Senate Education Committee adds emergency clause, approves bill to let Air Force base schools access school construction loan fund

The Senate Education Committee on an undisclosed date amended and approved Senate Bill 2149 to allow school construction projects on Air Force bases to be eligible for the state school construction loan fund. The committee added an emergency clause to the bill and passed it, 6 yays, 0 nays.

The bill sponsor and committee members raised questions about whether adding base schools would displace other applicants and about timing for applications. Adam Tesher, School Finance Officer with the Department of Public Instruction, told the committee that application deadlines for the loan fund are April 1 and that in the April 1, 2024 round the department received six applications and “we were able to fund just over 1. The second application only got partially funded.” Tesher said he is not aware of any outstanding applications for the April 1, 2025 deadline and that many districts bond if they are not funded.

Tesher also explained how the funding pool would work: the committee discussed the fund as a $30 million pool, with Senate Bill 2149 creating a potential set‑aside of $20 million for an eligible Air Force base project. That structure would not make the base projects compete at the same time as other applicants because, as described in committee, the base projects would be placed at the top of the fund’s ordering; committee members noted, however, that placing those projects first would reduce the remaining available funds for other projects in the same pool. Committee discussion also noted that, without an emergency clause, the bill would take effect Aug. 1 and the earliest practical application review for the new eligibility would be the April 1, 2026 application cycle. Members said adding an emergency clause would allow the change to take effect sooner so that a base project could meet federal timing and matching requirements.

The committee voted to adopt an amendment adding an emergency clause; the amendment carried, 6 yays, 0 nays. The committee then voted to give SB 2149 a due pass as amended; the final vote on the amended bill was 6 yays, 0 nays. After passage in committee a senator volunteered to carry the bill on the floor.

The committee repeatedly framed the change as a technical eligibility expansion of an existing loan program rather than a new appropriation; members asked staff to confirm whether the set‑aside would require further appropriations review. Tesher stated the money discussed is within the same $30 million pool and said there is no application currently on file that would be displaced.

The committee did not take a floor vote on the bill during the hearing; committee members debated next steps and carriers for the bill on the chamber floor.

Ending: The bill, as amended with an emergency clause, was reported out of the Senate Education Committee by a 6-0 vote and will move on to the next procedural step identified by senators for floor consideration.