Senate committee reviews education funding overhaul, transition plan and proposed homestead exemption

Legislative counsel John Bray and committee staff briefed the Senate Finance Committee on the Senate Education Committee's changes to a proposed education foundation formula and a companion homestead property tax exemption, saying the Senate's draft changes differentially adjust the formula's inputs and add a multiyear transition to the new funding model.

The briefing matters because the foundation formula would reset how the state calculates school funding, change key weighting categories such as English-language learner weights and grade-level weights, and replace the existing statewide homestead property tax credit with a statewide homestead property tax exemption, actions that committee members said could shift tens of millions of dollars across school districts and taxpayers.

Bray told the committee the Senate version alters the formula's base amount and the mix of weights used to compute a district's weighted long-term membership. The Senate draft sets a base amount of $14,870 (the House draft had $15,033) and retains differentiated English-language-learner weights introduced in the House, while it does not include a separate special-education weight that the House draft had proposed. The Senate text also preserves a census-block grant and keeps an English-language learner proficiency-tiered approach, Bray said.

The Senate draft keeps a small-school weight but redefines the eligibility tests: a district is considered 'sparse' if it has fewer than 55 residents per square mile, and a 'small school' is defined as a school with fewer than 100 pupils. Bray said the…