Lawmakers debate youth-organization grant rules; youth-organization grant bill fails after committee roll call

Senators and representatives on the Joint Budget Committee debated the language of Senate Bill 362, a proposed appropriation to fund youth-organization grants, and the bill failed on a House roll-call during the committee session.

The bill’s sponsor, Senator Hammer, told the committee the measure sets eligibility parameters consistent with existing law and the LEARNS Act and adds practical provisions, including a matching requirement and weight for newer programs. "What it does is establish parameters that if you want to be able to utilize these grants, we have taken language that is out of the LEARNS Act, also has been upheld in the Supreme Court and have incorporated it into the bill," Hammer said. "If you are an organization that would like to access the money, it's very simple. Just comply with the existing law, comply with the existing standards that are set forth in the LEARN Act."

A committee member raised a counterargument about whether the bill’s wording functionally singled out particular organizations. "My understanding is that it's written in a way that is targeting the Boys and Girls Club so that these funds cannot be directed there specifically," that member said. "And I understand there's different views about DEI. But I think either way... targeting an organization, with these funds that we expand is not the way we should go. So, I'm a no on that."

Hammer said the bill also provides safeguards for local affiliates of national organizations, through an optional memorandum of understanding and Department of Education rulemaking to demonstrate compliance. "If you are affiliated with a national organization, it has a capacity in there that you can have a memorandum of understanding that that national organization will not violate the law by forcing you as a local entity to be required to subject your participants or the distribution of other materials," Hammer said, adding the bill creates a matching grant structure favoring new programs.

Representative Collins requested a roll-call by chamber for the up-or-down vote. The committee conducted a roll-call vote in the House; the clerk announced "Bill failed." The transcript records the committee’s procedural steps and the House division vote but does not attach a single recorded clerk tally in the minutes excerpt available to this report.

The discussion occurred during the special language subcommittee portion of the joint session; committee members repeatedly emphasized this was an "appropriation only" item. The bill was discussed alongside other out-of-school-time grant proposals that committee members said could reach differing recipients under current program structures.

Outcome: The committee’s House division vote on the motion to "do pass as amended" did not carry; the bill failed in committee.

Next steps: No further action on this bill was recorded in the transcript excerpt. The sponsor and committee members discussed rulemaking and Department of Education determinations as the mechanism for administration if the bill is revisited.