The specifics of a new state budget are expected today. House and Senate leaders have pledged to give legislators 24 hours to look over the budget before a vote.
With the session required to end tomorrow, that makes today the deadline, and House Speaker Brian Bosma says he expects a bill to be made public this afternoon.
The House and Senate proposed about the same total spending, but had slightly different school funding formulas. And Bosma says he’s still looking for more money for charter schools.
Governor Pence had sought a $1,500 per pupil supplement to charter funding. The House converted that to a $20 million grant program, with a $1,500 per pupil maximum, while the Senate proposed studying the issue until the next two-year budget. Bosma says he expects the budget to include some extra funding for charters, but not as much as Pence or House Republicans wanted.
Negotiators also must trim about $200 million from their original budgets, to accommodate a revision in the state‘s economic forecast.
