Senate Bill 362, an appropriation-only bill to create youth-organization grants, was discussed April 1 in the Joint Budget Committee and failed to advance after members requested a roll-call by chamber and the chair announced, “Bill failed.”

Representative Collins asked for a roll-call by chamber during the House consideration. Representative Shepherd asked the sponsor whether a memorandum of understanding with national organizations would be required; the sponsor, Senator Hammer, replied that the bill “establishes parameters that if you want to be able to utilize these grants, we have taken language that is out of the LEARNS Act” and that the Department of Education would promulgate rules and serve as the gatekeeper for compliance determinations.

Senator Hammer said the provision aims to ensure local entities can demonstrate they will not be subject to directives that would violate the cited law, adding that the bill also includes a matching-grant structure intended to favor newer programs. Representative Collins directly objected to what he described as language that targets specific organizations and stated, “So, I'm a no on that.” Representative Shepherd sought clarification on whether a memorandum of understanding would always be required; Hammer said it would not be required if a local entity can produce evidence that it is not being compelled to violate the law, though a memorandum could provide an added safeguard.

After the discussion, committee members proceeded to a chamber division vote. The transcript records a roll-call sequence of House members and concludes with the chair’s announcement, “Alright. Bill failed.” The transcript excerpt does not contain a final numerical tally; the chair’s announcement is the recorded outcome.

The sponsor described the bill as appropriation-only; he also contrasted SB 362 with a separate out-of-school-time item (SB 359) that the committee advanced. The sponsor said the bill includes a match structure weighted to give newer providers a larger match, but the transcript record of the precise matching formula is not explicit in the excerpt and should be verified in the bill text.

Because the committee did not adopt the bill, there is no subsequent implementation assignment recorded in the excerpt. The sponsor and members discussed Department of Education rulemaking and compliance verification as the mechanism for determining eligibility.

Votes and procedure: committee discussion, House chamber division/roll call requested by Representative Collins, chair announced bill failed. No final tally is provided in the transcript excerpt.