HB 325, the bill for the operations portion of the public school budget, has passed the House on a 44-24 vote, similar to the previous two votes. Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, noted that the bill includes a shift of $20 million of school funding that had come from the state's general fund, which was taken out and replaced by federal stimulus money. That freed up the $20 million for spending elsewhere in the state budget. "As we move forward and we come to another budgeting year, that's $20 million that we somehow need to find, that was a stable source," Ringo warned, as the stimulus money, unlike the state's general fund, is a one-time thing. Rep. Cliff Bayer, R-Boise, responded that the federal stimulus money was specifically targeted for education.

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