This week showed significant legislative activity with several key education and property tax bills advancing. Board members should closely monitor HB 0127/Required Instruction in Cursive Writing (Overdorf), which has now moved to the Education & Employment Committee after passing its first subcommittee, mandating cursive writing instruction and proficiency demonstrations by specified grades. Notably, SB 0156/Criminal Offenses Against Law Enforcement Officers (Leek), the “Officer Jason Raynor Act,” was temporarily postponed in the Senate Criminal Justice Committee on November 18th, indicating potential concerns with the enhanced penalties legislation.
On the property tax front, numerous constitutional amendments were filed that would significantly impact school district revenues, including HB 0201 (Steele), HB 0203 (Miller), HB 0205 (Porras), HB 0207 (Abbott), HB 0209 (Busatta), HB 0211 (Overdorf), and HB 0213 (Griffitts Jr.)—all proposing various forms of homestead property tax exemptions from non-school levies. These bills have all advanced to the State Affairs Committee and pose potential funding challenges for local government services. Additionally, HB 0149/Maximum Millage Rates for the 2027-2028 Fiscal Year (Chamberlin) remains in committee, which would directly cap county and school millage rates. Several property tax bills including HB 0067 and HB 0069 (both Holcomb) and HB 0071 (Holcomb) were withdrawn prior to introduction, suggesting continued evolution of property tax reform strategies.
New filings include SB 0510/Educator Certifications and Training (Jones), providing a similar Senate companion to HB 0023, and multiple Senate bills from Bernard (SB 0270, 0272, 0274, 0276, 0278, 0280, 0282, 0284, 0286) proposing sweeping property tax reforms for homesteads and small businesses. Most other education bills remain in their initial committee assignments with limited movement.
Reports provided by Dr. Kim McDougal, Arrow Group
FSBA K-12 Bill Report
Property Tax Bill Report
