Connecticut 2025 Regular Session

Connecticut House Bill HB07239 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
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3	3	LCO No. 6303 1 of 7
4	4
5	5	General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7239
6	6	January Session, 2025
7	7	LCO No. 6303
8	8
9	9
10	10	Referred to Committee on FINANCE, REVENUE AND
11	11	BONDING
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13	13
14	14	Introduced by:
15	15	(FIN)
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20	20	AN ACT ESTABLISHING A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT REPAIR AND
21	21	IMPROVEMENT PROJECT PROGRAM.
22	22	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
23	23	Assembly convened:
24	24
25	25	Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) As used in this section: 1
26	26	(1) "Public school operator" means any (A) local or regional board of 2
27	27	education, (B) regional educational service center, (C) interdistrict 3
28	28	magnet school operator described in section 10-264s of the general 4
29	29	statutes, (D) endowed academy approved pursuant to section 10-34 of 5
30	30	the general statutes, or (E) state charter school; 6
31	31	(2) "District repair and improvement project" means a capital 7
32	32	expenditure project, approved by a public school operator, for any of 8
33	33	the following: (A) The construction, renovation, repair or enlargement 9
34	34	of school buildings or school grounds, including parking lots, athletic 10
35	35	fields and playgrounds; (B) improvements to school facilities for 11
36	36	compliance with health, safety or code requirements; or (C) the 12
37	37	purchase, installation or maintenance of or improvements to fixed 13
38	38	school infrastructure, including, but not limited to, heating, ventilation 14
39	39	Raised Bill No. 7239
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41	41
42	42
43	43	LCO No. 6303 2 of 7
44	44
45	45	and air conditioning systems, plumbing, electrical systems and roofing; 15
46	46	(3) "Number of students enrolled" means the number of all students 16
47	47	enrolled in a school or schools, as applicable, under the jurisdiction of a 17
48	48	public school operator on October first or the full school day 18
49	49	immediately preceding such date; 19
50	50	(4) "Number of students eligible for free or reduced price meals or 20
51	51	free milk" means the number of students enrolled in a school or schools, 21
52	52	as applicable, under the jurisdiction of a public school operator on 22
53	53	October first or the full school day immediately preceding such date, in 23
54	54	families that meet the income eligibility guidelines established by the 24
55	55	federal Department of Agriculture for free or reduced price meals or free 25
56	56	milk under the National School Lunch Program, established pursuant 26
57	57	to P.L. 79-396; and 27
58	58	(5) "Total need students" means the sum of: (A) The number of 28
59	59	students enrolled for the school year; (B) thirty per cent of the number 29
60	60	of students eligible for free or reduced price meals or free milk; (C) 30
61	61	fifteen per cent of the number of students eligible for free or reduced 31
62	62	price meals or free milk in excess of the number of students eligible for 32
63	63	free or reduced price meals that is equal to sixty per cent of the total 33
64	64	number of resident students of the town for the school year; (D) twenty-34
65	65	five per cent of the number of students enrolled who are multilingual 35
66	66	learners, as defined in section 10-17o of the general statutes; and (E) 36
67	67	thirty per cent of the number of students enrolled who require special 37
68	68	education, as defined in section 10-76a of the general statutes. 38
69	69	(b) (1) On February first of each year, not more than the amount as 39
70	70	authorized by the General Assembly for the fiscal year from the 40
71	71	resources of the district repair and improvement account established 41
72	72	under subsection (h) of this section shall be allocated to the Secretary of 42
73	73	the Office of Policy and Management, who shall allocate an amount to 43
74	74	each public school operator in accordance with the provisions of 44
75	75	subsection (c) of this section. The secretary shall credit all such allocated 45
76	76	Raised Bill No. 7239
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78	78
79	79
80	80	LCO No. 6303 3 of 7
81	81
82	82	moneys to a subaccount for each public school operator and make 46
83	83	district repair and improvement project grants from such subaccounts 47
84	84	to such public school operator pursuant to the provisions of this section. 48
85	85	The secretary shall maintain records indicating, for each public school 49
86	86	operator's subaccount, the amount credited to the subaccount each year, 50
87	87	the amount paid out in district repair and improvement project grants 51
88	88	and charged to the subaccount and the balance available for additional 52
89	89	district repair and improvement project grants. 53
90	90	(2) No amounts allocated under this section shall be used to satisfy a 54
91	91	local matching requirement for any state assistance program or for any 55
92	92	school building project under section 10-283 of the general statutes. 56
93	93	(c) (1) Each allocation under subsection (b) of this section shall be 57
94	94	made to a public school operator in accordance with the following 58
95	95	formula: (A) Fifty per cent of the amount shall be allocated pro rata on 59
96	96	the basis of the following ratio: The public school operator's total need 60
97	97	students enrolled in a school or schools, as applicable, under the 61
98	98	jurisdiction of the public school operator for the fiscal year prior to the 62
99	99	year in which the grant is to be paid to the total need students enrolled 63
100	100	in all such schools in the state for the fiscal year prior to the year in which 64
101	101	the grant is to be paid; (B) twenty per cent of the amount shall be 65
102	102	allocated equally among all public school operators; and (C) thirty per 66
103	103	cent of the amount shall be allocated pro rata on the basis of the 67
104	104	following ratio: The total number of students enrolled in a school or 68
105	105	schools, as applicable, under the jurisdiction of a public school operator 69
106	106	for the fiscal year prior to the year in which the grant is to be paid 70
107	107	multiplied by the inverse of the adjusted equalized net grand list per 71
108	108	capita of such public school operator, which shall be the numerator of 72
109	109	the fraction, and the sum of the resulting products for all the schools 73
110	110	under the jurisdiction of a public school operator, which shall be the 74
111	111	denominator of the fraction. 75
112	112	(2) For the purposes of this subsection, the adjusted equalized net 76
113	113	grand list per capita of a public school operator shall be determined as 77
114	114	Raised Bill No. 7239
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117	117
118	118	LCO No. 6303 4 of 7
119	119
120	120	follows: 78
121	121	(A) For a local board of education, the adjusted equalized net grand 79
122	122	list per capita shall be the same as the adjusted equalized net grand list 80
123	123	per capita, as defined in section 10-261 of the general statutes, of the 81
124	124	town of such board; 82
125	125	(B) For a regional board of education, a regional educational service 83
126	126	center, an interdistrict magnet school operator described in section 10-84
127	127	264s of the general statutes or an endowed academy, the adjusted 85
128	128	equalized net grand list per capita shall be determined by such entity's 86
129	129	rank under section 10-285a of the general statutes, where the adjusted 87
130	130	equalized net grand list per capita shall be the same as the adjusted 88
131	131	equalized net grand list per capita of a town with the same ranking; and 89
132	132	(C) For a charter school, the adjusted equalized net grand list per 90
133	133	capita shall be the same as the adjusted equalized net grand list per 91
134	134	capita, as defined in section 10-261 of the general statutes, of the town 92
135	135	in which such charter school is located. 93
136	136	(d) On March first of each year, the Secretary of the Office of Policy 94
137	137	and Management shall notify each public school operator of the amount 95
138	138	allocated to such public school operator pursuant to subsections (b) and 96
139	139	(c) of this section and shall post on said office's Internet web site such 97
140	140	allocation amounts and the calculations for all public school operators. 98
141	141	(e) Allocated moneys credited to the subaccount of a public school 99
142	142	operator in accordance with subsection (b) of this section shall be issued 100
143	143	as a grant by the secretary to the public school operator not later than 101
144	144	June thirtieth of each fiscal year. Such public school operator shall use 102
145	145	such grants for reimbursement and costs associated with district repair 103
146	146	and improvement projects. 104
147	147	(f) Not later than September 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, each 105
148	148	public school operator issued a grant pursuant to subsection (e) of this 106
149	149	section in the preceding fiscal year shall submit a report to the Secretary 107
150	150	Raised Bill No. 7239
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153	153
154	154	LCO No. 6303 5 of 7
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156	156	of the Office of Policy and Management, in a form and manner 108
157	157	prescribed by the secretary, describing each district repair and 109
158	158	improvement project for which amounts were expended in such fiscal 110
159	159	year and the amounts expended for each such project. Such report shall 111
160	160	include a certification by the public school operator that (1) the district 112
161	161	repair and improvement project was approved by the public school 113
162	162	operator or a board, council or other body responsible for overseeing 114
163	163	such project, and (2) no grant money allocated under this section to such 115
164	164	public school operator for such fiscal year was used to satisfy a local 116
165	165	matching requirement for any state assistance program or for any school 117
166	166	building project under section 10-283 of the general statutes. The 118
167	167	secretary shall post all reports submitted pursuant to this subsection on 119
168	168	said office's Internet web site. 120
169	169	(g) Each public school operator receiving a district repair and 121
170	170	improvement project grant under this section shall retain, for a period 122
171	171	of not less than three years following the completion of such project, 123
172	172	detailed accounting records of all expenses incurred relative to the 124
173	173	district repair and improvement project for which a grant is received. If 125
174	174	the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management determines that 126
175	175	such records are not maintained or a review of such records indicates 127
176	176	that such grant, or any portion thereof, was used for other than its 128
177	177	intended purpose, the secretary shall provide written notification to the 129
178	178	public school operator of such finding. Upon issuing a finding under 130
179	179	this section, the secretary may require the public school operator to 131
180	180	promptly pay to the state an amount equal to the amount of the grant or 132
181	181	may cause the amount of any future grant made under this section to be 133
182	182	reduced by such amount. 134
183	183	(h) There is established an account to be known as the "district repair 135
184	184	and improvement account", which shall be a separate, nonlapsing 136
185	185	account. The account shall contain any moneys required by law to be 137
186	186	deposited in the account. Moneys in the account shall be expended by 138
187	187	the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management for the purposes 139
188	188	of this section. 140
189	189	Raised Bill No. 7239
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192	192
193	193	LCO No. 6303 6 of 7
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195	195	(i) For the purposes described in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, 141
196	196	the State Bond Commission shall have the power from time to time to 142
197	197	authorize the issuance of bonds of the state in one or more series and in 143
198	198	principal amounts not exceeding in the aggregate sixty million dollars, 144
199	199	provided thirty million dollars of said authorization shall be effective 145
200	200	July 1, 2025. 146
201	201	(j) The proceeds of the sale of such bonds, to the extent of the amount 147
202	202	stated in subsection (i) of this section, shall be used by the Office of 148
203	203	Policy and Management for the purposes of subsections (b) and (c) of 149
204	204	this section. 150
205	205	(k) All provisions of section 3-20 of the general statutes, or the 151
206	206	exercise of any right or power granted thereby, that are not inconsistent 152
207	207	with the provisions of this section are hereby adopted and shall apply 153
208	208	to all bonds authorized by the State Bond Commission pursuant to this 154
209	209	section. Temporary notes in anticipation of the money to be derived 155
210	210	from the sale of any such bonds so authorized may be issued in 156
211	211	accordance with section 3-20 of the general statutes and from time to 157
212	212	time renewed. Such bonds shall mature at such time or times not 158
213	213	exceeding twenty years from their respective dates as may be provided 159
214	214	in or pursuant to the resolution or resolutions of the State Bond 160
215	215	Commission authorizing such bonds. None of such bonds shall be 161
216	216	authorized except upon a finding by the State Bond Commission that 162
217	217	there has been filed with it a request for such authorization that is signed 163
218	218	by or on behalf of the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management 164
219	219	and states such terms and conditions as said commission, in its 165
220	220	discretion, may require. Such bonds issued pursuant to this section shall 166
221	221	be general obligations of the state and the full faith and credit of the state 167
222	222	of Connecticut are pledged for the payment of the principal of and 168
223	223	interest on such bonds as the same become due, and accordingly and as 169
224	224	part of the contract of the state with the holders of such bonds, 170
225	225	appropriation of all amounts necessary for punctual payment of such 171
226	226	principal and interest is hereby made, and the State Treasurer shall pay 172
227	227	such principal and interest as the same become due. 173
228	228	Raised Bill No. 7239
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230	230
231	231
232	232	LCO No. 6303 7 of 7
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234	234	This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
235	235	sections:
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237	237	Section 1 July 1, 2025 New section
238	238
239	239	Statement of Purpose:
240	240	To establish a district repair and improvement project program and
241	241	authorize state bonds to fund such program.
242	242
243	243	[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
244	244	that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
245	245	underlined.]
246	246