Appropriations committee adopts Education budget with added special education and sparsity funding; preserves teacher stipends and library services

The Joint Committee on Appropriations approved the Department of Education FY26 budget motion sheet after several targeted changes from the governor's recommendations. Representative Muckey moved the motion to set the department budgets; Senator Lapke seconded. The committee recorded the vote as 17 yeas and 1 excused.

Fiscal staff said the motion sheet included an updated increase to State Aid to Special Education based on revised child counts by disability level and an increase to sparsity payments that corresponds to Senate Bill 70, which would raise the maximum sparsity benefit; staff reported the sparsity increase added approximately $553,335 and that $324,000 of that represented the difference above the governor's recommendation tied to SB 70.

The motion sheet also addressed the National Board Certified Teacher and Counselor stipend program. The governor had recommended eliminating it; the committee adopted an amendment reflected in final language that preserves stipends for those currently receiving them and for those who begin participation before the end of the fiscal year, producing a smaller net reduction than the governor had proposed. In Library Services (line J5), Representative Jorgensen sponsored a revised proposal that reduced the FY26 State Library budget by a smaller amount than originally proposed by the administration and did not cut associated federal expenditure authority; the committee selected the revised reduction rather than the larger cut.

Representative Jorgensen summarized her selections on the record and the committee then moved by budget unit through the department to confirm which lines were selected. Representative Muckey praised the Department of Education for "looking for ways to restructure so that they actually saved money and kept the services that people depend on," and Representative Cassin commended the work on sparsity and libraries.

Fiscal staff read the selected lines and totals into the record; the motion to set the Department of Education budgets included $757,636,069 in general funds, $244,383,017 in federal fund expenditure authority, $6,876,145 in other fund expenditure authority, and 193.5 FTEs.

The committee adopted the motion and recorded the vote as passing; committee members flagged further work on program design and noted the changes were intended to preserve services to students and to rural districts.