1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; providing an inflationary 
  1.3             increase in the general education formula allowance; 
  1.4             fully funding special education excess cost; restoring 
  1.5             funding for the interactive television program; 
  1.6             creating a declining pupil unit aid; restoring the bus 
  1.7             purchase levy; providing additional funding for full 
  1.8             implementation of the graduation rule; repealing the 
  1.9             three additional school days; amending Minnesota 
  1.10            Statutes 1998, sections 120B.05; 123B.92, by adding a 
  1.11            subdivision; 125A.79, subdivisions 2 and 3; 126C.10, 
  1.12            subdivisions 1, 2, and by adding a subdivision; 
  1.13            126C.40, subdivision 4; repealing Minnesota Statutes 
  1.14            1998, section 120A.41. 
  1.15  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.16     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 120B.05, is 
  1.17  amended to read: 
  1.18     120B.05 [GRADUATION STANDARDS IMPLEMENTATION REVENUE.] 
  1.19     (a) A school district's graduation standards implementation 
  1.20  revenue is equal to $52 times its resident pupil units for 
  1.21  fiscal year 1999 plus $14 times its resident pupil units for 
  1.22  fiscal year 1999 if the district implements the graduation rule 
  1.23  under section 120B.03, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), and ~~$43~~ $.. 
  1.24  per pupil unit for all districts for fiscal year 2000 and later. 
  1.25  Graduation standards implementation revenue is reserved and must 
  1.26  be used according to paragraphs (b) and (c). 
  1.27     (b) For fiscal year 1999, revenue must be reserved for 
  1.28  programs according to clauses (1) to (3). 
  1.29     (1) At least $20 per resident pupil unit plus $14 per 
  1.30  resident pupil unit for a district that implements the 
  2.1   graduation rule under section 120B.03, subdivision 1, paragraph 
  2.2   (b), must be allocated to school sites in proportion to the 
  2.3   number of students enrolled at each school site weighted 
  2.4   according to section 126C.05, subdivision 1, and is reserved for 
  2.5   programs designed to enhance the implementation of the 
  2.6   graduation rule through intensive staff development and 
  2.7   decentralized decision making. 
  2.8      (2) At least $5 per resident pupil unit is reserved for 
  2.9   gifted and talented programs that are integrated with the 
  2.10  graduation rule.  This aid must supplement, not supplant, money 
  2.11  spent on gifted and talented programs authorized under Laws 
  2.12  1997, First Special Session chapter 4, article 5, section 24. 
  2.13     (3) Remaining aid under this paragraph must be used: 
  2.14     (i) for technology purposes including wiring, network 
  2.15  connections, and other technology-related infrastructure 
  2.16  improvements; purchase or lease of computer software and 
  2.17  hardware to be used in classrooms and for instructional 
  2.18  purposes; purchase or lease of interactive television network 
  2.19  equipment and network support; purchase or lease of computer 
  2.20  software and hardware designed to support special needs 
  2.21  programming and limited English proficiency programming; network 
  2.22  and technical support; and purchase of textbooks and other 
  2.23  instructional materials; or 
  2.24     (ii) to reduce class size. 
  2.25     (c) For fiscal year 2000 and later, revenue must be 
  2.26  allocated to school sites in proportion to the number of 
  2.27  students enrolled at each school site weighted according to 
  2.28  section 126C.05, subdivision 1, and reserved for programs 
  2.29  designed to enhance the implementation of the graduation rule 
  2.30  through:  (1) staff development programs; (2) technology 
  2.31  purposes under paragraph (b), clause (3); (3) gifted and 
  2.32  talented programs; or (4) class size reduction programs based at 
  2.33  the school site. 
  2.34     (d) To the extent possible, school districts shall make 
  2.35  opportunities for graduation standards implementation available 
  2.36  to teachers employed by intermediate school districts.  If the 
  3.1   commissioner determines that the supplemental appropriation made 
  3.2   for this subdivision under Laws 1998, chapter 398, article 1, 
  3.3   section 40, subdivision 2, is in excess of the amount needed for 
  3.4   this subdivision, the commissioner shall make equal payments of 
  3.5   one-third of the excess to each intermediate school district for 
  3.6   the purpose of paragraph (a). 
  3.7      (e) A district that qualifies for the referendum allowance 
  3.8   reduction under section 126C.17, subdivision 12, and whose 
  3.9   referendum allowance under section 126C.17, subdivision 1, as 
  3.10  adjusted under section 126C.17, subdivisions 2 and 12, does not 
  3.11  exceed the referendum allowance limit under section 126C.17, 
  3.12  subdivision 2, clause (2), shall receive a graduation standards 
  3.13  implementation equity adjustment.  In fiscal year 1999, the 
  3.14  equity adjustment aid is equal to $34 per resident pupil unit.  
  3.15  In fiscal year 2000 and thereafter, the equity adjustment is 
  3.16  equal to $25 per resident pupil unit. 
  3.17     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 123B.92, is 
  3.18  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  3.19     Subd. 11.  [BUS PURCHASE LEVY.] A school district that has 
  3.20  established a reserve account for bus purchase and for fiscal 
  3.21  years after 1999 has annually transferred into that account an 
  3.22  amount equal to 15 percent of the original cost of its buses may 
  3.23  levy the amount needed to eliminate any projected deficit in the 
  3.24  reserve fund balance account for bus purchase as of June 30 of 
  3.25  the school year beginning in the calendar year following the 
  3.26  calendar year the levy is certified. 
  3.27     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 125A.79, 
  3.28  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  3.29     Subd. 2.  [EXCESS COST REVENUE.] For ~~1997~~ 2000 and later 
  3.30  fiscal years, a district's special education excess cost revenue 
  3.31  equals ~~the greatest of~~: 
  3.32     ~~(a) 70 percent of the difference between (1)~~ the district's 
  3.33  unreimbursed special education cost.  ~~and (2) 5.7 percent for~~ 
  3.34  ~~fiscal year 1997 and later years of the district's general~~ 
  3.35  ~~revenue;~~ 
  3.36     ~~(b) 70 percent of the difference between (1) the increase~~ 
  4.1   ~~in the district's unreimbursed special education cost between~~ 
  4.2   ~~the base year as defined in section 125A.76, subdivision 1, and~~ 
  4.3   ~~the current year and (2) 1.6 percent of the district's general~~ 
  4.4   ~~revenue; or~~ 
  4.5      ~~(c) zero.~~ 
  4.6      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 125A.79, 
  4.7   subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  4.8      Subd. 3.  [EXCESS COST AID.] For ~~1996~~ 2000 and later fiscal 
  4.9   years, a district's special education excess cost revenue is 
  4.10  provided entirely through state aid ~~equals the district's~~ 
  4.11  ~~special education excess cost revenue times the aid percentage~~ 
  4.12  ~~factor for that year~~. 
  4.13     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 126C.10, 
  4.14  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  4.15     Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL EDUCATION REVENUE.] For fiscal 
  4.16  year ~~1999~~ 2000 and thereafter, the general education revenue for 
  4.17  each district equals the sum of the district's basic revenue, 
  4.18  basic skills revenue, training and experience revenue, secondary 
  4.19  sparsity revenue, elementary sparsity revenue, transportation 
  4.20  sparsity revenue, total operating capital revenue, graduation 
  4.21  standards implementation revenue, declining pupil aid, 
  4.22  transition revenue, and supplemental revenue. 
  4.23     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 126C.10, 
  4.24  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  4.25     Subd. 2.  [BASIC REVENUE.] The basic revenue for each 
  4.26  district equals the formula allowance times the resident pupil 
  4.27  units for the school year.  ~~The formula allowance for fiscal~~ 
  4.28  ~~year 1997 is $3,505.~~  The formula allowance for fiscal year ~~1998~~ 
  4.29  ~~is $3,581 and the formula allowance for fiscal year~~ 1999 ~~and~~ 
  4.30  ~~fiscal year 2000~~ is $3,530.  The formula allowance for fiscal 
  4.31  year 2000 is $3,636 and the formula allowance for 2001 and 
  4.32  subsequent fiscal years is ~~$3,597~~ $3,814. 
  4.33     Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 126C.10, is 
  4.34  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  4.35     Subd. 23.  [DECLINING PUPIL AID.] A district's declining 
  4.36  pupil aid equals $1,000 times the greater of zero or the 
  5.1   difference between the district's average daily membership for 
  5.2   the previous year and its average daily membership for the 
  5.3   current year. 
  5.4      Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 126C.40, 
  5.5   subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  5.6      Subd. 4.  [INTERACTIVE TELEVISION.] (a) A district with its 
  5.7   central administrative office located within economic 
  5.8   development region one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, 
  5.9   eight, nine, and ten may apply to the commissioner for ITV 
  5.10  revenue up to the greater of .5 percent of the adjusted net tax 
  5.11  capacity of the district or $25,000.  Eligible interactive 
  5.12  television expenditures include the construction, maintenance, 
  5.13  and lease costs of an interactive television system for 
  5.14  instructional purposes.  An eligible school district that has 
  5.15  completed the construction of its interactive television system 
  5.16  may also purchase computer hardware and software used primarily 
  5.17  for instructional purposes and access to the Internet provided 
  5.18  that its total expenditures for interactive television 
  5.19  maintenance and lease costs and for computer hardware and 
  5.20  software under this subdivision do not exceed its interactive 
  5.21  television revenue for fiscal year 1998.  The approval by the 
  5.22  commissioner and the application procedures set forth in 
  5.23  subdivision 1 shall apply to the revenue in this subdivision.  
  5.24  In granting the approval, the commissioner shall consider 
  5.25  whether the district is maximizing efficiency through peak use 
  5.26  and off-peak use pricing structures. 
  5.27     (b) To obtain ITV revenue, a district may levy an amount 
  5.28  not to exceed the district's ITV revenue times the lesser of one 
  5.29  or the ratio of: 
  5.30     (1) the quotient derived by dividing the adjusted net tax 
  5.31  capacity of the district for the year before the year the levy 
  5.32  is certified by the resident pupil units in the district for the 
  5.33  year to which the levy is attributable; to 
  5.34     (2) $10,000.  
  5.35     (c) A district's ITV aid is the difference between its ITV 
  5.36  revenue and the ITV levy. 
  6.1      (d) The revenue in the first year after reorganization for 
  6.2   a district that has reorganized under sections 123A.35 to 
  6.3   123A.41, 123A.46, or 123A.48 shall be the greater of: 
  6.4      (1) the revenue computed for the reorganized district under 
  6.5   paragraph (a), or 
  6.6      (2)(i) for two districts that reorganized, 75 percent of 
  6.7   the revenue computed as if the districts involved in the 
  6.8   reorganization were separate, or 
  6.9      (ii) for three or more districts that reorganized, 50 
  6.10  percent of the revenue computed as if the districts involved in 
  6.11  the reorganization were separate. 
  6.12     (e) The revenue in paragraph (d) is increased by the 
  6.13  difference between the initial revenue and ITV lease costs for 
  6.14  leases that had been entered into by the preexisting districts 
  6.15  on the effective date of the consolidation or combination and 
  6.16  with a term not exceeding ten years.  This increased revenue is 
  6.17  only available for the remaining term of the lease.  However, in 
  6.18  no case shall the revenue exceed the amount available had the 
  6.19  preexisting districts received revenue separately. 
  6.20     ~~(f) Effective for fiscal year 2000, the revenue under this~~ 
  6.21  ~~section shall be 75 percent of the amount determined in~~ 
  6.22  ~~paragraph (a); for fiscal year 2001, 50 percent of the amount in~~ 
  6.23  ~~paragraph (a); and for fiscal year 2002, 25 percent of the~~ 
  6.24  ~~amount in paragraph (a).~~ 
  6.25     ~~(g) This section expires effective for revenue for fiscal~~ 
  6.26  ~~year 2003, or when leases in existence on the effective date of~~ 
  6.27  ~~Laws 1997, First Special Session chapter 4, expire.~~  
  6.28     Sec. 9.  [REPEALER.] 
  6.29     Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 120A.41, is repealed for 
  6.30  1999-2000 and later school years. 
  6.31     Sec. 10.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  6.32     Sections 1 and 3 to 8 are effective for revenue for fiscal 
  6.33  years 2000 and later.  Section 2 is effective for taxes payable 
  6.34  in 2000 and later.