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House Education panel opens January session, previews AOE testimony and several bills
Summary
At its first meeting of the half-biennium in January 2026, the House Education committee previewed testimony from the Agency of Education and introduced several bills, including an epinephrine measure, a proposal to add student board members, PCD funding, and school-technology items.
Speaker 2 (Committee member) opened the House Education meeting in January 2026, saying the committee will hear testimony from the secretary of education and Agency of Education staff about agency reorganization and priorities for the season.
The committee’s lead framed the work ahead as difficult and wide-ranging: “everything's on the table,” Speaker 2 said, urging members to weigh public input while remaining “solution-focused.” He said the committee will follow up on prior work (referred to in the meeting as “x 73”), that Agency staff will offer language to be included in the committee’s miscellaneous education bill, and that staff testimony may include differing views from task forces.
Several members announced bills and topics they expect to bring forward this session. Speaker 3 said, “I have an epinephrine bill,” describing it as a follow-up measure similar to last year’s bill but adjusted to address limitations for early childhood settings (the transcript notes that “K through or pre K can't hold” certain supplies as a constraint). Speaker 2 said the epinephrine matter may fall partly to health committees depending on scope.
Speaker 3 also described a student-led proposal developed with Governors Institute participants that would add ninth through 12th graders to school boards. “They wrote a mock bill,” Speaker 3 said, and students are using social media to organize; the speaker said it would likely go to government operations.
Speaker 2 previewed other likely items, including a bill on PCD funding, measures related to technology in schools, and work on chronic absenteeism and its intersection with truancy. He singled out upcoming higher-education issues that intersect with the state’s economic and workforce development agencies, noting “interesting intersections” between the Agency of Education, IRED and the Department of Labor.
Members closed the introductory remarks with procedural reminders about remote etiquette and expectations during testimony. Speaker 2 said the Agency of Education will present language for the committee’s miscellaneous education bill as the session’s work proceeds.
Next steps: the committee is scheduled to receive the secretary of education’s testimony and Agency of Education presentations later in the meeting period; members said they will press for answers and further language on the items previewed during this opening session.
