The big news out of the House this week is the passage of the budget – a historic $302.6 billion, including $5 billion in new money for public schools. This is not all of the money that they had to spend after record amounts of cash that were collected since the last time they crafted their budget. The Herrero Amendment, which prohibits the use of state funds for school vouchers or similar programs, passed during the debate. This amendment passed 86-52, signaling that there is little support for vouchers in the House. This was not a party-line vote which has been the norm over the last several sessions. The Senate will have a similar debate in the coming weeks. Once the Senate is finished debating the bill, each chamber will appoint a conference committee to hammer out all of the budget details.
On Tuesday, the House Public Education Committee heard testimony on several voucher bills. No voucher bills were voted out of committee that day, not unexpected as each bill was heard for the first time. The Committee did vote out
HB 100, which relates to the compensation of public school educators and to the public school finance system, including enrollment-based funding for certain allotments under the Foundation School Program. The Committee also voted out
HB 114, which relates to the possession of e-cigarettes on public school property or at certain school events; creating a criminal offense. These bills will move to the House Calendars Committee.
We are at the point in Session where tensions are high and each chamber is trying to pass the measures that are important to them. There is no agreement on several large bills, including the property tax bill. The Senate passed its version and the House is debating its version today.
We are a short month away from the first deadline in the House. May 11 is the last day that the House can consider House bills on the floor. Many bills will not make it to the Governor's desk because the clock will run out.
