Senate Education Committee advances four bills; three amend school funding law

The Montana Senate Education Committee voted to advance four bills during executive action, approving Senate bills 34, 35, 36 and 37 by voice vote.

The action matters because three of the measures (Senate bills 35–37) make technical changes to school funding and enrollment calculations that could affect how district general fund budgets are computed and how state aid is allocated. The committee recorded proxy votes for members who were excused from the hearing.

Senate Bill 34 was moved and approved without discussion. Committee members used a voice vote; the committee recorded proxies for absent members. Senate Bill 35, introduced by Senator Emmerich, was described in the committee as "enacting revisions to clarify the funding and enrollment counts for a child participating in an early literacy program." Senate Bill 36 was described as "revising school funding laws to remove expired contingency language." Senate Bill 37 was described as "revising school funding laws to clarify that the calculation for significant enrollment increases are made at the budget unit level." Each of those three bills received brief committee consideration and were approved by voice vote.

Votes at a glance

- Senate Bill 34 — Motion to do pass moved on the floor of the committee and approved by voice vote. Discussion: none recorded. Outcome: passed (committee record: unanimous; proxies recorded). Proxies recorded: Senator Olson (aye by proxy); Senator Windiboy (aye by proxy). Specific numeric roll-call tallies were not recorded in the committee transcript; votes were taken by voice and proxy statements.

- Senate Bill 35 — Introduced by Senator Emmerich; described as clarifying funding and enrollment counts for a child participating in an early literacy program. Motion to do pass carried by voice vote. Proxies recorded: Senator Olson (aye by proxy); Senator Windiboy (aye by proxy). Outcome: passed unanimously.

- Senate Bill 36 — Described as removing expired contingency language in school funding law. Motion to do pass carried by voice vote. Proxies recorded: Senator Olson (yes by proxy); Senator Windiboy (yes by proxy). Outcome: passed unanimously.

- Senate Bill 37 — Described as clarifying that calculations for significant enrollment increases are made at the budget unit level. The bill drew a short substantive exchange: Senator Vinton relayed that the Montana School Business Officials’ president reviewed the bill and said it would not create extra burden for school business officials; Senator Weber asked a question about whether the change addressed enrollment decreases as well as increases. After that brief discussion, the motion to do pass carried by voice vote with proxies recorded: Senator Olson (yes by proxy); Senator Windiboy (yes by proxy). Outcome: passed unanimously.

Committee context and procedure

Chair Fuller confirmed a quorum at the start of the meeting and noted executive action on four bills. Committee members were reminded to turn on microphones during voice votes so the record could pick them up. The transcript shows voice votes were used for each item and that absent members had their proxy positions recorded for the record. The committee did not solicit public testimony during this meeting; the chair stated there would be no hearings and no testimony that day.

What’s next

The committee did not record any amendments or committee referrals in the transcript for these items beyond the motions to do pass. The committee chair and staff indicated further hearings and briefings on school funding would continue in future meetings.