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Committee narrows penalties, delays school‑building reports and rejects transfer amendment in SB 239
Summary
The committee approved changes to Senate Bill 239 that delay school‑building reporting to 2027, remove a proposed 25% tuition‑support penalty for missing reports and repeal a county executive appointment provision; a separate transfer amendment failed, and the bill passed the committee 6–4.
The Committee on Education approved an amended version of Senate Bill 239 that delays several reporting deadlines for school buildings, removes a proposed 25% reduction in tuition support for failure to submit building reports, and repeals a provision that would have allowed county executives to appoint members to certain charter‑school boards.
Representative Tesco summarized amendment No. 13, saying it ‘‘moves the effective dates of many of the things in the bill’’ and delays building reporting until 2027 to allow more time to gather data. Tesco also said the amendment removes the 25% tuition‑support reduction that the underlying bill had proposed and adds a two‑year petition process by which parties could ask the department to issue a final order to prevent indefinite delay.
Representative Delaney urged additional changes on transfers of covered school buildings, proposing amendment No. 14 to remove a provision that would allow charters a civil cause of action against school corporations in some cases and require certain assets be included in leases or sales. That transfer amendment was put to a roll‑call vote and failed 4–6.
After debate and votes on the offered amendments, the committee voted to pass SB 239 as amended by amendment No. 13; the final committee vote was 6–4. Representatives Behning, Teschka, McGuire, Davis, Ireland and Carball voted in favor; Representatives V. Smith, Delaney, Klinker and Path voted against. Several members were recorded as excused on individual roll calls.
Supporters said the changes aim to avoid unnecessarily punitive financial penalties and to provide extra time for districts to collect the data the bill requires. Opponents warned that delaying deadlines and removing financial penalties could reduce compliance and slow resolution of property disputes related to the so‑called "dollar law," which some members said has tied up property transfers and generated court challenges.
Next steps: SB 239 passed the committee 6–4 and will proceed according to legislative scheduling for further consideration.
