With one member out battling an illness, the majority could not pass the bill out of the Education Committee along caucus lines. They did so with a floor vote instead.

House Bill 69, which boosts the Base Student Allocation about 22% during the coming fiscal year and more than 40% over three years, was discharged from the House Education Committee to the House Finance Committee — essentially its last stop before a floor vote — on what in effect was a 20-19 vote along straight majority-minority caucus lines.

Bipartisan House majority members say a big school funding boost is urgently needed, with the state’s education system in crisis.