What's happening
This bill legalizes, validates, and confirms certain past actions and clerical errors related to school district capital projects for state aid eligibility.
Why it matters
Provides retroactive protection for school districts. By legalizing and validating past actions and minor clerical errors related to capital projects, the bill could prevent financial penalties or loss of state building aid for affected districts, helping stabilize school finances.
Targets only minor, unintentional mistakes. The relief applies specifically to inadvertent and technical errors, not to major violations or fraud, which preserves accountability while offering leniency for honest mistakes.
Allows districts to recover or retain state aid. Districts that previously lost or had to repay building aid due to paperwork errors may now be eligible for that aid, potentially improving local budgets and funding for school facilities.
Sets a clear process and deadline for compliance. To benefit, districts must provide documentation and gain commissioner approval by December 31, 2019, ensuring that only those who meet specific criteria and act promptly can take advantage of the bill.
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Who cares
School districts denied building aid or facing recovery of overpayments
The bill would allow relief for covered capital projects if districts show that their mistakes were inadvertent, minor clerical or technical errors.
New York State Education Department and commissioner of education
The department would have to recognize qualifying contracts for building aid, subject to the commissioner's approval and districts submitting required information by December 31, 2019.
School district officers, employees and agents
The bill would validate their qualifying actions or omissions involving capital projects despite certain failures to comply with filing requirements.
Headline styles
Forgive School Building Aid Errors
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to education
- Referred to education
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3039
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 28, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. ABINANTI -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education
AN ACT relating to legalizing, validating, ratifying and confirming certain actions or omissions relating to certain capital projects in school districts
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, where the education department denies or has denied building aid for a school district capital project or has recovered overpayments of such aid relating thereto, the actions or omissions of all officers, employees or agents of an eligible school district relating to or in connection with such capital projects for the 2004--2005 school year through the 2018--2019 school year and for contracts and contract extensions entered into prior to the 2018--2019 school year for which expenses were incurred in the 2004--2005 school year or thereafter, and, where a district can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the commissioner of education that such actions or omissions involve only inadvertent and minor clerical or technical errors, all acts incidental thereto are hereby legalized, validated, ratified and confirmed, notwithstanding any failure to comply with the filing provisions of the education law, the general municipal law or any other law, rule or regulation other than those filing provisions defined in paragraph a of subdivision 5 of section 3604 of the education law, in relation to any omission, error, defect, irregularity or illegality in such proceeding had and taken.
2. The education department is hereby directed to consider the contracts legalized, ratified, validated and confirmed pursuant to subdivision one of this section for building aid as a valid and proper obligation of the school district for aid payable for expenses incurred in the 2004--2005 school year and thereafter; provided that such school district submits to the education department the applicable contract
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02439-02-9
A. 3039 2
number or numbers, school year and upon request, a copy of the contract, on or before December 31, 2019 and the contract is approved by the commissioner of education, and provided further that any amount due and payable for school years prior to the 2018--2019 school year as a result of this act shall be paid pursuant to the provisions of paragraph c of subdivision 5 of section 3604 of the education law.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.