Maine education committee advances revised LD 2226 after cutting transportation and special‑education additions

Senator Joe Rafferty presided over a language‑review session of the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs where members adopted a revised amendment to LD 2226 that changes how Maine calculates Essential Programs and Services (EPS) school funding.

Representative Michael Brennan, the amendment sponsor, told the committee the proposal preserves three core changes the majority previously approved: an update to the regional index, a 90/10 approach that weights disadvantaged students and local fiscal capacity, and a temporary hold‑harmless transition for districts that would otherwise lose state subsidy under the change. Brennan said the white‑sheet version removes several items that had inflated an earlier fiscal estimate — most notably state payments for transportation, an increase in the disadvantaged weight to 1.3, and a special‑education prevalence change — and corrects a miscalculation in the hold‑harmless figure to reduce the fiscal note back toward the committee’s earlier estimate.

"It removes the section of the bill related to the state payments for transportation, economically disadvantaged student weighting from the 1.3 to 1.2, and the special‑education prevalence moving from 17 back down to 15," Brennan said, summarizing the white‑sheet changes and the timing for implementation.

The department and MEPRI (the Maine Education Policy Research Institute) answered members’ questions about the simulations and the fiscal effect. Amy Johnson of MEPRI said the larger fiscal note that surfaced during work sessions acted as "the reality check" that prompted the committee to pare back items.

Paula Grall, director of public‑school funding at the Maine Department of Education, described the department’s simulations and emphasized the regional‑index fix as the most consequential single change. Grall said the department’s modeling shows the regional correction benefits the vast majority of school administrative units: "It benefits 247 SAUs of 262," she said, and added that the hold‑harmless mechanism—in the white‑sheet language—ensures that no SAU sees a reduction in state share during the initial transition period.

The committee spent extensive time on two procedural and policy questions: (1) whether to advance the core reforms immediately while delaying other items for further study, and (2) which poverty metric to use to measure local capacity. Senator Libby and others reiterated concerns about relying on binary free‑and‑reduced‑price‑meal eligibility alone. MEPRI said its economic‑disadvantage measure uses several administrative eligibility indicators (Medicaid, SNAP, etc.) and that the committee will receive more comparative analysis when MEPRI reports back.

Representative Kelly Murphy moved acceptance of the white‑sheet amendment, which keeps the regional adjustment and the 90/10 poverty weighting, clarifies an implementation date starting in fiscal year 2027‑28, and directs MEPRI to report on EPS components by Jan. 15, 2027. The committee first voted to reconsider its earlier action (the motion to reconsider carried unanimously) and then approved the revised amendment; the record shows the vote on final passage as 10 in favor and 2 opposed, with a minority report noted.

The adopted amendment also includes a phased hold‑harmless schedule: 100% protection for three years compared with FY27 state share levels and gradual phase‑down thereafter. Department staff explained the hold‑harmless mechanics: for SAUs with a negative state‑share change under the new calculation, the department will offset the loss by reducing the SAU’s required local contribution and increasing the state share for the transition period.

Committee members and stakeholder representatives, including Robbie Fineberg of the Maine School Management Association, endorsed the committee’s emphasis on the regional adjustment and the hold‑harmless protection while urging further work on special‑education details and poverty‑metric choices.

The committee’s action moves the amended language forward for subsequent floor or cross‑chamber steps; MEPRI will return with further analysis of poverty measures and other EPS components by January 15, 2027.