House Education Committee advances ESA bill with homeschool firewall, new penalties and $1,000 cap

The House Education Committee on Tuesday advanced Senate Bill 2400 after adopting a pair of amendments that, supporters said, separate homeschoolers who choose to participate in an education savings account (ESA) program from those who do not, add criminal penalties for misuse of account funds and raise the base ESA amount to $1,000.

The move came after Representative Morton presented an amendment to create what she called a “firewall” between homeschoolers who accept ESA payments and homeschoolers who remain subject to the state's home-education chapter. "So homeschoolers that choose to take the money are gonna be under that under the ESA governance, the DPI," Representative Morton said when she moved the change, which committee members approved.

The amendment, adopted by roll call, amends references to compulsory attendance and specifies that an eligible student approved for an ESA by the superintendent of public instruction is treated as an exception to compulsory school attendance under the cited attendance section, and that a student who participates in a homeschool program under chapter 15.123 and also participates in the ESA will fall under the ESA provisions rather than the general homeschool chapter.

A second amendment presented by Representative Schreiberbeck added a penalty structure for intentional misuse of ESA funds and raised the per-student award cited in earlier drafts. Schreiberbeck said the amendment makes misuse a crime and tiers penalties by the dollar value involved: the draft text presented to the committee grades offenses ranging from a class B misdemeanor at the low end to felony-level offenses when larger dollar amounts are involved. "A person is guilty of an offense under this section if the person spends a fund in an education savings account for an expense the person knows is not qualified," Schreiberbeck said while explaining the proposed grading scale.

Schreiberbeck also said she asked to include a $3 million appropriation for the attorney general's office to fund defense of the state if a lawsuit results from enactment of the bill. She told the committee "my understanding is that if this bill does pass there will be a lawsuit brought," and requested funding in the amendment package to prepare the state for litigation.

Committee members pressed for clarification on federal special-education protections. Representative Marshall asked whether state statute can affect federal protections under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990 (IDEA); Schreiberbeck and others answered that parental placement at a nonpublic school typically removes the public-school IDEA protections and that families would need to pursue accommodations differently if their child attends a participating nonpublic institution. Representative Marshall said he remained concerned about how future federal changes could interact with the state language.

A proposal to allow home-educated students to participate in Center for Distance Education (CDE) courses and still receive ESA payments was discussed during the meeting. Representative Shriverbeck, citing testimony from Dr. Alyssa Martin of the Center for Distance Education, presented draft language that would make a homeschool student enrolled in CDE coursework eligible for ESA payments. Representative Morton said she would take that specific language to legislative counsel and the department to ensure the change would apply only to homeschoolers who opt into the ESA program; Morton asked that the amendment be held until that review was completed.

Votes at a glance: The committee recorded multiple roll calls on amendments to SB 2400. - Amendment 0.04003 (Morton): Motion to adopt moved by Representative Morton, seconded by Representative Mackey. Roll call result recorded as 12 yes, 2 no. Yes votes included Chairman Heiner, Vice Chair Schreiberbeck, Huddleston, Hauck, Heilmann, Jonas, Longmire, Mackie, Marshall, Morton, Novak and Osowski; No votes: Representative Conmeet and Representative Hager. - Amendment 0.04004 (Schreiberbeck, as reamended to reference theft statute): Motion to adopt moved by Representative Schreiberbeck, seconded by Representative Economy. Roll-call result recorded as 11 yes, 3 no. No votes included Representative Heilman, Representative Mackey and Representative Marshall. - Amendment 0.04001 (Senator Axman's request): The committee withdrew and later rescinded action on this amendment request; it was not adopted.

Committee members also debated whether the bill should include limits on what participating private schools can charge in tuition if they accept ESA funds. Representative Novak proposed discussion of a tuition-cap mechanism to prevent participating schools from increasing tuition to capture ESA dollars; other members suggested several approaches, including capping the dollar amount the state will contribute toward tuition rather than capping a school's tuition rate. No formal motion to add a tuition-cap provision was adopted during the meeting.

Several technical and drafting matters remain. Members instructed Representative Wharton and Representative Schreiberbeck to work with legislative counsel and produce a consolidated "Christmas tree" draft that incorporates the amendments adopted and the committee's changes; committee leadership said the bill needs to be finalized by the next day.

The committee's next procedural step is to receive the consolidated draft from legislative counsel and consider final adoption. Supporters said the changes aim to preserve a distinct legal path for homeschool families who do not accept ESA funds while providing oversight and criminal penalties where public dollars are used.