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School board meets with lobbyists, opposes voucher bill and endorses school-lunch funding
Summary
Board met with lobbyists from Freeburg Nelson & ASK LLP, voted unanimously to oppose House Bill 1009 (a private-school voucher bill), adopted support for a school-lunch funding bill and authorized administrators to develop positions on legislative bills for later board approval.
The Rapid City Area School District 51-4 board met with lobbyists from Freeburg Nelson & ASK LLP on Jan. 20 for a legislative update and then took formal positions on state bills.
Sam Nelson, representing the lobbying team, told trustees his firm was tracking roughly 40 bills of possible interest to the district and that his team was "over inclusive rather than under inclusive" when adding items to a tracking list. Nelson outlined several bills of particular interest, including two private-school voucher proposals (House bills 1009 and 1020), proposals affecting property-tax treatment and a package of bills that would change how state money flows to districts.
After the briefing the board voted unanimously (7-0) to oppose House Bill 1009, which the lobbyists said was scheduled for a House Education Committee hearing the next morning. Later in the meeting the board also voted to support a school-lunch bill (identified in meeting materials as a proposed measure to provide state funding to cover reduced-price school meals, referenced as HB 209 in meeting materials) and to authorize district leaders to develop positions on legislative bills for presentation to the board.
Board actions
- Opposed House Bill 1009 (private-school voucher bill). The motion to adopt an official board position opposing HB 1009 passed 7-0.
- Supported the school-lunch funding proposal (listed in meeting materials as HB 209), a bill the board said would provide state funding to cover the cost of reduced-price lunches for qualifying students; the board voted to support the measure.
- Delegated authority to the acting superintendent, the business manager and the district's in-house counsel to develop legislative positions on bills deemed relevant to the district and to present those positions to the board for approval. Administration will circulate drafts to trustees and bring recommendations back to the board at regular meetings for final action.
Why it matters
Nelson warned trustees that voucher bills and property-tax bills can have material fiscal impacts on districts and noted that fiscal notes (cost estimates prepared by the Legislative Research Council) will be central to debates where state money is at stake. He said one widely discussed estimate for a voucher program in some drafts had reached into the tens of millions of dollars and would create difficult trade-offs for the state budget.
Board members said they wanted flexibility to respond quickly to late-amending bills but also asked administration to present positions for formal board approval when time allowed. The board also asked staff to draft a resolution explaining why it opposes vouchers; a trustee said they would help draft that language for consideration at the Feb. 4 meeting.
Ending
Board members instructed administration and their contracted lobbyists to continue tracking bills and to return recommended positions at upcoming meetings. The board's formal opposition to HB 1009 and support for the school-lunch proposal were recorded in the meeting minutes.
