Committee backs bill directing State Board to create formal ethics policies

The House Education Committee unanimously adopted a second substitute to HB169 and recommended the measure favorably. The bill directs the State Board of Education to establish, via its bylaws, a code of conduct and ethical standards for board members, create an annual ethics-training requirement, and set procedures for filing and reviewing ethics complaints with due-process protections.

Representative Brooks, sponsor of earlier transparency proposals, said the State Board is an outlier among elected bodies because it does not currently have a legislatively-aligned ethics code and that codifying a framework would align the board with other statewide officials. The substitute requires the board to draft bylaws and processes and to report back to the Legislature during the October 2025 interim with recommended rules for possible statutory codification.

State Board member Jenny Earl spoke to the committee after the substitute passed and said the board already has processes for preliminary complaint handling and that members and staff had been working with sponsors; she supported a collaborative approach. Committee members said the second substitute strikes a balance by asking the board to produce a concrete proposal rather than imposing a one-size-fits-all statutory code immediately.

The committee voted unanimously to adopt the second substitute and to recommend the bill favorably. Supporters said the approach preserves the board’s discretion to craft procedures while ensuring consistent expectations, training and transparent processes for complaints and discipline going forward.