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Senate concurs to HB 15, applying inflationary adjustments to K‑12 funding; vote 34‑16
Summary
The Senate Committee of the Whole recommended concurrence on House Bill 15, which applies a 3% inflationary adjustment to components of the K‑12 school funding formula. Senators debated the permanence of the increase and its fiscal impact on state and local budgets before voting 34‑16 in committee.
House Bill 15, carried in the committee by Senator Fuller, would apply an inflationary adjustment to school‑funding formula components used to calculate K‑12 budgets.
Senator Fuller described the bill as the routine inflationary adjustment for K‑12 funding and told members that the bill "does not appropriate funds" but "only defines the legislative intent to appropriate and this funding is included in the executive budget and currently appropriated in House Bill 2."
Debate centered on scale and permanence. Senator Kertie and other senators described rising costs such as energy and insurance that have tightened district budgets; Kertie said earlier investments in energy efficiency were undercut by sudden large increases in rates. Majority Leader McGilvray warned that the funding increase effectively becomes a new base, saying, "I've never seen a budget go back below the base. So you can count on it. You can count on this going next year, the year after, and the year after." He added that future biennia could see far larger totals.
Senator Fern explained how the funding formula works, noting that the state typically pays about 65% of a district's potential budget and local levies cover the remainder, and emphasized that the adjustment gives budget authority that will affect future years. Senator Dauphin described the bill concisely as "essentially the main K‑12 funding bill." Several senators stressed timeline concerns tied to the superintendent of public instruction's need to notify districts of budgets.
The committee recorded a roll-call tally of 34 senators voting aye and 16 voting nay; the committee recommended concurrence and the bill was reported to the Senate floor.
Ending: With committee concurrence, HB 15 moves forward so state education officials can finalize district budget notices and the appropriations embedded in the executive budget can be enacted through the concurrent process.
