OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sHB-5003
AN ACT CONCERNING EDUCATION FUNDING IN
CONNECTICUT.
As Amended by House "A" (LCO 10175)
House Calendar No.: 346
Senate Calendar No.: 629
Primary Analyst: JS 6/12/23
Contributing Analyst(s):
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 24 $ FY 25 $
Higher Ed., Off. GF - See Below See Below None
Education, Dept. GF - See Below See Below See Below
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 24 $ FY 25 $
Alliance Districts Savings See Below See Below
Various Municipalities See Below See Below See Below
The bill makes adjustments to various education statutes and bills,
resulting in the fiscal impacts described below. The impacts are
primarily to the State Department of Education (SDE) and Alliance
Districts.
Section 1 changes a provision in HB 6880, as amended by House “A,”
related to the process by which a child under the age of five can start
public school. This does not alter the fiscal impact of that section.
Section 2 requires SDE to report on the effectiveness of the Alliance
District program. This has no fiscal impact, as it is anticipated that SDE
can complete the requirement with existing resources. 2023HB-05003-R01-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 4
Section 3 eliminates a requirement in SB 1, as amended by Senate "A,"
that Alliance Districts must establish a Family Resource Center (FRC) in
each elementary school. The amendment removes this cost to Alliance
Districts, which would have varied among districts based on the
number of such schools that lacked an FRC and the level of services
provided by each new FRC.
This section additionally retains current law regarding the use of
Alliance District funding by eliminating a provision in SB 1, as amended
by Senate "A," that had required Alliance Districts to use Alliance
District funding for Family Resource Centers.
Section 4 requires every Alliance District to submit a report to the
Department of Education on the costs associated with implementing a
family resource center program at each elementary school. This has no
fiscal impact as it is anticipated that these districts can complete the
requirement within existing resources.
Section 5 changes the timing of a provision in SB 1, as amended by
Senate "A," that lowers the amount of Alliance District funding that
must be used for minority teacher recruitment. The amendment also
removes any such requirement for FY 24. Neither change impacts the
total level of funding provided to any Alliance District.
Section 6 delays costs, from FY 24 to FY 25, of a provision in SB 1, as
amended by Senate "A." The provision requires SDE to annually
provide grants to two Alliance Districts that choose to provide or
enhance a pathways in technology early college high school program.
Section 7 increases the cost of fully funding the Priority School
District grant and precludes revenue losses to certain school districts by
specifying that certain districts will receive the same funding in FY 24
as in FY 23. This grant is proportionately reduced if the appropriation is
insufficient to fully fund it.
Section 8 specifies the election dates for the board of education for
the newly established Regional School District 20. This may change the 2023HB-05003-R01-FN.DOCX Page 3 of 4
timing of the costs associated with such elections.
Sections 9 and 10 make changes regarding what must be included in
a memorandum of understanding regarding a school resource officer
and reporting requirements of school resource officers. These changes
have no fiscal impact.
Section 11 makes various changes to the Roberta Willis Scholarship
program within the Office of Higher Education (OHE), including
eliminating the community colleges from the program. This could result
in a revenue loss to the community colleges beginning in FY 24 as their
students would no longer be eligible for financial aid grants under this
program and consequently may choose to enroll elsewhere or not at all.
HB 6941, as amended by House "A" and "B," transfers $8.5 million in
both FY 24 and FY 25 from the program account to Connecticut State
Colleges and Universities’ (CSCU) debt free community college account
to reflect the policy change.
This section establishes a cap of $10 million dollars or 30 percent of
the annual appropriation (whichever is greater) to be reserved for the
need merit portion of the program. This could result in a redistribution
of financial aid funds among various eligible institutions, including the
Connecticut state universities and UConn. The budget includes $18
million in FY 24 in ARPA funding for the program.
This section requires OHE to use all FY 24 available Willis
Scholarship funds, both allocated and appropriated, to: (1) provide
grants to need-merit eligible participants and (2) allocate funds for FY
24 and FY 25 for both need-based and Charter Oak eligible participants,
provided OHE uses all ARPA funds allocated to this program before
December 31, 2024.
The section replaces Willis Scholarship changes made in HB 6941, as
amended by House "A" and "B," which are repealed in Section 13 of this
bill. The provisions regarding FY 24 available funding are different
from those in HB 6941, as amended by House "A" and "B." 2023HB-05003-R01-FN.DOCX Page 4 of 4
Section 12 eliminates changes to the Alliance District program that
were included in SB 1, as amended by Senate "A." This removes the
potential cost to SDE, beginning in FY 25, that would have been
associated with providing assistance to more school districts.
Section 13 repeals implementing language for the distribution of a
new ARPA allocation of $16 million in FY 24 for free meals to students.
House "A" strikes the underlying bill and the associated fiscal
impacts, and results in the fiscal impacts described above.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation.
The preceding Fiscal Impact statement is prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely
for the purposes of information, summarization and explanation and does not represent the intent of the General
Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of
informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is
consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any
specific department.