House Ways and Means Education committee advances education budget package, including $1 billion ENT and new outcome-based CHEER fund

The House Ways and Means Education Committee advanced a multi-bill education spending package that would move millions in one-time and ongoing funds to K–12 schools, community colleges and universities.

Representative Garrett, chairing the meeting, told members the session began with what he described as about $1.6 billion in "excess funds," and that after the statutory waterfall and set-asides roughly $419 million remained for this year's supplemental appropriation. "Of that $1.6 billion of excess funds... after the waterfall... available for supplemental appropriation is $419 million," Garrett said as he walked members through slides on Education Trust Fund balances and projected reserves.

Why it matters: the package combines near-term supplemental grants with a larger $1 billion allocation of ENT (economic opportunity) funding for higher education, plus structural policy changes that could steer future state higher-education dollars toward measurable employment and completion outcomes.

The committee approved House Bill 235, the supplemental appropriation bill, which lists about $419 million in one-time allocations. Representative Garrett read a long set of line items including $25 million for fleet renewal and $25 million for school safety, $20 million for career-readiness grants, $10 million for charter-school grants, $30 million for summer and after-school programs, $10 million for struggling readers, and a $10 million line for career-tech equipment. The supplemental also includes a wide set of grants and deferred-maintenance items for colleges, museums and local projects that Garrett said were intended to address member requests across the state. The committee adopted a substitute and amendments (including replacing an aerospace earmark for Drake with a community technical college economic development item), and the bill received a favorable committee report by voice vote.

On the higher-education side, the committee approved House Bill 236 to appropriate $1 billion in ENT funds. Garrett said approximately $275.1 million of that total would flow to higher-education institutions via the existing bond formula, with a $150 million carve-out to fund regional career-technical centers and smaller ‘‘off-the-top’’ set-asides for K–12 capital projects. Members adopted a substitute and passed the bill by voice vote.

The committee also advanced House Bill 565, the College and Higher Education Excellence and Results Act (the "CHEER" Act). Garrett described CHEER as enabling legislation to create a nonreverting CHEER fund for bonus allocations to institutions that meet outcome-based metrics. The bill frames eligibility around measures such as employment in a high-demand field and post-graduation wages relative to state medians (with different wage benchmarks for certificates, associate degrees and bachelor's degrees), retention and completion for higher-need students, and protections against manipulated data. Garrett explained the outcomebased higher-education funding coordinating committee would set specific weights and goals in consultation with institutions; committee chairs of the Senate Finance and the House Ways and Means Education committees would lead the coordinating committee. Members adopted clarifying amendments on definitions and calculation language and gave the bill a favorable report by voice vote.

House Bill 237, a $500 million transfer from the Education Opportunity Reserve Fund, was passed to allocate $399.15 million to the RAISE K–12 program and $100.85 million for the CHEER fund, according to Garrett's explanation.

Representative Garrett then walked the committee through House Bill 238, the education operating budget spreadsheets and adjustments. He described changes tied to the state employee insurance and retirement contribution requests (PHIP and TRS), CHIPS growth treatment, an annual mortgage payment for the new state house split between the general fund and the ETF, and an approximately $12 million pool allocated to local boards to reduce middle-school divisors. The budget folds several pilot and innovation line items into consolidated buckets (a $3.5 million pilot bucket and an $8 million ‘‘advanced innovation’’ grant bucket) and lists targeted increases for programs ranging from rural residency and workforce initiatives to deferred maintenance and trail projects. The committee adopted a substitute and a late amendment to restore a $200,000 HBCU consortium line and approved the budget as amended by voice vote.

Other actions: the committee reported favorably on House Bill 239 (a 2% teacher pay raise, roughly $100 million as described in committee), House Bill 240 (an ETF appropriation and required research-match language for Tuskegee University), HB241 and HB242 (smaller appropriations and line items). All measures on the agenda were given favorable committee reports and sent forward by voice vote.

What members asked: throughout the presentation members pressed on the composition of set-asides, the treatment of PHIP/TRS costs, and the mechanics of pre-funding versus outcome-satisfaction for the CHEER fund. Garrett repeatedly emphasized that CHEER is not an entitlement—"you earn it, you get it"—and that bonus funding would be subject to later appropriation and to institution reporting requirements.

Next steps: bills that received favorable reports will move to the full House for further consideration and any floor amendments. The committee did not record roll-call tallies in the transcript; most approvals were taken by voice vote during the session.

Ending: Chairman Garrett closed by thanking staff and interns for shepherding the package through the process and adjourned the meeting.