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Committee adopts amendment and advances House Bill 607 after sponsors narrow changes to teacher salary language
Summary
Committee members adopted an amendment (0.03H) to House Bill 607 that removed proposed changes to CPI-related baseline teacher salary language, kept provisions addressing calculation of 169 days and removed a disputed master's-degree wording; the substitute was advanced on a roll call vote of 8-4.
The Special Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs adopted an amendment and advanced House Bill 607 after the bill sponsor narrowed the measure to keep only provisions that had committee consensus.
Representative Lewis, the bill sponsor, asked the committee to adopt amendment 0.03H and described three components originally in the bill. The sponsor said she removed a provision that would have delayed certain CPI-driven increases to baseline teacher salary grants because the committee did not have consensus. "I'm removing the one that the committee seemed to have some consternation about so that we can pass through the other two," the sponsor said.
What remains in the substitute: the sponsor said the amendment reverts language to what was in Senate Bill 727 for the baseline teacher salary grant and keeps changes meant to address how the 169-day instructional calculation applies to school calendars, restoring the prior method for five-day school weeks while keeping protections for districts doing four-day weeks. The sponsor also said language creating a field-of-study test for master's pay was removed because the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education had difficulty interpreting it; "If they have a master's degree, they have a master's degree," the sponsor said.
Committee members asked whether the amendment changed the mandate to increase teacher pay. Representative Young inquired if the amendment affected mandated increases; the sponsor replied, "It does not. It does not change the senate bill 727 at all. It reverts to what 727 was before." The sponsor noted that appropriations, not this policy bill, determine funding and said the governor's recommendation fully funds the baseline teacher salary grant for next year.
Representative Black, who had earlier opposed S.B. 727 over funding concerns, said he would support the amendment because it removed the provisions he believed could create funding difficulties.
Committee action: the committee adopted amendment 0.03H, rolled it into a new substitute and voted the House Committee substitute for House Bill 607 "do pass." The roll call reflected 8 ayes and 4 noes.
Why it matters: the substitute keeps statutory language aligned with S.B. 727 on baseline teacher salary grants and removes controversial provisions that the sponsor and some members said would have shifted costs or been hard to administer. Committee members repeatedly emphasized that funding is determined through the appropriations process and that the policy bill alone does not appropriate funds.
Next steps: the committee advanced the substitute to the next legislative stage; funding and any appropriations would be resolved in the budget process.
