Senate adopts conference report to pass second substitute of House Bill 2, adjusting school funding

The Utah Senate on March 5 adopted the joint conference committee report and passed the second substitute to House Bill 2, which adjusts the state’s minimum school program for the coming fiscal year.

Senator Stevenson, explaining the conference committee’s work, said the changes include an increase in charter school local replacements to implement a $100 per-student payment, an administrative cost increase for charter schools and a reduction to the teacher-salary-supplement restricted account. "There's an increase in the charter school local replacement to accommodate Representative Dawes' amendment," Stevenson said, and added the teacher salary supplement restricted account was reduced by $400,000 to $4,300,000, yielding a $4,100 supplement per teacher.

The second substitute also set a future charter enrollment cap on a sliding scale at 1.4 percent of statewide district enrollments, which Stevenson said translates to about 7,302 students given the fall projection of 521,547 district students. The sponsor described the package as a compromise that retains several priorities for K–12 funding while limiting total cost growth.

The conference committee report was read and accepted by the Senate after a roll-call vote. The body recorded the final passage of the second substitute to Senate Bill 2 with 22 yes votes, three nays and four absences and referred the measure back to the House for further action.

Because the adopted changes were made by a conference committee, the action sends the reconciled bill back to the House for signature or further negotiations. The Senate’s approval implements the committee’s technical and fiscal adjustments and authorizes the modified funding levels for the minimum school program going into the next fiscal year.

The Senate recorded its adoption and passage under the body’s regular concurrence procedures and returned the bill for the House’s further action.