Lawmakers advance school cardiac response bill amid funding concerns
Parents assert authority over curriculum as education policy becomes a defining cultural battleground.
who pays when lawmakers add new requirements. That reflex, mandate first and figure it out later, is exactly how budgets get distorted and priorities drift. The constitutional amendment that would require the state to fund its own mandates lost by a narrow vote, and that is the real story.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
A proposed constitutional amendment requiring the state to fund all legislative mandates failed to advance to the second-round of debate in a 23-20 vote.
Original source:
Read at Lincoln Journal StarHow We See It
New Republican Times Editorial Board
who pays when lawmakers add new requirements. That reflex, mandate first and figure it out later, is exactly how budgets get distorted and priorities drift.
The constitutional amendment that would require the state to fund its own mandates lost by a narrow vote, and that is the real story. If legislators believe a program is essential, they should attach honest funding rather than pushing costs onto local districts that already juggle staffing, security, and special education.
This is not about opposing preparedness. It is about local control, fiscal accountability, and public trust. Unfunded mandates erode all three, even when the goal is worthy.
A stable system depends on rule-of-law budgeting: if the state orders it, the state should pay for it, plainly and up front.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.