Fiscal Note
BILL # HB 2341 TITLE: county jails; education programs; appropriation
SPONSOR: Shah STATUS: As Introduced
PREPARED BY: Patrick Moran
Description
The bill would eliminate the provision under current law that pupils who are county jail inmates be funded at 72% of the
regular Basic State Aid formula.
Estimated Impact
We estimate the bill would increase Basic State Aid formula costs by $76,000 annually beginning in FY 2024. This estimate
assumes that county jail education programs would provide 4,818 instructional days annually to jail inmates (same as FY
2023).
Analysis
Under current law, pupils who are county jail inmates under the age of 21 and without a high school diploma may receive
K-12 basic state aid funding under 1 of 2 statutory formulas:
• If the pupil is being funded by a county-administered jail education fund, the county receives a base amount of
$14,400 regardless of the number of instructional days and $10.80 per instructional day per student. For jail
inmates with disabilities, the daily rate is increased from $10.80 to $39.71 (increase of $28.91) in FY 2023. The
$39.71 daily rate is based on 72% of the amount a student would receive under the Special Education Voucher
formula that is paid to students in institutional special education programs (such as ASDB).
• If the pupil is instead enrolled in an accommodation school, the pupil is funded at 72% of the regular basic state
aid formula.
The bill would eliminate the 72% factor for both county jail education funds and accommodation school pupils. In FY
2023, ADE reports that the statewide instructional days for pupils with disabilities being funded by county jail education
funds was 4,818. We estimate that under the bill, the daily rate in FY 2024 for such students would increase from $40.49
to $56.24, or an increase of $15.75 compared with current law. Given the 4,818 instructional days, the $15.75 increase
would generate additional funding of $76,000 for county jail education programs statewide in FY 2024.
ADE estimates a lower impact of $30,000, primarily based on lower instructional day counts from FY 2022.
We estimate that the elimination of the 72% factor for accommodation schools will not have a fiscal impact relative to
current practice. According to ADE, the department is currently unable to separately delineate county jail inmate pupils
from other pupils served by accommodation schools for basic state aid funding purposes. As a result, the 72% factor is
not currently being applied to accommodation schools. We therefore estimate that provision would not have a fiscal
impact.
Local Government Impact
The bill would increase county revenues from the basic state aid funding formula by $76,000 annually beginning in FY
2024.
1/27/23