HB 2 (Buckley), also known as the School Finance bill, is on its way back to the House. After weeks of negotiations, it appears that the two chambers have come to an agreement. With the passage of HB 2, public schools will see an increase of $8.5 billion, with a $55 per-student increase for the basic allotment and some new direct allotments for special programs. SB 1 (Huffman) The General Appropriations Act (GAA), or the state's budget Conference Committee Report, was released on Wednesday, and we are happy to report that the Legislature is continuing to fund the G/T allotment.  

The final number of bills filed for the 89th Session was 9,014. As of today, 240 bills have reached the Governor's desk. Of those bills, one was vetoed by the Governor. There are 731 bills sitting on his desk waiting to be signed, and approximately 163 more awaiting approval to head to his office. In the last session, 8,345 bills were filed, 1,246 made it to his desk, and 76 were vetoed. We are currently on track to pass fewer bills this session than last session. Unfortunately, HB 977 (Noble)/SB 1613 (Johnson) failed to reach the Governor's desk this year. 

Session ends on Monday. The rumor on the street is that the Governor will not call the Legislature back for special sessions.