Legislative Update - 2026, Week 14

By Otto Fajen, Director of Legislative Policy

CAPITOL ACTION DAYS

Capitol Action Days are part of the Association's plan to promote positive policy for public education. MNEA's Capitol Action Days occur regularly on Wednesdays during legislative session and continued April 15. Participating members will meet at the MNEA HQ, then come to the Capitol for a briefing and to meet with their legislators. For more information and to register for your Capitol Action Day, please visit https://www.mnea.org/CAD.

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

The Senate Appropriations Committee completed work on budget numbers for next year's state budget bills on April 14 and approved language on April 15. The budget bills must be approved by both chambers in final form by 6 p.m. on May 8th. The committee took Senate positions on key budget items but accepted the House position on most budget items.

The House version of HB 2002 for K-12 education still underfunds the school funding formula by $190 million for next year. The Senate version increases general revenue to the formula and uses funds from the state capitol commission fund while reducing funding from less reliable sources, such as state lottery funds.

The House version of HB 2003 for higher education includes a sweeping shift to aid for colleges and universities. The HCS eliminates institution core funding and immediately replaces it with a per FTE student funding amount for each institution. The Senate committee adopted the Governor's recommendation, which restores the structure of funding that institutions are currently receiving.

The House version of HB 2012 for statewide officials continues to divert $60 million in general revenue to fund private schools through the state's tax credit voucher scheme. The Senate agreed to the House position on the funding amounts. The Association opposes this provision.

INCOME TAX AND SALES TAXES

The Senate approved a new substitute version of SCS/HCS/HJRs 173 & 174 (Bishop Davidson) by a vote of 18-11. If approved by the House, the new version will be printed in final form and sent to the Secretary of State for submission to the voters of the state at either the November election or the August election if so directed by Governor Kehoe.

The SS directs the legislature to enact legislation to reduce and eliminate the income tax based on revenue growth. The substitute also allows the legislature to expand the state sales and use tax to all goods and services, while requiring local subdivisions to reduce local taxes to compensate for any revenue increases due to the sales tax expansion. This proposal could undermine public investment in all sectors and damage the state's economy. The Association opposes the joint resolution and elimination of the state income tax.

GIFTED TESTING BILL

The Senate Education Committee approved HB 1757 (Brenda Shields) on April 14. The bill would establish procedures for school districts to evaluate for gifted students. The bill outlines screening requirements and requires review by trained staff members. The Association believes well-developed criteria and guidelines for identifying and teaching these students are essential. The Association supports the bill.

CHARTER SCHOOL FACILITIES

The Senate Education Committee approved SCS/HCS/HBs HB 2404 & 2172 (George Hruza) on April 14. The bill would specify that a municipality may not allow deed restrictions that prohibit a property's use as a charter school. The bill also grants public entities the right of first refusal when a district is offering to sell or lease a school facility.

PUBLIC SECTOR BARGAINING

The House perfected HB 3283 (Chris Brown) on April 15. The bill creates a basic structure for public-sector collective bargaining, including timelines for bargaining to commence, an expectation of good faith bargaining, and requirements for mediation and arbitration to resolve impasse. The House adopted an amendment to specify that the new structure for bargaining in the bill only applies to employees allowed to form labor organizations under the current bargaining law. Teachers and law enforcement are excluded from bargaining under the current law but remain entitled to the right to bargain collectively under the Missouri Constitution and associated court decisions. The Association supports the original House bill.

EARLY GRADES LITERACY

The Senate Education Committee heard HCS/HB 2872 (Cathy Jo Loy) on April 14. The bill clarifies that the existing law restricting "3-cueing" strategies applies only to decoding words, and the components of 3-cueing can be used in other aspects of learning to read. The bill increases oversight and reporting on literacy instruction in educator preparation programs.

The bill also mandates retention in third grade for students with low scores on state-approved reading assessments unless the student is exempted for "good cause". The bill further requires reading success plans for students scoring at the equivalent of "basic" on MAP tests. The Association remains concerned that the changes regarding assessment and retention may disrupt the progress on implementation of the existing reading law enacted in 2022.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

The Senate Education Committee heard HCS/HB 2748 (Bishop Davidson) on April 14. The bill would increase requirements for physical education in schools. Schools would be required to have a period of daily physical education for all students.

The Association believes that regular physical activity provides an active form of learning that encourages a healthy lifestyle and promotes physical, mental, and emotional wellness. This physical activity should be provided through developmentally appropriate physical education classes, recess, and movement activities scheduled throughout the day.

While supportive of the concept of this measure, the Association believes progress on increased physical activity will be best achieved as a part of a broad effort to restore local control and remove other state requirements that conflict with these best practices.

HOUSE COMMITTEE AMENDS INDEPENDENCE SCHOOL BOARD BILL

The House Special Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs approved an HCS version of SB 1351 (Joe Nicola) on March 23. The original bill changes the term of office for members of the Independence School District school board from six years to three years. The Senate adopted Sen. Washington's amendment to ensure that a student shall not be considered absent from school while the student accompanies his or her parent when the parent is voting in a scheduled election. The Association supports the Senate version of the bill.

The HCS adds HCS/HB 2710 (Dane Diehl) to create an A-F school letter grade, provisions similar to HCS/HB 2230 (Tricia Byrnes) regarding school policies on student screen time in elementary grades, HB 2195 (Roger Reedy) to create optional lessons on driver safety, and HB 1792 (Jim Murphy) to create a pilot program for instruction in media literacy and critical thinking. The Association supports the student screen time provisions but opposes the A-F school letter grade.

HOUSE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION COMMITTEE

The committee heard HB 3489 (Josh Hurlbert) on April 15. The bill revises current law pertaining to ACT and ACT WorkKeys assessments. Districts will be required to administer college and career readiness assessments, including a career readiness assessment that leads to a nationally recognized work readiness certificate, as prescribed by the State Board of Education. The career readiness assessment may still include ACT WorkKeys.

The committee approved HCS/HBs 2126 & 2197 (Brad Banderman) on April 15. The HCS would require annual evaluations for all principals and assistant principals. The Association supports the bills.

The committee also approved HCS/HCR 31 (John Martin). The HCR would create the seal of civic recognition award for each senior who graduates from a public school, private school, parochial school, or home school and who meets the specific criteria for various levels of recognition.

SCHOOL SAFETY PERSONNEL

The House Emerging Issues Committee heard SS/SCS/SB 905 (David Gregory) on April 13. The bill would establish a training program for Missouri Rangers. The Rangers would receive various law enforcement training and could be employed by public or private schools with limited school-related law enforcement powers.

SCHOOL PROTECTION OFFICERS

The Senate approved an amendment to HCS/HB 1866 (Lane Roberts) to expand the school protection officer statute. The current program allows school boards to allow administrators and teachers to seek specified training and be approved to carry a firearm and service as a school protection officer. The amendment extends this provision to allow other school employees to serve as school protection officers.

STATE OVERSIGHT OF HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION

The Senate approved SS#2/SB 863 (Jason Bean) on April 13. The bill creates a new oversight commission appointed by the Governor and housed within DESE. The oversight commission will review appeals relating to eligibility of transferring students and appeals relating to contests and contest procedures. The bill also requires MSHSAA to prepare an annual report and present the report to relevant committees in the House and the Senate.

SAFE AND INCLUSIVE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

The Senate debated SS/SCS/SB 1085 (Joe Nicola) on April 13 but did not bring the bill to a vote. The Association opposes the bill. The bill prohibits school staff interaction with students regarding social transition. The bill requires a school district to terminate and seek license revocation of any teacher for any violation of the bill. The Association believes that all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, should be guaranteed a safe and inclusive environment within the public education system. The Association is concerned that the unnecessary and vague language of the bill is unfair to students and staff and will adversely affect teacher recruitment and retention.

Read past issues of the Legislative Update at www.mnea.org/legupdate.