Committee advances repeal of Empowering Parents grant after hours of mixed testimony

Senate Bill 1142, a measure to repeal the Empowering Parents grant program and return the estimated $30 million annual appropriation to the general fund, was approved by the Senate Education Committee on a recorded voice vote with one member noted as opposed.

Sponsor Senator Camille Blaylock laid out the program’s history and rationale for repeal. She said the program began as the federally funded Strong Families, Strong Students program in 2020 and later became a state-funded Empowering Parents program in 2022 with an ongoing appropriation of roughly $30 million. "The emergency that justified this program is over," Blaylock said, arguing the program risks becoming a permanent entitlement. She cited data she said showed families spent more than 60% of grants on electronics in fiscal year 2024 and that…