SENATE BILL NO. 801

January 12, 2022, Introduced by Senators LASATA, HORN and WOZNIAK and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.

"The state school aid act of 1979,"

by amending sections 3 and 11 (MCL 388.1603 and 388.1611), section 3 as amended by 2020 PA 165 and section 11 as amended by 2021 PA 48, and by adding section 78.

the people of the state of michigan enact:

Sec. 3. (1) "Average daily attendance", for the purposes of complying with federal law, means 92% of the pupils counted in membership on the pupil membership count day, as defined in section 6(7).

(2) "Board" means the governing body of a district or public school academy.

(3) "Center" means the center for educational performance and information created in section 94a.

(4) "Community district" means a school district organized under part 5b of the revised school code.

(5) "Cooperative education program" means a written voluntary agreement between and among districts to provide certain educational programs for pupils in certain groups of districts. The written agreement must be approved by all affected districts at least annually and must specify the educational programs to be provided and the estimated number of pupils from each district who will participate in the educational programs.

(6) "Department", except as otherwise provided in this article, means the department of education.

(7) "District" means, except as otherwise provided in this act, a local school district established under the revised school code or, except in sections 6(4), 6(6), 13, 20, 22a, 22p, 31a, 51a(14), 105, 105c, and 166b, a public school academy. Except in section 20, district also includes a community district.

(8) "District of residence", except as otherwise provided in this subsection, means the district in which a pupil's custodial parent or parents or legal guardian resides. For a pupil described in section 24b, the pupil's district of residence is the district in which the pupil enrolls under that section. For a pupil described in section 6(4)(d), the pupil's district of residence is considered to be the district or intermediate district in which the pupil is counted in membership under that section. For a pupil under court jurisdiction who is placed outside the district in which the pupil's custodial parent or parents or legal guardian resides, the pupil's district of residence is considered to be the educating district or educating intermediate district.

(9) "District superintendent" means the superintendent of a district or the chief administrator of a public school academy.

Sec. 11. (1) For the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, there is appropriated for the public schools of this state and certain other state purposes relating to education the sum of $13,715,807,900.00 from the state school aid fund, the sum of $54,464,600.00 from the general fund, an amount not to exceed $79,800,000.00 from the community district education trust fund created under section 12 of the Michigan trust fund act, 2000 PA 489, MCL 12.262, and an amount not to exceed $100.00 from the water emergency reserve fund. For the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022, there is appropriated for the public schools of this state and certain other state purposes relating to education the sum of $14,797,232,100.00 $14,798,232,100.00 from the state school aid fund, the sum of $85,400,000.00 from the general fund, an amount not to exceed $72,000,000.00 from the community district education trust fund created under section 12 of the Michigan trust fund act, 2000 PA 489, MCL 12.262, and an amount not to exceed $100.00 from the water emergency reserve fund. In addition, all available federal funds are only appropriated as allocated in this article for the fiscal years year ending September 30, 2021 and September 30, 2022.

(2) The appropriations under this section are allocated as provided in this article. Money appropriated under this section from the general fund must be expended to fund the purposes of this article before the expenditure of money appropriated under this section from the state school aid fund.

(3) Any general fund allocations under this article that are not expended by the end of the fiscal year are transferred to the school aid stabilization fund created under section 11a.

Sec. 78. (1) From the state school aid fund money appropriated in section 11, there is allocated an amount not to exceed $2,000,000.00 to districts for the purposes under subsection (3).

(2) To receive funding under this section, a district must apply for the funding in a form and manner prescribed by the department of treasury.

(3) A district that receives funding under this section shall use the funding only as follows:

(a) To provide the parent or legal guardian of an eligible pupil who is enrolled in the district a card stipend to be used exclusively for qualified transportation services used by the eligible pupil to get to and from the district.

(b) To provide notice to the parents and legal guardians of eligible pupils enrolled in the district concerning card stipends described in this subsection.

(4) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a district that receives funding under this section shall select the eligible pupils whose parent or legal guardian will receive a card stipend as described in subsection (3) through a random-draw system. A district that receives funding under this section shall prioritize the award of card stipends as described in subsection (3) to the parents and legal guardians of eligible pupils who are eligible for free meals as determined under the Richard B. Russell national school lunch act, 42 USC 1751 to 1769j.

(5) An award of funding under this section to a district must not exceed $25,000.00.

(6) Notwithstanding section 17b, the department shall make payments under this section on a schedule determined by the department.

(7) An eligible pupil under this section is a pupil to whom all of the following apply:

(a) The pupil has been determined eligible for free or reduced-price meals as determined under the Richard B. Russell national school lunch act, 42 USC 1751 to 1769j.

(b) The pupil is a resident of this state.

(c) The pupil resides at least 1.5 miles away from the school in which he or she attends that is operated by the district in which he or she is enrolled.

(d) If the pupil is enrolled in a district that is not a public school academy, the pupil is enrolled in the district under section 105 or 105c.

(8) As used in this section:

(a) "Card stipend" means a mechanism of payment developed by the department of treasury through which a parent or legal guardian of an eligible pupil receives a payment not exceeding $1,400.00 from the funding received by the district in which the eligible pupil is enrolled under this section as provided under this section.

(b) "District" means a public school academy or a school district established under the revised school code that is accepting applications for enrollment by nonresident applicants under section 105 or 105c.

(i) District-operated transportation.

(ii) Transportation provided by a public-transit operator.

(iii) Ride-sharing transportation services approved by the department of treasury.