0282-hb 0413

AN ACT relative to the renovation of regional vocational education centers and making an appropriation therefor.

SPONSORS: Rep. O'Hearn, Hills 26; Rep. LaRose, Hills 27; Rep. Philbrick, Carr 4; Sen. Blaisdell, Dist 10; Sen. Larsen, Dist 15

This bill establishes requirements for state funding of renovation and expansion of regional vocational education centers and regional vocational education programs.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

AN ACT relative to the renovation of regional vocational education centers and making an appropriation therefor.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

282:1 Statement of Policy. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the state of New Hampshire to support the funding of the regional vocational education centers within the capital budget or legislative funding process.

282:2 Regional Vocational Education; Appropriation for Renovation and Expansion; Approval and Funding. RSA 188-E:10 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

I. The treasurer of the state of New Hampshire is hereby authorized to make funds available to the department of education for the renovation and expansion of regional vocational education centers or regional vocational education programs provided that:

(a) The commissioner of the department of education shall ensure that all requests submitted are both educationally and financially appropriate;

(b) The commissioner of the department of education submits on a biennial basis in a capital budget request a priority list of facilities and programs eligible for renovation and expansion;

(c ) Each request for funding follows the capital budget procedure pursuant to RSA 9:3-a;

(d) Each school district requesting funds from the department of education establishes and funds a renovation and expansion reserve fund, which shall be used by the school district to pay renovation and expansion costs not funded by the state, and which may include funding for the replacement of equipment; and

(e) The state shall fund not less than 75 percent of the cost of a project approved pursuant to this section.

II. The renovation and expansion reserve funding required by subparagraph I(d) may be funded through local community funds, vocational education tuition payments, gifts, contributions, and bequests of unrestricted funds from individuals, foundations, corporations, organizations, or institutions.

282:3 Regional Vocational Education; Tuition Payments Clarified. Amend RSA 188-E:7 to read as follows:

188-E:7 Tuition. The department of education is authorized to pay from its regular budget tuition for full or part-time students, attending programs at designated vocational centers or designated vocational educational courses at other comprehensive high schools, whose residence is in a district where the high school of normal attendance does not offer a similar vocational education course. The liability of the state and local school districts for tuition shall be determined by the state board under rules adopted pursuant to RSA 541-A, provided that a receiving district may charge a student from a sending district a differential vocational education rate and that the receiving district shall deposit that differential into its capital reserve account to be used for vocational centers and equipment.

282:4 Applicability; Funding Limitation. Any regional vocational education center or regional vocational education program which received approval from the state board of education for initial construction before July 1, 1997 and which has not commenced construction prior to the effective date of this act shall be exempt from the provisions of RSA 188-E:10, I(d). This exemption shall not apply to any other cost-sharing requirements of RSA 188-E or rules of the department of education.

AN ACT relative to the renovation of regional vocational education centers, and making an appropriation therefor.

The Department of Education indicates this bill, as amended by the House, will have no fiscal impact on state, county and local revenue or expenditures.

The Department indicates this bill will change the manner by which regional vocational educational centers are financed. In the past, amounts have been appropriated to the Department of Education to be used for the construction of the centers and the issue of bonds funded the appropriations. Appropriations made over the life of the program total $85 million. The entire $85 million has been expended, therefor, there are no appropriations currently available.

This bill states appropriations will be made to the Department of Education for the renovation and construction of regional vocational centers or regional vocational education programs provided that:

· The Commissioner of the Department submits a priority list in the capital budget process;

· Each request for funding follows the capital budget procedure and obtains Capital Budget Overview Committee approval;

· Each school district requesting funds from the Department establishes and funds a renovation and expansion reserve fund; and

· The state provides no more than 75% of the funding for the projects.

There is no fiscal impact to the bill because neither the current procedure nor the procedure contained in this bill is funded. The bill, as amended, will change the funding of the regional vocational centers only when a subsequent capital budget bill, which includes appropriations for the regional vocational centers, passes.