Committee rejects amendment that would have limited early rollout of school-choice payments to private schools

The House Education Committee debated proposed amendments to school‑choice bills including House Bill 15‑40, 15‑90 and 16‑07. Representative Marshall described an amendment, sent by Representative Koppelman, that would remove home‑schooled and public school students from the initial rollout and phase the per‑pupil payment: 40% of the per‑pupil payment in the 2026–27 school year and 80% in the 2027–28 school year, intended to reduce the immediate fiscal impact to about $40 million in the first year.

A motion to give the amendment a due‑pass recommendation was made by Representative Haug and seconded by Representative Marshall. Committee debate focused on fairness, formula details and the potential that the state would fund private education at levels that exceed what some public districts receive. Representative Wagner said, “What we're doing here is we're actually spending more state money on non public schools than we're spending on public schools,” and said she could not support the amendment. Representative Novak said she opposed state funding of private schools and objected to routine transfers to education savings accounts.

Roll‑call result: the committee recorded the roll call on the amendment and the motion failed 7–7. The recorded votes in the transcript were: Yes — Hauck; Heilman; Marshall; Morton; Osowski; (and two other 'Yes' votes counted in the tally). No — Conney; Hager; Haddleston; Jonas; Longmire; Mackie; Novak. The chair announced the final tally as 7‑7 and the amendment failed. The committee resumed other business after the vote.