Appropriations chair schedules capital bill for Thursday; education bill likely next week

The House Appropriations Committee Chair said Tuesday the committee will take up the capital bill on Thursday and expects to vote on it after an overview, while a separate education bill is moving through House Education, Human Services and Ways and Means and could reach Appropriations next week.

The chair framed the scheduling as a follow-up to the recently passed budget: "We had a great budget and it got through the House and it's in the Senate where we will do our best to keep it a great budget," the Chair said, adding that the capital bill "has to go to ways and means first, and then it's gonna come to us. And so we'll take a look, and we'll just vote it out on Thursday." The committee also referenced a committee bill numbered 952 as part of the near-term agenda.

Why it matters: the capital bill will fill in second-year adjustments and bonding not detailed in the main budget; Appropriations members said Thursday's review will cover projects and policy elements that remain to be resolved. The education bill, the Chair said, is expected to be voted out of House Education this week, then go to Human Services to incorporate pre-K provisions before Ways and Means handles financing.

Committee members flagged governance and readiness questions as the education package advances. "I see early education as a very different entity than K through 12," a Committee member said, expressing caution about moving early-childhood responsibilities into the K–12 framework without confirming agency capacity. Another member summarized a governance concern that has recurred in discussions: "If everybody's responsible for it, no one's responsible," the Committee member said, describing overlapping roles between Human Services and Education.

The Chair urged members to read committee outputs as bills move through each committee and to consult staff or draft materials in advance: "I think it's Ray Garifano that's gonna be reporting it from for housing services. But if you have questions or wanna see drafts, perhaps you can go to their website." The Chair added that, while timing is uncertain, Appropriations will be the last stop before floor consideration and that members should expect additional committee bills to arrive.

Next steps: Appropriations will review the capital bill on Thursday after Ways and Means, monitor the education bill's progress through Human Services and Ways and Means, and schedule targeted deep-dive sessions in April on selected topics.