Maryland senators are crafting their own version of a bill originally proposed by Governor Wes Moore to revise the multi-billion-dollar Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.

On Friday, the senate budget committee put forward a plan to strike the balance between the $1.6 billion cuts advanced by the governor and a largely unchanged version approved by House delegates.

Now, state senators in the education committee are tackling policy issues, such as whether to create incentives for recruiting out-of-state teachers or new school leadership training. The group held its first two-hour hearing on Monday.

Committee Chair Brian Feldman said they’ll have to make final decisions by later today, or “there’s going to be a problem.”

“No matter what we do here, this is going to be subject to a lot more negotiation down the road in a conference committee between the House and Senate,” Feldman said Monday. “We can’t sit on this thing too long.”

The senate budget proposal restores Moore’s four-year cut to funds for in-school teacher planning called “collaborative time,” which the House had reduced to a one-year delay. But it also protects funding for community schools and vulnerable student populations, like those with disabilities and those learning English.

These fiscal changes, among others, add up to saving the state roughly half of what Governor Moore originally proposed.

Senators introduced a number of policy amendments in Monday’s first hearing, including a proposal to group pre-K students diagnosed with disabilities with children experiencing the highest level of poverty and one to reduce the pay bumps given to teachers who earn National Board Certification.

None of the proposed amendments were voted on Monday. And senators in the education committee are still able to submit other proposals before the group finalizes their version.