Subcommittee adopts and reports H‑1 substitute for Department of Education budget after staff outline cuts to programs and FTEs

The House Appropriations Subcommittee adopted the H‑1 substitute for HB 45 76 (Department of Education appropriations) and voted to report the substitute to the full Appropriations Committee after House Fiscal Agency staff outlined reductions and boilerplate changes.

Why it matters: The substitute reduces Department of Education gross appropriations and department authorization across several programs and positions, changes boilerplate governing grants and contractor requirements, and attaches new reporting and personnel policies to departmental operations.

What fiscal staff described: Noelle Benson, fiscal analyst for the House Fiscal Agency, told the subcommittee the House proposal "reduces the budget from year to date by $31,700,000 including a reduction of 17,300,000 general fund, 8,000,000 in restricted funds, 6,300,000 federal and 118 FTEs." Benson said the gross reduction equated to about a 20% decline in the department’s budget authorization in the substitute. She said a driver of restricted‑fund reductions was the elimination of teacher certification fees under a separate bill (HB 4,150), which removes about $8 million in restricted revenue and about 30 associated FTE authorizations.

Program and staffing changes described: Benson identified several program eliminations or reductions: removal of authorization for 65 vacant FTEs (including positions for educator excellence, accountability, school support, and educational support); a $5.6 million elimination of the library services and technology program and one FTE; elimination of $3.6 million and 13 FTEs for partnership district support (funding partly rolled into the school‑aid roll‑up); and IT reductions including a 15% across‑the‑board IT cut (about $717,500) plus additional reductions tied to certification fee elimination (about $977,000). She also noted proposed lapsing and reporting language and several boilerplate additions that tighten conditions for grant awards, require quarterly reporting on grants, add severance and pension reporting, require contractors to use the federal E‑Verify system, and add a requirement that most MDE employees work in person five days per week.

Boilerplate and eligibility changes: Benson said the substitute adds language restricting use of state or federal funds for services or programming for "non‑citizens" except for qualified aliens or use in jails/correctional facilities, and adds a provision restricting departmental use of funds on diversity, equity and inclusion programming. It would add nonpublic schools as eligible recipients of educator‑preparation funds (fiscal staff said the set‑aside amount was unclear in the draft and would need verification).

Questions and concerns: Subcommittee members raised questions about how the departmental reductions would affect services and whether the department could meet reporting and operations responsibilities after the staff and program cuts. Representative Glanville and others asked detailed questions; staff said they would follow up with clarifications where the draft summary was unclear.

Votes: The subcommittee adopted the H‑1 substitute for HB 45 76 on a roll call that recorded five yes votes and two passes/abstentions. The subcommittee later reported HB 45 76 H‑1 to the full Appropriations Committee with a roll‑call vote that recorded five yes votes and two no votes.

Next steps: The substitute has been reported to the full Appropriations Committee for further negotiation and reconciliation with the governor and Senate proposals.