The House passed a $10.2 billion State School Fund last week, generally pleasing education advocates. But the struggle to protect school funding will go on until the last gavel falls on the 2023 Legislature.
House Bill 3198, Gov. Tina Kotek’s priority early learning bill, has demonstrated the need for constant vigilance. OSBA Legislative Services Director Lori Sattenspiel said education advocates were told that the general fund would pay for the bill. In a surprise move last week, legislators pulled the initiative’s funding from the Student Success Act accounts instead.
OSBA, along with a broad coalition of education-related associations, is asking members to urge legislators to vote no on HB 3198 as written now. Sattenspiel said education advocates are preparing for a fight over HB 3198 and keeping an eye on other last-minute policies.
“Things like this make us extra cautious, watching for end-of-session shenanigans,” she said. “Will things even be funded if they pop up?”
The Legislative Highlights weekly series “Funding Oregon’s Future” has tracked the State School Fund’s journey. Although schools’ main funding source is now largely settled, education advocates may still be called on to rally legislators against raids on education money.
House Bill 5015, the State School Fund bill, passed the House 52-6 on Wednesday, June 7.
“This investment will stabilize funding for our schools and allows us to continue to respond to significant equity gaps still lingering from the pandemic,” said Rep. Zach Hudson, D-Multnomah County, in a news release.
The amount comes close to what school business officials said most school districts needed to avoid shortfalls. Coupled with other education funding sources that have grown, school finances are looking healthy.
HB 5015 now goes to the Senate, which is stalled by a Republican walkout. The State School Fund’s passage could be delayed until a special session, but its ultimate amount looks secure. Republicans’ only grumble with HB 5015 was that some wanted it to be more.
The Legislature, though, can give with one hand while taking with another.
HB 3198 dedicates $140 million to a host of early learning supports for infants through grade three. The bill takes its money from the Student Success Act, including rewriting the terms of the Student Investment Account. The SIA was set up to give at least half the available money from the corporate activity tax directly to school districts for local initiatives.
In a surprise amendment delivered Sunday, June 4, the early literacy initiative would permanently tap the SIA. Education advocates cried foul over the funding while everyone praised the bill’s policy goals. Even Kotek’s representatives said don’t do it this way.
The amended bill moved out of the Joint Ways and Means Education Subcommittee but not before legislators expressed some concerns.
Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, voted for the amended bill Wednesday but with reservations, especially because the Legislature is funding early learning “through the backdoor, as it were, through an amendment that came up at the last minute.”
Rep. Emily McIntire, a Republican and Eagle Point School Board member, was even more blunt in the Monday hearing, reminding legislators this shifts money from locally controlled decisions to a statewide initiative.
“We’re sabotaging our school districts,” she said.
The bill’s future is far more nebulous than the State School Fund.
HB 3198 has not been scheduled for a Joint Ways and Means Committee hearing as of Monday morning.
The Legislature is in serious talks to resume work, but nothing has been announced yet. If HB 3198 makes it to the Senate, it could still be killed by the Senate Republican blockade. At this point, the sheer backlog of bills could affect what goes through if the Republicans return to the chamber. There’s no guarantee the bill would reappear if the Legislature goes to special session. The Legislature will have to hear budget bills, but everything else will be a negotiated dance. HB 3198 represents one of the governor’s top priority goals, but her representatives have opposed the funding mechanism.
Kotek could fight for the bill to be heard, including in a special session, or let it drop. She could even potentially wield her line-item veto if the bill makes it to her desk. Parts of the bill could also be tucked into budget bills.
The governor’s office has not revealed its next move. Pooja Bhatt, Kotek’s education initiative director, said the governor “has been clear that the Early Literacy Success Initiative should come from new resources and not compete with other critical programs.”
Education advocates always remain on guard for end-of-session bills or funding surprises in the omnibus budget bill known as “the Christmas tree bill.” This session, though, provides extra complications with hundreds of bills gasping for air as the Republican walkout denies a Senate quorum.
Whether it’s a mad rush at the end or machinations during the special session, some desperate legislators could be looking to slip a policy past. Policies tend to have costs, and that money must come from somewhere. Education has the biggest funding pot to guard.
– Jake Arnold, OSBA
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