Committee introduces RS 32540 to require appropriated school funds be spent for stated purposes

Representative Kyle Harris introduced RS 32540, a short proposal that would require state appropriations to public and public charter schools to be used for the purposes stated in the appropriation language.

Harris told the committee the bill is “pretty cut and dry” and would mean, as he summarized, that “math and science money to go with math and science and nothing else.” He said the bill responds to instances where districts redirected earmarked dollars to other needs and that current audits would enforce the requirement.

Committee members pressed for implementation details. Representative Church asked how current auditing works and “who would be policing these audits or making sure that they're binding.” Harris said he would obtain information about auditing procedures following introduction. Representative Nelson raised concerns about the administrative cost of more granular accounting and said demanding “a fine tooth comb” accounting might be more expensive than the dollars involved. Harris and other supporters said the bill would be enforced by existing auditing through LSO and would not create new crimes or highly detailed accounting requirements; Harris said earmarks could be broad (for example, a maintenance appropriation could cover anything within the maintenance category).

Representative Hawkins described anecdotal examples in which teacher-pay increases had been partially redirected, saying teachers “got 1,500 of it or 2,500 of it, and then it was sent off to other areas in the system and that money did not go to where it was earmarked to be.” Representative Mathias and others said they want follow-up at the hearing on how enforcement would work in day-to-day school accounting.

The committee voted to introduce RS 32540; supporters asked the sponsor to prepare fiscal and auditing details for the hearing.