HF2 serves as the omnibus PreK-12 public education bill. It encompasses a $21.2 billion budget, which allocates $554.2 million in new spending, the largest per-pupil formula amount in over a decade. It also incorporates provisions from the Increase Teachers of Color Act and prohibits “lunch shaming” for students with unpaid school meals debt.
The Senate passed HF2 on June 30, 2021, by a vote of 65 to 0. We have assigned minuses to the yeas because education is the responsibility of–and a fundamental right of choice retained by–a child’s parents or legal guardians, not the government. Forcing American citizens to furnish ever-increasing sums of taxpayer money for a compulsory, government-run, and failed school system violates their individual liberty protected by the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment.