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SAI Weekly Legislative Update – March 27, 2026
This week was the lightest week of the entire session in terms of education bills’ movement because both chambers focused their efforts on budget numbers and a few other items. Neither chamber acted on Thursday, and only a few bills moved all week.
Out of Senate Education Appropriations Committee
SF 2390 Emergency Health plans and AEDs — This bill was amended to be a study of current status in schools regarding AEDS and their placement, with the report due back from the DE in January. This was a good amendment.
Out of the House
HF 2230 Teacher Prep Programs — This is the bill that will require a content-based assessment for teacher prep programs and additional training. To the Senate.
SF 2086 Junior Firefighter Program — This allows districts to create a program in collaboration with local fire departments. To the Governor.
SF 2220 TAG and Accelerated Learning Plan — The amendment allows time for development, with implementation set for July 2027. Amended and returned to the Senate; another good amendment.
HF 2713 finally moved out of the House Education Appropriations Committee. It is a charter school bill that opens up additional opportunities for charter schools including TSS funds. It also requires districts to enter into agreements with community providers of PK programs.
I have mentioned to many of you that while many bills do not survive the funnel dates, they are never really dead as they can appear in other bills as amendments. SF 2231 is a bill that was passed by the Senate and passed out of the House Education committee, keeping it still alive. However, on Thursday an amendment was filed, although not yet approved, that was originally the House bill that rewrites the Social Studies curriculum. That Social Studies bill did not clear the funnel, but may end up as part of another bill. This is a prime example of bills never being dead.
Several other bills went on the “unfinished business” list Thursday which also makes them eligible for debate. We will monitor these types of maneuvering for the next several weeks.
The next couple of weeks will most likely be very light as they continue to work on overall budget numbers. They will mix in a few bills for approval and hopefully we can get some of the “good” education bills passed. I would encourage you to continue your advocacy in the areas that I mentioned last week:
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Property Tax bills — Focusing on keeping SAVE dollars for school districts and allowing districts to set their own parameters on what the Unspent Authorized Budget should be.
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Student Behavior Bills — These are still being discussed back and forth between the House and Senate Education leadership.
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HF 2676 that contains the Physical Education and Extracurricular mandate, as well as the “screen time” language. Contact your Senators about this bill and make sure they get the language about PE removed in an amendment, and that the screen time language gets changed to make it work for all kids. We have been told that it is going to happen but have not yet seen an amendment.
Here is the link to last week’s report with the talking points on these items.
As things slow down, it does give us more opportunity to share with legislators, as they have less legislation to “think about”. It is also a great time for you to share your thoughts and help educate them on pieces of proposed bills. Many times this week we heard that they had received an email or a phone call from a school administrator about a certain bill. This is great work by you — keep it up!
Have a great weekend.
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