Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S440 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2339 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 440
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Pavel M. Payano
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 Chapter 70 inflation relief.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Pavel M. PayanoFirst Essex 1 of 3
16	16	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2339 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
17	17	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 440
18	18	By Mr. Payano, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 440) of Pavel M. Payano for
19	19	legislation to adjust the state funding allocated to public schools in Massachusetts (through the
20	20	"Chapter 70" program) to account for rising inflation costs. Education.
21	21	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
22	22	_______________
23	23	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
24	24	(2025-2026)
25	25	_______________
26	26	An Act relative to Chapter 70 inflation relief.
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 15 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition,
30	30	2is hereby amended by inserting after section 66, the following new section:
31	31	3 Section 67. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context
32	32	4requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-
33	33	5 “Department”, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
34	34	6 “Extraordinary Inflation”, inflation in past fiscal years that exceeded the 4.5% cap on the
35	35	7inflation adjustment to the Foundation budget pursuant to subsection (a) of section 3 of chapter
36	36	870 of the general laws.
37	37	9 ''Fund'', the School Budget Stabilization Fund, established under subsection (b) of section
38	38	1067 of chapter 15 of the general laws. 2 of 3
39	39	11 (b) There is hereby established on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be
40	40	12known as the School Budget Stabilization Fund.
41	41	13 (c) The fund shall be credited with:
42	42	14 (i) revenue from appropriations and other money authorized by the general court and
43	43	15specifically designated to be credited to the fund;
44	44	16 ii) interest earned on money in the fund. Amounts credited to the fund shall not be subject
45	45	17to further appropriation and any money remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not
46	46	18revert to the General Fund.
47	47	19 (d) Amounts in the fund shall be held by the Department, exclusively for the purposes of
48	48	20the fund, and the agency shall disburse amounts in the fund, without further appropriation, upon
49	49	21the request from time to time of its commissioner.
50	50	22 (e) The Department shall make expenditures from the fund for the purpose of providing
51	51	23financial relief for school districts in response to Chapter 70 funding limits caused by
52	52	24extraordinary inflation in past fiscal years.
53	53	25 (f) The Department shall establish guidelines for the equitable disbursement of funds.
54	54	26 g) Not later than September 1 of each year, the commissioner of the Department shall file
55	55	27a report in writing with the joint committee on education and the house and senate committees on
56	56	28ways and means concerning the grants made in the fiscal year ending on the preceding June 30.
57	57	29 SECTION 2. Section 2 of Chapter 70 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking
58	58	30the definition of “Foundation inflation index” and inserting in place thereof: 3 of 3
59	59	31 “Foundation Inflation Index,” the ratio of the value of the implicit price deflator for state
60	60	32and local government purchases in the third quarter of the prior fiscal year to its value in the third
61	61	33quarter of the fiscal year 2 years prior. Should the index exceed 1.045, the department shall act
62	62	34pursuant to Section 18 of this chapter.
63	63	35 SECTION 3. Chapter 70 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition,
64	64	36is hereby amended by inserting after section 17, the following new section:
65	65	37 Section 18. If the Foundation Inflation Index, as so defined in section 2 of this chapter,
66	66	38exceeds 1.045, the department shall submit to the board a plan for restoring the full amount of
67	67	39funding to districts should the department deem the index too high to restore funding in the same
68	68	40fiscal year. The plan shall be no longer than five fiscal years in length, shall include the full
69	69	41amount of funding lost to inflation that fiscal year, and shall consider any projected losses in
70	70	42future fiscal years as a result of previous shortfalls in Chapter 70 allocations. The plan, upon
71	71	43approval by the board, shall be submitted to the house and senate chairs of the joint committee
72	72	44on education, the chair of the House committee on ways and means, the chair of the Senate
73	73	45committee on ways and means, and the Secretary of Administration and Finance. The
74	74	46department shall also make the report publicly available on its website.