Committee hears bill to require biannual State reporting on federal K‑12 funds

At a hearing of the Committee on K-12 Education Budget, members heard testimony on House Bill 2618, a proposal that would require the State Board of Education and the Kansas State Department of Education to submit biannual reports to the Legislature detailing federal financial assistance that flows through the state and how federally funded initiatives would be sustained if federal funding stops.

The bill, as explained by committee staff, would require reports on the preceding and current fiscal years and on anticipated amounts for the remainder of the current fiscal year, to be filed on or before July 1 and January 1 each year. The reports would include the purpose of each federal program, which office in the department manages the funding, the federal agency administering the program, exact dollar amounts accepted, distributed and expended, anticipated timing of funds, and “a description that details whether and how the educational initiatives … will be sustained” if federal funding ceases. Committee staff said the bill would take…