2017 Legislative Wrap Up

Transcription

1 2017 Legislative Wrap Up

2 NYC Mayoral Control The legislature left Albany without reaching an agreement to extend New York City mayoral control The authority expires with the start of the new school year on July 1, 2017 Will likely necessitate the legislature s return to Albany Authority lapsed for 6 weeks in 2009

3 NYC Mayoral Control Various proposals were put forth that would have extended control anywhere from one year to five years Each of these proposals linked mayoral control to other issues such as charter schools, tax extenders, education tax credit, etc. NYSSBA supports a straight multi-year extender of NYC mayoral control

4 Charter Schools As part of negotiations of New York City mayoral control, efforts were made to provide benefits to charter schools, such as lifting the state s cap on the number of charter schools Late during the last day of legislative session, the SUNY Charter School Institute posted initial regulations that would make it easier for charter schools to hire more uncertified teachers This regulatory authority was given to SUNY as a part of last year s end of session negotiations over mayoral control

5 Charter Schools Legislation was introduced that would amend the reimbursement schedule for charter school supplemental tuition This change would have made the reimbursement a current year reimbursement for all districts except New York City This bill passed the Assembly but was pulled from the Senate floor in the last hour of session

6 Property Tax Cap Bill passed that would count a school district s costs related to BOCES capital as part of the capital exclusion Same manner as a district s own capital costs This change was made permissively in 2015, but never implemented by the state Department of Taxation and Finance

7 Property Tax Cap Bill passed that would count properties under PILOT agreements as part of the tax base growth factor Currently only taxable growth is counted Because the tax base growth factor can never be less than 1.00, this can only help districts This change was made permissively in 2015, but never implemented by the state Department of Taxation and Finance

8 Veterans Property Tax Exemptions Bill passed that would authorize districts to grant the eligible funds exemption For properties purchased with pensions, bonuses or insurance payouts related to a veteran s service Bill passed that would authorize districts to extend the Cold War exemption beyond the current 10 year limit

9 Veterans Property Tax Exemptions Bills defeated that would have granted the alternative exemption to active duty service members and a full exemption to veterans who are 100% service-connected disabled NYSSBA s position is that any new or expanded property tax exemption should be funded by the state

10 Ward Voting Legislation passed to authorize the creation of local voting wards School boards would adopt a resolution that would allow voters to decide if they want to create voting wards for boards of education

11 School Based Health Centers Legislation passed that would permanently carve-out School-Based Health Centers (SBHC) from the State's Medicaid Managed Care (MMC) program allowing them to continue to receive reimbursement directly from NYS DOH on a fee-for-service basis

12 School Tax Collection Bill passed that would authorize school districts to collect their own taxes by informing their town of their desire to do so Currently, towns collect on behalf of the district until they agree with the district otherwise Towns can, and sometimes do, asses a fee of up to 1% on top of the school tax bill to be paid by the taxpayer Similar bill was vetoed by the Governor last year

13 Union Dues and Meetings Legislation was introduced that would govern many aspects of the relationship between unions and their members An additional provision would have required that all public employers allow new and newly transferred employees to meet with a union representative during work hours This bill passed the Assembly but not the Senate

14 TRS Reserve Legislation was introduced that would authorize school districts and BOCES to create a reserve account for TRS contribution costs, as a sub-account of the existing ERS reserve Limits on both annual funding and cumulative funding The bill passed the Assembly and advanced through committee in the Senate, but was not brought up for a final vote

15 BOCES DS Salary Cap Legislation introduced in both houses to update the BOCES DS salary cap The bill would set the cap to 98% of the commissioner of education s salary or 106% of the salary cap applicable in the previous year, whichever is less The bill passed the Senate, was reported out of committee in the Assembly but did not come to the floor

16 Special Act Districts Legislation was advanced that would allow special act school districts to establish a fiscal stabilization reserve fund and establish an annual indexing of their tuition rate This bill passed the Assembly and was reported out of the Senate Education committee, but was never taken up for a vote by the full Senate

17 Education Investment Tax Credit Education Investment Tax Credit was not enacted The Senate attempted to push this proposal throughout session Expected to remain an issue both on the federal and state levels

18 Career and Technical Education Legislation was introduced in both houses to raise the aidable cap on BOCES salaries for CTE teachers and increase special services aid These bills saw movement in the Senate, but did not come to the floor in the Assembly

19 Aid Forgiveness Legislation passed the Senate to provide statewide transportation aid and building aid forgiveness District specific transportation aid and building aid bills passed as well

20 Any Questions?

21 Contact Us Julie M. Marlette Director of Governmental Relations Kathleen A. Digan Governmental Relations Representative Brian C. Fessler Senior Governmental Relations Representative Belinda Heckler Governmental Relations Representative