Conference Committee Day 3

Not Much to Report.  The conference committee on the omnibus education finance and policy bill met again this afternoon.  The principal order of business was finishing going through the side-by-side comparison.  At this juncture, it has been perfunctory for the most part with very little discussion of each provision beyond a simple description and whether the provision is contained in both bills.  It’s a valuable exercise, even for those of us who have followed the construction of the bills from their beginning.

The conference committee will be meeting again tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon and the committee may begin adopting provisions that are identical in each bill.  It is important to note that there is a hierarchy of sorts with identical provisions.  Some have money attached to them and some may be a bit more controversial than others.  I would expect that those provisions that are technical in nature and devoid of financial implications will be the first to be adopted.  It’s important to clear the decks of non-controversial matters as early as possible so that they don’t fall through the cracks as the discussion turns to the more weighty provisions.

I will continue to keep you posted regardless of what happens–or doesn’t happen–during the conference committee proceedings.