Committee adopts amendment and moves omnibus education bill to general register amid debate over mandate relief and fund transfers

The Minnesota House Education Finance Committee on Tuesday adopted an author's amendment to House File 6 and voted to place the bill, as amended, on the general register after extended testimony and debate over literacy policy, local control and a contested funding-and-mandate‑flexibility provision.

Representative Bennett moved the A2 author’s amendment to House File 6; committee members approved the amendment by voice vote. The committee later voted by roll call to place the bill as amended on the general register, a procedural step that advances the measure toward floor consideration.

House File 6 is structured as three articles. Article 1 focuses on foundational literacy and proposed revisions to the Read Act (the state's statutory literacy framework), including language emphasizing the “science of reading,” an expectation that teachers be prepared to deliver reading instruction grounded in that body of research, and ending a Department of Education partnership with an outside contractor identified in the bill’s text. Representative Baker said the bill seeks to keep the state focused on “foundational literacy skills.” Representative…