Committee clears committee substitute to permit Medicaid-related information for public charter schools

The Senate Government Organization Committee agreed to the committee substitute for Senate Bill 746, a measure that would require the State Board to include information about public charter schools in its Medicaid‑related annual materials for regional education service agencies.

Counsel told the committee the substitute contains only technical changes and that there were no substantive alterations to the bill. “There are only technical changes. There are no substantive changes to the bill,” Counsel said when asked to summarize the differences between the original version and the committee substitute.

The committee record shows representatives from the Professional Charter School Board and a charter school were present and available to answer questions, but the hearing record contains no substantive testimony from those guests. Committee members did not offer amendments and the vice chair moved that the committee substitute be reported to the full Senate with recommendation that it do pass; the committee recorded a voice vote in which the chair announced the ayes had it and the measure was reported.

The substitute’s reported purpose is procedural: to ensure the State Board’s Medicaid‑related annual materials for regional education service agencies include relevant information about public charter schools so those schools can access appropriate Medicaid provider resources where applicable. The committee did not record fiscal or operational impacts in the hearing transcript.