HB 21 and a collection of other school-finance proposals were laid out for detailed discussion in House Public Education on March 7. House Speaker Straus was in attendance for the kick-off of the discussions.
A bulk of the bills up for discussion addressed the need for career and technology education funding [HB 1245 (Cortez), HB 395 (Bell), HB 587 (Bohac), HB 883 (King, Ken)]. Most of the discussion and testimony during the hearing was focused on HB 21 authored by committee chair Dan Huberty. Public testimony was generally positive with many speaking in support of HB 21. Huberty published a document highlighting key features of the bill along with model runs for 2018 & 2019. During the hearing, Huberty indicated his willingness to continue working on the bill as it moved through the process. The bill will be back before the committee next week.