What's happening
This bill legalizes and validates certain past actions or omissions by school districts regarding capital projects, allowing them to receive building aid despite clerical or technical errors.
Why it matters
Protects School District Funding. By validating past minor clerical or technical errors in capital project paperwork, the bill ensures that school districts don't lose critical building aid due to paperwork mistakes.
Retroactive Coverage. The legislation covers projects and contract extensions as far back as the 2004–2005 school year, offering relief for a wide span of past actions that might otherwise have resulted in significant financial penalties or funding clawbacks.
Limits on Types of Errors Forgiven. Only inadvertent and minor clerical or technical errors are covered. The bill does not forgive major legal violations or errors involving key filing provisions, maintaining accountability for more serious compliance issues.
Administrative Burden Reduced. School districts that can provide sufficient documentation by the end of 2019 are eligible for aid, potentially saving them from lengthy and costly legal disputes with the state over technicalities, and allowing them to focus resources on education rather than bureaucracy.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Forgive School Building Aid Errors
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
3 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to education
- Referred to education
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
208
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
Introduced by Sen. ORTT -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed 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 2017--2018 school year and for contracts and contract extensions entered into prior to the 2017--2018 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
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02439-01-9
S. 208 2
district submits to the education department the applicable contract 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 2017--2018 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.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act relating to legalizing, validating, ratifying and confirming certain actions or omissions relating to certain capital projects in school districts
Purpose
To provide building aid forgiveness to districts that would otherwise lose aid due to inadvertent, minor and technical errors.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 states that where the education department denies or has denied building aid or has collected overpayments between the school years of 2004-2005 and 2016-2017 and where a school district can demon- strate to the satisfaction of the commissioner that such omissions were inadvertent shall be legalized.
Section 2: Effective date.
Justification
When the State or school districts make errors relating to building aid they have to pay the State back money they were provided or become inel- igible to lost aid even though the state had budgeted for that expense. These errors tend to be minor in nature, such as a miscommunication during a staff transition or a clerical error. While these errors are minor the amount of money school districts lose out on is not.
There is previous precedent for aid forgiveness. The 2012-13 enacted budget provided for forgiveness of transportation contracts that were denied by the State Education Department due to inadvertent, minor, technical, or clerical errors prior to the 2011-12 school year.
Legislative history
S. 1280A of 2018/2018 Passed Senate
Fiscal implications
Unknown.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.