SB956: Bill Text

LRB-5877/1

KRP/ARG/JK:all

2021 - 2022 LEGISLATURE

2021 Senate BILL 956

February 9, 2022 - Introduced by Senators Bewley, Agard, Carpenter, Erpenbach, Johnson, Larson, Pfaff, Ringhand, Roys, Smith, L. Taylor and Wirch, cosponsored by Representatives Neubauer, Andraca, Baldeh, Billings, Bowen, Brostoff, Conley, Considine, Doyle, Drake, Emerson, Goyke, Hebl, Hesselbein, Hintz, Hong, McGuire, B. Meyers, Milroy, Moore Omokunde, L. Myers, Ohnstad, Pope, Riemer, S. Rodriguez, Shankland, Shelton, Sinicki, Snodgrass, Spreitzer, Stubbs, Subeck, Vining and Haywood. Referred to Committee on Education.

SB956,2,11 An Act to repeal 115.364 (1) (a), (am), and (b), 115.364 (2) (a) 2. and 3. and 115.364 (2) (b) 2.; to renumber and amend 115.364 (1) (intro.), 115.364 (2) (b) 1., 115.993, 115.995 (intro.), 115.995 (1) and (2) and 115.996; to consolidate, renumber and amend 115.364 (2) (a) (intro.) and 1.; to amend 20.255 (2) (cc), 20.255 (2) (da), 20.255 (2) (dj), 71.07 (9g) (b), 115.341, 115.364 (title), 115.437 (2) (a), 115.447 (title), 115.447 (1), 115.447 (2) (intro.), 115.95 (2), 115.95 (3), 115.96 (title), 115.96 (1), 115.97 (1), 115.977 (2), 115.993 (title), 118.40 (2r) (e) 2p. a., 119.04 (1), 121.41, 121.905 (3) (c) 6., 121.91 (2m) (i) (intro.), 121.91 (2m) (im) (intro.), 121.91 (2m) (j) (intro.), 121.91 (2m) (r) 1. (intro.), 121.91 (2m) (r) 1. b., 121.91 (2m) (r) 2. (intro.), 121.91 (2m) (r) 2. a., 121.91 (2m) (r) 2. b., 121.91 (2m) (s) 1. (intro.), 121.91 (2m) (s) 1. b., 121.91 (2m) (s) 2. (intro.), 121.91 (2m) (s) 2. a., 121.91 (2m) (s) 2. b. and 121.91 (2m) (t) 1. (intro.); and to create 20.255 (2) (cd), 20.255 (2) (ch), 20.255 (2) (co), 20.255 (2) (cv), 20.255 (2) (de), 20.255 (2) (dh), 20.255 (2) (di), 20.255 (2) (dk), 20.255 (2) (dm), 20.255 (2) (dn), 20.255 (2) (dv), 20.835 (2) (cd), 71.07 (8p), 71.10 (4) (hd), 115.28 (66), 115.335, 115.341 (3), 115.342, 115.3635, 115.442, 115.447 (2m), 115.449, 115.453, 115.456, 115.457, 115.958, 115.97 (6), 115.993 (2), 115.993 (3), 115.995 (1m) (a) (intro.), 115.995 (1m) (b), 115.995 (2m), 115.995 (3), 115.996 (3), 121.42, 121.905 (3) (c) 9. and 121.91 (2m) (k) and (L) of the statutes; relating to: the additional child and dependent care tax credit, a rebate for individual residents, and a family caregiver tax credit; various changes to statutes related to elementary and secondary education in this state; increasing funding for the University of Wisconsin System, technical college system, special education, general equalization aids, and per pupil aid; granting rule-making authority; and making an appropriation.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

This bill makes various changes to laws related to general school aids and various categorical aid programs; provides additional funding for general school aids and various categorical aid programs and for higher education; and makes changes to, and creates additional, programs administered by the Department of Public Instruction. The bill also creates a family caregiver individual income tax credit, increases the amount of the additional child and dependent care tax credit, and provides a tax rebate to all residents of this state.

Revenue limit adjustment

Current law generally limits the total amount of revenue per pupil that a school district may receive from general school aids and property taxes in a school year to the amount of revenue allowed per pupil in the previous school year plus a per pupil adjustment, if any, as provided by law. In the 2020-21 school year, the per pupil adjustment was a $179 increase. Under current law, there is no per pupil adjustment in the 2021-22 school year and thereafter.

For purposes of calculating school district revenue limits, the bill provides a per pupil increase of $200 for the 2022-23 school year. Under the bill, there is no per pupil adjustment in the 2023-24 school year and thereafter.

Additional funding for education

The bill provides additional funding in the amount of $111,000,000 for the University of Wisconsin System in fiscal year 2022-23 under its general program operations appropriation; additional funding in the amount of $28,000,000 for state aid to technical colleges in fiscal year 2022-23; additional funding in the amount of $172,643,000 in fiscal year 2022-23 for special education aid DPI pays to school districts, independent charter schools, cooperative educational service agencies, and county children with disabilities education boards; and additional funding in the amount of $188,000,000 in fiscal year 2022-23 for general equalization aids for school districts.

The bill also increases the per pupil amount for per pupil aid paid to school districts to $870 beginning in the 2022-23 school year. Under current law, the per pupil amount for per pupil aid is $742. Per pupil aid is funded from a sum sufficient appropriation. The amount of per pupil aid paid to a school district is calculated using a three-year average of the number of pupils enrolled in the school district and a per pupil amount set by law.

Summer school grants to urban school districts

Under current law, DPI must award a grant to a first class city school district (currently, only Milwaukee Public Schools) for the purpose of developing, redesigning, or implementing a summer school program. The bill expands the summer school grant program to include additional urban school districts. Under the bill, an urban school district is a school district that, in the previous school year, had a membership of at least 18,000 pupils. The bill also requires DPI to annually allocate $2,000,000 to MPS and to allocate the remaining amount appropriated equally to the other urban school districts.

Grants to support principals in urban school districts

Under the bill, DPI must annually award a grant to a nonprofit organization or an urban school district for the purpose of providing training, coaching, and professional support to principals who work in urban school districts. The bill defines an urban school district as a school district that, in the previous school year, had a membership of at least 18,000 pupils.

Community engagement grants to urban school districts

The bill creates a community engagement grant program for urban school districts. Under the bill, DPI must award grants to urban school districts for the purpose of supporting projects that include collaboration with a nonprofit corporation, a cooperative educational service agency, a University of Wisconsin System institution, a technical college district board, or a local unit of government and that are intended to improve academic achievement, the well-being of pupils and their families, or relationships between pupils, school staff, and the community. Under the bill, an “urban school district” is a school district that, in the previous school year, had a membership of at least 18,000 pupils.

Grants for early childhood education programs in urban school districts

The bill creates an annual grant program under which DPI must award grants to urban school districts to develop, implement, and administer new or expanded early childhood education programs to enhance learning opportunities for young children residing in the urban school district and to prepare those children for entry into the elementary grades. Under the grant program, DPI must, with certain exceptions, award grants in the amount of $1,000 per eligible child who attends an urban school district's early childhood education program in the current school year. An “eligible child” is a child who resides in the urban school district and who is 1) three years old on or before September 1 in the relevant school year, or 2) less than three years old but eligible to attend the early childhood education program under the urban school district's early admission standards. An “urban school district” is a school district that, in the previous school year, had a membership of at least 18,000 pupils.

Water bottle filling stations.

The bill requires DPI to award grants to school districts to purchase water bottle filling stations that provide filtered drinking water.

Driver education aid

The bill creates a new aid program for school boards, independent charter schools, and cooperative educational service agencies that offer a driver education program to pupils who meet the income eligibility standard for a free or reduced-price lunch in the federal school lunch program. To be eligible for this aid, a school board, independent charter school, or CESA must demonstrate to DPI that it reduced program participation fees for eligible pupils. Under the bill, DPI pays the school board, operator of the independent charter school, or CESA an amount equal to the number of eligible pupils who completed the driver education program in the previous school year multiplied by the lesser of $200 or the amount by which it reduced its program participation fees.

School breakfast program

The bill expands eligibility for reimbursement under the school breakfast program to include operators of independent charter schools, the director of the Wisconsin Educational Services Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the director of the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and operators of residential care centers for children and youth. The bill also prohibits DPI from making reimbursements under the school breakfast program for breakfasts served in the prior school year if the school ceased operations during the prior school year. This prohibition does not apply to reimbursements to a school district.

Supplemental nutrition aid

The bill creates a categorical aid to reimburse educational agencies for the difference between the federal reimbursement rate for a free school meal and a reduced-price school meal provided that the educational agency does not charge pupils for a reduced-price meal. The bill defines a “school meal” as a school lunch or snack under the federal school lunch program and a breakfast under the federal school breakfast program and an “educational agency” as a school board, an operator of an independent charter school, the director of the Wisconsin Educational Services Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the director of the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, an operator of residential care centers for children and youth, a tribal school, or a private school.

Limited-English proficient pupils; categorical aid

The bill changes the way that state categorical aid for educating limited-English proficient pupils (LEP) is allocated.

Under current law, a school board is required to provide a bilingual-bicultural education program to LEP pupils who attend a school in the school district if the school meets any of the following thresholds:

1. Within a language group, 10 or more LEP pupils are enrolled in kindergarten to grade three.

2. Within a language group, 20 or more LEP pupils are enrolled in grades four to eight.

3. Within a language group, 20 or more LEP pupils are enrolled in grades nine to twelve.

All school boards are required to educate all LEP pupils, but only school boards that are required to provide bilingual-bicultural education programs are eligible under current law for categorical aid targeted toward educating LEP pupils.

Under current law, in each school year, DPI distributes $250,000 among eligible school districts whose enrollments in the previous school year were at least 15 percent LEP pupils, and DPI distributes the amount remaining in the appropriation account to eligible school districts on the basis of the school districts' expenditures on the required bilingual-bicultural education programs during the prior school year.

The bill expands eligibility for categorical aid to independent charter schools and eliminates the limitation that only school boards that are required to provide bilingual-bicultural education programs are eligible for categorical aid. Under the bill, beginning in the 2022-23 school year, a school board that had at least one LEP pupil enrolled in the school district in the prior school year, and the operator of an independent charter school that had at least one LEP pupil attending the charter school in the prior school year, receives $10,000. In addition, if the school board or operator had more than 20 LEP pupils, the school board or operator receives an additional $500 per LEP pupil above 20.

The bill also provides a temporary hold harmless provision for a school board that would receive less categorical aid under the new funding scheme:

1. In the 2022-23 school year, a school board receives the greater of: a) the amount to which the school board is entitled under the new funding scheme; or b) an amount equal to the amount of categorical aid the school board received in the 2021-22 school year.

2. In the 2023-24 school year, a school board receives the amount to which the school board is entitled under the new funding scheme. In addition, if that amount is less than the amount the school board received in the 2021-22 school year, the school board also receives an amount equal to 50 percent of the difference between the amount to which the school board is entitled under the new funding scheme and the amount the school board received in the 2021-22 school year.

If, in any fiscal year, there are insufficient funds to provide the total categorical aid amount, DPI must prorate the payments.

Computer science licensure grant program

Beginning in the 2022-23 school year, the bill requires DPI to award grants to school districts to assist licensed school district employees in obtaining additional licensure that authorizes the employee to teach computer science in public schools. For purposes of awarding these grants, the bill requires DPI to prioritize school districts if 50 percent of the school district's membership is low income or 40 percent of the school district's membership identify as a minority.

Capacity-building grants to increase licensure of bilingual teachers and English as a second language teachers

The bill creates a grant program under which DPI may award grants, in amounts determined by DPI, to school districts and independent charter schools to provide support and financial assistance to their staff and teachers in obtaining licensure or certification as bilingual teachers and teachers of English as a second language.

School mental health and pupil wellness; categorical aid

The bill changes the types of expenditures that are eligible for reimbursement under the state categorical aid program related to pupil mental health.

Under current law, DPI must make payments to school districts, independent charter schools, and private schools participating in parental choice programs (local education agency) that increased the amount they spent to employ, hire, or retain social workers. Under current law, DPI first pays each eligible local education agency 50 percent of the amount by which the eligible local education agency increased its expenditures for social workers in the preceding school year over the amount it expended in the school year immediately preceding the preceding school year. If, after making those payments, there is money remaining in the appropriation account for that aid program, DPI makes additional payments to eligible local education agencies. The amount of those additional payments is determined based on the amount remaining in the appropriation account and the amount spent by eligible local education agencies to employ, hire, and retain social workers during the previous school year.

The bill expands eligibility for the payments under the aid program to include spending on school counselors, school social workers, school psychologists, and school nurses (pupil services professionals). The bill also eliminates the two tier reimbursement structure of the aid program and eliminates the requirement that a local education agency is eligible for the aid only if the local education agency increased its spending. Under the bill, any local education agency that made expenditures to employ, hire, or retain pupil services professionals during the previous school year is eligible for reimbursement under the aid program.

Out-of-school time program grants

The bill creates a grant program under which DPI must award grants to school boards and organizations to support high-quality after-school programs and other out-of-school time programs that provide services to school-age children. DPI must award grants in amounts of not less than $80,000 and not more than $145,000 per school year, and each grant may continue up to five school years. In each school year, DPI must award not less than 30 percent of all grant moneys to out-of-school time programs that serve pupils in the elementary grades.

Grants for lead testing and remediation in schools

The bill creates a grant program under which DPI must award grants on a competitive basis to school boards and independent charter schools for lead testing and remediation in school buildings and on school grounds. Grant recipients must use grant moneys for costs associated with testing drinking water for the presence of lead, providing safe drinking water to affected school buildings during remediation, and, if necessary, replacing lead pipe water service lines to affected school buildings.

Aid for reading services professionals

The bill requires DPI to make payments to school districts, independent charter schools, and private schools participating in parental choice programs to reimburse the expenditures made in the preceding school year to employ, hire, or retain reading teachers and reading specialists. If, in any fiscal year, there are insufficient funds to provide the total categorical aid amount, DPI must prorate the payments.

Tax rebate

This bill provides a onetime rebate to full-year residents and part-year residents of this state. The rebate is equal to $150, multiplied by the number of personal exemptions claimed on the resident's Wisconsin individual income tax return. If a resident files a Wisconsin tax return for 2021, the Department of Revenue will issue a rebate to that resident without the resident having to take any further action. If a resident does not file a Wisconsin tax return for 2021 on or before the due date, because he or she is filing for an extension or because he or she is not required to file a return, he or she may file a claim for the rebate with DOR by using a portal on DOR's Internet site. For a resident who does not file a tax return for 2021, the rebate is equal to $150, multiplied by the number of personal exemptions that the resident could have claimed on his or her Wisconsin individual income tax return. Under the bill, DOR certifies to the Department of Administration the amount of the rebate for each eligible resident and DOA makes the payments beginning on July 15, 2022.

Family caregiver tax credit

The bill creates an income tax credit for individuals who pay for items that directly relate to the care or support of a family member who requires assistance with one or more daily living activities and is over the age of 18. The credit equals 50 percent of the expenses, limited to a maximum annual credit per family member of $500, or $250 for married spouses filing separately. If more than one individual may claim the credit based on the same family member, the maximum annual credit amount is apportioned among the individuals based on expenses paid. For married couples filing jointly, the credit phases out between federal adjusted gross income (AGI) of $150,000 and $170,000, and no credit may be claimed if federal AGI exceeds $170,000. For all other taxpayers, the phase out range is between federal AGI of $75,000 and $85,000, and no credit may be claimed if federal AGI exceeds $85,000. Under the bill, expenses that qualify for the credit include amounts spent on improving the claimant's primary residence to assist the family member, purchasing equipment to help the family member with daily living activities, and obtaining other goods or services to help care for the family member. Expenses that do not qualify for the credit include general food, clothing, transportation, and household repair costs, as well as amounts that are reimbursed by insurance or other means. The credit is nonrefundable, which means it may be claimed only up to the amount of the claimant's tax liability.

Additional child and dependent care tax credit