Education Funding Committee retains study bills, rejects several proposals and moves others to consent

The House Education Funding Committee met to consider eight bills related to school funding and education policy, retaining most for further work, voting “inexpedient to legislate” on one measure concerning public funds and religious schools, and approving a path forward for career and technical education certification and several study directives.

Committee Chair Representative Ladd opened the meeting and said the panel would attempt to expedite discussion and focus on the bills on the docket. The committee heard detailed explanations from Steve Appleby, director of the Department of Education, and debated statutory, constitutional and federal-law limits that affect how state education dollars can be used.

The committee retained HB 443, a bill “relative to terms of appointment of members on the Higher Education Commission,” after Department of Education testimony. Appleby told the panel the Higher Education Commission asked staff to check whether federal law continues to require such commissions. "We should check federal law because there was a requirement at one time in the Federal Higher Ed Act that states have these commissions,” Appleby said, adding the commission did not oppose reviewing whether it still needs to exist.

The panel voted ITL (inexpedient to legislate) on HB 137, which would have allocated excess statewide education property tax funds for local school and municipal purposes. Representative McGuire moved ITL and the motion carried 15–3. Representative Fellows said he would vote against ITL because he feared reducing…