Section 15 Chapter 10 Funds
Said chapter 10 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 35LLL, as inserted by section 4 of chapter 273 of the acts of 2018, the following 3 sections:-
Section 35MMM. There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a Public School Regionalization Fund, which shall be administered by the department of elementary and secondary education. The fund shall be credited with:
(i) any appropriations, bond proceeds or other monies authorized or transferred by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund;
(ii) gifts, grants and other private contributions designated to be credited to the fund;
(iii) all other amounts credited or transferred to the fund from any other fund or source; and
(iv) interest or investment earnings on any such monies.
Amounts credited to the fund may be expended by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education, without further appropriation, for grants and contracts pursuant to section 16D of chapter 71.
The unexpended balance in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund but shall remain available for expenditure in subsequent fiscal years. No expenditure made from the fund shall cause the fund to become deficient at any point.
Section 35NNN. There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a Public School Turnaround Fund, which shall be administered by the department of elementary and secondary education. The fund shall be credited with:
(i) any appropriations, bond proceeds or other monies authorized or transferred by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund;
(ii) gifts, grants and other private contributions designated to be credited to the fund;
(iii) all other amounts credited or transferred to the fund from any other fund or source; and
(iv) interest or investment earnings on any such monies.
Amounts credited to the fund may be expended by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education, without further appropriation, for grants and contracts pursuant to section 8 of chapter 70.
The unexpended balance in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund but shall remain available for expenditure in subsequent fiscal years. No expenditure made from the fund shall cause the fund to become deficient at any point.
Section 35OOO. There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Trust Fund. The fund shall be administered by the commissioner of public health. The fund shall be credited with all revenue collected from the surcharge imposed by section 22 of chapter 482 of the acts of 1993, as amended by section 154 of chapter 184 of the Acts of 2002 and by revenue transferred from the lead paint education and training trust account. The fund shall be used for the operation of the childhood lead poisoning prevention program, including but not limited to production and dissemination of educational materials pertaining to lead paint poisoning prevention and treatment issues, as required by sections 192B and 197A of chapter 111, and for training of lead paint inspectors as well as homeowner training for those aspects of lead paint abatement or containment which the department of public health, through regulations, authorizes homeowners to perform themselves. Amounts credited to the fund shall not be subject to further appropriation and money remaining in the fund at the close of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund and shall be available for expenditure in subsequent fiscal years.
Summary
This section establishes a Public School Regionalization Fund and a Public School Turnaround Fund as part of the Governor's School Finance Reform proposal. The section also establishes a trust fund for the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program.