SF 227 School start date
SF 477 – Extend SAVE for 20 more years
FLOOR ACTION:
SF 227, as amended, provides for a school start date of no earlier than August 23. The bill also makes provision for some alternative, year-round school calendars, with these exceptions:
- It does not allow year-round schools for a whole school district.
- It does not allow high schools to be considered for a year-round school.
- The period of time between when classes are in session can NOT exceed six weeks.
The bill would take effect upon enactment. There was a motion to reconsider put on both the House amendment and the bill. [3/25: 28-22 (Bisignano, Bolkcom, Bowman, Brase, Courtney, Dvorsky, Feenstra, Hart, Hogg, Horn, Jochum, Kinney, Mathis, Petersen, Quirmbach, Ragan, Schoenjahn, Smith, Sodders, Taylor, Wilhelm, Zaun “no”)]
SF 477 extends the 6 percent sales tax rate and the allocation to the SAVE fund until January 1, 2050, so that school districts may bond for the full 20 years. Many schools are now bumping up against a reasonable bonding period for new projects. The statewide 6 percent sales tax follows the transfer of amounts required for the natural Resources & Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund and one-sixth of the remaining state sales tax revenue is transferred to the Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) fund. Moneys in the SAVE fund are allocated to school districts on a per-pupil basis to be used for infrastructure and property tax reduction purposes. Under current law, the sales tax rate of 6 percent is reduced to 5 percent on January 1, 2030, and school infrastructure bonding under the SAVE fund is repealed December 31, 2029. [3/25: 37-13 (Behn, Bisignano, Chelgren, Costello, Dearden, Dix, Guth, Johnson, Schneider, Schultz, Segebart, Whitver, Zaun “no”)]