The Alabama House Ways and Means Education (W&ME) Committee voted on Wednesday to give a favorable report to the largest education budget in state history. The $8.1 billion Education Trust Fund budget (ETF) will go into effect on Oct. 1 for fiscal year 2023. The ETF budget itself is part of a package of bills that the W&ME Committee dealt with regarding the education budget.
House Bill 135 (HB135) is sponsored by State Rep. Danny Garrett (R-Trussville) who chairs the Ways and Means Education Committee.
“This is the education budget. This was substituted yesterday,” Garrett explained.
The budget as substituted appropriates $8,160,319,294 from the Education Trust Fund to schools, colleges, the State Department of Education and various other state agencies.
State Rep. Dexter Grimsley (D-Abbeville) asked, “Why was the $5 million for HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) put in by the governor not there?”
“There was money put in for HBCUs in the supplemental appropriation,” Garrett said. “At this time let's take it upstairs to the Senate.”
To see the budget spreadsheet for the ETF as substituted in committee click here.
Notable highlights from the budget include:
Local boards of education would receive $4,794,022,092, which is up from $4,621,106,720 in FY2022 but is almost $40 million less than in Gov. Kay Ivey’s request.
The Community College System would receive $507,154,104, which is up from $470,097,455 in FY2022 and $1,780,000 more than Ivey requested.
The Alabama Commission on Higher Education would receive $59,136,869 in this budget. That is up from $46,066,758 in FY2022 and $5,750,000 more than Ivey requested.
The Department of Early Childhood Education, which governs the pre-K program, is getting $186,198,945, which is up from $161,850,837 in FY2022.
The Educational Television Commission is receiving $11,935,169, up from $9,461,713 in FY2022.
The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is receiving $31 million from the ETF in this budget, up $5 million from FY2022. Some $25 million of that is for the Rural Broadband Program
The Department of Human Resources is receiving $50,502,437 in this budget. That is up 55.4%from the $32,496,461 DHR received from the ETF in FY2022.
The Department of Rehabilitation Services would receive $51,455,677, up from $50,460,696 in FY2022.
The Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission would receive $2,595,995, up dramatically from the $1,253,995 they received from the ETF in FY2022.
The Department of Mental Health would receive $67,919,836, up from the $60,243,972 they received in FY2022 and $5,790,000 more that Ivey had requested.
The Department of Public Health would receive $17,065,179, up from $16,863,033 in FY2022.
The Department of Commerce would receive $74,890,922 from the education budget, up from $69,982,610 in FY2022. $52,990,311 of that is for workforce development.
The State Department of Education (SDE) would receive $459,201,467 which is up from $435,477,004 in FY2022 and $23,724,463 more than Ivey requested.
The committee gave HB135 a favorable report to send it to the House floor.
Senate Bill 175 (SB175) is sponsored by State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur). It allows the Advancement & Technology (A&T) funds to be used for capital improvements. SB175 received a favorable report from the committee.
House Bill 267 (HB267) is sponsored by Garrett. HB267 makes a supplemental appropriation from the A&T fund to Alabama’s public schools and colleges and universities.
According to the fiscal note: “House Bill 267 as substituted and reported by the Committee on Ways and Means Education appropriates $282,314,668 from the Education Trust Fund (ETF) Advancement and Technology Fund, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022, as follows:
* $76,591,969 to public institutions of higher education; and
* $205,722,699 to the Department of Education to be allocated to the local boards of education, the Board of Trustees of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind, the Board of Youth Services School Districts, the Board of Directors of the Alabama School of Fine Arts, the Board of Trustees of the Alabama School of Math and Science, and the Board of Trustees of the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering.
This bill further provides that 1) the funds allocated to the local school systems shall not be expended without prior approval of the State Superintendent of Education, and 2) that $1,835,441 of this amount shall be distributed to the Ed Farm Classroom of Tomorrow for technology tools and professional development services to classroom teachers.
All funds not expended in the current fiscal year shall not revert but be carried forward for the purpose appropriated.
Every public school in Alabama will get a portion of this money before the end of the current fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30.
Senate Bill 30 is sponsored by State Sen. Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro).
“This is the bill that provides the retiree bonus of $2 a month per year of service, there are no caps and no minimums,” Garrett explained. “This is the bill that authorizes the retiree bonus.”
The cost of the one-time retiree bonus check is $58.4 million. Alabama has a defined benefit plan for teachers and education staff. The plan pays the same amount every month that the retiree lives after they retire. There is no money in the retirement system for cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). The Legislature periodically, at their discretion and often in an election year, provides the retirees with a bonus 13th check paid for out of current revenues.
House Bill 138 is sponsored by Garrett.
“This is the supplemental appropriation from the ETF,” Garrett explained.
The supplemental appropriation is surplus revenue collected by the state that legislators did not anticipate receiving, most of it carried over in a budget surplus from FY2021. This supplemental appropriation is $1,283,283,616 and more information on this appropriation can be found here.
The committee also approved HB136 by Garrett.
“This is the 4 percent pay raise,” Garrett explained.
According to the fiscal note, HB36 provides for a 4% salary increase for public education employees of the several local boards of education, the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind, the Department of Youth Services School District (except employees covered under the state's merit system), the Alabama School of Fine Arts, the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science, the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering and the two-year postsecondary institutions under the Board of Trustees of the Alabama Community College System for fiscal year 2023. The total estimated cost of this salary increase is $178.6 million, including the associated retirement and FICA increases, for fiscal year 2023 and each year thereafter.
House bill 140 was also sponsored by Garrett.
It appropriates $13,151,435 from the ETF to Tuskegee University for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023. In addition, this bill requires at least $2,000,000 of this appropriation to be expended for the agricultural research and extension service state match.
HB142 by Garrett appropriates $1,069,234 funds for Talladega College.
HB141 by Garrett appropriates $389,327 in funds to Lyman Ward Military Academy.
The committee amended the bill to change the name for state purposes to Southern Preparatory Academy. Garrett said that the school changed its name in 2019.
The ETF plus the appropriations for the three private schools, which by statute cannot be included in the budget itself, is $8,174,929,290, which is up from $7,672,576,575 in FY2022.
K-12 would receive $5,561,103,947, higher education $2,106,279,051, and other agencies $507,546,292 in FY2023. In FY2022 the split was $5,255,917,289, $1,957,095,794, and $459,563,492.
“That concludes the budget process,” Garrett said. “I want to thank the committee for their hard work, diligence, and their contributions to this.”
All of the bills in the package received a favorable report and could be addressed by the House as soon as Tuesday. The Senate has already passed the State General Fund budget.
Tuesday, March 8 will be day 19 of the 2022 Alabama Regular Legislative Session.
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