House Education Committee backs 2026 School Finance Act, sends bill to Appropriations

Chair Lukens and Rep. Sirota presented Senate Bill 23 as the annual, constitutionally required School Finance Act that continues implementation of Colorado’s updated school funding formula. Sponsors said the bill preserves equity and predictability while delivering roughly $195,000,000 in year‑over‑year K–12 funding and cited a per‑pupil increase figure during testimony.

Rep. Sirota said, "This year's School Finance Act is actually increasing per pupil funding by $440 this year and ensures that no district is receiving less funding than they did last year." Fiscal analyst Anna Gerstel told the committee she wrote the fiscal note and offered to supply district‑level hold‑harmless counts after the hearing.

Committee members pressed sponsors and fiscal staff on technical details: how many districts are held harmless, the mechanics of student‑count averaging and how a smoothing factor might be applied to ease sudden declines in funding for districts facing enrollment drops. Chair Lukens said conversations on smoothing are ongoing with the Colorado Association of School Executives and others and that no amendments were being offered in the committee that day.

Witnesses from Denver Public Schools (CFO Chuck Carpenter), the Colorado Association of School Boards (Matt Cook) and other K–12 stakeholders praised the bill’s predictability and urged a timely vote because local boards must adopt budgets by July 1. After closing remarks and brief additional committee questions, the committee voted unanimously to send SB 23 to the Appropriations Committee with a favorable recommendation.

What happens next: Appropriations will review fiscal impacts and any potential JBC or floor amendments; sponsors signaled readiness to continue technical conversations during the interim.