Dustin Manwaring — Called during the roll call; transcription rendered as 'man wearing.'
Brandon Mitchell — Called during the roll call.
Elaine Price — Called during the roll call.
Elaine Price — Representative Price was called on and then asked Mr. McGurkin to resend an email from the end of last year explaining how increases in special education funding have ongoing future effects.
Elaine Price — Representative Price opens his question by thanking the chair and Superintendent Critchfield, setting up a discussion that begins with a reference to the 5% language in the statute.
Elaine Price — Representative Price questioned whether the employee understood that the farm-to-school federal grant was in its final year, then followed up by asking whether the requested funding amounts for the special high needs fund and the other request were correlated, continuing to probe how the transfers and related requests were connected.
Chris Bruce — Chris Bruce was called during the roll call.
Chris Bruce — Representative Bruce asked about state-level initiatives included in the budget and whether such initiatives would override local school district decision-making.
Brian Lenney — Brian Lenney is mentioned during roll call, with the transcription misrecognizing his name as 'Harris' in both instances.
Brooke Green — Brooke Green was called during the roll call.
Brooke Green — Recognized after Senator Cook in the speaker queue.
C. Grow — Called as Senator Grow during the roll call.
James Woodward — Called during the roll call.
James Woodward — The speaker says Senator Woodward helped get the distribution proposal off the Senate floor.
Kevin Cook — Called during the roll call.
Kevin Cook — The chair/recognition sequence moves to Senator Cook after Harris's question.
Kevin Cook — Questioned why available account balances are not being used to fill the driver's education funding gap.
Kevin Cook — The question is answered directly regarding the difference between cash and appropriation.
Kevin Cook — Continued questioning the difference between IDLA and LEA reimbursement rates.
Kevin Cook — Comments positively on the farm-to-school grant and asks a question about participation.
Kevin Cook — Asks how many schools request the grant versus how many receive equipment.
Kevin Cook — Asked to wait and possibly ask the director or follow up later.
Carl Bjerke — During the roll call, Carl Bjerke is mentioned, though the transcription contains misrecognized variants such as 'Burkey' and 'Ciderveld.'
Phil Hart — Called during the roll call.
Codi Galloway — Called during the roll call.
Codi Galloway — Acknowledged for waiting and for earlier comments; appears to be next to ask questions.
Codi Galloway — Asked about the safe schools and drug line item, including its origin and current use.
Codi Galloway — Asked about the origin and use of the safe schools and drug line item funds.
Codi Galloway — Asked for one final question regarding school district fund balances and facilities money.
Janie Ward-Engelking — Called during the roll call; transcription rendered as 'Ward Engel King.'
Janie Ward-Engelking — Senator Ward Engelking engaged in a sustained line of questioning about how education-related funds are allocated and used. He first asked about career ladder funding and whether it goes to all teachers or only those advancing on the ladder. He then shifted to health care money, asking whether it must be used for health care before any remaining funds can go to discretionary purposes. Engelking continued pressing on the use of discretionary funds, expressing concern about the budget impact and asking whether any new discretionary money had been sent out the previous year. Later references to him simply pointed back to this same discussion about unused insurance money and discretionary funds.
Janie Ward-Engelking — Senator Ward Engelking was addressed in a discussion about whether the $330 million remains included in the general fund appropriation and how that relates to the five-year base review. The speaker indicated they would need to check their slides, while also noting uncertainty about whether Superintendent Critchfield understood the point being raised.
Janie Ward-Engelking — Senator Janie Ward-Engelking is introduced as the next speaker and then takes the floor, thanking the chair and beginning her remarks by expressing appreciation for the presentation while respectfully disagreeing with Representative Miller's comments.
Melissa Wintrow — Called during the roll call.
Melissa Wintrow — Senator Ward Engelking participates in a continuing exchange about health care funding and how it relates to support-unit calculations and statewide employee counts. She asks follow-up questions about the health care issue, including how funding is tied to support units and FTEs, and requests the statewide number of employees not included in the 1.55 FTE support-unit calculation. The response indicates the speaker has been working on the exact numbers and will follow up.
Melissa Wintrow — Senator Melissa Wintrow is called on to take the floor, with the chair and others confirming the handoff of speaking time and briefly pausing her to manage the transition and time constraints.
Kellan McGurkin — Introduced himself as a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office and said he would give several presentations.
Kellan McGurkin — Introduced the next budget and noted the committee's hard stop at 10:45.
Edward Hill — Asked about the meaning of CEC-based versus support units in the career ladder discussion.
Edward Hill — Addressed in the explanation of CEC-based adjustments.
Edward Hill — Asked about the 26% insurance increase and whether funds would go to the General Fund instead of insurance.
Edward Hill — Representative Harris thanks the witness for clarifying the Career Ready $29 million, then raises concerns about House Bill 291 and the high-needs fund request, questioning why the committee is not first fixing existing spending problems instead of shifting funds around. He references his prior experience on the education committee and the earlier debate on the legislation, and later clarifies that he was referring to student housing rather than teacher housing, noting that special needs money is being used for housing.
Mark Harris — Asked whether the population forecast is based only on people coming into the state.
Mark Harris — Was addressed by the speaker while asking about population forecasts.
Mark Harris — Asked how much money is in the Idaho Career Ready Students Fund and about the $4 million interest transfer.
Mark Harris — The speaker references Representative Harris as having mentioned remaining funds in the account.
Debbie Critchfield — Debbie Critchfield, Superintendent of Public Instruction, is introduced and begins her presentation, briefly identifying herself and noting the staff and board members present.
Debbie Critchfield — Debbie Critchfield was asked to move quickly through the remaining slides because the committee had many questions. She agreed and transitioned into the next topic, introducing recommendations focused on maximizing the use of existing budget dollars.
Carrie Semmelroth — Senator Galloway asked how many students the new Regional Service Center would serve each year and pressed for a more precise estimate than 'thousands,' seeking clarification on the scale of service. The exchange concluded with a brief acknowledgment before the discussion moved on.
Cindy Carlson — Senator Carlson questioned the difficulty and expense of complying with the funding formula, asked whether money is lost because of its complexity, raised concerns about how changes might be implemented and whether policy pieces should be drafted alongside them, and concluded that the solution is to fix the funding formula, noting that many legislators agree.