Gov. Brad Little signed off on a bill mothballing one of his education initiatives.

On Monday, Little signed Senate Bill 1142, which phases out the Empowering Parents education microgrant program.

In a letter explaining his decision, Little said the program had produced “positive outcomes” — by helping families cover their out-of-pocket educational expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We stood up this program during the pandemic to help counter learning loss from the disruptions in the delivery of education, and it was successful in providing families more education options for their children outside the classroom,” Little wrote. “Now that the pandemic is squarely in the rearview mirror and students have long been back in school, I agree with the Legislature that this program served its purpose.”

Education microgrants have been a Little education hallmark since 2020, when he unveiled a $50 million precursor program called Strong Families, Strong Students.

Launched in 2022, Empowering Parents carried a smaller $30 million-a-year pricetag. Money for Empowering Parents came not from federal COVID-19 aid, but instead from state funds.

While popular, the program was also dogged by questions about improper purchases, prompting an in-house State Board of Education review and an audit, ordered by Little. While Little said the audit gave the program a clean bill of health, the State Board nonetheless changed its Empowering Parents vendor last October.

Aimed largely at lower-income households, Empowering Parents provided grants of up to $1,000 per student or $3,000 per family.

Much of the money continued to go toward laptops and other devices, prompting a repeal sponsor, Sen. Camille Blaylock, R-Caldwell, to label the program a “technology slush fund.” Repeal opponents pointed out that the money can cover a variety of uses, including music lessons and extracurricular activities for homeschool students.

Still, SB 1142 handily passed both houses.

The law now cuts off funding for Empowering Parents, effective immediately. It also gives parents until June 2028 to spend any remaining microgrants.

Little is wrapping up his final actions on bills from the 2025 legislative session, which ended on April 4.

When legislators adjourned for the year, they put Little on the clock. Little then had 10 days, not counting Sundays, to sign or veto any remaining bills, or allow them to go into law without his signature.

That translated into an April 16 deadline to act on any end-of-session bills, including the Empowering Parents repeal, which the Senate passed on the morning of April 4.

According to Little’s website, only one bill remains in limbo: House Bill 109, which would require the state to seek a federal waiver that would make candy and soda purchases ineligible for food stamps.