EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
Underlining indicates amendments to bill.
Strike out indicates matter stricken from the bill by amendment or deleted from the law by
amendment.
*sb0831*
SENATE BILL 831
F1 2lr3076
CF HB 1349
By: Senators Zucker and King
Introduced and read first time: February 7, 2022
Assigned to: Budget and Taxation and Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs
Committee Report: Favorable with amendments
Senate action: Adopted
Read second time: March 10, 2022
CHAPTER ______
AN ACT concerning 1
Education Support Professionals – Workgroup and Bonus 2
FOR the purpose of establishing the Workgroup to Study the Wages of Education Support 3
Professionals; requiring the Governor to include in the annual budget bill an 4
appropriation sufficient to provide a certain bonus to certain public school employees 5
in a certain fiscal year; requiring the State Department of Education to collect 6
certain data from each county board of education for a certain school year and to 7
report the data on or before a certain date; and generally relating to the study of the 8
wages of, and the payment of a bonus to, education support professionals. 9
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 10
That: 11
(a) In this section, “education support professionals” means noncertificated public 12
school employees designated as part of a bargaining unit under Title 6, Subtitle 5 of the 13
Education Article. 14
(a) (b) There is a Workgroup to Study the Wages of Education Support 15
Professionals. 16
(b) (c) The purpose of the Workgroup is to determine what percentage of education 17
support professionals in the State earn a living wage and to study increasing the wages of 18
education support professionals to attract and retain skilled workers. 19
(c) (d) The Workgroup consists of the following members: 20 2 SENATE BILL 831
(1) two members of the Senate of Maryland, appointed by the President of 1
the Senate; 2
(2) two members of the House of Delegates, appointed by the Speaker of 3
the House; 4
(3) one member of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, 5
appointed by the Executive Director of the Association; 6
(4) the President of the Maryland State Education Association, or the 7
President’s designee; 8
(5) the President of the Service Employees International Union Local 500, 9
or the President’s designee; 10
(6) the President of the American Federation of State, County and 11
Municipal Employees Local 2250, or the President’s designee; 12
(7) the President of the American Federation of Teachers–Maryland, or the 13
President’s designee; and 14
(8) the Executive Director of the American Federation of State, County and 15
Municipal Employees Council 67, or the Executive Director’s designee. 16
(d) (e) The Workgroup shall elect the chair of the Workgroup by a majority vote at 17
the first meeting. 18
(e) (f) The Maryland State Department of Education shall provide staff for the 19
Workgroup. 20
(f) (g) A member of the Workgroup: 21
(1) may not receive compensation as a member of the Workgroup; but 22
(2) is entitled to reimbursement for expenses under the Standard State 23
Travel Regulations, as provided in the State budget. 24
(g) (h) In determining what percentage of education support professionals earn a 25
living wage in the State and to study increasing the wages of education support 26
professionals to attract and retain skilled workers, the Workgroup shall consider: 27
(1) the role of local education systems and the State in hiring education 28
support professionals; 29
(2) the number of education support professionals employed by the State 30
or a local school system, or as a contractor; 31 SENATE BILL 831 3
(3) any cost–sharing between the State and the local school systems with 1
regard to the wages and salaries of education support professionals; 2
(4) the total number of part–time and full–time education support 3
professionals in the State; 4
(5) the number of hours required to work, according to the policies of each 5
jurisdiction, to be considered a full–time employee; 6
(6) a complete list of education support professional classifications by 7
jurisdiction; 8
(7) the average hourly wage of education support professionals in the State 9
and by jurisdiction; 10
(8) an analysis of the wage scale for education support professionals; 11
(9) information on increased wages or bonuses by jurisdiction within the 12
last 5 years; 13
(10) the amount of vacancies in the State and by jurisdiction for education 14
support professional jobs; and 15
(11) information on the future of education support professional jobs in the 16
State. 17
(h) (i) The Maryland State Department of Education and each county board of 18
education shall provide all information requested from the Workgroup. 19
(j) (1) On or before November 30, 2022, the Workgroup shall submit an 20
interim report of its findings and recommendations to, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the 21
State Government Article, the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, the Senate 22
Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee, the House Appropriations 23
Committee, and the House Committee on Ways and Means. 24
(2) On or before August 31, 2023, the Workgroup shall submit a final report 25
of its findings and recommendations, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government 26
Article, to the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, the Senate Education, Health, and 27
Environmental Affairs Committee, the House Appropriations Committee, and the House 28
Committee on Ways and Means. 29
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That: 30
(a) In this section, “education support professionals” means noncertificated public 31
school employees designated as part of a bargaining unit under Title 6, Subtitle 5 of the 32
Education Article. 33 4 SENATE BILL 831
(a) (b) If the fiscal year 2023 budget includes an appropriation sufficient to provide 1
a $500 bonus to each noncertificated education support professional in fiscal year 2023, the 2
Governor shall include in the annual budget bill for fiscal year 2024 an appropriation 3
sufficient to provide a $500 bonus to equal to the number of noncertificated education 4
support professionals, reported in accordance with subsection (d) of this section, multiplied 5
by $500 for each noncertificated education support professional in fiscal year 2024. 6
(b) (c) If the fiscal year 2023 budget does not include an appropriation sufficient 7
to provide a $500 bonus to each noncertificated education support professional in fiscal year 8
2023, the Governor shall include in the annual budget bill for fiscal year 2024 an 9
appropriation sufficient to provide a $1,000 bonus to equal to the number of noncertificated 10
education support professionals, reported in accordance with subsection (d) of this section, 11
multiplied by $1,000 for each noncertificated education support professional in fiscal year 12
2024. 13
(d) The Maryland State Department of Education shall: 14
(1) collect data from each county board of education regarding the number 15
of noncertificated education support professionals the county board employed during the 16
2021–2022 school year; and 17
(2) on or before September 15, 2022, submit a report to the Governor, the 18
Department of Budget and Management, and the General Assembly, in accordance with § 19
2–1257 of the State Government Article, on the total number of noncertificated education 20
support professionals employed by county boards of education during the 2021–2022 school 21
year. 22
SECTION 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 23
1, 2022. Section 1 of this this Act shall remain effective for a period of 1 year and 4 months 24
and, at the end of October 31, 2023, Section 1 of this Act, with no further action required 25
by the General Assembly, shall be abrogated and of no further force and effect. 26
Approved:
________________________________________________________________________________
Governor.
________________________________________________________________________________
President of the Senate.
________________________________________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Delegates.