LEGISLATIVE SERVICES AGENCY
OFFICE OF FISCAL AND MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS
200 W. Washington St., Suite 301
Indianapolis, IN 46204
(317) 233-0696
iga.in.gov
FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
LS 7001 NOTE PREPARED: Jan 27, 2022
BILL NUMBER: SB 331 BILL AMENDED: Jan 27, 2022
SUBJECT: Education Scholarship Account Program.
FIRST AUTHOR: Sen. Buchanan BILL STATUS: CR Adopted - 1
st
House
FIRST SPONSOR:
FUNDS AFFECTED:XGENERAL IMPACT: State & Local
DEDICATED
FEDERAL
Summary of Legislation: (Amended) This bill requires the Department of Education to annually report to
the Legislative Council and the State Budget Committee on certain matters regarding full-time teacher
salaries and benefits and the issuance of waivers of the requirement that a school corporation expend a
specified percentage of tuition support for full-time teacher salaries.
The bill authorizes the Treasurer of State to deduct up to 10% of funds made available for the Indiana
Education Scholarship Account Program to cover costs of administering the program in the first year and
up to 5% of funds made available in each year thereafter. It also establishes the Indiana Education
Scholarship Account Administration Fund to support the administration of the program. The bill requires
any amounts deducted by the treasurer for administration costs to be deposited in the fund.
The bill makes technical corrections.
Effective Date: Upon passage.
Explanation of State Expenditures: (Revised) Summary- The bill’s impact on state expenditures is
unknown and is dependent upon the following:
1. The number of students, if any, who would participate in the program who would not have
participated under current law.
2. Where the new student participants would have attended school.
3. The appropriation for the program after FY 2023.
The Application Deadline section details the fiscal impact from an increase in the potential number of
SB 331 1 participants in the program, while the Program Administration section details the bill’s impact on
administrative costs. Any increase in state expenditures for the program would be subject to the $10 M
appropriated to the Indiana Education Scholarship Account Program Fund for the program in FY 2023. In
FY 2024 and beyond, any change to the appropriation for the program would impact state expenditures.
Additionally, the Teacher Compensation Report section explains a workload increase for the Department
of Education.
Application Deadline: The bill requires the Treasurer of State to accept applications for the program through
September 1 each year for the next school year. Under current law, the Treasurer of State is required to set
the date by which an application for the program must be submitted for FY 2023. For FY 2024 and beyond,
current law requires applications for the program to be submitted by April 1 for the immediately following
school year. The provision could increase participation in the program beginning in FY 2023. If participation
in the program increased, the impact on state expenditures is dependent upon where the students would
otherwise have attended school. [See Additional Information for further details regarding the impact of
additional participants in the program]. Any potential increase in program participation would be subject to
the $10 M appropriated to the Indiana Education Scholarship Account Program Fund for the program in FY
2023.
(Revised) Program Administration: The bill permits the Treasurer of State to transfer up to 10% of the funds
($1 M) in FY 2023 in the Indiana Education Scholarship Account Program Fund to the newly established
Indiana Education Scholarship Account Administration Fund for the purposes of administering the program.
Beginning in FY 2024, the bill specifies that 5% of the funds can be transferred annually. These funds would
be in addition to what the Treasurer of State can collect under current law for the administration of the
program. Under current law, the Treasurer of State is allowed to deduct up to 3% of the annual grant amount
sent to program participants to cover the costs of managing the participants’ accounts and administering the
program. The Treasurer of State stated that the additional funds will be used to pay for the additional
personnel needed to review every expense distribution, account applications, participating entity applications,
and to answer questions from students and entities participating in the program.
(Revised) Teacher Compensation Report: Beginning in FY 2023, the bill requires the Department of
Education to provide an annual report on teacher compensation (including benefits) at the school corporation
level. This workload increase would be completed with existing staff and resources.
Additional Information- Indiana Education Scholarship Account Program: Under current law, beginning
in FY 2023, the program would allow students with a disability who meet an income requirement and who
enroll in a nonpublic school to receive a grant that is equal to 90% of the student’s home school corporation’s
per student basic tuition support grant. Additionally, if the student chooses to receive special education
services from an entity other than the student’s home school corporation, the student would be eligible to
receive the special education grant the student’s home school corporation would have received for the
student.
Program Participation: If the bill expands participation in the program, the total statewide impact is
dependent upon the number of students who would participate in the program that would not have
participated otherwise and where the students would have attended school under current law. Students who
would have attended a public school under current law that would participate in the program under the bill
would result in a state expenditure decrease of about $950. However, each student who would have been
homeschooled or enrolled in a private school without a choice scholarship would increase state expenditures
by an estimated $6,250 on average.
SB 331 2
Explanation of State Revenues:
Explanation of Local Expenditures:
Explanation of Local Revenues: The bill could decrease public schools’ state tuition support revenue
beginning in FY 2023. If, under current law, the program’s cost was going to reach the $10 M appropriation,
the bill would have limited to no impact on local revenue, as the number of students who might leave public
schools to participate in the program would not be impacted. If, under current law, the program’s
participation was not going to reach the $10 M appropriation, the bill would likely increase program
participation. Many of the students who switched to the program would come from public schools, which
would decrease state tuition support revenue for public schools.
State Agencies Affected: Treasurer of State.
Local Agencies Affected: Public schools.
Information Sources: LSA education database, Treasurer of State; Department of Education.
Fiscal Analyst: Austin Spears, 317-234-9454.
SB 331 3