Rules Committee Releases House education-transformation bill to education and finance committees

The Senate Rules Committee voted April 15 to release the House-passed education transformation bill to the committees of jurisdiction, sending policy portions to the Senate Education Committee and tax-related provisions to the Senate Finance Committee.

Committee Chair said, “We as you saw, the house voted out the education transformation bill, which is headed to us. It didn't make crossover,” explaining why the Rules Committee needed to act on the referral. The committee discussed whether the measure would be handled simultaneously by Education and Finance; a member of the panel described the usual sequence: the education committee would consider the vehicle bill and any actions there would then land in finance, which has jurisdiction over tax components.

The committee proceeded without extended debate and the secretary called the roll. The transcript records affirmative votes from: Senator Lyons; Senator Ron Hensley; Senator Beck; Senator Collinmore; and Senator Baruch. The committee recorded the item as released to the committees of jurisdiction.

Because the bill arrived from the House without prior Senate preauthorization, the Rules Committee acted to place it in the referral pathway that the panel said would allow simultaneous work by Education (policy) and Finance (tax). There was no recorded motion text in the transcript and no recorded opposing or abstaining votes on the roll call recorded in the hearing transcript.

The bill will next be considered by the Senate Education Committee and the Senate Finance Committee under the process described by committee members.