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Committee advances bill to bar education contracts with foreign-adversary-linked vendors
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Summary
The House Education Committee reported HB 690 as amended after testimony warning that entities tied to foreign adversaries could gain influence in K–12 and voucher-funded schools; a technical amendment was adopted and the bill was reported forward without objection.
The House Education Committee on April 17 advanced House Bill 690, which would bar education agencies from knowingly contracting with education service providers or vendors of educational products that are foreign adversaries, agents of foreign adversaries or foreign terrorist organizations.
Representative Amede, the bill—s sponsor, told the panel the measure aims to "keep our tax dollars from funding our foreign adversaries and foreign terrorists" and that definitions in the bill point to federal statutes to identify covered countries and organizations. The bill would also prohibit covered providers from subcontracting to those entities and includes administrative due process and a mechanism for recovering funds if an ineligible provider is later identified.
The committee heard proponent testimony from national- and state-level security groups. Jacqueline Deal, an adviser to State Armour, said she has researched the Chinese Communist Party and described programs such as Confucius Classrooms as examples of efforts that once operated within U.S. schools. Michael Lucci, founder of State Armor, urged the committee to place "common-sense guardrails" on voucher and school-choice programs to prevent hostile influence. Tom Rawlings of State Shield recounted efforts to remove Confucius Institutes from U.S. campuses and said private acquisitions of schools by interests linked to China are a growing concern.
Committee members questioned whether the bill would reach charter schools and voucher-funded private schools; the sponsor said the prohibition applies to any entity receiving education tax dollars. Members also pressed when payments stop and what due-process protections providers would have. The sponsor pointed to the bill's references to the Louisiana procurement code and a recovery/recoupment process; she agreed to confirm details about the precise timing of payment suspension before the measure reaches the House floor.
A brief technical amendment (changing a plural to a singular in the bill text) was adopted by unanimous consent. Representative Owens moved that the committee report HB 690 as amended; no objections were recorded and the bill was reported as amended.
What—s next: HB 690 was reported out of committee and may be scheduled for floor debate and votes. The author said she would confirm legal timing details about payment suspension before the bill reaches the floor.
