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Senate Education committee concurs on a string of House bills, including cleanup and school funding measures
Summary
The Senate Education Committee performed executive action and concurred in several House bills (HB250, HB251, HB317, HB449, HB573). HB449 (repeal of adult basic education fund) passed on roll call 13–1 after Senator Olson voiced opposition. Several bills were carried to the floor by senators named on the record.
The Senate Education Committee met to conduct executive action on a group of House bills and voted to concur in several measures that committee staff described as technical cleanups or program adjustments.
Chair Fuller opened executive action and the committee first approved House Bill 250. Committee staff explained HB250 as a cleanup measure for out-of-district attendance law; an amendment (HB250.001.002) corrected a subsection reference and added coordination language to align HB250 with House Bill 156. The amendment was described as sponsor-requested and adopted by voice vote, and the committee concurred in HB250. Senator Novak agreed to carry the bill to the Senate floor.
The committee likewise concurred in House Bill 251, which the sponsor and staff said clarifies when formation of a public charter school creates a separate district, and in House Bill 317, which removes a statutory requirement for the Commissioner of Higher Education to enter into an agreement with the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine. Both bills were concurred in by voice/proxy vote.
House Bill 449, which repeals the adult basic education fund and its distribution statute, drew the clearest dissent. Senator Olson said the committee had requested additional information from the commissioner about federal-funding links and said she opposed repealing a statute tied to federal funds without that context; she announced she would vote no. The committee recorded a roll-call result of 13 ayes and 1 nay and concurred in HB449.
House Bill 573, described by staff as moving a transformational learning program from phase 1 to a phase 2 with a smaller set of districts eligible for grants, was concurred in after committee discussion. Committee members asked whether the appropriation was in the governor's budget; staff indicated funding is contained in the governor's proposal and said they would supply the exact amount to interested senators.
Next steps: the bills concurred in by the committee will be carried to the floor by the senators who agreed to be carriers; committee records show Senators Novak and others volunteered as carriers for specific bills.
