Conference committee narrows education funding changes, orders tax and special-education studies

Speaker 1, a committee member, and Speaker 2, a staff member, discussed changes to an education funding bill during a May 30 conference committee meeting and reached tentative agreement on several drafting and study points.

The committee accepted proposed language on the draft's Section 3 and agreed to remove language requiring an additional presentation to the State Board, Speaker 2 said. Speaker 1 said the group would study career and technical education (CTE) funding and special-education weights before any new weights take effect, “to be clear that when we are studying special education and looking at those weights, that we're exploring different ways to do it, and that those new weights only take effect contingent upon a real look at making sure that they work,” Speaker 1 said.

The committee signaled willingness to include a one-year timeline for studying secondary weights in the foundation formula study “assuming the enactment of…