Transcript Highlights:

• There is a separate set of districts that are receiving hold harmless funding.
• There is a separate set of districts that are receiving hold harmless funding.
• Or their hold harmless amount.
• So even, you know, a hold harmless district would see slightly less as a result. Okay.
• Those districts will tell you that it's not optimal to be at that hold-harmless level because prices

Summary: The committee heard an overview of the May Revision’s Proposition 98 changes for K-12 and community colleges. The Department of Finance said the minimum guarantee rises by $6.4 billion over the Governor’s Budget across the three-year window, with higher guarantees in each year, full payment of the prior settle-up, and larger deposits into the school rainy-day fund. The LAO said the revenue and LCFF updates were reasonable, but urged caution about the settle-up approach and recommended using more of the available funding to protect ongoing programs and build budget resilience. Members focused heavily on the size of the proposed $3.9 billion settle-up, the $10.3 billion reserve deposit, declining K-12 enrollment, and how much of the new funding should be ongoing versus one-time. The committee then reviewed the community colleges portion of the budget. Finance described the May Revision’s higher SCFF COLA, additional funding for enrollment growth, a student support block grant, apprenticeship adjustments, and continued funding for deferred maintenance, Calbright, Common Cloud, and credit for prior learning. The Chancellor’s Office supported the core investments but asked for more funding for enrollment growth, changes to the growth formula, and a COLA for Student Equity and Achievement. The LAO recommended prioritizing the statutory COLA increase, noted that more than half of districts are already above current-year growth targets, and said the new adult learner demonstration project should be rejected because districts already have tools to support similar services. Members also discussed a $52 million current-year apportionment shortfall, which Finance said was discovered too late for the May Revision and would need to be addressed later. Finally, the committee took up the proposed implementation of the federal Workforce Pell program. Finance proposed one-time funding for the California Student Aid Commission and Cradle to Career to build eligibility and data systems, along with trailer bill changes to set up state approval processes. CSAC said the program is promising but highly complex, that California lacks the needed infrastructure, and that the state will need emergency regulations, data linkages, and ongoing funding beyond the one-time proposal. The LAO agreed that some initial funding is needed but warned that the amounts and ongoing costs remain uncertain and that the Legislature should carefully draft the trailer bill language. Members asked about timing, other states’ actions, and how the state would ensure the program is ready for students and institutions.

Transcript Highlights:

• people harmless all the way through this whole process.
• the students that are being impacted, that are concerned that they may not have at least be held harmless
• people harmless all the way through this whole process.
• The State Grant program already is 232 million short if you kind of hold people harmless all the way
• You know, we know that not being able to attain higher education holds so many people back from things

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• And line 21 is for PED, and this is a hold harmless for charter schools; it doesn't hold the districts
• So this is keeping the same amount of money but holding everyone harmless for the changes and keeping
• This is keeping the same amount of money, but holding everyone harmless for the changes and keeping it
• Last year, you allocated some money for holding harmless, but the intent was right-sizing education.
• So this would ideally be the last year you do a hold harmless so they can actually fully right-size.

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• If you skip down to row 107, you'll see House Bill 63, Charter School Hold Harmless Supplemental, with
• LESC recommended a $5 million appropriation as a one-year hold harmless to help those charter schools
• House Bill 2 only included $1 million for that Hold Harmless.
• harmless, that it's across the board.
• And my last question is on the Hold Harmless issue on 107.

Transcript Highlights:

• Uh, paragraph D, uh, that is being inserted is a hold harmless provision, um, that the commissioner may
• a hold harmless provision um inserted is a hold harmless provision um that<00:05:14.080> the<
• roadway design um to indemnify and hold roadway design um to indemnify and hold harmless<00:05:23.520
• <00:15:04.800> harmless<00:15:05.279> and indemnification and holding harmless and
• indemnification and holding harmless and and<00:15:05.920> uh<00:15:06.079> risk<00:15:

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• These hold harmless and the FSP are intended to hold districts harmless for property value for property
• And is the state holding it harmless?
• Yeah, so the legislation provided for multiple hold harmless provisions, which try to hold essentially
• Speaker: And is the state holding it harmless?
• Yeah, so the legislation provided for multiple hold harmless provisions, which try to hold essentially

Bills: SB 1

Keywords: campground safety, youth camp regulations, flood safety, emergency evacuation, health and safety standards, 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It's a grant, and you also have a column we call hold harmless.
• you also have a column we call hold you also have a column we call hold harmless<03:19:17.199>
• That's $184 million, and they hold harmless roughly another $50 million.
• extraordinary needs Grant plus the hold extraordinary needs Grant plus the hold harmless<03:23:06.520
• Oh, was it from the hold harmless part? And it would go into, I know that, but into what?

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The Education Funding Committee met to review a large package of bills, with the first four—HB 717, 742, 773, and 603—focused on special education aid, formerly called catastrophic aid. Chair Ladin explained that the committee needed to move a special education bill forward by March 4 and was trying to determine which bill would serve as the vehicle. He described the current formula and the difficulty of estimating the fiscal impact of lowering the threshold from 3.5 times the statewide average cost per pupil to a lower level, noting that DOE did not have reliable data on how many students would fall into the lower-cost bands. The committee also noted that several other bills in the package addressed SWEP and adequacy issues, and that HB 510 dealt with due process rather than funding. Mark Mello of the Bureau of School Finance testified that the department only has reliable data for special education expenditures above $70,000 per student, since claims are submitted for reimbursement at that point. He said the bureau was trying to estimate how many students might fall between 2.5x and 3.5x or 3x and 3.5x the average cost, but that the basic answer was they did not know and that any estimate would be difficult. He explained that moving the threshold from 3.5x to 2.5x would create a minimum additional cost of about $13.6 million based on existing claims, not counting new students who would enter the range. Members discussed whether districts already had the underlying data, whether a survey should be required, and how districts know when to begin tracking costs for reimbursement. The committee also discussed proration and the state’s share of special education aid. Mello explained that the current 80% state share is modeled in the formula, but the actual payment has been prorated because appropriations have not matched the statutory liability; he said the state liability was about $50 million, while the budget had provided $34 million, resulting in a 68% payment rate. HB 742 was described as a bill that would eliminate proration by paying the liability directly from the education trust fund with an overflow mechanism. Members also discussed possible alternatives such as changing the state share, using a lower threshold in a transition period, or requiring districts to submit data. No votes or final actions were taken in the portion provided; the committee was still in discussion and considering which bills to advance.

Transcript Highlights:

• The Hold Harmless provision prevents Dallas ISD from losing $68 million this year and another $68 million
• I would have to say it, and I hope you would agree, his Hold Harmless amendment does not talk. ...about
• You committed to working to make sure that we actually hold harmless our school districts. ...through
• Thank you so much, Representative Meyer, and let me just start by saying thank you for the hold harmless
• Okay, hold on, I'm not done. Sure. Okay.

Bills: SB4, SB23, SB3, SJR2, SJR85, SB34, SB60, SB75, SB706, SB1814, SB1220, SB523, SB565, SB1253, SB840, SB764, SB2383, SB2155, SB1535, SB1405, SB1423, SB1566, SB1804, SB1728, SB1816, SB1952, SB1948, SB2037, SB2068, SB1455, SB213, SB243, SB627, SB646, SB670, SB896, SB917, SB1184, SB971, SB1255, SB1261, SB1283, SB1358, SB991, SB1733, SB21, SB231, SB739, SB1252, SB1371, SB664, SB40, SB9, SJR1, SB687, SB1332, SB458, SB482, SB927, SB984, SB651, SB1620, SB2124, SB2448, SB841, SB843, SB402, SB2662, SB2053, SB2332, SB2112, SB745, SB1247, SB1789, SB27, SB207, SB2938, SB1901, SB1227, SB1248, SB912, SB1321, SB2143, SB2145, SB1497, SB1239, SB2180, SB1388, SB1662, SB1951, SB1537, SB493, SB378, SB1020, SB1018, SB992, SB958, SB920, SB1350, SB1762, SB552, HCR109, SB2185, SB4, SB23, SB3, SJR2, SJR85, SB34, SB60, SB75, SB706, SB1814, SB1220, SB523, SB565, SB1253, SB840, SB764, SB2383, SB2155, SB1535, SB1405, SB1423, SB1566, SB1804, SB1728, SB1816, SB1952, SB1948, SB2037, SB2068, SB1455, SB213, SB243, SB627, SB646, SB670, SB896, SB917, SB1184, SB971, SB1255, SB1261, SB1283, SB1358, SB991, SB1733, SB21, SB231, SB739, SB1252, SB1371, HB2970, HB 109, SB2308

Keywords: property tax, homestead exemption, school funding, state aid, constitutional amendment, elderly, disabled, ad valorem taxation, school district funding, SJR 2, Senate Joint Resolution 2, property tax relief, school property tax, ad valorem tax, residence homestead, school district taxes, Texas Constitution Article VIII, public school finance, homeowner exemption, elderly exemption

Transcript Highlights:

• The global leadership agreement included a compensatory aid hold harmless at $10 million.
• The House DFL and GOP have agreed to use the Senate's hold harmless proposal from Senator Clark.
• The global leadership agreement included a compensatory aid hold harmless at $10 million.
• The House DFL and GOP have agreed to use the Senate's hold harmless proposal from Senator Clark.
• The way that this is structured is to ensure that the three-year hold harmless that has occurred the

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And we also Learned that we set laws, and one of those laws is hold harmless.
• And yeah, we found a very abusive deal here and hold harmless.
• But that hold harmless has been in law for Years and years.
• We have to hold those agencies accountable for the money they are costing our taxpayers.

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• On two topics related to recapture the first is hold harmless.
• We're very appreciative that you are working to address the hold harmless concerns that have already
• provisions in Texas because at least one of the three hold harmless provisions 24 school year using
• The tax compression hold harmless affects a total of 37 districts that pay recapture and that breakdown
• You've also heard important concerns about hold harmless.

Bills: HB2, HB2

Keywords: public education, teacher compensation, certification, funding, school finance, educator rights, education funding, charter schools, staff compensation, state aid, retention allotment, disaster preparedness, emergency management, flooding, mass fatality, mass casualty, fatality tracking, body recovery, autopsy, justice of the peace

Transcript Highlights:

• harmless.
• The reason it's called hold harmless is because you cannot ask a bigger hospital to pay a bigger share
• The hold harmless is you contribute and you get reimbursed, but you're not guaranteed to be made whole
• I can't, the reason it's called hold harmless is because you cannot ask a bigger hospital to pay a bigger
• The hold harmless is you contribute and you get reimbursed, but you're not guaranteed to be made whole

Keywords: 1204, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And one of those laws is hold harmless.
• And, yeah, we found a very abusive deal here in hold harmless.
• But that hold harmless has been in law for years and years.
• We have to hold those agencies accountable for the money they are costing our taxpayers.

Summary: The committee heard a final wrap-up presentation from Director So Lee on the Legislative Finance Committee’s budget framework for the upcoming session. He said the state remains in a strong fiscal position, though revenue estimates are lower than earlier projections and available nonrecurring funds have declined by more than $1 billion from the prior session. He emphasized that the recommendation still preserves reserves above 30 percent and supports targeted investments in the committee’s three priorities: increasing per capita earned income through education and workforce development, improving access to high-quality health care and behavioral health, and enhancing quality of life through infrastructure, water, parks, trails, and other community amenities. Director Lee highlighted several major funding areas, including a proposed expansion of the UNM medical education program, water projects, capital outlay for state agency assets, and use of a mix of severance tax bonds, general obligation bonds, and cash for capital needs. He also noted continued pressure from health insurance, liability, and compensation costs, and said the committee would keep using pilot programs for new initiatives. Members broadly praised the staff, interim travel, and budget analysis work. During member comments, Senator Woods focused on school funding stability, liability costs, and fraud or waste in state agencies, arguing the state should take more claims to court to establish precedent and better protect taxpayers. Other members thanked staff and leadership for their work and collaboration. The committee then adopted the catch-up cleanup items and the overall LFC budget framework, with Senator Woods recorded in opposition, and created a technical committee with members from both chambers to resolve any final technical issues before the January session.

Transcript Highlights:

• For FY26, we once again find ourselves in hold harmless with only a 1.8% student decrease. people signed
• For FY26, we once again find ourselves in hold harmless with only a 1.8% student decrease.
• Again, we find ourselves in hold harmless with only a 1.8% student decrease.
• The Chapter 70 formula's hold harmless and minimum aid provisions have utterly failed our district, leaving
• The Chapter 70 formula's hold harmless and minimum aid provisions have utterly failed our district, leaving

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Education opened a hybrid public hearing on a large slate of bills related to school buildings, school finance, technology, data privacy, safety, and related education issues. Chairs Jason Lewis and Ken Gordon outlined procedures for the hearing, including two-minute testimony limits and the plan to group similar bills together. Several bills drew no testimony and were closed without further discussion, while others drew extensive testimony from legislators, school officials, parents, advocates, and educators. A major theme was school safety and student well-being. Lori Al-Hadeth testified in support of bills on alert systems in public schools, describing the loss of her daughter in the Parkland shooting and urging adoption of Alyssa’s Law-style panic alert technology. Representative Gallagher and disability advocates also supported a bill authorizing, but not requiring, airway clearance devices in schools, arguing they could save lives in choking emergencies and provide an option for people who cannot use the Heimlich maneuver. Another bill on reducing cafeteria waste drew support from a legislator and a Lexington sustainability official, who said installing dishwashers during construction would reduce waste and long-term costs. Much of the hearing focused on Chapter 70 school funding and the inflation cap. Senator Pavel Payano, Senator Sal DiDomenico, Representative Senna, and multiple local officials and school committee members from Bridgewater, Chelsea, Groton-Dunstable, and other districts argued that the 4.5% cap on inflation adjustments has left schools underfunded during years of high inflation, forcing layoffs, larger class sizes, and cuts to programs and student supports. They urged bills to eliminate the cap, restore lost funding, increase the Commonwealth’s share of the foundation budget, or create commissions to study reforms. Testimony also highlighted the impact on special education, English learners, and low-income students, with Chelsea witnesses saying the cap has cost their district about $7 million annually. School construction and MSBA reform were the other major topic. AIA Massachusetts, Boston Public Schools, Lynn officials, and AFT Massachusetts described aging facilities, overcrowding, deferred maintenance, and the difficulty of financing new schools under current reimbursement rules. Boston officials said the district has many pre-World War II buildings and has only built a handful of new schools in decades, while Lynn leaders said reimbursement rates have fallen well below the statutory 80% because of caps and ineligible costs. Witnesses urged modernization of the MSBA program, higher reimbursement rates, and more resources for school construction. The committee also heard support for a bill to study the adequacy and equity of the school building program, and chairs indicated some bills would be closed after no one signed up to testify.

Transcript Highlights:

• So, it's a government agency simply asking to hold on to more.
• harmless period to reflect the ad valorem taxes that will effectively be diverted from the Oklahoma
• If it's more than $300 million, then they're going to be holding those recipients of those tax dollars
• harmless a purchase that is going to have a negative fiscal impact.
• all of these entities harmless is now going to drive up the cost of us purchasing future assets in the

Bills: HB3044, HB3465, HB3625, HB3704, HB3759, HB3920, HB3972, HB4191, HB4311, HB4426

Keywords: veterans, tax refund, Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs, capital improvement, donations, Oklahoma Emission Reduction, incentive, taxation, environment, revenue, investment, school funds, treasurer, education funding, financial policy, income tax, scholarship, tax credit, Oklahoma Tax Commission, school funding

Transcript Highlights:

• Yeah, if I could be helpful here: the COLA effectively stopped being provided on the hold harmless amount
• So, 2025-26, there are roughly 13 districts in the state that are on hold harmless as of our 2025-26
• It's very harsh and very hard for those districts that are on the hold harmless list because effectively
• I think we're the only system of education that has an absolute hold harmless.
• I heard you say, testify to us that, which is no shock to anybody, the hold harmless often allows people

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Yeah, if I could be helpful here: the COLA effectively stopped being provided on the hold harmless amount
• So, 2025-26, there are roughly 13 districts in the state that are on hold harmless as of our 2025-26
• So it's very harsh and very hard for those districts that are on the hold harmless list because effectively
• I think we're the only system of education that has an absolute hold harmless.
• I heard you testify to us that, which is no shock to anybody, the hold harmless often allows people not

Summary: The committee heard an overview of the California Community Colleges budget proposal, including Proposition 98 funding, a 2.41% COLA for apportionments, enrollment growth funding, repayment of an apportionment deferral, and one-time investments for a student support block grant and deferred maintenance. The Department of Finance described the Governor’s package as providing significant new resources, while the LAO recommended prioritizing COLA and enrollment growth within available funds but raised concerns about some smaller proposals, including making the Healthy School Food Pathways Program ongoing and adding more funding for credit for prior learning before outcomes are known. The Chancellor’s Office supported the COLA, enrollment growth, and one-time investments, and said current projections suggest enrollment growth closer to 3%, with about $85 million to $90 million in ongoing costs if fully funded. Members focused heavily on enrollment growth, the 10% district cap, and whether the state should continue funding growth in the current year and budget year. The Chancellor’s Office said some districts, especially in the Inland Empire and Central Valley, are growing rapidly and that about seven districts are above the cap, with roughly 1,563 FTES and about $30 million in ongoing costs tied to that issue. Members also discussed hold-harmless districts and whether declining campuses should be required to produce turnaround or right-sizing plans. The Chancellor’s Office said districts are already having local conversations and that state funding provides time to adjust, but no formal plan requirement was proposed. The committee then took up common course numbering, where the Chancellor’s Office said all 115 community colleges have implemented the first phase and more than 550,000 students enrolled in the first six commonly numbered courses. The office argued that CCN improves clarity but does not yet guarantee that credits will transfer with full value across UC and CSU, because articulation is still handled campus by campus and can require more than 3,500 separate reviews. Members expressed concern that students can still be forced to retake courses such as calculus or ethnic studies even when they have the same common number, and urged the systems to develop a stronger statewide articulation mechanism tied to outcomes and transparency. The item was left open. Finally, the committee heard the Governor’s proposal to make Calbright College’s funding ongoing at $53.1 million. The LAO recommended instead transitioning Calbright to the student-centered funding formula, with one-time bridge funding in the meantime, arguing the Governor’s proposal lacks a clear enrollment-based rationale and performance expectations. Calbright’s leadership defended the college’s competency-based, flexible model for adult learners, citing more than 6,800 students served, over 2,200 certificates awarded, and wage gains for graduates; they said enrollment is expected to grow from about 7,000 students now to roughly 8,000 to 9,000 next year and around 10,000 over the next couple of years. Members pressed for clearer enrollment and funding data before deciding how Calbright should be funded going forward.

Transcript Highlights:

• harmless the compensatory aid.
• harmless the compensatory aid.
• harmless the compensatory aid.
• The compensatory hold harmless — that's something that many schools were asking for.
• The compensatory hold harmless — that's something that many schools were asking for.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• The hold harmless policy in our state's education funding formula.
• So, as someone else said earlier, hold harmless is really anything but, and we absolutely have to look
• So as someone else said earlier, hold harmless is really anything but, and we absolutely have to look
• for hold harmless districts, fully funding regional transportation, and the revision of the funding
• The hold harmless minimum aid district designation, it doesn't work for any of them. Sorry.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Ways and Means Committee held its final public hearing on the FY26 state budget, with chairs and members emphasizing that public testimony would help shape the budget and asking speakers to keep remarks brief. Committee leaders introduced members, explained the hearing process, and repeatedly thanked residents, students, and advocates for participating. No votes were taken during the hearing. Testimony focused heavily on education funding and the Chapter 70 formula. Students from Amherst, Northampton, Gateway Regional, Chester Elementary, and other districts described budget-driven cuts to electives, special education supports, paraprofessionals, counselors, transportation, and building maintenance. They urged higher Chapter 70 aid, increased minimum aid, rural school aid, and a reopening or restructuring of the funding formula, arguing that current formulas leave many districts unable to meet student needs and force local layoffs and overrides. Other speakers urged funding or protection for a range of programs and facilities, including the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute for homicide survivor services, the Museum of African American History, the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and CART/interpreter services, the Access to Counsel housing legal aid program, the Department of Mental Health and Pocasset Mental Health Center, and Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children. One speaker opposed offshore wind-related spending and urged a reset of the state’s energy approach, while another advocated ending the aircraft sales tax exemption. Committee members responded sympathetically to many speakers, asked a few follow-up questions, and several expressed support for maintaining or expanding the programs discussed.

Transcript Highlights:

• Let me hold on—let me write this down. Okay, say more.
• I'm here because I heard that the state is considering ending hold harmless before a new rate structure
• We also support the hold harmless provision in the 2024-2025 Budget Act, and with federal delays that
• I'll just hold it. Okay.
• That part two, we will be holding an RQAP meeting on Friday, May 9.

Summary: The joint hearing focused on California’s child care, preschool, and transitional kindergarten oversight, with chairs emphasizing the state’s Master Plan for Early Learning and Care and the need to break down silos between programs. CDSS and CDE reported progress toward the plan’s goals, including universal access to TK for all four-year-olds next school year, expanded access for low-income three-year-olds, and more children with disabilities being served in state preschool. They also noted ongoing work on quality rating/review reform, funding structure changes, and the need to address rates, workforce shortages, and federal uncertainty around Head Start. Testimony from advocacy groups and providers largely supported expanding access while simplifying the system. Children Now, Every Child California, and the California Budget and Policy Center argued that California still has uneven access, especially for infants, toddlers, and three-year-olds, and urged investments in mixed delivery, inclusion, full-day options, and a cost-of-care rate methodology. Every Child California recommended consolidating part-day and full-day contracts, streamlining eligibility priorities, making the two-year-old option permanent, and funding staffing incentives. Parent testimony highlighted how child care gaps and county-to-county transfer delays can disrupt work, safety, and children’s stability, and providers described low reimbursement rates, the need for health and retirement benefits, and support for delinking subsidy rates from private pay. The second panel addressed universal transitional kindergarten. The Learning Policy Institute reported rapid TK expansion, with most districts now offering TK, but said access still depends on facilities, staffing, and whether programs are available at all school sites. The Department of Finance said the governor’s budget would fully implement TK by adding funding for all eligible four-year-olds and lowering the adult-to-child ratio from 12:1 to 10:1. The Legislative Analyst’s Office said the administration’s enrollment and cost assumptions were optimistic and estimated lower TK enrollment growth and lower costs for the ratio change. CDE supported the expansion and urged continued funding for UPK coordinators, teacher development, and mixed-delivery planning grants. Members questioned facilities shortages, staffing competition, and how to ensure TK expansion does not displace CSPP or Head Start classrooms. No formal votes or actions were taken in the hearing.