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2018 HB 5171: An Act Prohibiting The Executive Branch From Making Rescissions Or Other Reductions To The Education Cost Sharing Grant During The Fiscal Year.

Bill Text

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 10-262i of the 2018 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):

(a) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1990, and for each fiscal year thereafter, each town shall be paid a grant equal to the amount the town is entitled to receive under the provisions of section 10-262h. Such grant shall be calculated using the data of record as of the December first prior to the fiscal year such grant is to be paid, adjusted for the difference between the final entitlement for the prior fiscal year and the preliminary entitlement for such fiscal year as calculated using the data of record as of the December first prior to the fiscal year when such grant was paid.

(b) The amount due each town pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall be paid by the Comptroller, upon certification of the Commissioner of Education, to the treasurer of each town entitled to such aid in installments during the fiscal year as follows: Twenty-five per cent of the grant in October, twenty-five per cent of the grant in January and the balance of the grant in April. The balance of the grant due towns under the provisions of this subsection shall be paid in March rather than April to any town which has not adopted the uniform fiscal year and which would not otherwise receive such final payment within the fiscal year of such town.

(c) All aid distributed to a town pursuant to the provisions of this section and section 10-262u shall be expended for educational purposes only and shall be expended upon the authorization of the local or regional board of education and in accordance with the provisions of section 10-262u. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1999, and each fiscal year thereafter, if a town receives an increase in funds pursuant to this section over the amount it received for the prior fiscal year, such increase shall not be used to supplant local funding for educational purposes. The budgeted appropriation for education in any town receiving an increase in funds pursuant to this section shall be not less than the amount appropriated for education for the prior year plus such increase in funds.

(d) (1) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018, (A) if the amount of the equalization aid grant a town is entitled to pursuant to section 10-262h is greater than its base grant amount, the difference between the amount of such equalization aid grant and such town's base grant amount shall be the aid increase for such town for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018, and (B) if the amount of the equalization aid grant a town is entitled to pursuant to section 10-262h is less than its base grant amount, the difference between such town's base grant amount and the amount of such equalization aid grant shall be the aid reduction for such town for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018.

(2) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019, (A) if the amount of the equalization aid grant a town is entitled to pursuant to section 10-262h is greater than the equalization aid grant amount such town received for the previous fiscal year, the difference between the amount of such town's equalization aid grant for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019, and the equalization aid grant amount such town received for the previous fiscal year shall be the aid increase for such town for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019, and (B) if the amount of the equalization aid grant a town is entitled to pursuant to section 10-262h is less than the equalization aid grant amount such town received for the previous fiscal year, the difference between the equalization aid grant amount such town received for the previous fiscal year and the amount of such town's equalization aid grant for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019, shall be the aid reduction for such town for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019.

Sec. 2. Subsection (e) of section 4-85 of the 2018 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):

(e) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to authorize the Governor to reduce allotment requisitions or allotments in force concerning (1) aid to municipalities; (2) the equalization aid grant that a town is entitled to receive under the provisions of section 10-262h and paid under section 10-262i, as amended by this act; or (2) (3) any budgeted agency of the legislative or judicial branch, except that the Governor may propose an aggregate allotment reduction of a specified amount in accordance with this section for the legislative or judicial branch. If the Governor proposes to reduce allotment requisitions or allotments in force for any budgeted agency of the legislative or judicial branch, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management shall, at least five days before the effective date of such proposed reductions, notify the president pro tempore of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives of any such proposal affecting the legislative branch and the Chief Justice of any such proposal affecting the judicial branch. Such notification shall include the amounts, effective dates and reasons necessitating the proposed reductions. Not later than three days after receipt of such notification, the president pro tempore or the speaker, or both, or the Chief Justice, as appropriate, may notify the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management and the chairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, in writing, of any objection to the proposed reductions. The committee may hold a public hearing on such proposed reductions. Such proposed reductions shall become effective unless they are rejected by a two-thirds vote of the members of the committee not later than fifteen days after receipt of the notification of objection to the proposed reductions. If the committee rejects such proposed reductions, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management shall present an alternative plan to achieve such reductions to the president pro tempore and the speaker for any such proposal affecting the legislative branch or to the Chief Justice for any such proposal affecting the judicial branch. If proposed reductions in allotment requisitions or allotments in force for any budgeted agency of the legislative or judicial branch are not rejected, such reductions shall be achieved as determined by the Joint Committee on Legislative Management or the Chief Justice, as appropriate. The Joint Committee on Legislative Management or the Chief Justice, as appropriate, shall submit such reductions to the Governor through the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management not later than ten days after the proposed reductions become effective.

In Section 2, the new language was moved for clarity.

Behind the Bill