House Education Committee refers several bills to appropriations, advances clean-up and workforce measures; attendance and faculty-time proposals set for rewrit

The House Education Committee advanced several bills on Wednesday, sending funding and policy measures to the Appropriations Committee while postponing or rewriting others after discussion.

Chairman Heinert opened the session by noting the committee’s heavy workload and the need to focus on fiscal items. After hearings and discussion, the committee recorded formal actions on multiple bills and set follow-up work for items requiring drafting or study.

Key outcomes

Votes at a glance

- House Bill 1100 — Change in use of a previously appropriated $6 million for school meals to allow the superintendent of public instruction to use remaining funds for payout of past-due fines. Committee: due pass and re-refer to Appropriations. Vote recorded in roll call as yes from a majority; committee reported the bill “passes 13–0” in the transcript summary.

- House Bill 1128 — Higher Education Infrastructure Revolving Loan Fund. Committee moved an amendment requiring a report on student savings and referred the bill to Appropriations with a carrier; motion carried on roll call 8–6. The bill requests $25,000,000 for a revolving loan fund to be used for noneducational (auxiliary) buildings, with a 2% loan rate and matching requirement. Representative Halston made the motion to amend and refer; Representative Marshall seconded.

- House Bill 1129 — Attendance and implementation funds to the superintendent. Committee members agreed to remove the study language and fold the study funds into implementation; sponsors asked staff to draft the revision. The committee pulled the bill to allow drafting of the amendment and asked Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to outline implementation plans and reporting requirements before further action.

- House Bill 1261 — Repeal of redundant special-education strategist code sections (North Dakota Century Code 15.1-18-05 and 15.1-18-06). The Department of Public Instruction’s Mary McCarville O'Connor testified the change is a cleanup because the Education Standards and Practices Board now issues the endorsements. The committee issued a due-pass recommendation and placed the bill on the consent calendar; roll call was 14–0.

- House Bill 1161 — Vacant Full Time Equivalent Positions Funding Pool. The committee moved a due-pass recommendation; roll call was 13–1 in favor. Representative Hoch made the motion and Representative Longmeir seconded.

- House Bill 1179 — Faculty paid time off (PTO). A due-pass motion was made and seconded and the bill carries a fiscal note; committee members raised concerns about the scope and fiscal estimates. The maker of the motion rescinded it and members agreed further study and a possible rewrite are needed. No final committee action was taken; the bill was left for additional drafting or study.

- House Bill 1200 — Dual credit wording amendment. The committee amended the bill to change a conjunctive phrasing from “and” to “or” between course and dual-credit course language and gave the bill a due pass as amended. Members indicated the measure may need floor-level discussion.

- House Bill 1221 — Workforce education innovation funds. The committee gave a due pass and re-referred the bill to Appropriations; roll call was 14–0. Sponsors described the bill as a vehicle to fund workforce and higher-education pilot programs and innovation initiatives; members suggested follow-up with college presidents on program specifics.

Discussion and next steps

Several members pressed for clarifications of fiscal notes and asked that DPI or bill sponsors provide more detail before the bills reach the floor. On HB1129 (attendance), members said they want DPI to return with an implementation plan that explains how any appropriation would be used in schools and whether funds would be distributed as grants.

Representative Hager urged that any changes to implementation language include reporting requirements; Representative Novak suggested adding post-implementation reporting to proposed amendments. For HB1179, several members — including Representative Hager and Representative Novak — raised concerns that a study or a statewide evaluation would be required before mandating changes that affect varying contract arrangements across campuses.

The committee adjourned and plans to resume bill work at Wednesday afternoon sessions to continue processing the backlog and prepare fiscal notes.