee voted on the amendment; the chair reported the tally as 10 in favor, 0 opposed, and 1 recorded abstention. The amendment passed in committee on that recorded tally.
