HB456INTRODUCED
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HB456
R3P5MMN-1
By Representative Garrett
RFD: Ways and Means Education
First Read: 16-Apr-24
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5 R3P5MMN-1 04/15/2024 KHF (F)KHF 2024-1523
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First Read: 16-Apr-24
SYNOPSIS:
Under the Education Trust Fund Rolling Reserve
Act, the Education Trust Fund Advancement and
Technology Fund was created to receive certain excess
revenues for appropriation through a supplemental
appropriation act. Any monetary interest that accrues
in the fund is not retained in the fund from year to
year.
This bill would provide that any interest earned
in the Education Trust Fund Advancement and Technology
Fund shall be retained in the fund from year to year.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to the Education Trust Fund Rolling Reserve
Act; to amend Section 29-9-4, Code of Alabama 1975, as last
amended by Act 2023-390 of the 2023 Regular Session, to
provide that any monetary interest earned in the Education
Trust Fund Advancement and Technology Fund shall be retained
in the fund from year to year.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 29-9-4, Code of Alabama 1975, as
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Section 1. Section 29-9-4, Code of Alabama 1975, as
last amended by Act 2023-390 of the 2023 Regular Session, is
amended as follows:
"ยง29-9-4
(a) There is hereby created in the State Treasury an
Education Trust Fund Budget Stabilization Fund and an
Education Trust Fund Advancement and Technology Fund. Any
monetary interest that accrues in the Education Trust Fund
Budget Stabilization Fund and the Education Trust Fund
Advancement and Technology Fund shall be retained in the
fundfunds from year to year and shall be subject only to the
provisions of this chapter. If total revenues deposited into
the Education Trust Fund during the immediately preceding
fiscal year exceed the fiscal year appropriation cap for the
immediately preceding fiscal year, and total Education Trust
Fund appropriations for the immediately preceding fiscal year
are less than the fiscal year appropriation cap for the
immediately preceding fiscal year, the excess revenues shall
remain in the Education Trust Fund as nonrecurring revenue. On
or before May 31 of each fiscal year through the fiscal year
ending September 30, 2023, if the total revenues deposited
into the Education Trust Fund during the immediately preceding
fiscal year exceed the fiscal year appropriation cap for the
immediately preceding fiscal year, and Education Trust Fund
appropriations for the immediately preceding fiscal year were
equal to the fiscal year appropriation cap, the excess
revenues shall be transferred to the Education Trust Fund
Rainy Day Account until the account has been repaid in full.
If the account has been repaid in full, any excess revenues
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If the account has been repaid in full, any excess revenues
remaining shall be transferred to the Education Trust Fund
Budget Stabilization Fund and the Education Trust Fund
Advancement and Technology Fund created in this chapter. The
transfers to the Education Trust Fund Budget Stabilization
Fund and the Education Trust Fund Advancement and Technology
Fund shall be made annually as follows:
(1) To the Education Trust Fund Budget Stabilization
Fund in an amount up to one percent of the previous year's
Education Trust Fund total appropriations until the fund
reaches seven and one-half percent of the previous year's
appropriations from the Education Trust Fund.
(2) a. Any excess revenues remaining after those
transferred in subdivision (1) shall be transferred to the
Education Trust Fund Advancement and Technology Fund each
year. Any amount of the available balance in the Education
Trust Fund Advancement and Technology Fund may be available
for appropriation only by and through an independent
supplemental appropriation bill for the following nonrecurring
expenses: repairs or deferred maintenance of facilities for
public education purposes in the state, capital outlay, for
classroom instructional support as provided in Section
16-13-231(b)(2)c. and Section 16-13-231.3, for insuring
facilities, for transportation as provided in Section
16-13-233, for school security measures, and for the
acquisition or purchase of education technology and equipment,
or both. These funds, however, shall not be used as a pledge
for the issuance or payment of debt service. No funds shall be
appropriated in years when the balance of the Education Trust
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appropriated in years when the balance of the Education Trust
Fund Advancement and Technology Fund at the end of the
previous fiscal year is less than ten million dollars
($10,000,000). Amounts in the Education Trust Fund Advancement
and Technology Fund shall be budgeted and allotted in
accordance with Sections 41-4-80 through 41-4-96 and Sections
41-19-1 through 41-19-12, but shall not be limited by the
fiscal year appropriation cap.
b. The annual appropriation of funds from the Education
Trust Fund Advancement and Technology Fund shall be divided
between the public schools and institutions of higher
education in the state in accordance with the percentage
split, based on the fiscal year in which an appropriation is
made, between these two sectors of education as certified by
the Legislative Fiscal Officer at the end of the preceding
fiscal year. Public schools shall be interpreted to include
any public school in operation for the current fiscal year,
the Alabama School of Math and Science, the Alabama School of
Fine Arts, the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and
Engineering, the portion of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and
Blind providing appropriate elementary/secondary instruction,
and may include the Department of Youth Services School
District.
(b) There is created in the State Treasury the
Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund into which monies shall
be deposited as provided in this chapter and as appropriated
by the Legislature. Any monetary interest that accrues to the
Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund shall be retained in
the fund from year to year and shall be subject only to this
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the fund from year to year and shall be subject only to this
chapter.
(c) On or before May 31 of each fiscal year beginning
with the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, if the total
available revenues in the Education Trust Fund during the
immediately preceding fiscal year exceed Education Trust Fund
total appropriations for the immediately preceding fiscal
year, and there is an unpaid balance owed to the Education
Trust Fund Rainy Day Account, the excess revenues shall be
transferred to the Education Trust Fund Rainy Day Account
until the account has been repaid in full. If the account has
been repaid in full, any excess revenues remaining shall be
transferred to the Education Trust Fund Budget Stabilization
Fund, the Education Trust Fund Advancement and Technology
Fund, and the Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund created
in this chapter. The transfers to the Education Trust Fund
Budget Stabilization Fund, the Education Trust Fund
Advancement and Technology Fund, and the Educational
Opportunities Reserve Fund shall be made annually as follows:
(1) To the Education Trust Fund Budget Stabilization
Fund in an amount up to one percent of the previous year's
Education Trust Fund total appropriations until the fund
reaches 10 percent of the previous year's appropriations from
the Education Trust Fund.
(2)a. Fifty percent of the excess revenues remaining
after those transferred in subdivision (1) shall be
transferred to the Education Trust Fund Advancement and
Technology Fund each year, not to exceed one billion dollars
($1,000,000,000) in any fiscal year. Any amount of the
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($1,000,000,000) in any fiscal year. Any amount of the
available balance in the Education Trust Fund Advancement and
Technology Fund may be available for appropriation only by and
through an independent supplemental appropriation bill for the
following nonrecurring expenses: repairs or deferred
maintenance of facilities for public education purposes in the
state, capital outlay, for classroom instructional support as
provided in Section 16-13-231(b)(2)c. and Section 16-13-231.3,
for insuring facilities, for transportation as provided in
Section 16-13-233, for school security measures, and for the
acquisition or purchase of education technology or equipment,
or both. These funds, however, shall not be used as a pledge
for the issuance or payment of debt service. No funds shall be
appropriated in years when the balance of the Education Trust
Fund Advancement and Technology Fund at the end of the
previous fiscal year is less than ten million dollars
($10,000,000). Amounts in the Education Trust Fund Advancement
and Technology Fund shall be budgeted and allotted in
accordance with Sections 41-4-80 through 41-4-96 and Sections
41-19-1 through 41-19-12, but shall not be limited by the
fiscal year appropriation cap.
b. The annual appropriation of funds from the Education
Trust Fund Advancement and Technology Fund shall be divided
between the public schools and institutions of higher
education in the state in accordance with the percentage
split, based on the fiscal year in which an appropriation is
made, between these two sectors of education as certified by
the Legislative Fiscal Officer at the end of the preceding
fiscal year. Public schools shall be interpreted to include
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fiscal year. Public schools shall be interpreted to include
any public school in operation for the current fiscal year,
the Alabama School of Math and Science, the Alabama School of
Fine Arts, the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and
Engineering, the portion of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and
Blind providing appropriate elementary/secondary instruction,
and may include the Department of Youth Services School
District.
(3)a. Twenty percent of the excess revenues remaining
after those transferred in subdivision (1) shall be
transferred to the Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund.
Amounts in the Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund may be
withdrawn by and through an independent supplemental
appropriation bill to provide one-time funding for the
following purposes only: (i) to offset a reduction in revenues
to the Education Trust Fund that could negatively impact
funding for budgeted obligations from the Education Trust Fund
for the current fiscal year as certified by the Director of
Finance and the Legislative Fiscal Officer; (ii) to provide
funding for unanticipated obligations, and to sustain required
programmatic increases for existing obligations paid from the
Education Trust Fund in the event of a change in economic
conditions; (iii) to provide funding to maintain prior year
appropriation levels, if the computation of the fiscal year
appropriation cap or secondary spending limit is less than
Education Trust Fund base appropriations for the previous
fiscal year, not to exceed the difference between the two
figures; and (iv) for start-up or transitional support for
initiatives that provide access to enhanced educational
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initiatives that provide access to enhanced educational
opportunities to all public K-12 or higher education students
in the state, or both. Amounts in the Educational
Opportunities Reserve Fund shall not be appropriated for any
of the following purposes: repairs or deferred maintenance for
facilities, capital outlay, pay raises or bonuses for
educational personnel or retirees, or to provide additional
support for ongoing expenditures other than as specified in
subdivision (2). Provided, however, funds may be appropriated
to maintain Foundation Program state funding in extraordinary
situations.
b. No funds may be appropriated until the balance of
the Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund at the end of the
previous fiscal year equals or exceeds three hundred million
dollars ($300,000,000). Once this threshold is attained, any
amount of the available balance may be appropriated for the
purposes specified in this subsection. Amounts in the
Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund shall be budgeted and
allotted in accordance with Sections 41-4-80 through 41-4-96
and Sections 41-19-1 through 41-19-12.
(4) Any remaining excess revenues after the transfers
in subdivisions (1) through (3) shall remain in the Education
Trust Fund as nonrecurring revenue."
Section 2. This act shall become effective on June 1,
2024.
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