The House Committee on Education introduced RS 32388, a proposal to raise the cap on the state program that supports charter-school facilities financing and to change the formula used to allocate that cap. Representative Doug Pickett, who represents District 27, told the committee the bill would raise the cap on the program “from $200,000,000 to $500,000,000” and would change the formula to make it “simpler and easier to facilitate.”

Why it matters: Representative Pickett said the change is intended to give public charter schools better access to low-cost financing for facilities by improving interest-rate outcomes on bonds and reducing overhead and interest costs that can divert money away from students.

Details from the presentation: Pickett described charter schools as public schools funded by taxpayers but noted that their facility financing mechanisms differ from those of traditional public school districts. He said the current program cap is about $200 million and that RS 32388 would raise the cap to $500 million and alter the formula used to establish and allocate that cap. Pickett said those changes would help charter schools “establish better interest rates on their bonds and ensure that those dollars… make it to the students and their needs more directly without any unnecessary overhead or interest costs.”

Committee action and next steps: On a motion to introduce RS 32388, the committee voted in favor by voice and the chair announced the motion carried. No roll-call vote or numeric tally was recorded in the transcript. The committee chair returned the gavel and reminded members that the committee would meet the following day in the Lincoln Auditorium for presentations, including one from the Idaho School Board Association.

No contract, fiscal note, or statutory citation was provided during the presentation; the committee only approved introduction and referral to the House calendar for subsequent consideration.