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House amends bill to move certain school fees into base funding, increases fiscal note to $13.1M
Summary
Lawmakers amended and passed a bill that would eliminate many academic and extracurricular fees paid at school windows by moving costs into the base education budget, with an estimated fiscal impact of $13.1 million. Supporters argued the change restores the constitutional promise of free public education; opponents wanted more detail on funding sources.
The Utah House amended and passed first substitute House Bill 1 65 to shift many school academic and extracurricular fees into the base funding formula, increasing the fiscal figure in the bill from $10 million to $13.1 million based on updated Office of Education estimates.
Representative Frank, sponsor of the fee‑reform bill, described constituents’ concerns about mounting school fees and said some families were paying the equivalent of large portions of their property tax assessment in fees. He moved to amend the bill to replace $10,000,000 references with $13,100,000 on multiple lines; the House adopted the amendment and passed the bill as amended.
Sponsor Frank said the $13.1 million would move into the base (the WPU) and be funded from personal income tax and possibly general‑fund sources, but he did not pin down exact funding sources and said further prioritization would occur alongside other fiscal‑note bills. Supporters said removing mandatory academic fees would also render some existing fee‑waiver mechanisms less relevant.
The amended first substitute passed the House with a roll‑call shown in the transcript (44 yes, 20 no) and will be sent to the Senate for further consideration.
