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- Referred to education
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Relates to the apportionment of state monies to reimburse certain nonpublic schools for their expenses in complying with certain state reporting requirements
In Assembly Committee · Education · Sponsor Michael Cusick
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S6596
Title of bill
An act relating to the apportionment of state monies to reimburse certain nonpublic schools for their expenses in complying with certain state requirements for the reporting of basic educational data
Purpose
This bill would reinstate the original Comprehensive Attendance Policy (CAP) reimbursement formula thereby enabling religious and independent schools to be fully reimbursed for their actual costs in complying with state's CAP requirements.
Summary of provisions
Section one of the measure requires the Commissioner of Education to fully reimburse schools for their actual CAP expenses by using the CAP reimbursement claim parameters which were first used to generate the 2005-06 school year CAP claims.
Section 2 sets forth an immediate effective date.
Justification
The Mandated Services Reimbursement (MSR) statute, enacted in 1974, requires that religious and independent schools be reimbursed for their actual costs in providing services to the state, most of which are required by statute and/or regulation. These services include the administration of state testing and evaluation programs and participating in state programs for reporting basic educational data, including compliance with the state's Comprehensive Attendance Policy (CAP) regulation.
In order to determine the actual cost of CAP and to establish a reimbursement formula, the State Education Department (SED) staff painstakingly interviewed and surveyed numerous school administrators and examined school records and documentation. The Department subsequently estimated that the CAP formula would cost approximately $40 million, an amount appropriated in the 2007-2008 State Budget. However, when school claims for CAP were generated utilizing the reimbursement formula established by SED, the aggregate amount claimed was approximately $55 million - a difference of $15 million or 27 percent.
Rather than prorating payments to schools by 27 percent (a standard practice when the MSR appropriation has been insufficient) the formula was adjusted to "fit" the $40 million appropriation. The revised formula was used to disburse the initial $40 million appropriation and continues to be used. As a result, schools are not able to claim or be reimbursed for their actual CAP expenses.
This measure requires the Commissioner of Education to reinstate the use of the original CAP reimbursement formula to correctly reimburse schools for their actual CAP costs - as required by the 37-year old Mandated Services Reimbursement Statute.
Legislative history
This is a new bill.
Fiscal implications
$15 million annually to the State.
Effective date
The act takes effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.