Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H3894 Compare Versions

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

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1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3768 FILED ON: 1/20/2023
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3894
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Manny Cruz
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to state aid for public schools.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Manny Cruz7th Essex1/19/2023 1 of 6
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3768 FILED ON: 1/20/2023
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3894
18	18	By Representative Cruz of Salem, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3894) of Manny
19	19	Cruz for legislation to establish a municipal education fund to be administered by the
20	20	commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Education.
21	21	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
22	22	_______________
23	23	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
24	24	(2023-2024)
25	25	_______________
26	26	An Act relative to state aid for public schools.
27	27	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
28	28	of the same, as follows:
29	29	1 SECTION 1. Chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
30	30	2section 2AAAAAA the following section:-
31	31	3 Section 2BBBBBB. (a) There shall be established and set up on the books of the
32	32	4commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Municipal Education Fund. The
33	33	5commissioner of elementary and secondary education shall administer the fund. The fund shall
34	34	6be used for: (i) funding school districts considered minimum aid communities or currently a
35	35	7below effort increment community; (ii) supporting municipal K though 12 school districts; and
36	36	8(iii) prioritizing gateway city school districts, rural school districts, and school districts serving a
37	37	9large per cent of students with high needs.
38	38	10 (b) The fund shall be credited with: (i) revenue collected pursuant to the second
39	39	11paragraph of article XLIV of the Articles of Amendment to the Constitution of the
40	40	12Commonwealth; (ii) funds from public and private sources such as gifts, grants and donations; 2 of 6
41	41	13and (iii) interest earned on money in the fund. The fund shall not be subject to section 5C of
42	42	14chapter 29 and shall be subject to appropriation.
43	43	15 (c) Annually, not later than October 1, the commissioner of elementary and secondary
44	44	16education shall report to the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, the joint committee
45	45	17on education and the house and senate committees on ways and means on the fund’s activities.
46	46	18The report shall include, but not be limited to: (i) the source and amount of funds received; (ii)
47	47	19the expenditures made from the fund and the purposes of such expenditures; (iii) any anticipated
48	48	20remaining revenue from awards; and (vi) the number municipal K though 12 school districts who
49	49	21received funding.
50	50	22 SECTION 2. Section 2 of chapter 70 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
51	51	23Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the definition of “Required local
52	52	24contribution” and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-
53	53	25 “Required local contribution”, a municipality's preliminary local contribution; provided,
54	54	26however, that if the preliminary local contributions greater than the target local contribution, then
55	55	27the preliminary local contribution shall be reduced by the product of its excess effort and the
56	56	28effort reduction percentage; provided further, that if the preliminary local contribution as a
57	57	29percentage of the foundation budget is between 2.5 and7.5 percentage points below the target
58	58	30local share, then the preliminary local contribution shall be increased by 1 per cent; provided
59	59	31further, that if the preliminary local contribution as a percentage of the foundation budget is more
60	60	32than 7.5 percentage points below the target local share, then the preliminary local contribution
61	61	33shall be increased by 2 per cent; provided further, that in a municipality with a combined effort
62	62	34yield equal to or greater than 100 per cent of its foundation budget, the required local 3 of 6
63	63	35contribution shall not be less than the capped percentage of the municipality’s foundation budget
64	64	36established pursuant to section 18; and provided further, that the commissioner shall allocate
65	65	37each municipality's required local contribution among the districts to which the municipality
66	66	38belongs and such allocation shall be in proportion to each district's share of the municipality's
67	67	39foundation budget.
68	68	40 SECTION 3. Said section 2 of said chapter 70, as so appearing, is hereby further
69	69	41amended by striking out the definition of “Target local contribution” and inserting in place
70	70	42thereof the following definition:-
71	71	43 “Target local contribution”, the lesser of: (i) a municipality's combined effort yield; or (ii)
72	72	44the capped percentage of its total foundation budget established pursuant to section 18.
73	73	45 SECTION 4. Said chapter 70 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the
74	74	46following section:-
75	75	47 Section 18. (a) The capped percentage for purposes of determining a municipality’s
76	76	48required local contribution and target local contribution shall be:
77	77	49 (i) 82.5 per cent if the municipality’s combined effort yield is less than the municipality’s
78	78	50foundation budget;
79	79	51 (ii) 84.5 per cent if the municipality’s combined effort yield is equal to or greater than
80	80	52100 per cent of the municipality’s foundation budget;
81	81	53 (iii) 86.5 per cent if the municipality’s combined effort yield is equal to or greater than
82	82	54150 per cent of the municipality’s foundation budget; and 4 of 6
83	83	55 (iv) 88.5 per cent if the municipality’s combined effort yield is equal to or greater than
84	84	56200 per cent of the municipality’s foundation budget.
85	85	57 (b) Subject to the provisions of subsection (c), the department may adjust the percentages
86	86	58on the caps in subsection (a). Each time the department adjusts a cap, the adjustment shall not be
87	87	59less than .25 per cent and not more than 1 per cent.
88	88	60 (c) The board shall establish a review process for making adjustments to the caps
89	89	61pursuant to subsection (b). No adjustment shall be made by the department, pursuant to
90	90	62subsection (b), unless the recommended adjustment is presented to the board for review and
91	91	63approved by a vote of the board.
92	92	64 (d) The department shall establish rules and regulations that are necessary to implement
93	93	65this section.
94	94	66 SECTION 5. (a) There shall be a special legislative commission established, pursuant to
95	95	67section 2A of chapter 4 of the General Laws, to examine the distribution of education funding in
96	96	68the commonwealth. The special commission shall review and evaluate: (i) how combined effort
97	97	69yield is calculated; (ii) how enrollment changes are calculated; (iii) below effort increment in the
98	98	70formula; (iv) the municipal revenue growth factor; and (v) the target local contributions.
99	99	71 (b) The commission shall consist of: (i) 1 member to be appointed by the speaker of the
100	100	72house of representatives, who shall serve as co-chair of the commission; (ii) 1 member to be
101	101	73appointed by the president of the senate, who shall serve as co-chair of the commission; (iii) 1
102	102	74 member to be appointed by the minority leader of the house of representatives; (iv) 1
103	103	75member to be appointed by the minority leader of the senate; (v) the chair of the house 5 of 6
104	104	76committee on ways and means; (vi) the chair of the senate committee on ways and means; (vii)
105	105	77the chairs of the joint committee on education; (viii) the secretary of education or a designee; (ix)
106	106	78the commissioner of elementary and secondary education or a designee; (x) the secretary of
107	107	79administration and finance or a designee; (xi) 1 member to be appointed by the American
108	108	80Federation of Teachers Massachusetts Professional Development Institute; (xii) 1 member to be
109	109	81appointed by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute established in section 6B of chapter 40J of
110	110	82the General Laws; (xiii) 1 member to be appointed by the Massachusetts Teachers Association;
111	111	83(xiv) 1 member to be appointed by the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, Inc.; (xv)
112	112	841 member to be appointed by the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth, Inc.; (xvi) 1
113	113	85member to be appointed by the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy, Inc.; (xvii) 1
114	114	86member to be appointed by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, Inc.; (xviii) 1
115	115	87member to be appointed by the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, Inc.; and
116	116	88(xix) 4 current superintendents in the commonwealth to be appointed by the commissioner of
117	117	89elementary and secondary education whose districts have in the last 2 fiscal years been assessed
118	118	90a below effort penalty.
119	119	91 (c) The commission shall commence no later than 90 days after the effective date of this
120	120	92act.
121	121	93 (d) The commission shall create a report of its findings and recommendations, including:
122	122	94(i) how to ensure a more equitable distribution of school funds and state aid for public schools;
123	123	95(ii) recommendations for new revenue generating options for municipalities to implement and
124	124	96increase local education allocations; and (iii) additional education revenues attributable to the
125	125	97fair share amendment to the Constitution adopted by the voters at the 2022 general election. 6 of 6
126	126	98 (e) No later than December 31, 2025, the commission shall file the report required by
127	127	99subsection (d), including any draft legislation, with: (i) the clerks of the house of representatives
128	128	100and the senate; (ii) the chairs of the house and senate committee on ways and means; and (iii) the
129	129	101chairs of the joint committee on the education.