Senate committee restores teacher stipends, OKs ban on school COVID vaccine

BATON ROUGE — Lawmakers are adding back some of the money for public school teacher stipends next year, and they gave final approval Thursday to bills that would ban gender discussions and COVID-19 vaccines in schools.
The Senate Finance Committee restored $33 million for teacher stipends Wednesday evening after the House had cut the funds last month. The money was added back into next year’s budget in response to recent projections that tax revenues will increase in fiscal 2025, which starts July 1.
The restoration brings the total amount of stipends to $198 million for teachers and school support staff members.
Under the latest plan, teachers could average the same one-time payments of $2,000 that they received this year. Support workers could receive $1,000 on average.
The state budget plan, also called House Bill 1, was presented to the Senate Finance Committee by Rep. Jack G. McFarland, R-Jonesboro, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
The Senate committee also restored $24.2 million to early childhood education programs.
The full Senate on Thursday approved the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill and the ban on COVID-19 vaccines in schools, sending both bills to Republican Gov. Jeff Landry for his expected approval.
The Senate voted 28-7 for House Bill 122, which would ban classroom discussions of gender identify and sexual orientation.
The Senate voted 26-9 approve House Bill 46, which would ban public and private K-12 schools, colleges and day care centers from requiring COVID vaccines.
Also in education, the House passed two Senate bills Wednesday regarding supplemental pay for teachers and sick leave.
Senate Bill 205 by Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, requires additional compensation for teachers and other school employees under certain circumstances.
The bill has six total amendments, and it passed the House by a vote of 99 to 2.
Also last week, a Senate bill that would have required heating and air-conditioning systems in school buses failed on the Louisiana House floor.
The House rejected the measure 42-57 after nearly 1 ½ hours of debate.
Senate Bill 26 would have required the systems on every school bus bought on and after Aug 1, 2024.
Then in 2027, the bill would have required all school buses to be equipped with them.
Rep. Vanessa LaFleur, D-Baton Rouge, who presented the bill in the House, said the dates would have allowed school districts “a runway” to meet requirements.