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House votes then reconsiders charter‑school amendment after sponsor misses agreed floor change
Summary
HB 344, a bill encouraging more innovative charter‑school applications, passed the House but sponsor moved to reconsider after he omitted an agreed amendment; the House agreed to reconsider so the language can be corrected.
Representative Lifferth introduced HB 344 to amend charter‑school approval rules (section 53A‑1a‑502.5) to encourage applications that are 'new and innovative' and not 'cookie‑cutter' approaches to traditional public schooling.
Floor debate was brief and supportive; the bill passed (68‑0). Shortly afterward the sponsor moved to reconsider the vote, saying he had made a 'rookie mistake' and failed to move a final committee amendment that had been agreed in committee. Representative Lifferth said he wanted to amend the bill and requested reconsideration so the House can correct the wording. The motion to reconsider carried and the bill was placed at the top of the third reading calendar.
The sponsor said the goal is to give the state charter board authority to solicit and accept creative applications, not to limit concepts to a predefined list. The House will revisit the bill with the corrected amendment.
