Committee delays consideration of anonymous-threat bill after fiscal-note request, members voice frustration

Members of the House Education Policy Committee on March 17 expressed frustration after the committee did not take up House File 3487, an anonymous-threat reporting bill that sponsors and some members described as bipartisan.

The chair (speaker 4) said the bill was scheduled to be considered but would be pulled because a fiscal note had been requested for a report the bill would require of an agency. The chair told members the bill’s sponsor, Representative Ray Rauer, had worked across the aisle and that leadership intended to support the proposal; the chair called the late fiscal-note request “disappointing” and warned that “it gives the appearance of working behind the scenes ... to kill a bill without coming forward and saying it.”

Members pressed for more information about the potential fiscal impact. Representative Roach (speaker 10) asked whether there was a ballpark estimate; the chair said a fiscal note had been requested and acknowledged no estimate was available during the hearing. Several members urged MDE to reconsider whether the department could absorb any limited reporting costs and asked the chair to revive the bill next week. Chair Jordan (speaker 2) agreed to hear it at the next meeting.

MDE staff at the table (Adosh Unni, speaker 3) said he would follow up with the historical and fiscal details requested earlier in the hearing, but the transcript records no immediate agency cost estimate. The committee concluded with the chair stating the bill would be taken up next week for further consideration.

The transcript records strong member sentiment but no formal vote on HF3487; the committee’s action in the hearing was to postpone consideration pending further fiscal information.