EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
*hb0458*
HOUSE BILL 458
F1 3lr1673
CF SB 360
By: Delegates J. Lewis, B. Barnes, and Smith
Introduced and read first time: January 30, 2023
Assigned to: Appropriations
A BILL ENTITLED
AN ACT concerning 1
Public School Construction – Grant Programs, Approvals, and Administration – 2
Alterations 3
FOR the purpose of repealing the School Safety Grant Program and the Aging Schools 4
Program as of a certain date; altering provisions relating to school construction 5
approvals by the State Superintendent of Schools; establishing the Interagency 6
Commission on School Construction as an independent unit of State government; 7
providing a removal process for members of the Interagency Commission on School 8
Construction; repealing the requirement for the Board of Public Works to approve 9
grants awarded under the Capital Grant Program for Local School Systems With 10
Significant Enrollment Growth or Relocatable Classrooms; req uiring the 11
Department of General Services to develop life cycle cost analysis standards in 12
coordination with the Interagency Commission on School Construction and the State 13
Department of Education; and generally relating to public school construction grant 14
programs, approvals, and administration. 15
BY repealing 16
Article – Education 17
Section 5–317 and 5–324 18
Annotated Code of Maryland 19
(2022 Replacement Volume) 20
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 21
Article – Education 22
Section 2–303(f), 4–115(b), (c)(1)(i), (2), and (3), 5–302(b) and (f), 5–313(c), and 23
5–327(d) 24
Annotated Code of Maryland 25
(2022 Replacement Volume) 26
BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 27
Article – Education 28 2 HOUSE BILL 458
Section 4–115(a) and 5–302(a) and (c) through (e) 1
Annotated Code of Maryland 2
(2022 Replacement Volume) 3
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 4
That Section(s) 5–317 and 5–324 of Article – Education of the Annotated Code of Maryland 5
be repealed. 6
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That the Laws of Maryland read 7
as follows: 8
Article – Education 9
2–303. 10
(f) (1) Subject to the bylaws, rules, and regulations of the State Board, and 11
except as provided in paragraph (5) of this subsection, the State Superintendent, OR THE 12
STATE SUPERINTENDENT ’S DESIGNEE, shall approve or disapprove each: 13
(i) Proposal for the purchase or sale of any ground, school site, or 14
building; 15
(ii) Plan or specification for the remodeling of a school building if the 16
remodeling costs more than [$350,000] $500,000; 17
(iii) Plan or specification for the construction of a new school building; 18
and 19
(iv) Change order that costs more than [$25,000] $50,000 for the 20
remodeling, restoration, or construction of a school building. 21
(2) If the State Superintendent, OR THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT ’S 22
DESIGNEE, disapproves any plan, specification, proposal, or change order, [he] THE 23
STATE SUPERINTENDENT , OR THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT ’S DESIGNEE, shall state 24
in writing the reasons for [his] THE disapproval. 25
(3) If the construction is to be done by a county board, the board may not 26
begin until the plans and specifications are approved in writing by the State 27
Superintendent, OR THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT ’S DESIGNEE. 28
(4) If the construction is to be done by contract, the contract is invalid 29
without the written approval of the State Superintendent , OR THE STATE 30
SUPERINTENDENT ’S DESIGNEE. 31
(5) For the purchase of any ground or school site under paragraph (1) of 32
this subsection, the county board shall submit the purchase to the State Superintendent, 33 HOUSE BILL 458 3
OR THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT ’S DESIGNEE, for approval or disapproval not more 1
than 3 years before the project is submitted to the Interagency Commission on School 2
Construction for local planning approval. 3
4–115. 4
(a) In this subtitle, “county council” means, in Baltimore City, the Mayor and City 5
Council of Baltimore. 6
(b) With the approval of the State Superintendent, OR THE STATE 7
SUPERINTENDENT ’S DESIGNEE, each county board may: 8
(1) Buy or otherwise acquire land, school sites, or buildings; and 9
(2) Rent, repair, improve, and build school buildings or approve contracts 10
for doing so, if the plans conform to the bylaws, rules, and regulations of the State Board. 11
(c) (1) (i) Except as provided in this subsection, if, with the approval of the 12
State Superintendent, OR THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT ’S DESIGNEE, a county board 13
finds that any land, school site, or building no longer is needed for school purposes, it shall 14
inform the county commissioners or county council of the county board’s determination 15
under this subparagraph. 16
(2) In Harford County, if, with the approval of the State Superintendent, 17
OR THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT ’S DESIGNEE, the county board finds that any land, 18
school site, or building is no longer needed for school purposes, it shall be transferred by 19
the county board to Harford County, Maryland, and disposed of in accordance with this 20
section. 21
(3) With the approval of the State Superintendent, OR THE STATE 22
SUPERINTENDENT’S DESIGNEE, the Cecil County Board may transfer, with or without 23
charge, any of its property to the board of trustees of a public community college. 24
5–302. 25
(a) There is an Interagency Commission on School Construction. 26
(b) The Interagency Commission is an independent [commission that functions 27
within the Department] UNIT OF STATE GOVERNMENT . 28
(c) The purpose of the Interagency Commission is to develop and approve policies, 29
procedures, guidelines, and regulations on State school construction allocations to local 30
jurisdictions in an independent and merit–based manner. 31
(d) The Interagency Commission consists of the following members: 32
4 HOUSE BILL 458
(1) The State Superintendent of Schools, or the Superintendent’s designee; 1
(2) The Secretary of Planning, or the Secretary’s designee; 2
(3) The Secretary of General Services, or the Secretary’s designee; 3
(4) Two members of the public appointed by the Governor; 4
(5) Two members of the public appointed by the President of the Senate; 5
and 6
(6) Two members of the public appointed by the Speaker of the House. 7
(e) The Governor, President of the Senate, and Speaker of the House jointly shall 8
select the Chair of the Interagency Commission. 9
(f) (1) An appointed member of the Interagency Commission may not be: 10
[(1)] (I) An individual who is a regulated lobbyist as described in § 11
5–702(a)(1), (2), (3), or (4) of the General Provisions Article; 12
[(2)] (II) A federal, State, or local elected official; 13
[(3)] (III) An employee of State or county government or a county board of 14
education; or 15
[(4)] (IV) An individual who has a business interest in, or contracts related 16
to, school construction in any jurisdiction in the State. 17
(2) AN APPOINTED MEMBER O F THE INTERAGENCY COMMISSION 18
MAY BE REMOVED FO R INCOMPETENCE , MISCONDUCT , OR FAILURE TO PERFOR M 19
THE DUTIES OF THE PO SITION BY: 20
(I) THE GOVERNOR, IF APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR; 21
(II) THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE, IF APPOINTED BY THE 22
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE; OR 23
(III) THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, IF APPOINTED BY THE 24
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. 25
5–313. 26
(c) (1) The Program shall be implemented and administered by the 27
Interagency Commission on School Construction in accordance with this section. 28
HOUSE BILL 458 5
(2) Grants awarded by the Interagency Commission under the Program[: 1
(i) Shall] SHALL be matched by local funds equal to the required 2
local cost–share established in accordance with § 5–303(d)(3) of this subtitle[; and 3
(ii) Shall be approved by the Board of Public Works]. 4
5–327. 5
(d) The Interagency Commission, in coordination with the Department AND THE 6
DEPARTMENT OF GENERAL SERVICES, shall develop life cycle cost analysis standards. 7
SECTION 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That Section 1 of this Act shall take 8
effect June 30, 2026. 9
SECTION 4. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That, except as provided in Section 10
3 of this Act, this Act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 11