No topics assigned to education study committee

Legislative study committee meetings are underway — considering everything from ways to eliminate the state income tax to legalizing marijuana — but for the first time in years, no committee will examine education issues.

Why it matters: Education spending makes up nearly half of the state's annual budget, and school-related proposals have dominated the last several legislative sessions.

How it works: From summer through early fall, committees of state lawmakers meet to examine issues and work on potential bills for the next year's legislative session.

• Topics are assigned by the legislative council, at the request of lawmakers.
• About 25% of the 160 proposed topics were chosen for study this summer.

Yes, but: Some committees hold lengthy hearings and spend hours considering how to craft important policy for the upcoming session, while others hardly meet.

State of play: School vouchers, teacher pay and social issues — particularly those related to transgender and minority students — have been major points of contention at the Statehouse in recent years.

• Last year's education study committee looked at things like the number of mandates on schools and the complexity index used in the school funding formula.
• Some of the biggest education issues were the expansion of the state's private school voucher program, school library books and the treatment of LGBTQ+ students and topics in classrooms.

What they're saying: WFYI reported that Senate Democrats wanted to look at the impact of the voucher program.

• "We talk about how much money we spend on education," said Senate Democratic Leader Greg Taylor. "Wouldn't it be nice to understand if it's actually being used effectively?"

The other side: House Speaker Todd Huston told reporters that just because an issue isn't assigned to a study committee doesn't mean lawmakers can't work on legislation related to it.

Between the lines: Even if a study committee meets and issues recommendations, they're non-binding, so committee assignments are more about lawmakers' priorities rather than concrete policy proposals.

• So lawmakers may not be planning to tackle major education issues next year or they may not want to hash them out in public.