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Committee advances $3 million high-needs special-education reimbursement fund to floor
Summary
House Bill 291, which would create a reimbursable high-needs special-education fund (threshold defined at costs above $15,000 per student IEP) and requests $3 million in the governor's budget, was recommended for passage by the Senate Education Committee after testimony from school officials and opponents.
House Bill 291, a proposal to create a reimbursable fund to cover "high needs" special-education costs, was recommended for passage by the Senate Education Committee and will go to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation.
Representative Ben Furman (introduced as Representative Ben Furman from District 30) described the bill as a last-dollar reimbursement fund for situations where a school has exhausted other funding sources (federal funds, Medicaid, grants and state funds) for a high-needs student; the bill defines a "high needs" student as one whose individualized education program (IEP) costs more than $15,000 in a school year. Representative Furman said the governor's budget includes a $3 million request for the fund.
Supporters described routine, high-cost examples. Melinda Royer, elementary principal and special-education director in Westside School District (testifying by video), said a contracted American Sign Language interpreter at $27.50 per hour for a full school year could cost her district about $30,112 for a single student and that ASL interpretation is not reimbursable through Medicaid. Julie Mead of Caldwell School District and other district officials testified in favor, saying districts are consistently spending more than allotted special-education funding and that the fund would help cover extraordinary cases.
Opponents, including Fred Birnbaum of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, argued the state already appropriates significant funding to schools and warned the $3 million request could grow; Birnbaum cited an Office of Performance Evaluations estimate of a larger special-education funding gap and urged caution on adding another ongoing appropriation.
After questions from senators about examples and existing funding sources, the committee voted on a roll-call to send the bill to the floor with a due-pass recommendation. The recorded vote was 6–3 in favor.
If enacted, the fund would reimburse districts only after they have used other available federal and state special-education resources; the bill would not change the base special-education funding formula but create a distinct appropriation pool for extraordinary costs.
