Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Special Education Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee adds and advances governor’s in-district special education investment bill amid concern about competing measures
Summary
Members added the governor’s bill on in-district special education investments to the agenda and advanced it, while several members warned that multiple overlapping bills and incomplete rate studies make it hard to legislate without clearer fiscal and programmatic detail.
The Appropriations Committee voted to add Senate Bill 12-44 — described in the hearing as a governor’s proposal to increase in-district special education investments — to the agenda and then advanced the measure to the floor after discussion.
Multiple members warned that the special education funding landscape is fragmented across competing committee bills and the budget. Representative Nuccio and others urged staff and the Department of Education to finish a pending rate-setting study before the Legislature adopts broad policy changes. Nuccio said the department has been “tasked with the function” but the committee has “not gotten that yet,” and that passing large funding or limit changes without that information risks producing unintended results.
Committee members also discussed related measures already before the committee, including bills on in-district funding mechanics and rate setting. Some members expressed support for moving the bill forward to allow floor-level and further negotiations to reconcile competing pieces. Others said they would vote against the bill until the department’s rate study and consistent fiscal language are available.
The committee reported the bill to the floor. Staff indicated they would try to reconcile the pieces of competing special education legislation and circulate outstanding rate-study materials to members prior to floor action.
