Ways & Means and Education Committee agree to divide work on funding formula and governance questions

Zoe Saunders, secretary of education, said the Ways & Means committee will concentrate on the foundation funding formula and on property tax and appraisal reform, while the Education Committee will focus on governance and administrative questions.

Saunders said the two committees plan to divide the work to “sort of divide our work up a little bit,” adding that the panels will coordinate and that the process would be “a little bit of a back and forth waiting game as we do our work together.” She also noted the meeting had about 45 minutes scheduled for follow-up on testimony from the previous week.

The split assigns policy and funding issues — the foundation formula, property tax reform and appraisal reform — to Ways & Means, and governance and administrative matters to the Education Committee. Saunders said appraisal reform is “actually not your problem,” reflecting how committee responsibilities will be allocated in the coming coordination.

The session was brief and interrupted by a technical problem: a computer shut down during the meeting after Saunders and another participant, Jill Bridal, spoke. Saunders identified herself during the session as “secretary of education,” and said the group had outstanding questions and a presentation to consider before continuing.

No formal votes or motions were recorded in the provided transcript excerpt. The discussion amounted to an agreed division of labor and an acknowledgement that the two committees will need to coordinate as they examine testimony and outstanding materials.

The meeting resumed planning work but did not record any enacted policy changes or specific deadlines in the excerpt provided. Further meetings were implied by Saunders’s remarks that the committees would be in a back-and-forth as they proceed.