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House Education

Wednesday, March 11, 2026·1h 23m·▶ Watch / Listen

The House Education Committee advanced two early childhood and education administrative bills, passing a Department of Early Childhood cleanup bill 7-4 and a regulatory burden reduction bill unanimously, with debate centering on fiscal accountability, charter school network flexibility, and a last-minute amendment stripping an educator evaluation provision.

Key Actions

·HB 26-1259 – Department of Early Childhood Cleanup BillPassed

+ 1 more action

Controversies

Safety clause inclusion on HB 1259, a bill described as cleanup and codification

Rep. Johnson questioned why a safety clause was included given the bill was described as only cleanup and codification and was not introduced early in the session. Rep. Sirota acknowledged the rationale was 'escaping me' and committed to reviewing whether the safety clause was necessary, stating 'if we don't need it, I'm happy to put in a petition clause.'

+ 4 more controversies

Notable Quotes

“Do you want to take that, madam? Representative Garcia sander. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the question. And now you can dialogue for the record. Oh. Oh, thank you. Yep. So thank you for the question. AML Bacon. I think we have somebody here with the League of Charter Schools who will testify and be able to talk about why this was part of the request to put in this bill. Blogging. Thank you. I did talk to them a little bit outside. That's where I was. I apologize. I thought I would. Okay. But here's the other thing for consideration. I'm going to give you a hypothetical as to why this concerns me. I have had, in fact, it was a storied story where I do have networks”

Frank Reeves — Reeves, representing the Colorado Rural Schools Alliance, testified in support of HB 1299's provisions to reduce administrative reporting requirements on school districts.

+ 4 more quotes

Votes

Move House Bill 1259 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendationPassed
Yes (7)Lori Garcia Sander, Lindsay Gilchrist, Eliza Hamrick, Jacque Phillips, Katie Stewart, Tammy Story, Meghan Lukens
No (4)Mary Bradfield, Ava Flanell, Anthony Hartsook, Dusty Johnson
Absent (2)Jennifer Bacon, Matthew Martinez
Move Amendment L.001 to HB 26-1299Passed
Move House Bill 1299 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation as amendedPassed
Yes (12)Jennifer Bacon, Mary Bradfield, Ava Flanell, Lori Garcia Sander, Lindsay Gilchrist, Eliza Hamrick, Anthony Hartsook, Dusty Johnson, Jacque Phillips, Katie Stewart, Tammy Story, Matthew Martinez
Absent (1)Meghan Lukens
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TranscriptPreview
Representatives Bacon. Excused. Bradfield. Here. Flannel. Here. Garcia. Sander. Present. Gilchrist. Here. Hamrick. Here. Hartsuk. Here. Johnson. Here. Phillips. Yes. Stuart. Kristen? Here. Story. Here. Martinez. Here. Madam Chair. Here. Okay, our first bill sponsor is here. We are starting with House Bill 1259. Rep. Serota, please tell us about your bill. Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee, today I bring you House Bill 1259, which is a cleanup bill for the Department of early childhood. In 2022, I sponsored House Bill 221295 which implemented the universal Pre K program and established the Department of Early Childhood in that endeavor. In addition to starting those two new things, we also moved hundreds of pages of statute. And so within that time and since that bill has been implemented, the department's had the opportunity to identify a number of places in statute that need a little cleanup and improvements to enable better service. So that is what this bill is doing. Within the CCAP program, we are making just a few clarifications, not really changing any policy within the sections that address the universal preschool program. We are ensuring existing licensing, data privacy protections extend across all children…
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